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THE
SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104
GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK,
By subscription $5.00 a year.
N. Y.
Single copies 50c.
Entered as second-class matter, June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. II.
No. 9.
MARCH, 1928.
I
CONTENTS
PAGE
Gods, Jinn and a Hall of Fame
3
AMEEN RIHANI
The Perfect Brother
8
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
Development of Dairy Farming in Syria and Lebanon
9
GEORGE KNAYSI
Said a Blade of Grass
11
G. K. GlBRAN
Recent Developments in Palestine
12
To a Female Cup-Bearer (Poem)
J. D. CARLYLE
17
�CONTENTS
(Continued)
PAGE
Syrian Naturalization Question in the United States
JOSEPH W. FERRIS
18
The Ameer and the Palace Maid (Poem)
DR. N. A. KATIBAH
24
The Meeting (Short Story)
25
HARRY CHAPMAN FORD
Arab Proverbs
34
The Clemency of Mu(awiyah
35
Notes and Comments — By
39
THE EDITOR
Spirit of the Syrian Press
43
About Syria and Syrians
48
Political Developments in Syria
56
* «B» »
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
Jaffa, Principal Port of Palestine
Tel Aviv, Palestine
The Plain of Al-Bekaa, Lebanon
Costes and Lebrix among Friends
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
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VOL. II.
MARCH, 1928.
No. 9.
Gods, Jinn and a Hall of Fame
Jt Study in the Traditions of the Arabs and Their Mythology
By AMEEN RIHANI
of pre-Islamic Arabia is in keeping with
the temper of its soil, the history of its land, and the romantic
spirit of its people. The invisible world, described in the Arabian
Nights, is reflected in the visible forces of nature, which, to a
desert dweller, are as real in their supernatural attributes as the
weal and woe he experiences under them. The simoom is the
smokeless fire of which the Jinn are born; the columns of sand,
rising and whirling in the shimmering spaces, are the ghosts of
Afrits and Ghouls; the mirage is the sardonic laugh of Iblis;
the oasis is the verdant and bounteous hand of some otherwise
invisible deity; the well or spring in the trackless waste flows
direct from the streams of Paradise; a necropolis, fancied to
have been once the city of a mighty tribe, is transformed into a
habitation of evil giants; the subterranean channels found in AlYaman, which were constructed by one of the extinct civilized
nations of antiquity, are represented in Arabic lore as the underground ways leading to the palace of one of the sovereigns of
the Jinn.
Thus the mythology of pre-Islamic Arabia evolved. Every manifestation of nature had a tribe of spirits, the Jinn, behind it, animating it, urging it forth, giving it destructive or
creative power. Whatever they could not fathom or explain
was a token of the spirits or a guide-post to their land. In pagan
times the Jinn were everywhere. A bedouin once found them
THE MYTHOLOGY
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
in his porridge and took a solemn oath never again to taste of
liquid food. King Solomon, as we shall see, had a deal of trouble
with them. Unlike Arab authors, however, I shall endeavor to
maintain a little chronological order. Later then about King
Solomon.
The gods of Arabia in the days of the Jinn were continually increasing in number; for over each tribe of spirits ruled a
deity, who was not always on good terms with the kings of the
land. They even fought for independence. Hence, the wars
and the treaties of peace with them, which are recorded faithfully and solemnly by the Arab historian. Hence, too, the crowded condition of the Kaaba, which was a kind of divine hall of
fame before the advent of the Prophet. For they were always
adding to their idols, the Arabs, in self-defense or as a means
of further protection; and when they could not conquer in battle a certain Jinn nation, they would get around its supreme ruler
diplomatically and offer him a niche in their hall of fame. Every Arab tribe, in fact, aspired to a place in the Kaaba for its
god or gods. But many of these, be it said to their credit, were
excluded because they were either commonplace local deities or
mere symbols of lust and plunder. Nevertheless, their votaries
argued and fought for their recognition.
Nor does it seem that they were jealous of each other, these
gods. There were no Jehovas or Allahs among them. More
laudable than this divine tolerance, however, was the staunch
fidelity of the Arabs themselves, who were always faithful to
their alliances as well as to the gods of their allies. A delegation of one of the tribes once came to Mecca, walked into the
Kaaba, and took its terra-cotta god away, because the god of their
friendly neighbors was excluded. The Sheikh of another tribe
was once asked what he worshipped. "A god made of dates
dipped in sugar and honey," he replied; "and sometimes we eat
him and make another." Strange that such a god was not more
popular; for the Arab was given a sweet, a very sweet tooth, to
compensate, I suppose, for his bitter tongue. He is as much at
home in a pastry shop as in a quarrel. Although he loves his
smoke, too, and his coffee. I do not remember having ever read
(
of any one in the Divine Conclave of the Kaaba that included
the famous herb and bean, or anything similar to them, in his
scheme of eternal bliss.
But there still remains, in spite of Wahhabism, something
�MHBMI
_
MARCH, 1928
5
of the pagan in the; Arab of to-day—the Arab of the desert who
anticipates a good and generous host in Allah. For is he not a
sort of Super-Sheikh with an inexhaustible supply of tobacco
and coffee and sweetmeats? Of what worth his heaven, if he.
were not? It is the bedouin's boast that if he find no coffee and
sweetmeats, at least, in heaven, when he gets there, he would
leave it anon.
The pre-Islamic Arabs were avowedly pagan and often
grossly material. One of their mighty kings was once warned
by a prophet who preached the doctrine of monotheism, praised
Allah the one and only god, in whose paradise flowed streams
of milk and honey and wine. But the unrepenting and blaspheming Shaddad ibn 'Aad disdained the warnings of the prophet. Apparently, he was on good terms with the Jinn- for he
summoned them to build for him a terrestrial paradise, which
should surpass in magnificence and splendor any paradise to
come. The Jinn obeyed} but Shaddad ibn 'Aad did not live
to enjoy the enchanted fruits of their labor.
The invisible spirit-world was indeed as real, as palpable
to the pagans of Arabia as the visible and material} for in their
legendary history, as later in the Arabian Nights, many wars
with the Jinn are chronicled,—the battles are graphically described. Gradually, half of them were conquered, and they
fought with the Arabs as their allies against the other half.
Hence, the good and the evil Jinn we meet with in legend and
tale and creed—in the chronicles, in the Nights, and in the Koran.
Hence, too, the great service they render to the mighty and wise
of the sovereigns of the world. Sometimes they make a mistake, as in the case of King Shaddad, and regret it. But King
Solomon, uour Lord Sulaiman", was the greatest and wisest of
their masters. He was their patron and their friend. For him,
the good Jinn, by the command of Allah, built the temples of
Syria and the palaces of Al-Yaman. Following is the testimony
of the Koran: (1)
1
!
"And unto Solomon," (Allah is speaking to the
Prophet Muhammad) "did we subject the wind, which
travelled in the morning a month's journey, and a
month's journey in the evening; and we caused a fountain of molten brass to flow for him. And of the Jinn
(1) Surat Saba (Chapter XXXIV). — Rodwell's Translation.
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
were some who worked in his presence by the will of
his Lord
They made for him whatever he pleased
of private chambers, and images, and dishes large as
tanks, and cooking pots that stood firmly."
The fountain of molten brass herein mentioned was built
for King Solomon in the desert,—was carried there, in fact, by
the Jinn. This is corroborated in the Muhammedan Traditions,
or Commentaries of the Koran. The Jinn, say the Commentators, having transported the fountain to the desert beyond the
city named Andalus (Andalusia)—their geographical knowledge
is amazing—built there a great city twelve miles in length and
twelve in breadth around the fountain. Later, one of the Khalifs of Damascus, who must have doubted the words of the corroborating witnesses or suspected them of exaggeration, sent one
of his generals, Musa ibn Nusair, on an archaeological expedition. Musa's report is recorded in the Arabian Nights. That
city in the Sahara is called the City of Brass, and the Commentators did not misrepresent the truth or exaggerate it. Indeed,
Musa returned to the Omaiyad Khalif with material for a most
thrilling story, as well as the material evidence of that enchanted land. He brought back with him a specimen of the bottled
Jinn of King Solomon and mermaids which were preserved, he
tells us, in wooden tanks.
This then is atmosphere and flavor of pre-Islamic Arabic
mythology. It is difficult to see how it can be of either Persian
or Indian origin, as some Orientalists maintain. That it is indigenous is, on the contrary, quite obvious. I have dwelled
briefly on the subject, therefore, only to emphasize the fact that
the mythology of The Nights is the very soul of illusion incarnate in the living agencies of nature,—of scenes and elements
peculiar to the Peninsula. In it also, to the dreamer of the desert, the grandiose is as common as the sand and the infantile is
as marvelous as the sun.
This attitude towards the miraculous and supernatural, vested as with Teutons in the anthropomorphic, ascribing to it human feelings and passions, is as strong to-day as it was in the
past. For the Arabs, like the Celtic people, have always resisted,
and are still to a certain extent resisting, their times j and even
though they wear themselves out in the defense of desperate
causes, they never yield absolutely to a superior power or understanding. They are, as a race, more assimilative than pliable.
J
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2SS2
MARCH, 1928
7
What they yield to the outside world is much less than what
they take from it. Their own customs and traditions, for instance, were as binding wherever Arabic was spoken in the times
of the Prophet as they were in Arabia proper. Even a native
conqueror had to adopt the manners and assimilate to a certain
extent the traditions of the conquered tribe.
Thus, when they resisted the Prophet Muhammad and
finally surrendered to Al-Islam, they brought with them into
the new creed something of their pagan mythology, which the
Prophet had to accept. The maleficent and the beneficent Jinn
were, therefore, designated as believers and unbelievers, that is
half of them was converted to Al-Islam while the other half
remained pagan. They themselves testify to this in the Koran,
which devotes to the subject a whole Chapter entitled the Jinn.
Says the Prophet:
"It has been revealed to me that a company of the
Jinn believed and said: 'Verily, we have heard a marvelous discourse (The Koran). It guideth to the
truth; therefore, we believe it*"
«
I
The faithful Commentators, who have written a Sahara of
books on the Koran and the Traditions (Sayings of the Prophet),
must have had a subtle sense of humor or they deemed it their
business to elucidate and instruct in an entertaining manner. The
Prophet Muhammad, they assure us, met the Jinn in person,
addressed them admonishingly, and offered them the alternative
of either Al-Islam or eternal perdition. They also had a penchant for detail, the Commentators, and not a little appreciation
of local color. They would seem, nevertheless, in this particular instance, accurate in their report; for they set down the time
and place of that historical meeting. Those of the Jinn who
hearkened not to the Prophet, who preferred in their perversity
eternal damnation to a new religion, became enemies of those
who accepted Al-Islam, and civil wars among them ensued. Some
of these wars are recorded in Arab history, as I have remarked,
and chronicled in The Book of a Thousand and One Nights. No
spice of Arabia, no miracle of faith or romance could sweeten
the bitter enmity that existed between the Jinn.
For they were not only human—they were Semitic. Their
serenity in the face of danger, their impetuousness in moments
of security, their ghoulish, unearthly passion, their magnanimity,
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
8
self-restraint and self-sacrifice, all the contrarieties of their nature are quite consistent with the flamboyant spirit of the Arabs,
whose fancy, like their faith, is fed upon rhapsodies. The delicate beauty, the soft shadings which characterize the Celtic romances, for instance, are wanting in the climate of Arabia as in
its Koran, its poetry, and its literature.
Every moment, whether under friendly or unfriendly influences, the Arab lives fully, intensely, religiously. For him,
the elemental value of things is never lost. Everything essential to the daily task must necessarily mean life or death. Hence,
the exaggerated vesture of his thoughts, the poetic magnifications of his soul, the humorous impossibilities of his vision. To
a city dweller, what is a flower, what is a star, what is a cup of
water? But to one who has often thirsted in the arid waste, who
was often swept to the verge of the grave by the desert storm,
the flower, in the sheer ecstasy of discovery, becomes a magnificent garden, the trickling brackish spring a flowing stream of
crystal water, and the twinkling little star a radiant but friendly
sun!
i
;
The Perfect Brother
Translation of
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
Once I had a brother in Allah, and what made him great
in my eyes, was the smallness of the world in his eyes. He was
beyond the tyranny of his desire, so much so that he did never
covet that which was beyond his reach j and toward that which
was within his reach he was never avaricious. He blamed no
man, so that he would not have to find excuses if found in a
like situation. He never complained of pain until he was cured.
He did whatever he said, and said not what he would not do.
He was never forced to keep silent, though he might be forced
into speech. His eagerness to hear surpassed his desire to be
heard. When confronted by two opposing motives, he sought
to find which was akin to the lower passions, and that he shunned.
Seek ye these principles , and cling to them, and boast of
themj and if ye should fail, know that to gain only the few
is better than to lose all. — Ali.
er.
�.- -
-,
MARCH, 1928
Development of Dairy Farming
In Syria and Lebanon
By
GEORGE KNAYSI
Instructor of Bacteriology, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
In a previous article I have discussed in a very general way
the agricultural situation in Lebanon and Syria. I have shown
that the troubles are, so to speak, physiological in nature and
are due to the wrong functioning of the system as a whole. The
treatment should be supervised by vigilant and competent men
and should consist of educating the farmer in the best methods
of soil management suitable to his conditions. Not until every
thing is functioning well can we think of carrying out ambitious
plans for further development of the country's resources. The
present article is intended to call attention to a type of farming
almost unknown in the East, but which seems to have great possibilities in the agricultural development of our country, namely
dairy farmnig.
By dairy farming is meant those methods of soil management which aim principally at the production of food for dairy
herds which in turn transform part of it into milk. Dairy farming, as I said, is almost unknown in our country where grain
and fruit farming are the predominating types and where milk
is produced as a side line in quantities hardly exceeding the needs
of the farm. The milk producer, in our country, is not the farmer but mainly the shepherd with his numerous goats and sheep.
The dairy cow is relegated into a minor position. But the country can sustain only a limited number of shepherds and that number will naturally decrease as the country is developed, and the
major part of their goats and sheep will have to be fenced in
what becomes virtually a dairy farm. I doubt, however, whether, inside of a fence, any of those romantic creatures can compete with the dairy cow in an essentially unromantic age, and,
sooner or later, that animal will survive which will give the
largest amount of milk with the least possible expenditure, and
I believe that certain good breeds of dairy cows will ultimately
win as milk producers.
�1
10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
I know, however, of no actual data to support or invalidate
my statement, and a thorough study should be undertaken on
an experimental basis. The goat may hold its own for certain
purposes, for instance the production of milk for making certain types of native cheese, but on the whole, it can be hardly
doubted that to develop in our country successful dairy sections
requires the importation of efficient breeds of dairy cattle which
snould be fed scientific rations for their maximum production,
and the elaboration of a scheme of soil management in which
the native hay plants should be studied with respect to their
food value and their effect on the soil, and, if necessary, new
plants should be introduced. If then we find a steady outlet
for, the milk produced, nature, which is extremely generous with
Syria and Lebanon, will furnish the rest, namely, good soil, cool
climate and plenty of cold water, factors very important for a
successful dairy farming. Of all the sections I have known in
my various travels, the western slopes of the Anti-Lebanon and
the beautiful plains of Al-Beqa{, the Ccelesyria of the Greeks,
will have my choice for the dairy farms of which I am dreaming and have dreamt for the last few years.
The necessary outlets for the milk produced may be many.
Fluid milk consumption should be encouraged and the public
should learn the advantages of milk in the diet especially when
it can be safely used without boiling. Pasteurization plants will
therefore have to be erected, with adequate means of refrigeration in storage and transportation. Beirut, Zahle and various
Lebanese towns could be easily supplied with a high-grade milk
produced in that marvelous section for dairying which lies near
Zahle. The surplus milk could be easily absorbed by the various dairy industries for the manufacture of butter, condensed,
evaporated and powdered milk, ice-cream, various cheeses, milk
sugar, and finally casein which is now extensively used in various
industries. I must not forget to mention also the various sour
milk drinks including our national laban.
Thanks to the researches conducted in various countries
during the last thirty years, the dairy industries are no more
empirical. Every process has been investigated and many are
now well understood. An example will make things somewhat
clearer: Swiss cheese has always been manufactured in Switzerland. Nobody knew why a duplication of the process of manufacturing in the United States, for instance, did not yield any-
\
�MARCH, 1928
'. 1
1 «
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thing resembling the classical Swiss cheese, with its so-called
"eyes" and its characteristic flavor. Switzerland, therefore, continued to supply the world with its much coveted cheese until
the investigations of Dr. Y. M. Sherman, then at the United
States Department of Agriculture and now head of the Department of Dairy Industry at Cornell University, showed that the
"eyes" of Swiss cheese and its flavor are due to certain bacteria
which live in the absence of air. Dr. Sherman was able to isolate
those bacteria and to grow them in the laboratory. Excellent
Swiss cheese is therefore made in the United States. All the
American manufacturer has to do is to add the "eye" producing
bacteria at a certain stage of the manufacturing process, and he
is more certain of success than the Swiss manufacturer who is
still using his old empirical methods. There is no end to similar
examples.
If such industries could be developed in Syria and Lebanon,
what a source of wealth our people would have.
Let us hope that men and the necessary investments will
soon be available to make out of the country of our fathers the
land that flows with milk and honey that it used to be.
Said a Blade of Grass
By G. K.
GIBRAN
Said a blade of grass to an autumn leaf, "You make such
a noise falling! You scatter all my winter dreams."
i
Said the leaf indignant, "Low-born and low-dwelling!
Songless, peevish thing! You live not in the upper air and you
cannot tell the sound of singing."
Then the autumn leaf lay down upon the earth and slept.
And when spring came she waked again
and she was a blade
of grass.
i
And when it was autumn and her winter sleep was upon
her, and above her through all the air the leaves were falling,
she muttered to herself, "O these autumn leaves! They make
such a noise! They scatter all my winter dreams."
I
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Recent Developments in Palestine
(Based on Reports from American Consul Oscar Heizer, Jerusalem, and Commercial Attache James F. Hodgson, Cairo,
and Published in Commerce Reports of Feb. 20, 1928.)
Although under a different mandate, Palestine, nevertheless, constitutes an integral part of Syria, bound to it by race, language and traditions. The problems of the part, therefore, are the problems of the whole,
and in reprinting the following account of conditions in Palestine by the
Department of Commerce we are acting on our policy of giving accurate
and complete information on all subject of interest affecting Syria as a
whole.
The Editor.
Recent reports from Palestine indicate an improvement
from the crisis that prevailed in 1926 and the greater part of
1927. Industrial activity has increased, and the orange crop is
more satisfactory. The unemployment problem, however^ is
still serious, in spite of the increased industrial needs and relief
afforded through additional requirements of labor for construction work on the new Rutenberg hydroelectric project.
The country had made rapid progress during the period
1921-1925, and the reaction which set in during the latter year
was a natural result of overexpansion. This reaction, however,
has not been without certain beneficial effects. It has eliminated
the less stable factors from the economic structure and has resulted in a general readjustment of the country to its increased
population and changed conditions, thus paving the way there
for further constructive work.
Rapid Growth of Population Caused Inflation—Depression Follows.
The population of Palestine at the end of 1926 was estimated at 890,000, as compared with 737,000 in October, 1922.
This increase demanded an urgent demand for housing and gave
impetus to certain small industries, which provided employment
for many immigrants. When the reaction set in during 1925,
however, the labor released from these activities could not be
absorbed by agriculture, which had not progressed so rapidly as
had industry. Moreover, about this time the immigration into
I
�MARCH, 1928
13
Palestine was at its peak, so that a rather difficult situation developed—unemployment increased, the purchasing power of the
people declined, and industries dependent upon the home market
reduced or ceased operations. This situation marked the beginning of the readjustment that has continued through 1926 and
1927.
Funds from abroad had contributed largely to the rapid
development of the country, so that a diminution of this supply
during the past two years has had an important effect on the
credit situation. Money has been tight and the banks have adopted a very conservative credit policy, a condition that has resulted
in numerous failures of concerns established during the peak
of prosperity. These failures, however, are not an accurate index of general conditions in the country, since these concerns
were the first to feel the effects of depression, whereas the more
stable institutions have been able to survive the reaction.
Budget Position Improved.
A satisfactory condition is noted in the progress of public
finances in Palestine. From a deficit of £E72,000, in the budget
of 1922-23 a surplus of £E187,000 is indicated in the 1926-27
budget, leaving a surplus for the period 1922-1927 estimated at
£E500,000 ($2,500,000).
Large Areas Barren—Research Aids Agriculture.
Of the total area of approximately 9,000 square miles, about
one-third is barren land capable of little, if any, agricultural
development. Fully 1,800 square miles more are of questionable agricultural use. The remainder, an area of somewhat more
than 3,000,000 acres, has definite agricultural possibilities, but
in some large sections irrigation and other more or less expensive
operations are necessary for profitable farming.
The chief development in agriculture has been the settlement of Jewish immigrants under the auspices of the various
organizations. Large sums have been spent for the purchase
of land for settlement purposes, considerable areas of swamp
land have been drained, and agricultural experiment stations
have been established; all this has resulted in the introduction
of new crops. A special study of live stock husbandry has been
undertaken, with a resultant improvement in the care of animals
and their breeding; also, an educational campaign has been
launched for the purpose of introducing modern methods of
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
14
poultry farming. A survey was also made of soil conditions, fertilizer requirements, and underground water supply, with a view
to placing agriculture on a more scientific basis.
Fruit Growing Increases—Oranges Most Valuable Crop.
The climate and soil of Palestine are particularly well
adapted for fruit growing, and its development has received
special attention. Oranges constitute the most successful crop
and their culture has developed rapidly since 1921, with large
increase in acreage planted in 1925 and 1926. In the latter
year oranges represented approximately 44 per cent, of total
export values and a small gain over 1925.
Exact statistics of production are not available, but the following estimates have been made for oranges and lemons combined:
BOXES
1921
1922
1923
830,960 1924
1,234,250 1925
1,365,540 1926
BOXES
1,589,330
2,146,450
1,887,500
Watermelons also constitute an increasingly important item
in the fruit production of Palestine. Other fruits grown in commercial quantities are apricots, figs, plums, and raisins, but their
exports are relatively unimportant.
Wheat, barley, durra, and sesame constitute the major grain
crops of the country. Local production, however, is not sufficient
for domestic needs, and certain quantities are imported regularly. This condition has resulted in an increase of area sown to
grains.
Manufacturing Unimportant—Mineral Resources Limited.
Manufacturing is relatively unimportant in Palestine. A
few industries have been introduced, with varying success; but,
temporarily at least, the lack of raw materials and the absence
of coal for fuel handicap the establishment of manufacturing on
a large scale. The fuel need, however, is expected to be substituted by power from the proposed hydroelectric projects under
the Rutenberg scheme. Among the older and more important
industries of the country may be mentioned flour milling, production of silicate bricks (made of sand and lime), vegetable oils
and soap, cement, wine, cigarettes, etc.
The mineral resources of the country have not been fully
t
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MARCH, 1928
15
investigated, but partial surveys indicate that the only potential
mineral wealth is contained in the waters of the Dead Sea. The
deposits of this sea represent a valuable asset from a commerdal
point of view, and negotiations for their exploitation have been
carried on for some time.
Commercial Centers Developing—Rapid Growth of Tel-Aviv.
1
s
Jerusalem, with a population of 70,000, is the capital and
prindpal inland trading center of Palestine. From a commerdal point of view, however, it is not of outstanding importance,
although it is the center of the growing tourist traffic of the Holy
Land. Jaffa, the principal port of the country, is the leading
commerdal dty. It is the center for the export of oranges, and
a number of small industries are located there. An outstanding
handicap is the lack of an adequate harbor; ships are forced to
anchor about a mile offshore in an open roadstead, and the loading and unloading of cargoes is effected by lighters. Jaffa is
connected with Jerusalem by a motor road and by rail.
Haifa (or Caiffa) is another growing port. It commands
the hinterland, with which it is connected by rail} is the terminus
of the Cairo-Kantara-Lydda-Haifa line, and is the center of
many good motor roads that radiate from it. It also lacks a
harbor, but it is estimated that less expense would be involved
in developing this harbor than the one at Jaffa.
Tel-Aviv, the center of the Jewish colonies in Judea, has
grown under the impetus of Jewish immigration from a suburb of Jaffa to a munidpality of 40,000 population. The largest
orange and almond groves and vineyards are located in its vidnity. Until 1925 the expansion of Tel-Aviv was such that the
demand for houses was greatly in excess of the buildings available, and an extensive building program was launched in order
to keep pace with the influx of workers and residents. As a consequence, the dty was greatly overbuilt in antidpation of a permanent inflow of population, and the economic crisis which Palestine has been undergoing since October, 1925, has been particularly acute in the dty of Tel-Aviv.
The development of cheap electric power by the Rutenberg
power plant is expected to be a boon to manufacturers in TelAviv and the surrounding country. Though many of the industries have been shut down on account of the present economic
crisis, it is antidpated that, as the crisis subsides, these will reopen.
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Hydroelectric Project Will Aid Industry.
The Rutenberg plan, which has the official sanction of the
Palestine Government in the form of a concession for 70 years
to the Palestine Electric Corporation (Ltd.), Tel-Aviv, Palestine,
calls for the harnessing of the Jordan River at intervals from
its source to the point where it empties into the Dead Sea, in addition to the utilization of the waters of the Yarmuk River in
the same manner. The first dam will be constructed at the point
where the Jordan River leaves Lake Tiberias (the Sea of Galilee)
with a power house at the town of Abadieh. Between these two
points there is a fall of 40 meters in 8 miles.
It has been estimated that when the first stage of the development is completed a supply of 70,000,000 kilowatt-hours of
energy per year will be provided. As consumption, according to
the present requirements, will be 20,000,000 kilowatt-hours a
year, there will be a considerable surplus for new industrial enterprises.
In addition to the hydroelectric development, the Rutenberg scheme also calls for the construction of a system of irrigation ditches, which would convert many large sections of arid
land into farms.
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en
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Railway Improved—Motor Roads Extended.
The economic development of the country has been accompanied by a general improvement and extension of communications. There has been no new railroad construction of any importance, but the existing roads and rolling stock have been improved considerably. The network of motor roads has been so
extended that good roads are now available to all points of intesest in the country, including Bethlehem, Hebron, Nazareth,
the Sea of Galilee, Nablus, Jericho, the Dead Sea, the River
Jordan, Es-Salt, Amman (Transjordania), Damascus (Syria),
Tyre, Sidon, Acre, Haifa, Jaffa, and Tel-Aviv. The Government's program of road construction anticipates further extension to all centers of population in the country. It is of interest
that of 2,123 motor vehicles registered in 1926, 85 per cent, were
of American make.
The streets in the principal cities, particularly in Jerusalem
and. Jaffa, are .not in satisfactory condition, but contracts have already been let for macadamizing the main thoroughfares. It is
planned to resurface all the city streets in the near future.
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�JAFFA, PRINCIPAL PORT OF PALESTINE
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The open roadstead of Jaffa makes the construction of a modern harbor a more expensive
than the development of the port of Haifa, which is fast gaining on Jaffa. (See Article
Developments in Palestine.)
'
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undertaking
on Recent
�TEL AVIV,
PALESTINE
Center of Zionist colonization activities in Palestine which rose within the last few years from a
mere suburb of Jaffa to a city of 40,000. (See Article on Recent Developments in Palestine.)
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�MARCH,
1928
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Imports Exceed Exports.
The balance of Palestine's foreign trade has been consistently unfavorable, varying in amount between $18,000,000 and
$30,000,000 per annum. It is impossible to state to what extent
this adverse balance is compensated by invisible exports and
money remittances from abroad, as even rough estimates of these
amounts are not available.
Imports consist chiefly of textile goods, wheat flour, government stores, colonial products, automobiles, benzine, and vari <ous manufactured goods. Exports include oranges, soap, watermelons, wines, curios, etc.
1
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American Sales Well Maintained.
The depression has had a marked effect on general imports j
ithese declined about 20 per cent, in 1926 as compared with 1925,
•and a further decrease is indicated for 1927. Imports from the
United States, nevertheless, have been fairly well maintained,
:and the fact that most of the funds contributed for development
work in Palestine originate in this country should have a favorable effect on this trade. Although Palestine itself has a limited
capacity for absorbing foreign manufactures, it is a valuable field
for the introduction of many products that may ultimately find
a market in the adjoining territory.
To a Female Cup-Bearer
Translated from the Arabic by J. D. CARLYLE
Come, Leila, fill the goblet up,
Reach round the rosy wine,
Think not that we will take the cup
From any hand but thine.
A draught like this 'twere vain to seek,
No grape can such supply;
It steals its tint from Leila's cheek,
Its brightness from her eye.
I;
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Syrian Naturalization Question
in the United States
CERTAIN LEGAL ASPECTS OF OUR
NATURALIZATION LAWS
By JOSEPH W. FERRIS
PART II.
The Syrians were most anxious to act on the suggestion of
Judge Smith and they immediately carried their appeal to the
Circuit Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, the title of the case
being DOW vs. UNITED STATES, et al (226 Fed. Rep, 145
Sept. 14, 1915.)
It was argued before Pritchard, Knapp and Woods, Circuit Judges. Woods delivered the opinion of the Court. It was
most intelligent and comprehensive.
After reciting the fact that Dow was denied naturalization
upon the sole ground that a person of Asiatic birth is not a free
white person within the meaning of the naturalization statute,
the learned Judge reviewed the Statute at length, stating that
if it be assumed that the preponderance of the argument was
strongly in favor of the conclusion that in 1790 the popular understanding was that people of European nativity or descent
were white, nevertheless, however, the popular conception of
race division became more distinct as time went on, and that such
a construction in 1790 would not be conclusive to the present
statute, because the legislators of later years could not have supposed that the term "free white persons" would carry the restricted meaning as held by Judge Smith, and that the controlling factor in ascertaining the moving intention should be given
to the words as they stand in the present law. He pointed out
that in addition to the amendments at various times, there was
a repeal and a new statute in 1802, and new statutes in 1824 and
1828 ; that in 1870 there had been vigorous debate on the proposition to amend the law by striking out altogether the limitation
to "free white persons" so that all aliens without regard to race
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MARCH, 1928
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could be naturalized. This proposed amendment was defeated,
but it resulted in the extension of the privilege of naturalization to "aliens of African nativity and African descent". That
in 1873 the report of the Committee on Revision of the Laws
omitted the limiting words "free white persons" and that this
report was adopted and the limitation was thus removed, being,
however, reinstated in 1875j and that certainly after all this
Legislative discussion and reconsideration and enactment, the
present statute must be construed in light of the general opinion
now existing that the inhabitants of a portion of Asia, including
Syria, were to be classified as white persons.
With respect to the argument that Syria and the contiguous
countries of Asia near the Mediterranean had been subject to
many changes in their inhabitants through conquests and other
causes, he held that the consensus of opinion at the time of the
enactment of the Statute now in force was that they were so
closely related to their neighbors, on the European side of the
Mediterranean, that they should be classified as white, and must
necessarily be held to fall within the term "free white persons"
used in the statute.
Reference was made by the Court to the opinion of later
writers who are in accord with Blumenbach that Syrians are to
be classified as white people, citing Pritchard, Natural History
of Man, 1848; Pickering, Races of Man 1851; Figuier, the
Human Race, 1872; Jeffries, Natural History of the Human
Race, 1879; Brinton, Races and People, 1901; Keane, Worlds
Peoples, 1908; and the Dictionary of Races as contained in the
reports of the Immigration Commission, 1911, which says:
"Physically the modern Syrians are of mixed Syrian,
Arabian and even Jewish blood. They belong to the
Semitic branch of the Caucasian race, thus widely differing from their rulers, the Turks, who are in origin
Mongolian."
The Court then held that in accordance with this construction of the Statutes, a large number of Syrians had been naturalized without question and that it was significant in view of these
decisions and this practice of the Courts, that Congress had not
seen fit to change the law.
Thus the decision of Judge Smith in the lower Court was
reversed and Dow's petition for naturalization was granted.
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�THE SYRIAN WORLD
20
The Government did not see fit, and this is regrettable,
to appeal. Nevertheless, the decision of the Circuit Court of
Appeals in the Dow case is unassailable.
It is believed, however, that the question has been decided
for all times by the decision of the United States Supreme Court
in the case of UNITED STATES vs. BHAGAT SINGH,
THIND, 261 U. S. 204, (October Term, 1922).
It is true that in the last mentioned case the question pertained to a Hindoo, nevertheless, the opinion of Mr. Justice
Sutherland, delivered on behalf of the United States Supreme
Court, very pertinently answers any contention such as made by
Judge Smith.
It was held that the words "free white persons" imparted
a racial and not an individual test and were meant to indicate
persons of only what is popularly known as the Caucasian race.
This is in direct contravention of the holding of Judge Smith.
It is further held that the mere ability on the part of an
applicant for naturalization to establish a line of descent from
a Caucasian ancestor did not ipso facto and necessarily conclude
the inquiry. "Caucasian" was a conventional word of much
flexibility as the study of literature dealing with racial questions
disclosed and while it and the words "white person" are treated
as synonymous in some of the cases, yet they were not of identical meaning—idem per idem.
The Court held that the word "Caucasian" not only was
not employed in law but was probably wholly unfamiliar to the
original framers of the Statute in 1790, and that when it was
employed by the Court, they did so solely to ascertain the legislative intent.
The United States Supreme Court then went on to hold
that during the last half century, especially, the word by common usage had acquired a popular meaning, not clearly defined,
to be sure, but sufficiently so to enable the Court to say that this
popular, as distinguished from its scientific, application was of
appreciably narrower scope and that it was in the popular sense
of the word, therefore, that it was employed.
The words "White persons" implied a racial test, but the
term "race" was one which for-the practical purpose of the Statute, must be applied to a group of living persons now possessing
in common the requisite characteristics and not to a group of
persons who were supposed to be or really are descended from
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�MARCH, 1928
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some remote common ancestor, but who, whether they both resemble him to a higher or lower extent, had at any rate ceased
altogether to resemble one another.
The question for determination was not, therefore, whether by speculative processes of ethnological reasoning a probability was presented to the scientific mind that persons had the same
origin, but wether such persons can satisfy the common understanding that they are now the same or sufficiently the same to
justify the interpreters of a statute—written in the words of
common speech for common understanding by unscientific men—
in classifying them together in a statuory category as white persons.
The Court further held that the Aryan theory as a racial
basis seems to be discredited by most, if not all modern writers
on the subject of ethnology, and that the term, Aryan, had to
do with linguistic and not at all physical characteristics and that
it would seem reasonably clear that mere resemblance in language indicating a common linguistic root buried in remotely
ancient soil, is altogether inadequate to prove common racial
origin.
As to the word "Caucasian", the Court said that this was
in scarcely better repute and was' at best a conventional term with
an altogether fortuitous origin, which under scientific manipulation had come to include far more than the unscientific mind
suspected.
It said that the various authorities were irreconcilable as to
what constituted a proper racial division and that, for instance,
Blumenbach had five races; Keane, following Linnaeus, four;
Deniker, twenty-nine; and that the explanation probably is, that
the numerous varieties of mankind run into one another by insensible degrees. Therefore a given group cannot be properly
assigned to any of the enumerated grand racial divisions.
The Court then held that the words "free white persons"
are words of common speech to be interpreted in accordance
with the understanding of the common man, synonymous with
the word "Caucasian" only as that word is popularly understood.
In the conclusion of the United States Supreme Court decision, there appears a very important statement which supports
the interpretation that Syrians fall within the provisions of the
Naturalization Law.
The United States Supreme Court said that it was not with-
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�OOOOE'S SEf
THE SYRIAN WORLD
22
out significance that Congress by the Act of February 5th, 1917,
Chapter 39, Sec. 3, 39 Stat. 874, had now excluded from admission into this Country all natives of Asia within designated
limits of latitude and longitude, including the whole of India.
This, in the opinion of the Court, not only constituted conclusive
evidence of the Congressional attitude of opposition to Asiatic
immigration generally, but was persuasive of a similar attitude
toward Asiatic naturalization as well, since it was not likely that
Congress would be willing to accept as citizens the class of persons whom it rejects as immigrants.
While at first blush this statement might seem to be derogatory to any contention that Syrians fell within the provisions
of the Naturalization Law, yet on inspection of the Act of Congress which is now commonly known as the Restrictive Immigration Act, it will be found that Syrians were not one of the excluded class of immigrants because Syria does not fall within
the designated geographical area, from which immigration is
excluded. To the contrary, a fixed quota was established by
Congress for Syrians.
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— BASHA CASE —
It may be further interesting to note that the same Judge
Smith above referred to, had occasion in 1923, on the application of one F. W. Basha, to again raise the question in face ot
the reversal of his decision in the Dow case. He denied the
petition of Basha, assigning as a reason that the passage of the
Restrictive Immigration Act in 1917 showed an intention on the
part of Congress to exclude Syrians from naturalization.
The writer had occasion to deal with this decision at length
and on an application for a rehearing, it being pointed out that
Syria was not within the restrictive territories, Basha's petition
for naturalization was granted.
The geographical limits as fixed by the Act of Congress
of 1917, insofar as they applied to the present question, are as
follows:
On the West — longitude, 50 degrees east of Greenwich Meridian,
On the East — longitude, 110 degrees east of Greenwich Meridian,
and within these East and West longitudes, south of
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islands not
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�OOOOE'S SERIES OF BASE MAPS AND GRAPHS: ASIA ON LAMBERT'S EQUAL AREA PROJECTION; M0.--2Q5
Fee Cka U» n CHOW**. H«*V CIVH Eennomin. «c Prepared by J P*ul Goodt.
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UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 8, SUB-DIVISION (n)
Unless otherwise provided for by existing treaties, persons who are natives of
islands not possessed by the United States adjacent to the Continent of Asia, situate
south of the twentieth parallel latitude north, west of the one hundred and sixtieth
meridian of longitude east from Greenwich, and north of the tenth parallel of latitude
f
'south, or who are natives of any country, province, or dependency situate on the Continent of Asia west of the one hundred and tenth meridian of longitude east from
Greenwich and east of the fiiftieth meridian longitude east from Greenwich and south
Aof the fiftieth parallel of latitude north, except that portion of said territory situate
between the fiftieth and the sixty-fourth meridians of longitude east from Greenwich
and the twenty-fourth and thirty-eighth parallels of latitude north, and no alien now in
,any way excluded from, or prevented from entering, the United States shall be admitted to the United States.
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:
the fiftieth-degree" bf North latitude, excepting the
. part between-longitude 56 degrees and 64 degrees
East and''Between latitude 24 degrees and 38 degrees
-north.
<!;
Thus we see that no part of Syria extends even anywhere
' near the fiftieth degree East of Greenwich, which is the Western
limit of the barred area of immigration, and is over nve hundred miles outside of the nearest exclusion limit.
In addition the conclusive fact is, that Syria was assigned
a quota under the so-called Restrictive Immigration Act.
It is hoped that the question has been settled once for all
and in closing, it might be best to quote the words of Raymond
F. Christ, Commissioner of Naturalization, who in referring to
Syrians, said:
"/ am sure that such evidences of loyalty and patriotism to the Country can have no other than a highly
stimulating effect * * * upon all other nationalities and
American citizens, as well."
The Ameer and the Palace Maid
by DR. N. A. KATIBAH
Translated from the original Arabic of Abu Nawas
A lass hailed swaying down the palace hall.
Half drunk, half sober, winsome, coy and tall}
Her flowing mantle, now let loose, I won;
Her girdle, too, unguarded, came undone.
I pressed the advantage, veiled by sable night;
"Black night," she scorned, "vouchsafes but blind delight.
Nonplussed, I prayed her bind her love to test;
She sweetly breathed: "Tomorrow thou'rt my guest.
But on the morrow when I sought her graces,
,»
"Daylight," quoth she, "the word of night effaces.
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�MARCH, 1928
25
The Meeting
A SHORT STORY
By
HARRY CHAPMAN FORD
Author of "Anna Ascends" etc.
The mystery is still discussed at Khoury's Coffee House,
where, when in town, it is my wont to have my evening meal.
I refer to the strange and sudden disappearance from the Syrian
Quarter of Froscine Sibyan, "Heavenly Froscine" as she was
called, and she was heavenly—divinely so in every possible way.
Beautiful, very dark brown hair, thick at the roots and reaching
to her knees, crowned an oval madonna-like face with cheeks
that seemed to have been kissed by the rose petals of old Syria.
Eyes as deep and as clear as the old wells in the Coele Valley—
a mouth as warm and as sweet as the summer zephyrs which
play around the slopes of Lebanon, and a body as straight and
as graceful as a date palm. Such was Froscine. "The Spirit of
Syria", I called her, transplanted and flourishing on American
soil.
Yes, the mystery is still frankly wondered at and discussed.
She vanished one day and never a trace of her has been heard
of since. Everybody has his version of the affair. The fat little
oil merchant, the lace man, the doctor, the lawyer and all the
rest, have some sort of theory about it. Perhaps, you, too, have
heard of the case and have your own particular ideas concerning it. But now I feel it time to state that all those ideas and
theories are quite wrong—and the true story of it is known only
to me. I, the Anglo-Saxon, who sat at the corner table and
listened, quite amused, at the arguments and discussions, am the
only living being who has the true story of Froscine, that is,
I am quite sure it is the true story, and I should like to hear
from any of my readers and get their opinion on my tale. They
may deride and scoff at it, but let me say that I have gone to
considerable expense, and I hope not waste of much valuable
time, to prove my case, and I am telling this little story with
the fear that you will call me a superstitious and ignorant fool,
wmmm
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
but I will put the facts before you and you can deduct from
them what you will and come to your own conclusions. I lay
my reputation before you and you can weigh and judge it as
you will weigh and judge the story—not story, no, for the tale
is true.
Before I unfold the matter before you, I will digress for
the moment and mention to you an historical and recorded fact.
It should allay some of the doubt you might entertain when you
have done with the story. Here is one thing I want you to remember before you condemn my narrative as impossible and ridiculous and consign it to the waste paper basket. It is this.
Somewhat over one hundred and fifty years ago, near the
old city of Damascus, the wife of a well-to-do Syrian merchant
bore him twins. These children were linked together by a cartilage or gristlei at the hips, like the well-known Siamese Twins,
but in the case of the Syrian children the attachment was not hopeless and the doctor separated them a few weeks after the birth.
However, the surgeon's knife could not separate their souls and
they grew to manhood linked in heart and soul, never out of
each other's sight and with a strong and beautiful love for each
other. At the proper time these boys were, sent to Paris, France,
to complete their education. This finished, they entered business
there and prospered. The First Consul had been proclaimed
Emperor by the Senatus Consultum and plans were being made
to crush Syria under the iron heel along with other weak countries, when Cadoudal, Pichegru, the two Polignacs and others
entered into a plot against Napoleon with the object in view, viz,
the restoration of the Bourbons. Naturally, the two Syrians entered into the plot, which was discovered and proclamations
placarded their names, in large letters, on every street corner,
accompanied by the word, "Trattres a la Republique". The
brothers were forced to flee for their lives, but with a goodly
sum of gold they escaped in disguise and returned to their native
land, separating, however, to help the escape. They never met
again, but to the end they kept in touch with each other, lived
and died as all men should, leaving families. Of course, they
changed their names to avoid arrest, even in their own land,
the arm of the emperor being long, but when the "murderer
of Europe" was safe at St. Helena, they resumed their family
name again. Now, bear in mind, the name was Sibyan. The
incident I have, quoted above may seem, at the present moment,
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MARCH, 1928
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to be vague and involved to you, but I think it will prove my
story beyond a doubt. Let us get ahead with Froscine.
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Froscine's father had been a very good friend of mine and
at his death, I sort of looked after her, or, I should say, she
positively looked after me. I had a studio in New York at the
time, commuting from my home in the country and arriving
there at nine in the morning, I would work until about three
in the afternoon and then go home. Froscine, who held a very
good stenographer's position, would work for me, part time,
getting to the studio sometime after five in the afternoon and
doing odd jobs for me, such as mailing scripts, recording rejections or acceptances, copying plays and that sort of work. Hence,
I rarely saw her, except on Saturdays when we would meet at
one o'clock and spend the rest of the day together, taking in
two performances at the theatres and having dinner in some
little strange eating place. Those were banner days for us. We
both enjoyed them and the scheme of things might have gone
on to no end had not a fatal thing happened. Froscine fell in
love—fell in love suddenly, and to my mind without cause. It
happened in this wise. One Saturday, as we were about to leave
the studio and go to a show, there was a knock at the door. Froscine answered and on the threshold stood one of the most pleasant and wholesome youths I ever saw. In very perfect English
he stated his business. He was a confectioner. The maker of
sweet cakes of all sorts and was soliciting orders to be delivered
twice a week. Would we please taste his wares? And if we
liked his concoctions, would we give him an order? He lifted
the cover of a strange looking basket and there before us on spotless linen were his creations. I recall now that Froscine wasn't
particularly interested in his sweetmeats. Rather did she look
steadily into his face—and after a few words between them, she
gave me the shock of my life by asking him inside. One could
not help liking the boy. What a smile he had. What a smile.
His body was like that of a Greek God, and he was tall for his
race, very tall. We sampled his wares, and as Froscine used to
boss me unmercifully (and I liked it) she ordered cakes for my
particular diet twice a week.
Suddenly, without rhyme or reason, the two burst into their
native tongue. The conversation waxed fast between them, mak-
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TH£ SYRIAN WORLD
ing Froscine and I quite late for the matinee, but I didn't care,
as they seemed so animated and keen toward each other and from
time to time Froscine would throw me a sentence in English and
put me wise to the trend of their conversation. It seemed, by
a strange chance, that they were of the same name—Sibyan—but
probably in no way related, as their parents came from distinct
districts in Syria.
All things must end but love, and so with their first meeting. Amine, that was the boy's name, had customers to seek and
we had a matinee to see. We parted with him and I did not
see Amine for another week. Not so with Froscine. She told
me she saw him every day. It was a true case of love at first
sight. He was her man and she was his woman. There was
no chance of getting away from that fact for either of them.
Love came into their hearts, love all powerful and conquering.
It was thrust upon them without their seeking and they were
dazed by its strength and beauty. The whole affair was beyond
understanding to me. I had never seen anything like it before
and can never hope to again. It was a love that happens once
in a lifetime—five lifetimes. I haven't the words to express it.
It was beyond adjectives. A gift from God. At first it left
me with rather a chilly void in my heart. Something seemed
to have gone out of my life, because Froscine was giving most
of her time to her boy, but my fears were quite groundless, for
instead of having only her I had them both, and the Trinity, as
we dubbed ourselves, spent many a happy hour together.
Matters progressed smoothly. Amine had over seven hundred customers, (his smile was not to be resisted) and had opened a shop, a little shop tucked away on a side street but well
patronized. They were to be married at once and spend their
honeymoon at the studio. Everything was cut and dried.
The three of us were very happy, when America entered
the World War. That awful war which warped men's souls or
ennobled them. Amine did not wait for the draft. He couldn't
nor would Froscine let him. He enlisted—and God only knows
what it cost the two of them. Life ahead of them so clear and
beautiful, but they never hesitated for a moment, even when I
advised it. The die was cast but they would be married at once,
no matter what happened. Arrangements were rushed and there
was need for it as Amine was called to report and given only
twenty-four hours to do so. Twenty-four hours! They were
I
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�MARCH, 1928
29
married inside of five. Of course I stood up with them. We
returned to the studio where they were to spend the few bridal
hours that were left and I remained only a short time to make
necessary arrangements. I shall never forget those last few hours
I spent with them. They sat together, close, on the big divan,
with the moon shining through the window upon them making
the lovers—mates—appear as one, undivided. The conversation was rather vague to me, outside of the little business matters we had to clear up, but, aside from those, I remember Froscine giving Amine a tiny little cross on a threadlike chain, which
he placed around his wrist, swearing never to remove it. It had
been her mother's. I have, too, a very vivid recollection of a
solemn promise made by Froscine, that, no matter the outcome,
dead or alive, they would seek each other out. A strange vow,
dead or alive. Nothing could part them. God was good. Life
was only life, but love was everything else.
I left them to the few hours they had before he was to go
away. I never saw the boy again. He went away early the next
morning and very soon Froscine and I were back in our regular
routine again with slips of rejections and plays. From the time
Amine went away Froscine wrote to him twice a day. Never a
day was missed and the boy answered in kind. The poor dears
seemed to get a lot of happiness out of life though they were
three thousand miles apart. Absence; the space of ocean wide;
the lonely hours which slowly crept apace could net dim a love
like that, but rather enhanced it, if such a thing were possible.
Days passed into months and the months into years. It seemed
strange to me that the wrorld didn't give up trying during that
harrowing time. It was a surprise to me to see the sun rise every
morning, while such awful things were occurring. Yet men continued to barter and sell. Politicians still lied; men still hated
and loved—and some even laughed. Yet again, some even made
money.
Exactly ten days before the Armistice, I (one of the men
who laughed) had attended a heavy dinner down town, where
heavier wine was served. I tired of it and soon left the place,
which was only around the corner from the studio. A little tipsy
I should call myself, not drunk, but just a trifle too much of
wine, which had gone to my head in the overheated dining room.
Once in the street, tke thought came to me it would be wise,
owing to the several holdups that were occurring at the time,
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
that I had better stop at the studio and leave my platinum cuff
links, watch and chain and other trinkets of considerable value,
before I walked across town to the ferryhouse four blocks away.
I would leave them with a note to Froscine. I fancied how pleased she would be when she discovered I had done something she
would want me to do. Her dear old absent minded guardian
remembering to save his valuables from possible footpads.
I opened the door and walked in. There was no light in
the vestibule. I went into the studio proper and switched on
the lights. God of Heaven, I shall never forget that sight.
Froscine was there sprawled out on the floor: her head and shoulders resting against the heavy brass coal box. Her beautiful
hair in gorgeous disarray about her, seemed to be trying with
modesty to protect her. Her eyes were wide open, staring cold
and lifeless ahead. In her left hand was an official looking
document, which I recognized at once as from the War Department. I had seen enough of them to know.
ShQ did not recognize me, could not answer me. Her whole
body seemed turned to stone. I picked her up and carried her
to the couch, then called a doctor friend of mine. He worked
all night over her and at last brought her to normal.
Did I say normal? No. Back to life but not normal. For
three months the poor girl hovered between life and death.
Silent and still. Never a word from her, but I felt that she
was going to live 5 that she wanted to live—for some serious object—I knew not what. At last, one day, she arose from the
bed and dressed. Still beautiful, even with her deep set eyes,
hollow cheeks and wasted form. A few articles she packed in
a bag, then she turned to me and said:
"I'll go to Amine, now. He needs me."
Instantly, I feared that she intended to do away with herself.
"Don't do anything so foolish, my child." And as gently
as possible I added:
"Amine would not want you to do that."
She smiled at me wanly.
"You mistake me, dear friend. I will do nothing like you
think.
She mused: "What would be the good?"
And she cryptically added: "It won't be long, now, anyway."
"What won't be long?" I asked mystified.
MM
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�MARCH, 1928
si
"They cannot keep us apart. We have promised. I sail
for France. Will
will you see me off?"
There was no use arguing with her. She must sail for
France, and sail she did. I stood on the dock and watched the
ship disappear over the horizon, with the tingle of her warm
and chaste kiss still on my lips. That's the last I ever saw of
Froscine in life and that's the answer to the mystery of her disappearance. But that's not the end of my story.
*
\i\
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'•if)
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They reached the brow of the hill—the man and woman—
and reciprocally paused for rest. The man removed the cigarette from his lips and pointed the stained and wet end in a
vague manner towards the fast setting sun and spoke.
"It was there, Madame." He gazed at her keenly, expecting a correction by word or sign concerning the madame, but the
woman remained silent and still. He continued:
"It was there. You observe the stone wall? Oui? You
also see the large grey rock where the wall ends? There is a
brook there. At the end of the rock, reaching the water's edge,
is where—where it happened."
He replaced the cigarette in his mouth, puffing contentedly, as if to convey the impression that his information was given
—his work done and it was now the woman's move. Still she
was silent, her eyes fixed steadily on the spot he had indicated.
The man impatiently continued:
"Night is well on us, Madame—and I have passengers—
a bridal couple, to convey to Messincourt by nine—bridal couples
should not be disappointed with all the happy years before them."
He paused a second for a reply but none came, then he
continued— "We are twelve miles from Sachby—will Madame
be so gracious
" The woman seemed to come to life. She
spoke with a strained voice, "The water's edge—at the rock, you
say?"
"Oui, Madame, but nothing was found of him. Not a
button. The shell struck at his feet. The rest of us had fallen
prone, but not he. As a shell bursts fan-shaped w'e escaped, but
he "
"Take this," she almost whispered. She handed him her
full purse, "There is more than enough. Please go—and thank
you"
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The man looked with surprised pleasure at the small but
well stuffed hand bag and then at the woman.
"But, Madame," he objected, yet secreting it in some mysterious pocket under his smock, "you without
er
but
shall I wait for you?"
The woman's eyes had returned their gaze to the rock. I
will have no use for the gold—or for you. You may return
to Sachby."
"As you say, Madame," returned the man, backing towards
the road they had just left. "If Madame finds herself without accommodations, Jean Richard will no doubt lodge her. That
is he, with his two sisters, working in the field beyond the wall."
She glanced toward the three peasants, hoeing lettuce in
the other field. They were working fast, as the lights were turning to black and grey shadows. She answered the man without
looking at him, "I will need no accommodations," then with a
cryptic smile she added, "Return for me in the morning. I |
shall be somewhere near the rock."
"Oui, Madame." He definitely decided that she was crazy.
Fool, that he had been, himself, not to have suspected before.
This tall, dark woman, dressed entirely in black, who seemed
dead all over, save her burning eyes, which were live enough to
drag the rest of her through life itself. She had sought him
out only that morning at Sachby and without any preliminaries,
asked his name—his company and regiment during the war—
and his part of a small skirmish that had taken place near Sachby.
She had brought a letter from headquarters in Paris, so he had
answered all her questions readily enough. Yes, he had reached
Sedan with the American troops after the Hindenberg line had
been broken. Yes, he, as a Frenchman, had been assigned to
such and such company. One or two Frenchmen had been placed
with each company of American troops, to show them the ropes.
Yes. Yes. Yes. He remembered Amine Sibyan, very well.
Nice boy. Wore a gold cross on a small chain around his wrist.
Yes, he knew exactly where he had been killed, but it was useless for Madame to go there. Nothing was found of him. Was
Madame Amine's sister? Yes, yes, he would convey her to the
spot on the morrow. Not today, Madame, it was too late. Time
for supper, nearly. Yet if Madame insisted he would go_ with
her now, but nothing could be seen in the dusk of the evening—
and it would cost her eighty francs. Petrol was so very dear,
*1
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and there was just enough in the tank to take them to the spot
and back—the spot where Amine Sibyan had so unfortunately
been blown to pieces, ever so little pieces. Not a button was
left of him. Those things would happen. He had seen it occur many times during the war.
And so he had brought this strange and ghostly woman to
the place—and she intended to remain through the night. Very
well, let her, but he intended to hide behind the large Lombardy
Poplar and find out just what crazy thing she was up to. From his
place of concealment he saw the woman descend the hill slowly,
her eyes fixed seemingly on the rock he had indicated. When
she reached the spot, she lifted her face toward the sky, her
arms upraised, too, as if she were praying—or, perhaps, giving
thanks for something—yes, that is what it was, for the next instant she was on her knees at the rock, groping through the grass
with her hands, as if searching for something. This seemed to
the man in hiding to take a long time and he was about to stop
his spying, go to his car and drive back to Sachby and the wedding couple, when suddenly the woman stopped her search. She
sat on the grass, her upper body nesting against the rock. A tired
resignation, yet triumphant attitude, told him that she had been
successful in her search—whatever it was for. She laid there
as still as death. Then the watcher was attracted by the actions
of Jean the peasant and his two sisters. Jean, with a cry, pointed toward the wall in an agitated manner with his hoe and the
girls stood transfixed with awe and fear. They could not see
the woman in black. The watcher was sure of that, because the
wall and rock hid her completely from the lettuce workers, hence,
what was causing the stir in the other field? The two girls,
dropping their implements, backed down the row of lettuce, then
turned and ran, Jean following them at a more dignified gait.
The watcher came from his hiding place to meet them and hailed them cheerfully, so as not to frighten the girls, who seemed
to be at their wits' end. The little group reached him.
"God of Heaven," Jean panted, "but we have just seen
something—saw it with our own eyes." The girls were crying
softly with fright.
"Yes, Monsieur," said the man from Sachby, noncommittingly. "With our own eyes," Jean repeated. "A soldier in an
American uniform and a woman dressed in black appeared from
behind the wall near the old grey rock—appeared, I say, and
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
34
walked toward the sun-strange-strange-they were ghosts,
I am sure, for they walked right into the setting sun and disappeared again." He paused, pearing through the gloom at the
man from Sachby in a threatening manner, as if to dare his disbelief. "Do you believe me? Ask Sophie and Annetta, here.
i
1
They
ThaeVwaltrand rock were now hidden in the darkness of
night. The man did not answer. He turned to the road toward
HlS
^iTeinhTtruth," insisted Jean. "We saw them, arm in
arm, like lovers, young and true lovers, walk into the sun.
The man turned to answer him. "Perhaps your imagination,
or the black bread you eat. Get into my car and I will drive
you to your cotta.ee." So they went their way
The next morning the woman was found dead—just as the
man had seen her last. Her face was so beautiful in death with
a heavenly smile that seemed to promise her so much in^ that
mysterious life that is to come. Nothing was found on the wo"an to identify her, save in her left hand tightly d..sped to
her heart, was a little gold cross on a thread-like chain of gold.
They buried her with it—neath the rock.
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Arab Proverbs
Two things only those who have lost appreciate most: Youth
and Health.
Better be silent until you are asked to speak, than speak
until you are asked to be silent.
The wise man is he who makes his own breast the repository of his secrets.
Poor sight is not so much of a shortcoming when one is
blessed with insight.
To ask for undeserving praise is the worst presumption.
The supposition of the learned man is superior to the assertion of the ignorant one.
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35
The Clemency of Mu'awiyah
His Great Forbearance with Zarqa, the Koufite woman Who
Exhorted the Followers of (Ali to Resist Him.
ADAPTED FROM THE ARABIC.
The years immediately following the death of the Prophet
Mohammed were turbulent days for Islam. The issue of succession led to bloody warfare among his followers even though
they were relentlessly pursuing their ever widening plan of conquest. Mu'awiyah had firmly established himself in Syria and
was formulating his plans for a world empire. He was not only
an able general but a master statesman and administrator. He
contested the right of 'Ali to the Khilafat and resolutely went
to war in defense of his claim. The Day of Saffeen, in which
was waged the great battle which was to decide the issue, witnessed one of the bloodiest, most desperate engagements in the annals of the Arabs. Mu'awiyah won and firmly established his
rule* in Damascus. For nearly a hundred years the dynasty which
he founded was master of the destinies of the Islamic Empire
which had expanded to a larger extent than that of the Roman
Empire at the height of its power. Even during the lifetime
of Mu'awiyah most of the conquests were accomplished.
Following the battle of Saffeen, Mu'awiyah one day called
to him his principal lieutenants and supporters to discuss matters of state. The conversation naturally ran first into reminiscences of the signal victory achieved. Some of those present
were bitter in their denunciation of the instigators of the struggle and those responsible for the continuation of the battle after
the preliminary stages. They all agreed that had it not been
for the impassioned appeal of a certain Koufite woman of the
opposing camp the battle would not have lasted so long or taken such a heavy toll in blood.
"I well recall," said a member of the council, "how this
woman, mounted on a conspicuously red camel, harangued the
enemy and urged him on to battle. She is the Zarqa, daughter
of Adee and hails from Al-Koufa. She was indefatiguable on
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
the day of Saffeen. Wherever the lines of the enemy wavered
she drove her camel to their midst and steadied them. Her
words carried such magic force that the cowards were inspired
by them to new courage, those attempting to flee were turned
back to fight and the scattering ranks of the enemy were held
together so much longer. But for her, the friends of 'Ah would
have never resisted our onslaught for the length of time they
did or caused us so much loss."
All those present who had taken part in the memorable
battle acquiesced in the statement of the speaker, and in reply
to Mu'awiyah's question as to what they would advise should
be done to Zarqa, all favored putting her to death.
But the wise Mu'awiyah was indignant at such counsel.
«Fi on you and your ill advice," he said in reply. "Would you
have me, in the consciousness of my power, wreak vengeance on
a woman because of her loyalty to a doomed cause? Such, by
Allah, shall never be." And Mu'awiyah forthwith summoned
his secretary and dictated a letter to his agent in Al-Kouta ordering, him to have Zarqa sent to him to Damascus with some ot
the principal men of her tribe and that all should be provided
on the way with all possible conveniences of travel. Mu awiyah
was determined to again show the magnanimity of character, the
clemency, the benevolent statesmanship which made his reign
one of the most glorious periods of early Islam.
At the appointed time Zarqa reached Damascus and appeared before Mu'awiyah who greeted her most kindly and inquired after her comfort during the journey. The preliminary courtesies over, he asked her if she knew the reason he had sent tor
her and if she had entertained any fears, to which she replied
that she was at the mercy of the Caliph for him to dispose ot
her in accordance with his conception of justice.
"I have sent for you," said Mu'awiyah, "to ascertain from
vou if you were the woman who rode the red camel in the battle of Saffeen and harangued the followers of 'Ali to fight against
me, causing thereby so much more bloodshed among the faithful'?"
"Truth cannot be denied," replied Zarqa.
"But what prompted you to such an act?" again asked Mu'awiyah. ^^ ^ ^ Faithful," she replied, "the head has
n9w been severed and the body mutilated, so why revive dis-
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�MARCH, 1928
if
cussion in a subject that is only iiabie to cause sorrow and pain?
Just as night succeeds day, so do events succeed one another and
bring about different conditions. Whosoever gives a little thought
to different matters will not fail to discover the reasons thereof."
"What you have stated is all true, O aunt," said Mu'awiyah.
"But I would like, to have you repeat your harangues to the followers of 'Ali on the day of Saffeen. Can you recall them?"
"No," she replied.
"Then let me repeat them as best as I can recall that you
may be the judge of their authenticity. You were heard to say:
'O men, candle light cannot eclipse the sun, nor the rays of the
stars dim the brightness of the moon. You know that the mule
cannot outdistance the fleet horse, and that only iron is strong
enough to break iron. You are now fighting for a sacred and
just cause. Let anyone ask us our stand and we shall tell him
that Truth was seeking its course and has now found it in our
defense of our cause. Now you who claim the distinction of
being Immigrants and the Supporters of the Prophet, can you
not see that Justice has been established and that Truth has prevailed? Can it be that the righteous should be on a parity with
wrongdoers and the believers stand on equality with the unbelievers? To battle, then, in defense of right and justice, and
let your stand be that of men who are not found wanting in
courage! Fear you to be smeared with blood? Why, blood is
the ornamental dye of men just as henna is the ornamental dye
of women. Hold then your ground and let not the cohorts of
usurpation and injustice overcome you, for this is the day that
is pregnant with all the possibilities of the future, after which
there shall be no other day in which to retrieve a lost opportunity!'"
Having thus quoted the woman's words, Mu'awiyah asked
her if the quotation was correct, and upon receiving from her
an affirmative reply he said to her: "By your own admission, O
Zarqa, you have become a partner to 'Ali in all the blood he has
shed."
But to the surprise of Mu'awiyah and all those present, the
woman replied: "May Allah amply reward you, O Prince of
the Faithful, for the extremely good news you have just imparted to me in classing me with 'Ali. Truly, you are the fit
bearer of joyful tidings and the one who knows exactly what
most pleases his guests."
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
38
And upon recovering from his surprise, Mu'awiyah, still
the patient, forbearing, wise ruler he was reputed to be, asked
her: "Have my remarks truly caused you joy, and you would
feel" proud in sharing with 'All all the responsibility of the blood
he has spilled while fighting me, I who now show you such consideration?"
"Aye, by Allah," replied the woman, "your words have
pleased me exceedingly and I only wish that they could be made
" Mu'awiyah would want no more proof of the loyalty of
Zarqa to her chosen cause, but instead of wreaking vengeance on
her he expressed his admiration for her in no uncertain terms.
"By Allah," he said, "I admire more your loyalty to 'Ah after
his death than your love for him when he was alive. State now,
O Zarqa, your wants and they shall be granted."
But Zarqa would not state her wants. She seemed to further aggravate matters by saying that she had vowed not to ask
a favor of anyone save 'Ali.
"But do you know," said Mu'awiyah, "that many of those
who have checked up on your actions advised me to put you to
"Had you followed their advice, O Prince of the Faithful,"
she said, "you would have degraded yourself to their mean natures and lowly station."
_
"This we shall never do," replied the wise Caliph. Rather,
we shall pardon you and grant you our most favored protecL
* At this great display of forbearance, the haughty spirit of
the woman gave way to an expression of extreme gratefulness
and appreciation, and she replied: "O Prince of the Faithful,
this is but another indication of your great magnanimity. It is
only the likes of you who substitute forgiveness for revenge,
who overlook human faults and who give without being asked.
Whereupon, the great Mu'awiyah ordered that the woman
be given money and clothes in large quantities, that she should be
escorted back safely to her home city, that all her tribe be treated with consideration, and that she should be alloted, for lite,
the revenue of a plantation which amounted to sixteen thousand
dirhams annually.
�MARCH, 1928
39
NOTES AND COMMENTS
By
A
THE EDITOR
of honest service has the salutary effect of
stimulating the desire to continue, to improve, and to increase.
This about represents our reaction to the many expressions of
approval received over the service being rendered by THE SYRIAN WORLD. It more than repays for the unsatisfactory financial return in the publication of the magazine.
And what is more gratifying
is the fact that appreciation
comes not only from individuals but from public bodies as
well. We can point with pride
to the fact that many organizations and patriotic groups not
only in the United States but
abroad also have shown tangible
proof of their appreciation by
making gift subscriptions to editors, legislators, government
officials and others whom it is
to the interest of Syrians to enlighten on their past history
and present conditions.
But the service of THE SYRIAN WORLD seems to be destined to cover a much wider field
than that confined to its English-speaking readers. The appreciation 'of some Arabic editors of the distinct value of the
original contributions appearing
PPRECIATION
in the publication is what makes
this possible. This is best illustrated in the case of AL-HODA,
the oldest and most widely circulated Arabic paper in America and one of the foremost in
the world. Mr. N. A. Mokarzel, editor1 of AL-HODA, proves
his appreciation of the quality
of our subject matter by having
whole series of articles translated and republished in his paper,
giving thereby double value to
the service THE SYRIAN WORLD
is rendering.
We point to this fact with a
certain degree of elation because
we see in it proof that our labor
is bearing fruit of a certain
kind. So far we cannot testify
truthfully to receiving the hoped for amount of popular support. It was on that account
that we asked for a referendum
on the question of the subject
matter of the magazine. What
was determined by the replies
was that the policy and purpose
of the publication were overwhelmingly approved by the
educated class, but unfortunately this class, in point of numbers, is proportionately small.
What they can do,—what they
are doing,—is to consider themselves partners in the enterprise
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
countrymen to collective action.
He personally attended the
trial before Judge Smith in
Charleston and had several
private interviews with him.
Now, apropos of the publication in THE SYRIAN WORLD of
a historical review of the case,
Mr. Mokarzel writes reminiscently of an interesting conversation which he had with Judge
Smith on the ethnological qualifications of the Syrians for adJVAR. N. A. MOKARZEL, editor mission to America and their
of AL-HODA, contributes an eligibility for citizenship. On
interesting detail to the history general grounds, Mr. Mokarof the fight which the Syrians of zel reminded the judge that
the United States waged to es- the Syrians were a branch of
tablish their eligibilityf or Amer- the Semitic race and that Christ
can citizenship. As can be de- was a Semite. "Would the
duced from the history of the learned judge, therefore, excase given by Mr. Jos. W. Fer- clude from America the racial
ris, the fight was precipitated by kins of the One who gave to
the obstinacy of Judge Henry America its very religion?"
A. M. Smith in refusing to, adMr. Mokarzel states that
mit that Syrians were free white
persons within the meaning of there was no hesitation on the
the naturalization law. That part of the judge in declaring
was in 1914, and the Syrians emphatically that "If Christ
all over the country were arous- Himself were to apply for cited as never before in their his- izenship he would deny it to
tory to defend their national Him."
Quite a strong statement inhonor. They wanted to prove
deed.
The judge must have
themselves deserving of the
high privilege of becoming made it during the heat of argument in a moment of extreme
Americans.
A leader in the fight at that vexation. We would not at
time was Mr. N. A. Mokarzel. this late moment bring him to
Both through his influential pa- bar; for having delivered himper and by his personal efforts self of an expression so irrehe helped crystallize Syrian sponsible. But it is interesting
public opinion and arouse his to learn the extent of passion
so that financial returns will
make possible the continuation
and the widening of the service
—this service which is considered by them indispensable. In
time, we hope, we shall be able
to announce that the business
side of the enterprise is proving
equal to the appreciation it is
now receiving from the educated class.
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�MARCH, 1928
which prompted the jurist to
assume the attitude which precipitated the controversy. At
that' time there had been no revival of the Ku Klux Klan
movement, but those were the
smouldering fires which were
destined to burst into flame
later.
41
he treats the subject mainly
from the American, Western,
point of view.
We feel sure our readers will
enjoy the short stories of Mr.
Ford as much, or even more,
than they enjoyed his serial,
"Anna Ascends", which was
published in the original play
form as it was given on the
And what
J-JARRY CHAPMAN FORD, who New York stage.
should
be
of
particular
interest
is well known to readers of
is
that
we
have
Mr.
Ford's
THE SYRIAN WORLD, contributes to this issue an original promise to contribute liberally
short story which savors much of these fine stones in the fuof the spiritual and mystical. ture.
We can well imagine that Mr.
Ford's account is not that of QLOZEL and its vicinity have
an actual experience. His fersucceeded in gaining a good
tile imagination as an author deal of publicity. Perhaps the
and playwright may well be American press did not care to
depended upon to supply a plot. publish about the incident conBut it is interesting to study his nected with that French town
trend of mind in the roles he other than the details of the
assigns to the Syrian heroines scientific pontroversy which split
of his plays and stories. He the learned men of Europe into
is always picturing them of two hostile camps. Otherwise
highly intellectual and educa- we would have learned long
tional aspirations. A few im- since some of the reputed causes
aginary circumstances are, of for the perpetration of the
course, necessary to lend at- great hoax.
mosphere and complete the
We now learn from the Syrscheme, as, for instance, in the ian press, which in turn claims
case of the waitress in "Anna to have gained its information
Ascends" and the part time from the European press, that
stenographer in Greenwich Vil- those originally responsible for
lage. But we may be sure that the Glozel incident had carethe author's object is to bring fully engineered the scheme
out the finer intellectual quali- for purposes of publicity. They
ties of the Syrian girl as he has were interested in promoting
come to understand her, albeit the locality as a winter resort,
�"'wmii i
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42
and to add to its many attractions they concocted the scheme
of making it a suitable field
for archaeological research.
If this be true, little did the
sponsors of the move dream
that their scheme would lead to
such a bitter controversy where
scientists of rank are now concerned more in the vindication
of their reputations than in the
intrinsic virtues of the place.
The way matters seem to be
now going, the dispute is bound
to be settled in court.
As descendants of the old
and honorable Phoenicians,
whose great contributions to
civilization are being challenged
by the Glozelians at such a late
hour, we can but assume a policy of watchful waiting.
It
seems/ unnecessary for us to put
up any defense of the claims
of our ancestors, as developments in the Glozel controversy seem to amply take care of
that, the latest development
being that a sudden raid on a
certain farm in Glozel by an
anti-Glozelian savant and seven
officers of the law yielded unmistakable evidence that some
of the discoveries bore inscriptions of very modern origin.
The spurious nature of the finds
is not contested by the Glozelians, but they ascribe it to underhanded methods by their
opponents to discredit them.
So, in the end, both the pros
THE SYRIAN WORLD
and cons are reaching a point
where they will both agree that
beneath the whole affair there
is a streak of fraud.
There is an Arabic adage
that says: "Let pottery break
up itself." The moral of this
is that pottery being fragile,
hollow and possessing no inherent strength, will wreak easy
destruction upon itself when it
collides. This seems to be the
destiny of Glozelian aspirations,
while the claims of the Phoenicians seem to be moulded of
something much more substantial than baked clay.
of economic possibilities in Syria and Lebanon
cannot fail to appreciate the
value of the articles contributed
by our countryman Mr. George
Knaysi, of Cornell University,
and of which the one published
in this issue is the last of the
series. Mr. Knaysi is eminently qualified to give an expert
opinion, and he gives it without reservation, on the possibilities of dairy farming in Syria.
Just as the writer suggests, this
may prove to be a most profitable enterprise for the investment of capital. But technical
knowledge is also required and
that is where the scientific
training of such men as Mr.
Knaysi should prove to be most
valuable.
CTUDENTS
�MARCH, 1928
43
Spirit of the Syrian Press
I
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcoamic picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever
Arabic dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking
writers who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabicspeaking world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take
no part in the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our
task will simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and
with utmost sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed in these editorials.
Editor.
HOW
THEY UNDERSTAND
AMERICANISM
in the nation of which he has "become" a part, even though he were
to sew the naturalization certificate
into his skin!
You who have just been invested
with the new cloak of Americanism;
Go to any museum and ascertain
who belittle yourselves and your anfor
yourselves how the Americans
cestors; who mock of your customs
take
so much pains in preserving
and traditions; who make no secret
of your disgust with life and cir- everything Oriental, be it of manucumstances simply because you were scripts, statues, extiles, books, coins
not born in a country other than and all other objects of art. Can
Syria, we ask you to check your you not stand before these relics
speed a little and give matters some and recall that you are the descendants of a people who were the misconsideration.
Tarry, O please tarry a while and sionaries and apostles of civilization
reflect on the folly of your actions, and progress to the whole world
for what you are doing is altogether in their days ? While you who were
foreign to the true spirit of Amer- not able to regain your lost glory
icanism. Can you not realize that have scattered in all parts of the
Americanism which requires the world adopting now the citizenship
renunciation of your former citi- of this country, and then that of
zenship and allegiance does not the other, much like water which
necessarily require that you renounce takes on the color of the vase in
also the virtues of your race and which it is placed.
whatever you have of worthy cusVerily we say unto you, now, totoms and traditions? Can you not morrow and forever, that he who
see that this nation which you so fails to find in the history of a coungreatly admire is composed of noth- try such as Syria sufficient cause
ing less than various racial elements for pride in the face of the whole
extracted from the Old World from world, will not be of much gain to
which you also have come?
Americanism in such a case. Be*** The man who fails to appre- cause every true American is a true
ciate the beauty spots of the nation man, and the true man is he who
of which he "was" a part may nev- loves the beautiful wherever it is
er be expected to detect these spots found. Hence, the Syrian who is
�44
ashamed to proclaim in public his
racial origin will only give cause
to America to be ashamed of him.
Respect yourselves, then, you
who do not understand the true
American spirit either in whole or
in part.
And you may well be sure that
if you are unable to feel proud in
being Syrians you will be equally
unable to feel proud that you are
Americans.
(Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y.,
Feb. 14, 1928.
PURITY OF LEBANESE BLOOD
There is a sprinkling of foreign blood in every nation, but the
Lebanese are among those nations
whose blood is purest, and this because of a manifest reason: They
were never in the direct course of
conquerors in their sweep over the
country, but were always at a safe
distance, entrenched in the fastness
of their mountainous strongholds.
Even Alexander the Great would not
attack Lebanon because of the
strength of character of its inhabitants and the resoluteness of their defense of their mountain. The Egyptians, Chaldeans and others followed
the same course in the ebb and tide of
their military movements and were
satisfied at all times to seek their
way along the shores, at the base of
the mountain, refraining from any
attempt at subduing the inhabitants
by a determined pursuit to the summits.
(Al-Hoda, N. Y., Feb. 23, 1928.)
IN MEMORY OF WASHINGTON
We Orientals mays well profit
of the three outstanding characteristics of Washington: his loyalty,
sacrifice and perseverence.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
How salutary it would be for our
leaders to forget everything but
these three virtues and take them
as their guiding torch in the service
of the nation. Then it would be possible for us to point out the leader
and say: "Behold the Washington
of the East and the honest servant
of his people," instead of simply
saying: "This is the great leader,
the pen and sword wielder... etc."
And well may our pseudo-leaders
remember that it would have been
possible for Washington to have
himself declared king with the right
of succession reposing in his heirs,
but he resolutely refused, while they
only use their avowal of patriotism
as a means for obtaining appointment to office or seeking personal
gain.
They would do well to learn a lesson in nobility of character from
Washington when he wrote on the
occasion of his election to the presidency: "I feel as though I were a
condemned man being led to execution."
(As-Sayeh, N. Y., Feb. 20, 1928.)
THE CHRISTIAN POWERS
FAVOR MOHAMMEDANS
Fidelity to truth compells us to
state that the Christian powers,
without exception, favor the Mohammedans and show extreme solicitude for their interests whether
they be in Syria, Arabia, Russia,
Afghanistan, or any other country.
Christians, therefore, who lull
themselves into the belief that this
or the other of the Christian Powers will give them protection and
champion their interests are laboring under false hopes.
Every one of the Christian Powers
is bent on the promotion of its
I
�MARCH, 1928
own interests and will sell the
cause of the Christians who
place their hopes in her at the cheapest price when it comes to a question
of self interest.
You say that the English protect
the Christians. Pray, can anyone be
blind to the partiality of the English to the Mohammedans? Who,
then, furnished the Druzes with
arms and ammunition in their last
revolt ? Would it have been possible
for the Druzes to procure arms
from outside of Syria had it not
been for the helping hand of the
British?
»1
And the French. Do you think
they are much better than the English in this respect? Study them
in Syria and find out for yourselves
how they sell a thousand Christians
for the mere smile of a Druze or
Moslem leader. Just see how they
treat the notorious Druze rebel, Ali
Oryan, while they turn a deaf ear
to the piteous appeals of the Christian sufferers of Druze barbarities.
The same applies to all other
Christian Powers, including Germany
and Italy, Who can forget the stand
Emperor William took with the Mohammedans ? His words at the tomb
of Saladdin in Damascus in which
he challengd the right of Christians
to remain in Mohammedan countries
are history.
It behooves you, then, O Christians of Syria, to be courageous and
firm in the defense of your national
interests and to place no dependence
upon this or that power because,
as the adage goes, none can better
scratch your skin than your own
nail. And if you do not rise in defense of your own rights your cause
will be surely lost and you will be
facing certain destruction.
(Syrian Eagle, N.Y., Feb. 10, 1928.)
45
OUR STAND IN THE
CONTROVERSY
There remains no further excuse
for us in maintaining silence. AlBayan is with the revolution on an
-ancompromising stand.
Why do some simple-hearted people want us to assume a passive attitude when we find anarchy rampant in the ranks of the revolutionary workers? There is not a mail
from abroad but is filled with circulars from this or that faction each
denouncing the other and blaming
it for the continuation of the controversy.
Now that we have pursued these
circulars and acquainted ourselves
with the causes of dissension among
the ranks of the Nationalists, we
can categorically declare that the
failure of peace negotiations must
be placed directly at the doors of
the Lutfallahs and their followers.
We would not hesitate, therefore,
to declare that complete separation
from these people is imperative.
How long do those who counsel
silence want us to maintain an impartial attitude? They would want
us to suppress the facts from our
readers for fear of arousing the
ire of our enemies. This we shall
not do in the face of all that we
read in the Egyptian press of what
is going on abroad. We declare ourselves unequivocally to be on the
side of those whose say should be
the first in such matters, and they
are those who persevered in the
field incurring daily danger and untold privations, and not those who
live in Egypt and Palestine enjoying all luxuries of life from riding
automobiles to sleeping in silken
beds...
Is it possible that thousands of
valiant patriots should be undergo-
�SSHHB
46
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ing the direst privations and the however, that a cable was sent to
constant dangers of warfare in the the Committee from Detroit conveydesert, while others are safely lodg- ing the decision of the New Syria
ed amid the luxuries of civilization, Party in America to revoke its auand that the latter should claim thor zation of Toufic Yazegy to repthat the say is thoirs and the shap- resent it before the Committee.
ing of national policies their privil- (Yazegy was a delegate to the conege? And in face of all that they vention of the New Syria Party in
would have the brazenness of de- Detroit in 1927.) While another
claring that they have deposed the cable communication was sent the
Syrian Delegation in Europe and Committee from Argentine forbidcable the League of Nations that ding Dr. Shahbandar from reprethey would soon send to Europe a senting the Arab National Party of
new delegation to represent the Syr- Argentine so long as there was division in the ranks of the Nationalian Nationalist Party?
Thisr indeed, is more than could ists.
In view of these facts, we find
be borne with honor. It is for this
reason that we cannot agree with ourselves unable to adhere to any
those who would have us maintain policy of silence. We have seen
silence. And why the silence when enough acts of bad faith calculated
news of the dissension between the to bring injury to the Nationalist
Nationalists has covered the earth. cause. We therefore believe it is
To mainta-n silence in view of the our duty to stand by the faction
situation would be construed as rank Which is true to the cause and is
prosecuting the struggle for the
cowardice.
One of the most ridiculous acts liberation of the country. We are
of the Lutfallahs and their clique with the delegation which for years
was their deposition of Sultan Pasha has represented the cause in Europe
Atrash as leader of the Syrian re- competently and honorably and
volution. In one of the statements whech is composed of Emir Shakib
given out by the Syrian Bureau of Arslan, Ihsan Bey Jabiry and Riadh
Information in Cairo, the agency of Boy Sulh. We will not recognize any
the Lutfallahs, we read the follow- other which the Lutfallahs may aping: "The Executive Committee of point to enter into bargaining negothe Syrian Revolutionary Party does tiations with France to the detrinot recognize a man by the name ment of the country. The Lutfallahs
of Sultan Atrash or one by the name have no object in view but to exof Adel Arslan, nor does it recog- ploit the Revolution to their own
nize the existence of the so-called benefit. They would give all the
committee of the revolutionary victims of the Revolution as a price
for a throne in Lebanon.
high command."
(Al-Bayan, N. Y., Feb. 20, 1928.)
In another statement the Bureau
announces that it is in receipt of
WHY IS IMMIGRATION
cable advices from Europe, America
RESTRICTED
and Syria approving the action of
*** It is not conceivable that the
the Committee in revoking the auUnited States should harm itself
thority of the Syrian Delegation in
in order to accommodate the immiEurope to represent it.
grants who are flowing into it from
The facts of the situation are,
ft
)
\
�MARCH, 1928
1/
n
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en
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exown
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128.)
; the
tself
nmifrom
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B
all parts of the world. Economic
conditions in the country are not
what could be desired, and to permit unrestricted immigration would
only tend to make them worse.
The United States could not be
held to blame for adopting this
policy any more than England,
France, Italy or Germany. We hear
no voice raised in protest against
any of these countries.
Is it not strange that the Syrian,
for instance, should blame the United States for barring him from entry into the country and not blame
his own government or that of the
Mandatory Power which heaps indignities upon him and drives him
out of his own country while letting
down the bars and permitting the
influx of shiftless strangers to come
and establish permanent homes in
the land, as is the case with the
Jews in Palestine and the Armenians in Lebanon?
(Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y.,
Feb. 8, 1928.)
f
/
.
*
',
AS IN THE EAST,
SO IN THE WEST
Our steamer stopped at Charleston, W. Va., on its way to Jacksonville» Fla. Here the tourist is treated to a strange sight. No sooner
does the ship weigh anchor than the
longshoremen swarm about dancing
the Charleston and vociferously asking for tips. When small change is
thrown to them they scramble for it
like a pack of street urchins. Some
even go to dangerous limits in leaning over the dock to catch a piece
of money thrown to them.
Nothing worse than this is seen
in any of the ports of the East.
Where in the East poverty-stricken urchins clamor for the "bakshish"
we find here in Charleston men who
receive good wages for their day's
47
work stoop to this low level.
Though the subject may seem
trivial, I feel I owe this in defense
of the East against the preposterous
representations of some American
tourists and missionaries who feel
no scruples in exaggerating what
they witness of these superficial incidents in the East with the object
of promoting their own personal interests and creating a market for
their books.
Nations are not judged by their
longshoremen and urchins, nor by
their muleteers, camel-drivers and
even dragomen.
Every nation has its intrinsic
character which should be sought on
its proper throne and in its native
abode, and not in alleys and by-ways,
or in the plains and the forests of
the country.
(Al-Hoda, N. Y., Feb. 20, 1928.)
SELF-INTEREST VS.
PATRIOTISM
The clift in the ranks of the Syrian Nationalists, as represented by
the Executive Council of the SyroPalestinian Committee, gives us a
sorry lesson in patriotism as against
self-interest.
Although we differed with this
committee in principle, we had cherished the hope that this might be
the forerunner of a new era in collective action among the Syrians.
It has now become evident that
at the bottom of all these efforts
there was the motive of personal
benefit. Even Emir Shakib Arslan
had proposed terms of a treaty with
France which M. de Jouvenel thought
preposterous. Now we are treated
to some revelations which make us
despair of any such hopes as we
had previously cherished.
(As-Sayeh, N. Y.f Feb. 16, 1928.)
�•—
THE SYRIAN WORLD
48
About Syria and Syrians
he spent visiting historical places
of interest in the city and in the
afternoon attended the military review held in his honor.
President of Republic Takes Part in
Nine o'clock in the evening was
Ceremony at the Syrianthe time set for his visit to the
Lebanese Club.
Syrian-Lebanese Club. He was received at the door by the President,
The Syrian-Lebanese colony of Mr. Naman Turk, and other officers
Santo Domingo feel justly proud of of the organization and escorted to
the distinction of being the only the main reception hall under a
foreign group in that capital to have triumphal arch entwined with AmerColonel Chas. Lindbergh pay them ican, Dominican and Lebanese flags.
a special visit at their club rooms
Ten minutes later the President
while in the city, on Feb. 4. The of the Republic appeared in person
description of the event as given by unannounced and unexpected at the
the secretary of the club and pub- club rooms of the Syrian-Lebanese
lished in some of the Arabic papers Club to the great embarrassment of
of New York runs as follows:
the officers and members who were
Saturday, Feb. 3, word was receiv- profuse In their apologies for not
ed that Col. Lindbergh would take having received the President in
off from San Juan, Porto Rico, for proper ceremony. The President,
Santo Domingo and immediately the however, said that he decided he
capital was astir with preparations would take part in the reception of
for his reception. He arrived on the Syrian-Lebanese colony to Col.
schedule and was welcomed to the Lindbergh in testimony of his percity and country by the President sonal esteem both for the hosts and
of the Republic and high officials of their guest.
the government.
The Club had a special medal
The public celebrations staged struck in honor of Col. Lindbergh
for the visiting King of the Air which was pinned on his breast by
were memorable. When he was es- the president. The medal bore on
corted to the American Legation one side the date of Col. Lindbergh's
there was a procession in his honor visit and on the other the official
in which thousands of young women emblem of the Club, the Cedar of
took part in the most alluring cos- Lebanon. Accompanying the medal
tumes.
was a scroll testifying that the ColNext morning, Col. Lindbergh at- onel was elected an honorary memtended a special service at the old ber of the Club for life.
church of the Holy Virgin which was
In reply to the speeches of welbuilt during the time of Columbus,
come,
Col. Lindbergh said that he
and from there he visited the great
regretted
the limited time of his
landmark which is said to have been
stay
in
the
city but that he heartily
built by Columbus himself for his
appreciated
the demonstration of afresidence. The rest of the forenoon
II
SANTO DOMINGO SYRIANS
WELCOME LINDBERGH
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THE PLAIN
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AL-BEKAA,
LEBANON
Favored by fertility of soil and climatic advantages as the most suitable section of Syria for
dairy farming.
(See Article on Development of Dairy Farming in Syria and Lebanon.)
Jl
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COSTES AND LEBRIX AMONG FRIENDS
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�MARCHy 1928
fection shown him by the Syrians
and Lebanese and that he would carry pleasant recollections of his visit
to them all his life.
The Colonel later attended the
official ball given in his honor by the
government and on the morning of
Monday sped away in the Spirit of
St. Louis in the direction of Haiti.
SYRIANS EVERYWHERE
GREET FRENCH FLIERS
\
"You may quote us unreservedly
that wherever we went we were received most cordially and enthusiastically by the Syrian-Lebanese colonies. We shall never forget their
cordiality and their expressions of
friendship and admiration on every
occasion we met them. I should say
that the Syrians and Lebanese were
more than cordially enthusiastic —
their receptions to us were simply
marvelous."
This was the statement made by
Captain Dieudonne Costes and Lieutenant Joseph Lebrix to a representative of The Syrian World who interviewed them upon their arrival in
New York on their epochal air flight
around the world. The Arabic newspapers of Brazil, Argentine, Uruguay, Mexico and other Latin American countries had published accounts of the reception of the Syrians and Lebanese of those countries to the French fliers, and although the Syrians of New York
did not organize any public demonstration in their honor owing to the
heaviness of their program in the
city, The Syrian World sought to interview them to learn their impression of their receptions by Syrians
and Lebanese in other cities. Their
statement, reproduced above, given
with all the fiery enthusiasm of the
49
French nature, bespoke their earnestness.
The French fliers were presented
with a special medal struck in their
honor by the Syrian-Lebanese colony
of Mexico City, and were feted and
given many tokens of love and admiration by the Syrians of other
countries of South America where
they made stops. In Panama they
were presented with two fine gold
fountain pens.
Syrian papers of South America
state that had it not been for the
limited time at the disposal of the
French world fliers many more testimonials of honor and welcome
would have been shown them.
GIBRAN'S PROPHET
A RELIGIOUS SERVICE
On Lincoln's birthday, Feb. 12,
the church of St Marks on the
Bowerie in New York was crowded
to overflowing for the afternoon
services when, according to previous
announcement, there was to be an
enactment of the scenes of Gibran's
book, The Prophet, The services
were conducted by Dr. Guthrie, the
well-known modernist of the Episcopal Church who has introduced in
his program of church services classical interpretive dancing in defiance
of his superiors. The actor impersonating the Prophet was Mr. Reynolds, while the leader of the group
of female dancers was the daughter
of Dr. Guthrie.
The Prophet is the best known
work of our gifted author and artist, G. K. Gibran. It is ranked among
the best sellers in works of its class.
Rather, according to As-Sayeh, an
Arabic newspaper of New York, it
is considered by some to be Becond
only to the books of revelation in
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
50
its spiritualistic, mystical and ethical teachings.
The large audience was visibly
moved by the excellence of the interpretation, and at the conclusion
of the performance Mr. Gibran received the hearty congratulations of
his numerous admirers.
a personal friend of Gen. Calles,
President of the Republic, and one
who enjoys the highest esteem of
government officials and the better
class Mexicans.
OLD TYRE SEEKS TO ENLARGE
Tyre, the one-time mistress of
the seas and the commercial capital
of the world in the days of the
AMBITIOUS PLANS OF
Phoenicians, seems now to have outLEBANESE IN MEXICO
grown its old boundaries.
If the new program of the LebaSituated or;ginally on an island
nese Chamber of Commerce in Mexi- connected with the mainland by a
co City is carried through, the Syr- narrow causeway it cannot find
ian-Lebanese colony of Mexico would sufficient room for expansion along
achieve the greatest result of col- modern lines within its ancient conlective effort so far done by any fines. The population, therefore,
similar community in America.
have signed a petition praying the
Al-Khawater, an Arabic paper of Lebanese Government to sell their
Mexico City, is authority for the city the vast dunes along the shore
\\
statement that the Lebanese Cham- which they would reclaim for buildber of Commerce, following the in- ing a new, modern city of Tyre,
duction into office of its new presi- which would follow the lines of a
dent, Mr. Jacob Simon, has announc- Western land development project.
ed that the main features of its new They only ask that the price of the
land be made reasonable inasmuch
program are the following:
as it is now a total waste and of
1—The formation of a special
committee for the promotion and benefit to no one.
The Lebanese press of Beirut reprotection of Syrian-Lebanese comports
that on the 22nd of January
mercial and industrial interests in
a delegation representing the TyriMexico.
ans waited on the President of the
2—The founding of a banking in- Republic as well as on the Minister
stitution which would be affiliated of the Interior and asked that their
w<th the National Bank of Mexico. demands, embodied in a petition
/
3—The publication of a daily news- signed by almost all the inhabitants
paper in both the Arabic and Span- of the city, be given favorable conish languages to defend the Syrians sideration.
and Lebanese in case of attack and
At present the population of
promote a better understanding of Tyre is about twenty thousand, but
them by the Mexican public.
with the revival of civic interest
The newspaper making this an- and pride in their old city they exnouncement adds that the new pres- pect that in a short time it will
ident of the Lebanese Chamber of grow into a flourishing port of
Commerce in the city of Mexico is Southern Lebanon,
;
�MARCH, 1928
NEW ENTERPRISES
GAINING IN SYRIA
Ancient Land Taking New Place
as an Economic Factor in
the Near East
A correspondent of the New York
Times, writing from Jerusalem under date of Jan. 20, gives the following summary of economic conditions
in that part of. Syria covered by the
French mandate.
Slowly but surely, he says, through
the aid of Government and individual enterprise, Syria is taking its
place as an important factor in the
economic development in the Near
East. New industries are being
founded, and the roads and general
condition of transportation are being
constantly improved. Part of the
fund formed from the revenue of
customs, which had been set aside
for the payment of the Ottoman
debt, is now to be used to carry into
effect and extensive scheme of public utility works, mainly road construction and irrigation. Good communication between the principal cities of the French Mandated States
and Iraq, and repair of the already
existing routes are included in the
program of construction that is to
be begun soon. Extensive irrigation schemes are also contemplated.
It is expected that about 25,000,000
francs will be used for these construction and irrigation projects.
Bee-keeping is one of the industries that shows prospects of a
bright future. As yet it is still carried on along primitive lines. Modern hives are practically unknown.
Those in use are usually made of
myrtle or basket work, and sometimes of clay. The largest yield of
51
honey is supplied from the section
around Alexandretta. The rich melliferous flora of the country really
permit of a much larger yield than
is now being obtained, and with the
gradual introduction of modern
methods, a large field for export
can be created.
It has been discovered that most
of the Syrian wheats are of the
hard grain varieties, and are therefore most suitable for the manufacture of macaroni. This industry was
first begun in Syria as far back as
1875, when a small and primitive
workshop was established at Beirut.
The article produced was of an inferior quality. Today, factories for
the manufacture of macaroni, vermicelli, and similar products exist
in Beirut, Damascus and Aleppo.
Although the local product cannot
yet compare with the Italian, nevertheless the quality is constantly
improving, and there is an increasing tendency on the part of residents
to give preference to the local product.
What will serve better than anything else in bringing Syria to the
fore is the increasing development
of the Lebanese Summer resorts.
Mount Lebanon has been found to
be a most desirable Summer place,
and each season brings more and
more visitors, chiefly from Egypt
and Iraq. A Government Tourist
Development Committee has been
appointed, which is looking into the
matter of the improvement of conditions and facilities. It is estimated that about 12,000 tourists visited
the Lebanon last Summer, and with
the aid of an extensive campaign
which is soon to be launched, it is
expected that the results of the
coming season will prove even more
satisfactory.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
52
and my worship for the Arabic
language would prevent my consenting to take in marriage any other but a Syrian even if I have to
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, an Arabic daily spend my whole life unmarried.
paper of New York, has been con- Second, because the Syrian has the
ducting a contest as to what the highest consideration for his honor
Syrian girl would require of a hus- and loaths by his very nature the
band and what the Syrian man would extremes and excesses of Western
require of a wife. On Feb. 24 the civilization and the many pitfalls
contest was closed and the winners that are lurking in it. He would not,
announced, one from among the men therefore, permit himself or his wife
and one from among the women. The to follow the radical customs of this
winner in the choice of a wife de- civilization which are bound to lead
clared hia preference for the woman to unhappiness and perhaps separawho would retain the modesty, virtion.
tue and home-loving qualities of the
2—I would require that he be a
Eastern girl but who would at the
lover of Syria above all else with no
same time be endowed with sufficient
object in mind other than to work
human qualities to make life worth
for its progress and for its liberaliving with her. His essay could not
tion. He should be alive to this
be described as containing anything
prime duty towards his country realradical.
izing that she expects his assistance
But the girl adjudged the winner
as well as that of all other Syrians.
among the female participants in the
3—He should be well educated,
contest was a certain Miss Najla
imbued with advanced ideas and conwhose reply savors more of a paceding to the woman her inalienable
triotic essay than a discussion of a
rights. He must also be possessed
purely matrimonial problem. The
of the poetic gift and loving music,
judges may have been swayed more
although I would not require him
by these considerations than by the
to possess these gifts to the highest
intrinsic merits of the reply in ardegree. I would by that be assured
riving at their decision. It would be
that he is of a mild and sweet teminteresting to learn the real sentiperament and endowed with a senment of our girls of the SyrianAmerican generation on such a sub- sitive nature.
The young woman then goes on
ject, especially those who have been
to enumerate further requirements in
raised in purely American surroundthe man of her preference which are
ings. Could it be possible that the
prime qualifications of a husband to of a general character.
WHAT SYRIAN GIRL
REQUIRES IN HUSBAND
them would be those which the prize
winner in the Arabic paper gives expression to?
Following are extracts of the conditions which this Syrian girl lays
down as being of prime necessity in
a husband:
1 I want him to be a Syrian for
two reasons. First on patriotic
grounds because my love for Syria
J
LEBANESE PUBLICATIONS
NUMEROUS
Official statistics disclose the surprising fact that in the small Lebanese Republic, with a population
not exceeding six hundred thousand,
there are no less than ninety peri-
?(
�MARCH, 1928
odicals, or at the rate of one publication for about every 6,500 inhabitants.
In the city of Beirut, the capital,
there are 17 daily papers, 23 triweekly papers and 21 monthly magazines, while in the rest of the
country there are 17 weekly or semiweekly newspapers and 12 magazines.
I
il
ii
5
i
Statistics for other parts of Syria
are not available.
Judging by these figures one would
be inclined to believe that the Lebanese are voracious readers. The
fact is that with the exception of
a few old established newspapers
all others are of minor importance
commanding a circulation of hardly
a thousand each. Many of those
published outside of the capital are
in the nature of country papers
whose main dependence is on their
circulation among the town emigrants abroad. And, may it be remembered, there are many unemployed literati who find the publication of a newspaper the easiest profession.
53
Arab families and made many
friends. She also spent some time
on a farm among the Bedouins,
where she was received with great
respect.
Since a Moslem woman cannot
leave her home without the permission of her father, husband or other
male relative, Dr. Essenberg realized that it would be necessary to
win the favor of the men first. This
she succeeded in doing. Her idea of
opening an American school for
girls was received with enthusiasm
by the Arabs. The Moslem men
were especially pleased to hear that
the founder of the school had no intention of taking the veils from the
women or of attacking their religion.
After long, patient waiting permission to open the school came.
Although the rebellions of 1925-26
were a great drawback, because so
many families fled from the city,
nevertheless Dr. Essenberg stuck
bravely to her post, and is now gaining rapid headway in her work. She
already has an enrollment of more
than 100 students.
She has been urged to undertake
similar institutions in other towns
of Syria and Palestine.
MOSLEMS OF SYRIA
EAGER FOR EDUCATION
How an American woman educator ingratiated herself with the Moslems of Damascus and established
there a thriving school for girls is
described by a correspondent of the
New York Times in Jerusalem
writing under date of Feb. 2. The
American woman is Dr. Christina
Essenberg who, according to the
correspondent, in order to better
acquaint herself with the home life
of the people, for the first five
months after her arrival she lived
at the home of a prominent Moslem.
Here she met most of the prominent
/;
(
END OF A HOAX
At last it would seem that the
rumors concerning the existence of
thousands of Arab and Syrian war
prisoners in Singapore, under conditions said to be worse than slavery, have been put to rest. A reputable Syrian merchant of Horns who
recently returned from Singapore
ridiculed the rumors as being utterly
without foundation. He based his
assertion on personal investigations
conducted by himself and other Syrian merchants of Singapore when the
rumors reached them.
�=
=
THE SYRIAN WORLD
54
EGYPTIAN MINISTER
ENTERTAINS OFFICIALLY
Syrian Violinist Plays Before
Distinguished Audience
in Washington.
The society columns of Washington and New York papers of Jan. 29
last carried long reports of the elaborate dinner-entertainment given by
His Excellency the Minister of Egypt
and Mme. Samy Pasha in honor of
Vice-Pres. and Mrs. Dawes the evening previous, and at which the visiting Syrian violinist to America,
Mr. Sami Shawa, gave selections of
Oriental music which were declared
to have met with much favor by the
distinguished audience.
Besides the Vice-President and
Mrs. Dawes, other guests were the
Secretary of the Navy and Mrs.
Curtis D. Wilbur; the Secretary of
Agriculture and Mrs. William M.
Jardine; Senator and Mrs. Hiram
Jones; Senator and Mrs. Royal S.
Copeland; Senator Arthur Capper;
Representative and Mrs. John Q.
Tilson; Representative Edith Nourse
Rogers; Representative and Mrs. Sol.
Bloom; Lady Drummond Hay, of
London; Mrs. Mayo; Mr. and Mrs.
Peter Drury; Mrs. Fitzsimmons; the
Secretary of the Legation, Ramses
Bey Chaffey; the Attache of the
Legation Mr. El-Eissy and Mr. Nour.
Mr. Shawa had been invited to
other receptions of a similar nature
where his recitals were highly appreciated as giving a most favorable
interpretation of Oriental music.
Mr. Shawa has returned to Egypt
the latter part of February, and it
is expected that he will pay another
visit to the United States within the
present year.
LEBANESE OPPOSE
LEGALIZED GAMBLING
Strenuous efforts are being made
by a group of financiers to obtain a
concession for public gambling in
large hotels at different Summer resorts in the mountains of Lebanon,
according to the Jerusalem correspondent of the New York Times.
It appears that several attempts
have been made by a small group
of Parliamentarians to pass a bill
through the Lebanese Parliament
for legalizing gambling, and on each
occasion the bill has been defeated
through the sentiment of the people.
Public opinion is now alarmed,
owing to the attitude of some French
high officials at the Haut-Commissariat, who, notwithstanding the denials of the French representatives
at the League of Nations, appear to
approve of the measure. Only lately
the Secretary General, while acting
as High Commissioner pro tern, as
well as the French representative to
the Lebanese Government tried to
influence Parliament to make gambling legal. The matter is still
pending, however, and with public
opinion so strongly opposed to the
plan that it is believed such concessions will not be granted.
i
w
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN
THE GLOZEL CONTROVERSY
The controversy over the Glozel
relics which are claimed to prove
the discovery of the art of writing
long before the times of the Phoenicians has, according to Paris dispatches of the latter part of February, caused so much bitterness
among two factions of French savonts that definite charges of fraud
in the matter have been taken to
court.
',
I
-*-..-Ji <*SSSBB ' & --'—-• J3SM SmmKStalmmKmttmtSSifi^i**S i
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�MARCH, 1928
I
Dr. Felix Regnault, President of
the Prehistoric Society of France,
declared that the society has given
him full powers to file the complaint
on its behalf. The society has been
discussing this action for the past
three months, he explained, for since
last August it has been fully satisfied that frauds were being perpetrated at Glozel. Finally, being anxious to check the discredit which
discussions of Glozel were bringing
upon French science as well as exploitation of the public, the society
decided on action.
In his recourse to the law, Dr.
Regnault, in company with seven
policemen, raided the Fradin farm
at Glozel and there discovered idols
and other objects which had just
come from the oven and were apparently made by a novice. They also
came across a stone supposed to
have Glozelian inscriptions but which
the owners of the farm said had been
used around the farm for knocking
down nails...
4
1
'
.
I
f
rail communications in Syria, but it
is stated that the French High Commissioner is reserving this right to
the Lebanese Government in the hope
of launching building operations immediately an agreement can be
reached with the government of
Syria on the question of allotment
of costs which are to be drawn from
the joint customs receipts of the
two countries.
Late reports indicate that work
on this important line will begin not
later than Spring of the present
year. It is being represented to the
government of Syria that the new
railroad will be the means of drawing a large number of tourists to the
country who are now prevented from
visiting it by lack of direct communications between Syria and
Egypt and Syria and Europe. The
line will extend along the coast of
Lebanon and connect with the existing lines in Palestine and those of
northern Syria, thus affording the
means of continuous rail travel
from Calais in France to Cairo,
Egypt.
THE TRIPOLI-NACOURA
R. R. IN LEBANON
Will Supply Link for Direct Rail
Communications Between
Europe and Egypt
Si!
55
The Lebanese Government has under advisement the construction of
a Railroad to connect the city of
Tripoli, in the north, and Nacoura
which is one of the southern borders
of the country below Tyre and only
a short distance from Haiffa in Palestine. A group of capitalists known
as the Sursuq-Lutfallah syndicate
is negotiating for the concession of
building and operating the new line
which is considered a vital link in
NEW IMMIGRATION
QUOTA FOR SYRIANS
President Coolidge submitted to
the Senate on Feb. 27 revised figures
for the "national origin" basis on
which immigration quotas would be
founded, beginning with July, 1928.
Under existing law, immigration
quotas after that date are to be fixed
according to tables worked out by
a special committee under the supervision of Secretaries Kellogg, Hoover and James J. Davis.
Such "national origins" estimates
were sent to the Senate in January,
1927, but, after criticism, were withdrawn and on Feb. 27 the President
submitted the revised figures.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
56
Under these figures the Syrian nition of Lebanon. The Lebanese
quota is raised from 100 to 125. press of Beirut reports that the cable
Turkey's quota is raised from 100 had been received and ordered entered in the records of Parliament,
to 233.
Palestine, although geographical- but action on it had been deferred
ly a part of Syria, enjoys a separate until the Mandatory authorities
quota, being given the minimum fig- would have studied the matter.
ure of 100. Previous to the World
War both Syria and Palestine were
SYRIA NATIONAL HOME OF
cited under the general classificaARMENIANS?
tion of Turkey.
The Syrian press reports that the
Readers of The Syrian World will
Commission of the League of Narecall that the Lebanese newspaper
tions studying the conditions of ArAl-Hoda, published in New York
menian refugees in Rumania, BulCity, had advocated that Lebanon be
garia and Greece advises the removassigned a separate quota inasmuch
al of some fifty thousand Armenians
as it is politically indepenednt of
to Syria, Palestine and TransjordaSyria and should be recognized as
nia. A section of the Syrian press
such in making immigration allotcomplains that Armenians already
ments. Al-Hoda has also been agiin the country are more than it can
tating the question of the political
absorb with safety and asks if
recognition of the Lebanese RepubFrance and the League of Nations
lic by the United States and other
wish to make Syria a national home
Powers. No announcement has been
for the Armenians and bring on it
made lately by Al-Hoda of the result
additional economic complications to
of its efforts.
aggravate the conditions which have
It will be recalled that Mr. N. A.
Mokarzel, editor of Al-Hoda, had en- prompted a serious increase in emitered into correspondence with the gration. The fear is expressed that
French Ambassador in Washington the Armenians will soon become not
and also cabled the Lebanese Par- only an economic problem but a
liament on the matter of the recog- political problem as well.
Political Developments in Syria
A New Syrian Government
A special cable dispatch to AlBayan of New York, organ of the
Syrian Nationalist Party in the
United States, carries the announcement that Sheikh Taj Ud-Deen AlHusni, one of the prominent leaders of the Nationalist movement, has
been appointed President of the
State of Syria to succeed Ahmad
Nami Bey, styled the Dmaad, or the
Sultan's son-in-law. The news was
hailed in Nationalist circles as a
signal victory for their cause, because of their opposition to the former president who was accused of
being a tool in the hands of the
French, while the new president is
reputed to be a staunch Nationalist
and one who had formerly refused
the same office except on his own
terms.
BHHMHv-
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�MARCH, 1928
I
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It is impossible at this moment to
set down the exact conditions under
which the new president accepted
office. In Nationalist circles it is
claimed that even since the time of
the former High Commissioner, M.
Henri de Jouvenel, he had held out
for a free hand in the conduct of
the government and for a complete
consent by the French to the Nationalist demands. The latest mail
arriving from Syria indicates that
negotiations were going on between
the former President, Ahmad Nami
Bey and the French High Commissioner, M. Ponsot, but these negotiations were supposed to have for object only the formation of a new
ministry whose personnel would be
more acceptable to the Nationalists
and at the same time be in sympathy with French policy. That the
friend of the French should be removed altogether and replaced by
one who is an outspoken Nationalist would indicate the advent of
something radical in the policy of
France in Syria.
The Syrian Nationalists naturally
hail this as a signal victory to their
cause, and judging by the comment
of their organ in the United States,
they welcome it as a sign of a new
era of peace for Syria. This, after
what the country has gone through
during the critical period of the
revolution, appears to be the paramount desire in the minds of the
Nationalists, especially those who
had been engaged in actual hostilities.
The new President is described as
having a forceful personality who
had long been active in the politics
of his country. He is the son of
the Sheikh Badr Ud-Deen Al-Husni,
head of the Ulemas of Damascus.
During1 the French bombardment of
Damascus he opened his house to
57
refugees and did much to allay the
fears of the population. It is recounted that during the World War,
when Syria was held in the greatest suspicion by the Turks, Jamal
Pasha, the Turkish military Governor, held the elder Sheikh Al-Husni
in the highest veneration and respect and was in the habit of kissing
his hand when greeting him. The
younger Al-Husni, the new Governor of Syria, was then comparatively a young man, but even then he
was of a rebellious character and
would not approve of the Turk's
policy as applied to his country.
Jamal Pasha confided to some of
his friends at the time that this
young man would some day be the
man of the hour in Syria.
If, according to present indications
and to representations of Syrian
Nationalists, the new President of
Syria was able to dictate his own
terms in accepting office, then the
people of Syria are to have free
elections for their National Assembly, complete independence in the
conduct of government with France
supplying advisers only on the approval of the National Government,
and a promise by France to evacuate
the country at the expiration of the
treaty which would be entered into
by France and Syria for a limited
period of time. This is the gist of
the Syrian Nationalist program, and
how much of it has been granted
Syria by France will be more fully
known upon receipt of Syrian mail.
Nationalist Dissension.
The controversy among the executive committee of the Syrian Nationalist Party, with headquarters
in Egypt, is waxing hotter than before. Now echoes of the differences
have been brought to the attention
�5*
THE SYRIAN WORLD
of the League of Nations by the act term political agitators and now
of the Lutfallah party which cabled claim to represent the Nationalist
the League that the Committee had cause without incurring the risks of
deposed its former delegation in Eu- battle. In a manifesto signed by
rope and would appoint a new dele- the Druze leaders and generals adgation to represent it in the near dressed principally to their supfuture. This came as the climax of porters in America, they complain
the bitter controversy which all ef- bitterly of the inaction of the Daforts to settle amicably failed. It mascenes and inhabitants of other
was brought about by the accusa- sections of Syria who are now claimtions of some members that the ing to speak for the Nationalists
chairman of the Committee, Emir "while they are engaged in the purLutfallah, had entered into bargain- suit of their business interests both
ing negotiations with the French in Syria and abroad and living in
to effect a compromise on the de- safety and luxury." The manifesto
mands of the Nationalists. He is shows no hesitation on the part of
accused of aspiring to barter the in- the Druzes to claim all the credit
terests of Syria for the throne of for the uprising in Syria for themLebanon. Lebanon, according to the selves, stating that they were the
defenders of Emir Lutfallah, could ones to suffer in lives and property
not be so tempting to a man of such and that the Syrians would not have
aspirations, as the country has al- even attempted to make a show of
ready committed itself to the repub- force had it not been for Druze relican form of government and is now inforcements. The Druzes, it is furstruggling in the most approved ther stated, had destroyed large
democratic fashion for the balancing French armies attempting to invade
of the budget, its latest move in this their mountain before anyone in
direction being its reduction of the other parts of Syria rose to arms.
ministry from seven to three mem- They held out later in the face of
great odds because they were loyal
bers.
As analyzed by some students of to their demands covering Syria as
the situation, the Syrian Nationalists a whole. Even when France offered
have now split into two distinct par- them advantageous terms following
ties, extremists and moderates. The the battle of Mezra'a they turned
faction of Emir Lutfallah, counsel- them down because of their loyalty
ing an amicable understanding with and single-mindedness. For these
the French to win as much as pos- considerations they show bitterness
sible of the Nationalist demands, towards the Syrian Nationalist leadare opposed by the other faction of ers of Damascus who would divert
the Executive Committee who would the financial succor coming from
continue the struggle to the bitter abroad to helping the remnants of
end in spite of the fact that the the Ghuta rebels instead of permitarmed revolution has been suppres- ting such assistance to reach the real
fighters who are now in exile in
sed.
An interesting development in Transjordania. Many instances are
these internal differences is that the cited where Druze revolutionists lost
leaders of the armed forces of the all their property and cattle and had
revolution are now showing extreme to borrow money on their personal
bitterness towards those whom they guarantee to purchase mounts and
I
�MARCH, 1928
H i
\
ammunition. This they mention as
one of their principal grievances because of the dire straits to which
they have been reduced.
On the face of it, this would indicate the appearance of a new element of difference between the
Druzes and their Mohammedan allies in Syria. It would seem that
the revolutionists of Syria are conducting negotiations with France on
terms unacceptable to the Druzes
and without consulting the desires
of the latter. There is also a plain
accusation of tampering with relief
funds because the Druzes emphasize
the fact that they have implicit
confidence in their relief committee
and would want their friends abroad
to place similar confidence in it so
that relief funds would be forthcoming uninterruptedly.
Incidentally, the Druzes state that
their losses in battle during the revolution amounted to three thousand
killed, not including women and children who met their death by causes
directly resulting from the war. The
number of those permanently disabled is also said to be large but
their exact number is not given.
The Situation in Lebanon.
A stormy session was staged in
the Parliament of Lebanon when
the new ministry took office. Dr.
Ayoub Tabet, Minister of the Interior, asked for a vote of confidence
and approval by Parliament of the
Ministry's program* and upon some
members favoring delay in taking
such a vote on the, plea of requiring
an extension of time for the proper
consideration of the program, the
minister threatened to resign and for
three times in quick succession left
his seat with the ministry and resumed his place as a plain member
59
of Parliament. Finally the President
declared a recess during which hurried arrangements were made to insure confidence being granted the
ministry.
Although accused of being a little
too impatient, the new Minister of
tihe Interior is, nevertheless, conceded to be a man of vigorous action
and energy. He is on good terms
with the press which lauds the
measures he plans to introduce for
the quick achievement of needed reform. He has already served notice
that court calendars must be cleared
within two weeks and invited the
public to call directly to his attention any flagrant cases of delayed
justice. He has also put an end to
public begging in the city of Beirut
and ordered all beggars from neighboring countries, such as Transjordania, Syria and Palestine, deported
from Lebanon forthwith.
The country appears to be still
restless under the frequent changes
taking place in the form of government. No sooner was the amendment to the Constitution approved
permitting tihe reduction of the
Council of Ministers from seven to
three than a movement was set
afoot asking for the dissolution of
Parliament in that it has ceased to
be constitutional. Immediately a
counter-petition was circulated accusing the makers of the first petition of pernicious motives and expressing confidence in the existing
republican form of government and
in Parliament. Some claim to see in
this move the hand of some conspirators who aspire to become princes
over Lebanon. The net result of these
moves and counter moves has been
to introduce a new element of uncertainty in the country which adds
to the demoralizing upheavals and
changes of the last few years.
�—-
60
THE SYRIAN WORLD
and endangering thereby a future
for the country full of promise. He
specifically refers to actions which
The latest mail reaching us from
in their nature would be incompatiParis furnishes partial details of the
ble with "political realities".
news already received by cable on
The dispatches conveying this inthe change of government in Syria.
formation
were sent from Beirut on
It would seem that conditions in the
Feb.
17,
and
on Feb. 20 other discountry have at last returned to norpatches
reported
that the new Presmal. Ahmad Nami Bey, the Damad,
ident
of
the
Provisional
Government
as already stated, has resigned, beof
Syria
had
in
turn
issued
another
ing succeeded by Sheikh Taj Udproclamation
promising
to
hold
the
Deen Al-Husni as Provisional Govgeneral
elections
for
the
Constituernor of the State of Syria, known
in the political division of the coun- tional Assembly at the earliest postry as the State of Damascus-Alep- sible date and that they would be
po. The French High Commission- conducted with the fullest freedom
er, M. Henri Ponsot, issued a pro- so that a constitution could be forclamation in which most of the na- mulated which would meet the
tionalist demands are granted. He wishes of the country and be in acpromises the early convocation of the cord with the obligations of the
National Assembly under a free Mandatory Power. He also advocates
electoral system and with full liber- the creation of an Interstate Comty to decide on the form of govern- mission to be charged with the regument for the country most acceptable lation of the economic relations beto the electorate, providing it does tween the different States. The new
not conflict with the duties of the Government is also in favor of abolMandatory Government as entrusted ishing the existing system of septo it by the League of Nations. At arate States and would replace it by
the same time, the censorship of the a centralized system of government
press is lifted, martial law abolished which would tend to foster a feeland a general amnesty declared, the ing of unity and cohesion. This, howHigh Commissioner explaining that ever, according to the proclamation,
the Mandatory Power had only should be undertaken in the friendawaited the opportune moment to liest spirit with no resort to coerprove to the people of Syria its good cion so that the ultimate result may
intentions by accelerating the return be achieved through complete wilof normal conditions now that the lingness and conviction. The wishes
armed revolt has been suppressed of the population of the different
and peace established on a stable States will be strictly respected and
basis. While setting no definite date if a general referendum should
for the general elections, the High prove abortive the Mandatory PowCommissioner assures the country er will be made the final arbiter.
The proclamation concludes with
that they will be undertaken as soon
as the proper machinery can be set the expression of the hope that the
Mandatory Power will enter into a
in motion.
There is, however, in the High treaty with Syria defining the mutuCommissioner's proclamation a note al obligations of the two nations
of warning to the Syrians against and setting a definite limit to
abusing their present opportunities France's occupation of the country.
LATEST INFORMATION ON
THE SYRIAN SITUATION
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NS 0002
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
TSW1928_03reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 02, Issue 09
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1928 March
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 2 Issue 09 of The Syrian World published March 1928. The first article presented in this issue, written by Ameen Rihani, discusses the traditions of Arabs and their mythology, specifically Gods and Jinn (nature's tribe of spirits). Next is a short story translated by Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin. Titled "The Perfect Brother," it is a story that discusses Allah. Next is an informative article by George Knaysi about the development of dairy farming in Syria and Lebanon, a continuation of his discussion on the agricultural situation in the Middle East. Following it is a poem by G.K. Gibran titled "Said a Blade of Grass," a poem about nature and the seasons changing. Following it is an article detailing certain reports on the developments in Palestine specifically industrial, population, economic, and agriculture improvements. Next is part two of the article discussing Syrian naturalization in the United States by Joseph W. Ferris. There is a short story titled "The Meeting," and another story adopted from Arabic called "The Clemency of Mu'awiyah," Second Caliph from the Umayyad clan. The issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press and political developments in Syria.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
Ameen Rihani
George Knaysi
Harry Chapman Ford
Kahlil Gibran
New York
Palestine
Poetry-English
Salim Alkazin
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�THF
SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104
GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK,
By subscription $5.00 a year.
N. Y.
Single copies 50c.
Entered as second-class matter, June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. II.
No. 11.
I
MAY, 1928.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Word-Borrowing in English and Words Borrowed from the
A rabic
j
PROF. BYRON SMITH
BeVs Lions (Poem)
§
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
Keyserling on the East
A Special Interview.
9
Racial Origins
12
The Bedouin Child (Poem)
13
THEO. WATTS-DUNTON
Cross-Currents in the East
14
THE EDITOR
'-^ -t-r--*"~"----
'~-~~—«——-—— — *--+ -~..,-~~— -:Tt _
�CONTENTS
(Continued)
PAGE
2
War and the Small Nations
^
KAHLIL GIBRAN
24
The Scar (Short Story)
DR.
N. A.
KATIBAH
Amara and her Master-Lover (Arabian Tale)
SI
Arab Proverbs
JJ
Arabic Newspapers in America
36
An Arab King at Home
40
When I Am Dead (Poem)
43
RAMSAY MOOREHEAD
Spirit of the Syrian Press
44
Readers* Forum
49
Political Developments in Syria
51
Missionaries Among Moslems
53
About Syria and Syrians
55
|
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. II.
No. 11.
MAY, 1928
Word-Borrowing in English
AND WORDS BORROWED FROM THE ARABIC *
By
BYRON SMITH
Professor of English in the American University of Beirut.
It is my purpose in this paper to discuss the vocabulary of
the English language, especially in connection with the words
borrowed from the Arabic language.
As new ideas arise in the history of a progressive people,
new words are needed to express these ideas. These new words
may be obtained in three ways, they may be invented, they may
be borrowed from other languages, or old words may be used
in modified form, or in form unchanged, to fit the new meaning. ^
The method of invention belongs historically in an early
period of language development and comparatively few words
enter the English vocabulary in this way in modern times. It
was once believed that our ancestors had a peculiar power, or
gift, of invention which modern man has lost, but we now know
that when the situation demands a new word the word will be
forthcoming. A well known example is the word "kodak" invented by an American manufacturer of cameras who is still living, yet the word is so well-known that it has been adopted into
* In the December, 1927, issue of The Syrian World an article by Prof.
Smith entitled "Arabic Words in the English Vocabulary" was the
first of a series of three articles on the subject of which this is the
second. The third, dealing more specifically with words borrowed
from the Arabic, will appear in a coming issue.
�4
THE SYRIAN WORLD
several foreign languages. A brief study of the advertising
pages of any American magazine will reveal a number of newly
invented words to describe manufactured articles. Most of these
words are doomed to a short existence and early oblivion, a few
of them will find their way into the dictionaries as members of
the vocabulary in good and regular standing.
Old words given a new meaning form a small but important class. In an earlier article I mentioned the word "broadcast", which once denoted the sowing of grain by hand, but now
is used to mean the sending, out of radio impulses in all directions from a distributing center. The great war clothed a number of old words in new meanings. Those of us who were in
Beirut during the war may remember how we were puzzled by
a statement in the newspapers, to the effect that the "tanks" used
by the Allies were not very efficient after all. After a time we
learned that a tank, which once meant a large vessel to contain
water, had come to mean a movable steel fortress, a land battleship. Sometimes a new word is formed by compounding several
old terms. A fine example of this is the word "folklore", made of
the two old English words, "folk" and "lore", and meaning the
study of ancient customs and superstitions. The German language is given to this kind of word formation, adding word to
word, till the result is as long as some sentences. Sometimes
these long words are reduced to useful form by reducing them
to a short word made of the most prominent consonants or sylThe method most favored by the English language for the
increase of its vocabulary is the adoption of foreign words. In
the case of scientific terms, these foreign words are almost invariably of Latin or Greek origin, usually a compound ot two
words One has only to run through the list of words ending
in "-ology", a Greek word meaning "word" or "science", to see
how heavily the scientific vocabulary is loaded with these borrowings from the classical languages.
By these various methods the English vocabulary is increased It has been estimated that 20 new words are added on
the average, every year. But by far the more frequent method
is that of borrowing, from the dead languages of Greece and
Rome, or from living languages of the world at large.
Otto Jesperson (pronounced Yesperson), the great Danish
student of languages, says that in his opinion the English Ian-
�MAY, 1928
guage is decidedly masculine in its characteristics, as opposed to
feminine or infantile. He points to its clearly denned sounds
e
m
d8
haS the
to7ZZ
T^°nofTdany
T
' * * klanguage,
^
number of monosyllables
European
its logical
word order, and, above all, to its vastness ancfwomofW
bulary as evidences of its masculine character. Its vocabulary
I
has th argest number of words of
guile'
-r Women
"guage. m,
I his, says V
Jesperson, is a masculine trait.
as
e fe words than men but
Ltf^ho se c
> -—*« s *
the Fnllfrrf°m °f V0Ca^ulary J^person means the ability of
the English language to borrow words from any source. Any
combinations of sounds that can be pronounced by the English'
enCa
Tat^ome
. T
H l^
'* the ^^
and
beat
home in the
English
language.
If some ^**5
part of a new
word represents a sound that is not known in English, the nearest substitute is accepted in its place. The word "sheikh" has
been used in English since the days of Queen Elizabeth. It firs
appeared in print in 1577, but it remained as an inconspicuous
word
a few ars ago when a
boT^il
^
, mader its appearance. As^^
book with this word for title
English
has no sound corresponding to kh £ the sound of k was substituted and the word "sheek" is now a popular term to describe
a person addicted to violent and unscrupulous love-making
^* Purf^ly no Wuage now spoken on earth has failed to
contribute to the English vocabulary, and many dialects have
supplied new words. When Americans first explored the Indian names of plants and animals were used and many have
survived to the present, as, potato, tobacco, opossum, etc. When
the South Seas were entered by Europeans they brought back
such words as taboo, kangaroo, tattoo, etc.
Turning now to the words contributed to English by the
Arabic language, we find that, though th& Arabic words are much
fewer in number than those borrowed from the languages of
modern Europe, they are, on the other hand, much more numerous than those picked up by explorers in newly discovered
IZv^t V? *'«"****** importance historically in
the light they shed on the connection between Europe and the
Near East from early historical times.
We have first to decide what words we shall consider as
definite contributions to the English vocabulary. We must, first,
�6
THE SYRIAN WORLD
eliminate proper names and words derived from them. Proper
names include the names of persons and places, with their derived adjectives. Although these proper names and adjectives may
be in familiar use in English, they are not, strictly speaking,
English words, any more than the names of kings and cities
of Europe which would not be included in counting the words
of the English vocabulary.
Another class of Arabic words that must be eliminated is
the names of stars. It is an interesting fact that, while the
groups of stars, or constellations, bear Greek names, the names
of the heroes and heroines of Greek legends, the names of individual stars, for the most part, bear Arabic names, though the
pole star, and several of the brightest stars in the sky, Sirius,
Canopus, etc., bear Greek names. Yet the names of stars are
proper nouns, like the names of persons and of countries, and
they enter into the vocabularies of few but astronomers.
Of Arabic words we shall expect to find no pronouns or
prepositions, as they belong to the early history of a language,
few verbs for they belong to the more native element of any
languages,.and not many adjectives with their corresponding adverbs, but the majority of words will be nouns, the names of
things.
When I began to investigate the word borrowings from the
Arabic I found that no complete list had been compiled and
there were several disagreements in the partial lists that had
been made. This brought up the question of how to go about
the compilation of such a list. The popular method of assuming that an English word is derived from an Arabic word because they look or sound alike, is as trustworthy as the popular
classification, of the bat as a bird because it flies in the air, of the
whale as a fish because it swims in the sea, or of the sponge as
a plant because it grows fast to the rocks below the water. The
only valid method is the historical one, to trace the history of
a word back as far as it is possible to go, to observe when and
by whom it was used in the past, and what forms and meanings
it has taken on in the course of its history.
Fortunately for the student of English words, there is now
in existence a full and accurate history of every word in the
English language. This is the New English Dictionary, also called
the Oxford Dictionary, from the place where it is being written,
and the Murray Dictionary, from the name of its great editor.
-< mm
�MAY, 1928
I
7
This great work, begun a generation ago, is not yet complete,
though only a small part of the last of the alphabet remains to
be published and the literary world is expecting at any time
the announcement of its completion. This historical dictionary,
the only one of its kind in the world, attempts to give the history of every word that has ever been used by any English
writer. Quotations, illustrating every form or use of a word
are given in full, with the name of the author, the date, and the
page reference of the work. Words of English origin are traced
back to their ultimate root, words of foreign origin are traced
back, sometimes through several intermediate languages, to the
word from which they sprung. Because of its scholarly completeness, this dictionary is the' indispensable reference book for every
student of the English language.
It was to this dictionary that I turned when I undertook
to prepare a list of the Arabic words in English. It was obvious
that there was only one way to collect the words, the simple but
laborious method of going through the dictionary, page by page.
Where the New English Dictionary was incomplete, I made
use of other books of reference.
The harvest' that I gathered was smaller than I had expected. I found 217 words in current use, that is, in use as accepted
English words. Some of these are in daily service, such as "jar,"
"sugar," etc. Others such as "realgar," "varan," "naker," "fardel," etc., would defy definition on the part of the average person.
I found 45 obsolete words, words that once had been in
current use but now are buried in the dictionary and forgotten
by living speech. I found 183 unassimilated words, that is,
words, for the most part, picked up by travellers and used in
their travel records, but not really accepted and used generally
by English writers or speakers. Then there was a little group
of ghosts that were both obsolete and unassimilated, still-born
babes born into the English language long ago but never receiving any currency beyond the usage of a few ancient writers.
This collection of about 450 words represents the contribution of the Arabic language to the English language. I do
not claim that it is complete, for I may have overlooked some
words, and others may have been used by English writers that
have not been discovered by the compilers of the dictionary, but
it may stand as a fairly representative list.
ms
�H ..
77/£ SYRIAN WORLD
*
I do not know how many words the New English Dictionary
will contain when it is complete, but I notice that a popular,
one-volume dictionary of the English language, recently published, claims to contain the definition of 400,000 English words.
Assuming that the English language contains at least 400,000
words, we can easily compute the approximate percentage of
words coming from the Arabic.
In another paper I hope to discuss some of the more interesting of these borrowings from the Arabic in the light of the
cultural relations between Western European and Arabian culture.
Bel's Lions
By DR SALIM Y. ALKAZIN
(Instead of thy making a new deluge, let lions apfear and
reduce the number of men. — Ea to Bel in the Chaldean tablets of the deluge.)
But what of him who shuns the jungles wild,
Who stalks, not in the darkness of the night,
But proudly o'er the bosom of the day;
Who snarls, but through a smile benign and bright,
The while his teeth are sunken in his prey;
Who growls, but in melodious tones and mild?
(Lion-strength—Such is the stuff that will succeed,
They say: and we are urged by word and deed
T' embrace the Lion-man's faith and creed.)
Which is Bel's curse, the flood's fell substitute—
The shrinking beast that hides him in his lair,
Or, hunted, starves upon the arid waste?
Lion-strength, inspiring and fair,
How oft, like liberty, the pure and chaste,
Abused, grows shameless, wanton, dissolute!
MMMMMM m
�MAY, 1928
Keyserling on the East
zA Special Interview *
Turning for a brief respite from the subjects more intimately connected with his American lecture tour, Count Herman
Keyserling, the famous German philosopher now in New York,
consented to discuss with the editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD
some of the major problems besetting the East. His observations encompassed the whole of Asia from semi-European Turkey to China and Japan. For the East in general he entertains
the hope of a bright future, but would not commit himself as
to the time this could be achieved. The attainment of this object, he maintains, is dependent upon certain definite conditions
whose fulfillment alone will determine the acceleration or the
protraction of the ultimate inevitable result.
On general grounds, Count Keyserling believes in the ultimate attainment by all classes of the human race of the supreme object they are all striving and struggling for, namely,
the desire to live in happiness and comfort. The coolie of
China is animated by this desire as much as the laborer of Europe and America. To some groups of the same class in different countries this desire may be nearer of attainment than
it is to others, but the urge being equal among all, the process
of evolution from one stage to another until the supreme goal
is reached will continue to supply the onward movement with
continual energy.
The outstanding condition Count Keyserling lays down for
the more rapid advance of the East is the development of Character, as would be expressed in a firm belief among the people
of the East of their ultimate destiny and their will to force its
fulfillment. The Count is an admirer of mass action and a firm
believer in the virtues of discipline. He concedes that the initiative should come from a few leaders with well-grounded, positive authority, but he would not have reform come by decree
as if ordained by divine right, as was the case with the initiation
of reform in Japan. Rather, he is in favor of leadership that
* This interview was published in the Sunday Edition of the N. Y. World
of April 29.
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
derives its authority from public sanction, as exemplified in the
recent case of Turkey under the able leadership of Mustapha
Kamal Pasha.
Amplifying on the subject of Turkey, Count Keyserlmg
gave it as his unqualified conviction that recent developments
in that country are the greatest political evolution in the world
since the federation of the German States into the German Empire. Kamal Pasha is to Count Keyserling the outstanding figure of
the age. The several reform movements he has inaugurated are
without parallel in history both in nature and extent. They are
bound to exercise a far-reaching effect in shaping the course of
affairs in the East, and will undoubtedly stimulate to quicker
action the will of Eastern races to attain their lawful aspirations.
In other words, the Turkish reform movement under the
driving will of Mustapha Kamal Pasha is the greatest incentive
to the acquisition by the people of the East of that primary condition laid down by Count Keyserling for their full development, namely, Character.
Further analyzing the Turkish situation, Count Keyserling
attributed the success of the reform movement in Turkey to two
major causes, the first being enlightened and resolute leadership, and the second orderly submission by the people. Mustapha Kamal, according to Count Keyserling, is especially fortunate in having able lieutenants who share his ideals and work
wholeheartedly with him in carrying out his policies. Such
gigantic upheavals cannot be the work of one man. They were
not so in Russia and cannot be so anywhere else, although the
guiding mind may be single. Among Mustapha Kamal's most
able aides Count Keyserling mentions Ismet Pasha, the formidable diplomat who negotiated the treaty of Sevres and won
his points against the ablest statesmen of Europe.
To the second requisite Count Keyserling attaches no less
importance, for he attributes to the Turkish nation what he
terms one of the finest national characteristics, namely, that orderly submission to authority which is bred of long military discipline. The Turks are a fighting race who came to the country
as invaders and held their conquests against superior numbers
by cohesive action. Their turning of defeat in the last war into
a signal victory is a feat without parallel in military annals.
Count Keyserling concludes that the Turks have character, his
fundamental condition for success, and it is for that reason that
\
'
�MAY, 1923
i
n
they are blazing the way for other Eastern races in the pursuit
of their common goal.
For the Arabs, also, Count Keyserling holds prospects of
a brilliant .future. The Arabs are a hardy race and fiercely independent. What they lack in the way of cohesive action as induced by military discipline is amply counter-balanced by the
intensity of their religious zeal. This, in time, will serve its
purpose of consolidating their ranks and establishing their power, later giving way to a more tolerant attitude which would be
more in keeping with modern thought and action. Already signs
of this rejuvenation are appearing in the disciplinary religious
movement of the Arab King Ibn Saoud. The motive behind
the Wahabi movement, it is true, is religious, but the end is
nationalistic and political. Had it not been for the fact that
the Arabs were in a state of complete isolation in their peninsula,
the, growth of the movement would be exceedingly rapid and its
effect much more far reaching.
Reminded that the Wahabi movement, both in its inception
and its application, is reactionary and retrogressive in that it
seeks to apply to the present age conditions that obtained during the times of the Prophet, Count Keyserling expressed it as
his belief that Islam was as great an evolution in religious thought
and practice as the reformation movement in Christianity. For
the Arabs to advocate the return to the pristine purity of Islam
would be to reduce it to its simpler element and have it revert
to its primary function. The early followers of the Arab Prophet were first actuated by religious motives, but once their creed
was established they turned to the more peaceful methods of
civilization and progress. History may well repeat itself in the
present case also. For Ibn Saoud will first seek to coordinate
his forces by the only expedient at hand which now is religion,
and once the solidarity of the race is established civilization will
be promoted along the accepted lines of modern methods.
Religion shall cease to be a determining factor in the lives
of nations. As men develop more fully the realization of the
primacy of their material well-being over all other considerations, they shall evince less concern over matters which hamper
them in the pursuit of their supreme ambition. This ultimate
state of the human race is inevitable. It shall apply to the East
as well as to any other section of the globe. The process of
evolution will be gradual but positive. When, however, this final
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
condition will be reached is beyond the ability of anyone to determine.
Count Keyserling here gave a plain definition of his understanding of the term East. What is popularly called the "mysterious, unfathomable East" is to him not a mystery at all. The
whole world, to a greater or lesser degree, is striving for the
common goal of material well-being as expressed in the desire
to live in the greatest possible safety and comfort. China in
this respect is not different from Russia, and where in the latter
European country some progress has been made towards this
end in one masterly, decisive stroke, in the former Asiatic country a war has been progressing for the last twenty years for the
attainment of the same object. But if the result has been long
in materializing, there should be no doubt of its realization sooner or later.
Count Keyserling would, however, make a clear distinction
between the Near East and the Far East. The latter is the real
and,only East and begins only with India, while the Near East,
or those countries bordering on the Mediterranean basin, are as
much an integral part of the West as any country of Europe.
In speaking of the countries of the Near East and their
ultimate destiny, Count Keyserling delivers a dictum based both
on profound reaspning and intimate association and knowledge.
The German philosopher was in the south-eastern Mediterranean countries only a few years since, and plans another visit
to Turkey, Syria, Egypt and contiguous countries in the opening
months of the coming year.
RACIAL ORIGINS
Commenting on the unveiling of the statue of Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, which was held in New York the past month, the N. Y.
Times recalls the great celebration accorded Kossuth when he arrived in
the city an exile from his country inj 1851. New Yorkers, it states, turned
out in unprecedented numbers to welcome Kossuth, and the papers of the
day record not) only the great public enthusiasm but the speeches delivered
by the leaders of the American nation at the dinners and receptions given
in his honor.
In recalling the speeches made at the press dinner tendered Kossuth,
the Times says editorially in its issue of March 15: "Especially notable
was the speech of Charles A. Dana of The Sun, who thanked God that
we had no exclusive origin but had in our veins 'the blood of a ^thousand
tribes' and in our language a thousand idioms, and insisted that all races
are capable of noble development under noble institutions."
�MAY, 1928
13
Tie Bedouin Child
Among the Bedouins, a father in enumerating his children
never counts his daughters, for a daughter
is considered a disgrace.
Ilyas the prophet, lingering 'neath the moon,
Heard from a tent a child's heart-withering wail ,
Mixt with the message of the nightingale,
And entering, found, sunk in mysterious swoon,
A little maiden dreaming there alone.
She babbled of her father sitting pale
'Neath wings of death - 'mid sights of sorrow and bale,
And pleaded for his life in piteous tone.
"Poor child, plead on," the succoring prophet saith,
While she, with eager lips, like one who tries
To kiss a dream, stretches her arms and cries
To heaven for help, - "Plead on: such pure love-breath
Reaching the Throne, might stay the wings of death,
That in the desert fan thy father's eyes."
The drouth-slain camels lie on every hand;
Seven sons await the morning vultures' claws'Mid empty water-skins and camel-maws
The father sits, the last of all the band.
He mutters, drowsing o'er the moonlit sand,
"Sleep fans my brow; Sleep makes us all pashas;
Or if the wings are death, why, Azreel draws
A childless father from an empty land. "
I
"Nay," saith a voice, "the winds of Azreel's wings
A child's sweet breath hath stilled; so God decrees; " A camel's bell comes tinkling on the breeze,
Filling the Bedouin's brain with bubble of springs
And scent of flowers and shadow of wavering trees
Where, from a tent, a little maiden sings.
Theodore Watts-Dunton.
�*l
THE SYRIAN WORLD
14
Cross-Currents in the East
By
THE EDITOR
A titantic struggle is now being waged in the Moslem world
between the forces of progress and the forces of reaction.
The
conviction of each faction in the vitality of the issues involved is
so deep-rooted that most extraordinary methods of coercion are
being resorted to.
With so much animus and desperation prevalent the final clash cannot be long delayed.
When it comes
there is bound to be such a tremendous upheaval in the NearEast
as will completely change the existing order of things and submurge in one great tidal wave the traditional heritage of the "Unchanging East" . And this cataclysm is inevitable, in spite of the
fact that the main points of difference are neither more nor less
than those existing in the West between fundamentalists and advocates of reform. The animus of the orientals may be trusted to
carry the controversy further than that of verbal debate. Whereas, in the United States, the question of prohibition is disposed of
by legislative methods, in the East, issues of even a less serious
nature will be settled only by recourse to arms.
What makes this struggle particularly ominous is that it is being
waged between the two most powerful factions of the Islamic
world, those representing two distinct nationalities, the Arabs and
the Turks, while the theatre of conflict is so restricted that only the
comparatively small country of Syria separates the two opposing
forces. The Turks, under the leadership of their dictator Mustapha Kamal Pasha, are the protagonists of the reform movement
while the Arabs, whose most powerful potentate is King Ibn Saoud
of Nejd, are being driven by him to uphold the most puritanical
principles of early Islam. Where ultimate victory will rest is not
difficult to guess, for the Turks may be trusted to be launching
their movement in no spirit of enmity to Islam but rather in a
spirit of conformity to the requirements of modern times. As
devout Mohammedans at heart as any that can be found, they also
* This article was published in the "Commonweal", New York, a weekly journal of opinion, in its issue of April 11. It is reprinted with
some additions by special courtesy.
I
�MAY, 1928
15
have an eye on economic development and realize that they can
not well apply methods of a thousand years back or more to the
needs of the twentieth century. The Arabs, on the other hand,
have not come into as close contact with the West as have the
Turks and consequently are not as much affected by modern influences. Hence the possibility of such principles as those advocated by Ibn Saoud and his followers finding so much support. It
seems only a matter of time before the contagion of the modern
spirit will penetrate into Arabia and change the aspect of the situation. When this change will be affected, however, is beyond
the ability of any one to prophesy.
What the Turks have done so far in the way of emulating the
West is too well known to need repetition in detail. Briefly, the
1 urks have torn themselves loose from traditions heretofore considered well-nigh inviolable. Not only in the religious domain,
but in the realm of social and civic reform as well,, they have effected a complete transformation almost overnight. The Caliphate was abolished and left to go begging among the potentates
oi the Mohammedan world, with utter desregard for the prestige
of Islam. Prayers were ordered recited in the native Turkish
language with total indifference to Arabic, the sacred language of
the Koran. Polygamy was no longer tolerated and even personal liberty was invaded by decreeing that the tarboosh, formerly
considered the national headgear, should give way to the European hat. In short, such radical changes were introduced as to make
one standing on the threshold of this transition stare aghast at the
rapidity of the transformation.
Whaty on the other hand, has been the Arab contribution to
the situation? It must be confessed that an earnest effort has long
since been undertaken by an enlighted section of the Arabic-speaking people to foster a movement of reform. This, of course, is
meant to apply to the Mohammedan element of the population.
Of recent instances may be cited the campaign being waged by the
Mohammedan women of Syria to discard the veil, while in Egypt
we know that several decades back such a movement was advocated by the late Kasim Ameen. Now we find Mohammedans
in ever-increasing numbers sending their children to be educated
in the professions in foreign schools both within their respective
countries and abroad. We even have the rare instances of Mohammedan men marrying Christian wives and strictly practising monogamy. In some sections of the Mohammedan East, especially in
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
those sections bordering on the sea and brought into close touch
with western influences, it may be truly said that the same degree
of culture and modernism obtains as can be found anywhere in
Europe or America. But what about the real Arabs, the Arabs of
Arabia, and the masses of Arabic-speaking peoples and others of:
Moslem faith who form the main body of Islam? Are they sympathetic to modernizing influences or even passive in their attitude? Or are they so set against any infraction of their centuriesold traditions as to fight tooth and nail any attempt to swerve
them from their old practices ?
The answer to these queries is only too evident to anyone following the trend of events in the Moslem world, especially that
section of it comprised by the countries of the near East. Par' ticularly in Arabia, the home and the stronghold of Islam, the
Arabs not only live the life they had been leading for innumerable centuries, but they show unmistakable signs of resenting
any change. Any deviation from their prescribed course would
be sure to meet determined opposition on their part.
In support of this contention it does not seem necessary
to carry the reader back decades or even years. The occurrences
of the closing months of the last year are quite sufficient to
demonstrate the facts of the situation. They are little known to
the general reader of American newspapers, but the native Arabic press abounds in news items that shed interesting light on
the situation.
One, for instance, lately reported by news dispatches in the
United States, is the account given by the Cairo correspondent
of the Daily Express of the stringent restrictions laid down to
his subjects by the Arab King Ibn Saoud. This dispatch was,
in turn, based on a consular report of the Egyptian government.
It states that among the things forbidden are smoking, use of
alcoholic liquors, use of perfume, wearing of gold and silver
ornaments and silk garments.
It is further stated that immediately the muezzin's call to
prayer is heard, all must at once abandon what they are doing
and hasten to the mosque, for "prayer is better than work or
sleep".
Shaving of the beard has been decreed a crime for which
both the wielder of the razor and the person shaved shall be
severely punished.
Usury, meetings of men and women, and gathering of re-
MM
i
n
�I
i
MAY, 1928
1?
latives to bewail the dead, also are forbidden.
Ibn Saoud, it must be remembered, is at present the most
powerful of all the kings of Arabia. He was able to reach this
degree of power only through the support of his zealot followers who are known as the Ikhwan, or the brothers, for whom the
bunna is as essential a guide as the Koran, not only in their daily
religious practices, but in all the business of life. Of this group
Ameen Riham, the Syrian author who, through special courtesy
was permitted to visit Riadh, the capital of Ibn Saoud, only
about a year since, wrote as follows:
"What the Prophet Mohammed said and did, from the
broadest rule to the minutest detail of conduct, from the loftiest
to the most frivolous - how, for instance, he prayed and how
t'
*18 beard and his finger-nails — that is the Sunna.
lhe Wahabi lives and dies by it. Everything he says and does
he must be able to justify by the Sunna and the Koran — more
by the Sunna ,n fact, than the Koran. He bows the head only
to Allah — Sunna. He wears no silk garments — Sunna. He
retrains from decorating his mosques — Sunna. He does not
kiss the hand of imam or sultan — Sunna. He associates with
Allah, m his prayers, no prophet or saint or other mortal. Said
the Prophet Mohammed: "Say not 'By the help of Allah and
u y»°ph^'- but Say' 'By the helP of Allah and then the Pro<i mVf- preCept finds its aPP>ation in the daily speech
of the Wahabis. "Were'it not for Allah and then for thee (the
sultan), we should have lost the battle. Writes the master of
ceremonies in his daily list: "So-and-so has arrived and he desires of Allah and then of thee (the sultan) a busht, a zuboun
and some coffee and rice."
^
j
"About the Ikhwan," further states Mr. Rihani, "are related strange, heroic deeds and rare stoic achievements. Also
unspeakable atrocities. The demons of religion, they are called
by some the heroes of Islam, by others. Summoned to a jihad,
they dash forth, hearing and gleaming, sam?m, lamtin—so runs
the traditional cry—seeking the heads of the Mushrekin, frantically fanatical Unitarians, puritan copperheads. And the Sultan Abdul-Aziz is a Cromwell in the sense that he has made
these people and fired them with inextinguishable enthusiasm
for Allah and for Nejd. Their faith, a living, glowing faith,
makes the blood of a Brother fallen in battle sacred m theeyes. Through it they behold Jannat—their paradise; and with
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
pious ecstasy they put their fingers in the wound and stain the
edges of their garments. The winds of Jannat are blowing!
Ye seekers, in haste for the sowing! Ye seekers, in haste for
the mowing!"
This, it must be borne in mind, is the account of the Ikhwan by a friend who may be trusted not to have recourse to
exaggeration in describing the creed and the dominant factors
in the life of those Arabs ruled by the king who had tendered
him protection and hospitality.
Quite a contrast, this, to what has taken place in Turkey
only a few hundred miles away, also among followers of the
Arabian Prophet.
Further glimpses of what is agitating the Near East may
be had from other sources as laid open to us by seemingly casual
notices irt the native Arabic press during the last few months.
In their efforts at regeneration in Iraq, over which rules
King Feisal, some Syrian teachers were asked to fill positions
in local schools who had been educated in foreign institutions.
The population of Iraq is predominantly Shiite, or followers of
Ali. A certain teacher, however, saw fit to publish a book in
which he upheld the claim of Mu'awiyah to the Caliphate
against Ali in what he considered a pure contribution to historical
knowledge. Immediately there was an uprising in Bagdad which
resulted in much bloodshed and the offending historian was
finally banished from the country, thanking Allah that he was
able to escape with his life.
Quite recently, also, some enterprising book dealer in Egypt
saw fit to order from Europe a shipment of the Holy Book of
Islam, the Koran, translated in one of the European languages.
The customs authorities of the country would not pass on its
eligibility for entry into a Mohammedan country and referred
the case to the Ministry of Justice which ruled that the book
could not be lawfully admitted and permitted to be sold in
Egypt inasmuch as it is sacrilegious to translate the Koran into
the languages of the infidels.
Egypt, it should be remembered, is one of the most progressive among the Mohammedan countries and surely if the
matter were left to the judgment of the educated class no such
incident would come to pass, but the trouble is not with the educated few but with the masses, who are still swayed by religious
considerations as by no other influence.
I
�v
l
MAY, 1928
• "
*«. !PeQi I d° the Af!*8 resent any missionary effort, and
his not only because they believe in Islam but lore because
n Isl m
both
. 7°
^.^ Sto
Pedal
"***>»
both their
duty andl privilege
uphold
it.
of
Arabia and it is
estineRlertly' ?6 ^ -?aper ^"Yannouk, published in Paln Christkn
S^eral and
1°*^
?**
Nonaries in
nd Th
th Se' f
them who
ar °
Sri"uj
° °
* English in particular, for
heir misrepresentation of conditions" in Arabic-speaking countries. As quoted by this paper, the circular reported to have
been prepared by these missionaries calling for volunteers for
missionary work in Arabia does not seem to be in good taste
nheteSHn ^m rCC W°rds b CallinS M^ammed the False Pro-
m th m
US kngUa e the
and c7lZ f ?f m>
*BUt the
T SCUrril
°
S
******
Str ng P int brou ht
h
paoer
Zt ^
•
°
°
^ °* Y ^e
toTdJffln W I" miSS1TneS Seeking COnVerts are attempting
PrlwMa am°ng thf Very pe°Ple who claim ^e Arabian
Prophet as their own, and take pride in him not only as the
founder of a religion, but as their greatest patriot.
e]lgi
r' k W°Uid Seem' is a sacred
wher?
Precin* to the Arabs
where no foreign influence may be permitted to trespass. No
better illustration of this fact could be cited than the case of the
to^T K rhCharkS Cran/' Wh°Se rePUtati0n ^r fn-dles:
world Re
u £enetTit]?e fartheSt Corners of ^e Arab
Td L 5 S fu V^ hlgh/St CSteem for h^ Philanthropy
and the solicitude he displays for the uplift of the Arab race
His efforts toward assisting Arab students in acquiring education
abroad are much appreciated. Especially do the Mohammed^
elements, particularly of Syria, feel grateful to him for Tc
political agitation he has engineered in their behalf. But when
tters of reli
IT'8 t0
gion he is frankly and plainly told
that his meddling tactics are unwelcome.
A, Z!£
Arab
folI
°r
°
n
g
account
"
of Mr. Crane's recent travels in
taken fr m
°
**
Arabk paper Fztz ,{
~ -
"Much of Mr. Crane's speech to the members of the EastW f?'! Cair° ItCTll haS bccn Pushed in the press,
but the Society may finally deade on publishing this speech in
book form. I have learned, however, from authentic sources
that the trip of Mr Crane to Arabia was undertaken for a
double purpose, the lesser of which is to study the prospects of
the Pan-Arab movement and whether it is possible of realiza-
�J
20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
tion. On this subject Mr. Crane has refused to make any statement to the press.
"The primary object of Mr. Crane, however, was the survey of educational possibilities in Arabia and whether it would
be possible to establish American schools in the coast regions
such as Mr. Crane had established in China out of funds from
American Educational foundations. Of special importance is
the fact that Mr. Crane had an aunt by the name of Gertrude
Crane who died a few months ago and left a fund of one million dollars to be spent on American missionary enterprises in
the East. For this purpose also, Mr. Crane's aunt has set aside
the revenue of some of her rich land holdings. It appears that
Mr. Crane was undertaking to apply the conditions of his aunt's
will to Arabia, but his personal studies and observations in the
districts of Yemen, Asir and Hejaz struck his plans a forceful
blow. The Arab rulers, plainly declared to him that they would
never accept this kind of educational institutions. Where he
received the stunning blow, however, was in Yemen. Here Imam
Yahya absolutely refused even to discuss the subject of Christian schools."
It is true that now that the revolution in Syria has been
suppressed some Syrian leaders are accusing Mr. Crane of having incited them to revolt and then neglected them, withholding
from them, as they claim, the material aid he had promised.
But it may be said with much truth that Mr. Crane is to the
Moslems of the Near East the outstanding figure among their
many European and American friends. And still we find that
when it comes to matters of religion all his prestige and all the
high esteem in which his friends hold him avail naught.
Bearing on Mr. Crane's standing among the Arabs, as well
as on his tactics in gaining their friendship, the following correspondence exchanged between King Ibn Saoud and himself on
the eve of his departure from Arabia may be of special interest.
In justice to Mr. Crane, it may be said that he must have had
3n Arab secretary write the letter for him while he jotted down
his signature on the dotted line, as no matter how much of an
Arabic scholar Mr. Crane could be, he could never have mastered the purely Mohammedan style with which the letter is stamped. But as to the contents of the letter, only Mr. Crane can
tell whether-they conformed to his beliefs or not. Certainly,
the spirit of the letter cannot be much in agreement with the
——
MA
conv
nent
to M:
read:
]
I
1
i
i
e
t
a
j
1
reply,
Mr. C
�MAY, 1928
2l
convictions of an American, let alone the fact that he is prominently identified with educational and missionary activities
Here is the literal translation of Mr. Crane's letter:
His Majesty King of Hejaz and Sultan of Neid
and its dependencies, Abdul Aziz As-Saoud, Medina.
Before departing from your holy land I beg to
express to your Majesty my deep gratitude for the consideration which I received at the hands of your son
and the men of your government, especially Sayyed
Mohammed Nasif, praying to Allah that He assist you
in the task of unification of the Arabs particularly and
the Moslem in general. We trust that you will regard
with sympathetic eye all those who, striving in the obedience of God, are watching your actions with utmost
interest. Your glorious peoples with their vast desert
in which they are immune against the corruptions of
the outside world, have a sacred mission to perform,
namely that of keeping religion in its pristine purity
and restoring it undefiled to the world.
Sincerely
Dated Rajab, 1345.
(Signed)
Crane.
. **ThZ Amb P°tentate was quick ^ reply, for he despatched
to Mr. Crane an answer to his letter bearing the same date which
read:
Mr. Crane.
I thank you for your good opinion in us and our
people, and am grateful for your noble sentiment of
love towards our nation as well as your solicitude for
its progress. It is an added proof of the purity of your
nature and the sublimity of your ideals. May Allah
exalt the truth and establish it. It is a matter of regret
to me that I did not have the opportunity to meet you
and therefore content myself with wishing you a happy
journey.
(Signed)
The king of Hejaz and the sultan
of Nejd and its dependencies,
Abdul Aziz.
The Arab sultan, as may be seen, is very courteous in his
replyy but he is also very honest and straightforward. For when
Mr. Crane, the American, tells the sultan that he has a sacred
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
mission to perform by keeping ^^.V^^^T^^
the sultan does not disagree with his statement, because
he understands the American's words to apply to Is km andhe
s^ys "amen" to his vows, beseeching Allah to exalt the truth
and e^tabl^ ^^
^
y ^
can be no misunderstanding the nature of the truth that Allah
is called upon to exalt. The Wahabis, as we have seen, are the
pu^tans of Islam, and Ibn Saoud's recent stringent restrictions
le^ve no doubt as to the strictness of their religious views. If,
foTLtance they deem it anatema to shave and wear silks and
Soa^S^muskal instruments, and if, furthermore, they
class evTn Moslems who do not adhere to their beliefs on a panfv with infidels, it should not be hard to judge the degree of
mimlcal attitude they assume towards everything extraneous to
Islam and their narrow comprehension ot it.
Now this sect of Moslems is in absolute control ot Arabia,
and so long as they are in power we can imagine the amount ot
modern reforms that can be tolerated to filter nito the country
Also we can imagine the leniency with which they woidd deal
with matters contrary to their conceptions and belief if their
Tower were to extend outside the limits of their country
A further instructive glimpse of present conditions in Arabia
mav be had from an account of Dr. Wolfgang von Weisl, a German investigator who made a tour of the country in the course
SL year" Slavery, according to him, still flounshes.n Ante.
In this he corroborates recent reports submitted to the League
of Nations on the same subject. He states that no less than two
lusand slaves are imported into Arabia from Abyssinia every
year, in spite of the vigilance of the Powers against the traffic
A human being is still considered in Arabia as so much chattel with a defined market value. Some of the revelations of Dr.
Weisl on the subject are interesting and read like a description
of conditions thousands of years ago:
"King Ibn Saoud has the ambition of creating a whole bair
of slaves * * * Today Ibn Saoud has a bodyguard of
tO^ckecfSves upon who/he can depend under-rfidrcum
stances who are absolutely devoted to him. In Arabia 120 slaves
re^esenTnot only wealth but power also They are the only
represent nuy
If a king is defeated his slaves fall
to thaT*^f the victor and afe divided, like horses and
,
I
i
�MAY, 1928
I
21
dogs. * * * In Arabia the attempt of a woman slave to escape
is punished by death."
Such is Arabia and such are the Arabs of today. The land
of the Prophet is still the isolated stronghold of Islam and the
Arabs its uncompromising defenders. Between Arabia and Turkey is but a stone's throw, judging by modern standards of distance. Yet the, Arabs and the Turks, although of the same religion, remain as distant as the poles.
Ultimately, no doubt, the Arabs are destined to bend to
modern influences and detach themselves from many of their
old traditions. But when this change is to be effected it is not
given anyone to foretell. Arab pride and love for independence,
Arab fatalism and belligerency, Arab passion and desperation,
cannot be questioned. But to what extent these will carry them
in the defense of their traditions and what is to them the immutable prescriptions of Divine revelations, cannot be conjectured.
These factors make the situation extremely dangerous and deserving of the closest attention.
War and the Small Nations
By KAHLIL GIBRAN
Once, high above a/ pasture, where a sheep and a lamb were
grazing, an eagle was circling and gazing hungrily down upon
the lamb. And as he was about to descend and seize his prey,
another eagle appeared and hovered above the sheep and her
young with the same hungry intent. Then the two rivals began
to fight filling the sky with their fierce cries.
The sheep looked up and was much astonished. She turned
to the lamb and said,
"How strange, my child, that these two noble birds should
attack one another. Is not the vast sky large enough for both
of them? Pray, my little one, pray in your heart that God may
make peace between your winged brothers."
And the lamb prayed in his heart.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
24
The Scar
A SHORT STORY
By
DR.
N. A.
KATIBAH
"I must ask you to bear with me," began Moore, as if
addressing the cigar-stand by his side, at which he gazed absentmindedly, and over which he kept tapping the ashes of his cigarette. —"Please bear with me—I mean be indulgent, I mean
well
I do not know how to begin my story. It must have
had a beginning somewhere, sometime—but I know nothing of
that. Even the end—at least the end I must give it—is the only
end you and I must accept. The rest—God forgive me if by
relating it to you I should have unwittingly betrayed any one's
secret:"—
In the year 1897, I found myself in the Anglo-Egyptian
Sudan. A youthful penchant for adventure had prevailed upon
me to join the expedition for the Reconquest of Sudan under
Kitchener—then neither Lord nor Earl.
On the morning of my third day at Wady Haifa, I was
directed to supervise the unloading of railway material—engines,
rails, sleepers, fishplates, etc., from a Nile steamer. They had
not yet had hauling machinery in the Sudan at that time, and
that work was done by convicts.
The morning was calm and sultry—not a breath of air was
stirring. The weather was rendered infinitely more oppressive
by the thick clouds of coal dust that arose from a Nile collier
discharging its cargo immediately to the South of us. Immense
volumes of black clouds rolled heavily upward and listlessly
hung over our heads, raining soot over everything around.
And in the midst of it all, the poor convicts toiled and
strained in sweltering perspiration that was constantly begriming their faces, necks, chests and arms. All was hustle and
bustle, punctuated now and then by a violent outburst of profanity, loud enough to soar over the continuous clanking of
�MAY, 1928
25
working machinery, over the boisterous vociferation of shouting
labor, and over the monotonous rythm of "Yal-la-ho' Yal-laho!" chorused by a couple of hundred lusty convict throats to
lighten their task.
i
I had not yet had time to reconcile myself to life in the
Sudan. The unfavorable impression I had of the place had not
yet had time to wear off, nor were my first experiences in it of
such a nature as to promise immediate mitigation of that impression The burning sun, the barren sandy wastes and dunes,
the muddy water of the Nile, the utter absence of vegetation
except for the miserable attempt at cultivation along the puny
strip of alluvial soil on our side of the river, the black, shiny
skins of the half-naked natives, and the intolerable odor of
grease kneeded into the kinky hair of their women—surely could
not have created a feeling helpful to conciliation. Then again
the heavy toll of cholera among the troops, the harsh discipline
of military life in active service, the necessary restriction of diet
principally to tinned rations, the herding together into one mud
hut of several beings of varied tastes and standards, whose enforced association was determined by the exigences of the moment and by the availability of space, and the thousand-and-one
inconveniences and hardships incident to the initial onrush of a
military expedition in a barbarous tract of African soil—all militated against a nature that had some claim to refinement and
cultivated taste.
It was at that time and under these circumstances that I first
met Mr. Aristidi Panas.
He was standing on a knoll to my left, facing the coal vessel. I cannot forget the contrasting spectacle he made with the
displeasing scene around him—a tall, stalwart man faultlessly
appareled in white duck, strangely silhouetted against the black
volumes of smoke. As I approached him I was struck by his
remarkable strength as evidenced by the pillar-like shape of his
limbs, the breadth of his shoulders, the athletic size of his neck,
and the lion-like manner of carrying his figure. Coming closer
I could not fail to note the noble contour of his profile. The
forehead, nose, mouth and chin seemed to have been molded for
a pattern of beauty and dignity, not unlike Apollo in the general design and much resembling Neptune in address, though his
beard was restricted to the size of the more gallant nineteenth
century imperial.
�n
THE SYRIAN WORLD
26
"Good-morning," I said, negotiating an introduction.
He slowly turned and faced me.
Heavens! — what a gash above his left eye! It was deep—
much deeper than the surface of the bone around it; and curled
upon itself like a huge question-mark the tail of which broke
the continuity of the eyebrow into two equal segments and terminated at the ruined eye below,—the protruding white pupil
serving for the dot. It had already healed. How long?—Who
knows? The valley of the cut was thin and of pinkish hue.
I have since then seen many a wound, scar and mutilation, but
none that impressed me like this one. It was a peculiar scar,
an eloquent scar, a scar that looked you in the eye, that cautioned
you, that whispered: "BEWARE!" Yet it was neither ugly
nor repulsive. It seemed to belong to the face, and did not
mar its dignity and beauty.
"Good-morning," he returned, and, as if to divert my attention from his scar, he added: "Les pauvres diables!" pointing to the convicts.
"How miserable!" I put in.
"Yes," he replied, "I wonder if they have any hope to
live for."
"I wonder, too," I said, "if they had completely forgotten
the many hearts they have so cruelly broken—those of sisters,
mothers and wives!"
Suddenly a frown gathered between his eyes and the scar
turned pale.
«Qh!—I must be off," he said, and abruptly walked away.
*
*
*
Soon Panas' figure became familiar to me. As a matter of
fact, who in the whole camp had not often seen the 'inscrutable
man', alone, cane in hand, brisk, neat and ruddy, taking his
walks along the bank of the Nile to Tewfikieh and back again
before the sun was up.
Of course you understand that the inmates of a military
camp are like fellow passengers on a ship; in both communities
familiarity makes barbarous short cuts, and curiosity often rides
roughshod over one's privacy.
But Mr. Aristidi Panas was no ordinary traveler.
He was one of the very few individuals furnished with a
permit to do business within the walls of the camp. He dealt
in liquors, soda and general merchandise.
"••^^H
�MAY, 1928
man rfcX^^ 2"" °f ^ a Greek by tonality, a
and read Several lan
guages^inc uTnaF
"S?
TJ*" ^
"
g
ghSh Itdlan
Fre
SSy welf
'
^
^-the latter parOf his personal habits all knew that he was an early riser
He generally left hls bed at dawn, drank a couple of raw eS
^br,and[' *«* ««1 ^rted out for hiscustomary wfE
211 £ WhT- he part00k of a social cup of Turkish coffee
b
fnend imi in the iatter
tT
Nii:
x
h
^ man
~ffl
the Nile. By the way,' ^
this s
Dimitri was the' only
known
W
the la
oalle"him°"so
^T'
^ Cndcanncnt
"called him son""' and
in return Dimitri
respectfully uncled
him.
lire coffee finished, Mr. Panas would walk back to his shon
dU ing thC day but indul ed in a
lastin^tTS
^ or
[
'
^
siesta
lastnig until three
later
in the afternoon,
the effectsW
of which
he hastened to shake off by a strong demi-tasse.
He again attended to business between four and six
His days activity having ended, he would have his'vard
swept and sprinkled,and his favorite marble-topped tlble mo^ed
under the large shade-tree. There he would ?sk seekingTace
and inspiration at a bottle of whisky or me***, chasing down
now a green olive, now a bit of cheese, now a radish, now a
staf^
and now a saited
ie
•*** --Ew
^°TimeS at this h°Ur' he Would be seen with a Greek
paper which no sooner would he glance over than fling away In
?orofanstht.°Ut t0 ^ S£rVant' AchmCt' t0 ** k "P and P*
At twelve, midnight, he retired.
K^atUra lly' ^ thLiS °r the ^^ Part of * ^s passed to
me before IT made the
acquaintance of Mr. Panas; and when
iar'as it^nt!0
"" ^ ' f0Und the ****
Shall I tell you of our first tete-a-tete?
wh,n0TnteVe?ing 1 haPPen,ed t0 be Posing'in front-of his place
when I heard someone calling me by name. Turning around
I saw Mr. Panas hastening toward me with open arms
'
You are a strange man,"he exclaimed, "you don't visit
with your.fnends." Then putting his strong aJaround me he
�—
28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
fairly dragged me bodily toward a chair at his table. "Goodness'" he added, "here such a long time and not come to see
Papa Panas! Sit down, man, sit down. Let us kill a couple ot
hours together."
,
It flashed upon my mind then that the man was hungry tor
company and that it would be rude to disappoint him.
I found Mr. Panas a truly well-read gentleman, well-informed and an excellent conversationalist. I was greatly impressed by the depth and extent of his knowledge especially ot
current political events. His keenness of observation and his
logical analysis of conditions in South Africa, in Japan and in
Russia at that time were later fully corroborated by the RussoJapanese and the Boer wars. He spoke with perfect familiarity
about Bryan and the American silver question. And with it all
he did not appear self-conscious of his excellent parts; no attempt was made by him at creating an impression.
I was so fascinated by the charm of his personality and by
the wealth of his knowledge that the time passed by unnoticed.
However, from half past ten on, I made several attempts to
leave, but he would not hear of it, and pleaded with me in that
characteristic oriental whole-heartedness that shamed me and constrained me to stay, even to my disadvantage, lest I should hurt
his feelings by appearing to slight his hospitality. He frequently poured out the contents of my glass as having become stale,
and replenished it from the icebox.
He finally permitted me to leave at midnight.
After that, it was I who sought Mr. Panas' company. But
we were not always alone.
The experience I have just related was only a specimen
of what others, officers as well as civilians, had had. His liberality approximated lavishness, and his hospitality, sacrifice. Sometimes there were as many as ten or a dozen of us each enjoying the sociability of the evening to suit his taste: here a couple
discussing big game hunting, there a trio criticizing the last engagement with the Dervishes, and yonder a few indulging their
fpirituous appetites and rambling about from topic to topic catching their cues here and there or from the confused inspiration
that the volume of liquor invoked. At these gatherings Mr
Panas was in the height of complaisance. His eye sparkled his
face beamed, and a cheerful flow of good spirits radiated from
him to animate us and chase the devils of ennui helter-skelter
i
�MAY, 1928
\
29
to the remotest parts of the earth. An admirable host!
Let me hasten to correct one wrong impression I may have
inadvertently conveyed of this remarkable man. By describing
him as an excellent conversationalist, I, of course, did not intend
to imply that he was talkative. I only wished to say that when
interested he felt at home and discussed his topic fully and
clearly Otherwise, and especially as regards his personal affairs, he was reticent and even distant. But this by no means
marred the charming character of his disposition. All he needed
when the subject was distasteful or uninteresting to him, was a
pleasant digression, a clever interpelation or a dexterous expedient and all was smoothed over to your heart's satisfatcion.
There was, however, one particular theme upon which Mr
lianas was extremely hypersensitive—woman. Let but the remotest reference be made to this subject, and he would immediately withdraw from the company and busy himself about this
or that thing. Sometimes even his scar would turn pale, and
his usual self-mastery and expected sang-froid seemed to desert
him. 1 could then detect the symptoms of a struggle within
him to suppress some perturbed emotion, and in order to prevail
upon it he resorted to whistling. In time, we all learned to respect this peculiar attitude of his mind. Love songs, love affairs
wedding announcements, divorce cases or spicy jokes—in short
any casual reference to the other sex was considered taboo in his
presence. This was not always easy or possible, considering that
most of us were still in the romantic age, and in a military camp
to boot. Hence the occasional 'breaks' that afforded me closer
observation.
Mr. Panas and I took a mutual liking to each other, perhaps because of a seriousness of outlook upon life that both of
us shared Our private conferences grew more frequent and
we were fast becoming—well, amis. I do not know why I am
unwilling to use the English equivalent, friends. Perhaps because the word friend in English connotes, to me at least, a sentiment, an impulse that rushes in and pulls at the heart-stringsnot so amis which, though possibly having the gush, will always
stand aloof and studiedly polite awaiting the formality of an
introduction. I think I can now tell why. It was the scar—that
question-mark of a scar. So long as that scar remained silent
we were only amis.
'
*
*
*
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
One night, when the company were all gathered and Mr.
Panas was unusually pleasant and communicative, in came Dimitri. He was not quite his natural self. There was something
upon his mind that constrained his movements and made him
look both shy and foolish. Of course, Mr. Panas heartily voiced his welcome, but even that failed to dispel the cause of Dimitri's nervousness and timidity. Without further ado, Panas
threw his arm over his friend's shoulder and drew him to his
bosom, and in the most solicitous and paternal manner led him
to a side table and enquired of the cause of his 'son's' embarrassment.
(
Dimitri's account was in a subdued voice and in Greek,
hence, not for us. Presently I noticed Mr. Panas' face turning
pale and the scar on his forehead gleamed like a white satin
ribbon. By and by his hand relinquished its hold on the younger man's shoulder and fell heavily on the table before him.
His handsome features gathered into an expression of painful
despondence. When it was his turn to speak he seemed merely
to give vent to his contempt and repulsion, and finally waved his
friend from his presence in a spasm of utter disgust, as he would
a most loathsome object.
Dimitri was completely crestfallen, and as he passed by us
on his way out, I noticed his eyes were brimming with tears.
At the gate he hesitated, paused and turned back. He looked
appealingly at his friend, but Panas was relentless, and again
waved him out. At this, Dimitri looked at us and sobbed out
in English:
"Say, gentlemen, is it wrong to marry?"
"Marry!" thundered Panas jumping to his feet, his whole
gigantic stature shaking with wrath that almost choked him.
From an ashen color his face suddenly turned crimson, and giving way to the passion that raged in him, he swung tensely to
one side, clenched his fist and violently struck the marble slab
in front of him breaking it into two.
"Ska-ta!" came hissing from between his set teeth.
(To be continued).
Beware of superfluous speech, for it will disclose your defects and give your enemy weapons against you.
(Arabic)
�MAY, 1928
31
dmara and her Master-Lover
zAn Authentic Arabian Tale
Translated from the Arabic Original.
KrJ^X
D
/Td ^-A*8** the celebrated author of the
Abdullah Ibn Ja'far, relates the author was a m»»* A^k
estate in Iraq to enjoy the blessings of peace. L TO still in
the prime of manhood and had fathered uThi/ut
number of concubines either by ^rchat l^ TO ^5
he W men of his
AJ! i , °
ha«m a particular slavePgM called
deft fingers produced from the few strings of the <oud Thl
scenes thus staged m the desert wilderness brought back to Tbn
Ja'far memories of his sumptuous ease at home
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
At last the end of his journey was reached and the master
and his retinue settled in one of the luxurious palaces of Damascus allotted to them by the caliph. But to Ibn Ja'far no business could be sufficiently urgent to deprive him of the pleasure
of Amara's company which to him meant life itself, ^sides,
the congenial atmosphere of the great capital city lent additional charm to the rapturous and consummate art of Amara in both
song and music.
Soon the news of the singular case of Ibn Ja'far and his
slave girl went abroad in the city until it reached the ears ot
Yazid, heir-apparent to the great Mou'awiyah who was noted
for his great love for wine, women and song. And the impetuous Yazid lost no time in launchnig on a new expedition of exploration of new fields of pleasure. He condescended to pay
a personal visit to Ibn Ja'far, and as a marked sign of esteem
for the future caliph the latter had Amara sing and play tor
him Yazid's susceptible disposition was immediately overcome
and he forthwith formed the resolve in his heart that this
supreme enchantress must be his. But he had learned from hiS
sagacious father the great necessity of caution and he decided to
abide his time. Ibn Ja'far, therefore, was permitted to leave
Damascus and return to his home unmolested and unmindful
of the designs of Yazid.
It was not long thereafter that Mou'awiyah died and Yazid
ascended the throne. His first concern was to devise means to
acquire the incomparable slave-girl Amara
He confided his
desire to a few of his most trusted friends and advisers but
they warned him against using forcible methods with such a
powerful chief who was known to have been a great friend oi
his father. Such rash action at the outset of his reign, they
argued, would spell ruin to his administration and create such
an unfavorable impression throughout the land that might be
fraught with the gravest consequences.
But what could not be gained by force had to be secured
by stratagem, and both Yazid and his advisers were incessantly
concocting schemes to win possession of Amara by whatever
means, 4 or foul. Until, finally Yazidperfected the detai
of what to him was an unfailing plan and proceeded to put it
into action.
. . T
.
He first called into consultation an artful Iraqi, a man possessed of great resourcefulness, and confided to him his secret
�MAY, 1928
33
and the details of his plan and trusted him to carry it through
to a successful end.
The Iraqi was of the same country as Ibn Ja'far, and proved to be both an able strategist and an honest and faithful messenger.
Having been given a free hand in the promotion of the
scheme, he first requisitioned a large quantity of merchandise
oi great value and took from the treasury his needs of money
and jewels. Thus amply supplied he equipped a suitable caravan and set out on a journey to Iraq in the guise of a traveling
merchant.
In due time he arrived at the home town of Ibn Ja'far and
hastened to seek his protection and favor and made him gifts of
richly embroidered cloths and precious jewels to the value of a
thousand dinars. Ibn Ja'far was much pleased and showed the
pseudo merchant every sign of consideration, placing him while
in the city under his especial protection.
As the days went by, the agent of Yazid increased his gifts
to Ibn Ja'far in both value and frequency, until he had gained
his complete confidence and was invited by him to join his intimate circle of boon companions. This was to the Iraqi the
very thing he had been wishing as it enabled him to share in
the social pleasures of Ibn Ja'far, to whom, as previously mentioned, no pleasure was complete without the presence of his
favorite Amara.
The Iraqi merchant was the personification of good taste
and gallantry. No sooner had he heard Amara sing her heavenly melodies to the accompaniment of her incomparable 'oud
than he went into the wildest transports of joy and expressed
his unlimited admiration in the most glowing terms.
In his capacity of merchant, however, he could indulge in
e
judging anything and everything by its monetary value, and he
was quick to seize on his opportunity to ask his host the price
of this otherwise priceless slave girl.
"Verily," he said, "I had never suspected the existence of
such matchless art and such consummate grace. And in my capacity of merchant seeking always to ascertain values, I would respectfully ask you what the value of this slave girl is to you."
Ibn Ja'far was quick and decided in his reply: "The value
of Amara to me is no less than that of the caliphate itself."
"I can well appreciate your admiration for this incompar-
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
able jewel," replied the wily merchant. "But to put her on a
parity with the caliphate in value appears to me but an exaggerated figure of speech meant only to indicate the demand of a
very high price. As you well know, I am a merchant who gains
his wealth by the dirham, the smallest monetary denomination,
but if you will sell the girl to me for ten thousand gold pieces
I shall buy her."
fc
On the impulse of the moment Ibn Ja'far said that he
would conclude the bargain for the stipulated amount.
Immediately, and so as to exclude any further exchange
of argument, the merchant left the house of his host and presently returned with the actual gold. Ibn Ja'far was nonplussed
and disconsolate. He remonstrated with the merchant that his promise was only in the nature of a jest and that he would not part
with his beloved for any amount of money, but the merchant
was firm in the demand of his right, claiming that according to
the ethics of merchandising even a jest was a binding contract.
Besides, how could a gentleman in the position of Ibn Ja'far
forfeit his promise and consequently his honor. Of course he,
the merchant, would have to make his grievance public and seek
redress and he would greatly loath the ill repute that would
attach to the integrity of the illustrious and exalted Ibn Ja'far
if the true circumstances of the case were to become known.
By this and similar arguments Ibn Ja'far was shamed into
ceding his beloved slave girl to the supposed merchant, and to
describe the terrible anguish and contrition gnawing at his heart
after parting with her is a task beyond human possibility.
Elated at having successfully carried out his mission, the
agent of the caliph Yazid hastened to carry his prize back to
Damascus. But fate so decreed that upon arriving in the city
he was met with the sad news that the caliph had died and the
merchant found himself in a perplexing dilemma.
In the meantime, he had acquainted Amara with the facts
of the case and treated her as befitted an intended member of
the caliph's harem, and she had veiled and secluded herself
against him. His only alternative under the circumstances, he
bethought, was to lay the facts before the new caliph and await
his decision. Yazid's successor, however, proved to be an upright and virtuous man who would entertain no proposition conceived in such perfidy, and he ordered the merchant to leave
the city with his slave girl forthwith.
4
�! SH
MAY, 1928
35
Facing this further unpleasant turn of affairs, the merchant
again had to make a new decision, and in acquainting Amara
with the new developments, told her that by right she had now
come to belong to him, but that in justice to her he stood ready
to relinquish his right. She was, he admitted, destined to be a
fat ornament for the palaces of kings and princes, and for him to
take an undue advantage of the present turn of fortune would
be a miscarriage of God's will. He therefore would return her
to her old master.
And true to his word, he tarried not in carrying out his
decision. He further made to Ibn Ja£far a complete confession
of all that had transpired and returned Amara to him without
condition or consideration.
Ibn Ja'far was overjoyed beyond measure at the return of
Amara, and when he saw her set foot again within his threshold
he was so overcome with emotion that he fainted in her arms.
Amara, too, was happy at this reunion beyond expression.
And again the sun shone brightly in the life of Ibn Ja'far,
and revelry reigned supreme in his house. Everyday of his life
thereafter was an occasion of great merriment and jubilation,
and he added permanently to the intimate circle of his boon
companions the Iraqi merchant who was the cause of the return
of his happiness.
Arab Proverbs
In this world there is work without an accounting, and in
the other world there is an accounting without work.
Men are reserved for days of trial.
Only the great can develop humility.
Only a fool believes in his infallibility.
God created you free, so why be a slave to greed?
If you do a good deed conceal it, but if a good deed is done
to you publish it.
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Arabic Newspapers in America
Although the oldest Arabic-language newspaper in the United States barely exceeds the age of thirty years, a serious discussion has now developed as to whether the Syrian press has not
reached the end of its usefulness. There seems to be a concession in all quarters that the life of Arabic-language newspapers
in America has become very limited, and as this consciousness
takes greater hold on the minds of publishers and editors, serious consideration is being given to the discussion of the future.
Never in the history of the Arabic press has the subject been
more generally and more frequently discussed than at the present time.
Up to a few years ago it was considered unpatriotic, to say
the least, of even intimating the possibility of the extinction
of the Arabic language in the United States. Syrians were reluctant to admit that this last tie binding them sentimentally to
their country of origin should be suffered to be severed. The
World War, with its attendant vicissitudes to their mother country, focused the attention of Syrian immigrants on the fate of
their relatives at home and served to increase the interest which
had been fast waning under the influence of long absence. Political developments abroad, with the fate of Syria continually
held in the balance, served as a further reminder of a country
long held in affection.
It must be admitted that a considerable element of Syrian
immigrants had cherished serious intentions of returning to the
mother country after the World War if conditions were found
favorable to such a move. But the social unrest, political upheavals and depressing economic conditions prevailing soon put
an end to such intentions. The net result is that the Syrians
in the United States are now as determined as never before to
make this country their permanent home.
Naturally, such a determination will bring about the inevitable result of a progressive loss of interest both in the mother language and in all matters pertaining to the mother country,
although the process may be an unconscious one on the part of
the immigrants. A close study of present conditions among Syr-
�fas>...
MAY, 1928
37
ians will not fail to reveal a great psychological change during
the last few years.
What undoubtedly has accelerated this movement is the restrictive immigration law which may be said to have definitely
halted any increase in the numbers of Arabic-speaking elements
in the country. The number of those permitted entry being
limited to one hundred annually, the increase is far exceeded by
the mortality ratio among the older immigrants, and the new generation, being neither born in Syria nor brought up in the Arabic
language, is free from those influences, sentimental or otherwise,
which affect the older generation.
All these considerations make the position of the Arabic
press in the United States increasingly precarious. It is becoming more forcibly evident to editors that their span of existence
as a medium of service is being dangerously restricted. Hence
the serious discussion of the future and the outspoken conviction
that the Arabic language as a medium of speech or writing is
destined to be doomed.
Extracts from the comments of the Syrian press in New
York, all within the limits of a single month, will serve to shed
further light on the subject.
An "observer" writing in Al-Hoda of April 13 states that
it is ominous "that the discussion of the future of Arabic newspapers in the United States has become so frequent of late."
He bases his remarks on the assumption that Arabic should remain a living language in America, but finds an excuse for the
Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinians not being able to preserve
their identity in the fact that they are so helplessly few in number and so widely scattered in a country a hundred times larger
than their own. He suggests, however, that the wealthy among
the Syrians support Arabic schools, by a concerted national movement. The papers he would consolidate into two dailies which
should be ample to meet the needs of Arabic readers in the
country.
At the present time, there are six Arabic dailies in New
York, one daily and one semi-weekly in Detroit, Mich., and one
weekly in Lawrence, Mass. And of monthly magazines there
are two in New York and two in Detroit.
More outspoken in its pessimism is the New York paper
Ash-Shaab which says editorially in its issue of April 9, "The
danger to Arabic papers in the United States is becoming more
�38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
threatening. This is a direct result of the restrictive immigration
law which in time will cause the complete extinction of the Arabic language in the country. It must be conceded that with the
prevalence of such conditions no Arabic newspaper in the United
States will live more than two decades, as by that time there
would not be left a sufficient number of readers to support a publication in the mother language."
Ash-Shaab advocates the establishment of Arabic schools
and takes the Syrian clergy in the United States to task for having neglected this apparently cardinal duty.
For different reasons and by the advocacy of different
methods Meraat-Ul-Gharb, also of New York, urges the necessity of learning Arabic. In its issue of April 11, this paper surveys the expanding fields of American commerce and declares
that the knowledge of Arabic would be most useful to the young
generation of Syrians in following American commercial enterprise in foreign countries. It is now being considered essential,
according to this paper, to teach at least one foreign language,
besides English, in high schools and colleges, and it would be
to the advantage of the Syrians to choose Arabic as that language.
In thus preserving their mother language alive they would be
making an invaluable contribution to America.
This latter suggestion is in conformity with a proposal put
forth by the editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD in an article published in several American trade papers in the latter part of
1918 following the close of the World War. The argument
then advanced was that America was seeking expansion in foreign
markets to provide an outlet for the surplus products of its greatly enlarged industries. The knowledge of foreign languages
would therefore be deemed a necessity in paving the way for
such penetration and the immigrant would become, under the
circumstances, the logical American salesman in his homeland.
America being a newcomer in those markets, it would be difficult
for her to gain a foothold without salesmen trained in the ways
of the different foreign peoples, but its advantage lay in the fact
that among her own sons were men of all nationalities who could
be trusted to carry out the initial work to better advantage.
What is evident from the recent discussions, however, is
that the Arabic papers feel that they are losing hold of their
readers. Even during the war, when all means of communication, let alone immigration, were closed, there was evinced no
�-
MAY, 1928
39
such pessimism nor was there any intimation of the approaching doom. The outburst of fear manifesting itself almost spontaneously at this time would indicate the advent of a new element
in the situation. Can it be that because many newspapers who have
of late taken recourse to the expedient of sending representatives to the interior with a view to increasing their circulation
have discovered a growing apathy among the Arabic reading
public, or is the cause that advanced by the "Observer" when he
inferentially stated that Arabic newspapers were too many and
should be reduced to just two?
What may be explained is that while most of the Arabic
newspapers in the United States are published in New York,
this city is not their only field of circulation. On the contrary,
it may be safely stated that the local circulation of almost every
newspaper does not exceed 10% of the total, and estimating
that another 10 per cent, of the circulation is in foreign countries
Arabic papers are consequently dependent for their existence on
their domestic circulation throughout the United States. In this
larger field they should have about fifty thousand potential readers among a population of approximately 250,000 Syrians. Their
frequent complaints indicate that they are nowhere near realizing any such results.
One of the reasons advanced by the editor of Al-Hoda for
the failure of Arabic newspapers to make marked headway is
the lack, on the part of Syrian editors, of what he terms "personality". This would indicate that among Syrians a newspaper
remains a personal enterprise the personality of whose publisher
is a determining factor in success. In support of his contention
the editor sees no reason why Arabic newspapers should not be
published in leading American cities other than New York. "As
a literary production," he says, "a newspaper should prove a success even if it be published in the wilds of Africa." He makes
this conditional on personality and ability.
Among the comments of the Syrian newspapers on this
question, these latter remarks furnish the only cheerful note and
give hope that although Arabic papers are beset with many hardships and difficulties which some are inclined to interpret as a
sign of approaching doom, there still remains the hope that some
Arabic paper of character and ability will survive, if not as a
local organ, then at least as a literary production of universal
appeal.
�40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
An Arab King At Home
In advertising a new book on Arabia, a well-known American publishing house makes the statement that "Arabia has
caught the American imagination like a spell".
The statement is essentially true and applies to all classes
of Americans. The popular elements are caught by the spell
of Sheik love stories and Sheik movies conceived in a high-tension spirit of fanciful romance. The intellectual classes are thrilled by the accounts of such exploits as those of Lawrence, Palgrave, Doughty, Burton, Burkhardt, and our own Rihani. This,
undoubtedly, is due to the fact that for countless centuries the
Arabs and their country remained a mystery and every glimpse
at conditions whether in the vast stretches of their trackless deserts, or in their more hospitable oases, provided a cause of interest to the outside world. It may be safely surmised that
many more brave attempts will be made at exploring Arabia,
and the shifting nature of this mysterious peninsula and its inhabitants will continue to supply the world with fresh news and
views of interest.
Such being the case, any new information on Arabia is bound
to be received with avidity. The bedouin in his desert tent attracts
as much curious interest as the ruling potentate in his palace, although, judging by seemingly authentic accounts, there is little
difference in the primitive mode of life of the one or the other.
This morbid curiosity in things Arabian may be partially
satisfied by a recent account published in an Arabic magazine
of Cairo, "Rose Alyousef". The account is woven in a mixture
of politics, war and domesticity, and the information given therein is said to have been supplied by an Arab historian who has
specialized in the study of the more contemporary developments
in the Arab Peninsula.
The salient feature of this new account is that the favorite
wife of King Ibn Saoud, the supreme ruler of Arabia, is the
former wifd of his arch-enemy. Events leading to this singular
development are described as follows:
Between the Saouds, who ruled in Riadh, capital of Nejd,
and their neighbors the Rashids, who ruled in Hail, there was
continual warfare, such as only the Arabs can wage. There was
�-
MAY, 1928
41
not a year but some outbreak plunged the two countries in a
bloody struggle after which each side retired within its own borders to continue preparation for taking up the struggle anew.
Until finally in 1892 Ibn Rashid decisively defeated his enemy,
then Prince Abdul Rahman Faisal, father of the present King
Ibn Saoud, and occupied his capital Riadh, forcing him to flee
for his life and seek refuge in the principality of Koweit on the
Persian Gulf.
At the time of his father's defeat Abdul Aziz Ibn Saoud
was but a child. But as he grew older he developed a fierce
passion for revenge against the arch-enemy of his house, and
in the year 1902 staged a surprise nocturnal attack with a small
band of his loyal followers and succeeded in driving Ibn Rashid
from Riadh.
Thereafter, and all during the World War, Ibn Saoud was
laying his plans and making preparations for the invasion of the
principality of Hail. He succeeded in completely overcoming
his enemy and entering his capital city in 1921 and all the
treasure of the once rich country of his adversary became his.
But Ibn Saoud learned that one of the wives of Ibn Rashid
was a woman of surpassing beauty and intelligence who would
be the crowning prize of any conqueror according to Arabian
ethics, and he made to her proposals of marriage. She, however, adroitly refused by reminding the conqueror of the admonition of the Prophet contained in the following quotation:
"He not only invaded his country but wanted also to usurp his
wives."
A year later Ibn Saoud again repeated his offer of marriage
and this time she accepted. He now has a son by her of whom
he is especially fond.
In this connection Ibn Saoud is said to disclose one of his
most human characteristics. He is described as being equally
affectionate not only to his own son by his new wife, but also to
the latter's half-brother who is the son of his wife by his former enemy. At times, it is said, he takes the two youngsters
on his lap together and caresses them with marked tenderness.
Not only did Ibn Saoud himself "invade" the harem of
his defeated enemy but his two elder sons followed his example
and each took for himself one of the former wives of Ibn Rashid.
Says the historian: "King Ibn Saoud is notoriously polygamous, counting among his wives one Armenian and one Leba-
�42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
nese, besides the many other concubines which the law permits."
By his legal wives King Ibn Saoud has twenty-seven children, 14 boys and 13 girls. It is stated that on many occasions
he cannot recall the names of some of his offspring.
Of the further characteristics of Ibn Saoud it is stated by
the same authority that this Arab king loves to lead the strenuous life of the bedouin away from all pomp and ostentation.
Force of early habits, it is remarked, still has an unrelenting hold
on him. Never while in his capital Riadh, or anywhere else in
his native country Nejd, does he indulge in the luxury of footwear. Even on such a ceremonial occasion as his victorious en
try into Mecca after his defeat of king Hussein he rode into
the city barefooted.
At times, we are further informed, he conforms to the requirements of modern civilization, especially when he meets
representatives of foreign powers or takes up his residence in
the seacoast town of Jeddah, but once he is back in the desert
he feels himself again in his native element and reverts to the
rigorous life of the bedouin. Under the circumstances, it seems,
he assumes an almost different nature and sets himself up as
the upholder of the faith dealing punishment unmercifully to
all who dare go counter to the Wahabi conception of the true
teaching of the Koran.
This peculiar characteristic of Ibn Saoud, according to the
Egyptian publication, is the original cause of the differences
arising between him and the Egyptian government which caused
the latter to refrain from sending its annual gift to the Kaaba
two years ago and cancel Egyptian pilgrimage to Mecca.
The Egyptian writer further attributes to the Arab king
dictatorial qualities quite different from those supposed to be
attached to his absolutism in power. He takes counsel with his
advisers only in a perfunctory manner and as a matter of form,
but is never swayed by their objections. He is known to listen
patiently to suggestions but his decision, once formed, can never
be altered. His decisions are usually arrived at before any
effort at consultation is made.
It is commonly known that Ibn Saoud is a strict disciplinarian. Once he issues his commands they must be carried out to
the letter and he is known to personally follow the execution
of his orders to the minutest details. One of his strict orders
to his representatives abroad is that no vise should be issued to
�MAY, 1928
43
any foreigner wishing to visit Arabia through the port of Jeddah under any circumstances without his personal sanction and permission. This is interpreted to mean that he is solicitous of affording protection to the foreigners themselves against any hishap
befalling them while in his dominions. The Wahabis are known
to be extremely fanatic, and even unto this day they look upon
their country as sacred ground which would be defiled by the
presence of an infidel.
From other sources, however, it is learned that Ibn Saoud
is extremely democratic. He does not exact from his followers
the outward expressions of obeisance as would an absolute monarch who has the power of dealing death without the formality of a trial. But his Arab subjects are not the type who indulge
in any such manifestations. When they greet him it is by his
first name and the bedouin of the desert who is not sure of his
day's meal speaks to him as he would to an equal. Such is the
nature of desert life which has the tendency of dispensing with
all formality. This utter freedom from conventionality has been
known to be a characteristic of the Arabs from time immemorial,
and it remains as virile now as at any time before. The surroundings of the Arab are known not to have changed for thousands of years, and it is but natural that the Arab's nature should
remain in keeping with his environment.
When I Am Dead
I
11
By RAMSAY MOOREHEAD
When I am dead and nervous hands have thrust
My body downward into careless dust,
Methinks the grave would not suffice to hold
My spirit prisoned in its sunless mold.
Yea! the very thoughts of you would be
The resurrection of the life of me.
I shall be patient in the common grass,
That I might feel your footfalls, should you pass.
I shall be pure and gentle as the dew,
A loving spirit 'round the life of you.
And when your cheeks by perfumed winds are fanned,
It'll be my kiss and you will understand.
But! when some red storm bleared sun has set
I shall be lightning if you dared forget.
j
�—
44
B£a._
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microco*mic picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever
Arabic dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking
writers who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabicspeaking world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take
no part in the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our
task will simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and
with utmost sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed in these editorials.
Editor.
BEWARE OF SWINDLERS
There is abroad in the land a certain type of swindlers who prey on
our simple-hearted countrymen and
in many cases escape without being
brought to the bar of justice.
These rogues are usually of the
honey-tongued type, fluent talkers
who represent themselves as collectors for any number of patriotic
and charitable enterprises. They are
parasites in the community who
should be dealt with with all the
rigor of the law.
Their usual method of procedure
is to seek out a prominent member
of the community, one who would
be susceptible ta flattery and convince him by their adroit methods
of the benefit of their supposed
charity. Once their man is convinced, they use him as a wedge to force
their way into other homes and
pocketbooks. Syrians being noted
for their hospitality, the rogue would
be treated as an honored guest.
But when the swindler accomplishes
his ends he leaves his victims to
their sorrow and regret at the loss
of their money, and sometimes many
other valuables, and vanishes from
sight seeking other fields for his
activities.
- :-
'
The depradations of these swindlers have reached such a point
where energetic measures should be
taken immediately to frustrate them.
We would suggest, as a ready and
effective remedy, that Syrian communities firmly refuse to entertain
any proposition coming from a
stranger until it had been thoroughly investigated. To this end each
community should appoint a special
committee of investigation to pass
on the merits of the claims of strangers seeking assistance for any cause
whatever. If, upon investigation, the
cause should be found deserving,
then there would be the weight of
the recommendation of the committee to support it. Otherwise no member of the community would run the
danger of being mulcted out of his
good money.
We believe the suggestion is worthy of the serious consideration of
our countrymen everywhere.
(Al-Hoda, N. Y., April 2, 1928.)
I
/
SYRIA ASYLUM OF OUTCASTS
The newspaper "Palestine" reports that the government of Turkey
had ordered deported all prostitutes
and public dancers and that Europ-
�MAYt 1928
',
I
ean and Balkan governments (had
refused them the privilege of entry
into their respective countries, consequently, they decided on seeking
asylum in Egypt and Syria.
This immediately brings to mind
Bismark's famous words: "Woe to
the defeated!"
Defeat should not necessarily be
taken in a military sense. It can
apply to any person or nation in a
helpless state, and with no arms or
other means for self-defense. A
case for illustration is the Syrian
nation whose country has become the
refuge and asylum of outcasts and
persons of questionable character
from all countries. It is evident that
ever since Syria was occupied by
the Allies it became subject to all
sorts of other occupations.
The Zionists have occupied Palestine in defiance of the wish of the
native population.
The Armenians have occupied
Syria and Lebanon and felt themselves lords and masters of the
country.
Missionaries have come to aggravate the occupation and have gone
about their task without mandate or
other authority.
And now we find the country open
to another kind of invasion by prostitutes who have been deported
from other lands and found no better
place of refuge than Syria.
What is more aggravating is that
this class of invaders never becomes
of any consequence until they settle
in Syria. It then develops that the
Powers hasten to their protection
with their armies and navies, and
the whole world becomes extremely
sensitive to their grievances and
solicitous of their well-being, so
that in case one of them is stung
by a bee in Syria such would be
considered a barbarous offense re-
45
quiring redress in the form of burning Syrian cities and towns and
murdering women and children with
poisonous gases!
It seems to us that if conditions
should continue along this line for
ten years longer the children of the
land will continue their exodus by
the tens of thousands every year
and the country will in time become
the home of its foreign elements.
ThoBe of its native sons who would
choose to remain would be decimated either by the sword or by epidemics. And if any of them should
survive they would be in the most
abject state of servility.
Woe, then, to those who are defeated!
(Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y.,
March 30, 1928.)
NATIONALISTS WIN ELECTIONS
The news just received from the
Syrian Nationalist Committee in
Egypt indicates that the Nationalist
Party has won a signal victory at
the primaries held in Syria on April
12, in spite of the irregularities
which the Minister of the Intrior
committed to hinder the free expression of the will of the people.
This is a most wholesome sign that
the Syrian nation has become conscious of its rights and is electing
the proper men to defend them.
No liberty-loving Syrian immigrant
but rejoices at this welcome news.
We take this occasion to congratulate the Nationalist Party in Syria
upon its success and trust that this
will prove the first step in the way
of accomplishing concrete reforms
which will in the end gain for the
country its lawful demands.
(Al-Bayan, N. Y., April 26, 1928.)
�46
THE SYRIAN WORLD
THE PRINCELY ASPIRANTS
COMPETE AND DON'T GRUMBLE
The native Syrian press abounds
The Daily Express of London pubwith expressions of misgivings over lishes an interview with Habib Bey
Armenian competition in Syria. For
Lutfallah and describes him as an
a long time we have been listening Arab prince who is immensely wealto those wailings of the Syrians thy and a descendant of a royal
who complain that the meagerness
family which ruled in Antioch two
of their resources are not even sufthousand years ago. This is but one
ficient for themselves, while the of the means employed by the LutArmenians who have been thrust on
fallahs to gain a standing among
them come to snatch this miserable
royalty, because this prince knows
pittance from between their hands. in his heart that all the information
Play fair, brothers! You are only he gave in the interview with the
evincing detestable selfishness by
English paper is a tissue of lies.
such complaints. Is it not a fact Under the circumstances we would
that you are migrating to other
like to hear from the pro-colonial
lands and enacting the same role papers about these new fantastic
that you accuse the Armenians of
claims of Lutfallah. Will they dare
playing? Would you not fill the air
to give publicity to this incident, or
with your complaints if the natives
will their fear of losing their subof the countries where you go to sidies prompt them to maintain
seek a living were to accuse you of
silence ? It seems to us that money
unfair competition and close their
covers a multitude of defects.
doors in your faces?
(Al-Bayan, N. Y., April 26, 1928.)
We would call the attention of
our brother Syrians to the latest
statistics on the funds sent by Syrians abroad to their native country.
BETWEEN THE TWO
The government report discloses the
COUNTRIES
fact that millions of dollars have
We are loath to deny the truth
been pouring annually into the country from emigrant sources. Syrian even though it goes against our
papers themselves comment on the journalistic interest. For this infact that, had it not been for these terest is to discourage or to retard
contributions the country would be as much as possible the process of
in the direst straits. How, we ask, amalgamation. But our faithfulness
can we reconcile this with their loud to the cause of public service imcomplaints of the competition of pels us to declare the truth in the
Armenians? If there is sufficient hope of benefiting the public. We,
work in the country for the immi- as Syrian journalists, have but a
grant Armenians to thrive on, why couple of decades more to go at the
were the natives blind to it? The most, because the inevitable result
real trouble, in our opinion, is the of complete amalgamation is fast
inertia of the Syrians who could approaching.
But our particular interest does
make the country yield them ample
not
prevent us from stating that
wealth if they only had the will
our
greatest
curse has been our
to work as do their countrymen in
policy
of
indecision.
Our first imforeign lands.
migrants
lost
many
a
valuable op(As-Sayeh, N. Y., April 25, 1928.)
i!
�1
MAY, 1928
I
•
portunity by not firmly and quickly
making up their minds. They would
engage in those undertakings which
could be speedily liquidated, because
the?r original intention was to remain in the country only a limited
time. Some of them did return, and
after having squandered their gains
decided that for them their country
of choice was better than their country of birth.
It is only lately that the minds
of Syrians seem to have been definitely made up that their destiny
is inalienably bound with this
country. It is well that they come
to this conclusion because in this
country of effort there is no room
for the vacillating and the undecided.
Here there is fearful stress and
competition and only those endowed
with true determination and singleness of purpose can succeed. We
are anxious for our countrymen to
gain their due portion of success and
for that reason enjoin them against
the disastrous consequences of indecision.
(As-Sayeh, N. Y., April 11, 1928.)
ARAB VS. SYRIAN
CIVILIZATION
Advocates of Pan-Arabism who
would federate Hejaz, Iraq, Palestine, Transjordania, Syria and Lebanon should realize by this time that
such a dream only occasions derision on the part of liberal thinkers
and men of extended vision. Sincere
students who appreciate the benefits
of modern freedom and liberty contemplate such a move with awe and
apprehension. ,For to them it is obvious that the so-called Arab civilization is as distant from modern
civilization as the East is from the
West, and the people of Syria and
Lebanon have nothing in common
47
with the people of Arabia whether
in customs, principles or psychology.
The present day Arab is an incorrigible fanatic whose principal
concern in life is to fight all those
who do not agree with him in his
religious views. Not so the Syrians
and Lebanese who, in spite of their
factionalism, are well on the way
to modern progress and feel only
coniempt for the primitive condition
in which he finds the Arab.
Take, for instance, Ibn Saoud,
the supreme lord of Arabia today.
Where is his civilization or where
are his principles of which the Arab
could be proud? Can he point with
pride to his fanaticism which urges
him to fight the Iraqi simply because
the latter is of a different religious
denomination ? Or is there any cause
for pride in the Arabs remaining
steeped in their centuries-old conditions which are utterly incompatible with modern requirements?
We are prompted to these remarks
by the speech which Ibn Saoud is
reported to have made to his followers on the occasion of the latest
disturbances in Arabia. In this
speech he urged them to war against
the inhabitants of Iraq, Koweit and
Transjordania "because they had
transgressed against the true teachings of the Koran." He further said
that he had hoped for these Mushrikin a return to the straight path
of Islam but they would not listen
to peaceful reasoning and it therefore becomes necessary to have recourse to the sword.
Now, if Ibn Saoud considers
those who belong to other sects of
Islam itself infidels what could be
his degree of toleration towards
Christians? And these are the
Arabs whom they would want us to
join in a federation.
M" ian Eagle, N. Y., April 9, 1928.)
�—
48
IMMATURITY FOR
INDEPENDENCE
THE SYRIAN WORLD
understanding of such a privilege.
(Ash-Shaab, N. Y., April 28, 1928.)
We would be among the first to
ask for Lebanon complete indepen- DEGRADING DEMONSTRATIONS
We are surprised to read in the
dence if such a condition were deemed favorable at the present time. Syrian press accounts of the many
But students of the psychology of demonstrations which every hamlet
the Lebanese realize the fact that and town in the country stages at
they are not yet fit to be the masters the arrival of a governor or any
of their own destiny in political other public official. One would be
matters. The Lebanese, on the oth- inclined to believe that officials had
er hand, are concededly much more no other occupation but to make
advanced than their neighbors the tours of the country, and the popuSyrians whether morally or educa- lation had nothing else to do but
tionally, and if they could not be engage in demonstrations.
Here in New York, the greatest
trusted with complete independence
city
in the world, the President,
and permitted to have absolute conGovernor,
Secretary and other functrol of government without supertionaries
each
of whom has more
vision, how could such liberties be
to
do
than
all
the
officials of Syria
given the Syrians?
put
together,
enters
and leaves the
It may be within the range of
city
without
the
least
ostetnation
possibility for Lebanon, Syria and
the Druze Mountain to form a fed- and the population, whether they
eration of states for common de- know of the visit or not, continue
fense and the promotion of their each at his work.
These vain and senseless demoneconomic interests. But when this
condition will become possible of strations are, perhaps, what attract
realization is conditional on actual the Syrians to public office. They are
proof that both Syrians and Leba- hungry for praise and manifestanese have come to understand the tions of pomp. While here in America only the man's record is counted
true meaning of patriotism.
Now what have our neighbors the as his most eloquent eulogy.
They say that foreigners enter
Syrians shown so far of their unour
country like lambs and leave it
derstanding of tolerance and patriotism that we may deem them fit to like wolves. Is it any wonder when
we find our countrymen there doing
be completely independent?
Where, in other words, is the tan- things at the wrong time and hastengible proof of the readiness of the ing to show servility every time they
Lebanese and Syrians to co-operate are visited by a man of position?
in a true spirit of loyalty for us to Have they forgotten that prodigalisay to France: "Now that we have ty in praise and free-for-all demonproven that we are fit for indepen- strations inspire inordinate dedence we consider your mandate mands? Therefore, when a foreignfrom the League of Nations to guide er finds the people so free and effuus in the shaping of our destiny at sive in rendering him homage he
develops in time contempt for them
an end"?
because
they would have degraded
Every nation has a claim to freethemselves.
dom, but this could not be had un(As-Sayeh, N. Y., April 14, 1928.)
less that nation had proven a true
\
�MAY, 1928
49
Readers' Forum
AN AUTHOR IN
HIS OWN DEFENSE
Eugene Jung, Author of "L'Islam et
l'Asies Devant l'lmperialisme",
Replies to His Critic.
Editor, The Syrian World:
The review of my book, "Islam
and Asia in the Face of Imperialism", by Mile. Simone France appearing in the February issue of
your magazine has interested me
greatly. I always like to know the
exact opinion of my neighbors, but
I believe that the charming writer
of these pages has not encompassed
all the intended meaning of my
book. I would therefore ask her
permission to answer her in the
following.
I am a veteran of diplomacy and
politics, having been in the company of Gambetta ever since the
age of 10. I grew in this atmosphere
under the judicious direction of my
father, General Th. Jung, the universally known historian of "Bonaparte and his Times". Later I was
a resident of the Far East for 17
years and since then have been in
continuous journalistic contact with
the Oriental, Arab and Islamic
worlds. Today, alas, I am 64 years
old!
Well, I do not have to tell that
France had built bridges, roads,
etc., but at prices twice as high as
those proposed in the bids of the
inhabitants.
That is not the question. The
question is much higher and much
more general.
Have we Frenchmen acted according to right and justice? Have we
not brought upon our heads grave
dangers? Are we not dragging
these Arabs of the Orient into the
general system of Asiatic defense?
What must we do to again rally
around us those populations which
only lately held us in the highest
esteem ?
Further, what should Europe and
even America do in the face of these
conditions? It is not sufficient to
speak in a spirit of pan-Americanism and pan-Europeanism, for it is
equally important to speak in a
spirit of pan-humanism. Asia contains more than a billion souls, or
two-thirds of the population of the
earth. Now, should this billion of
human beings be conserved only for
the growing appetite of European
and even American powers?
In grouping all the facts of the
situation in Asia and mixing in with
them the affairs of the mandated
territories I have succeeded in producing an imposing, mass of material
which scares the diplomatic and
political circles and gives much
food for thought. In thus serving
my country I have also served the
cause of the Lebanese, the Syrians,
the Palestinians and the Iraqians,
a cause which can never now be
separated from that of other Asiatic nations.
Let us be just in all matters. This
is the only true program of univer-
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
50
sal peace which I have attempted to
A TALE FROM NOAH'S TIME
elaborate by exposing the true facts
in the situation, and this by scrap- Editor, The Syrian World:
ing all the wounds as with a scalIn a haphazard way I met with
pel. This, indeed, is a grievous
this
following Syrian story—hisoperation, whether for the patient
toric
or prehistoric, God alone
or for the one performing the operaknows.
I thought, amid the irregution, but the operation is, neverthelarities
of
these days of Prohibition,
less, necessary.
it
would
be
of beneficial interest to
There is my book which receives,
the
readers
of
our Syrian magazine.
wherever it is understood, a warm
Now
if
Noah
himself
was the first
reception. However, in order to
fully understand its purport, it is to tell this story, we may at least
necessary to profoundly comprehend hope that he closed the episode of
the history of each people, its eco- his slanderous act by saying: Never
nomic necessities, its ethnic possi- again!
When Noah was planting the
bilities, its peculiar mentality, its
particular ambitions, and to have vine, Satan came forth to make a
traveled and seen much, be gifted call.
with an encompassing philosophy and
"What art thou planting?" asked
to have in one a deep feeling and Satan.
love for justice and the exact com"A vineyard," replied Noah.
"What fruit dost thou expect to
prehension of the right.
I trust that Mile. Simone France bring forth?" asked his majesty
will excuse these digressions. I again.
am not the less thankful to her for
"It will yield a fruit that will be
having so minutely read every page. sweet to the taste and make the
Only the grand scheme of the book heart joyous," was Noah's reply.
seems to have escaped her, unless it
"Let us then cultivate the vine
is my own fault that I was unable together, in equal partnership," sugto express myself plainly enough in gested Satan.
Noah assenting to the proposal,
my book.
Satan
departed, returning later with
E. Jung.
Paris, France.
a lamb, which he forthwith killed
and poured its blood upon the roots
P. s. — It never occurred to me
that it was necessary for Syria to of the vine. ;
After a wh le he repeated the
have more administrators and less
same process with the blood of a
politicians, and I have never written anything to that effect. Syria lion.
The blood of an ape he used the
should be—and will be—a free
third time; and lastly, the blood of
country with only a few French tech.
nical advisers chosen by the local a pigBy irrigating the vineyard m this
Syrian authorities. All other French
manner, Satan indicated the four
functionaries must be sent back
stages a man passes who comes unhome. Syria will conclude with us
der
the influence of wine.
a treaty of alliance. Such has always
The first cup makes him act like
been my sentiment and it is my
a lamb—meek and depressed.
hope that the same shall also apply
The second cup makes him bo:sto Lebanon.
r
�MAY, 1928
1
terous, bragging1 of his prowess as
if possessed of a lion's strength.
After the third or fourth cup, he
commences to behave like an ape,
performing all sorts of unsightly
pranks.
And when he reaches the state of
dvunkenness, he behaves... well,
everybody knows how he behaves!
Just a word about the "St. Columbus" controversy:—
For one thing, I am very thankful for the spirit of courtesy mani-
?
iV
fested in it. But, on the whole, I
could not but recollect the anecdote
related about that zealous countryman of ours who championed the
cause of St. Mamah; how in making
a comparison between him and the
other worthies severally, he finally
came to the Almighty, and said:
"Allah is all right, to be sure. But
to compare Him with Mar Mamah
is a pretty thick and clumsy proposition."
Dr. K. A. Bishara.
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Political Developments in Syria
NATIONALISTS WIN
SYRIAN ELECTIONS
While Protesting Against Election
Laws, They Agree to Co-operate
With Mandatory Power.
\
51
The elect;ons which took place in
Syria during April gave the Syrian
Nationalist Party an overwhelming
victory. Returns from all over the
country indicated that the Nationalists were swept to victory on the
crest of a popular wave which
smashed all opposition. Details of
the final elections which were held
on April 24 have not yet reached
the United States, but the primaries
which were held on April 10 indicated the trend of popular sentiment.
Furthermore, the popular enthusiasm
wlrich attended the elections and
their freedom from any disorder
caused unbounded elation in the
country which manifested itself in
spontaneous public demonstrations in
the principal cities.
Prior to the elections, the Nationalists held a party convention in
Damascus which was attended by
delegates from Aleppo, Homs, Hama
and other districts. They issued a
manifesto couched in the most re
spectful but firm language setting
forth their grievances and their
hopes. Their principal complaints
were that the High Commissioner,
in his declaration of February 15,
failed to meet the lawful demands
of the Syrian Nationalists by declarSyria a free country having the
right to choose its own form of government and that the proposed treaty between Syria and France would
be entered into as between equals
and for a defined term. Furthermore, the election laws which were
lished later failed to define the
exact status of the delegates to the
Consitutional Assembly or the duration of their incumbency, while the
laws, as promulgated for the present
elections, retained many of the objectionable clauses which endangered the free expression of the will of
�52
THE SYRIAN WORLD
self a Nationalist, but the Arabic
press reports that he ran on an independent ticket together with many
other members of his cabinet some
of whom were accused of tampering
with the ballot boxes.
The unanimity of the papers, however, in declaring that the elections
in general were free from any irregularity indicated that the government lived up to its promise of noninterference. There was even a report that M. Ponsot personally visited many of the polling places m
Damascus to satisfy himself of the
regularity of the elections.
tions.
The number of voters in Damascus
Another grievance of the Nation- was a fraction over fifty thousand.
alists was the exclusion from gen- Here as elsewhere in Syria, repreeral amnesty of many Syrian lead- sentation is based on the numerical
ers the loss of whose services they proportion of religious denominadeplored because of their ineligibili- tions. It is interesting to discover
ty for office under the terms of the that the next largest faction after
electoral laws.
the Mohammedans whose voters in
With the declaration by their Damascus total 27,012, are the imleaders that they would not advise migrant Armenians who command
boycotting the elections, the Syrians a voting strength of 11,058. The
swarmed to, the polls on election largest element among the native
day and gave their unqualified sup- Christians is the Armenian Catholics
port to the Nationalists. Only minor with 3,051 voters. Minorities which
disturbances took place which, nev- do not control sufficient strength for
ertheless, did not interfere with the independent
representation
are
elections. Full freedom was given grouped together for collective repfor the expression of the popular resentation.
will and only in one instance was
The Druze Mountain did not take
there any complaint of irregularity part in the Syrian elections because
when the Minister of the I^erior in it enjoys an independent government.
Damascus was accused of unlawful Nationalist papeTs disclose the exisinterference to influence the voters. tence of a strong movement of some
While preliminary reports thus Druze elements to join Syria, this
indicated the Nationalist victory m being one of their principal revoluthe provinces, there is intimation tionary demands, but a referendum
Uhat the election was hotly contested held lately in the Mountain proved
in the capital where the Provisional that a safe majority among the
President and many of his ministers Druzes prefer their present state of
were candidates for election. It is independence, although the Nationeven stated that the final count may alists accuse the French in this case
upset the early estimate of Nationof using coercive tactics to intimialist majority in Damascus.
date the Druzes.
The Provisional President is him-
the voters. Principal among these
clauses was that permitting government officials to seek nomination for
office, placing thereby at their disposal all the machinery of the government for the control of the elections. Nevertheless, and as proof of
their trust in the promise of the
High Commissioner, the Nationalists
declared their willingness to take
part in the elections in the hope that
the Constitutional Assembly will enjoy the free exercise of its power
to shape the destiny of its country
to conform to its national aspira-
�I
MAY, 1928
In support of this argument the
Nationalists point to the fact that
the movement for Syrian unity is
gaining strength even in Lebanon,
a delegation from Al-Bekaa having
waited on the Provisional President
of Syria to present a petition signed
by thousands of the inhabitants of
this district requesting a return to
their former status of being under
the jurisdiction of Damascus. The
delegation was composed of three
w
i\ I
53
notables representing the principal
Christian denominations of the district, namely a Maronite, a Greek
Catholic and a Greek Orthodox.
A curious incident attending the
Syrian primaries was that a Greek
Orthodox priest entered the field as
a candidate of his coreligionists in
Horns, but no sooner did his patriarch learn of his action than he ordered him to withdraw.
Missionaries Among Moslems
Cabled reports of the sessions of
the International Missionary Council held in Jerusalem the latter part
of March gave only a faint intimation of the demonstrations staged by
the native Moslems against the
Christian missionaries. Not only did
the Moslems take all possible measures, peaceful and otherwise, to
register their protest against Christian missionary activities in Palestine and other countries of the Near
East, but the native Christians
themselves are said to have joined
their Moslem neighbors in protest in
some instances. This action is interpreted by some to mean that a
live patriotic spirit among Arabicspeaking peoples is superseding religious influences, but by others it
is considered only a sign of fear on
the part of Christians of possible
reprisals by the Moslems against
them for the activities of the missionaries.
For some time past, Arab Moslems have shown growing indignation over attempts at Christian
penetration in their countries. Finding themselves helpless against foreign political designs, they turn to
the only other available method of
protest and vent their anger on the
missionaries. This action is not
restricted to the uneducated masses
but is shared with them to a very
large degree by the educated laymen
and, quite naturally, by the ulemas.
A leading Arabic paper of Cairo,
whose publishers are a product of
American missionary schools, is not
overstating the fact when it declares
that when the Moslems are attacked
in their religion they are touched
on the very thing they consider as
valuable as life itself.
Disturbances attending the holding of the International Missionary
Council in Jerusalem as reported by
the Arabic press of Egypt, Palestine
and Syria are partly as follows:
All missionaries in Transjordania
have been expelled from the country
and delivered under military escort
to the Palestinian authorities. This
action followed on serious uprisings
in As-Salt and other principal towns
of the country which endangered the
lives of the missionaries and forced
the authorities to take action. Still
it is reported that one missionary
had his nose cut off and another one
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
54
most virulent language the Prophet
of his eyes plucked. A surprising
and his mission. Had it not been
feature of this incident is that the for the intervention of the police
native Christians joined their Mosthe appearance of an air squadlem neighbors in objecting to the
ron blood would have flowed in the
presence of the foreign missionaries.
streets of As-Salt like rivers. Now
On the occasion of the annual
we want to admit that free thought
pilgrimage to the grave of Nab, and speech are essential and benefiMoussa, about three thousand pil- cial, but only when they are exererms from Nablus engaged m a cised in conferences of learned men
violent demonstration in the square
and not among people who have
facing the residence of the High
been nursed in their religion with
Commissioner in Jerusalem protesttheir mother's milk and to whom any
ing against the holding of the Mis- attack on their religious beliefs is
sionary Council. Bloodshed was as heinous a crime as an attack on
averted only through energeac ac- their family honor. If, under the
tion by the authorities.
circumstances, our Arab governA certain faction of the Moslem
ment is impotent in putting a stop
inhabitants of Shafa Amir were re- to the pernicious activities of these
ported to have embraced Christianimissionaries, then we would ask the
ty after some differences with other
Mandatory Authorities to take the
factions which, by the way, is a necessary means to eradicate the
common procedure in the East
evil, because if they think the matwhere religion still remains the ter simple they will soon discover
pivot on which revolves all human to their regret that it is most seractivities. Public indignation at this
ious and the fault would be theirs
action, however, seems to have so for having encouraged it by not supawed the converts that they formed
a committee to wait on the Mufti pressing it."
A public demonstration against
of Haifa and assure him that they
the missionaries was held in Gaza
shall ever remain true Moslems bewhere the police wounded four Moslieving in the Prophet, his BOOK, and
lems in attempting to quell the dishis Apostles".
turbance. No sooner news of the
To reproduce the editorial com- incident reached Jerusalem than the
ment of the Moslem press on this
Mohammedan business quarter was
topic would only go to prove tfeeir closed in protest with the approval
unanimity in condemning foreign
of the High Moslem Council.
missionaries. What may be consiThe National Committee of the
dered a fair indication of the genMoslem Young Men's Association in
eral sentiment is the following comEgypt, an organization similar to the
ment of "The People's Voice
ot
Y. M. C. A., upon receiving numerous
Amman:
protests against the International
"American missionaries continue
Missionary Council, sent a stronglytheir penetration in Transjordama
worded cable of protest to the Westleaving in their wake strife and disern Powers against the activities of
sension. The other day they nearly their nationals. Special exception
caused a riot in Ma'an and omy
seems to have been taken to the
three days ago the inhabitants oi
fact that the head of the missionary
As-Salt rose in a body against them
movement is an American and a
when they heard them attack in the
:
�MAY, 1928
55
high executive of the Y. M. C. A.
which the Moslem association had
hoped "would exercise its influence
for religious tolerance instead of
spreading bigotry".
A curious development in the situation is that Moslem opposition to
missionary activities does not ex-
clude even Moslem missionaries.
Arabic papers of Transjordania report that some converts to Wahabism, attempting to spread their newly acquired doctrines, were arrested
and threatened with expulsion if
they persisted in their efforts among
the people of Transjordania.
About Syria and Syrians
EMIGRANT REMITTANCES
IN TWO YEARS
The Bureau of Economics in the
Lebanese government had requested
the principal banks and exchange
houses of the country to furnish it
with exact figures on the remittances
of Lebanese emigrants during the
years 1926 and 1927. Two banks responded immediately giving the following figures:
Through the Syrian-Lebanese Bank
in Beirut.
1926
1927
£38,500
£20,700
$248,700
$254,600
f 3,176,000
f 3,432,600
Through the Bank of Alexander
Haddad in Beirut.
1926 £342,884 $1,619,630
1927 £329,628 $1,565,979
This makes the total of remittances through the government bank
approximately
$2,141,020
and
through the private bank of Alexander Haddad $6,548,169, bringing the
grand total to $8,689,189.
It should be borne in mind that
these sums cover only remittances
through two banks, although it may
be safely stated that these are the
principal ones of the country. An-
other point for consideration is that
they represent remittances from
Lebanese emigrants only and do not
include remittances of Syrians.
What may be further deduced is
that the remittances in English
money come from the English colonies, those in francs from French
colonies, and those in dollars from
the United States.
Commenting on these figures, the
Beirut
newspaper
Lisan-Ul-Hal
points out that they represent only
remittances of the last two years,
while emigrant remittances during
the five years immediately following
the war exceeded by far the above
amounts. The natural and logical
deduction is that that the people of
Lebanon are still supported by revenues from abroad, which does not
show a healthy condition in a country striving for economic independence.
The paper further remarks that
there should be no objection to the
liberal flow of emigrant money into
the counry, but this should be in the
form of capital for investment in
productive enterprises and not for
reckless spending on necessities and
luxuries which should be amply covered by native production.
�u
-~
36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Druzes, was asked to accept £40 as
blood money for her two relatives.
She indignantly refused, saying to
the Commission that if tihey consiFor some time past the Lebanese
dered blood so cheap then why not
authorities have been making every
let
her take the life of the murdereffort to effect a reconciliation beers of her father and brother and
tween the Christians and the Druzes
she would be willing to pay £100
of Southern Lebanon whose old eninstead of £40. When she was told
mity was aggravated by the revoluthat general amnesty would soon be
tionary excesses in 1925. The latest
declared and she would receive no
such attempt to be launched was the
compensation whatever she replied
appointment of a mixed French and
that she would be willing to take
Lebanese Commission in March to
her chances at revenge and later
conduct a final investigation and
receive amnesty rather than accept
bring about a settlement. The Commoney. She was so overcome with
mission discovered that in four
emotion that she had to be led out
towns *he invading Druzes had killed 45 Christians: 22 in Kawkaba; of the room.
7 in Hasbaya; 4 in Abi Camhah and
12 in Rashayya. The Commission
sought to have the relatives of the
CHRISTIANS OF RASHAYYA
victims drop their claims for a conAPPEAL TO POPE
sideration of £20 for each victim,
The Arabic newspaper Al-Basir of
and to that end levied the amount
of the settlement on the Druze popu- Alexandria, Egypt, publishes what
lation which the latter promptly purports to be a copy of the petipaid. But the Christians would not tion which the war sufferers of Rabe satisfied and at first held out shayya sent to His Holiness the
against any settlement in any form, Pope through the Maronite Patrideclaring that the blood of their arch. The petition is a long documurdered relatives could not be pur- ment setting forth in detail the
chased with money. Later it was re- grievances of the Christians of Raported that the Commission explain- shayya and of other southern towns
ed to them that the money was sim- of Lebanon who suffered most durply in the nature of a fine which ing the last revolution and beseachthey could accept as proof of the ing the Holy Father to use his good
guilt of the murderers, while they offices with the Mandatory Power
would be extending pardon to their to give them redress. The petitionenemies out of a spirit of magnani- ers state that although they are
mity. The latest advices are to the mostly adherents of the Orthodox
effect that all claimants had signi- faith, the great solicitude for the
fied their acceptance of the terms welfare of their Orthodox brethren
offered with the exception of one of Russia displayed by the Pope
prompts them to the belief that he
family.
A pathetic scene was enacted dur- will also show the same consideraing the investigation of the Commis- tion in their case. Especially, they
sion when Miss Wadiah Kalil Nasr point out, that the Holy See had
of Kawkaba, whose father and young been from time immemorial the
brother had been killed by the great moral influence for the pro-
CHRISTIANS AND DRUZES
IN SOUTHERN LEBANON
�MAY, 1928
tection of the Christians of the East
regardless of their denominations.
After relating in detail the circumstances of their misfortune, the
petitioners ask the Pope's intercession with the Mandatory Power for
granting them full indemnity for
their property loss and providing
for them safe living quarters where
they would not be further exposed
to the danger of massacre. If, they
state, the authorities insist that they
return to their home town, then
they would ask that the Druzes be
banished from it and other Christian elements from the Druze Mountain who fared just as ill during the
last revolution be substituted for
them. Otherwise they would ask
that the authorities build them a
new town at a safe distance from
their hereditary enemies.
The petition is said to be signed
by the heads of the families of Rashayya and approved by the local
bishops of the different Christian
denominations.
DEFLECTION OF LEBANESE
EMIGRATION TO IRAQ
Mgr. Paul Rizk, an enterprising
Maronite clergyman of Jezzine who
had been a resident of Mexico before his return to his mother country, conceived the idea of deflecting
Lebanese emigration from America
to Iraq and went to the latter country to study conditions and report to
the Lebanese government. His proposition met with much favor in
some quarters and the Iraq government proved sympathetic to the
move. The reasons advanced in
favor of the proposition were that
Iraq was an Arabic-speaking country
57
and offered unequaled prospects for
colonization, while the Lebanese
were industrious and enterprising
and could bring much benefit to
themselves and to the country in
Which they settle.
The Council of Ministers of the
Lebanese government rejected, however, the proposals of Mgr. Rizk on
the ground that they do not favor
Lebanese emigration under whatever
conditions. In support of this contention Dr. Ayoub Tabet, Minister
of the Interior, who had himself
been an emigrant in the United
States at one time, argued that there
were ample resources in the country
if only the people would avail themselves of the opportunities. As an
illustration, he stated that at one
time the government needed a hundred workmen and could find only
Armenian immigrants willing to
work while the natives remained
idle rather than work for the low
wages offered.
PALESTINE ZIONISTS
ANTAGONIZE NATIVES
What is reported by the Damascus
newspaper Aleph Ba as the most
recent Zionist outrage against the
native population of Palestine was
the carnival scenes enacted in Tel
Aviv, the principal Zionist colonial
center situated near Jaffa, during
Holy Week. In this instance, the
Arabic paper reports, the Zionists
not only ridiculed the natives but
sought to mock their principal religious customs and observances.
According to its report, the Zionists made their carnival this year a
mockery of other religions including
Christianity and Islam. They had a
scene representing Christ being
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
58
driven to Calvary by Roman soldiers
who showered blows on Him to the
delight of onlookers. Islam they
ridiculed in the form of a Moslem
funeral where a corpse was borne on
the shoulders of the pallbeares
preceded and followed by a line of
blind men, one leading the other,
shouting in Arabic "La Hah Ilia Allar" (There is no God but Allah").
Coptic rites were also mimicked by
having black-faced monks pound
cymbals and sway in delirium as the
Copts are wont to do in their Easter
celebrations.
The paper comments that the
police witnessed all this without the
least attempt at interference, giving
the natives the impression that the
auhorities were in league with the
Jews against them.
The editor of The Syrian World
was invited to address both gatherings and also extended the courtesy
of acting as chairman.
SYRIANS OF CONNECTICUT
ENJOY HIGH STANDING
On two successive Sundays during
April the Syrians of Connecticut
held two successful entertainments,
the first being on the 22nd. in celebration of the 18th. anniversary of
the American Syrian Society of
Torrington, and the second on the
29th. by the Lebanon American Club
of Waterbury. At both affairs the
mayors of the respective cities together with other high officials attended, and visiting delegations
came from many other Syrian centres in Connecticut, Massachusetts
and New York.
Acting Mayor Fitzgerald of Torrington and Mayor Gilfoil of Waterbury spoke of the Syrians in the
highest terms of praise. They described them as industrious, lawabiding citizens who would be a
credit to any community.
•mm
MHi
SYRIAN DELEGATE TO
SOCIALIST CONVENTION
The Socialist Party of Oklahoma
elected Dr. M. Shadid of Elk City
its delegate to the National Convention of the Party held in New York
City last month. Readers of The
Syrian World will recall this Syrian
physician around whose charges of
social ostracism grew the controversy which was debated in The Syrian
World for several months. It now
develops that Dr. Shadid made the
charges in all good faith and through
profound conviction as he has now
sailed for Syria in company with his
eldest daughter to study conditions
in the mother country with a view
of settling there if the results of his
observations prove favorable. Dr.
Shadid, in his article, advanced the
proposition that Syrian emigrants
should return to their mother land
and help upbuild it now that conditions are more favorable to economic development, and more especially
because in their own country they
would enjoy privileges and amenities
of life that could not be had in other
countries.
LEADER OF REVOLUTION
IN DIRE STRAITS
Persistent reports appeared in the
Arabic press that Sultan Pasha
Atrash, leader of the Druze revolution against the French in Syria,
had negotiated with Sultan Ibn
Saoud for the sale of his arms and
I
�{- — **——-*>*-;
-' ' --**
,
..___. -—*-^
~,
i
59
ammunition to him in consideration
of £60,000, but the Nationalist press
ridiculed the report on the ground
that the Druze leader is still unshaken in his determination to continue the armed struggle and that
he is making additional purchases
of arms. These same papers, however, make no secret of the fact that
Sultan Pasha Atrash and his band
of loyal followers are in the direst
financial straits and are appealing
to Syrian patriots, especially in
America, to send liberal and immediate contributions.
FIVE THOUSAND
TOURISTS IN LEBANON
The Tourist and Summer Resort
Bureau of the Lebanese government
announced that it had received from
tourist agencies abroad information
to the effect that five thousand tourists had been booked to visit Syria
and Lebanon immediately following
the Easter season.
Other reports reaching the Bureau
indicate that the tourist season
promises to be exceedingly gratifying this year.
LUNHAM & MOORE
INCORPORATED
ESTABLISHED 1882.
l
c
Regular Service to Beirut, Tripoli, Alexandretta,
Aleppo, Acre, Jaffa, etc.
C
S
a
"72
LUNHAM & MOORE, INC.
11 BROADWAY
New York.
WE SHIP GOODS TO ALL PARTS OF
THE WORLD AT LOWEST RATES
^Phone Bowling Green 5900
Cables LUNHAM New York.B
�1
STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, CIRCULATION.
ETC., REQUIRED BY THE ACT OF CONGRESS OF AUGUST 24.1912.
Of The Syrian World published monthly at New York, N.Y„April 1st, 1928.
STATE OF NEW YORK.
COUNTY OF NEW YORK,
. ^
_
Before me, a Notary Public, in and for the state and county aforesaid,
personally appeared Salloum A. Mokarzel, who, having been duly sworn
according to law, deposes and says that he is the publisher of the The
Syrian World, and that the following is, to the best of his knowledge and
belief a true statement of the ownership, management (and if a daily paper, the circulation), etc., of the aforesaid publication for the date shown
in the above caption, required by the Act of August 24, 1921, embodied hi
section 411, Postal Laws and Regulations, printed on the reverse of this
form, to wit:
1. That the names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing
editor, and business managers are:
Post office address—
Name of—
104 Greenwich Street.
Publisher, Salloum Mokarzel
104
Greenwich Street.
Editor, Salloum Mokarzel
104
Greenwich Street.
Managing Editor, Salloum Mokarzel
104
Greenwich Street.
Business Managers, Salloum Mokarzel
2 That the owner is: (If owned by a corporation, its name and address
must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses
of stockholders owning or holding one per cent or more of total amount of
stock. If not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of the individual owners must be given. If owned by a firm, company, or other
unincorporated concern, its name and address, as well as those of each
individual member, must be given.)
Salloum A Mokarzel 104 Greenwich St.
3. That the known bondholders, mortgages, and other security holders
owning or holding 1 per cent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages,
or other securities are: (If there are none, so state.) None.
4 That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of the owners, stockholders, and security holders, if any, contain not only the list of
stockholders and security holders as they appear upon the books of the
company but also, in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears
upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation,
en- also that the said two paragraphs contain statements embracing affiantfs
the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting, is givfull knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under
which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the books
of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity other
than that of a bona fide owner; and this affiant has no reason to believe
that any other person, association, or corporation has any interest direct
or indirect in the said stock, bonds, or other securities than as so stated
By su
Entel
VOL
i
Love
Arab
Leba
Arab
7
B^at the average number of copies of each issue of this publication
sold or distributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the six months preceding the date shown above is.
(This
information is required from daily publications only.)
v
S. A. MokarzeL
Sworn to and subscribed before me this third day of April, 1928.
[SEAL.]
Salem J. Lutfy.
(My commission expires March 30, 1929.)
\
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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NS 0002
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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TSW1928_05reducedWM
Title
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The Syrian World Volume 02, Issue 11
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1928 May
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 2 Issue 11 of The Syrian World published May 1928. The issue opens with another discussion about words borrowed both from Arabic and English by Byron Smith. There is a poem following the article titled "Bel's Lions" by Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin. Next is an interview conducted with Count Herman Keyserling by Salloum Mokarzel
the interview primarily focuses on the major problems besetting the East. There is yet another piece by Salloum Mokarzel discussing the process of progress in the Moslem world. Following it are two short stories, one discussing war in small nations by Kahlil Gibran and another called "The Scar" by Dr. N.A. Katibah. The last two articles have no given author. One discusses Arabic Newspapers in America and the second discusses how Arabic figures like King Ibn Saoud are portrayed in American literature. The issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press, the Reader’s Forum, and political developments in Syria.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
1929
Ameen Rihani
Dr. George Knaysi
George A. Ferris
Kahlil Gibran
King Hussein of Jordan
Labeebee A. J. Hanna
Mokarzel
Najib A. Katibah
New York
Philip K. Hitti
Salim Alkazin
Salloum Antoun Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
The Syrian World
Usama
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/9489f21307bc72982ae4402f3bc59ff0.pdf
af7da620b0317654e419365c801d18e9
PDF Text
Text
VOL. III. No. 5
m
NOVEMBER, 1928
THF
SYRIAN WORLD
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
m
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
m
THE LEPER AND THE BRIDE OF GALILEE
AMEEN RIHANI
AN INTRODUCTION TO SYRIAN WORLD POLITICS
REV. W. A. MANSUR
JESUS THE SON OF MAN
KAHLIL GI BRAN
CAN WE RETAIN OUR HERITAGE
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
THOBET AND LEILA
DR. SALIM Y. ALKAZIN
RECENT POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
��rfl
I
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104
GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK,
By subscription $5.00 a year.
N. Y.
Single copies 50c.
Enteted as second-class matter, June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. III.
No. 5
NOVEMBER, 1928
CONTENTS
PAGE
The Leper and the Bride of Galilee
3
AMEEN RIHANI
From the Arabic
7
An Introduction to Syrian World Politics
REV. W. A. MANSUR
8
Moderation
Translated from the Arabic by J. D.
15
CARLYLE
Tobet and Leila
16
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
18
Freedom
BENJAMIN
T.
HOFFIZ
Books and Authors
A New Life of Christ by a Syrian Author.
Son of Man, by Kahlil Gibran,
Jesus, the
19
�CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
A Man From Lebanon Nineteen Centures Afterward
21
KAHLIL GIBRAN
The Sage of Washington Street (On the Marriage Problem Among Syrians)
27
A. HAKIM
Subterfuge
32
Economic Recovery in Syria
33
The Value of a Reputation
35
Can We Retain Our Heritage? (A Call to Form a Federation of Syrian Societies
36
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
Arab Proverbs
40
Editorial Comment
Recognizing Racial Groups
A Syrian University in America
Honoring Our Talent
41
42
44
Spirit of the Syrian Press
45
Readers* Forum
49
Political Developments in Syria
51
About Syria and Syrians
54
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
Jesus the Son of Man
Tiberias and Its Lake
�HMMMHJ
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. III.
No. 5
NOVEMBER, 1928
The Leper and the Bride of
Galilee
By AMEEN RIHANI
Written especially for The Syrian World.
MO country, however removed from civilization, is unchanging;
and no people, however rebel]ions, can free themselves entirely of their traditions. This double nature of the law of growth
and decay, ineffective in the face of the immutable, is manifest in
all nations, who, while yielding to the dominating influences of the
times, retain more or less their original genius and one or more of
their principal characteristics.
A striking example is Palestine. For maugre Zionism and
Tel Aviv and the Hebrew University and the Bezalel School of
Arts and Crafts, and maugre Arab nationalism and British rule,
old Jerusalem, a piece of junk in the Junk-Shop of the East,
still remains. A more striking example in Palestine is Galilee.
For maugre all the agricultural settlements of Esdraleon—the
hay wagons and the jitneys and the little Amazons of Israel in
bloomers—the country still retains something of the beauty that
appeals both to the spiritual and the sensuous in us. Indeed, and
although it is overrun tomorrow by the tribes of Trans-Jordania
or by the commercial syndicates of Europe, this beauty will
endure.
But there are two melancholy notes in it, a shriek and a
moan,—a high note and a low;—two cities, the one above, the
other below, the sea. The traditional "den of thieves" in which
the greatest Exponent of the truth divine was born, casts a hungry look upon Esdraleon while it consoles itself with "the bread
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
of life"; and the traditional "hot-bed of lechery" in which the
austerity of Judaism found voice, wallows in the gutters of charity down below Esdraleon. Nazareth and Tiberias;—the one
is a bride in sack-cloth, the other a leper in faded purple. The
leper and the bride,—and between them, to feed the one and to
starve, though unwittingly, the other, are the wheat fields and
the jitneys and the little Amazons in bloomers.
No country in the world has had and still has a more varied
life, both human and divine, than Palestine;—this Palestine,
which holds in the palm of her hand the apples of Sodom and
the snow-crowned peaks of Mt. Hermon. Consider one phase
of its life. The jitney and the tomb of Maimonedes balance
today, in a certain sense, the jitney and Bolshevism. The truth
of the present, however, is but a thin crust over the rust of the
past. In no part of Palestine is this better exemplified than in
Galilee; and in no city of Galilee does the melancholy condition
find a more eloquent tongue than in Tiberias.
Nature, too, cruel in her constancy, immoral in her indifference, continues to produce her symbols of elegance and depravity as well as of picturesqueness and sloth. The Oshr tree still
bears the apples of Sodom, and the "camphire of Engedie" still
yields the henna for the Bride in sack-cloth .and for the leper in
purple.
Historians and sociologists can perhaps fathom the causes
and adumbrate the effects of the breach between the people and
their surroundings. They can also philosophize about the nature
of the bridge, its structure and strength, that should connect the
present with the past. For my part whether the bridge be of gossamer or stone, of moonshine or of steel, the facts of the present
are overwhelming. They are also tormenting.
But the picture, whether fascinating or appalling,—in this
instance, it is both appalling and fascinating,—has a certain appeal. For the variety, the beauty and the strangeness of naturephenomena contrasting with the monotony, the ugliness and the
indolence of life, are nowhere so striking as in Galilee and particularly in Tiberias. Indeed, despite its new quarter Kiriah
Schmuel and its palm saplings and its unfinished sanatorium,
Ti.berias still remains a black spot upon the Lake! and between
its natives, mostly Jews, and the strenuous Zionists of the settlements there is a chasm as deep and discouraging as that which
extends between Mt. Hermon and the Dead Sea,
�k\
NOVEMBER, 1928
But considered deeper, one finds a corresponding gradation
in the scale of being:—geology co-ordinating with history symbolizes in the different chapters of its story the various stages
in the life of the race. It is an epic, which begins and ends in
extremes. For whatever may come upon the land, the memory
of the Founder of Christianity, as eternal as the hills, rises like
Mt. Hermon on the one side, while on the other, down in the
Ghor, are the miasmas of nature and man. The chasm between
the two is filled with the glaring and bewildering contrarieties
in nature-phenomena and historic events. Here is a divine atmosphere shedding its balm upon a black city of disease; there is
a vestige—one of many—of the glory of man sanctified with
divine sacrifice and the sanctity of truth sullied with human sloth
and knavery. Yonder are mineral springs and sweet silvery
streams mingling with the waters of the Jordan; and not far
from the basalt of Gennesaret is the bitumen of the Dead Sea.
These are but a few of the striking values in the canvas.
The theory and the fact are one, both in nature and in life,
upward and downward in the scale. For although through the
temple, in which was heard the word divine, now blow the four
winds of poverty, ignorance, squalor and vice; and although the
Kingdom of Heaven be transformed into slums and clerical and
governmental Juhannams; and although nothing of the spiritual beauty now remains but a melancholy memory, the Tiberias country in Spring is nevertheless a veritable paradise.
And Gennesaret is its capricious queen. Gennesaret, the
bride of the Jordan, now surging towards him, now receding from
him;—panting with love, foaming with wrath;—spending its
azure beauty at the chibed and mud-bespattered feet of Tiberias;—throbbing under the morning sun that kisses the brow of
Mt. Hermon;—languishing in the afternoon shades of sable
hills;—mingling, in her secret moods, in nooks and hollows, with
murky sedgy streams;—responsive alike to the barren brindled
cliffs and the fragrant sylvan spurs that are mirrored in her heart;
—nursing in her bosom the volcanic fire;—reflecting her genius
in baleful bogs and riant fields where the papyrus still waves
its antique pennant and the oleanders bloom;—teaching her turtle
doves the threnody of the years, which bring their flowers every
spring to the tombs of spiritual glory and moral beauty that once
graced her shores,—Gennesaret gives us, indeed, a scientific
guide as well as a book of revelation.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
For does she not lead us southward to the first round of the
ladder of life, many hundred feet below the sea, and northward
to the top, many thousand feet above it? And does she not
carry us from the spiritual wilderness around her back to the
divine beauty that was once transfigured before? There is in this
little spfct of the world, which the scientist, the traveller and the
moralist can traverse in a day, the living history of many housand
years, the living miracle of Christianity, as well as the living
truth of the cruelty of dogma, which is inseparable from mental
sloth and human sorrow. For although in the glorious sunrise
and in the glowing sunset the inner vision can still behold the
prophet's chariot of fire, down in the Ghor of life, in the human
abysses, is heard the sardonic laugh of Eblis.
Yea, under the blue eye of Gennesaret there is a Juhannam
beside which pales any of the slums of the great cities in Europe
and America. There is in Tiberias a human misery that evokes
no sympathy, awakens no pity j—a misery abhorrent and repellent, which praises Allah for its pillow of filth and sloth j—a
miasma engendered by the resignation and hebetude that have
outlived many generations.
Are then the Jews of Tiberias a refutation of the spiritual
truth that was revealed in their own land? Are they the embodiment, in the very cradle of Judaism and Christianity, of
spiritual asphyxia and mental and moral cancer? And is the
running sore without end? Or is the end coming with Zionism?
Zionism, which prates of Maimonedes and Rabbi Afliba in Tiberias, and brandishes the torch of Sovietism in Tel Aviv, and raises
a throne to Syndicalism in Jaffa, and applies itself assiduously to
the arts and crafts in Jerusalem, while still wailing beneath a
Wall of Faith hallowed by the kisses and tears of a hundred generations, does this Zionism know its own mind? If it has not an
undivided purpose, a clear and single vision, how long will it be
before it breaks up and is dismembered at the crossroads of the
Times.
There is even a communistic, an all-f or-all community near
Baisan; but to Tiberias it is as barren spiritually as Nazareth and
intellectually as Esdraleon. It does not contribute a mite in
alms. A loaf of bread, in sooth; for the natives of Tiberias have
lived and still live by bread alone. To be exact, the Lake itself
is one of their many benefactors. It contributes their principal
�I___^
NOVEMBER, 1928
fjf
j'
I
7
food—fish. I wonder if that is why its population pullulates.
And like fish, it is insensible to Tel Aviv and Zezalel.
Little wonder that the supreme heritage of Galilee is no
more to Tiberias than is the oleande bloom to the fish in the
lake. Aye, although all around are healing influences, beautiful
scenes invoking the noblest feelings, tokens of the strivings and
the triumphs of heroic souls, the ichthyophagous Tiberians
continue to grope in darkness and wallow in the mires of misery
and sorrow.
But let us be just. A man with a carbuncle on the back of
his neck can not look up to the sky. And the leper in purple
has a carbuncle on the back of his neck. Take him to the settlements? He is too lazy to work. Take him to Tel Aviv, or bring
Tel Aviv to him? He is too demoralized to utter a cry or to
entertain a hope. Take him to the Wall? That perhaps is beter suited to his humor. But we are humanitarians and we wjuld
save even those that can do nothing but weep. Very well, cut
off the carbuncle. But who is going to do it? Zionism? 1 have
my doubts about it. The British Mandate? I am not certain
that the British think it worth the trouble.
Not «^en the Arabs, methinks, will bother. For although
they look upon the natives of Tiberias, of all of Palestine, as thcr
brothers, alien to Zionism, they consider any interference with
their lot, which is, like that of most Orientals, bound up with their
religion, as contravening the fundamental principle of nationalism. The status quo of the natives of the land—Muslems and
Christians and Jews—is one of the arguments of the Arab nationalists against Zionism. Tiberias, therefore, will remain
what it is until its population, to drop the metaphor, ceases to
pullulate.
FROM THE ARABIC
There are two things the true value of which is appreciated
only when lost: Health and Youth.
To remain silent until you are invited to speak is much better than to continue speaking until you are silenced.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
8
An Introduction to Syrian World
Politics
By
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
FTiE Convocaton of the Syrian Constituent Assembly marks the
formal entrance of the Syrian nation into the field of world
politics. The World War brought Syria into the field of European politics, the Syrian Civil. War into Syrian national politics,
and the convocation of the Syrian Constituent Assembly into
world poltics. S. A. Mokarzel is right in saying, "The convocation of the Syrian Constituent Assembly, now in session in Damascus, marks the first important constructive step taken by either
the Mandatory Power or the Syrians themselves in the logical
course fpr the stabilization of government in Syria." (Syrian
World, August, 1928} italics mine.)
The birth of the new nationalism, the drafting of a constitution, and the aspiration for independence demand the study of
world politics by Syrian patriots. A homogeneous nationalism
is essential to the unity, stability and progress of a free people.
A united patriotic spirit is fundamental to a constitution infused
whit the Syrian national soul. The aspiration for independence
calls for the knowledge of the history, methods and politics controlling world politics.
Intelligent understanding of world politics is necessary to
Syria's right thinking, rational understanding, and sound nationalism. Without it, confusion will remain in the background of
the people's thinking. Without it, partisanship will govern Syrian leadership. Without it, division will continue to separate the
people. Intelligent understanding of world politics will clarify
the vision, unite the thinking, and create a cooperative spirit and
will help toward the realization of the nation's highest purposes.
I. The meaning of World Politics, its power in international relations, and its relation to Syria are vital to Syria's progressive
nationalism.
The meaning of world politics should be the first lesson
Syrians should learn since Syria's entrance into the field of world
CO
H
a
<
CO
<
�TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE
Prevailing Conditions in this ancient town of Palestine fall under the
merciless indictment of Ameen Rihani.
��NOVEMBER, 1928
9
politics. It is a new lesson for the masses. It is highly technical,
unfamiliar, and perplexing. It demands serious thinking, patient
study, and careful application.
"World politics is the science of government as practiced
in international relations, under the influence of real or fancied
interests in other than neighboring countries or those with which
relations of reciprocal advantage are naturally maintained," says
Herbert Adams Gibbons in "Introduction to World Politics.."
Referring to the nations he says, "But when they become friends
or enemies because of rivalry for political influence and economic
advantages in regions where their aim is to enjoy, exclusively if
possible, the fruits of economic imperialism, friends and enemies
are made, not by natural affinities or by good or evil done *•„ each
other, but by considerations of world politics."
Lord Cromer tells us in his "Modern Egypt" of the spirit,
methods and aims as practiced in world politics. Writing of semicivilized countries where rulers possess incomplete sovereign
rights, "In such countries, some European Powers have interests
which they wish to safeguard without arousing the jealousy of
their rivals by too open an assertion of strength, whilst others are
let to claim a seat at the international table in order to assert their
political existence and to remind the world that their interests,
albeit they are of relatively slight importance, cannot be altogether neglected.."
The knowledge of the history of world politics is vital to
the Syrian nation. Syrians should familiarize themselves with
the foreign policies of France, England, Italy, Russia, the United
States and other nations. This will guide Syria's foreign policies,
unite Syria's leadershhip, and create a more intelligent nationalism
among the people.
II. The realization of Syria's geographical -position is necessary
to Syria's international relations, political life, and national
progress.
A study of the world map will show the strategic position
of Syria. The importance of this fact is of first magnitude.
One cannot understand Syria's history without realizing her geographical relations. Syria's political life is vitally related to her
geographical situation.
"The influence of the strategic position occupied by these
lands of the Near East is not less great in the world of politics.
�—--
10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
uZJl *% T WhCr the Crusade" of Western Europe
turned their thoughts to the Holy City of the East, these lands
haye lain at the crux of all world politics. And the very geographical position which they occupy must perforce continue them at
the center of all international relationships. Just as the geographical position determines to a great extent commercial prosperity so also that same position determines political impor"Geography shapes though it does not control history ," says
Basil Mathews in the "Riddle of Nearer Asia." Geography shapes
the naval policy of the British Empire, the army policy of the
French Republic, the foreign policy of the United States. The
neglect of the geographical factor will distort the patriot's vision, misshape his international policies, and defeat his highest
hopes. Consider Syria's relation to her neighbors on the North,
South and East. Consider the interest of European and Asiatic
nations in the international politics of these nations. Consider
their military and economic interest. Giving the geographical
factor the right place in the nation's thinking will largely determine the spirit of its nationalism, the nature of its constitution,
thd needs of the nation, and its relations to other nations."
III. There must be an understanding of the nature of the interest
of European powers in Syria, their mutual agreements regarding the Near East, and the controlling policies of each
nation.
"Ideals and sentiments of humanity have no place in world
politics," says Gibbons in "Introduction to World Politics.."
_
The following is a graphic portrayal of Europe's interest
in the Near East: "Because the Suez Canal is the route to India,
uif «Sn xeTstabl^shed herself ^ Egypt," says William H.
Hall in The Near East, Cross Road of the World.." "Because
Russia threatened to overrun Persia and encroach upon India the
British must needs exercise a controlling influence in southern
Persia an dthe Persian Gulf. Because all her northern ports
were icebound for half the year, and her only outlet to the south
was through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, which were
dominated by Constantinople, Russia planned and intrigued and
fought for the possession of that city and its adjacent territory.
France, Italy, and Greece each marked out for themselves colo-
�NOVEMBER, 1928
n
nies in Syria and Asia Minor which they wanted when the day of
division should come. And Germany and Austria, conceiving
their great strategy of a central empire from the North Sea to the
Persian Gulf, became profoundly interested in playing the diplomatic game at the Sublime Porte.
"Each nation has already secured in one or more of these
Eastern lands some special commercial right, some railway, harbor, or mining concession, and each had, little by little, fixed its
hold on the particular territory which to it seemed especially
desirable."
Underneath the attitudes and movements of European
Powers is their personal ambition. The history of European nations supports this assertion. It is useless to consider religion,
philanthropy, democracy when the pages of history are replete
with the imperialism of the nations. And what is true of Europe
is likewise true of Asiatic Powers.
The basis of the interest of the nations in Syria is upon that
of conquest, Europe's "sphere of influence" policy, or that of barter or exchange. Our hope for Syria is that she may enter into
mutual understanding with other nations, and such relationship
to be based on an exchange of privileges, economic, military, commercial and otherwise.
i
IV. Thorough information regarding Europe's program of economic exploitation, its place in modern diplomacy, and its
relation to Syria.
Western civilization is dominated by the passion of exploitation. Three factors brought this about: Europe's increasing population, her industrial revolution, and the demand for raw material. Europe could not do this at home, so she cast wistful eyes
abroad. Modern inventions and discoveries accelerated this
"While one may claim that international relations have always been affected by outside interests and ambitions," says Gibbons in "An Introduction to World Politics," "it was not until
the nineteenth century that Europe began to exploit the rest of
the world." Economic exploitation is a first essential in the catechism of. European world politics. Peace, civilization, religion,
are secondary factors in her program of exploiting the rest of
the world.
.
a
How does this European program of exploitation attect the
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Syrian nation? George Adam Smith says in "Syria and the Holy
Land": "We can feel the acuteness of the problems which thus
arise in her administration. They have been complicated by the
political envies and intrigues of half Asia and all Europe." And
William H. Hall writes of the breakup of the Near East: "Out
of this jumble of foreign influence and exploitation—." The
Syrian nation must face these realities. These influences must
form a vital chapter in Syria's primer of national as well as world
politics. They influence her law-making body, her economic
policies, and her international relations. The hope of Syria lies
in adequate tariff regulations, developing agriculture and dairying, and the establishment of relations that will develop the nation's resources. The happiness of the Syrian people depends on
the nation's economic program. Syrian economists should bend
every effort to bring about such economic conditions which will
make for better living, create new opportunities, and lead to economic independence.
V. The Syrian nation must remember the importance of the influences of western institutions ufon her civilization, politics,
and education.
The West is seeking to infuse the East with its civilization.
Its religious, educational and political institutions are scattered
throughout the Near East. The West is in practical control of
the greater part of the East. The West is trying to "reform"
the East. This has come to be a studied, planned, and working
program of the West.
"In the East, we are attempting to put new wine into old
bottles," Lord Cromer quotes Bagehot in "Modern Egypt," "to
pour what we can of a civilization whose spirit is progress into
a form of civilization whose spirit is fixity; and whether we succeed or not is perhaps the most interesting question in an age
abounding almost beyond example in questions of political interest JJ
*
The renaissance which took place in Europe is now taking
place in the Near East. The Syrian race is welcoming every influence that will make for the rebirth of the Syrian people. The
reawakening of the Syrian consciousness, the revival of man's
powers, and the desire for progress is now going on. The Syrian
nation will appropriate from every racial and national culture that
which will make for its own betterment.
�NOVEMBER, 1928
M
The problems of the Syrian nation will rise out of the attempt to adapt the new amidst the old, and adjust the old to the
new. The dangers will rise when reforms are made at too quick
a pace. But the Syrian is talented in the art of adaptability. The
problems of the West are becoming the problems of the East:
suffrage, child labor, tariff and taxation, agriculture, education,
law observance, capital and labor.
Talcott Williams says in an Introduction to Philip K. Hitti's
"The Syrians in America": "Syria and Syrians constitute the first
land and the first people in Southwestern Asia who have entered
into modern civilization. They stand alone in this. If Syria
were an islanded land, instead of being for four thousand years
a thoroughfare of conquering peoples, swept by many tides, it
would be, in its place, as striking an example of progress as
Japan." With the aid, experience, and example of Western leadership, Syria will be better able to guide herself to national progress, prosperity and happiness.
VI. The contributions of history and integral elements in Syria's
national life, in European world -politics, and of Syria's
future.
We must ever remember that history is a live thing in world
politics, especially Syria's world politics. To understand the Syrian soul one must know Syria's history, her relation to other nations, her religious makeup, her geographical position, her great
characters, her contributions to mankind.
Let us throw into bold relief one historical element whose
many ill influences remain to plague the Syrian race. "The Crusades, in reality the first of those imperialistic ventures that
Europe sent out to despoil and appropriate the earth, soon came
to be as much commercial as religious enterprises," says J. H.
Randall in "The Making of the Modern Mind." Because history is alive there are perpetuated many evil influences in Syria's
national life, in Europe's schemes and ambitions, and in the nation's thinking.
Let us remember that religion is the major problem in
Syria's thinking: educationally, politically and socially. There
are the following situations: the relation of Christianity and Mohammedanism, the relation of certain groups to European powers,
the effects of the Syrian Revolution. History's living factors
have fostered religious hatreds, racial animosities, and brought
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
NOV.
about political alignments within and without the nation.
A new vision has come to Syria through the rise of democracy. Religious freedom and tolerance should take the place of
religious intolerance. "United we stand, divided we fall" should
become the watchword of the nation. Nationalism based on welfare for the greatest number will destroy religious, racial and
political hindrances to Syria's progress.
A universal compulsory public school education in Syria
standing for a common citizenship, common ideals, and common
human aspirations will do more for the nation's unity and progress than all other efforts combined. The public school is Syria's
best solution of her national problems, her economic welfare, and
her future progress. The school will free Syria's youth from the
ill effects of the past, create a common love for the nation, and
unite the nation in worthy human welfare.
"The
the e
that 1
jmpe:
1919
cerne
14
VII. The future of Syria's independence depends upon the cooperation within the nationy Europe's world politicsy and
Syria's geographical location.
Syria's political future depends upon three factors: the unity
of the nation, Europe's diplomacy, and Syria's geographical location. The greatest of these is Syria's geographical location. It
is the most important, vital, and critical factor. Without thorough mastery of the geographical factor Syria's political leadership, her foreign policies, and her progress will always be found
wanting.
"Syria is so placed," J. L. Myers quotes M. Maspero in
"The Dawn of History," "that it cannot be independent except
on condition that it has no powerful neighbors." This is the key
to a wholesome Syrian nationalism, successful economic policies,
and agreeable foreign relations.
Is absolute independence of Syria politically possible under
the present world conditions? The question of Syria's independence is provocative of profound political thinking. Facing us
are four factors in Europe's world politics. "First, "When Turkey
joined the Central Empires," says Gibbons in "Introduction to
World Politics," "the Entente powers were free to use the weapon
of self-determination as a war measure to destroy the integrity
of the Ottoman Empire." Second, "If Turkey had to go by the
board there would be no emancipation of subject races, but a division of the Ottoman Empire into spheres of influences." Third,
worL
ing r
greal
and
pend
best
�NOVEMBER, 1928
;
1$
"The secret treaty of London marked the abandonment, before
the end of the first year of the war, of the generous idealism
that had seemed to make the conflict of principles rather than of
imperialistic aims." Fourth, "The treaties signed at Paris in
1919 and 1920 so far as most of their territorial clauses are concerned, simply fulfilled bargains made during the war."
Syria is confronted with possible military invasion, Europe's
world politics, and the most important period of Syria's developing nationalism. Syria's present need is a condition assuring the
greatest probability of national security, peaceful independence,
and material prosperity. Therefore, will Syria's absolute independence, or her association with some world power, secure the
best conditions for the nation's present and future progress?
Moderation
Translated from the Arabic by J. D. Carlyle
How oft does passion's grasp destroy
The pleasure that it strives to gain?
How soon the thoughtless course of joy
Is doom'd to terminate in pain?
When prudence would thy steps delay,
She but restrains to make thee blest;
Whate'er from joy she lops away,
But heightens and secures the rest.
Wouldst thou a trembling flame expand,
That hastens in the lamp to die?
With careful touch, with sparing hand,
The feeding stream of life supply.
But if thy flask profusely sheds
A rushing torrent o'er the blaze,
Swift round the sinking flame it spreads,
And kills the fire it fain would raise.
I
�___________
16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Tobet and Leila
By
DR. SALIM
Y.
*
1
I
1
(i
ALKAZIN
A RABIA, thy parched sands, had they
Not been accursed and doomed to give no life
Or issue yield, the blood that flowed in streams—
Enriching not thy veins—would spring again,
Not in the shape of grass to feed or reed
To sing, but in the shape of crimson tongues
That would denounce the deeds of men when they,
For love of self, call right what suits their ends.
Or had thy lonely hills the pow'r to speak,
What sweet, heart-soothing tales our ears would hear,
Of simple love—the God-created love—
That stirred the hearts of hardy desert sons,
And dainty maids—wild flow'rs from nature's heart,
So fresh, unsoiled by human cultured touch,
Or thought—sweet tales that ended happily!
And what heart-rending tales of love that flared
And blazed like thy fearful sun, and, like
It still with its consuming heat that stirs
No life but kills what life there is, hath choked
The struggling hope. Of such a fate I speak:—
*
NOVL
*
Once upon a time (as Arabs would
A tale begin), a struggling caravan
Its weary way was picking thru the sand,
Which heaved, and, shifting, piled in heaps then rolled
With deadly sweep to pile anew and roll,
Like to a peaceful sea when angry winds
Would lash her back, her thousand heads would raise
In rage, and stretch ten thousand arms and charge.
Behind, no trace was left—so wipes the hand
Of fate fond hopes! In front, all former trace
Of man and beast was gone; yet on, and on
The weary caravan pursued its wayLed by the setting sun.
I
n
�NOVEMBER, 1928
"Howay! Howay!"
The leader cried, and stopped. And every man
Around him pressed, to find him gazing at
A form—a man—half buried in the sand.
"Not dead, he lives!" And eager, anxious men
For water rushed. The swollen lips were seen
To move, the eyes were opened wide, wherein
The flame,—the dying flame of life, was seen
To waver 'neath the chilling breath of death.
A sigh, a mournful groan escaped his lips,
Then words—the soul was starting on its flight
From that mean cage in words: "If Leila will
Salute, my bones, tho' hid beneath a pile
Of stones, the greeting will return, or from
My tomb a voice will surely cry Salaam!"
He spoke and died.
"Know ye the mkn?" one asked.
"Who knows him not? Lives there the man who hath
Not heard of Leila's Troubadour? AlasWho after thee shall sing of love and give
His passion form and clothe it now in bright,
Alluring silks, and then in gruesome shrouds;
Or march it like a bride with joyful, hopeful song,
Or lead it to its grave with moan and wail?
There lies a bard, a lover true? Alas
For song! Alas for unrequited love!
Enough, and let the man that knew no rest
To rest be wedded now, and may Allah
Be gracious to his soul."
On sea and sand
Alike, the dead find grace where'er they hap
To die. A hole was dug, and rocks were piled
To mark the lonely grave.
Long years rolled by.
One day a dame on camel-back was led
By horseman bold. Hard by the pile they passed.
There sleeps a liar false," the husband sneered,
" 'Tis he who sang mv gracious wife to fame."
"And why a liar he?" "Salute that grave
And prove that he who said: 'If Leila will
Salute, my bones, tho hid beneath a pile
17
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Of stones, the greeting will return, or from
My tomb a voice will surely cry Salaam!'
Spake true! Now, by Allah, thou shalt salute."
Then Leila: "Peace, may peace with thee abide!"
Antf lo! a rustling noise, and from a hole
An owl appeared and, screaming, flopped its wings
And soared. The frightened camel reared and threw
Its load.
Thus Leila met her end, and thus
The two, whom life had sternly held apart,
One grave in peace received with open arms.
Freedom
By BENJAMIN T. HOFFIZ
(Inspired by Ameen Rihani's poem published in the October issue.)
Q FREEDOM, what a pow'r divine,
Thou Lord and Master of our lives 5
Before thy grand and holy Shrine
I pledge my spirit, soul and heart.
Thy cause immortal is my joy,
Thy glorious end is my desire.
May thy eternal power destroy,
The pow'rs infernal and their thrones.
For thy beloved cause and right
I fight the battle, till at last,
The shouts of victory with delight
Shall ring throughout the universe.
Awake her children strong and brave
And hoist her banner 'neath the stars!
Fear not the battle, nor the grave
And crown the queen of freedom high.
O torch divine, our souls inflame
And fill our lives with pow'r and grace,
O set the hearts of men aflame
That all may worship at thy Shrine.
�19
NOVEMBER, 1928
Books and Authors
A NEW LIFE OF CHRIST BY A SYRIAN AUTHOR
Jesus, the Son of Man, by Kahlil Gibran, New York.
A. Knopf, 216 pp.
Alfred
$3.50.
TO call the new book of Kahlil Gibran a life of Christ would be
a misapplication of the term. The book is not a chronological
narration of the life of the founder of Christianity. No attempt
is made by the author to analyze disputed facts or clear obscure
circumstances surrounding the life or the actions of Christ. In
fact, the book does not concern itself with the life of Christ as such
in the academic sense. And still it is a life of Christ as interpreted
by His words and deeds on the tongues of many characters. In
this respect it is unlike any other book that has so far appeared on
the personality of Jesus, notwithstanding the multiplicity of such
works in recent years. What may be said of Gibran's book is that
it follows a novel scheme which is unique in its treatment. It is
an attempt to portray the character of Jesus in His role of spiritual
teacher as seen through many eyes from various angles and by the
light of different philosophical tenets and under various spiritual
reactions. For this purpose the author calls on seventy-seven characters, friends and foes alike, men and women of all nationalities
who were contemporaries of Christ and had occasion to see Him
or hear of Him. The final character is the author himself who
sings the virtues of Jesus in a masterly poem, rather a prayer, well
befitting the mood of a spirit which would interpret the words and
the deeds of the Great Master.
"Jesus the Son of Man" is the culmination of the work ot
Gibran in what appears to be his preconceived scheme originating
with The Madman (1918), continuing in The Forerunner (1920)
and leading to his great work The Prophet (1923) With every
succeeding work Gibran made progressive amplification ot his
theme. And as he proceeded an ever increasing number of admirers followed with tense interest his steady development until it
could be safely said that with the publication of The Prophet he
was well intrenched in the high esteem of thousands of readers
�20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
not only in America but throughout the world. The Prophet enjoys the distinction of having been translated into more than
twenty languages. His latest book may well be destined to enjoy
just as much if not more popularity.
No review, no matter how lengthy, could give an adequate
evaluation of this latest monumental work of our great Syrian
author. Each chapter may be termed a book in itself, so charged
are the words with weighty meaning and inspirational import.
For not alone has he attempted to give the impressions of the different characters on Jesus, but he has also gone to the extent of
paraphrasing the words of the Master Himself. In the chapter
on "The Sermon on the Mount" there are many deviations from
the accepted dogmatic text as adopted by the Christian churches
both in the Sermon and in the Lord's Prayer. In this as well as
in many other instances Gibran interprets the words of Jesus in
terms of his own. This may not meet with the sanction of the
custodians of the Christian faith, but, although failing to abide
by the strict dictates of dogma and even avoiding any reference
to the divinity of Jesus, Gibran's interpretation cannot be said to
detract from the spiritual apppreciation of Jesus' character.
Rather, in his own conception, it tends to enhance it in the light of
modern spiritual development.
The literary quality of this latest book of Gibran is in the
author's well known masterly style. It is his rare gift to be able
to clothe his meaning in words that have the rhythmic sound of
music. It is unnecessary to single out any particular passage for
illustration, because the whole book bears the stamp of the master's consummate technique.
The book contains thirteen illustrations in the famous Gibran style, two of which are in color.
The publisher's claim that "for the first time in twenty centuries a countryman of Jesus of Nazareth writes of His words and
His deeds" holds true only if we take into consideration the patently novel nature of the work. In other respects the claim
could not be substantiated nor do we believe it is so meant. For the
Disciples were of His Countrymen as were the Fathers of the
church, who not only wrote and spoke of His words and deeds, but
carried His message to the ends of the earth. Their role, it may
be explained, plausibly enough, was that of commentators and
apostles. They accepted the divinity of Christ and believed implicitly in the revelation of His words. His person was so sacred
�21
NOVEMBER, 1928
I
that they would consider only the divine in Him and almost overlooked the human side. This is the direct opposite of Gibran's
conception of Jesus in his latest work wherein the Master is
treated wholly from the side of His divinely human qualities,
hence the qualification, JESUS, The Son of Man.
Indicative of the spiritual stimulus in which the work was
conceived, and revealing the author's true appreciation of the
character of Jesus, is the closing chapter which is here reproduced
in full.
A MAN FROM LEBBANON NINETEEN CENTURIES
AFTERWARD
By
KAHLIL GIBRAN
Decorations by the Author.
Master, Master Singer,
Master of words unspoken,
Seven times was I born, and seven times have I died
Since your hasty visit and our brief welcome.
And behold I live again,
Remembering a day and a night among the hills,
When your tide lifted us up.
Thereafter many lands and many seas did I cross,
And wherever I was led by saddle or sail
Your name was prayer or argument.
Men would bless you or curse you;
The curse, a protest against failure,
The blessing, a hymn of the hunter
Who comes back from the hills
With provision for his mate.
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Your friends are yet with us for comfort and support,
And your enemies also, for strength and assurance.
Your mother is with us 5
I have beheld the sheen of her face in the countenance of all
mothers j
Her hand rocks cradles with gentleness,
Her hand folds shrouds with tenderness.
And Mary Magdalen is yet in our midst,
She who drank the vinegar of life, and then its wine.
And Judas, the man of pain and small ambitions,
He too walks the earth j
Even now he preys upon himself when his hunger finds naught
else,
And seeks his larger self in self-destruction.
And John, he whose youth loved beauty, is here,
And he sings though unheeded.
And Simon Peter, the impetuous, who denied you that he might
live longer for you,
He too sits by our fire.
He may deny you again ere the dawn of another day,
Yet he would be crucified for your purpose, and deem himself
unworthy of the honor.
And Caiphas and Armas still live their day,
And judge the guilty and the innocent.
They sleep upon their feathered bed
Whilst he whom they have judged is whipped with the rods.
And the woman who was taken in adultery,
She too walks the streets of our cities,
And hungers for bread not yet baked,
And she is alone in an empty_ house.
And Pontius Pilatus is here also:
He stands in awe before you,
And still questions you,
But he dares not risk his station or defy an alien raceAnd he is still washing his hands.
NOV.
Even
Andl
Mast
Mast
They
And
A sig
Buti
Youi
And
Thei
And
Age
And
The
The
Wit!
Nay
The
The
And
The
Anc
Ma
The
The
Yet
Th(
Th<
An<
�NOVEMBER, 1928
23
Even now Jerusalem holds the basin and Rome the ewer,
And betwixt'the two a thousand thousand hands would be washed
to whiteness.
Master, Master Poet,
Master of words sung and spoken,
They have builded temples to house your name,
And upon every height they have raised your cross,
A sign and a symbol to guide their wayward feet,
But not unto your joy.
Your joy is a hill beyond their vision,
And it does not comfort them.
They would honor the man unknown to them.
And what consolation is there in a man like themselves, a man
whose kindliness is like their own kindliness,
A god whose love is like their own love,
And whose mercy is in their own mercy?
They honor not the man, the living man,
The first man who opened His eyes and gazed at the sun
With eyelids unquivering.
Nay, they do not know Him, and they would not be like Him.
They would be unknown, walking in the procession of the
unknown.
They would bear sorrow, their sorrow,
And they would not find comfort in your joy.
Their aching heart seeks not consolation in your words and the
song thereof.
And their pain, silent and unshapen,
Makes them creatures lonely and unvisited.
Though hemmed about by kin and kind,
They live in fear, uncomraded;
Yet they would not be alone.
They would bend eastward when the west wind blows.
i
They call you king,
And they would be in your court.
�24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
They pronounce you the Messiah,
And they would themselves be anointed with the holy oil.
Yea, they would live upon your life.
Master, Master Singer,
Your tears were like the showers of May,
And your laughter like the waves of the white sea.
When you spoke your words were the far-off whisper of their
lips when those lips should be kindled with fire;
lou laughed for the marrow in their bones that was not yet
ready for laughter j
And you wept for their eyes that yet were dry.
Your voice fathered their thoughts and their understanding.
Your voice mothered their words and their breath.
Seven times was I born and seven times have I died,
And now I live again, and I behold you, .
The fighter among fighters,
The poet of poets,
King above all kings;,
A man half-naked with your road-fellows.
Every day the bishop bends down his head
When he pronounces your name. •
And every day the beggars say:
"For Jesus' sake
Give us a penny to buy bread."
We call upon each other,
But in truth we call upon you,
Like the flood tide in the spring of our want and desire,
And when our autumn comes, like the ebb tide,
High or low, your name is upon our lips,
The Master of infinite compassion.
Master, Master of our lonely hours,
Here and there, betwixt the cradle and the coffin, I meet your
silent brothers,
The free men, unshackled,
�I
JESUS THE SON OF MAN
Frontispiece of Kahlil Gibran's New Book of the Same Title.
��NOVEMBER, 1928
25
Sons of your mother earth and space.
They are like the birds of the sky,
And like the lilies of the field.
They live your life and think your thoughts,
And they echo your song.
But they are empty-handed,
And they are not crucified with the great crucifixion.
And therein is their pain.
The world crucifies them every day,
But only in little ways.
The sky is not shaken,
They are crucified and there is none to witness their agony.
And the earth travails not with her dead.
They turn their face to right and left
And find not one to promise them a station in his kingdom.
Yet they would be crucified again and yet again,
That your God may be their God,
And your Father their Father.
Master, Master Lover,
The Princess awaits your coming in her fragrant chamber,
And the married unmarried woman in her cage;
The heart of the world quivers with the throbbing of your heart,
And the nun in her cloister who has no husband j
The childless woman too at her window,
Where frost designs the forest on the pane,
She finds you in that symmetry,
And she would mother you, and be comforted.
Master, Master Poet,
Master of our silent desires,
The heart of the world quivers with the throbbing of your heart,
But it burns not with your song.
The world sits listening to your voice in tranquil delight,
But it rises not from its seat
To scale the ridges of your hills.
�1
26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Man would dream your dream but he would not wake to your
dawn,
Which is his greater dream.
He would see with your vision,
But he would not drag his heavy feet to your throne.
Yet many have been enthroned in your name
And mitred with your power,
And have turned your golden visit
Into crowns for their head and sceptres for their hand.
Master, Master of Light,
'
Whose eye dwells in the seeking fingers of the blind,
You are still despised and mocked,
A man too weak and infirm to be God,
A God too much man to call forth adoration.
Their mass and their hymn,
Their sacrament and their rosary, are for their imprisoned self.
You are their yet distant self, their far-off cry, and their passion.
But Master, Sky-heart, Knight of our fairer dream,
You do still tread this day;
Nor bows nor spears shall stay your steps.
You walk through all our arrows.
You smile down upon us,
And though you are the youngest of us all
You father us all.
Poet, Singer, Great Heart,
May our God bless your name,
And the womb that held you, and the breasts that gave you milk.
And may God forgive us all.
�NOVEMBER, 1928
27
The Sage of Washington Street
ON THE MARRIAGE PROBLEM AMONG SYRIANS
By A.
HAKIM
]W[Y first impression of my friend the sage on my last visit to him
was that the greatest experiment in life seemed to hold for
him no terrors. Not that he appeared to fail in appreciating its
great significance and import, for he is already married and boasts
a large brood. But to him, whom I know to be a steadfast exponent of optimism in life, the woes of a bad situation could be
lessened by one's predisposition to cheerfulness, just as they could
be magnified to a harmful degree if allowed to have their sway
unchecked. By the same process of reasoning, according to his
philosophy, a little beam of joy could be made into a radiant sun
with the same cheerful disposition and a little straining of the
imagination.
On this last visit the conversation revolved on the subject of
matrimony in general and the marriage problem among the Syrians in particular. The occasion was propitious and the subject
suggested itself spontaneously. The sage, on this occasion, appeared in unusually buoyant spirits. I had stood at the door for
some time observing his actions before he became aware of my
presence, and the expressions of his face, even his every movement, suggested cheerfulness bordering on hilarity. At times
he would hum a gleeful tune, and then would veer to whistling.
There was spring in his step and even the snapping of the cord
with which he was tying the numerous small packages pyramidically piled on the counter in front of him was in rhythm with
his vocal music. Perhaps he fancied himself a conductor wielding
his baton to an imaginary orchestra represented by the pile of
packages.
He was a little abashed when he became conscious of my
presence but soon regained his composure. He hastened to assure me that he was practically done with his work and that my
visit should by no means be construed as an intrusion. "You see,"
he explained, "this is intended for local delivery and needs no
further attention. And, what is more, it is intended for imme-
�28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
diate consumption. The event will take place in but a few days."
I showed by my attitude of curiosity that I would welcome
any further explanation which he may volunteer, and he was not
slow to understand.
"You must be curious to know," he said, "the reason for my
extraordinary jubilation while I am engaged in the drudgery of
my everyday task. Let me explain to you, in the first place, that
this has not been an ordinary task. It has been a special and very
pleasant task which gives joy to the heart and strength to the arm.
It is concerned with some approaching wedding festivities, and
these packages contain the mulabbas, codami, salted nuts and seeds,
etc., which are requisites to the auspicious celebration of the happy
event. As for myself, I take joy in preparing the means of other
people's enjoyment as much, or even more, as if I were participating in them myself. And especially is this particular occasion cause for deep satisfaction. It is a perfect love match between
a well mated couple—both parties being of the same standard of
breeding and culture and well adapted to face together the problems of life in perfect understanding and cooperation. Unlike
many other matches between Syrian couples, this was not brought
about by mere parental arrangement. The daughter was not
treated like so much chattel totally subservient to the will of her
father and mother. Old customs in the case of this couple were
completely ignored and the modern method of personal choice,
with the sanction and approval of the parents, was accepted and
acted upon. I dare venture the prediction that this will be an
ideal marriage because the couple involved are acting in full realization of the step they are taking."
Not with any intention to contradict him, but merely to draw
from him a further elucidation of the point he referred to as marriage of personal choice and not of parental arrangement, I asked
him if he were alluding to any particular cases which stood out
in bold contrast with this apparently perfect match. I well realized that in our period of transition brought about by our sudden
transplantion from one soil to another, there had been curious instances of marriage by arrangement. But realizing the wealth
of information our sage had stored through many years of observation and experience, I was anxious to hear from him his own
account of his reactions on this acute Syrian problem. I felt sure
that his analysis would be both original and interesting.
"We must realize," he began by way of introduction," that
�NOVEMBER, 1928
29
all our traditions lean heavily to the side of restricting women in
their personal liberties. Women throughout the East, especially
in countries influenced by Moslem teachings and customs, are rigorously secluded in their homes, forbidden to meet strangers of
the other sex, and when compelled to appear in public are required
to be heavily veiled. It is only in these latter years that a movement has been inaugurated for the emancipation of women in the
East, but when this is brought about we may rest assured that it
will not be with the sanction of the older generation of conservatives, but rather in spite of them. We can imagine the bitter
struggle that is bound to ensue between the two opposing factions
before the old system dies out and the new one establishes itself.
Already women appearing unveiled in some cities of Syria are
being insulted by some zealots who even throw acid on them to
disfigure them. In some instances, although very rare, men relatives resort to extreme measures to vent their resentment on their
women folks whom they accuse of acts of impropriety not in accord with their own conception of the ethics of conduct. And these
acts would not come from husbands, but even from fathers and
brothers. Such are the stringent moral rules laid down by men
on women in the East.
"Now these customs had their inception in special conditions
surrounding the life of nomadic tribes thousands of years back.
Why they persist is because living conditions in the East have
been extremely slow in changing. Perhaps this same reason will
cause the prevalence of such customs in those sections where the
influence of modern civilization is slow in penetrating for a long
time to come.
"This is by way of explanation of the origin and the cause
of persistence of such customs in the East. But why such customs
should prevail amongst us in America may be a source of wonderment to some of us. This is easy of explanation. You cannot
effect a transition from one extreme to another without the painful
travail of readjustment. The old generation still believes in the
conventional modesty of women and resent any manifestation to
the contrary. In their advocacy of modesty few there are who
would disagree with them. But many are they who disagree with
this class in their definition of the term. This is altogether relative. Where a man of the East would consider it immodest, even
immoral, for a woman to uncover her face, a man of the West
sees nothing immodest in a woman displaying her legs. And our
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
men of the older generation in America find themselves in the
uncomfortable position of having to discover a middle course
between these two extremes.
"From these deep-rooted traditions springs the custom of
marriage by arrangement. The father sincerely believes that
he is acting in the best interest of his daughter when he promises her in marriage to a man of his own choice. He is still acting on the assumption that a woman's lot in life is to look after
the well-being of her lord and master and enjoy whatever comforts he is able to provide. To him any idea of independence on
the part of the girl is rebellion. She would have her promptings
to independent action, he reasons, only by such motives as would
spring from perversion and lead to dishonor. And this is in
diametric opposition to all Eastern conception of modesty.
"I have been witness to so many pathetic marriages of
arrangement among our people that I rejoice over seeing the
consummation of a perfect love match where every requisite of
training, breeding and general outlook on life points to ultimate
compatibility. Not that I place all our marriages in this class,
but it must be certainly admitted that sufficient of this type still
takes place that it may be rightly called a racial problem."
I began to form a clearer idea of the object of the sage in
going into such details in laying the ground work for his argument. He must, I thought, be having in mind the fact that New
York had become the notorious matrimonial ntert of a certain
class of our countrymen in quest of brides. I would not, however,
prompt him to the discussion of any specific idea, but confined
myself to a request for more detailed information.
"The prevalent custom in our mother country," he ventured
to explain, "had been, up to,the time of my departure, the timehonored tradition of agreement between the parents on the marriage of their children. They were rare instances, indeed, where
especially a girl thought of marrying against the wishes of her
parents. The father's choice of a mate must be deemed the
best and only choice. The girl, in defying parental authority,
ran the risk of becoming a social outcast. And we should bear
in mind that in the quasi-patriarchal life the Syrians still live
in their native country, defiance of paternal authority meant disinheritance and grave distress. This applies more forcefully to
the son, and where opportunities for gaining a livelihood are so
�NOVEMBER, 1928
31
meagre, it can be readily seen how difficult it must be for one to
take the drastic step.
"Now here in America we are not confronted with such an
economic problem. The wealth of our immigrants was gained
through sheer industry and personal initiative. Inheritance is
no longer a factor in our marriage problem.
"But other factors still remain to be reckoned with, principal among which is our consciousness of class which manifests
itself in obnoxious fashion among some of our newly rich. Then
there is the dilemma of inter-racial marriage which is becoming
all the more acute in proportion to the progress of the evolutionary process which we are undergoing in our soil of transplantation. And not least is the economic element which seems in these
latter days to be hopelessly entangled with our marriage problem. All these should be considered from a new angle and in
the light of our gradual adaptation to our new surroundings.
For it is necessary to constantly keep in mind the fact that we are
still in the transitory, evolutionary stage. We remain the first
generation immigrants and neither has our stay been of sufficiently
long duration to bring about a complete acclimatization, nor has
the young generation become numerous and influential enough
to cause the engulfing of the old in the invading tide of the new.
"But this indecisive state is the most dangerous state. It
may spell disaster if the course of our readjustment to our new
surroundings is so shaped as to lead to a safe and beneficial
result. Now in particular is the time when our every energy
should be bent to steer clear of degrading and deteriorating influences and direct the course of our racial evolution in such channels as will be productive of the best results for our own kind and
for the nation of which we have become a part. Marriage, which
is the foundation of happy family life, which in turn is the basis
of the prosperity and progress of the nation, should be our principal concern in our present stage of transition. For upon the
outcome of our efforts along this direction will depend either the
improvement of the status of the race or its deterioration. A
careful analysis should be made of the situation and constructive
recommendations made as to the correction of whatever deficiencies may be found to exist. I have long wished for some able1
leader or patriotically inspired organization to deal with this
problem in the serious manner it deserves. This is a question
that should be to us of the most vital importance, and what I
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
observe almost every day of the serious consequences of our
present aimless course in regard to this serious matter makes
me all the more convinced of the imperativeness of immediate
action."
By this time I fully realized the large scope of vision of
our sage in dealing with this problem. I could not help but
admire his patriotic spirit and his earnest solicitude for the welfare of the race. His buoyant spirit which I first observed now
revealed to me the true cause of his happiness over what he
termed the consummation of a perfect match. It was a case
where he felt that such matches, being unmistakable omens of
happy homes, meant the addition of solid constructive elements
in the body social of the nation. I could further see that although
he was readily susceptible to manifestations of joy over matters
which conformed to his ideals, he was, none the less, deeply conscious of the serious nature of our social problems and earnest
in dealing with them.
Our conversation having run its regular course of time, and
realizing that I could draw from our sage further valuable observations on the marriage problem which he seemed to deem of
such fundamental importance, I asked the privilege of a further
and more detailed discussion on the subject at a later date. This
he promised to do and I in turn promise to report it in due time.
SUBTERFUGE
Al-Yamani relates the following dialogue between the great
caliph Al-Ma'Moun and a bedouin who intercepted him on one
of his journeys in the outskirts of Baghdad, when Al-Ma'Moun
happened to be in a sportive mood:
Bedouin—O Prince, I am a true Arab.
Caliph—This is not surprising.
Bedouin—I wish to make the pilgrimage.
Caliph—The road is wide open.
Bedouin—But I have not the necessary expense.
Caliph—Then you are under no obligation.
Bedouin—I am asking your assistance and not your legal
opinion.
The caliph laughed heartily and rewarded him.
�(
NOVEMBER, 1928
M
33
Economic Recovery in Syria
Based on reports from Vice Consul Paul H. Ailing, Beirut;
Consul Harry L. Troutman, Aleppo; Consul J. H. Kelly, Jr.,
and Clerk D. F. McGonigal, Damascus.
(Note—This survey covers the year 1927 and is taken from Commerce
Reports of September 24, 1928. While present economic conditions in the
country may not be as healthy as those of last year, this summary of
consular reports should be found of value in following up the fluctuations of conditions in the country)
f
"THE year 1927 in Syria was one of general recovery from the
depression of 1926. Foreign trade showed a marked expansion, agricultural returns were fairly satisfactory, and industries
were active. Exchange improved, and larger budget expenditures are anticipated for productive purposes.
Preliminary data for 1927 indicate that the harvests were
generally equal to those of the previous year, though certain
cereals, especially wheat, are reported to have fared less favorably than other crops. The fruit crops were better than in 1926,
and production of cocoons is estimated at 3,200 metric tons as compared with 3,160 metric tons in the previous year. Reports of
agricultural returns from the Damascus district were more favorable than from the other regions, owing to the more stable
conditions in that territory. The planting of mulberry trees,
many of which were cut down during the war, continued at a
satisfactory rate.
Leading industries registered a general improvement over
1926, especially for textiles in Aleppo and Damascus. The tanning industry also reported a more favorable year. Syria is primarily an agricultural country, but the increased demand for the
products of these small establishments is a favorable indication
of the gradual return of the country to more stable conditions,
following the unsettled period of 1925 and 1926.
The credit situation was less stringent than in 1926. Although difficulties were encountered by textile importers in Beirut
in meeting payments, because of the appreciation of the Italian
lira, in general, a gradual expansion of normal credit operations
was noted.
The discount rate in Damascus varied from 6y2 per cent to
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
12 per cent, while in Beirut it ranged between 9 and 10 per cent
throughout the year.
The budget for 1927 showed a balance of receipts and expenditures at 1,508,630 Syrian-Lebanese gold pounds (1 gold
pound equals 20 gold francs); the total for the States under the
mandate amounted to 2,775,790 Syrian gold pounds. For 1928
the budget of Syria is balanced at 2,343,608 Syrian gold pounds,
the total for the mandated territory being 3,881,898 Syrian gold
pounds. The increase over 1927 is accounted for by expenditures
from special funds for productive purposes, especially along agricultural lines.
The Syrian pound (£S), which is based on the French franc
and is the official currency of the country, averaged $0,785 in
1927 as against $0,648 in 1926.
The Turkish gold pound (£T), which circulates principally
in Damascus, was quoted as low as $4.32 (par $4.40).
Considerable road construction work was undertaken during
the year, particularly in the northern parts of the country. This
work was made possible through the release of funds collected
fpin customs duties and set aside to guarantee payment of the
portion of the Ottoman public debt allotted to Syria. Important
construction during the year included a road between Latakia and
Aleppo.
Beginning with the second quarter of 1927, automobile traffic throughout the Damascus district became practically normal,
following the military disturbances in this region.
Shipping statistics for 1927 show a slight increase in tonnage over 1926. There visited Syrian ports in 1927 a total of
820 steam and 2,283 sailing vessels of 1,830,363 aggregate tons
as against 817 steam and 2,343 sailing vessels, of 1,768,744
aggregate tons, in the previous year.
Foreign trade during 1927 showed a marked expansion over
the previous year, but with a slightly larger adverse balance.
Imports amounted to $50,300,000, as compared with $41,055,000
in 1926, an increase of 22.5 per cent; exports totaled $21*4-86,000 against $17,652,000, or 21.7 per cent increase.
The increase in imports is accounted for principolly by larger
purchases of cotton and cotton goods, livestock, industrial oils,
and metal manufactures. Increased shipments of cereals and
olive oil were chiefly responsible for the better showing in exports.
�NOVEMBER, 1928
1
:
35
France displaced Palestine as the leading country of destin?
tion for exports and re-exports, taking 15.8 pepr cent (14.7 in
1926) of the total; the United States was next, with 13.5 per
cent (12.8); Palestine, with 13.3 per cent (16.7); and Egypt,
with 11.5 (15.3).
France was again the chief source of imports, furnishing
15 per cent (19.9 in 1926) of the total; it was followed by England with 13.9 (13.6); Turkey, with 9.6 (9.5); Italy, with 9.4
(11); and the United States, with 6.8 (7.3).
Imports from the United States in 1927 were valued at
$3,431,000, as against $2,987,000 in 1926, an increase of 14.8
per cent. Automobiles and accessories, agricultural apparatus,
textiles, and petroleum products constituted the principal imports.
Exports to the United States had a total value of $2,905,886,
as against $2,261,580 in 1926. As declared through the American consulates, exports to the United States totaled $3,690,000,
against $2,890,000 in 1926. Exports consisted chiefly of wool,
licorice root, sausage casings, and nuts.
THE VALUE OF A REPUTATION
A nomad bedouin once sought the hospitality of Hatem, reputed to be the most generous among Arabs, and for some particular reason Hatem refused to entertain him. The bedouin
had to spend the night in the open hungry and cold.
In the morning the bedouin mounted his camel and rode
away. But Hatem intercepted him and askd where he had spent
the night and how he had fared. And the bedouin replied:
"Last night I was the guest of Hatem who slaughtered a shecamel for me and provided me with the utmost of convenience
and offered me the best of wines."
Then Hatem said: "I am Hatem and you shall return with
me and enjoy all that which you have described. But you must
tell me your reason for having deliberately lied in this manner."
Said the bedouin: "Your fame for generosity has gone far
and wide throughout the land. If I were to recount my true
experience people would not only ridicule me but would perhaps
treat me with violence. It is, therefore, not for your sake but
for my own safety that I would not attempt to discredit your reputation."
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Can We Retain Our Heritage?
A CALL TO FORM A FEDERATION OF SYRIAN
SOCIETIES
By
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
QURING the past two years there has been increasing evidence
of a healthy awakening of racial consciousness among the
younger generation of Syrians in the United States. From every
section of the country comes news of the formation of new societies of our young people among both sexes. Where once there
had been a suspicion of indifference, even hesitancy and reluctance
to admit ^ one's racial extraction, we have in these societies
proof positive that our young generation is beginning to show
genuine pride in its origin. The truth seems to have dawned
upon our youth that while it is the duty of every loyal American
to hold America first in his or her love and esteem, there is no
travesty on one's Americanism to know and to proclaim one's
extraction. After all, the American nation is a conglomeration
of various racial strains. Almost every element of the human
race is represented in its makeup, and because this was brought
about in such a comparatively short time racial origins are still
markedly defined. Rather, there has appeared insidious attempts
by one so-called element at monopolizing all the credit and all
the honor for contributing all that there is virile and worth-while
in the American nation. And by imputation, even by plain accusation, they ascribe to other racial strains all that is apprehensible
in America. It is a destructive policy which this element, in its
blind selfishness and narrow-minded views, fails to appreciate its
harmful results. But we Syrians, as well as other races who are
not classed among the so-called Nordics, want to prove that we
are a valuable element in the composition of the American nation.
We want to claim our rightful place and to express our resentment at the imputation of inferiority. The ultimate result of
such a policy is bound to react to a better understanding and homogeneity in the American nation. It is much more constructive
Americanism than that advocated by that short-visioned class who
arrogantly claim the country as exclusively their own, and would
�NOVEMBER, 1928
37
seek to substitute hatred and class prejudice for cooperation and
understanding.
The broad purpose underlying the establishment of SyrianAmerican societies is, therefore, to help bring about this understanding. It would help us first understand ourselves where this
understanding has heretofore been woefully lacking. Our young
generation had not in the past what it is now beginning to show
of its appreciation of its splendid background. This was a negative situation which not only did not help to breed self-respect,
but rather tended to destroy it. A correction of this condition
seems imperative, and one of the proper methods of approach
to such a result is the encouragement of cooperative action through
the establishment of organized bodies.
Once this result is achieved substantial progress could be
made toward taking the next logical step which would be to diffuse knowledge of our race, through the coordinated, collective
efforts of these societies, among the general body of the American
nation. Nothing nobler than such a purpose could be conceived
in view of the expected beneficial results. Then it would be
that we will not feel ourselves secluded and misunderstood and
misjudged, nor would Americans remain in that state of ignorance about us as to cause their resultant lack of appreciation of us.
Ignorance fosters fear and mistrust. America, above any
other country in the world, needs the cementing influence of mutual understanding among her heterogenous elements. There
are already some organized bodies, fostered by far-visioned, benevolently disposed Americans, doing splendid constructive work
along this line. This could be strengthened and brought to more
fruitful results and fuller success by cooperative effort on the
part of the different racial groups along the same line. The
Svrians should prove themselves willing to do their part.
A recent case in point may well be cited as an illustration.
During the course of this year the editor of this publication was
asked to attend the annual celebrations of three local Syrian
societies in Connecticut, namely, in Torrington, Waterbury and
New London. In each case the Mayor, members of the City
Council, judges, newspaper representatives and prominent citizens
were invited to attend. And in every case there was an unfailing
response. The subject of discussion was invariably along the
line of the necessity of better understanding between the Americans and the more recently immigrating racial groups. The city
�h
38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
officials and other representative citizens expressed in every instance their gratification at the opportunity for a better understanding of us. They hailed in us a valuable addition to the
American nation. They came to know us in the light of our
splendid historical background and of our recent constructive
achievements in our adopted country. So it may readily be seen
that it is incumbent upon us to make ourselves known in order
that we may be appreciated. This was splendidly illustrated in
the patriotic action of the Syrian and Lebanese societies of
Connecticut.
Such efforts as those mentioned above could be successfully
duplicated in every city of the country. Let our people become
conscious of their racial merits and claim their rightful position
in the body social and politic of America. Once they fulfill this
prime requisite for understanding no lawful credit would be
denied them.
But now a broader duty suggests itself, entailing cooperative action on a national scale. It is a plan that has been successfully followed by other racial groups and brought much power
and prestige to them. It consists of forming a national federation of Syrian-American societies in the country for the purpose
of promoting policies of general interests to the race as a whole.
Local organizations would retain their independent status, simply
adhering to the general policy of the Federation in national affairs as affiliated members. They would become the individiual
units which go in the building of the general organization. Is
not the time now ripe for such an effort?
Judging by present indications, one is inclined to believe
that it is. The numerous communications published so far in the
SYRIAN WORLD prove the existence of such a tendency. What
seems to be lacking is a central agency to act as a clearing house
of information and interchange of ideas on the general plan. In
the absence of any organized body for such a purpose, the
SYRIAN WORLD willingly offers itself as this necessary medium.
To this end we would submit the following propositions:
1. Every Syrian or Lebanese society in the United States,
operating under whatever name but having for its purpose the
promotion of the welfare of the Syrian race in America and willing to join in the proposed Federation, is requested to send in
its name to the office of the SYRIAN WORLD together with what-
�mmmmsm
NOVEMBER, 1928
39
ever data it wishes to furnish on its objects, date of its foundation, number of its members, etc. Organizations of purely local
or restricted nature, such as local church societies and others restricted in their objects to the interests of special towns, naturally
could not be eligible to membership in the Federation.
2. Although there may be an expressed or implied wish to
join the contemplated Federation, the responding societies are
not obligated in any way by their replies. The present move is
not an actual formation of the Federation, but a survey of the
possibilities for a definite move towards that end.
3. From time to time a report on the progress of this preliminary work will be published in the SYRIAN WORLD, as well as
any suggestions or opinions that organizations or individuals may
wish to advance on whatever phase of the proposition.
4. The preliminary work of canvassing the sentiment completed, a convention would be held of the representatives of the
constituent societies to form the national body and to meet at
whatever place and time will be decided upon by tentatively
pledged members.
It is apparent from the above that for the present we are
only making a bid for national unity. We are fully aware of
the difficulties besetting the path of such an undertaking never
before seriously attempted among the Syrians. But we have
faith in the rising generation which we believe is becoming more
and more conscious of the urgency of this duty. It is upon them
that the task falls to carry forth the torch bequeathed to them
in precious legacy by their illustrious forebears. They have a
priceless heritage the maintenance of whose memory will urge
them to more noble efforts if they would but develop an adequate
consciousness and appreciation of its importance.
Those progressive, virile societies which have so far displayed a tendency along this line may be depended upon to help
carry the movement on to a successful culmination. It is the
hope and the prayer of every well-wisher for the future of the
race that our young generation will prove itself appreciative of
the benefits of collective action and rise to the opportunity now
presenting itself to it. Syrian-American clubs and societies exist almost everywhere in America and the patriotic motives
prompting their formation could best be accomplished by a na-
�40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
tional federation. Details of organization, such as regional councils, conditions of charter and other matters could be discussed
at the general convention.
There is immense benefit in Syrian societies joining together
in a federation such as is now proposed for bringing about the
solidarity of the race, promoting its prestige and working for
its more adequate understanding. There is also added benefit
in the closer contact that would be inevitably established among
the scattered elements of the race. Constructive propositions
brought before the conventions of the federation would have a
much greater chance of being acted upon where now they fail to
materialize for lack of sufficient support.
We would suggest that every Syrian and Lebanese society
to whose attention this proposition is brought make it a subject
for consideration at an early date. It is our hope that in be
coming issue of the SYRIAN WORLD a substantial list of responding societies could be published. It should be realized that cooperating societies will go down in history as having built tho
foundatoin of the future glory of the race.
Arab Proverbs
He who preaches and fails to practice is like a bow minus
a string.
You are known by your speech because every man is hidden
underneath his tongue.
The three unfailing characteristics which elicit love and admiration of a man are his fear of God, his humility and his
generosity.
The sweetness of success effaces the bitterness of struggle.
Many a silence may be much more eloquent than speech.
The worst type of man is he who becomes indifferent to the
opinion of others.
�41
NOVEMBER, 1928
EDITORIAL COMMENT
RECOGNIZING RACIAL
GROUPS
their unstinted loyalty to America whether in volunteering I for
active service or in subscribing
to the Liberty Loans. This same
condition is repeated in political
campaigns when all parties bend
every effort to make the most
capital out of race appeals.
'THE destiny of the American
nation is that of ultimattely
being molded into one homogenous whole. That it is still under the necessity of recognizing
racial strains is due to the fact
In some sections of the counthat the rapid increase in the
try certain racial strains are
population ,was brought about
known to predominate and the
by accretion through immigraappeal for political support is
tion rather than by a natural
modified to suit the particular
process of reproduction. The
leanings or traditions of these
ultimate- result will come when
stocks. Secretary Hoover is
sufficient time had elapsed for
known to have rendered valuthe obliteration of all racial vesable aid to the war orphans of
tige in the nation so that nothGermany and this is stressed to
ing of the present condition will
its greatest possible advantage
remain except as a distant memin the Republican bid for the
ory.
so-called German vote. While
In the meantime the existon the other hand Governor
ing situation cannot be ignored.
Smith is one of the outstanding
Racial groups are still so sharpchampions of the application of
ly defined that they are recoghuman interpretation to the ennized by the foremost exponents
forcement of the law, having
of amalgamation. The men in
committed himself to the interwhose hands the destiny of the
pretation of immigration laws
nation is placed are in the vanon this basis, and this is made
guard of those who appeal to
the foundation of an appeal for
the different racial groups on
his support on the part of all
the basis of their ethnological
immigrants.
extraction.
Both Presidential candidates
This condition becomes more
evident in the stress of every receive representatives of racial
national emergency. During groups as such and feel no scruthe war a direct appeal was ples in recognizing them and
made to racial groups to prove making a direct bid for their
�42
support on this basis. Both National Committees have organized bureaus at their headquarters for the prosecution of the
political campaign among the
different racial groups We read
of rallies of citizens of certain
extractions bemg sponsored by
both parties and addressed by
official representatives of each
of the political bodies. Foreign
language newspapers are allotted a share of paid campaign
publicity.
It may also be recalled that
during the war the Federal
Government of the United
States deemed it necessary to institute a bureau for the promotion of war work among foreign-born citizens as a regular
branch of the government. This
bureau was later continued as
the Interracial Council with the
tacit approval of the government.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
tion of true American ideals
through the best available
methods for cooperation. And
as such it should be exploited
to its fullest capacity to the end
of promoting understanding
and insuring the bringing about
of a fusion based on complete
harmony and compatibility.
A SYRIAN UNIVERSITY
IN AMERICA
pOR some time a certain visionary has been publishing a
series of articles in the Arabic
press of New York urging the
founding.of a "Syrian University" in the United States. The
idea in itself is not new. Several Syrians within the last
twenty years have urged the establishment of such an educational institution. But we may
In all this it is plain that there excuse earlier efforts or proposiexists a condition in America tions of this nature because of
which cannot be consistently de- the peculiar psychology of the
nied. It is aggravated, or rath- Syrians at the time. It may be
er made more palpable, in times frankly admitted that in those
of stress and national emergen- days they had not ripened into
cies. If it is not manifestly en- 1 00 per cent Americans. They
couraged it is at least condoned. were still laboring under the
This state of affairs is bound to idea that they owed their uncontinue for an indefinite time. stinted devotion and the best of,
It should, however, not be in- their loyalty to their mother
terpreted as disloyalty to Amer- country and native language.
ica. It should, rather, be inter- They only thought of making
preted as the most natural and their fortune in haste "here"
logical course for the promo- and enjoying it at leisure "over
�NOVEMBER, 1928
43
evitable and accept the fact that
Arabic cannot be perpetuated in
America except as an academic
language. Arabic is, indeed, a
beautiful language full of priceless treasures, but this can be
appreciated
onlytii
by the scholar-ri
ly few. It would be preposterous to expect our young generation in America to accept it as
a medium of general utility,
Commenting on the proposition, Meraat-Ul-Gharb cornpromises by advocating the establishment of a chair for Arabic in one of the principal American universities. Let us explain that such facilities for
learning Arabic exist in most
universities and could be increased if there should develop
sufficient demand to warrant
such action. The fact is that
To now witness the revival whatever demand there exists
of such an impossible proposi- for learning Arabic does not
tion as that of the establishment come from Syrian students but
of an Arabic or Syrian Univer- from Americans striving for a
sity in the United States may be scholastic career.
indulgently looked upon as the
What may be given some
last gasp of a dying hope. The consideration is the establishundertaking, in the first place,
ment of a center, in cooperation
is too ambitious. It takes more
with one of the American unithan a paltry few thousand dolversities, for Arabic culture.
lars to found and endow a uniThere is already several such
versity. Furthermore, the cliunits connected with Columbia,
mate of America is inclement
the latest addition being the
for such a purely foreign establishment. Even if success Casa Italiana.
Even such a project, while
should be met in giving birth to
nowhere
as ambitious as the
such a child of fancy it would
founding of a whole university,
soon die a miserable anaemic.
We may as well admit the in- may be difficult of accomplish-
there."
They gave little
thought to the future of their
children in this country and
lulled themselves into the belief that they could pattern
them after their own designs.
But
conditions have
DUL now
I1UW LUliuiuuiio
"»'v un•—dergone a complete change,
Such designs as heretofore entertained by most Syrians in the
earlier period of their immigration are now dismissed as ridiculous. There were those who
still dreamed of the possibility
of return even up to the close of
the war, but those of this class
who did return were quickly
disillusioned. It took but a brief
stay to convince them that the
atmosphere of America was
more congenial to their temperament.
�44
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ment. We need first to develop
sufficient pride in our racial culture and traditions to prompt
us to serious efforts to perpetuate them. To our mind, this
latter scheme seems to be not
only the most plausible but the
most valuable.
What may also be taken into
consideration is that in such an
undertaking support could be
expected not only from Syrians
in America but from individual
Americans interested in Arabic
culture and possibly from the
governments of Arabic-speaking
countries.
HONORING
OUR TALENT
one of our New
York Arabic dailies, suggests
the celebration of Kahlil Gibran's silver jubilee as a writer.
It points out that the influence
of our celebrated author and artist has been such as to prompt
in us a certain feeling of pride
in his achievement. This pride
could not be more fittingly expressed than by a public testimonial.
The SYRIAN WORLD heartily
subscribes1 to the above proposition. Gibran has been one of.
our most potent moral forces.
Honoring him is honoring ourselves and by holding a fitting
public testimonial we would be
expressing our due recognition
^S-SAYEH,
of, and pride in, our racial
talent.
The sponsors of this jubilee
have as yet made no announcement of any definite plan. We
trust, however, that they will
prosecute, the matter actively
and be able to make some form
of a definite announcement in
the very near future.
This same sense of recognition o£our native talent was in
rnind^ when we planned to hold
a reception to our distinguished
author and traveler, Am;een Rihani, upon his return to the
United States. We failed to
make announcement of our intentions owing to the indefinite
time of Rihani's arrival. Now
that we have definite information that he is in England, and
that his arrival is but a matter
of weeks, we may at least make
announcement of the fact tentatively. The form the reception will take and the exact date
and place of holding it will be
determined by circumstances
following his arrival. Most
probably the affair will be in the
form of a banquet.
Pending the formation of
definite plans, however, we
would invite those interested in
joining a movement for honoring Mr. Rihani to communicatte
with the office of the SYRIAN
WORLD so that they may be advised directly of whatever plans
may be> formulated.
�__________*____————,
45
NOVEMBER, 1928
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcosmic picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever
Arabic dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking
writers who are treating the different problems that confront tha Arabicspeaking world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will taka
no part in the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our
task will simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and
with utmost sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opimion as expressed in these editorials.
Bditor.
ALLENBY IN NEW YORK
WHERE are the sons of Jerusalem
and of the hills of Judea and
Galilee? Where are the inhabitants
of Damascus, the Baka' plain, Horns,
and Allepo ? Where are they ? And
what may be the reasons that prevent them from doing honor to the
deliverer of Palestine and the liberator of Syria from the yoke of the
Turks?
Where are the brave sons of Lebanon whose deliverance was due in
part to the rapid advance of the English armies from Egypt?
Why do not the immigrants in the
United States coming from those
countries rise to welcome and hail
this great historic figure who drove
the Turks beyond Allepo and delivered the country of a great scourge?
The great victory of Lord Allenby
may have been neutralized by later
events in Syria. It may be true his
deliverance of Palestine was simply
in the nature of a service to the Jews.
Furthermore, we cannot help but resent the perverted policy which raised the Arabs of Al-Hejaz to the position of rulers which had the effect
of bringing about confusion bordering on anarchy in our country. Nev-
ertheless we believe that it is incumbent upon us to do honor to the visiting Lord. To us he represents true
heroism and of him it may be said
that he has written his great deeds
ineffaceably in the history of liberty. It is not his fault that succeeding events took an unsatisfactory course. We would, therefore,
recommend that proper honor be given Lord Allenby notwithstanding
the objection that Palestinians
may make to the effect that the great
conqueror only transferred the country from one servitude to another.
We earnestly trust that they will
rise above these considerations and
look only at the true heroism in the
man.
—As-Sayeh, N. Y., Oct. 3, 1928.
IN EMULATION OF COLUMBUS
We do not believe in placid contentment and sterility.
We are not satisfied with things
as they were simply because of tradition.
We are rebels against reaction in
favor of progress.
�46
THE SYRIAN WORLD
We abide by all laws even those
that we believe are not just, but
those falling in the latter category
we shall strive to correct or have
repealed with all lawful means.
We believe in those who believe
in progress and the necessity of sacrifice just as Columbus believed and
had the courage to declare his belief in spite of all persecution.
When we celebrate Columbus Day
we do honor to that great progressive spirit which had the courage to
venture in search of the unknown
and succeeded in discovering a veritable paradise for men. He is a humanitarian saint. The country he
has discovered became populated by
men whose love for liberty is a passion and whose great industry has
placed them in the front rank of the
nations of the world. To them it is
the sterling character of the great
discoverer that counts, and they do
him honor regardless of the fact
that he was of the Catholic faith or
that his reputed parentage was Jewish and his extraction Spanish or
Italian.
Columbus ranks among the greatest of heavenly messengers, and it
is for that reason that we celebrate
his day with joy as we would the
greatest among saints.
Columbus succeeded in achieving
victory over ignorance and superstition. He brought forth conclusive
proof that he who seeks earnestly
and with determination is bound to
find. His case is a palpable illustration of the axiom that no difficulty
can stand in the way of will power
guided by knowledge.
—Al-Hoda, N. Y., Oct. 11, 1928.
FRENCH REINFORCEMENTS
TO SYRIA
We have been aware for some time
of the dispatching of French reinforcements to Syria. The explanation given at the time was |that
France was apprehensive of aggressive designs on the part of the Turks
on the northern borders of the mandated territory. It now transpires
that these reinforcements are designed to check any new move by
the Syrians at rebellion. This we
learned from no less a source than
one of the militaristic French papers.
We may hasten to assure France
that Syrians contemplate no further
armed clashes with disciplined and
well equipped French military
forces. The Syrians are sane enough
to realize that they could not meet
France on an equal footing on the
field of battle. This, however, should
be taken as no proof that they will
desist from claiming their independence. This natural right for freedom is something that neither bayonets nor bullets could kill in the
breast of a live nation.
The Syrians have learned a lesson
in the insurrection of 1925 and 1926.
They appreciate that armed conflict
brings in its wake, aside from the
loss in lives, irreparable economic
waste. For this reason the leaders
of the nationalistic party have decided on the wiser course of amicable
negotiation to gain as much of their
demands as they possibly can for the
time being.
—Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y., Oct. 20.
LEBANON NOT FOR SALE
In Lebanon there is complete separation between church and state.
The constitution of the country does
�,
'
NOVEMBER, 1928
>
47
not recognize any official religion for charge of murder, arson and theft.
We have been among the strongthe government. Whoever is best
fitted may be elected to the highest est exponents of dealing strict jus:
office within the gift of the nation tict in th s case. But when we discover that there is so much readiregardless of 'his religious belief.
We believe there are now in Leb- ness between the interested parties
themselves to effect a reconciliaanon many outstanding personalises
who are fitted to assume the high tion, rather than stand by legal
office of the presidency. Suffice it to rights, we can but hail this pacific
mention such well-known men as spirit and express the hope that it
Habeeb Pasha Saad (Maronite), will be of long duration.
We earnestly trust that Christian
Premier of the present r >vernment;
Sheikh Joseph Al-Kazin (Maronrite), and Druze will live as two brothers
the fearless member of the Repre- under one patriotic flag discarding
sentative Assemb'y; his colleague their old enmity and rancor.
It is our equal hope that the MosEmir
Fouad
Arslan
(Druze);
Sheikh Mouhammed Al-Jiser (Mos- lem and Christian will cooperate as
lem), President of the Representative loyal partners by way of promoting
Assembly, and other national leaders. the welfare of their common country.
A primary requisite to such a
These are but a few men each of
whom is better fitted to assume the blissful condition is that former aghigh office than Emir George Lut- gressors should feel thorough repenfallah whose only claim to fitness tance for their past depredations.
They should eradicate not only from
seems to be his great wealth.
It would be a sorry state of af- their own hearts but also from the
fairs, indeed, if the country is reduc- hearts of their children the effects of
ed to such a condition where it would long standing religious prejudice and
;
have to sell away its highest elec- bitterness. Th- s should be done in
tive office. It does not behoove Leb- the interest of preventing the repeanese traditions to place the Presi- tition of such conditions in the fudency of their country on the mar- ture. The past should not repeat itket, that it may be within the reach self by having these reconciliations in
of a man who is using his great the nature of a temporary and make
wealth to corrupt civil officials and shift expediency.
—The Syrian Eagle, N. Y., Oct. 18.
religious dignitaries by way of
propaganda for his cause.
—Ash-Shaab. N. Y., Oct. 13, 1928.
WHY WE ARE DEMOCRATS
RECONCILIATION
We read in the Syrian Press that
through the efforts of the French
administrative investigator and the
Mayor of the City of Zahle and others interested in the case of the
Rashayya sufferers, a reconciliation
has been brought about between the
Rashayyites and those of the
Druzes who are held for trial on the
In the present political campaign
Al-Hoda wishes to declare itself for
the Democratic party for many reasons, principal among which is its
desire to uphold the Constitution of
the United States which recognizes
no state religion. By this we would
be giving our adherence to the principle of religious tolerance and political and social equality without distinction.
�48
THE SYRIAN WORLD
We furthermore believe that Gov.
Alfred E. Smith is the man of the
hour in American politics, whose ability, as proven by his great record,
should be recognized by raising him
to the highest office within the gift
of the nation.
We entertain great admiration for
Gov. Smith in having displayed the
moral courage of declaring for the
right of personal liberty and advocating the repeal of prohibition
which has given rise to disrespect for
all laws and caused an unprecedented
increase in crime.
Gov. Smith's proposals for a humanitarian application of the immigration law is also one of the outstanding issues for which he deserves
support.
—Al-Hoda, N. Y., Oct. 20, 1928.
RELIGION IN POLITICS
Technically there is no religious
question in the United States such as
exists in Mexico, but actually there
has been injected into American politics what we may call the question
of religious intolerance which is being fanned more and more into flame
by the action of Protestant ministers.
The Republican Party denies that
it is opposing Governor Smith on
religious grounds, but anyone following the trend of plitical events in
ceive that many Republican leaders
the American press can readily perare seeking to make the most capital out of the religious issue.
The whispering campaign that if
Governor Smith is elected we would
have in the United States a clerical
government is not only false but
malicious. Governor Smith has been
governor of the Empire State of New
York for four terms and never has
he shown in his appointments preference for those of his religious
creed or was governed in his actions
by religious considerations. The religious issue was raised by the Republicans because they felt that
they could not defeat Governor
Smith otherwise, and it may be taken for granted that if he is defeated
it will be only on religious grounds.
—Ash-Shaab, N. Y., Oct. 4, 1928.
THE ARMENIAN/ DANGER
The rumor that the Mandatory
Power was considering permitting
the entry of two hundred thousand
new Armenian refugees to Syria
caused the Syrians to protest direct
to Paris and to the eLague of Nations and had the effect of eliciting
a formal denial from the Mandatory
authorities in Damascus that any
such move was contemplated. In the
o;cial statement the authorities asserted that they were only concerned with improving the living conditions of the Armenian refugees already admitted.
We fail to see the reason for such
We fail to see the reason for such
excitement among the Syrians over
the so-called Armenian influl. We do.
however, see symptoms of grave danger in the continental differences
arising among the Syrians themselves. In their present political evolution they seem to have lost sight
of the fundamental conditions which
make for the stabilization of the
country and lead to its permanent
welfare. We would, under the circumstances, urge that the Syrians
direct their attention towards the
elimination of their internal differences which have the effect of retarding the progress of the country.
—Syrian Eagale, N. Y., Oct. 29,1928.
�NOVEMBER, 1928
49
Readers' Forum
Now, should we have a national
prganization of young people? We
should, and why? To understand each
Editor, The Syrian World:
other better, and to understand the
I was exceedingly impressed with
traditions of our ancestry, and to do
the discussion on the question of a
away with some of the traditions
national organization of Syrian sowhich are not worth while in this day
cieties in the October issue.
and age; to be better young men and
It seems to me that some of our
women; to have sound Christian
young people are disposed to deny
character; to be better American citithe fact that they are Syrians, and
zens (for, after all, this is our counwhy? They know of nothing they
try) and to always be proud of our
can be proud of in being Syrian.
ancestral blood. These are just a
Most of them haven't the least idea
few of the reasons why we should
where Syria is located on the map
get together.
of the world. Syria has no flag, no
The next question is, "How are we
national language (I do not believe
going
to get together?" There are
that Arabic could be called the naseveral
ways in which this could be
tional language of the Syrians, as
done.
I
would suggest that the Syrmany other people speak it, and
ian
World
employ a young people's
Syrians are often confused for Araeditor.
Before
anything could be
bians or Turks when saying that
they speak the Arabic language), accomplished, the idea must be creand is not a self-governed country. ated in the minds of the people everyAll of these things are a handicap where. If public opinion is in favor
to Syrians when explaining their of it, and I am sure they will be, the
nationality to any one. However, next step is easier. Why not have
let us forget these things for a while, all the different societies in the
and see what Syria really stands for. United States get in touch with the
Syria is the birthplace of Chris- Young People's editor and give them
tianity. It was in Antioch of Syria or her their views? Or have the
that the people were first called different branches send delegates and
"Christians." Christ, the greatest hold a state meeting and let the
man that humanity has ever known, different state officials get in touch
was born in Syria. Isn't this some- with the editor of the Syrian World.
thing to be proud of ? What is there Through the editor they can decide
in the world that is greater than upon a meeting place, and set a
Christianity? Christianity is the date for the place, and then hold a
basis of civilization and of all that is national convention; set up a constiworth while in this world. If Syria tution, elect officers, and decide upon
stood for nothing else, this is enough. a name for the organization. I would
Every young Syrian should be proud suggest that the national convention
of his or her background, for we be held in a centrally located city,
have claim to the greatest birth in one that can be reached from all
points of the United States with the
the world, even Christ-
IN FAVOR OF A
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION
�50
least difficulty. Of course, this is
merely a sug-gestion. There may be
others who have different and better
ideas. Nevertheless, I think the
Syrian World should start a discussion on this subject and get the general public acquainted with the idea.
I think that the different Syrian
newspapers in the country ought to
do their part in this. If we want the
next generation to be a success, we
must help educate the young folks,
as the young people of today are going to be the men and women of
tomorrow.
Young folks, keep this in mind—
we are Americans, it is true, and of
this fact we should be proud, but
all Americans are only an offspring
of one nation or the other, so are
we an offspring of the Syrian nation.
Therefore, we should not only be
proud of what we are now, but we
should take pride in our ancestral
background. Let us do our best, and
help in this great national movement
of unity, for where there is unity
there is success.
This is going to be a great task,
and it will take time and leadership to accomplish it, but as the old
saying is, "Where there's a will,
there's a way."
Let us hear your opinion on this
question. I think that some of our
older folks should take an interest
in this, and give us their opinions. I
am hoping that we will have a lively
discussion, which will bring results in
the near future.
If this unity does not occur at
once, we should not be discouraged,
but we should be patient and optimistic, and if all give their wholehearted support to this cause, we
know that there is nothing but success ahead.
Do you want to be a good Ameri-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
can—be a good Syrian first!
MARY SOLOMAN.
Mishawaka, Indiana.
"
ADMIRER OF SYRIANS
Editor, The Syrian World:
I have learned to admire the Syrian race to whom I have been attracted by their history and traditions. The Syrians whom I personally know I have found to be citizens
of the highest type whose love for
their mother country does in no way
detract from their loyalty to their
adopted country.
In reading your very able editorial in the October issue on "Religion in Politics" I am prompted
to extend you my compliments and
express the hope that such lofty
ideals be given their due consideration for their inevitable reaction to
the benefit of mankind.
DR. CHARLES BORDA.
Atlantic City, N. J.
AN AMERICAN OPINION.
During the two years that I have
been a reader of the Syrian World I
have been deeply interested as well
as instructed upon many points. The
history of ancient empires and ancient races is good reading always,
and truly the Syrian people should
read with pride their splendid magazine, The Syrian World.
In your editorial comment of October "Religion in Politics" is worthy
of note and should appeal to every
American citizen with a mind open
to receive.
The poem "Wine Lyric of AlFarid" is full of inspiration, wisdom
and mysticism. I s'hall have to read
and re-read it in order to reach its
depths.
JOSEPHINE M. CRICK.
Niagara Falls, N. Y.
. I
�NOVEMBER, 1928
51
Political Developments in Syria
Syria is still awaiting the outcome
of the High Commissioner's visit to
Paris. The latest semi-official news
seems to put at rest the rumors that
M. Ponsot will be substituted for a
military man or even a civil official.
The report that former High Commissioner de Jouvenel will succeed
Ponsot proved erroneous, because
the former had staked his return
upon his success in inducing the Foreign Office to consider the appointment of Emir George Lutfallah either as a ruling prince or as a president in Lebanon. Now it has come
to be known that the Foreign Office
refused to entertain any such proposition from the aspiring Prince because of his former activities in
sponsoring the Syrian revolution.
Other seemingly authentic reports
indicate that the return of M. Ponsot was set for the middle of October, he having come to an understanding with the Government on a
definite course of action in Syria,
Although the details of the new plan
have not been divulged, they are
supposed to contain the maximum of
what France is ready to give to the
Syrians.
Meanwhile speculation in Damascus is rife during the recess of the
Constituent Assembly. There are
still the firebrands who refuse to
entertain any solution except on the
basis of complete independence for
Syria, but the responsible leaders
appear to be willing to enter on
some sort of compromise. A public
statement by Ibrahim Bey Hanano,
chairman of the Constitution Committee in the Constituent Assembly,
would indicate that the Nationalist
element has no quarrel with High
Commissioner Ponsot who is said to
have accepted the draft of the Constitution in full and made the reservations to the six objectionable articles
only at the express command of the
Foreign Office. Hanano maintains
that an amicable solution will still
be reached with France.
Another influential Nationalist
leader, Fouzi Bey Gazzi, is reported
to have expressed extreme surprise
at the comment of the French and
English press on the supposedly
strained relations between France
and Syria. He is said to have taken
particular exception to the unfounded claim that the Syrians feel bitterly the attitude of France and
could never be reconciled to her mandate over their country. The country that would enter into a treaty of
alliance and amity with another cannot be accused of being the other's
enemy, he said.
This same leader praised unstintingly the diplomatic conduct of the
High Commissioner and his assistant
M. Maugras, and accused those
spreading reports of the Nationalists'
dissatisfaction with M. Ponsot of being reactionaries aiming to deprive
the country of the advantages of an
understanding with France.
Paris advices are to the effect that
the Chamber of Deputies had passed
by a majority of one the bill reducing this year's appropriations for
Syria ten million francs, and by the
same action defeated the Socialists'
proposal to cut down the appropriations 74 millions. The strong argument that swayed the Deputies
was that France could not afford, at
�52
the present stage, to lay the mandated territory open to another insurrection such as that of the
Druzes, while England has decided
on laying the pipe line for the petrwi
of Mosul within its own mandated
territory in spite of the extra expense this undertaking entails, because it claims that French territory is seething with disturbances
and consequently deemed unsafe.
The break between the Provisional Government and the Nationalist
Party is now complete. The President, Sheikh Tajeddin, who had been
once affiliated with the Nationalist
Party and on the strength of this
relation received his appointment
pending the decision on the final
form of government for the country,
was accused of having deserted the
Nationalist cause during the sessions
of the Constituent Assembly. Later
he was said to have resorted to intimidation to break the resistance of
the Nationalists. The climax of the
struggle was reached early in October when the editor of Nizam, a
newspaper supporting the government, was set upon and beaten. He
accused the Nationalist leader Fakhri Bey Baroody of having sent hired
thugs for the attack, and on the following day the editor personally attacked Baroody and when the latter
attempted to defend himself was restrained by a policeman. This action
was interpreted as resulting from
a conspiracy hatched by Sheikh Tajeddin and the Natinonalists immediately called a mass meeting of protest. When the gendarmerie attempted to disperse the crowd and
met with resistance several men
were arrested. This action infuriated the Nationalists who sent telegraphic protests to High Commissioner Ponsot in Paris and to the
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The
next day the business section of the
city was closed and in press dispatches this was represented as a protest
on the part of the Syrians to the reported decision of the League of Nations to send some two hundred thousand additional Armenians to Syria.
The government of Sheikh Tajeddin
is reported to have been forced to
resign as a result of the ensuing disturbances.
SITUATION IN LEBANON
The situation in Lebanon seems to
have been reduced to that of administrative readjustment. Following
the induction of the new Cabinet the
principal elective post to be filled was
that of the President of the Representative Assembly whose term of
office expired in October. As usual
in such cases, there was a lively
discussion as to which religious denomination should have the post and
the matter was finally settled by reelecting the Moslem
President
Sheikh Mohammed Al-Jesr.
A serious situation arose between
the Lebanese Government and the
Mandatory authorities as to Lebanon's share of the customs' receipts. The Lebanese Government
claimed a sum of £S.600,000 gold
pounds which the French refused to
allow on pretense that the reduction
in the tariff will result in diminished receipts. The 1929 budget for
Lebanon, however, had included
£S.310,000 on the strength of the
High Commissioner's promise that
this amount would be forthcoming to
Lebanon. This amount was finally
agreed upon as Lebanon's share from
the customs' receipts for the coming
year.
,
,
The President of Lebanon, Charles
Dabbas, made a tour of the country
�53
NOVEMBER, 1928
and was enthusiastically received
everywhere, especially in the Bekah
plain. It is suspected that this move
was undertaken in view of the approaching elections which fall next
May and the desire of the President
to sound the sentiment for his candidacy for a second term. Another
plausible reason mentioned in connection with this tour is the desire to
test the loyalty of the territories
annexed to Lebanon which previously had been a part of Syria. This
was said to have been demonstrated
in the most satisfactory manner. As
a result of this tour, it is also claimed, a decisive blow was dealt to whatever aspirations Emir George Lutfallah still entertained to become
President of Lebanon.
The agitation for Lutfallah has
been taken all too seriously by all
classes of the Lebanese. Because
there were reports that this Emir
had made a pact with former High
Commissioner de Jouvenel to promote some sort of financial scheme
for Lebanon, it was said that de Jouvenel was seeking reappointment as.
High Commissioner for Syria primarily to aid the Emir in the pursuit
of his ambitions. This had the effect of arousing the Lebanese to an
unprecedented degree, even the Maronite Patriarch making a public
statement that he would never give
his approval to any such designs. Another Maronite dignitary, Archbishop
Mubarak of Beirut, both in his public speeches and in his statements to
the press, asserted that he had taken the matter up officially with the
French Foreign Office and with the
High Commissariat and was assured
that the candidacy of Emir Lutfallah
could never be seriously considered
by them. It now seems that this
matter has been definitely set at rest
by what is tantamount to an official
repudiation of Lutfallah by the
French authorities.
The perennial question of religious
representation comes up again in
Lebanon in a different form. Now it
is a Moslem paper of Beirut claiming the right of the Presidency for
a Moslem. It explains that while the
Christian element in Lebanon was in
the majority before the annexation
of the new territory, it has now become predominantly Moslem by reason of the annexation. Judging by
the tone of the Lebanese Moslem
papers, the Moslems of Lebanon
would wish nothing better than to
merge the whole of Lebanon into the
body politic of Syria.
STAND OF THE DRUZES
The remnant of the Druze fighting
forces who sought refuge in Transjordan and are now settled in Wadi
Sirhan are reported to be in great
distress, issuing repeated appeals for
funds. Sultan Pasha Atrash, their
leader, has declared in favor of union
with the central government of Damascus, but in this he is said not to
represent the wishes of the majority
of his people. Being chiefly farmers, and having had a succession of
bad seasons and failing crops, they
are said to prefer retaining their
autonomy and paying only nominal
taxes rather than have to pay the
almost prohibitive taxes levied on
the farmers of Syria.
Road building and other improvements continue on a large scale in
the Druze Mountain as well as in
other sections of the mandated territories.
�54
THE SYRIAN WORLD
About Syria and Syrians
RIHANI COMING TO
THE UNITED STATES
Ameen Rihani, author of "Maker
of Modern Arabia," -Which has come
to be considered a textbook of hitherto unavailable information on
King Ibn Saoud and his country, is
now in England on his way to the
United States. The Syrian press announced his departure early last
month at the invitation of The Central Asian Society to address it on
his experiences and observations
while traveling in Arabia.
Mr. Rihani is not a stranger to
America. Besides being an American citizen, he has lived in New York
most of his life. His frequent trips
abroad in later years have been for
the purpose of seeking the quiet atmosphere of his birthplace in Lebanon for rest and study, as well as
for enriching his experience by many
adventurous journeys into the heart
of Arabia and throughout the East.
Prior to his departure for the
United States Mr. Rihani rounded
out his interesting travels by undertaking an extensive tour through
the Druze country and other little
frequented sections in the interior of
Syria.
What makes the experiences of
Mr. Rihani singularly interesting
is that besides enjoying the advantages of a western training as observer and writer, he is a native of
the language and has a wide reputation as patriot and reformer, which
fact opens to him many places inaccessible to others.
We understand that Mr. Rihani
brings with him the full-blooded
Arabian horses with which King Ibn
Saoud presented him from the royal
stable.
COMING DRIVE FOR
THE RED CROSS
The annual drive for the Red Cross
will be launched early in November.
As usual, the Syrians are expected
to be liberal contributors.
A novel arrangement for this,
year's drive is that racial groups are
asked to turn in their contributions
collectively. This may be designed
as a means of healthy competition
among the different communities of
foreign extraction, and as such it
should be hailed with pleasure by
the Syrians because we feel confident
they will make a splendid showing.
Mrs. Alkazin, wife of our popular
dentist and literateur, is chairman
of the Syrian Committee for Greater
New York, while Dr. Philip K. Hjtti
is honorary chairman. The names
of the other members of the committee will be announced later in the
Syrian press.
Solicitors in the field will undoubtedly be many, but inasmuch as it
is the express wish of the Central
Committee to have contributions
come from racial groups, it would be
well for Syrians to favor their own
solicitors with their donations.
We understand that a large volunteer force will be organized to cover
the Syrian field and it is confidently
hoped that our support of the Red
Cross on this occasion will be more
liberal than usual owing to the extraordinary demand which developed
this year.
�55
NOVEMBER, 1928
ACTIVITIES OF NEWLY-FORMED
SYRIAN JUNIOR LEAGUE
The Syrian Junior League makes
its debut in the life of the New York
Syrian community with an interesting program. On Thanksgiving Eve
it will give a dinner-ball at the Hotel
McAlpin, and on January 18 it will
hold a reception in honor of Madame
ilalide Edib, the well known Turkish
feminist, novelist and reformer, now
in the United States, who had the distinction of being the first woman of
any nationality to be officially invited
to address the Institute of Politics
at Williamstown.
The League is composed of a large
group of Syrian young women of
New York "who are interested in a
program of self-development and
usefulness to themselves and to the
community."
We learn that members of the
League will be active in the coming
drive for the Red Cross.
Mrs. Jos. W. Ferris was particularly active in furthering the idea
for this organization among our society buds.
TYPICALLY PHOENICIAN
COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE
Senor George Shahdan, a Syrian
merchant of Argentine, took up aviation as a sport and made several
successful flights, taking for passenger the President of the Aviation
Club.
Being a Wholesale merchant, and
inheriting the pioneering commercial
instinct of his ancestors, the Phoenicians, he soon decided that his
knowledge of aviation should be exploited to its fullest advantages. As
a consequence, he is now acting as
his own traveling salesman and steal-
ing a march on all his competitors by
showing his samples to customers
in the interior long before others
through the use of the airplane.
The National Aviation Club of Argentine has commended the action of
our highly enterprising Syrian merchant as being the first in the country to use the airplane for commercial salesmanship.
AMERICAN COLLEGES IN
THE NEAR EAST
By Berneice Griswold
A special benefit matinee, the first
of the season, has been arranged for
Friday afternoon, November 16,
when Madame Maria Jeritza, supported by Giacomo Lauri-Volpi and
Guiseppe De Luca, will sing Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera
House in New York to aid the work
of the six American colleges in the
Near East.
The colleges have been established
by prominent New York families
during the past century for the purpose of giving young men and women in Balkan, Near and Middle
Eastern countries a modern, scientific education which will help them
to develop school, sanitary and medical systems in their own countries.
More than 3,000 homes in twenty
odd countries are influenced each
year through the students enrolled
in these colleges with the result that
they are well known and highly regarded in even remote districts of
Persia, the Soudan, among desert
tribes and in isolated towns and villages of Turkey and all of the Arabic speaking countries. Leading
families of all faiths number one or
two members at least who have been
educated at one of these colleges and
�I
56
rulers' of many of the Near Eastern
countries are personally interested
in the colleges.
The Shah of Persia Who resided
in Beirut before he ascended the
throne is extremely interested in the
American University of Beirut and
has appealed to President Bayard
Dodge for assistance in establishing
a modern elementary educational
system in his country. Through his
influence a Persian girl has entered
the School of Nursing at the University this year, the first Persian
woman to take up the profession.
King Feisal of Iraq for several years
has "Ibeen sending students to be
trained at the University of Beirut
for government posts. King Fuad
of Egypt, the Queen Dowager Marie
of Roumania, King Boris of Bulgaria, and others rulers are staunch
supporters of these colleges. Mustapha Kemal Pasha, president of the
Turkish Republic, and his Prime
Minister, Ismet Pasha, are both interested in the American colleges in
Turkey, the latter having a brother
in the senior class of Robert College.
The sons and daughters of many Turkish deputies, provincial governors
and diplomats are enrolled in the two
Constantinople colleges—Robert College for men and the Constantinople
Woman's College.
MRS. LINDBERGH TO
TEACH IN BEIRUT
The Constantinpole correspondent
of Al-Ahrar, one of the leading dailies of Beirut, capital of the Lebanon
Republic, informs his paper that Mrs.
Lindbergh, mother of Col. Charles
Lindbergh, will spend next year in
Beirut teaching in the American
School for Girls. This year she is
THE SYRIAN WORLD
teaching in the Women's Constantinople College, also an American institution.
Mrs. Lindbergh is reported to have
professed great admiration for the
culture of Eastern peoples and to
have made public her intention of
visiting the Holy Land next summer with her famous son. They will
make the trip from Constantinople
by airplane as the mother, like her
son, is an air enthusiast. On htr recent trip across she took the steamer
to Naples and from there went by
air route to Constantinople.
We are also pleased to note that
upon leaving the United States she
booked passage through the office of
our Syrian steamship agents, A. K.
Hitti & Co.
DOROTHY DIX BACK
FROM THE DESERT
Miss Dorothy Dix, the foremost
American writer on love and kindred
matters, is back from a trip to Syria
and the desert. She is reported in
the American press as having made
some very valuable discoveries, principal among which is that the
sheikhs of the desert are not what
they are represented to be by fiction
writers and that none of them had
asked her advice on love.
Miss Dix made the journey from
Damascus to Baghdad by motor
through the heart of the Syrian Desert and is said to be the first American woman to have made the supposedly perilous trip. Her escort
is described as a six-feet-six native
in his sandals, which is quite some
size for an Oriental, but he was chivalrous and every night is said to
have made an appearance, fully
armed, at the tent of the American
NO]
write
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�57
NOVEMBER, 1928
writer and her lady companion as a
gesture of reassurance.
Undoubtedly Miss Dix will have a
good deal to tell of her experiences
in Syria and the East. Besides helping to dispel the prevalent conception of the country gained from motion picture presentations, she must
also have many interesting accounts
to relate of the settled sections of
the land, of its flourishing cities as
well as of its wonderful relics of a
glorious past.
EXHIBIT OF WORK
OF ARABIC LINOTYPE
When Prof. A. T. Olmstead, of the
department of History of the University of Illinois, was teaching in
Columbia University in New York
last summer, he became interested
in the study of the Arabic Linotype.
Being an Oriental scholar and having delved deeply into the study of
Assyrian history and civilization,
the work of the Arabic Linotype
which he saw in the plant of the
Syrian-American Press fascinated
him. He therefore secured some linotype slugs together with copies of
the different Arabic newspapers
composed by the Linotype process
and, upon returning to Urbana, made
an exhibit of his collection at the
Oriental Museum of the University
of which he is curator.
In reporting this exhibit, The Daily
Illini, student newspaper of the
University of Illinois, makes special
mention of As-Suyuti's Who's Who
in the Fifteenth Century which was
edited by Prof. Philip K. Hitti of
Princeton and published by the
Syrian-American Press of New
York, noting that it is the first scholarly work in Arabic to be set on the
Linotype. It was made a part of
the exhibit.
The publication of the account having been made in the issue of the
Daily Illini appearing on Dad's Day
had the effect of attracting large
numbers of students and their parents to the exhibit.
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
AMEEN RIHANI—Internationally known scholar and traveler.
Author of "Maker of Modern Arabia" and of many other works
of poetry and prose.
REV. W. A. MANSUR — Syrian patriot and scholar, educated in
Syria and at present minister of the First Methodist Church in
Loretto, Nebraska. He is one of our regular contributors.
KAHLIL GIBRAN — Author of The Prophet and other celebrated
works and styled by American writers Poet of the Cedars and
The Syrian Poet.
DR. SALIM Y. ALKAZIN — English and Arabic poet and scholar.
Professionally a dentist of Brooklyn. One of our regular
contributors.
A. HAKIM — Pen name of an old Syrian immigrant who is contributing to The Syrian World a special series of critical studies
BENJ. T. HAFFIZ — Preac her and scholar, resident of Washington, D. C.
�TATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT. CIRCULATION.
TO, REQUIRED BY THE ACT OF CONGRESS OF AUGUST 24, 1912.
01 The Syrian World published monthly at New York, N.Y„Oct. 1st, 1928.
STATE OF NEW YORK.
COUNTY OF NEW YORK,
Before me, a Notary Public, in and for the state and county aforesaid,
personally appeared Salloum A. Mokarzel, who, having been duly sworn
according to law, deposes and says that he is the publisher of the The
Syrian World, and that the following is, to the best of his knowledge and
belief, a true statement of the ownership, management (and if a daily paper, the circulation), etc., of the aforesaid publication for the date shown
in Che above caption, required by the Act of August 24, 1921, embodied in
section 411, Postal Laws and Regulations, printed on the reverse of this
form, to wit:
1. That the names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing
editor, and business managers are:
Name of—
Post office address—
Publisher, Salloum Mokarzel
104 Greenwich Street.
Editor, Salloum Mokarzel
104 Gisenwich Street.
Managing Editor, Salloum Mokarzel
104 Greenwich Street.
Business Managers, Salloum Mokarzel
104 Greenwich Street.
2. That the owner is: (If owned by a corporation, its name and address
must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses
of stockholders owning or holding one per cent or more of total amount of
stock. If not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of the individual owners must be given. If owned by a firm, company, or other
unincorporated concern, its name and address, as well as those of each
individual member, must be given.)
Salloum A. Mokarzel 104 Greenwich St.
3. That the known bondholders, mortgages, and other security holders
owning or holding 1 per cent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages,
or other securities are: (If there are none, so state.) None.
4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of the owners, stockholders, and security holders, if any, contain not only the list of
stockholders and security holders as they appear upon the books of the
company but also, in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears
upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation,
en; also that the said two paragraphs contain statements embracing affiant's
the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting, is givfull knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under
which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the books
of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity other
than that of a bona fide owner; and this affiant has no reason to believe
tfhat any other person, association, or corporation has any interest direct
or indirect in the said stock, bonds, or other securities than as so stated
by him.
5. That the average number of copies of each issue of this publication
sold or distributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the six months preceding the date shown above is.
(This information is required from daily publications only.)
S. A. Mokarzel.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 2nd day of October. 1928.
[SEAL.]
EDNA M. HUCKER,
(Mycommission expires March 30, 1929.)
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Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
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Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
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New York Public Library
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
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1926-1935
Relation
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<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
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English
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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NS 0002
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TSW1928_11reducedWM
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The Syrian World Volume 03, Issue 05
Date
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1928 November
Description
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Volume 3 Issue 05 of The Syrian World published November 1928. The issue begins with an article Ameen Rihani wrote for The Syrian World titled "The Leper and the Bride of Galilee," a discussion of the cities Nazareth and Tiberias. Rev. W. A. Mansur's "Introduction to the Syrian World" is featured next, and it opens with the Convocation of the Syrian Constituent Assembly, marking the formal entrance of Syria into world politics. There is also a poem by Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin titled "Tobet and Leila," followed by another poem inspired by Ameen Rihani's poem "Freedom" from the October issue. Yet another poem titled "A Man from Lebanon Nineteen Centuries Afterward" by Kahlil Gibran is surrounded by illustrations by the author. A. Hakim's "The Sage of Washington Street" is also continued in this issue with a discussion on the marriage problem among Syrians. There is also a report on the 1927 economic recovery in Syria based on reports from various Consuls. The last article is by Salloum A. Mokarzel, titled "Can We Retain Our Heritage?" relates to the assimilation of Syrians into American society. The issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press, the Reader's Forum, and political developments in Syria.
Subject
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Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
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English
Creator
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
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Text/pdf
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Text
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
A. Hakim
Ameen Rihani
Immigration
Kahlil Gibran
New York
Palestine
Poetry-English
Reverend W.A. Mansur
Salim Alkazin
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/2ae4e83dd68900a0046fc6fd6e9df447.pdf
904a5f8e6d9519a3033e5773baa80769
PDF Text
Text
VOL. III.
m
IM
No. 4.
OCTOB
SYRIAN WORLD
MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH
D
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
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THE BEYROUTH MUSEUM
COtfNT 1* III LIP TERRAZI
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\RAKbYRIAN GENTLEMAN AND WARRIOR
OF THE CRUSADES
DR. PHILIP K.. HITTI
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THE WINE LYRIC OF AL-FARID
DR, NETIB A. KATIBAH
I
Jb' WASHINGTON STREET ON DIVIDED
LOYALTY
A.
•1
HAKIM
RIA FOR THE SYRIANS" AGAIN
DR. M. SHADiD
TNT POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
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SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A. MOKARZEL, Editor.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104 GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies 50c,
Enteted as second-class matter, June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. III.
No. 4.
OCTOBER, 1928
CONTENTS
PAGE
The Beyrouth Museum
3
COUNT PHILIP TERRAZI
O Freedom (Poem)
7
AMEEN RIHANI
The Sage of Washington St. (On Divided Loyalty)
A. HAKIM
The Plutocrat
8
:W
KHALIL GIBRAN
An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior of the Crusades
PHILIP K. HITTI, PH. D.
13
The Wine Lyric of Al-Farid
20
DR. NEJIB
>
l
A.
KATIBAH
�CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
Syria for the Syrians Again
DR.
24
M.
SHADID
Arab Proverbs
28
The Bride of the Brave (Complete Short Story)
29
AREPH EL-KHOURY
The Desert (Poem)
37
MITCHELL FERRIS
Palestine Economic Readjustment
38
Editorial Comment
Call to Duty
42
Religion in Politics
43
Ostracism
44
t
Books and Authors
Other Arabian Nights, Reviewed by Nagla M. Laf
Loofy, M. D
45
Evolution Politique de la Syrie sous le Mandat
46
Spirit of the Syrian Press
47
Readers* Forum
ri
I
1
Y
;
.
Political Developments in Syria
55
About Syria and Syrians
57
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. III.
OCTOBER, 1928
No. 4.
The Beyrouth Museum
By
COUNT PHILIP TERRAZI
*
Curator, National Library and Museum of the Lebanese Republic.
V
II.
ALTHOUGH less interesting tr, :he lay visitor, the second
section of the Beyrouth Museum is immensely more important
from the archaeological viewpoint. Here has been gathered pottery from the various sections of Southern Lebanon. A few of
the jars date back to the end of the Chalcolithic Period, when
copper was just beginning to take the place of stone in the making of implements. These are hand made, the wheel not yet
having been invented. They indicate the high craftsmanship
already reached in this distant age.
The majority of the vases in the collection date from the
first or second age of bronze. The aryballus has a bulging body,
a narrow neck, a small flat base, with the handle attached either
to the shoulder or to the neck. The majority are covered with
a redo slip, a surface of finer clay, in lustrous ocher, and some
bear in addition geometric designs in brown or brownish red
on a milk white background. Others have bulging bodies, and
*This is the second article by Count Terrazi on the Beyrouth Museum,
the first having been published in the Marrh, 1927, issue of The Syrian
World Translation from the French original was done by the editor who
wishes' to acknowledge his debt of gratitude to Prof. A. T. Olmstead for his
invaluable assistance in the application of technical terms and other helpful advice. Prof. Olmstead is professor of history and curator of the Oriental Museum at the University of Illinois.—Editor.
�,
4
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
a pointed base. The neck broadens slightly upward and the
opening is pinched up to form an eye. At times, the handles
imitate twisted ropes with double or triple strands. The forms
and decorations alike present unmistakable indications that they
have been influenced from the Greek Islands. Some archaeologists have assumed because of this that the earlier race which
inhabited the Phoenician coast before the Phoenicians themselves arrived were either akin to the earliest inhabitants of
Crete and the other Greek islands or were strongly influenced
by their cvilization. However, Egyptian influences played quite
as important a role in these regions, and now and then one finds
objects which were directly imported from Egypt. For instance,
we have a small enamelled blue vase of exactly the same shape
and dimensions as the vase in obsidian, set with gold, which an
Egyptian king of the Twelfth Dynasty had sent to the king of
Byblos, the modern Jebeil, filled with the oil to annoint him
as ruler.
About a hundred vases repose in a neighboring glass case.
They belong to the former collection made by the Jesuits. Some
are wine jars from the Greek island of Rhodes, some are aryballi with necks inverted as those which are found in the island
of Melos, some are tall cantharus vases, or vases in the form of
animals. These belong to the end of the age of bronze and are
similar to ones found in Cyprus.
Close to the door, one comes upon a statue of a praying
man. It comes from Dura on theMiddle Euphrates, that wonderful city which may rightfully be called the Pompeii of Syria.
First it was Greek and then Parthan, but the course of centuries
has permitted the desert to engulf it. Then we see a beautiful
mosaic, representing the dead man with his wife. This piece
of exquisite art was discovered at Eulman, near Sidon, and goes
back to the third century. I must not fail to mention also a
statue of Aphrodite discovered at Oyaa, also near Sidon.
The famous sarcophagus of Ahiram, king of Byblos, occupies the center of the third room. This is a rectangular stone
coffin, about two meters twenty centimeters long, and raised on
four figures of lions. On one of its long sides, King Ahiram
is represented seated on his throne. Before him is a three-legged
table with some writings. In one hand he holds a lotus, the
sign of jubilation, the other hand is extended in a gesture of
greeting to the notables of his court, who come with gifts and
�OCTOBER,
1928
5
raise their hands to indicate their submission. On the other side
is a train of subjects bringing vases or trays of offerings, while
they drive a, beast before them. A frieze of the lotus, in which
the buds and the flowers alternate, runs the whole upper edge
of the sarcophagus. On the ends, weeping women have uncovered their bodies to the waist and are beating themselves on head
and breast in sign of grief.
The slightly rounded cover bears the figures of two
lions opposed symmetrically. Their projecting heads serve as
the handles. Between the lions is the figure of King Ahiram,
carved in light relief. A Phoenician inscription runs the whole
length of the lid. It dates back to the thirteenth century B.C.,
and is the oldest inscription we possess written in our alphabet.
The characters are, nevertheless, so well formed that we may
be sure Phoenician writing had been in existence for a considerable time before it was carved.
The walls of this room are ornamented with a moulding
of a Hittite inscription which was found at Topada in Cilicia,
as well as with copies of the inscriptions of Abdimelek of Byblos,
the originals of which are now in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Many other bas reliefs and inscriptions decorate this room.
Among them we may mention the following: The king of Byblos
lies prostrate in prayer before his goddess Astarte, which is represented in the form of the Egyptian goddess Isis. A smaller
figure of Astarte on a throne. A pillar with an inscription from
Cyprus. Astarte on a throne resting on lions and bearing a
Greek inscription. A headless statue of Astarte, the Lady of
Byblos, seated on her throne. A cuneiform inscription recording a campaign of the Assyrian king Sargon (723-705 B.C.).
An altar bearing the figure of Venus Lugens. An Assyrian
archer. A Phoenician pedestal representing a priest in a standing position and holding a cylindrical object. A four-winged
being whose style shows a mixture of the Assyrian and the Hittite
art. A Phoenician inscription from the temple of the god Eshmun north of Sidon, recording the restoration of this temple
by King Bodashtart.
Finally, we come to the fourth room, which is full of
objects unearthed in the recent excavations at Byblos. Among
the most remarkable of these I would mention the contents of a
certain case. They comprise two pectorals, elaborately jewelled
breast plates, in Egyptian glaze, one in the form of a shrine, the
�^-,:u^.^
6
THE SYRIAN WORLD
other in that of a shell. Another golden pectoral has the double
vulture. It is of local manufacture, for the vulture holds a stalk
instead of the Egyptian cross of life.
Then there is a silver mirror; gold rings in which are
mounted scarabs of beautiful amethysts; a curved sword in bronze
on which is the uraeus or royal cobra which bears in hieroglyphics
the name of the prince of Byblos to which this sword belonged.
Several collars of silver, like those found in the Caucasus mountains, furnish our first sign of contact with these far distant regions. A vase of obsidian, already mentioned, bore in hieroglphics the name of the Egyptian king Amenemhet III (1849-1801
B.C.). It contained the oil of annointing which the Pharaohs
sent to their subjects in sign of investiture. Although Egypt
has specimens of such vases in obsidian, that in our museum is
far the largest. Nowhere is there anything to compare with the
harmonious form of the small obsidian found with the vase. A
silver knife encrusted with gold is one of the earliest examples
we possess of this technique.
The excavations of M. Dunan in the course of this year
have enriched considerably our collection from Byblos. Two
vases, found under the pavement of the temple, contain some
hundreds of bronzes, representing all kinds of foreign influences.
Along with this there are examples of extremely tall men, with
shaven heads, leaning against two long staffs in the posture of the
Sheikh-el-Beled, of the Cairo Museum. There are likewise
bearded men with conical headgear of a style unmistakably Hittite. In passing, I may mention a quantity of monkey-headed
animals, cats, cattle, deer, which in spite of their small size are
of great artistic interest. Along the walls of this hall we may
see vases of alabaster which bear the names in hieroglyphics of
the Egyptian kings of the fifth and sixth dynasties.
Because of the variety and beauty of the collection in this
room, it must be considered the most interesting in our museum.
The most ancient object in this museum is a cylinder seven or
eight centimeters high. It bears hieroglyphics among which we
may read the name of the Lady of Byblos in the form of the
Egyptian goddesses Isis and Hathor. It goes back to the first
dynasty of Egypt, almost 3400 B.C. This proves that the
Egyptians were already visiting our coast more than five thousand years ago to secure cedar logs from the Lebanon and to
export them from the ancient port of Byblos.
OC
tain
des<
beir
f
�OCTOBER,
1928
7
I pass in silence the other half of our museum, which contains many more objects of interest. Some other time I may
describe it to our readers, for these rooms are still in process of
being rearranged.
0 Freedom
By
AMEEN RIHANI
Q FREEDOM, in thy cause I fought,
For twenty years I fought in vain;
And in my burning bosom naught
But worthless trophies now remain.
Yet in my heart I hear a cry,
And there thy cause doth aye appeal:
I would once more beneath thy sky
Brandish my sharp and shining steel.
How much one stakes upon thy dream,
How dear for thy dear name we pay;
How cheap the passing eras seem
When years are given for thy day!
How many still would fight and die
In thine own cause and for thy weal,I would once more beneath thy sky
Brandish my sharp and shining steel.
The purest love I give away,
The bliss of it I set at naught;
Again I'm on my wayward way
Seeking what I have often sought.
My wounded hopes, my bleeding ties
No peace inglorious e'er shall heal:
I would once more beneath thy skies
Brandish my sharp and shining steel.
0 Freedom, tho thy price be high,
Tho one for thee his life must seal,
1 would once more beneath thy sky
Brandish my sharp and shining steel!
�'
8
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Sage of Washington Street
ON DIVIDED LOYALTY
.
By A.
HAKIM
N
my last visit to my friend the sage, I surprised him in the
act of reading one of our daily newspapers and registering his
reactions by vigorous shakings of the head. At times his lips
would part as if to give an utterance of surprise, but no sound was
audible to me even at a distance of a few paces. Following his
summer custom when the day's work is done, he was seated on
the stoop of his little store refreshing himself in the cool breeze
of the early evening in the hospitable shade of a tall skyscraper
on the western side of the street. On this occasion he was seated
with his back to the wall at cross angles from the direction of my
approach, and did not notice me until I was directly upon him.
Upon seeing me almost unexpectedly, he gave a slight start
of surprise, but hastened to remove his reading glasses while
jumping to his feet and courteously asking me to his chair. This
I would not do, and as a gesture of emphasis on our complete
familiarity, I spread my newspaper on the door sill and perched
myself there and would not be induced to move. It was with
some reluctance that he resumed his seat after profuse apologies.
I was anxious to enter quickly into action, and I asked the sage
the reason for his motions of dissatisfaction which I had observed
him make while reading the Arabic newspaper as I approached.
And, as usual, he was ready and unhesitating in his explanation.
"It seems to be beyond the comprehension of some people
that times are moving in our days much more rapidly than in the
days of our fathers or grandfathers. I would say that it is well to
be moderately conservative, to adhere to certain wholesome traditions. But to be slaves to a fallacious notion born of sheer sentimentality and disproved by everyday facts is a reflection on one's
intelligence and common sense. It is about time we explode this
fallacy once for all and courageously admit the fact which we
practice and would want to deny."
I confessed to the sage that his wise pronouncements were
beyond the range of my limited comprehension, and that he could
O
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'
»
�liiiiiiiiiiiiiii ii—miiiiiMWii—wnniiiwiii imiinmw
OCTOBER,
1928
9
assist me materially in gaining access to the inner sanctum of his
thoughts if he would diverge a little from his generalization and
be more specific. He smiled obligingly and took me mentally in
hand to explore the depths of his reasoning.
"I thought," he said, "y°u would readily guess the reason
for my remarks by what is now engaging the attention of the colony. Just now I was reading the statement of a visitor from
Lebanon wherein he claims that the hope of our brethren at home
for the economic rehabilitation of the country rests on the immigrants. It seems to be the prevalent notion abroad that we immigrants are still considered an integral part of the population
of the old country who owe it allegiance and give it our undivided
loyalty. You know that this is all wrong and that the sooner such
a fallacious notion is eradicated from the minds of our brethren
abroad the better. They seem to place on us dependence to a
harmful degree. They should be brought to the realization of the
fundamental condition of national life which is to be self-dependent and self-supporting. I believe we have helped the old country sufficiently in the past by our continued remittances. This
may have been pardonable, even laudable, for a time, especially
during economic crises and threatened famine. In this we would
be doing a humanitarian deed which we owe to our relatives and
compatriots in the first place. But such a state of affairs cannot
continue forever, nor is it advisable because of its inevitable ill
effects on the nation in that it would make it parasitic and incapable
of self-support.
"And, besides, the continuance of this condition is bound to
result in irretrievable loss to our own people here in America.
We have been sufficiently hurt in the past by this ill-advised policy
to teach us a lasting lesson, and he is a confirmed fool who commits the same mistake twice."
Here the sage readjusted himself in his seat as if in preparation for a vigorous attack on his subject. One could see that a
strong emotion was surging within him as his eyes widened, his
jaws became more firmly set and his hands clutched tightly at his
knees. A whole train of events seemed to be passing in review in
his imagination as he again resumed the trend of his conversation,
proceeding to sketch Syrian immigration from its earliest beginnings.
.
"The most potent factor in retarding the success of Syrian
immigrants in America has been their vacillation. The first
i
�—
10
t
-
-
Ml
THE SYRIAN WORLD
comers had only one object in view and that was to make a modest
fortune and return to the motherland. This caused them to
lose sight of the larger opportunities available in this country and
restricted their activities to such enterprises as could be easily liquidated. Then followed a period of uncertainty and indecision
when they began to doubt the wisdom of their earlier plans. But
now we can safely say that those Syrians who are here are here to
stay and entertain no further thought of returning.
"This evolutionary process took a long time in developing
and it is not my purpose to dwell on its details in this discourse.
Anyone of the earlier immigrants will give you an account of the
complete change which has taken place in the psychology
of our
bJ
people.
"What is really cause for apprehension is the attitude taken
by our brothers abroad on the present status of us immigrants I
believe they are still judging us by the standard of thirty or forty
years ago. They seem to be still under the impression that we
emigrated solely for a limited purpose from which we have not
yet deviated. To gather a little fortune and return to our native
land appears to them as the only motive for our stay in America.
They would presume that in our new home we still remain strangers, transients or uninterested visitors. They start from the false
assumption that the thought of returning is still uppermost in our
minds} that we prefer our modest native homes to all that America could afford in opporunities; that no inducement could be of
sufficiently strong appeal to swerve us from the path of unshaken
loyalty to our motherland.
"We would not be affected by such reasoning if our brothers
abroad kept their thoughts to themselves and refrained from direct interference with our affairs. Perhaps it would cheer them
to know thot they have in us moral supporters who could be called
upon in times of stress. Certainly I feel it is our moral obligation
to render our mother country every possible assistance, whether
moral or financial, out of gratitude to the divine Providence
which led us to this land of security and abundance. But for
them to resort to aggressive tactics in forcing their opinions on
usj to come to us and claim from us assistance in their varied enterprises as a matter of right on their part and duty on our part
is beyond the pale of my comprehension. And what is more, some
of them would chide us for what they term indifference on our
part to their petty wranglings and political squabbles. They
«t
�'OCTOBER,
1928
11
would have us as stepping stones to their higher ambitions but
would not concede to us a place above that of the stepping stone.
To them we are the money-makers in whose profits they have
a right to share, but under no circomstances are we conceded the
right to question the manner of the disposal of our contributions.
"These remarks may have been prompted by recent cases, but
they fairly apply to our relations with our brothers in the homeland in general. For my part, I have no objection to rendering
assistance whenever needed, but we should not be imposed upon
to an unreasonable extent, nor should those schemers from abroad
be given continued reason to rank us among the gullible and credulous, falling into their designs no matter what their merit.
"And, my friend, I would not confine my allusion to wouldbe political reformers or economic saviours of the land. The
itinerant clergy should be incldued in this class. You must recall
as well as I do how many high ecclesiastical visitors of all denominations we have had the past few years. Well, what has become of the tens of thousands of dollars they have collected? Has
any orphanage or school or hospital been erected? I say positively no! But we know that much productive land has been
acquired in the personal names of these visitors after their return'
from America. Now I ask you, how much more good could be
accomplished for the uplift of our race in America if such vast
sums, going to the pockets of some unscrupulous individuals
abroad, were expended in some sorely needed social and educational work among our racial group in America?
"And what is more, the success of one visitor emboldens
others to emulate his example out of sheer presumption on our
credulity. I am not referring to petty matters of which there are
innumerable instances such as rebuilding the town church, or improving the spring, or other such local enterprises. What I have
in mind is those high-sounding propositions of national rehabilitation and grandiose schemes of universal reform. We are all
witnesses to what has come out of such enterprises in the past—
only the sad disillusionment of the contributors.
"Now my idea is to devote a little more attention to our interests here in America and a little less to things abroad. I would
recommend such a course at least with respect to matters of public endeavors. I believe we here have been too engrossed so far
in our efforts to establish our economic independence to devote
any thought to public matters. Now that we have fairly achieved
�"
12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
this aim, it behooves us to direct some of our attention to public
affairs. Unless we arouse ourselves now to the necessity of such
action I fear we will become hopelessly stagnant. We have an
heritage of a noble history and we should develop some sort of
collective action for the enhancement of our standing as a race.
We owe this not only to ourselves but to posterity in order to
insure for our descendants their due and proper place among the
other racial groups of the American nation.
"This would be better achieved if we would bring ourselves
to the realization of the fait accomfli that we are in America to
stay; that we owe it our allegiance whole and undivided, and that
whatever assistance we render the motherland is prompted by
humanitarian, sentimental considerations only. In this manner
we would thwart the designs of some presumptuous visitors from
abroad who are still guided by the fallacious notion that although
we are away from them we still belong to them. Furthermore
and uppermost is the necessity of coming to a final and unequivocal decision that America is our permanent home, so that in all
matters touching upon our individual conduct and racial standing
we would be governed by this main consideration."
\
The Plutocrat
By KAHLIL GIBRAN
In my wanderings I once saw upon an island a man-headed,
iron-hoofed monster who ate of the earth and drank of the sea
incessantly. And for a long while I watched him. Then I approached him and said, "Have you never enough j is your hunger never satisfied and your thirst never quenched?"
And he answered, saying, "Yes, I am satisfied, nay, I am
weary of eating and drinking; but I am afraid that tomorrow
there will be no more earth to eat and no more sea to drink."
I
�—
OCTOBER,
13
1928
An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and
Warrior of the Crusades
By
PHILIP
K.
HITTI, PH.
D.
II
h
When not engaged in fighting human adversaries, Usamah
had animals and wild beasts to fight. "I have battled against
beasts of prey on occasions so numerous that I cannot count them
all," he tells us about himself. On another occasion he informs
us that he was engaged in the hunt during a period of about
"seventy years". Referring to Usamah, the Fatimite Caliph alHafiz once remarked, "And what other business has this man
but to fight and to hunt?"
This long record as a hunter offered Usamah an excellent
opportunity to study the habits of birds and other animals. His
powers of observation, his keen interest in things animate and inanimate and his sense of curiousity found here an ample field
for exercise and development. At the end of his Memoirs he
devotes a whole chapter to the hunt in which he shows first-hand
familiarity with the hunting practices of Syria, Mesopotamia and
Egypt. He felt equally at home with the water-fowl of the
Nile, the fish of the Euphrates and the wild animals on the banks
of the Orontes. By his own experience he discovered that a
leopard, on account of its swiftness and long leaps, is really more
dangerous than a lion, that a lion tends to go back to a thicket
by the same route it took out of it and that "it becomes the real
lion it is" when wounded. When a Frank in Haifa offered to
sell him a "cheetah", which was in reality a leopard, he could
tell the difference right away from the shape of the head and
the color of the eyes.
At last it was his intrepidity as manifested in a hunting experience that brought him into trouble with his ruling uncle and
aroused the latter's jealousy resulting in Usamah's enforced and
life-long exile from his native place, Shayzar. His departure
in 1137 was the beginning of a series of sojourns that carried
him into the then capitals of the Moslem world: Damascus, Jeru-
�_£SB
14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
salem, Cairo, al-Mawsil, Mecca, and that did not ,end until he
he was an octogenarian. As long as his uncle Sultan had no male
children he tolerated, indeed he encouraged, his versatile and
ever-developing nephew, but when an heir was born the case
became different. This situation was aggravated by the death of
Usamah's father, the brother of Sultan, in 1137. As young Usamah one evening entered the town carrying as trophy the head
of a huge lion which he had bagged, his grandmother met him
and warned him against his uncle, assuring him that such a thing
would alienate him from his uncle, instead of endearing him to
his heart. This episode proved "the last straw" and tolled the
death-knell of Usamah's life in Shayzar.
With all that Usamah shows a remarkable degree of selfrestraint and hardly has an unkind word against his uncle in
all his narrative. And when finally in the year 552—1157, Shayzar was destroyed by the earthquake and his cousin, Sultan's son,
perished with his family, Usamah's heart was evidently deeply
moved with sorrow and sympathy. He wrote a touching elegy
in verse in which he said:
The blood of my uncle's children, like
that of my father's children, is my
blood
Notwithstanding the hostility and hatred
they showed me.
That Usamah was brought up in a wholesome atmosphere
of gallant and aristocratic behavior—in spite of the aforementioned episode—is evinced by various other instances. His grandfather and uncles are often referred to by the Arab chronicles
as "the Kings of Shayzar." One uncle was a high official in the
Fatimite court of Egypt. Usamah's own son, Murhaf, became
later "one of the amirs" of Egypt and a table companion and
comrade-at-arms of the illustrious Saladin. It was evidently
this Murhaf who pleaded the case of his octogenarian and forsaken father before Saladin who consequently summoned Usamah, in the year 1174, from Hisn-Kayfa and installed him in
a palace in Damascus. Salih ibn-Yahya tells us that Usamah
was "one of those treated as great (min al-mu'azzamin) by the
Sultan (Saladin) who put no one above him in matters of counsel
and advice." Saladin appointed him as governor of Beirut, which
he soon after delivered into the hands of the Franks without of-
•l
:;. . ' :.;'.;. -..-
�OCTOBER,
1928
15
fering resistance. A nephew of Usamah, Shams-al-Dawlah, was
sent by Saladin in 1190 as his ambassador extraordinary to the
court of the Almohades (al-Muwahhidun) in Morocco, soliciting the aid of their fleet to intercept the maritime communications of the Franks.
When a woman, who was foisted on Usamah's uncle, Sultan, and divorced by him because she turned out to be dumb and
deaf, fell captive in the hands of the Franks, Sultan did not
hesitate to ransom her, for he could not tolerate the idea of a
woman remaining in the hands of the Franks after uncovering
before him. The Christian hostages released from Shayzar and
waylaid by Moslems from Hamah had to be rescued at all cost.
Amidst the court intrigues of the Fatimites in Egypt (and
no royal court was perhaps more rife with intrigues, feuds and
jealousies than that court), of Nur-al-Din in Damascus and of
Zanki in al-Mawsil, Usamah seems to have kept his hands more
or less unsoiled. Ibn-al-Athir charges him with duplicity in
dealing and with instigating the murder of al-'Adil ibn-al-Sallar,
the vizier of al-Zafirj but in the Memoirs, Usamah's influence
seems on the whole to be on the side of what is right and honorable. When the ferocity of Salah-al-Din Muhammad leads him
to order the bisecting of an innocent man, Usamah is not afraid
to plead the cause of the poor victim. Nor does he hesitate to
intercede in behalf of a captive from Masurra who was ordered
bisected in the holy month of Ramadan. An aged slave, who
had brought him up, Usamah addresses as "mother" and devotes
an apartment in his home for her exclusive use.
Usamah's liberal education consisted of some ten years of
study under private tutors whose curriculum consisted of grammar, calligraphy, poetry and the Koran. Poetry formed an essential part of the mental equipment of an educated Arabian
aristocrat, and to this rule Usamah formed no exception. He is
quoted by al-Dhahabi to have said that he knew by heart "over
20,000 verses of pre-Islamic poetry." It is not likely that so
many verses of pre-Islamic poetry had survived to the time of
Usamah, but the writer simply wanted to convey the impression
that Usamah knew a great many of them.
Nor was Usamah a mere rawi, a memorizer and reproducer
of poems. He was a composer himself. In fact, to many of
his biographers he is known primarily through liis Dtwan (anthologies). Ibn 'Asakir, the historian of Damascus who knew Usa-
�I
16
!
f i
THE SYRIAN WORLD
mah personally, calls him "the poet of the age" and describes
his verse as "sweeter than honey and more to be relished than
slumber after a prolonged period of vigilance." Yaqut in his
Mu'jam quotes his poetry. Salih ibn-Yahya boasts of possessing
a copy of Usamah's Diwan in the latter's own hand-writing.
"Especially fond of his poetry" was Saladin who esteemed it so
high as to have kept with him a copy of Usamah's Diwan.
Among the most quoted verses of Usamah are those he
composed and inscribed on the wall of a mosque in Aleppo on
the occasion of his return from a pilgrimage to the holy cities
of Mecca and Medinah, and those he composed on the occasion
of pulling out his tooth and in which he showed some originality:
i
O what a rare companion I had whose company
never brought ennui to me,
Who suffered in my service and struggled with
assiduity!
Whilst we were together I never saw him, but the
moment he made his appearance
Before my eyes, we parted forever.
Usamah "had a white hand in literature and prose as well
as in poetry," to use a phrase of his student, ibn-'Asakir. His
fondness for books is indicated by the life-long "heart-sore" which
the loss of his four thousand volumes en route from Egypt left
in him.
His quiet stay during his old age at Hisn-Kayfa afforded
him an opportunity to compose many of the books he wrote and
of which Derenbourg enumerates eleven. Some of these are
listed in Hajji Khalfah, Kashf al-Zunun. A twelfth book, Lubab
al-Adab (The Pith of Literature), has since been discovered in
manuscript form and reported in al-Muqtataf (Cairo, 1908),
Vol. XXXIII, p. 308 seq.
When finally established under Saladin's aegis in Damascus,
Usamah, as we can easily imagine, soon became the center of attraction and respect for a host of admirers and well-wishers, and
his home became a sort of literary salon for the intelligentsia of
the famous capital. He was appointed lecturer at the Hanafiyyah
academy, and tutored in rhetoric. Saladin restored to him a fief
which he was supposed to have once possessed in Ma'arrah alNu'man. Something, however, we do not know exactly what,
made him fall from grace in the eyes of his patron. Could it
Li
�OCTOBER,
i
1928
17
have been some secret sympathy with the Shi'ah cause of which
the orthodox Saladin was a champion opponent and with which
Usamah may have been inoculated during his sojourn in Fatimite
Egypt? That Usamah had cherished such sympathies may be
inferred from a passage in al-Dhahabi. It was at that time and
under these conditions that Usamah produced his memorable
work Kitab al-I'tibar.
Among all the works of Usamah, this Kitab al-I'tibar, containing his reminiscences, stands undoubtedly supreme. But that
is not all. Ancient Arabic literature has preserved for us other
biographies, memoirs and reminiscences by many great men, but
there is hardly anything superior to this one in its simplicity of
narrative, dignity and wealth of contents and general human interest. It gives us a glimpse into Syrian methods of warfare,
hawking and medication, and ushers us into the intimacies of Moslem court life as well as private home life. But its chief value
consists of the fact that it deals with a point of military and cultural contact between the East and the West during a period
about which our information from other sources is especially
meagre.
Usamah wrote this book, more probably dictated it, when
he was "climbing the hill of the age of ninety". His hand was
then "too feeble to carry a pen, after it had been strong enough
to break a lance in a lion's breast." Ripe with years and mellowed with varied experiences of adversity and success, this patriarch of early Moslem days stands at the vantage point of his
ninetieth lunar year to review before us his past life as one parade
of thrilling adventures and remarkable feats with one procession
following another.
If any book is the man, Kitab al-I'tibar is certainly Usamah.
Shaken by years, amiably rambling in his talk and reminiscences,
our nonagenarian spins one anecdote after another, slipping into
his story bits of his philosophy of life couched in such homely
and poignant, often naive, phrases as to be remembered. More
delectable stories can be had nowhere else in Arabic literature.
The author appears as a consummate story-teller who might
qualify for a competitive prize in a modern school of journalism.
His masterpiece is perhaps the story of the necklace found by a
pilgrim in Mecca. His rare insight into human nature, his keen
power of observation and analysis, his unfailing sense of humor,
coupled with his sincerity, fairness and high standard of veracity
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
make his book one of the great books of the Arabic language.
The author intends his book to be didactic. Hence the title
al-I'tibar, i. e., learning by example. The favorite theme is that
"the duration of the life of man is predetermined, that its end
can neither be retarded nor advanced" by anything man might
or might not do. In season and out of season he preaches his
sermon of which he does not seem to tire. Exposure to perils
and dangers does not affect in the least the allotted term of
life on this earth, and no one should "assume for a moment that
the hour of death is advanced by exposing one's self to danger,
or retarded by over-cautiousness". "Victory in warfare is from
Allah (blessed and exalted is he!) and is not due to organization
and planning."
His passage from the recount of one tale to another is determined by the association of ideas. One happening suggests to
his memory another happening either because of similarity or dissimilarity, comparison or contrast. After seemingly exhausting
a subject and starting on another he may digress and revert to
the former. Logic and scientific classification of data were no
idols to him any more than they were to other writers of his time.
Even the most gullible of readers may find here and there an
anecdote hard to believe, or a detail forced by the desire to tell
a good story. In his stories regarding holy men Usamah did not
rise above the level of the credulity of his generation, nor in his
stories relating to dreams and their interpretation. How could
he? And yet through it all there is no feeling on the part of
the reader of conscious fabrication by the author. The simplicity
of the narrative forbids it. But what is more, there is a decided
feeling that the author is desirous to keep his mind open and
his judgment fair and accurate. Consider his retrospective remark after extolling the virtues and hunting ability of his father:
"I know not whether this was due to the fact that I was viewing
him with the eye of love ... or whether my opinion of him was
based on reality." No sooner does he conclude one anecdote
proving the curious and primitive methods of Frankish medication than he starts another showing its efficiency.
His observations on the Franks, while not as full and deep
as we would like them to be, yet are perhaps as valuable as any
left us by ibn-Jubayr, ibn-al-Athir and other travelers and chroniclers. They are first-hand and frank and reflect the prevalent
Moslem public opinion. To a conservative Moslem as he was,
�OCTOBER,
1928
19
the apparently free sex relations among the Franks must have
seemed loose and shocking. To him "the Franks lack jealousy
in sex affairs" and "are void of all zeal and jealousy." Their
methods of ordeal by water and duel especially come up for censure, for they impressed him as far inferior to the Moslem judicial procedure then in vogue. Their system of medication appeared odd and primitive compared with the more highly developed system of the Arabs. The desire of one of them to show
to a Moslem "God as a child" in a church at Jerusalem was as
shocking as it was amusing. Again and again Usamah draws
distinction between the "acclimatized" Franks in Moslem
lands and the outlandish, rude "recent comers." But through it
all he does not >seem especially obtrusive, bitter, or unfair.
Following the perfunctory verbal usage of his time, he
does not fail to refer to al-Ifranj (the Franks) as "devils" and
"infidels" and to add a curse or an imprecation after the mention
of their name. But in almost the same breath he refers to the
Templars in Jerusalem as "my friends" and does not hesitate to
inform us that "a Frankish reverend knight" used to call him
"my brother." His treatment of the impressions he gained from
his enemies, the Franks, gives us probably the best index to his
judicious character as a writer.
On Monday, the 23rd of Ramadan, of the year 584 (November 16, 1188), the year after the conquest of Jerusalem by
Saladin, Usamah passed away in Damascus at the age of 96 lunar
(93 solar) years and was interred on the second day at the east
side of Mt. Qasiun considered by Moslem tradition "sacred and
most venerated" and associated with the names of Adam, Abel,
Abraham and many other prophets and martyrs. His tomb was
visited a few decades later by the Damascene biographer ibnKhallikan who writes: "I entered his mausoleum, which lies on
the northern bank of the Yazid River, and recited an extract
from the Koran over his grave, imploring Allah's mercy upon
him."
�20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
XDCT
The Wine Lyric of Al-Farid
By DR. NEJDJ A. KATIBAH
Bu
In the June and July issues of the SYRIAN WORLD of last
year, I gave a translation of Ibn-ul-Farid's Love Lyric, accompanied by two prefatory articles of the life of the author and his
religious tenets, Sufiism or Mohammedan Mysticism.
I would recommend the interested reader to review these
articles before reading the following translation of this noted
mystic's Wine Lyric. He would then have a clearer conception
of our poet's mystic flights and of the influences that contributed to stir his inspiration.
Ibn-ul-Farid's commentators all agree that what is signified
by wine in this lyric is Divine Knowledge.
N. A. K.
DELOVED, to thy name we drank a wine
That swayed our reason ere the vine was born.
The universe in thee, O drink divine,
We taste in essence, of its substance shorn,
To buoy our spirits up, our lives t' adorn:
Our wine's a sun, resplendent without guise,
That brims the moon, to golden fullness grown,
And bids the crescent, ere it opes its eyes,
To blend the chalice till the nascent starlets rise.
Ambrosial fragrance from this vintage flows:
—How else could I that fount of cheer detect?
Innate effulgence from this essence glows:
—How else the mind could fathom its effect,
Or picture to itself the beverage of th' elect?
The press of time has left of it a soul,
Mere breath of all its attributes select,
Transcending reason, though 'tis reason's goal:
Enbosomed in forbiddance, mystery veils it whole.
Thei
1
�ik
VCTQBER, 1928
21
Let but its name within a precinct fall,
Then temulent become as ne'er had been'
All those that hear the word—aye, drunk withal,
Yet free from shame, unstained by sin:
Their action is conviction from within.
But marvel not this name could thus inflame
And ever our enquiring reason quell and win—
Disdainful of containers or their claim,
The real escaped and left behind its potent name.
II
Shouldst thou recall its name, though unawares,
Rejoicing, thou wouldst banish all thy cares.
Suffice a glimpse at its unbroken seal
To thrill the convive's mind and make him real.
Besprinkled where the dead man long had lain,
Revived rises he and lives again.
Th' afflicted laid beside its vineyard's wall,
Would shake his sickness off and break its thrall.
The crippled, near it borne, would forthwith walk;
The dumb, observing how it tastes, would talk.
Should its aroma scent the orient air,
It would a westerner's chronic cold repair.
Upon a reaching hand, its goblet's ray
Becomes a star to guide one's nightly way.
Anointed haply o'er one's sightless eyes,
Though blind from birth, one's night for ever flies.
Decanted, gurgling flows its liquid clear
To cure his deafness, he who ne'er did hear.
Though bit, a pilgrim to its native land
Unpoisoned stays and journeys with his band.
Th' exorcist, tracing with his hand its name
Upon the insane's brow, insures his fame.
Inscribed upon a flag, this name would raise
An army's soul to earn deserved praise,
Through it the convive's nature grows refined,
Enlarged, ennobled, active, unresigned,
The hand that ne'er had given would spend its hoard
And patient grow, though ired, th' intolerant lord.
Th' unlettered boor, should he its veiling kiss,
Enlightened would arise in novel bliss.
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
oc:
III
"Describe this wine, thou learned," they declareAye, aye,—its attributes, know ye are these:
'Tis clear—more, clear than limpid drops of air;
More gentle than the summer's curling breeze;
'Tis flameless light pervading all it sees 5
Unincarnated soul it is, and was;
Ancient of days preceding all that is;
Impalpable and formless; cause of cause;
—But veiled from fools by its creations and its laws.
One
Anc
My soul has sought it, and with it combined
In loving oneness—but not matter there—
All wine became—no vine—though all mankind
And I old Adam's dust we share;
Yet, though my mother is its mother fair,
Behold a vine—no wine is there to see.
The reason for a vehicle or ware
—Its sense and value—is utility:
Though varied we, our soul's the wine, and vines are we.
F01
Before it no before the world has known,
And after it no other after is;
Finite is time to it—to it alone
Time owes its aeons and its distances:
In that beyond must sink all entities.
Its vintage was before the dawn of time,
And then our father's time commenced; it is
Its predecessor, ever in its prime,
Yet parentless, and lives in orphanhood sublime.
Nc
Rare virtues these that stir the soul to sing
Its praises both in gentle verse and prose;
Rejoicing of the heart its name doth bring
To him who never tasted it; his woes
Are banished and his dulness goes.
Like him whose heart is burning fast for Noam,
Though absent she, yet passing happy grows
To hear her name: he'd leap, he'd dance, he'd roam,
—To Paradise he soars forgetting Earth, his home.
on
m;
gPSggi?
�OCTOBER,
23
1928
IV
"Thou hast but drunk iniquity," they jibe.
—Nay, nay, I drank that which from it t' abstain
Is sin itself. Oh, for the cloistered tribe!
How oft, affected, reeled that holy train—
Nor tasted they the wine, though they would fain.
One draught of it I had at life's young dawn,
And drunken all my life I must remain,
And drunken still will be when life had gone,
And, moldering back to earth, gone sinew, flesh and bone,
Oh, drink it pure in deep ecstatic sips,
Unmixed absorb it, nor with it ought blend
Save lucent dews that grace the loved one's lips;
—To this admixture heart and will shouldst bend,
Or wrong thyself and heavenly taste offend.
Go seek it at its press—its virgin well;
To it with dulcent music thyself lend:
What boon it is with song!—Would words could tell!
For never care with it or song one hour can dwell.
One hour with it—one reveling, merry hour—
And lo, the groveling world obeys thy rule,
Thy servant it, and thou its lord of power;
What joy be his, who sober struts and cool?
Undrunken bore he lives, and dies a fool!
Unhappy he, as well bewail his days—
Misspent and void, a stagnant, rayless pool—
Who wastes his life in erring arid ways,
Nor with this wine, e'en though in dreams, his thirst allays.
It is related that the powerful Arab tribe Banu Tamim sought
one day their poet laureate and chided him for having long remained silent in singing their praise.
"Inspire me with your worthy deeds," he replied.
�(
24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"Syria for the Syrians" Again
AN EXPLANATION AND A RETRACTION.
By
DR.
M.
SHADID
TO the February, 1927, issue of the SYRIAN WORLD I contributed an article under the above caption which stirred up some
discussion in the March and April numbers of the same year.
The substance of this article was to the effect that for cultural, social and economic reasons or advantages, Syria is the
country of choice for Syrians to live in.
Recently I returned from a European trip with a side trip
through Syria and Egypt whose purpose was to find out whether
or not cultural, social and economic conditions were such as to
justify me in taking my family there to live.
I must say at the outset that I spent one month only in Syria,
and out of this month eleven days were spent in Judeidet Marjy'oun, my native village. However I visited many cities and
towns, viz., Beirut, Damascus, Sidon, Zahle, Jerusalem, Tiberias,
Haifa and many smaller places in Mount Lebanon.
As to the cultural and social advantages, I wish to reiterate
all that I have said in my former article and in my rebuttal to my
critics. In no country in the world can a Syrian feel at home as
he can in Syria. In no country in the world can he feel that he
is the equal of his neighbor. Nowhere can he obtain so full a
measure of social equality, and least of all in the United States
of America where, like the Jew, he is socially ostracized. The
superiority complex of the American people bars him from any
adequate measure of social intercourse so necessary to a well
rounded life.
Man is a gregarious animal, a social animal. Deprive him
of social relations and adequate social intercourse with his fellows
and he becomes "lop-sided," narrow, mean, cynical, Schopenhauer
to the contrary notwithstanding. Friendship, association, neighborliness, social occasions and what not are the aroma of life and it
is a hard, sordid life that is deprived of these relations. Yet that
is the life the average Syrian leads in these United States. I
observed the) life of Syrians along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts
�MBS
OCTOBER, 1928
25
and in the West and South, and I find it always the same. You
can always find Syrians trying to colonize and thus find relief from
social ostracism and social discontent and ennui. And where they
cannot, for business reasons, colonize you will find them driving
fifty to two hundred miles weekends to meet some Syrians and enjoy a day of social intercourse.
In my former article I tried to show that Syrians, like the
Jews, were socially ostracised in this country because of the prejudice that exists against our race. I was severely criticized for
this by those who, ostrich-like, bury their heads in the sand. I
was accused of making generalizations from strictly personal experience as though my case was in any particular unique, while in
reality it is not.
Cultural advantages in Syria are on a high plane. The benefits of education are widespread. I had the privilege of addressing school children on two occasions and I find that much progress
has been made in teaching in the schools and colleges. The American University of Beirut deserves especial mention. It certainly
is the greatest asset that Syria has today.
Too bad the same things cannot be said of economic conditions in Syria. But the truth as I see it must be told even though
it hurts. I have visited twelve different countries on this trip and
Syria comes closer than any of them to economic ruin. I have certainly been misinformed on economic conditions in that country or
I would not have said what I did say in the February, 1927, number of THE SYRIAN WORLD. Follows an excerpt of what I did
write:
"The majority of the Syrian people in the United States will
be better off economically in their own country. The needs of
Syria are agricultural and Syrian agricultural possibilities have not
been touched. Successful agriculture depends on available cheap
land and cheap labor, and Syria has both of them.
"Cotton in Syria should be a very profitable crop, indeed
more so than in this country owing to the climatic conditions and
to the availability of cheap land and cheap labor. And cotton is
a world staple with a ready market. Egypt prospers with cotton,
why not Syria? Corn and wheat may be produced in great abundance in Syria, and I verily believe that the only way to stop emigration of our people to foreign lands is in educating our people to
the very great possibilities of farming.
"But farming, though the chief opportunity, is not the only
�_«-«_*
26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
one in Syria for the Syrians. Once agriculture is put on its feet
the country will become ready for other commercial and industrial
enterprises. In this country all depends on agriculture j where
farmers succeed all others succeed in proportion. When farmers
fail others fail too. The same will apply to Syrian agriculture,
etc."
*
Much as I hate to do so, I wish now to retract this statement.
Economic conditions in Syria are as bad as they have always been
and as they will be for a long time to come. The causes of economic distress in Syria are too fundamental to be remedied by a
change of government or legislation. The causes have to do with
soil, climate, available land, popular psychology, agricultural and
mechanical education, etc.
Where I got the notion I do not know, but I have been under
the impression that there was plenty of good tillable cheap land
in Syria, and that the climate for farming purposes was all that
could be desired. From this false premise I arrived at the conclusion above stated within quotation marks.
Imagine my disillusionment when I discoverd that most of
Syria was hilly, mountainous, broken land and that it did not rain
as at rule during April, May, June, July, August and September.
There is some irrigable land, to be sure, but not enough, and what
land there is under irrigation is beyond the reach of the average
man to buy. For the equivalent of the American acre I was
asked from three hundred to one thousand dollars an acre. Nor
was this price based on the actual yield of the crop. It was based
on sentiment and other reasons. I can go to Louisiana today and
buy land that would average not less than one cotton bale to the
acre for fifty dollars per acre.
I am told there is plenty of land around Horns and Hamma
but it might be too cold for cotton and if it does not rain for six
months out of twelve you cannot raise much of anything without
irrigation. I cannot champion a "back to Syria movement" when
I do not find enough good land to support the present population.
Syria will probably import wheat this year as it has done at times
before.
Nor does one find any compensation for this lack of soil and
proper climate. I find no mining industry and no manufacturing
industry to employ men and women who have no land to till.
Farming, mining and manufacturing are the basis of economic
prosperity and well-being, but I do not find any of them in Syria
�OCTOBER, 1928
27
to any mentionable extent. I am told that Syria at one time supported a much larger population than at present inhabit it. Possibly in those days the wants of the people were simple and few.
But they have now expanded with expanding civilization, and
what was sufficient for our fathers is not quite sufficient for ourselves j the luxuries of yesterday are necessities today.
There being no large producing class of people, one can
hardly expect prosperity for the commercial and professional
classes. Twenty business failures is the record for Beirut for the
last six months. Syria is top heavy with people who are trying
to make a living in a secretarial, professional, commercial, nonproductive fashion. You can hire a servant for five to ten dollars
a month. You may secure a chauffeur for twenty-five dollars a
month and expect him to feed himself. There is plenty of cheap
labor but no cheap land.
Nor is living cheap compared with cheap labor except in the
interior villages. In Beirut I consider living costs high compared
with wages and income. One can make a living as a clerk, a chauffeur, etc., but it will not be a good living. And this is as might be
expected. Where production of commodities is meager as in agriculture, and where manufactured articles as cloth, beer, ink, chocolate, shoes, hats, etc., are imported, the cost of living will be high.
It is doubly high where wages and salaries are as low as competition for jobs can make them.
Taxes are high as they are nearly everywhere during this
post-war period, but they weigh doubly heavy on people in Syria
and Palestine owing to these economic conditions.
Syria is not yet self-supporting and will not be for some
time to come. People require mechanical and agricultural edu;ation and they need to learn that all labor is honorable and most
of all farm labor. The farmer must not be held in low esteem,
for he is the foundation stone of prosperity and civilization. The
people will have to develop more initiative. They should learn
to depend on their own resources and not on those of others. They
import their beer, their chocolate, their ink, their car batteries, etc.,
etc. There is no excuse for such lack of initiative. There is
plenty of local talent and intrinsic ability but no initiative. In
time, no doubt, they will develop this initiative and with the help
of capital which is ever seeking new fields of investment, will muster their own resources.
At the present time Syria's imports greatly exceed her ex-
�28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ports which is a positive sign of economic backwardness. She is
living a parasitic existence to a large extent. She raises some
0J1 ves,, wheat, silk, fruits, etc., but not enough to counteract her
great dependence in other respects. She lives in a large measure
irom her tourist trade and from money sent her from her sons in
the Americas and elsewhere in the world. Something like ten
million dollars are sent her annuallly for maintenance.
It hurts me to have to make this retraction and these admissions. I have been in this country for 30 years and always intended to return to my native country. For the last ten years I
have been taking special courses in medicine and surgery trying to
cover every specialty and to acquire a working knowledge of every
branch of medicine and surgery with a view to going back to Syria
and to build a hospital and establish a clinic to take care of the
sick and defective. This I may yet do. But I am no longer very
enthusiastic about my native country since I made this visit. If I
do return it will not be because of any overpowering enthusiasm
but from a sense of service—because I feel that I can do (there)
enormously more good than I can elsewhere.
Arab Proverbs
If you would keep your secret from your enemies keep it
also from your friends.
The one-eyed man is king among the totally blind.
Trees often transplanted seldom prosper.
Only the bones rattle in the pot.
He was the first in commiting assault, yet the first in
making a complaint.
A lover's blows are like pelting with raisins, and his stones
as welcome as pomegranates.
Mud may not adhere, but it will leave a mark.
�29
OCTOBER, 1928
The Bride of the Brave
A complete short story depicting chivalrous marriage customs
in the interior of Syria
t
By AREPH EL-KHOURY
Q OUR uncle and our Sheikh, today is your day. I am seeking
your help," said a youth of gigantic height and the appearance of 3- lion.
He was about twenty-five years of age and of olive complexion like the rest of his compatriots, descendants of a race which for
thousands of years had lived in the hills surrounding the noble
mountains of Hermon. His wide forehead indicated power and
his deep brown eyes glowed with a strange fire. His nose was
that of a Grecian, and his small dark moustache crowned a delicate mouth which indicated intelligence and kindness. His strong,
square chin was that of a true mountaineer.
The Sheikh was a descendant of the tribes who emigrated to
Hauran from Southern Arabia and were known in that part of the
world as the "Ghassassinah" whose princes were once the Roman
deputy governors of Syria. Being Christian, they were forced to
flee to the interior after the Moslem hosts had defeated the
Romans on the plains of Damascus.
"Tell us your troubles, O my lad," said the Sheikh, beguiling
himself by counting the beads of his rosary.
"O uncle, in the village of El-Rasa there is a pair of blue
eyes!" said Kamil, the young man.
"Which means that I am to go and demand her as wife
for my nephew."
"If you order it."
"Who may the girl be and, furthermore, does she love you?
"She is the daughter of the Sheikh of El-Rasa. This answers the first part of your question. As for the second, I have
my hand in cold water."
"Go, my son, and we are relying on His mercy."
As Kamil heard this he took the Sheikh's hand, kissed it and
placed it on his forehead. Flinging his Aba (cloak) over his arm,
he left the house.
�?0
THE SYRIAN WORLD
As he reached home his mother, with outstretched arms
eagerly inquired, "What did he say?"
'
«SC [ider °/}he horSe Promised good omens."
lne long of days," commented the mother."
h rd in the court ard
ran
' WaSorder,
? my lord?" y '
ran tfhl^
to him: ^wlV
"What is your
A se
nt
tinn<Th,eAheikh ^VVhl nameS °f Several Persons wIth instructhem t0 Visk him durin
evening
^
S the followi»g
At the appointed time they came. They were minor Sheikhs
S^eSieikh ^ ^ °n imp0rtL —unitytt!
fnll f 7KamC Ital1 Shfik,h With a broad face and ^ white beard,
null' Si *£ ^ Sk4ider °ne> and behind the came a
IT IK ^S- The firSt t0 enter was ^e venerable
Se X
f-Khallili. The second was Sheikh Taric,
the most humorous of the circle, generous and wealthy, having
a C dd and
m^
?e Wit of an EgyP^n. Sheikh Assad had
f J
much respect for him because, aside from his humorous air with
which he was endowed by the grace of Allah, he had the wisdom
or an Arab philosopher.
Sheikh Assad stood to his height and invited them to sit on
the divan. To the amazement of everyone, Taric retired- he
returned a few minutes later when they had all been seated!
Sit, O Sheikh Taric," said Sheikh Assad. But the latter
hesitating at first and looking about the room, finally said, «Aiee'
by Allah, sit, and where shall one sit? Look, youcan't place a
shoe between one Sheikh and another!" Sheikh Assad and the
company laughed heartily.
«*r C|gare"eS *?e serYed af well as coffee. Sheikh Assad spoke:
Kamil has found a girl, and his mother asks you to join me in
going forth to ask her hand in marriage "
h G d S mer
Cried Sheikh Taric
ri«*
' ° 'tiger shall
fn:have
- "Can * ** credible
that !°
the insane
a wife?"
"This is the hand of Allah! "said Sheikh Naif. "But who
is the girl and who are her parents?"
UngCSt
er f Sheikh Ameen S lim
J7heJ°
° Assad.
*
of the village
S
oft Kofra,"
answered/^
Sheikh
"El-Salibi!" (the crusader) murmured Sheikh Taric. For
�OCTOBER, 1928
31
Sheikh Ameen was a direct descendant of a knight whq with other
Christian warriors had fled northward after the Crusaders' defeat
at the battle of Yarmook. Here they changed their names and
settled among the natives. They became prosperous, and Ameen's
grandfather was proclaimed a Sheikh of his village. His sons
inherited the same office.
Sheikh El-Khallili stood to his height. With his right hand
touching his moustache, he said: "Kamil is a hair in our moustache
and for the sake of his eyes we shall ride."
"We shall," echoed those who were seated.
This took place on Friday, and on Monday ten sheikhs and
ten equerries gathered in Sheikh Assad's courtyard. Sheikh Taric
came riding a white Arabian mare, a splendid animal as large as
a camel. Slung on his shoulder was a modern Turkish Mauser
rifle, while an old jewelled sword swung at his side. Sheikh Assad
rode an Arabian horse of the "Irkawia" strain. He carried his
jewelled scimitar, rifle and jewelled Hedjezian dagger, while his
chest was gleaming with cartridge belts. A gigantic negro rode
at the head of the group, Sheikh Assad's bodyguard. Behind the
Sudanese came Sheikh Assad, Sheikh El-Khallili and Sheikh
Taric. The rest of the Sheikhs with 'their footmen followed on
colts.
After three hours of hard riding they came to the public
fountain situated at the eastern end of the village to which they
were going. As they passed they saw two maidens strolling among
the almond trees. Sheikh El-Khallili pushed his mare, exclaiming "This is the girl." Sheikh Assad looked and saw a tall, slender maiden dressed in crimson. Her uncovered head was carried
high. Heavy braids of fair hair like the color of Arab honey hung
over her shoulders. Her blue eyes, ruddy complexion and broad
forehead were a combination of beauty and intelligence.
Having satisfied themselves of the beauty of the girl, the
company rode at a gallop to Sheikh Ameen's house. At the foot
of the steps which led to the main entrance they were received by
Sheikh Ameen and a few of the village Sheikhs. Greetings were
exchanged by kissing the hands and then the lips, the customary
greeting of that part of the country. The host led the way to a
large hall spread with rich rugs.
"My house is honored," began Sheikh Ameen as the servant
brought coffee, cigarettes and lemonade. After a brief interval
Sheikh Assad made an effort to disclose the object of his mission.
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"You shall say nothing now of what you have come for. The
rights of hospitality ordain that you stay three days, upon the
expiration of which you are at liberty to say why you are here.
Yowr presence knows that."
"May your house be always available for the protection of
the needy," said Sheikh Assad, "and may your gate, by the grace
of Allah, be open to every seeker. As for ourselves, we count
ourselves among members of the household and the laws of hospitality do not apply to us. We deem it our privilege to be hosts
in your house. Therefore let me continue what I started to say."
Walla, I am all ears."
4 "I and my house are at your order.
"May Allah grant you long age," interposed El-Khallili.
"We have come to pay our respects to you, and to ask the
hand of youp sister in honorable marriage to my nephew Kamil."
Sheikh Ameen's face became serious. His hand holding the
rosary rested limply on his knee as he remained silent for a few
minutes. Finally he said, "Had your presence come asking for
one of my sons I would have offered him; but alas! We have
already pledged our word." At this Sheikh Assad would not
remain any longer. He rose, followed by the rest, and advanced
toward the corner where the rifles were stacked, but Sheikh Ameen
intercepted him, pleading "Pray, remain in our house for the
night."
"May it continue prosperous," said El-Khallili. "Allow us
to go." Sheikh Ameen stepped aside.
When they reached their village they were met by their sons,
headed by Kamil. From the expression on their faces one could
tell that they were disappointed. Kamil went with his uncle to
the latter's house.
"Answer what I am about to ask," said Sheikh Assad.
"Yes, O uncle."
"When did you meet the girl?"
"When we visited the church of Saint George."
"Did you talk to her?"
"Yes."
"And what did she tell you?"
"She turned her cheeks," said Kamil shyly.
"Did you tell her that you wanted her to be your wife?"
"Yes."
"Did she promise to remain your love?"
"Aiee."
�OCTOBER,
1928
33
"Now go to Sheikh El-Khallili and do as he orders."
*
*
*
Sheikh El-Khallili was seated on a pile of rugs; before him
was a water pipe. His son Aned was leaning sidewise close to
him. He was a brave youth of about twenty. As Kamil entered
he saluted and sat down. "O Sheikh El-Khallili, what is to be
done?" he asked.
"God is merciful," was the answer. "You heed what I am
about to tell you. The ancient custom by which you can obtain
the girl without humiliation or disgrace on your part may now be
invoked. Aned will go with you. So will Fawaz, the son of
Sheikh Taric, and Wahaj the son of Sheikh Youssif, and Zien
your cousin. What you should do is to communicate with the girl
and agree on a date for her to leave her brother's home. At the
appointed time you will be waiting for her on the plains beneath
the village. But remember, if you are pursued, shoot, but not to
kill. Hit with your swords to disarm but not to wound. Strike
with your hands but not to hurt. Because if anyone is killed there
will be a feud leading to acts of reprisal, and Sheikh Ameen was
our ally in days of clashes. Go and Allah be with you."
Kamil left and Aned followed.
A week later the village youths gathered in Kamil's house.
"Two weeks and we shall ride, if God is pleased," said Kamil.
"And Zien?" asked Aned.*
"The news intoxicated him. Upon hearing it he began to
polish his rifle and sharpen his scimitar. I assure you that he is
resting on fire," said Kamil.
As the sun disappeared behind the hill marking the boundary
of Sheikh Assad's farm, a body of horsemen appeared on the footpath leading to the main gate.
"Welcome!" shouted a youth as he advanced towards them
followed by a slave. "Welcome, O riders of the darkness." They
greeted him and entered the courtyard where the ranchmen were
resting.
"Are you hungry?" asked Zien.
"No, by God." (La walla.)
"Are we to ride now?" said Aned.
i
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Aiee, by Allah and your eyes!" Then he commanded the
slave Meteb to saddle the fair one. And no sooner had they all
mounted than they rode into the darkness.
A little before midnight they were in the plains at the foot
of Sheikh Ameen's village. Zien, being the son of the Sheikh of
the village and the better strategist, was the leader of the company. In marksmanship and horsemanship he had no peer.
Fawaz was left at this spot and at distances of a hundred
paces apart they stationed Kamil, Aned and Wahaj. Zien pushed
ahead, followed by the slave leading the mare. At the entrance
to the village Zien dismounted and advanced cautiously but encountered no one. Finally he wrapped his "kaffieh" (kerchief)
around his head and advanced toward the house of Sheikh Ameen.
Silence prevailed save for the stamping hoofs of some animals.
Within five yards of the gate there was a fig tree which he climbed
to better see and listen, but no one appeared.
"Has she deceived us?" he thought to himself. "Or has
she gone by another road?" He looked around but saw nothing
save the white stone walls of the house. The strains of a flute were
heard in the upper part of the village. Zien was so raptured that
he almo/t forgot his errand, when suddenly below him, under the
branches of the tree, he saw a figure, from whose appearance he
judged it was a woman. The figure looked to the south, then to
the east, as if searching for someone. Zien whispered, "Who is
this—Kholla?"
She turned sharply around and asked, "Who are vou,
y
Kamil?"
'
"No, Zien." He descended quickly and, seizing her by the
arm, placed his kaffieh and ikal on her head and threw the aba
over her shoulders. She turned the kerchief around her face and
left nothing visible except her eyes.
"For God's sake, let us hurry; if I am overtaken they will
cut my throat," said the girl.
"Not while this sword is in my left and this rifle in my
right," he replied confidently. Without being molested, they
reached the place where the slave was stationed.
"Can you ride?" asked Zien, and for answer she lightly
sprang into the saddle.
"Walla, is this the girl?" said the slave.
"Hush, you stupid fellow, someone may hear you," commanded Zien. When they had advanced a short distance the
-
�OCTOBER,
1928
35
moon appeared from behind Hermon. A horseman's silhouette
was visible.
"Who is that?" asked Kholla.
"Kamil," said Zien, grinning.
"Did you bring her?" asked the horseman, who proved to be
Wahaj.
"Thi s is not Kamil's voice," she said, and the slave laughed.
As they proceeded another horseman appeared, but this time
Kholla did not speak. The horseman was Aned who, upon seeing her face in the moonlight, exclaimed "Another moon!" By
this time Kamil came galloping at top speed followed by Fawaz,
and as he reached them they drew the heads of their mares aside
and left him and Kholla alone. They rode swiftly and at sunrise they came upon a man from Kholla's village, who, upon seeing her, shouted: "Aiee, kidnapped?" Zien disengaged his right
foot from the stirrup and dashed upon the man to kick him, but
Aned came between them. "It is forbidden," he said. Zien refrained from his rash act of violence but shouted: "Aiee, and six
hundred aiees! go and tell of what you have seen!" The man
made no answer, but he drove his needle deep in the neck of
his mule.
Three hours later the raiders were at the top of the hill about
two miles from their village. Once among the vineyards they
made their way to the tent of the guardian of the crops who served
them a substantial meal. They tarried until darkness before resuming their march.
At about a quarter of a mile from the village their advance
was halted by a bullet whizzing above their heads. It came from
the ruins of an old house and was followed by several more in
quick succession. Zien would not consent to take to cover and
raised his rifle to his shoulder and was about to fire when Kholla
seized the rifle.
"That is my brother," she cried.
Zien, however, charged on the ambush with drawn sword
and the men ceased firing. Wahaj and Fawaz followed Zien and
the men in the ruins surrendered. They were Kholla's young
brother, a lad of twenty, her cousin and her betrothed. At that
moment the village horsemen appeared on the ridge. They were
about fifty, headed by Sheikh Assad. In fact, when Kholla's
relatives heard the firing of the village rifles and the beat of the
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
drum, and saw Zien dashing upon them like a cyclone, their
strength and courage failed them.
"We never expected this of you," said Kholla's brother to
her, but she made no answer.
"Your brother, eh?" said Zien, addressing Kholla. She
bowed her head. Zien, the panther, then turned preacher. "This
is the hand of Allah, and whatever a person does is written on his
forehead. Your brother shall now be our honored guest," and,
addressing the youth, "Come before these horsemen know anything about our little affair."
"Good news, if it please God?" inquired Sheikh Assad as
he arrived on the scene.
"A little gazwa" (raid), answered Meteb, the slave.
Sheikh Assad surveyed them with a scrutinizing look,
"Where is the loot?" and all eyes turned toward Kholla who
lifted her head proudly.
It was but a short time when the whole company entered the
house of Sheikh Assad. They were no sooner seated than a
woman's voice from another compartment was letting loose a torrent of abusive language against Sheikh Assad and all his village.
It was Kholla's mother. Presently the mother dashed into the
hall. "Where is she, the she dog?" she shouted.
"Be patient, O Sheikha" (wife of the Sheikh), said Sheikh
Taric.
"Curses on your beard and face!" she hissed, and in her
rage she dashed from one room to another, striking, cursing and
abusing everyone who stepped in her way. Kholla was sent to a
nearby house. Her brother, who seemed to understand things
better than his mother, ran to Sheikh Assad.
"O Sheikh," he said, "we have come only to please her.
If we had stayed she would have made a group of gypsies out
of us. My brother Ameen bid me tell you that."
"May God direct us to the right path," answered the Sheikh,
and then, addresing the village priest, "O priest, go and appease
the Sheikha." The priest went in company of Sheikh El-Khallili.
They found the old woman belching her verbal bombardment
against the women of the village, who made no answer.
"Ya Hormi!" (O woman) cried the priest. She looked
around, and seeing the priest, she ceased talking. "Come and hear
the word," he continued, and she meekly advanced and kissed his
hand.
�37.
OCTOBER, 1928
"Many things have happened in this world and many more
shall happen," said the priest. "No one knows what the future
has in store for him. The wise course to follow is to submit to
fate. Do you think it wise and sane to take your daughter back
after our youths have kidnapped her? This is the custom. Remember that your eldest son did the same thing when he brought
his wife. Now, the thing for you to do is to ask your daughter
if she loves our boy—if not you may take her back."
"No, no, I prefer to take her in a casket if things reach that
limit!" she said.
"Then return to your house and we shall make peace with
your son Sheikh Ameen."
As she disappeared on the road in the direction of her village
the priest boastfully remarked, "Had it not been for my presence,
God knows what would have happened."
"Rather say it was the respect for your jubba and calloussa
(robe and hat) among women. But had it been an affair between
men only swords and rifles would have decided the difference,"
rejoined Sheikh Taric.
The Desert
By
MITCHELL FERRIS
Bare rocks and burning sands
Crawling with living death,
Wave on wave it stretches,
A barren land of dread.
Death in every crevice,
Death in the shifting sands,
Death in its most hideous form,
From Nature's grasping hands.
This is the land of the strong,
No weakling here can live,
The mighty She takes to Her bosom,
To them the treasures of the earth she gives.
I have served Her long and true,
And now that my day has come,
Thank God! She claims her own
When the race of life is run.
�38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Palestine Economic Readjustment
JTrlE process of economic readjustment in Palestine, following
the crisis of 1925, continued during 1927, according to reports
from Oscar S. Heizer, American Consul in Jerusalem, published
in Commerce Reports of September 3. Important developments
during the year included the introduction of a new currency.and
the conclusion of a loan for various lines of construction work.
Activity increased among exporting industries, but the low purchasing power tended to depress those producing for the local
market. Building operations declined, and there was little change
in the unemployment situation. Agricultural production was favorable and exports of oranges increased considerably. Work
was started on the Jordan River hydroelectric project. Immigration declined sharply.
The orange crop, which constitutes the principal export item,
totaled 2,214,000 cases during 1926-27, as compared with
1,515,000 cases in 1925-26 and 2,146,500 cases in 1924-25.
There has been a steady expansion of area under orange cultivation, especially around Jaffa, and a large increase in exports
of this fruit is expected in the near future. This situation has
necessitated the development of new markets for oranges and
during the year considerable progress was made in Germany,
Denmark, Holland and Rumania. In order to maintain the
standard of Palestine oranges on foreign markets, the Government adopted regulations with respect to quality and preparations for shipment.
Experiments were carried on during the year with a view
to developing the export of grapes. A shipment made to Great
Britain proved to meet the quality demand on that market. As
a result a regular trade in this fruit is expected to develop. The
area under melons, another important export item, was increased
during the year.
Cereal returns are reported to have compared favorably
with the previous year, large increases being recorded for durrah
and sesame and average1 returns for wheat and barley. A threeday agricultural show, held at Haifa with the purpose of encouraging the introduction of more modern methods in farming, was
attended by approximately 15,000 persons. There were 1,589
�OCTOBER, 1928
29
agricultural exhibits, 227 exhibits of agricultural industries, and
25 miscellaneous displays.
As in 1926, an orange show was held at Jaffa, with satisfactory results for both growers and exporters.
Credit conditions were not satisfactory during 1927, but
certain important financial developments toward the end of the
year had a favorable effect on the general situation. These included the introduction of the new Palestine currency and the
flotation of a loan in London for construction work, etc.
The new currency, based on the pound sterling, was introduced on November 1, 1927, and is guaranteed by both the British and Palestine Governments. This currency is entirely covered by British securities. The Palestine pound, as the new unit
is called, is divided into 1,000 mills, and replaces the Egyptian
currency hitherto in local circulation, estimated at between
£E1,500,000 and £E,2,000,000<. The exchange of currency was
to be completed by March 31, 1928.
The increasing need of various construction work in order
to expedite the development of the country created a necessity
for capital from abroad. To this end a loan, not to exceed
£4,500,000, was floated in London in December. The loan is to
be'utilized as follows: Railway construction, £1,640,000; harbor construction and port improvements, £1,115,000; other
works, as public buildings ,etc, £745,000; purchase of existing
railway and other capital assets from the British Government,
£1 000 000. It is also proposed to construct a harbor at Haifa
with a'part of the proceeds. These new projects are expected
to alleviate somewhat the unemployment situation.
The Government monopoly on salt was abolished November
1, 1927, and mining of rock salt was begun at the southern end
of the Dead Sea by a local concern, with a view to supplying the
Palestine market.
The damage sustained from earthquakes during July created an urgent demand for emergency funds and had a tempos
rarily unfavorable effect on economic conditions. The losses
were chiefly at Nablus, Es-Salt, and other sections of northern
Palestine, as well as in Trans Jordan.
Work was started during the latter part of the year on the
Jordan hydroelectric concession, which covers the exclusive utilization of the Jordan and Yarmuk Rivers for hydroelectric purposes and involves the construction of dams, reservoirs, canals,
�MgMH
40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
pumping stations, etc. This project is an important factor in the
economic progress of the country, since it will aid industrial development that is now handicapped by the necessity of importing
all fuel.
A concession for the exploitation of the mineral wealth of
the Dead Sea was agreed to in principle during the year. The
mineral resources of the country have not been fully investigated but preliminary surveys indicate that the Dead Sea deposits represent at present the country's most valuable mineral
asset from a commercial point of view.
Building operations which hitherto provided considerable
employment in the cities, declined from the 1926 level. Approximately £P770,000 were spent on new construction during 1927
as against £P1,141,000 in 1926 and £P2,059,000 in 1925.
The financial statement of the Government of Palestine
for the period April 1-December 31, 1927, shows receipts totaling £P1,739,400 and expenditures reaching £P1,944,400, thus
producing a deficit of £P205,000. Estimates for this period
covered revenues to £Pl,772,400 and expenditures to £P1,923,900. Approximately £P346,500 were spent on public works,
as compared with an estimate of £P145,800; this extra work,
although not of an urgent nature, was undertaken with a view
to ameliorating the unemployment situation.
Returns from customs, excise and port dues show a small
decrease from the previous year, attributed in part to exemption
of local industry from import duties on certain raw materials,
including cotton and yarns of linen, jute, hemp and flax, corkwood, offaling of olive oil, etc.
Gradual progress was made along industrial lines during
the year. Certain industries were aided by the new customs tariff, which either reduced or abolished the duty on many materials used in manufacture. The limited purchasing power of the
population, however, has continued to retard the development
of industries entirely dependent on the home market, but industries which export a part of their production were favored by an
increased demand from nearby markets, as Syria and Egypt. This
increase was chiefly in leather, cement, textiles, olive oil, and
soap.
A few small manufacturing plants, mainly those making
biscuits and candy, made progress on the local market in compe-
?prr
~
*
�OCTOBER, 1928
41
tition with foreign products. Various new enterprises were
^^t^iSSric. are small and their working «£
tal limited, the increased activity has had only a slight effect
on tne national economic structure Their sustained W£
however, have absorbed some of the labor released from build%%eut°weekly air service was maintained throughout the
year between Cairo and Baghdad and Basra, with a stop at Gaza,
^^Foreign trade in 1927 was marked by an increase of 43 per
cent over 1926 in value of exports, including specie shipments,
and a small decline in imports for consumption.
Egypt furnished 28.39 per cent of Palestine's importsj the
United Kingdom, 13.71; Syria, 14.26; Germany, 9.02; France,
5 7- Italv 4.85; United States, 4.3 per cent.
5
' The United Kingdom' took 34.75 per cent of Palestine exports, followed by Egypt, with 29.1 per cent; Syria 13 72;
France, 5.89; Germany, 4.75; the United States, "t£arce*.
The tide of emigration, which set in during 1926, at the
height of the crisis, continued during 1927. A total of 2 274
Sons who had been residents of Palestine prior to July, 1920
and 4?704 settlers since that date left the country; the respective
figures for 1926 were 1,694 and 7,735.
At the same time there was a decrease in the number of
immigrants, only 3,395 arriving in 1927 as against 13,910 m
thC
TL°UeSsSed that the number of tourists during,1927
exceeded that of the previous year when they totaled 13,000.
A REDEEMING FEATURE
Two Arab sages, Qus Ibn Sa'ida and Aktham Ibn Saify,
were discussing the failings of human nature and the best indiSnTgoodgcharacter. Said Ibn Saify: "The vices of man are
many "Yes," replied Ibn Sa'ida, "but I know of one characterSc which if practised will overshadow all man's vices no matter
how numerous. It is the ability to hold one's tongue.
�42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
EDITORIAL COMMENT
CALL TO DUTY
QUR able contributor, Mr. A.
Hakim, touches in his discussion published in this issue on
a vital subject. We are in agreement with him on what he puts
in the mouth of his sage that
our loyalty should go whole and
undivided to our adopted country, yhis applies not alone to
the United States but to every
other country to which Syrian
emigration has been directed.
The Syrians of South America,
Australia, New Zealand and
South Africa owe their loyalty
first to their respective countries
of adoption. We have definitely passed the stage where our
emigration could be described as
temporary and transient. The
only justification for any form
of group formation on our part
is to protect and promote our
interests andl standing as a race,
and to ward off possible attacks by would-be detractors.
But there is another and
more important side to this
question. We should not only
give our loyalty to our adopted country but we should in all
honor and justice do so actively
and wholeheartedly. It is not
sufficient that we abide by the
law. It is equally or more important that we engage active-
ly in upholding the law. In
other words, we cannot remain
in the position of giving our
adopted country passive loyalty.
To be true citizens of a country
one must feel himself an integral part of it, giving it of his
best, and actively and conscientiously fulfilling his obligations towards it to the extent
that he expects to enjoy the
privileges it bestows.
Up to a certain time, Syrians
in the United States were satisfied with the help they felt
themselves competent to give in
times of national crises. During the last war there were
many Syrian volunteers who
would not wait for the draft.
Their most signal contribution,
however, was in their large purchases of the Liberty Loan issues. To this they were prompted by purely patriotic motives.
It should be one of their most
treasured distinctions to be
ranked first among racial groups
in proportion to their numbers
to have aided the country on
this occasion.
But even this we should not
consider enough. Our activities
should be evident in every
phase of national life. We
must prove our active interest
in the issues that come up before the country for decision.
�, OCTOBER, 1928
43
Not alone should we consider Syrian-American. Coming from
it our privilege but our sworn a country steeped in religious
prejudice, and looking to Amerduty to do so.
Now in the United States we ica as a haven of tolerance and
are approaching a presidential a country of equal opportunities
election which promises to be irrespective of a person's religone of the most hotly contested ious belief, the Syrian who has
in history, and calling for de- forsaken his former (allegiance
cision on many vital issues. Can and (has adopted American citithe Syrians remain indifferent in zenship grieves to discover that
the face of the vital matters that in his new homeland such views
convulse the nation? We trust in politics can be entertained as
they will not be and that they obtain in his motherland. His
will prove by their interest in realization of the disastrous efthe political life of the country fects such considerations had in
that their solicitude for its wel- shaping the destinies of his old
fare is deep and sincere. We country make him fearful of
have forsworn forever the ear- the same consequences befalling
lier attitude which has charac- his beloved America. His apterized the preliminary stage of prehension in this respect may
our immigration. Now it is in- be unduly exaggerated. Americumbent upon us to prove that can common sense and fair play
our claim to sincerity in natural- may be trusted to prevail in the
ization rests on a solid founda- end. But the Syrian who has
tion of fact. The opportunity gone through the hell-fire of
is now at hand for us to furnish religious prejudice as it raged
such proof. The country is ours in his motherland is rendered
as much as it is any other citi- particularly sensitive to any
zen, and our claim to such a possibility of arousing from his
right can never be validated ex- sleep the terrible monster of
cept by the exercise of those du- intolerance. And it is because
ties upon which depends the of such painful and disastrous
welfare of the country and the experiences that he is prone to
perpetuation of its institutions. magnify the slightest provocatory incident.
There are among the Syrians
in America a large number
RELIGION IN POLITICS whose main motive for immiMO one can regret the injection gration was the desire to escape
of the religious question in the oppression trailing in the
American politics more than the wake of religious intolerance.
�^*£E
MMMKKk-^
44
Certainly every Syrian in America feels the relief of being in
a country which does not countenance religious distinction.
The Syrian is anxious to forget
religion as a political expedient.
So much religious influence has
saturated politics in his motherland that the least mention of
such a possibility in his new
home? is repulsive and aggravating.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
same time the stamp of an official state religion.
With this in view, the Syrian-Americans can but condemn
any attempt to inject religion
into the politics of his adopted
country. He would like to see
perpetuated the ideal of equality of opportunity to all citizens. He sees no reason for
discrimination against any man
for having been raised on the
sidewalks of a metropolis of the
East, or on a farm of the West,
or in a log cabin in the Middle
States. Choice of candidates to
public office should be decided
on personal merit alone.
The Syrian-American of today is not the same person of
some decades ago. He has become 'thoroughly American in
conviction and practice. He
may be relied upon to exercise
the privilege of his franchise.
The welfare of the country,
the conduct of government, are
of as much concern to him as to
OSTRACISM
any other loyal citizen, native
or naturalized.
£)R. M. SHADID again raises
the issue /o£ social ostracism
Particularly now is the Syrian sensitive to the religious against the Syrians in America.
question. He finds that his He is as emphatic in his reiteramotherland is jstill crushed by tion of thi9 charge as he is canthe heavy hand of religious interference in politics. In Leb- did in his retraction of his
anon, political parties are form- championship of a "back to Syred on religious lines and gov- ia" movement. It is possible
ernments rise and fall in a proc- that our readers would want to
ess of continual readjustment express themselves on Dr. Shato denominational demarca- did's present views as they have
tions. While in the State of
Syria religious influence was so done on the former occasion. In
strong as to cause the anomalous such case we would ask corresand strange situation of decid- pondents to confine their coming on a republican form of ment to issues and refrain from
government but giving it at the personal allusions.
�L-
—————
OCTOBER, 1928
—
45
Books and Authors
MORE STORIES FROM THE EAST
Other Arabian Nights. By H. I. KATIBAH, New York. Charles
Scribner's Sons. $2.50.
Reviewed by NAGLA M. LAF LOOFY, M. D.
IT is rarely that someone in these effete years can add to an
almost completed store of dream tales dealing with devils,
hobgoblins, genies, princes charming and princesses fair; riding
carpets on air and steed afire j fighting all evils and doing worlds
of good before they "lived happily forever afterward" in the
approved fairy tale style. These delightful weaves of our restless childhood hours we owe to Grimm, Anderson, the almost
mythical Aesop and to a few others who are less widely known
but no less worthy of praise. Some of the best of these contributions to fariy lore come from the Arabian Nights. These I
consider more valuable because of their common appeal. They
are as delicious to the mental palate of adults as well as to children. They bespeak the subtle oriental wisdom inherent in the
lore of the ancient Arabian story tellers.
With the publication of "Other Arabian Nights" by H. I.
Katibah, I was surprised into wondering why we were made to
wait so long for tales that unquestionably belong to the One
Thousand and One vein.
"Other Arabian Nights" is a delightful collection of Arabic
folk lore. It is somehow strange to see these familiar tales in
a western setting, written in English and beautifully illustrated
by William Berger, already famous in America' for his technique.
In spite of the western clothing, Mr. Katibah manages to retain
the mellow Eastern flavor of these stories. There are nineteen
of them.
I picked up the volume I had just bought, intending to read
one of the tales—perhaps another—and then save the others for
odd moments later. I ended the entire book four hours later
without laying it aside excepting to eat „ I couldn't wait to finish it.
Within the two covers, the marids and the jinni work their
�—
•n
46
THE SYRIAN WORLD
wicked spells over gallant princes and princesses fair and dark.
Sit Bdour and Sultan Joseph do their utmost to break these
spells. Lovers pine and evil men and women spare no pains
to enslave the guileless spirits of the righteous.
But more delightful than these are the philosophic gems
in "The Seller of Words," "The Wife Who Bought Herself
a Name," "The World of Chance" and the "Fable of Men and
Beasts." The titles of these are barefaced hints to the deep wisdom one infers in the piece de resistance around which each tale
gyrates. There are usually two techniques in story telling. The
plot in which any moral is incidental to the weave and woof but
in which the action of the plot is more engrossing—is one. The
other is the moral or wise tid-bit under which the plot stands as
a structural base of support. Under the last category come tales
of experience, sugar coated for the palate. Obviously, all experience goes to the side of wisdom—all experience is moral.
Mr. Katibah's collection is practically all moral. All but
one of these stories have been bandied about in our own homes
for years by yarn spinners who heard them from other yarn
spinners during the long hill of years beyond the stretch of
memory. Katibah gathered them one by one, like pearls for a
matchless string, made notes of them and after compiling and
editing them, submitted them to Scribners, who were unhesitating in their acceptance. The single exceptoin noted above
is the "Magician of Samarkand." This is an original story of
his own conception. I am not a bit surprised at this. After
all, they are all stories out of theNear East and by Near Easterners. The names of these Near Easterners is legion—but
anonymous. Mr. Katibah is a Syrian j this is a sufficient voucher
for his originality.
THE SYRIAN QUESTION
Evolution Polkique de la Syrie sous le Mandat. By E. RABBAT.
Paris, Marcel Riviere & Cie. 25 fracs.
The author of this work is a Syrian lawyer who presents a
scholarly analysis of the different social, religious and political
problems besetting the Syrians. Emir Shakib Arslan, author of
the preface, describes this work of Mr. Rabbat as a masterpiece
r
m its line,
..
1
_ ...,
oc
•
mic
ATE
\
wril
spe;
�47
OCTOBER, 1928
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcoamic picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever
Arabic dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking
writers who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabicspeaking world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take
no part in the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our
task will simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and
with utmost sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed in these editorials.
Editor.
GIVE GENEROUSLY
Our compatriots in the United States
are now facing two grave situations
which they should meet unhesitatingly
and immediately.
The first is the Porto Rico and Florida disasters which it is our duty to
help alleviate. To this end we urge
upon our clergy and our press the expending of special efforts to raise funds
for the relief of the sufferers.
The second is the present presidential campaign. We believe it is not
only to our interest but that it is our
duty to contribute to political parties.
We are now become a part of this nation and as such we should work actively for the defense of the principles
which we advocate. The American people now look upon us with a critical eye
and we cannot afford to remain neutral
or indifferent. We may form committees of our own for the support of the
different parties and our contributions
may go to them, but, of course, a strict
account must be rendered by these committees to check upon the expenditures
of the funds.
We should not lose sight of the fact
that it is in this country that we make
our money. It becomes, therefore, our
duty to take interest in the affairs of
the country not in words but in deeds.
Americans contribute large sums of
money to their political parties, as well
as to causes of philanthropy, education,
civic improvement and others. We
should emulate their example and not
confine our support to sectarian quarrels. We should now turn a leaf in our
ledger and enter substantial contributions to something constructive.
Al Hoda N. Y., Sept. 18, 1928
BROTHERS OR JUST NEIGHBORS
What can be harsher on the hearing
than to have the same people designated at different times as Syrians,
Lebanese or Palestinians? Imagine
the feelings of true patriots when they
read in their papers such terms as
"our Lebanese neighbors," and in the
Lebanese papers similar terms applied
to the Syrians?
History of comparatively recent
years furnishes us with a parallel to
the Syrian situation in the case of Alsace and Lorraine. These true sons
of France were stanch in their loyalty
to their mother country in spite of the
fact of their complete separation from
it. And Alsace and Lorraine are not
�I-
48
as much a part of France as Lebanon
and Palestine are of Syria. Why then
should there be such stress on the point
that the different parts of Syria have
now become totally foreign to one another!
We maintain that political divisions
should not make us lose sight of the
fact that we are still, and shall ever
remain, one and an indivisible nation.
Whether we be of Syria, Palestine or
Lebanon, we remain brothers in language, in blood, in traditions and customs, and in the singleness of country.
Religions should not constitute a barrier against our union. From time immemorial, Syria was known to comprise its three principal component
parts, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.
Thus it should remain for eternity.
—Meraat-Ul-Gharb, K. Y., Sept. 17,
I
I
I I —^M« —
THE SYRIAN WORLD
nation which seems to have effected a
complete separation between church and
state is France. In French home politics religious matters are not taken in
consideration. This prompts us to ask
why should France countenance abroad
policies it does not tolerate at
hornet To our mind France should
deem it its duty to join hands with Lebanese liberals in eradicating religious
influence from the politics of the country. France having been given a mandate over the country to guide it in
more advanced principles of government, should take the initiative in such
matters and apply to mandated countries the principles which guide its policies at home.
—Ash-Shaab, Sept. 21, 1928.
WHY THE SYRIAN
REVOLUTION FAILED
RELIGION IN GOVERNMENT
Judging by recent reports from
Lebanon, the present Ministry is formed on religious lines in an effort to
please the different denominations. Of
course, only the principal denominations could be represented, there being
only five ministerial posts, otherwise it
would be necessary to create posts for
at least fifteen ministers in order to
satisfy all.
These religious considerations have
for long been the bane of the Lebanese
in their governmental affairs. Still we
find that such conditions are prevalent
in almost every country of the world
except France. Even here in the United
States religion plays a part in politics
to a certain extent, otherwise why
should Governor Smith be opposed on
the grounds of his religious belief. Do
we not find many here in America who
believe that the Presidency should be
the monopoly of the Protestants?
Under scrutiny, we find that the only
We cannot ascribe the failure of the
Syrian revolution to any cause other
than that of the fanaticism, selfishness
and perfidy of its instigators. Had it
not been for the introduction of corrupt influences into it, such as that of
Emir Shekib Arslan, the revolution
would have followed a sane course and
evaded those excesses which stigmatized it as a campaign of fanaticism
and revenge.
Nothing can be more noble than rebellion against an usurping foreigner
in an effort to win one's freedom and
independence. Who is it that sees a
valiant nation struggling for its freedom and can refrain from admiring its
efforts and giving it his earnest wishes
for success? But a revolution that is
perverted in its object, and aimed at
base revenge in the guise of a lofty
ideal, can but deserve the condemnation
of fair-minded people.
A little over a year ago the real designs of the instigators of the Syrian
�49
OCTOBER, 1928
revolution began to be revealed when
the defeat of the military forces gave
rise to serious differences among the
leaders, disclosing the existence of a
rotten state of deceit and corruption.
The party was split into two facions,
one siding with Lutfallah, Shahbandar
and other prominent figures in the Nationalist ranks, and the other supporting Emir Shekib Arslan. We can better judge the real motives of Emir
Shekib and his clan by what has come
to our knowledge lately of the designs
of these pseudo patriots. This we learn
indirectly from the disclosures of a
Trans Jordanian paper, Al-Arab, which
takes exception to the meddling of Emir
Arslan in the affairs of Transjordania. The paper being a Moslem organ,
it3 statements should be considered of
more than ordinary significance.
The substance of the accusations directed at Emir Shekib Arslan by AlArab is that he is a political opportunist and profiteer. It is only necessary
to scan his record, the paper says, to
discover that he was pro-Turk when the
Turks were in power. Then he claimed
solicitude for the welfare of the Syrian
nation when he saw in such shifting of
policy an opportunity for personal gain.
Now he is anxious to bring about an
Arab union after having exhausted the
resources of the Syrian cause. This
Emir has already spent years in Europe doing apparently nothing but engaging in politics. Where, the paper
asks, has he been getting all the money
necessary for his extensive travels and
luxurious maintenance! "We know
that he has no personal income sufficient to maintain him in this state. The
only inference we can draw from his
present move for dragging Trans jordania into his scheme of a Pan-Arabic
movement is that he has exhausted all
other means of political acrobatics and
is now looking to fatten himself at our
expense.''
These remarks by a Moslem paper
give us the true inside story of the designs behind the Syrian revolution. We
now have proof that this Emir and his
accomplices are responsible not only
for the blood shed during the Syrian
revolution but for all the Syrian and
Lebanese blood of the martyrs which
Jamal Pasha the Turk caused to be
shed during the World War.
—Syrian Eagle, N. Y., Sept. 25, 1928.
RIGHTS OF THE WEAK
Nothing can be further from the
truth than the assertions of some Palestinian papers that Syria is committing a mistake by undertaking to win
from France concessions by force.
These would-be advisers would have us
believe that nowhere in history did a
weak nation ever win its rights from
the strong.
In refutation of such reasoning we
need only to state that Syria could
never entertain the hope of coming into
its proper rights had she remained in a
passive state. We find, however, that
once she took up arms the "strong"
came to concede to her a good deal more
than what he was willing to do before.
Syria may not be able to achieve victory in an armed contest, but she can
prove that she is not a nation of weaklings who submit to every form of usurpation and injustice without protest.
We must concede that there is such a
thing as right even for the weak.
—Al-Bayan, N. Y., Sept. 18, 1928.
PRIDE IN ORIGIN
Many are they among our Americanborn youth who either do not know anything about their country of origin or
conceive it in the manner it is described to them by Western writers who
only touch the surface and distort the
facts. A foreign writer who would visit
�50
the country for a few days thinks himself justified in writing volumes about
the country on the strength of this short
visit. The inevitable consequence is
that he makes a strange mixture of fact
and fancy and often judges the whole
nation by sporadic incidents which he
would have had with some irresponsible
vagrants.
1
It becomes necessary, under the circumstances, that our children be given
the opportunity to learn the true facts
about the mother country of their parents; that they be acquainted with its
customs and traditions and given authentic accounts of its developments.
Once they know their country of origin in its true conditions, they would
entertain no further hesitancy about
proclaiming their origin among Americans and persons of other nationalities.
—Leesan Al Adl, Detroit, Sept. 21,
LEBANON NOT FOR SALE
Many times before, the statement
that "Lebanon is not for sale, nor is
it subject to barter," was made orally
and in print, but was taken as a matter
of policy on the part of those opposing
the candidacy of Emir Lutfallah to the
Presidency of the Lebanese Eepublic.
Now, however,these words have taken
on a new meaning and are being
echoed with accumulating force among
the Lebanese scattered in all parts of
the world. For since Bishop Ignatius
Mubarak of Beyrouth made the formal
charge that Emir George Lutfallah had
sent his emissaries to Lebanon in an
effort to win the Presidency of Lebanon, and that he was using corrupt
methods of bribing officials and newspapers, a veritable storm of protest has
been raised against these designs. For
this reason, the reiteration by the Bishop of the statement that Lebanon is
not for sale assumes a more significant
meaning. It is now bound to crystallize public opinion in Lebanon against
THE SYRIAN WORLD
the agents of this ambitious foreigner.
We are in possession of evidence that
an agent of Emir Lutfallah approached
Bishop Mubarak with an offer of
£10,000 to gain the latter's support for
the ambitions of the Emir, but the
bishop showed his indignaion by ordering the agent from his presence summarily.
Al-Hoda is ready to prove that Emir
Lutfallah has accomplices even among
the clergy and govermnment officials.
We thank God, however, that Bishop
Mubarak, with the approval of the Patriarch, has declared publicly against
such designs against the honor of
Lebanon.
—Al-Hoda, N. Y., Sept. 26, 1928.
ADVICE TO PARENTS
Syrian parents can never force on
their children the love of Syria to the
same degree that they themselves love
their mother country. The children look
upon America as their mother country
and their greatest measure of love
goes to it first. What the Syrian
father can do, however, is to instill in
his child sympathy for the native country of his ancestors and teach him of
its history that which will inspire pride
and a sense of appreciation of his ancestral heritage.
A fact which parents should realize
is that they cannot mould their offspring into so-called 100 per cent Syrians. It is impossible to make the
American-born love the songs and customs and traditions of a country of
which he knows absolutely nothing and
which he has never seen. Any such attempt on the part of the parents is
predestined to failure, which it rightly
deserves, because it could have no other
result than to create a state of indecision in the mind of the ehUd and lessen
his chances of success in the struggle
of life.
—As-Sayeh, N. Y., Sept. 22, 1928.
�——.
OCTOBER, 1928
51
Readers' Forum
Editor's Note.—The Syrian World is gratified to witness the growing
interest on the part of the Syrian-American generation in matters affecting
their racial standing and welfare in the United States. This evidence of
racial consciousness in a constructive form testifies to the latent vital powers
that could be moulded into an efficient medium for the good of both the
race and the country in general with the proper organization. We wish to
assure correspondents and others of like mind that this publication considers
it a privilege to lend its efforts to such a worthy task. We would call attention to the fact that such a movement seems to have been brewing for some
time, taking the shape of either a convention or the formation of new societies or clubs in different sections of the Union. Such a suggestion as that
contained in the three communications published in this issue of the Syrian
World has been advanced by the "Good Fellows Club" of Tyler, Texas, as
far back as May, 1927. Later we saw the idea taking more tangible form by
the calling of a regional convention of the Syrian-American societies of New
England held in Pittsfield, Mass., the early part of May. 1928. What is
worthy of especial notice is the formation of many new clubs in widely
scattered sections under the general name of Phoenicians. To all these
Syrian-American societies of whatever name or designation we extend
hearty good wishes for success coupled with an earnest promise to lend
every assistance possible in the way of promoting a plan for a fusion into
a national organization. We shall take up the discussion of this subject
more at length at a future date.
Following are three communications on the same topic received by the
Syrian World from widely distant cities almost on the same day, indicating the maturity of thought and the readiness for action in a national movement.
A NATIONAL FEDERATION
OF SYRIAN SOCIETIES
Growing Interest in a Movement to
Consolidate Syrian-American
Organizations
Editor "The Syrian World":
In honorable memory of that progressive, intrepid, and world renowned people whom we are proud to call
our forbears, a club composed of Syrian young men of this city has recently been formed. To call it purely a social organizaton would be to
limit unduly its proper scope of activities, for we have hopes of engaging
in really serious tasks and endeavors, one of which shall be to keep
abreast with, and to discuss social
and political questions affecting our
ancient country. This is not the first
organization of young Syrians formed in this city, but we hopefully trust
that this will entrench itself so securely in the life of this community
that there will be no occasion for any
subsequent formation of a similar organization. Of course there are in
this city other Syrian organizations,
notably, the Syrian-American Club
�——
52
and the Syrian Ladies' Charitable Society, but these are for the older Syrians and our society is intended to
encompass the younger and more pliable element.
Throughout the whole country it is
this element that is more enthusiastic, more imbued with progressive
thought, and nearer to the vanguard
of modern American life. They are
the true Syrian-Americans. However, it is probably safe to say that
the majority of them have never even
glimpsed the Fatherland on the Mediterranean shores, and it is a sad fact
that they know very little of their
own race, its history, its heritage,
their language, and the incline of
their race's destiny. The majority
are Syrians only in blood. The language of their fathers they know
only by name, with the consequent
loss of all the literary, philosophical,
religious and—yes, even scientific,
wealth that has gilded the hoary path
of our race's progress from Tyre and
Sidon's magnificent era to the present day. Far more serious than all
of that is the manifest lack of interest to inquire and learn. Even the
momentous events now taking place
in Syria when the future political
status of that country is being
shaped and determined excite but a
lukewarm curiosity, if indeed that.
This is unquestionably a serious situation. Doubtless it was for the
purpose of arousing interest in this
younger generation by supplying information on Syria's people, history
and contemporary events that your
most excellent and highly instructive publication was given to the
Syrian-American world. But I have
observed that even you were somewhat discouraged when such an interesting debate as that of the advisability of teaching Arabic to the
young generation, recently carried
THE SYRIAN WORLD
on in your columns, brought forth
such pitifully meagre response from
that very portion of our population
for whose benefit it was intended.
While undoubtedly a number of
causes have contributed to this regrettable condition of apathy and indifference, in my judgment one of
the major factors in the situation is
the fact often before referred to, that
our handful of Syrians, scattered
throughout 48 large states, are engulfed and lost in their environment.
They are almost completely absorbed
in the irresistble American tide. All
the major problems that affect them
issue out of, and are concerned with,
that environment. Their feeling towards Syria and the Syrian people
and events becomes simply a matter
of occasional mental speculation
when leisure permits, and those must
always give way to the practical
problems which confront them daily.
The result is a dying class or race
consciousness, and when that occurs
you cannot any longer wonder why
young Syrians do not appear to have
any interest in "their country" thousands of miles away.
Of course merely stating the obvious facts does not help the situation. Personally I doubt whether
there is or can be any effective remedy. One would have to assume that
one had absolute control over the
lives of 255,000 people which is beyond the pale of reason. But there
are, I tbink, certain alleviating remedies,—remedies which, while not
effecting a complete solidification,
tend to excite and prolong the desired spark of interest in Syrian affairs. I am speaking now of course
with reference to the young Syrian
population only. Your splendid journal is undoubtedly one such remedy.
I suggest another, namely, the formation of a national young Syrian
i
�mmm
OCTOBER, 1928
53
organization. In almost every city should still be to the contrary I offer
of any size there are young Syrian a compromise. Let the various Syrsocieties. But their local character ian clubs now existing throughout
is their principal weakness. They are the country correspond with one ancompletely out of touch with other other, with a view to reaching a comsocieties sharing with them a com- mon understanding and promoting
mon heritage. Usually after a little interest in Syrian affairs. The names
flourish they die, only to be supplant- of these various organizations will
ed by another equally weak and 'have to be known, and perhaps the
equally purposeless association. Can best way of obtaining a complete diwe not get these different Syrian rectory would be by having all the
clubs into one embracing society, clubs send in their names and adhaving the purpose not only of bring- dresses to you for publication.
To me, Sir, it seems that any of
ing into intimate and wholesome conthese
plans should effect to a degree,
tact the great number of our Syrian
at
least,
that race consciousness
young men and so impress each one
which
is
the
source of all interest
of the existence of the others, but
also of promoting periodical discus- and pride in our cultural heritage.
Of course I have not the space to
sion of contemporary Syrian events ?
Can we not have representatives elaborate more fully upon the sugfrom the various communities meet gestions. Of necessity they must
yearly to exchange ideas and pro- be but a skeleton outline. But it is
pose constructive policies? There my earnest hope that they will proare, I am sure, in our number many voke a keen and lively discussion.
bright, educated, and cultured young My club would be most pleased to
men who can and will afford compe- hear from the various organizations
tent leadership and contribute many with reference to this matter, and if
from out of the dust there should
helpful suggestions for the success
emerge
the national or sectional orof the project. It may be deemed
ganization,
or even the inauguration
advisable upon grounds of expeof
the
free
and continuous exchange
diency to begin with sectional socieof
ideas,
comments,
and hopes reties, as an Eastern, a Western, a
ferred
to
above,
I,
for
one, would feel
Northern, and Southern Syrian Club,
that
something
substantial
had been
although, in my judgment such an
done
towards
that
ideal
of
energetic
arrangement should be only tempointerest in Syrian affairs so earnestly
rary.
Some I know will be found who will desired by all, as well as the inward
object to the practicability of such realization of the profound signifia suggestion. I myself can see some cance of "The Phoenician's" beloved
objections, but I believe they are no motto, "Sail On."
FRED S. RIZK.
more difficult to overcome than those
Jacksonville,
Fla.
that have in the beginning confronted now flourishing national organizations. I appreciate it will require SYRIAN SOCIETY
INVITES COOPERATION
hard work, but I also realize that
the plan is possible of execution, and Editor, Syrian World:
The Syrian Young Men's Society
the results should be worth many
of
Los Angeles, Calif., is an organitimes the labor expended.
sation
composed of Syrian young
If, however, "public opinion'
�54
THE SYRIAN WORLD
men only, whose purpose is to promote fraternal cooperation among
its members with the view of advancing the social, intellectual and
spiritual welfare of the Syrian youth
of Los Angeles.
Correspondence from any similar
organization anywhere is cheerfully
invited. We believe an exchange of
ideas will be helpful in promoting such
plans as will create nation-wide interest in the general welfare of the
race.
Correspondence may be addressed
to the Secretary at 3800 Oakwood
Ave., Los Angeles.
DAVIS ZAIL, Secretary.
Los Angeles, Calif.
SOCIETY OF PHOENICIANS
Editor, the Syrian World:
The young Syrian element in Lansing, Mich., has organized a club
known as the "Young Phoenican's So-
ciety" whose purpose is to arouse
interest among the Syrian youth in
their racial affairs and work towards providing means of a better
understanding by Americans of Syrian descent of their ancestral background.
We know that several clubs of this
general purpose has been organized
throughout the country. We are
anxious to get in direct touch with
such organizations in the hope that
some cooperative plan of action could
be agreed upon with a view to calling
a national convention in the near future.
We feel confident the Syrian World
will approve of this move and lend
its support to its materialization.
Correspondence is invited to our address, 609 N. Grand Ave., Lansing,
Mich.
RUBY NAKFOTJB, Secy.
Lansing, Mich.
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
COUNT PHILIP TERRAZI—Noted scholar, curator of the National
Museum at Beyrouth.
AMEEN RIHANI—Internationally known scholar and traveler.
Author of "Maker of Modem Arabia" and of many other works
of poetry and prose.
DR. PHILIP K. HITTI — Historian, scholar and Arabic and English author. Formerly professor at the American University
of Beirut and now of Princeton University.
KAHLIL GIBRAN — Author of The Prophet and other celebrated
works and styled by American writers Poet of the Cedars and
The Syrian Poet.
DR. N. A. KATIBAH — Arabic and English poet and scholar.
Professionally a dentist of Brooklyn. One of our regular contributors.
DR. M. SHADID—Syrian physician in Elk City, Okla., and prominent member of the Socialist Party.
DR. NAJLA M. LAF LOOFY—The first and only Syrian woman
physician in New York and member of many literary societies.
AREPH EL KHOURY—A young Syrian residing in Welch, W. Va.
MITCHELL FERRIS—An American-born Syrian residing in Lincoln, Neb.
A. HAKIM — Pen name of an old Syrian immigrant who is contributing to The Syrian World a special series of critical studies
i
Wlllil i
�OCTOBER, 1928
55
Political Developments in Syria
Judging from the accounts of the is agreed, was the best loved in the
Syrian press, nothing seems to be country and the most successful in
certain in the Syrian situation except his administration. Other rumors
the determination of the National- would 'have us believe that M. de
ists to press the issue of the coun- Jouvenel is slated for reappointment,
try's independence to a definite con- but in refutation of such a possibilclusion. The arguments advanced by ity it is stated that if a change is
the High Commissioner and elaborat- to be effected at all it would be for
ed by the French press appear not to the simple reason of appointing a
have the slightest effect on the deter- military man as a matter of general
mination of the Syrians. The Na- policy in view of the fact that both
tionalist party may be said to have civilian appointees have so far proved
achieved complete mastery over the failures.
In support of such views, some
internal situation and is in a posiFrench
papers lament the frequent
tion to claim the uncontested reprechanges
in the administrative persentation of the will of the nation.
Ponsot
left
sonnel
in
Syria and ascribe it to unHigh Commissioner
Upon
justified
home
politics. Now that
Syria at the end of August
France
has
had
occasion to feel the
his arrival in France he is said to
great
loss,
both
in finances and in
have immediately retired to his counprestige,
resulting
from such policy,
try estate for a fortnight's rest ana
it
is
hoped
that
an
appointment will
seclusion. Later, naturally, he will
be
made
that
will
insure
bringing orreturn to Paris to take up with the
cabinet discussion of Syrian affairs. der to the country under mandate and
No definite time is set for his re- peace of mind to the Mandatory
turn to his post. In fact, there are Power.
It is the fear of such a change,
strong rumors that he may not return at all and that Premier Pom- perhaps, which makes the Syrians
care has already decided on his suc- anxious for the return of M. Ponsot
cessor. It is claimed that Poincare to his post. They have become tired
was never in favor of the appoint- of the frequent changes resulting in
ment of Ponsot to the exacting post continual delay in coming to an uno£ High Commissioner for Syria be- derstanding with France on the pocause he believed the situation re- litical status of the country. If a
quired the firmness of a military new High Commissioner is appointed,
man. He only acceded in the ap- they argue, it would take him just
pointment as a concession to his op- as long to study the situation as it
ponents and in the interest of har- took the present incumbent, and he
mony in the Cabinet. Now that he is may expect no better success, as the
Syrians, judging by their present
sure of his hand, he is said to have
frame
of mind, are determined to
decided on carrying out his old destand
by
their demands to the last.
termination and to be considering
"What
the
Syrians are willing to
for reappointment Gen. Weygancl,
concede
is
to
enter into a treaty with
a former High Commissioner who, it
�-*-'
56
France which they claim will give
the latter more privileges than she
now enjoys as a mandatory power.
According to recent statements by
their leaders, they do not recognize
the right of the League of Nations
to appoint a guardian over them
when they are fully competent to
look after their own affairs. It is
simple elementary justice which they
claim is their natural right.
On the eve of M. Ponsot's departure from Syria he was in numerous
conferences not only with Sheikh
Tajjeddin, head of the provisional
government and advocate of a policy
of amicable understanding with the
French, but with many prominent
leaders of the irreconcilables among
the Nationalists. It is the opinion of
some observers that M. Ponsot enjoys the confidence of the Nationalists to no little degree, because of
the latter's belief that he is in sympathy with their demands, having
proven his solicitude for their cause
by pursuing throughout the two
years of his tenure of office a policy
of conciliation and understanding. It
is even intimated that M. Ponsot,
sensing the possibility of his recall
upon his return to Paris, has placated the Syrian Nationalists and received from them a promise to defend his policy as being the most
promising of ultimate understanding
with the Syrians. The Nationalist
leaders with whom he was in conference before departing from Syria
are said to be the prospective members of the commission which the Nationalist Party contemplates sending
to Paris to take up with the French
government discussion of the Syrian
problem.
Damascus is quiet pending developments in the political situation.
Heated controversies among local pa-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
pers lead to physical attacks against
some editors. An important political
gathering took place in Aleppo and
was attended by the principal Nationalist leaders who reiterated their
determination to stand by their demands.
What is claimed by some Syrian
authorities to be the real reason for
France's objection to the six articles
of the proposed Constitution is Britain's representation that such a policy of leniency followed by France
in Syria is bound to lead to similar
demands on the part of the Arabs
under British mandate. In support
of this contention the case of Transjordania is cited as being more or
less the direct result of France's toleration of the Syrian Nationalist
agitation. England is reported to
have also warned France of giving
the Syrians undue liberties, citing
her own troubles resulting from similar conditions in Egypc.
Official denial was made of the rumors which were circulated in Palestine and abroad to the effect that
serious disturbances had taken place
in Damascus and that Sultan Pasha
Atrash was ready to take the field
in response to the demand of the
Syrian Nationalists. The official
statement declares that Damascus
remained absolutely quiet following
the suspension of the Constituent
Assembly.
SITUATION IN LEBANON
Following the installation of the
new Ministry, denominational representation again came to the fore as
the main issue in Lebanese politic?.
Because of the claim by the Orthodox that they were not adequately
represented, the Patriarch of this
faith called a council of notables
�57
UCTOBER, 1928
to discuss the situation and demand
proper representation. The President of the Republic being himself
of the Orthodox faith, he is reported to have endeavored to smooth
matters over on these grounds.
Apologists for the change in the form
of government maintain that such
disturbances may be expected in the
beginning, but that once the ministry is permitted to function material
improvement may be expected in the
administrative machinery.
The new Ministry is headed by
Habeeb Pasha Saad (Maronite), a
veteran statesman who was for several terms President of the Administrative Council of Lebanon previous to the World War. His associates are Hussein El-Ahdab( Moslem Sunnite), Subhi Bey Haidar
(Moslem Shiite), Moussa Bey Nammour (Maronite), and Shukri Kirdahy (Melchite Catholic).
About Syria and Syrians
SYRIAN POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
At no time before have the Syrians displayed so much interest in
national politics as they are showing
in the present Presidential campaign.
The Syrian papers of New York,
which, by the way, all command a
national circulation, are giving much
space to news and views of both
political parties. Organized action,
however, seems to be confined so far
to Syrian Democrats. Later, perhaps, the Syrian Republicans will
make themselves heard.
A Syrian Democratic National
Committee has been formed under
the chairmanship of A. K. Hitti. Joseph W. Ferris, President of the
American Syrian Federation, writes
to inform us that a Syrian "Smith
for President Club," national in
scope, has been formed with headquarters in New York. Joseph Mandour, President of the Lebanon National Bank, has been interviewed by
upper New York State papers on his
political views and declared himself
strongly for Governor Smith prin-
cipally on the Prohibition issue. Mr.
Mandour's opinions and an interesting account of his rapid rise in the
business world are published in a
recent issue of The American Banker.
Two gatherings of Syrians in Connecticut on Sept. 3 were the occasion
for much political discussion, while
the American Syrian Federation of
Brooklyn has called a political mass
meeting for the week of Oct. 8 and
announced a debate between some of
its members of different political beliefs.
SYRIANS AID IN RELIEF
All the Syrian papers of New York
urged their readers to contribute
to the relief of the cyclone sufferers
of Porto Rico and Florida. Archbishop Abu Assaly of the Orthodox
Church issued a public appeal in behalf of the victims. All the Syrian
churches took up special collections
and announced substantial results.
�58
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ANOTHER EXPERIMENT
WITH ENGLISH PAGE
Leesan Al-Adl, an Arabic-language
semi-weekly paper of Detroit, Mich.,
has embarked on the experiment of
publishing a weekly page in English.
Leesan Al-Adl is of pronounced Lebanese tendencies, and its declaration of
purpose in undertaking the venture
states
that
American-born
Lebanese
are prone to deny their racial origin
for no reason other than they are ignorant of their splendid legacy which
is unparalleled in history. The paper
also proposes to acquaint its readers of
the younger generation with current
developments of the native country of
their parents with a view to arousing
their interest in its welfare.
So far, two specimen pages of this
enterprising Lebanese paper have come
to our notice. In one instance the paper dealt with some political developments in Lebanon supplemented by bits
of local news. In the second instance
nine-tenths of the page consisted of reprints from the American press of the
answers of Governor Alfred E. Smith
to questions on political topics put to
him on his Western tour.
WILLS MILLIONS
TO NATIVE TOWN
Morris Schinasi, who died in New
York on September 18 leaving a fortune estimated at over $5,000,000, willed $300,000 to local charities and $1,000,000 for the erection and maintenance of a hospital in his native town
of Magnesie in the interior of Asia
Minor, about fifty miles from Smyrna.
The residuary estate is divided between
the widow and three daughters.
Mr. Schinasi may be remembered
a3 the manufacturer of several popular
brands of Turkish cigarettes. He was
well known to the Syrians of New
York and may be said to have started
his cigarette business among them.
Old timers among New York Syrians
recall that in his struggling days his
regular haunts were the Syrian restaurants in Washington St., where he
made desperate efforts to introduce his
cigarette brands. There are many
who claim that the Syrians were the
ones to have practically started him
in business.
Even after Mr. Schinasi had won his
fortune, some old Syrian friends were
among his most intimate associates.
His case is but another illustration of
opportunities for success in America
brought eloser home to us.
This venture of the Lebanese paper
of Detroit marks the second attempt by
an Arabic-language newspaper in the
United States to eater to the younger
generation of Syrians and Lebanese
NOTICE
through the medium of the English lanMuch material of interest had to
guage. The first was inaugurated by a
New York newspaper and was disconbe omitted in this issue due to lack
tinued after a run of about two months.
It is hoped this second attempt will
of space. In the November issue of
not only enjoy a longer lease of life,
but will continue to improve in both The Syrian World, however, proviits literary quality and in the choice of sion will be made to give adequate
its subject matter so that it may refleet in a fitting manner the cultural space for news about Syria and Syrstandard of our race.
ians.
,.-...
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
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Identifier
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TSW1928_10reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 03, Issue 04
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1928 October
Description
An account of the resource
Vol 3. Issue 04 of The Syrian World published October 1928. The issue begins with a continuation of Count Philip Terrazi's article discussing the Beyrouth Museum. He begins by talking about the collection of Southern Lebanese pottery that would have been handmade, some of which were made at the end of the Chalcolithic period. Terrazi continues by discussing sarcophagi and metal items like weapons and jewelry contained within the museum. Next is a long poem titled "O Freedom" by Ameen Rihani. Following it is a continuation of "The Sage of Washington Street - On Divided Loyalty" by A. Hakim. Another of Kahlil Gibran's short stories is included next
titled "The Plutocrat," it seems to detail themes of greed. Next is continuation of Philip K. Hitti's discussion of Usamah an Arab warrior of the crusades, and a translation of Al-Farid's "Wine Lyric." There is a follow up to "Syria for the Syrians" by Dr. M. Shadid, as it "stirred up discussion" in the February Issue. Areph El-Khoury's "The Bride of the Brave," a discussion on chivalrous marriage customs in Syria, is featured next. The final article discusses Palestine's economic readjustment following the crisis of 1925. The issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press, the reader's forum, and political developments in Syria.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
Ameen Rihani
Kahlil Gibran
New York
Palestine
Philip Khuri Hitti
Syria
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/318183aac2e671e3d9ae6270ba3f6202.pdf
ea48e1d8055cf8c4b0d2e8e4f5ddb9ef
PDF Text
Text
VOLUME III, No!
3
SEPTEMBER,
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
AN ARAB-SYRIAN GENTLEMAN AND WJ
OF THE CRUSADES
DR. PHILIP K. HITTI
THE GREATNESS OF THE SYRIAN RA
REV. W. A. MANSUR
THE ORANGE TREE
SONIA RUTHELE NOVAK
THE SAGE OF WASHINGTON STREET OJv
DISPLAY OF WEALTH
A. HAKIM
TEXT OF THE NEW SYRIAN CONSTITU1
RECENT POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN
THE COPY 50c.
��II
"
—HI II-
II.
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104
GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK,
By subscription $5.00 a year.
N. Y.
Single copies 50c.
Entered as second-class matter, June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. III.
No. 3.
SEPTEMBER, 1928
CONTENTS
PAGE
An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrier of the Crusades
DR. PHILIP K. HITTI
The Greatness of the Syrian Race
REV. W. A.
3
10
MONSUR
The King of Aradus
17
KAHLIL GIBRAN
Hassan Speaks (An Arabian Idyl)
DR. SALIM Y. ALKAZIN
18
Arab Wisdom
20
The Orange Tree (A Poem)
21
SONIA RUTHELE NOVAK
�I ,*
I
CONTENTS (Continued)
"
PAGE
The Sage of Washington Street (On the Display of Wealth
A. HAKIM
24
From the Harem in Syria
Miss SANNIYEH
31
HABBOOB
Books and Authors
33
Winds from the Moon
3?
DR. NEJIB
I.
KATIBAH
Forthcoming Books by Dr. Hitti
Immortality
The Syrian Constitution
Spirit of the Syrian Press
36
36
37
.....40
Political Developments in Syria
44
About Syria and Syrians
49
Readers' Forum
55
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
The Castle of Shayzar in Syria
General View of Shayzar on the Orontes
+
VOL.
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. III.
I '
No. 3.
SEPTEMBER, 1928
An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and
Warrior of the Crusades
By
PHILIP
K.
HITTI, PH.
D.
Usamah was a warrior, a hunter, a gentleman, a poet and
a man of letters. His life was an epitome of Arab civilization
as it flourished during the early crusading period on Syrian soil.
He was a flower of the Arab-Syrian chivalry which found its full
bloom later in the case of his patron and friend, the great Saladin.
The Memoirs of Usamah are a unique piece of Arabic literature. They open before our eyes a wide and new vista into
medieval times and constitute an invaluable contribution to our
knowledge of Arabic culture in itself as well as in its relation
to Western thought and practice.
Three months before Urban II delivered his Clermont
speech, judged by its memorable consequences one of the most
effective speeches in all history, a boy was born, Sunday, Jumada
II 27, 488 (July 4, 1095) in Shayzar, northern Syria, to the
Munqidhite amirs, the lords of the castle on the Orontes. This
boy was destined to take a prominent part in the future defense
of the castle against the forthcoming Franks and to become himself the most illustrious member of a distinguished family many
of whose members attained national and international reputation.
This boy's name was Usamah, the hero of our story.
About fifteen miles north of Hamah (Epiphania), on the
north end of the rocky slope by which the valley of the Orontes
is bounded on the east, stands the picturesque and strategic Castle
of Shayzar. The steep ridge on which it stands is described by
�4
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Arab authors as <urf al-dik, the cock's crest. The Orontes (al<Asi) issues here from a rocky, narrow gorge and after skirting
the contour of the hill on almost three sides it continues its course
in an attempt to straighten its normal northward course.
Shayzar is one of the most ancient towns of that ancient
land, Syria. It figures under the name Senzar and Sezar in the
inscriptions of Thutmose III and Amenhotep II and in the Tellal-Amarna letters. It is the Sidzara of the ancient Greeks, the
Sezer of the Byzantines and the Caesarea of the Western historians of the Crusades including William of Tyre. By some it is
neatly referred to as Caesarea-on-the-Orontes to distinguish it
from other Caesareas. In the latter part of the fourth century
before our era, Seleucus I settled colonists in it from Larissa in
Thessaly and rechristened it after the name of that town, but
the old name reasserted itself in Arabic Shayzar. In this form
it occurs in a widely quoted verse by the pre-Islamic poet Imru'al-Qays. Sayjar is the colloquial form of the name of the present-day village which lies wholly inside of the walls of the historic castle still crowning a hill precipitously rising above the
Orontes on its western bank.
An invading army entering Syria from the north would find
before it two routes to follow. It could take the route of the
maritime plain southward via al-Ladhiqiyyah (Laodicea) and
the Phoenician littoral, as Alexander and some of the early Assyrian conquerors did; or, if it took the inland route, it would
soon find itself following the Orontes valley and hemmed in on
the west by the Nusayriyyah mountains of which the western
range of Lebanon is but a southern continuation. In the latter
case access to the sea can be effected only at the pass separating
the Nusayriyyah from the Lebanon Mountain, or, further south,
at the termination of the Lebanon; and the army following this
inland route southward, as many of the crusading armies did,
would find its passage obstructed by Afamiyah (Apamea) and
its southern sister, the Castle of Shayzar. Likewise an invading
army from the south, as in the case of the Egyptian armies of
Thutmose and Ramses, could not attempt the conquest of the
inland without passing by and subduing Shayzar. Hence the
strategic importance of the position of Shayzar.
In the year 17 A. H. (638 A. D.) abu-'Ubaydah, the conqueror of Syria for the Moslem Arabs, received the capitulation
of Shayzar whose people "went out to meet him bowing before
ers,
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
5
him and accompanied by players on the tambourines and singers," but the town for many centuries after that passed, like a
football, from Arab to Byzantine, and from Byzantine to Arab,
hands. In the year 999, Basil II (976-1025) subdued it and
for the next eighty-one years it remained in Byzantine possession.
About 1025, Salih al-Mirdasi, the Governor of Aleppo,
granted the Munqidhites, of the tribe of banu-Kinanah, the feudal land around Shayzar. In 1041 we find a Munqidhite, Muqallad, ruling over Kafartab. Later his successor, abu'l -Mutawwaj Muqallad ibn-Nasr, extended his territory down to the
Orontes and probably built the Citadel of the Bridge (Hisn alJisr) at the bridgehead below Shayzar; but the town itself, Shayzar, remained in the hands of the Byzantines until December 19,
1081, when Izz-al-Dawlah Sadid-al-Mulk (the grandfather of
Usamah) succeeded in acquiring it from the Emperor Alexius
Commenus. This Sadid-al-Mulk was therefore the real founder of
the Munqidhite dynasty in Shayzar. Upon his death in the following year, he was succeeded by his pious son, 'Izz-al-Dawlah abu-alMurhaf Nasr, a peaceful and art-loving prince, under whom the
territory of Shayzar included for a time Afamiyah, Kafartab and
al-Ladhiqiyyah by the sea. Even by that time the Byzantines
had not ceased to cast a covetous eye on Shayzar 5 for we find
them during his rule besieging the castle more than once, but
always unsuccessfully.
Abu'l-Murhaf died childless in 1098, and the lordship of
the castle passed to his younger brother, Majd al-Din abu-Salamah Murshid (1068-1137), the father of Usamah. But this
pious man, who was more interested in the hunt and calligraphy,
declined in favor of his youngest brother, 'Izz-al-Din abu-al'Asakir Sultan, with a remark which gives us a clue to his whole
character: "I shall not, by Allah, accept the lordship, as I would
rather make my exit from this world in the same condition as I
made my entrance into it." It was this Sultan, now the lord
of the castle and the head of the family, who figures prominently in the early life of our Usamah.
During Sultan's amirate, Shayzar was the object of frequent
raids by the banu-Kilab of Aleppo, the Franks, the Isma'ilites
and other enemies all of whom failed to reduce the stronghold.
After laying siege to it from April 20 to May 21, 1138, and
bombarding it for ten days in succession, Emperor John Cornmenus had to withdraw. Its position on a steep ridge, the fact
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
that the river enveloped it on the north and east and that the
site of the castle was cut off from the high plateau which formed
its continuation by a deep trench, coupled with the fact that the
only passage across the river was the stone bridge, the Jisr baniMunqidh, which was now defended by a citadel, made Shayzar
impregnable to those attacks.
Usamah was an eyewitness to many of these events. In his
account the upper town (al-balad = the praesidium, oppidum,
pars superior civitatis of European sources) lay within the Qal'ah (the Castle), whose fortifications were evidently strongest
at the north and south sides, as these are the sides best preserved
to our day. It had only three gates, one of which, leading to
the Jisr (the Bridge), formed the only entrance to the Castle.
The Jisr, the Gistrum of European sources, was guarded by a
Citadel (Hisn al-Jisr) and around it grew the lower town (alMadinah = suburbium, pars inferior civitatis). Sultan's period
of rule furnishes the background for most of the interesting events
in Usamah's Memoirs, and it is that period which the Memoirs
immortalize.
Sultan died in, or a little before, 1154 and was succeeded
by his son, Taj-al-Dawlah Nasir-al-Din Muhammad, the last
of the Munqidhites. Taj-al-Dawlah perished with almost all
the members of his family in a terrific earthquake which overtook
them in the midst of a festival and which almost destroyed Shayzar,Afamiyah, Kafartab and their environs. His wife, who was
pulled out from the ruins in which she was buried, was evidently
the only Munqidhite to survive the tragedy. This earthquake
took place in 552—1157 and was known as the Earthquake of
Hamah. Ibn-al-Athir tells us that a school teacher in Hamah
who happened to be outside the school building when the trembling took place received no inquiry whatever from any parent regarding he fate of any child. Not one parent and not one child
survived.
The destruction of Taj-al-Dawlah and his children closed
the last page in the Munqidhite chapter of the history of Shayzar.
The stronghold, however, was in the same year repaired and taken possession of by Nur-al-Din of Damascus.
To return to Sultan and young Usamah. As long as Sultan
had no male children he took keen interest in Usamah and presided over his military education, singling him out from among
his three brothers, one of whom was older than Usamah. He
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�SEPTEMBER, 1928
7
often gave him advice regarding the conduct of warfare, entrusted to his care important missions and made attempts to probe his
presence of mind during combat. But when Sultan was blessed
with male heirs his attitude towards his young protege changed,
and his jealousy led Usamah to leave Shayzar, in 1129, and never
to see it again after his father's death on May 30, 1137.
Next to Sultan's influence, the paternal influence of he father was apparently the strongest single force in Usamah's life.
The picture Usamah left us in his Memoirs of his father is that
of a devout Moslem who "employed all his time reading the
Koran, fasting and hunting during the day, and copying the Book
of Allah at the night". His chief diversion was falconry and
chase in which he excelled. Usamah knew nobody comparable
to his father in this respect. And withal he was no coward or
weakling. "It is in my horoscope," once he declared to his son,
"that I should feel no fear." One of the very rare and seemingly incredible stories told by Usamah relates how his father
in a fit of anger cut, by one blow of a sheathed sword, his groom's
outfit, silver sandal, mantle and woolen shawl right through the
bone of the elbow. His physical strength was apparently commensurate with his moral courage.
Of special interest to us are the remarks throwing light on
Usamah's breeding by his father. The young boy once climbed
the wall of their courtyard and, under the very eyes of the father,
sawed the head of a serpent which had suddenly made its appearance on the wall. He even killed a servant of his father when
only ten years old without seeming to bring forth any special
discipline from his father. "I never saw my father... forbid me
from taking part in a combat or facing a danger," is the way
Usamah sums it up, citing only one exception: a hazardous onslought on a lion. When certain Frankish and Armenian hostages held in Shayzar were on their way back home and were
waylaid by some Moslem horsemen, the father's instructions to
the son were especially significant: "Pursue the ambuscade with
thy men, hurl yourselves on them and deliver your hostages."
The words "hurl yourselves" especially impressed Usamah.
Usamah seems to have been bound to his father by strong
bonds of filial affection and regard. He touchingly remarks after making an excursus relating to his father's interest in copying
the Koran, "My book does not require the mention of this fact.
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
But I did mention it in order to appeal to all those who read
my book to solicit Allah's mercy upon my father."
Usamah's mother was made of the stuff of which "mothers
of men" are made. One instance opens before us a window
through which we can look into her character and life. In an
emergency, and when the male members of the family were
away, she got hold of her son's weapons, distributed them among
those who could fight, put her daughter (an elder sister of Usamah) at' the balcony of the castle and herself sat at the entrance
to the balcony ready to throw her daughter over than to see her
in the hands of the Isma'ilites, "the peasants and ravishers."
Such was the spiritual environment in which the soul of
Usamah unfolded itself.
Inured to hardihood and struggle and nurtured in the best
atmosphere of Syrian chivalry, Usamah, with his passion for adventure, adaptability and many-sidedness, grew up to a robust
and military manhood. The land around his native town, unlike
the Northern Syria of today, abounded in lions, panthers, hyenas
and other ferocious animals. The period in which he lived bristled with problems, difficulties and struggles, with the Franks, Isma'ilites, Batinites and other Arabs, keeping the scene lively and
busy. Even when they went out of Shayzar for the hunt, they
went out armed, for they "never felt secure on account of the
Franks whose territory was adjacent to theirs". Thus Usamah's
name has become associated in Arabic annals with war and heroism. Al-Dhahabi calls him"a veritable hero of Islam." Ibn-alAthir attributes to him "a degree of valor beyond which there
is no limit." When still a tyro he fought valiantly and successfully against the Franks. In and around Shayzar and Hamah
of Northern Syria, in 'Asqalan and Bayt-Jibril of Palestine, in
the Sinaitic peninsula and Egypt, in al-Mawsil and Diyar-Bakr
he took part in battles against Franks and Arabs, Christians and
Moslems. "How many sword cuts and lance thrusts have I received! How many wounds with darts and arbalist stones have
been inflicted on me!" exclaims Usamah in his old age, and this
was probably no mere rhetorical exclamation; for he lived in
one of the most turbulent periods in the history of that land in
which more military history has probably been enacted than in
any other land of equal size. Even in his old age he laments
his passive life and covets action:
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GENERAL VIEW OF SHAYZAR ON THE ORONTES
Photo Courtesy of Dr. T. Salloum of Hama.
ISehind the Castle may be seen the fortifications of the town which is located on a ridge skirted by the river
Orontes. In the foreground a pillar of the old stone bridge is still in a fair condition of preservation.
�THECASTLEOFSHAYZAR IN SYRIA
v
Photo Courtesy of Dr. T. Salloum of Hama.
A Close-up View of the Fortified Gate to the Castle which was considered in olden times the gatoway of Syria.
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
9
But now I have become like an idle
maid who lies
On stuffed cushions behind screens and
curtains.
I have almost become rotten from lying
still so long, just as
The sword of Indian steel becomes rusty
when kept long in its sheath.
And through it all, Usamah took his defeat, as he took his
victory, with no sense of individual pride or personal resentment but with utter resignation and as an unavoidable execution
of the divine will. To him, as to all true Moslems, it is Allah
who giveth victory or defeat to whomsoever He willeth, and
Who predetermineth the lengths of ages. The reaction of such
a philosophy of life on his own behavior can hardly be overestimated.
And in his dealings with his adversaries, Usamah astounds
us with his sense of chivalry and fairness. "This is not fair,"
was his tedSHfend uncompromisnig reply to his companion, who
evidently suggested resort to a stratagem, as they sighted at a
distance a band of eight Prankish knights. "We should rather
make an open assault on them both thou and I." And no sooner
does he conclude the recount of this experience, in which he and
his companion routed eight knights, to his credit, than he starts
the narration of another one, on the debit side, in which he and
his companion were routed by one footman.
(To be continued In the October issue}
PROGRESSIVE KNOWLEDGE
Said an Arab sage: The proper course to acquire learning
consists of five stages: The first in keeping silence; the second
in giving attention; the third in remembering; the fourth in
practicing knowledge, and the fifth in transmitting knowledge
to others.
�—^ —.— —
10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Greatness of the Syrian Race
By
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
The Syrian people are realizing their racial greatness
through the study of their racial history, the appreciation of
their racial talents, and the evaluation of their racial contributions to the progress of mankind. The rise to racial self-consciousness of the modern Syrian race is a revolutionary crisis, a
healthy sign, and full of promise.
The self-determination and self-realization doctrines advocated during the World War are permeating the races of mankind. Democracy, tolerance, and humanity are fundamental
factors in the new social order. Nations are demanding selfgovernment. Races are claiming respect free from color, creed,
culure, and race prejudice. Peoples are requesting respect that
is due to their religions, morals, and cultures. Groups are appealing for the rights of freedom, justice, equality. The Syrian people are in the vanguard of modern race progress in the
Near East.
How shall the modern Syrian race meet the struggle between the races? How shall the modern Syrian face those who
slander his race? How shall the modern Syrian answer those
who have libelled his race? How shall the energetic modern
Syrian reply to those who would discriminate against him because
of his race? The following thoughts are meant for those awaking to racial self-consciousness, those meeting with religious,
economic, or social intolerance, and those struggling with race
prejudice. They are meant to inspire race pride, self-confidence,
and strengthen mind and heart.
/.
It Is Im-perative that Syrians Have Intelligent Knowledge
of the Origin, History, and Survival of Their Race.
Intelligent knowledge of their race is essential to Syrians
everywhere. It is necessary to their intelligence, self-respect,
and progress. It is fundamental to them in the land of their
adoption.
"The modern Syrians," says Dr. Philip K. Hitti in The
Syrians in America, "are the remnant of the ancient Phoenician-
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
.
tl
Canaanite tribes who entered Syria about 2500 B. C, the Aramean Israelite hordes who arrived about 1500 B. C, and the Arabs
who have drifted, and still drift in, from the desert and gradually pass from a nomadic to an agricultural state. With this Semitic stock as a substratum the Syrians are a highly mixed race of
whom some rightly trace their origin back to the Greek settlers
and colonists of the Seleucidae period, others of the Frankish
and other European Crusaders, and still others to Kurdish and
Persian invaders and immigrants."
Centrally located between Europe, Asia and Africa, Syria
became the market place, a battle-field, and a highway for world
powers. Here races, nations and peoples plied their wares,
domination and culture. Archaeological remains show the intermingling of various cultures. Assyrian, Egyptian, Roman, Greek,
Arabian, French and English records of military conquests are
found in Syria. Yet the Syrian race survived their conquerors.
The rebirth of the Syrian race is on today. Modern Syrians
should realize the importance of their survival, remember their
debt to their ancestors, and their obligations to posterity.
//.
The Intelligent Understanding of Syrian Race Virtues Will
Enlighten, Equip, and Prepare Syrians for the Struggles
of Life.
The appreciation of their race virtues will ennoble the Syrian people. Knowledge of these virtues will equip them for
race problems and conflicts. They will empower Syrians to meet
other races as thoroughbreds.
At a meeting of THE AMERICAN SYRIAN FEDERATION OF
NEW YORK Dr. F. I. Shatara said Syrians have a mission to
America. "Let us contribute," he said, "that kindly, sympathetic and hospitable gentleman, shrewd in business but honest and
dependable—his word as good as his bond} industrious but not
permitting material pursuits to dim his philosophy of the true
significance of life; thrifty but not materialistic, egoistic or selfcentered ; religious but not fanatic; home-loving, but not homedomineering; peace-loving, law-abiding, but willing to be led
by majority rule." (SYRIAN WORLD, May, 1927.)
In these virtues largely lies the nature of Syrian character.
They give a psychological approach to the Syrian philosophy
of life. They show what Syrians should know about their race
virtues. They reveal the nature of Syrian influence on the social
�=
12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
order. They show how others see and experience us. SyrianAmerican youth will be more intelligent, noble and daring by
the knowledge and practice of these virtues, and be better prepared for life's meaning, ambitions, struggles and rewards.
///.
Syrian Race Greatness Is Based on Civilization, Character;
and Service, not on Race, Population, or Militarism.
The growth, use and benefits of civilization, character, and
service largely determine the greatness of a race. Greatness
of race is a relative thing. Race greatness based on race stock,
numerous population, color prejudice, or military power is illusion, and transitory. Races, nations, and peoples seem to be endowed with peculiar talents. They are great when they recognize, use and bestow their benefits on mankind.
What is meant by the greatness of a race or nation? "We
apply the term greatness to nations," says Williamson in Problems of American Democracy, "that have made substantial contributions to civilization." "In order that a nation may become
great, i. e., make some distinct contribution to civilization, two
conditions must be fulfilled. The first condition of national
greatness is that the land under that nation's control must be
encouraging to man's honest, helpful efforts. The second condition of national greatness is an intelligent and industrious population, willing to abide by the law, and devoted to the building
of homes." Syrian history witnesses to the high order of land
cultivation, cultural development, and devotion to home making.
The greatness of a race is not conditioned by the superiority
of the whole race. "The superiority of a race," says E. L. Thorndike, in Individuality, "does not mean the superiority of all its
members to all those of the other race." It's the average of
the average individual that makes for the relative superiority
of a race or nation.
It is superior individuals who create the greatness of a race.
It is the verdict of history, the result of race study, and the conclusion of sociological surveys. The Editor of THE SYRIAN
WORLD is right in saying at the meeting of THE AMERICAN SYRIAN FEDERATION OF NEW YORK, "A few distinguished individuals of each race created the good name and the good reputation
for their race."
Syrian individuals of the highest order are aplenty in Syria's
history. Their prophetic visions became the illumination of
n
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�SEPTEMBER, 1928
IS
mankind. Their achievements opened new paths for human
intercourse. They made Syria the motherland of the spiritual
life of mankind.
IV.
The Following Contributions of the Syrian Race Are Symbols of Race Greatness, Indicative of Race Value, and Prophetic of Future Glory.
The basis of Syrian race greatness is not military conquest,
race aggression, or economic exploitation. The idea of race or
national superiority, or supremacy, is a modern European development. "This conception of racial or national supremacy,"
says Herbert Adams Gibbons in An Introduction to World Politics, "based upon cultural superiority and military and financial
mastery, originated during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, and was developed during the period from 18151848, coincident with the birth of the sense of nationality in
Europe and the introduction of steam power into industry and
transportation." Eventually civilization, democracy and knowledge will displace militarism, exploitation and domination, and
usher in the brotherhood of man.
Syrian race greatness is based on the achievements of our
Phoenician ancestors, the contributions of our fathers of the
Christian era, and the rise of the modern Syrian race and nation.
/. Our Phoenician ancestors were the fathers of sea-ship
building, navigation, and commerce. Writing of the peoples
and kingdoms which dotted Syria-Palestine, James Henry Breasted says in A History of the Ancient Egyptians, "Some of these
kingdoms possessed a high degree of civilization. Masters of
the art of metal working they made metal vessels, weapons and
chariots a great industry. Woolen textiles of the finest dye,
rich and sumptuous in design, issued from their looms. These
Semites were already inveterate traders, and an animated commerce was passing from town to town, where the market place
was a busy scene of traffic as it is today. On the scanty shoreward slopes of the Lebanon some of them, crossing from the
interior, had early gained a footing, to become the Phoenicians
of historic times. They rapidly subdued the sea and soon developed into hardy mariners. In every favourable harbour they
established their colonies, in Cyprus and Rhodes, along the southern litoral in Asia Minor, throughout the Aegean, and here and
there on the mainland of Greece."
�.1
14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
A missionary for over fifty years in Syria says that in the
olden time the mariners of Phoenicia, of Sidon and Tyre, Gebail
and Arvad, braved the perils of the unknown seas, permeated
the black sea, the Atlantic, and the coasts of Spain, and even
circumnavigated Africa and in all probability founded the ancient
civilization of Central America. Our Phoenician ancestors are
the people who developed ship-building, organized for overseas
commerce, and emigrated for trade.
2. As descendents of the Phoenicians we lay claim to Tholes
the Phoenician, the earliest of the Greek -philosophers. Thales
lived about 640-548 B. C. and was counted one of the Seven
Wise Men of Greece, and as the wisest of the ancients. Some
think he was a native of Miletus, in Ionia, and a member of the
leading family. When asked by Periander the Tyrant, "What
is your idea of good government?" Thales said, "Where the
rich are neither too rich, nor the poor too poor." Thales is the
Father of the science of Geometry. He considered water to be
the world-substance; from which all things were made. He
was versed in the current learning, probably engaged in commerce, and travelled in Egypt. He was acute in mathematics
and physics. He is the first man that ever predicted the eclipse
of the sun. It took place as announced, and the Medes and Lydians, who were engaged in a great battle, called the "Battle
of the Night", stopped their fighting and went home.
3. Our Phoenician ancestors improved the alphabet and
gave it to Europe and the world. "Phoenicia gave Europe the
Alphabet (whatever the sources of this may have been)," says
George Adam Smith in Syria and the Holy Land. It was Phoenician genius for improving things that created the most usable
alphabet the mind of man has thought out. For the English
alphabet, like all those of modern Europe except the Russian,
is derived from the Latin, the Latin from the ancient Greek,
and that from the Phoenician. H. G. Wells says of writing in
Outline of History, "It was a new instrument for the human
mind, an enormous enlargement of its range of action, a new
means of continuity." The progress of the Phoenician mind,
his developing industry, and his over-seas trade occasioned the
necessity for improved writing. The Phoenician alphabet, transformed, modified, and simplified, became a "sound-sign system"
and took precedence over pictograph, cuneiform, hieroglyphic
and other alphabets.
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SEPTEMBER, 1928
15
"Yet these two Semitic nations," says William A. Masson
in A History of the Art of Writing, "the Phoenicians and the
Israelites, have influenced more profoundly the western civilization and the culture and refinement of Europe than all the civilizations that have preceded them. The one, through the incomparable literature of the Hebrew Scriptures, has established the
underlying basis of all the religions of Europe, while the other
has given the basic forms for the written languages of all the
nations of Europe and Central Asia."
4. Syria gave birth to two religions and is closely related
to a third, Christianity, Judaism, Mohammedanism. George
Adam Smith begins his Syria and the Holy Land by saying,
"Syria, chiefly because it includes Phoenicia and Palestine, has
been of greater significance to mankind, spiritually and materially, than any other single country in the world." The character
of the world's religious thinking in the future will hinge on the
triumph of Christ, Moses or Mohammed.
5. The Syrian Christians of Antioch, Syria, began the missionary impulse which eventually evangelized Europe, parts of
Africa and Asia. The cosmopolitan Christians of Antioch sent
the first foreign missionaries, St. Paul and St. Barnabas. E.
Stanley Jones tells us of a Christian community in southern India which is the living witness of the Labors of St. Thomas and
his successors.
6. Syrians were among the foremost leaders of the °'Church
Fathers'* in the early history of Christianity. It was Syrian
Christian theologians who guided the way of Christianity for
the masses through Greek philosophy. It was Syrian writers
who left us the history of early Christianity. It was Syrian oratory that gave wings to the gospel. It was Syrian martyrs who
challenged their persecutors. "Justin the Martyr, Eusebius the
historian, John Chrysostom the orator, and John Damascenus
the theologian—how much poorer the Christian world would
have been without them!" exclaims Philip K. Hitti. The directing genius of the Syrian "Church Fathers" probably influenced
more profoundly the nature and course of Christianity than any
other single group.
7. The rise of the modern Syrian race and nation marks
the re-awakening of Syria to a central place in the world. After
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
centuries of apathetic inanation the Syrian race is reborn to its
ancient vigor. Syria is again becoming the highway of mankind.
The Syrians are again in the pursuit of commerce, and their argosies of magic sails will eventually fill the heavens and the
earth. The emancipation of Syria began with the World War.
"The ebb of life away from the Near East to the ocean route,
which has continued ever since Constantinople fell in 1453, is
thus reversed. That stagnant backwater of the world becomes
again a way through which the tides of human life are driven,"
says Basil Mathews in The Riddle of the Nearer East.
Syrians, whether at home or abroad, unhampered by religious intolerance, unfettered by political autocracy, and unhindered by race prejudice, will forge their way to the forefront in
commerce, education, religion, science and politics. A glorious
future awaits the Syrian race.
V.
The Permeation of Public Opinion, the Education of Syrian Youth, and the Dissemination of the Truth about the
Syrian Race Is the Crying Need of the Hour.
There is an appalling ignorance among Americans of the
truth about Syria and the Syrian race. Though Syria and Syrians are part of Christian literature the whereabouts of Syria is
little known to the masses. Syrians are often mistaken for one
race or another. They are oftener misunderstood than understood.
The molding of public opinion favourable to Syria and Syrians calls for the highest Syrian endeavor. The race conflict
still rages under cover, and Syrians are not immune from its ravages. An ounce of intelligent knowledge of Syrian race history,
virtues, and achievements is worth a ton of just complaints
against race prejudice and discrimination.
How shall Syrians create a favourable public opinion? Nicholas Murray Butler says in True and False Democracy, "Public opinion is not very old. It is the child of the art of printing, of modern education, of modern means of communication,
of modern democracy." Therefore let us use the printed page,
newspapers, books and magazines. Let us use the radio and
movie. The church, Sunday School, and religious literature are
of first importance.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
has proven by its high standard, noble
�HB^MRnnnHmvwBBRwm
17
SEPTEMBER, 1928
service, and clear vision, to be the best medium for the information of the public, the education of Syrian youth, and the general
diffusion of the truth about Syria and the Syrian race.
The future welfare of the Syrian race everywhere depends
on the education of Syrian youth i.n the things most valuable
in the history of the race. Let Syrian scholars write popular
histories of Syria for the inspiration of our people. Let biographies of outstanding Syrians be written for the encouragement
of Syrian youth. Let Syrian-American religious, patriotic, literary and commercial societies help create favourable sentiment.
A Syrian-American Pioneers' Convention will help create a Syrian race personality and solidarity among the races of the new
world.
The King of Aradus
By
KAHLIL GIBRAN
Once the elders of the city of Aradus presented
themselves before the king, and besought of him
a decree to forbid to men all wine and intoxicants
within their city.
And the king turned his back upon them and
went out from them laughing.
Then the elders departed in dismay.
At the door of the palace they met the lord
chamberlain. And the lord chamberlain observed
that they were troubled, and he understood their
case.
Then he said, "Pity, my friends! Had you
found the king drunk, surely he would have
granted you your petition."
*?i
�/*
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Hassan Speaks:
AN ARABIAN IDYL
By DR. SALIM Y. ALKAZIN
I, Hassan, fain would greet the dawn ere its delicacy is roughened by the glare of the sun,
And fill my breast with its sweet breath ere it is made foul by
the breathing of men.
I entered the spring garden with the dawn,
With my hands I brushed the night drops from the eyes of the
roses,
And it was Hassan that the roses saw when their heavy eye-lids
were parted.
The dawn spreadeth over the eastern heavens like unto peace over
a troubled soul,
It approacheth with the grace of a beautiful virgin.
Its hands are full with the spices of Ind,
To its skirts cling the gums of Arabia.
Balmy is its breath, and in it there is healing;
Fair is the brow of the day, and by the sight of it the heart is
awakened and the senses are stirred.
But while contemplating the bewildering beauty of Allah's
works—
Blessed be His name and exalted—
I, Hassan, heard a sob from the heart of the garden.
It was not the sound of the breathing of the dawn,
It was not the sound of the breathing of the flowers,
It was not a bar from the morning love-song of the turtle-dove—
It was the sound of the breaking of a human heart.
And I said:
"O, at such an hour let the soul forget its pain!
Not with groans, but with song;
Not with sorrow, but with gladness;
Not with despair, but with hope
The birth of light should be met,
SEF
The
And
In t
I b<
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
1Q
The coming of a new day should be welcomed."
And I, Hassan, looked about me wondering.
In the dimness I beheld a sight as fair as the heart of the day,
and as delicate as the dawn.
I beheld a woman, and the woman was bent with sorrow, deep
and painful.
I questioned, and the sorrowing woman made answer:
i
I
"We, my beloved and I, made of this garden a dwelling
place for tenderness,
Beneath its blossoms we lived and loved.
Above our heads lived two doves, mates.
So in the trees and 'neath the trees affection and tenderness
held their court,
.
And, verily, O stranger, this was a garden of passionate love!
But one morning a flock of doves passed over the branches:
Among them was many a bright plumage,
And the male was lured away from his mate.
The female mourned her mate incessantly—
O, what yearning her lament did imply, what lonesomeness,
what travail!
At last the little heart burst, and we found her dead in a
bed of flowers
And I said to my beloved, 'Wilt thou, O my beloved, be
ever allured away from me?
Wilt thou ever be drawn away from me by another's glance^
Wilt thou ever seek another breast on which to rest thy headr
And my beloved said nay.
He swore and made big his oath!
But, alas, there came a day when I looked and saw him not,
When I called my beloved and heard no answer.
Another's charms had filled his eyes and- like the dove
He flew to strange abodes and revelry, and I was left to
pine and sorrow.
But later he bethought him of his love,
He returned to the haunts wherein there had been happiness for him,
He came back to regain his lost joy.
But unto this heart he shall never be pressed again!
He hath been untrue,
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
20
SEP
And I would fain keep love unsoiled, be true to him and
love.
'
For him my soul doth yearn, but needs must keep him tarj
I yield me unto despair, I call for death!"
And I, Hassan, said never a word, but plunged me into a bottomless sea of thought.
Arab Wisdom
Said Muhammad Ibn 'Ubaidallah: "I was once sent by my
father to the caliph Al-Mu'tamad on a mission, and the caliph
invited me to be seated. I was struck by the great condescension of the Prince of the Faithful and asked to be excused, and
the caliph remarked: 'O Muhammad, thy acceptance of my
invitation is a better indication of thy good manners than thy
refusal.'"
Said Ibn Al-Mu'tazz: The mistake of the learned man is
like the foundering of a ship—it causes the loss of many others.
It is recorded that the Caliph Hisham, in writing to the
Byzantine Emperor, began his letter as follows: "From Hisham
the Prince of the Faithful to the tyrant king." In due course
the reply of the Emperor was received and was found to begin
as follows- "I had never believed that kings would lower themselves to the station of the vulgar and indulge in abusive language. I could, if I were to forego my dignity, return your
insult by calling you the accursed, but my good manners forbid
me •>•>
Said Al'Attabi, describing the pen: Pens are the steeds of
intellect. If the pen squeals the face of the paper smiles with
pleasure.If the master of the house is fond of the tambourine, members of his household should not be blamed for wanting to
dance.
i
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
21
The Orange Tree
By Sonia Ruthele Novak
When Maar, the woman of winsome woe,
Went wending the market place,
The day was as drawn as her face ,
With hours that strained in a tense tableau
Through skimmings of wanness dipped from a crypt;
And close to her feet, there slinked and slipped
A sinuous, writhing, furry hound
Whose belly was flat but eyes were round:
And Maar knew well that it came from Aar—
The marauder ill-famed for years and far.
The barren bazars were ambuscades,
But covetous merchants, dropping trades,
Stood shackled with ecstasy as she went
In ragged resentment, unreined and rent.
And across the square, a musty ell,
There was hung a rusty-lunged bell
That never was touched by hand, nor tolled,
But it struck one note, and her breath went cold
With the long, dead tales of her lives it told.
For there in the dusty street, fine snow
Came whipping from dunes that no men know,
And whined in a veil of familiar threat—
And the snow was gone—
But her wrists were wet!
"Oh, cold is my heart, and cold is my soul—
More haggard and cold than a bell may toll!"
And her eyes went green with the glint of ice
That is scratched by the patter of Polar mice.
i
The hound moaned once, and she knew the feel
Of the thought of Aar, like a barbed steel.
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
SEF
Then she loosened a cord of silk at her waist,
And garroted the hound with sorry haste j
And stumbled the street with steps unfreed,
But hampered the more because of the deed,
Till she neared a vendor with dumb despair
That aroused itself when it sensed him there.
His face was an exquisite ivory blur
And as she approached him, it seemed to her
That his mouth was a delicate Arabic sign,
And his brows were asi scimitars formed and fine.
"Ho, what are you vending?" she begged him tell,
And shivered because of the echoing bell.
"I offer my packet for any to search—"
So saying, he saw her slowly lurch;
And he carried her in his arms a rod
With a pity that noted her sway and nod,
And compounded a powerful alkahest
While she whispered into the beat of his breast:
"What is your name, new light of gold?
How can you warm unfeeling cold?
What is the sunfire in your touch?
Golder than gold you are, and much
Comelier than the golden rose
Close by the minaret that throws
Shadows too golden to be a shade!
I am of cold and darkness made"
Buckled with silence till then, his tongue
Answered her slowly, with words unstrung.
"I am the vendor of oranges, a fruit
None can -produce but many would loot.
Born of the wizardry siring my line.
It is a secret consummately mine.
Is not our traffic the thing that we are?
I am Si'iy, and I know you are Maar.
You are a dove with tears in your throat
And of my arms I shall make you a cote!"
th«
wh
wr
"But I am the chattel of Aar!" she cried,
"/ garroted his guarding hound, and lied
1
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
23
When I swooned in your reach to be lifted up!
So make of an orange a -poison cup,
Then give me the cup, Si'iy, and fare
In haste from my sight as you would a snare!
For ages ago, the North-God's curse
Descended upon my soul—and worse—
•// made me to live forever with laws
In cognizance of each plane and pause!
It made me to know each time I've been
A harlot, or priestess, or sibyl, or queen!
It made me a power of wisdom composed
Of all of creation's labor throes!
It made me rebel with hatred at birth.
And death too unable to free me from earth;
From flesh and body and blood and bone;
From moving the flesh of men to own
The witnessing transiency never to be
A jot of the torturing soul of me!
From filling his larder for centuries
Still higher and higher with such as these!"
But Siiy laughed softly and kissed her lips.
He kissed her brow and her fingertips.
He kissed her temples, and kissed her lids;
And much as a father torch that bids
The flash of himself reflect from his child,
He kissed the flush of her skin, and smiled.
Then he quartered an orange, and spilled its gold
Through her teeth that chattered with haunting cold;
And where they had been sprung a tree in bloom,
And its golden fruit was their living tomb;
And maidens when mating will always wear
A wreath of its buds in their modest hair.
An Arab counseled his son, saying: Seek knowledge from
the mouths of the wise for they record in writing the best of
what they hear, and remember by heart the best of what they
write, and repeat orally the best of what they remember.
�24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Sage of Washington Street
ON THE DISPLAY OF WEALTH
By A. HAKIM
It was around six in the afternoon of a sultry summer day,
when the streams of workers crossing Washington Street issuing
from buildings and subway exits and converging on the ferries
of the North River had thinned down to a few laggards. Even
the rush of office boys with armfuls of mail headed for the neighboring post office had appreciably subsided. Washington Street was
again beginning to assume its natural aspect and revert to the possession of its lawful owners. Children of all ages and all nationalities now began to sworm to the sidewalks and indulge in their
games. Mothers stood in the doorways of tenement houses either
carrying their babes in their arms or wheeling them in perambulators. Men in their shirt sleeves formed in groups gossiping and
smoking. While above the street, on the several tiers of fire-escapes, could be seen more children and parents seeking the evening
breeze amidst a setting of clothes-lines hung in gala effect with
multicolored wash.
When I passed the little store of our sage at that hour I
discovered him resting at his accustomed place near the door
sipping his Turkish coffee. He could not fail noticing me and
his invitation to me to enter, as wholehearted as usual, could not
possibly be declined in view of his obvious inoccupation and my
strong desire to engage him in conversation. He forthwith reached for an empty cup and out of the still steaming little brass pot
poured out the drink that is considered in the East the first offering of hospitality.
Contrary to his custom, the sage appeared somewhat pensive
and taciturn on this instance. He would in turn sip his coffee
and draw on the narbish of his argileh with unusual deliberation.
I had seldom seen him in this state of mind and I was at a loss
to account for the singular change. I sat studying him for some
time trying to reason out the cause of this development while he
continued leisurely sipping his coffee and smoking, apparently unmindful of my presence.
i
«,
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
25
"My friend," I said, finally breaking the oppressive silence,
"something of an extraordinary nature must be weighing on your
mind Never have I seen you in such a condition before, and
it is my sincere hope that no serious family or business reason
is responsible for the change."
The "sage" remained in his attitude but for a moment, then
he straightened in his seat with a suppressed sigh and I again
saw in his eyes the characteristic sparkle that was ever wont to
emit a ray of cheerfulness.
"Thanks be to God that my depression is not caused by any
personal reason. And thank you a thousand times for your solicitude," was his reassuring answer. "But I have seen today a
passing sight that made me ponder some of the vicissitudes of
the social development in our colony. I say a passing sight and
you may take my words in their literal sense. For only a few
moments before your arrival I saw our old friend M. Kamel
passing by in his new limousine."
I could not help but give a start of surprise at these remarks,
and the keen-eyed sage was quick to perceive that he had somewhat struck a discordant note which caused me visible disappointment.
. . ,..
"Think not for a moment," he made haste to explain, that
I disapprove of anyone enjoying his wealth to the limit. It is
everyone's privilege to enjoy the fruit of his labor. And we
Syrians do certainly labor hard to win our fortunes. Nor do 1
want you to think for a moment that I am prompted to these
remarks by any feeling of envy, for with none of our wealthy
Syrians would I exchange my contentment and happiness in return for all their social position and worldly goods. But my
disapproval is of the mien some of our countrymen assume upon
reaching a stage of financial independence. They take on all
the objectionable airs of the newly rich and would want to bury
their past in an unmarked grave. Can you believe that many
whom I know endeavor studiously to disclaim their origin and
would admit almost any racial descent but their own?"
And he added: "Perhaps if you will but recall some of your
own acquaintances you will find my observations not far from
the mark."
.
.
,
I then began to see the reason for his earlier statement, and
I showed by my expression that I was eager to have him further
expound his theory. Now I could see that my friend the sage
�26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
was again becoming the vivacious, eager and always clear conversationalist. He immediately launched on his explanation.
"You know," he said, "how long I have been at this post.
You might as well call this little place the Syrian observation
tower because from this centrally located point in the heart of
the Syrian quarter enabling me to come in contact with all classes
of our countrymen I have been able to observe the evolution
and development of our different phases of social and economic
life. I recall the time when the residential quarter of our "better class" was just around the corner on Carlisle Street, and the
time is not long distant when some of our more prosperous and
socially ambitious merchants chose to live in Brooklyn and were
deemed by the rest of us unnecessarily prodigal and wreckless.
Well, we might as well admit that this course was but logical in
view of the changing economic and social order of the colony.
It is everyone's right, as I have said, to use his wealth in the
manner most conducive to his pleasure and comfort. It is for
that reason that one toils."
Although making his delivery vehemently, the sage here
stopped to adjust the charcoal on his argileh and take several
deep inhalations to again start the tobacco burning. One of his
characteristics is to concentrate on the immediate thing in hand,
and now that he had applied himself to the care of his beloved
argileh he bent all his energies on doing the thing quickly and
well.
Presently the argileh began to again emit the fragrant
smoke, and now that it was behaving to his satisfaction the sage
resumed his interrupted conversation.
"What I find objectionable," he said, "in the conduct of
some of our nouveaux-riches is that they quickly lose the balancing effect of a reasonable degree of humility. One cannot help
deducing from their attitude that they must have once borne a
terrible grudge against everybody and everything, and perhaps
they blame the world for withholding from them for some time
the success they finally achieved. Now it would appear they
are intent upon taking their revenge and for that reason affect
their offensive air of superiority. The man who passed my store
this evening had the air of one whom we used to describe in the
Old Country as one between whose head and the ceiling of heaven there is barely space for an onion skin to pass."
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
t
27
To my remark that such a class is found in every nationality, my friend replied:
"It is perhaps because I am a witness to the modest beginnings of all our present-day fortunes that the contrast between
the old and the new seems to me accentuated to the point of
aggravation. And please do not for a moment consider that I
am making a blanket indictment of the whole race. It is only
this particular class of Kamel's type that I refer to. You may
know a good deal along the same line which you may not be
willing to admit, but your excuse is that you are concerned with
your own affairs and perhaps give but little thought to these
matters. Nevertheless, I do not consider this the proper policy.
A public wrong should be the subject of public discussion and
the object for public correction. And right here is where we
find the conduct of this particular class most objectionable from
another angle. Just bear with me for a few more minutes and
I will give you my reason."
Here the sage allowed himself another brief respite to add
another live piece of charcoal to the dying embers and then resumed.
.
£
"All immigrants came to this great country in search of
wealth, which implies the fact that they all came poor. If this is a
generally conceded truth why should anyone be ashamed of his
former condition of impecuniosity? Why should not the accumulation of wealth be a badge of honor as a true indication to
one's thrift, industry and ability? In such a case one should feel
proud in proclaiming his former condition of poverty instead o£
seeking to hide it. For one to have made his own fortune and
gained for himself a position of affluence is incomparably better
than to have come to it by inheritance. Those of our own people,
and of all others for that matter, who shun the mention of their
past must have something therein of which they are ashamed.
Only to a few of our people, it must be admitted, does such a
statement apply. All that they can be accused of, if such be an
accusation, is that they began their career as peddlers, and in this
there is no cause for shame. The only remaining alternative,
therefore, to account for their attitude is a false sense of pride,
and this is the very reason and essence of the objection.
"Take the case of this man Kamel as an illustration. He
would dissociate from his countrymen while unable to associate
with the better class Americans. It seems beyond his comprehen-
�28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
sion that amalgamation must take a logical and well defined
course. Only gradually could we be molded into the body social
of the American nation, and for the time being we must be content with the realization that we are thoroughly American in
spirit, if not in form. Now this Kamel, like all the rest, made
his start in business by depending on his countrymen. Being
himself once a peddler, he later became a dealer in peddlers'
supplies and ended by becoming a very important manufacturer
and importer. All this, it is true, testifies to his inherent business ability, but why should he not show his gratitude to the
people who made him, who were responsible for his great success, by taking some interest in their welfare and engaging in
their activities? Not a church does he attend, nor a society does
he join, nor a patriotic movement does he contribute to or foster.
During the gravest crisis which befell the Syrians in America,
when our people were accused of being of Mongolian descent,
Mr. Kamel would not contribute a dollar to the defense of his
people's cause, yet when the financial crisis gripped the country
during a certain period it was to his people that he appealed and
it was they alone who extended him assistance. Is there not in
this, in your judgment, sufficient reason for him to be a little less
vain personally and a little more considerate of the general interests of his countrymen?"
I could see by the manner in which my friend warmed up
to his subject that he harbored a genuine grievance against this
Kamel in particular and his likes in general. It was also evident
that his resentment was inspired neither by social envy nor by
any business competition, as in both cases the two men were completely out of touch. It was, rather, a case of disinterested zeal
for public welfare and rebellious indignation at what seemed to
my friend a flagrant example of senseless vanity.
But I was not content with matters as they stood, and I asked the sage for some constructive suggestion for the correction
of the situation.
This caused him to reflect for a few moments and then he
said:
"Sometime last year a feature article appeared in the New
York American on the history of the Syrians in New York in
which the writer, and I believe he is the editor of THE SYRIAN
WORLD, suggested that a statue be erected to the enterprising
commercial spirit of the Syrian as symbolized by the pioneer
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
29
peddler. I should think that this suggestion if carried out in
some modified form would result in not only perpetuating the
memory of the pioneering spirit of the race but in holding it down
to some reasonable degree of modesty. Little book-ends of a peddler's figure should grace every cultured Syrian's home; or a little
statuette in bronze could be a graceful and appropriate ornament
for every Syrian executive's desk; or still a handsomely engraved
picture of the pioneering peddler could be framed and hung in
a conspicuous position in offices and homes. This should tend
to develop some sense of humility and correspondingly lessen
that obnoxious sense of false pride. It would also have the effect
of boldly attesting to our moral courage by glorifying achievement regardless of its humble beginnings and means. It would
be a wholesome lesson to posterity and produce a sobering effect
on those who carry their sense of elation over their success to
the point of ridiculous vanity. To such a proposition all those
who have the real interest of the race at heart should readily
subscribe."
My friend showed by his every word and gesture that he
was desperately in earnest. He seemed to pause only to readjust
his position and take breath, and I made no effort to interrupt
him but simply awaited his convenience to resume.
"This condition," he finally continued, "reminds me of an
actual case which took place in one of the principal towns of
upper Lebanon and which is widely quoted in my section of the
country to the present day. It relates to one of the principal
families of the land, the foundations of whose great fortune
were laid only a few decades since. The founder, a man of great
wisdom and foresight, had kept in his private apartment what
was termed by his neighbors the trunk of mystery. Some conjectured that he kept in it vast sums of gold or the deeds of his
enormous real estate holdings. The truth, however, was finally
revealed and caused no small amount of amazement. In this
trunk the wise old man had kept his coarse 'aba, his bob-nailed
boots and other paraphernalia reminiscent of his earlier days of
hard work and privation. When his several sons had become
one a district governor and another a member of the Legislative
Assembly and were wont to lavishly squander large sums of
money for no public good but simply to maintain an illusionary
prestige, he used to invite them to his private apartment and
silently and dramatically display to them these eloquent relics
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
of the method in which they came to their wealth. The continued
prosperity of this Lebanese house bears witness to the salutary
effect of this object lesson."
"Now," concluded the Sage of Washington Street, "if such
a reminder of our former strenuous days were available to us
Syrians in the form, say, of the figure of a peddler, would not
that be a potent builder of our national character, a conserver of
our hard-earned wealth and a suitable damper to the inordinate
and offensive conceipt and vanity of some of our newly rich?"
Here the sage seemed to rest his case. The coffee in his
half-consumed cup had become cold and the charcoal on the top
of his argileh had turned to ashes. He seemed to be transfixed
by a distant vision and the hand in which he held the narbish lay
limp on his knee. It was evident that the offensive behavior of
Kamel had affected him deeply. He was fearful of the contagious spread of the malignant spirit and wished to give expression to his forebodings. He also dreaded the reflection that this
objectionable attitude on the part of a few individuals would cast
on the whole race.
While agreeing with him on general principles, I made plain
to him that the common sense of the race was bound to assert
itself in the end. Perhaps, I said, it is better that Kamel and
his kind be outcasts from their community, and I invoked our
familiar saying:
No sword will he wield, nor guest entertain,
Nor offer succor in times of strain.
ORDER OF PRECEDENCE
AJ-Musta'si relates that APAhnaf Ibn Qais and Muhammad Ibn Al-Ash'ath called on the Caliph Mu'awiyah at the
same time. The Caliph gave permission first to APAhnaf and
then to Al-Ash'ath. The latter, however, quickened his step
and entered first. When Mu'awiyah beheld him he could not
contain his displeasure and remarked, "By Allah, had I wanted
thee to enter first I would have given orders to that effect. Know
that we are charged with the task of according due recognition
to intellectual rank in the same degree we are expected to deal
with justice in worldly affairs. Now thou hast given me an
illustration to the saying that he who is lacking most in anything
seeks it more eagerly."
�31
SEPTEMBER, 1928
From the Harem in Syria
TO ,THE MEDICAL COLLEGE IN AMERICA *
By Miss
SANNIYEH HABBOOB
I am the first woman who comes from a Mohammedan
family to study medicine in the United States. From the Harem to the hospital! From a dependent life to an independent
life! From the seclusion of a Mohammedan home to a medical
college! Why study medicine and not something else? I had
the first chance. I was nine years old. I stayed in school four
years. There was great opposition because I was the first Mohammedan girl to enter a missionary school. When I entered
school my mind began to grow. I got into the way of analyzing
and verifying things. I asked myself, "What is the difference
between my Christian sister and my Mohammedan mother and
sister? Why is there such a great difference? My mother is
perfectly healthy but has no life and no activity. Why am I
becoming so attached to my teacher? What is the Mohammedan
faith and what is Christianity?" These were the questions troubling my mind when I was only eleven years old. But it did not
take me long to find out.
When I was thirteen I graduated from the school and was
supposed to be a perfectly learned woman with a high school
degree, in fact ready for marriage, for that is the perfect age
for marriage. Then came the decision. If I married I would
have had no more school life. I would have to be a Mohammedan woman for which I was not prepared. I was interested
in both religions. I had a special professor to teach me Mohammedanism. I studied it five years which no other Mohammedan
woman had a chance to do. Her religion is only the teaching
that she should pray five times a day. Finally I did find out the
difference between Mohammedanism and Christianity. It is love
—the love of God.
To study medicine at that time was one of the impossibilities
* This short article by Miss Habboob, is reprinted from the May
number of the "Outlook of Missions," an American missionary organ
published on the Pacific Coast.
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
for a Mohammedan girl. When I first thought of it I had eight
years before me. Now it is only three. I came here to take
medicine, not only for my interest in it, but to go back and to be
with mothers and with little children for whom I can do something—women and children who are shut up behind walls still,
with nothing to give them independence to release their minds
from being only servants, without hope or outlook. It is these
things that make any difficulties to me easier to bear. The interest and pleasure of having in my mind the thought that I am
going to be a sister to women, and a mother, not only to one
child but to thousands.
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
DR. PHILIP K. HITTI — Historian, scholar and Arabic and English author. Formerly professor at the American University
of Beirut and now of Princeton University.
REV. W. A. MANSUR — Syrian patriot and scholar, educated in
Syria and at present minister of the First Methodist Church in
Loretto, Nebraska. He is one of our regular contributors.
KAHLIL GIBRAN — Author of The Prophet and other celebrated
works and styled by American writers Poet of the Cedars and
The Syrian Poet.
SONIA RUTHELE NOVAK — Author of "Winds from the Moon"
and contributor of poetry to the best American magazines.
Mme. Novak is American born but inherits much of her mysticism and poetical gifts from her Tatar and Russian ancestry.
DR. N. A. KATIBAH — Arabic and English poet and scholar.
Professionally a dentist of Brooklyn. One of our regular contributors.
DR. SALIM Y. ALKAZIN — English and Arabic poet and scholar.
Professionally a dentist of Brooklyn. One of our regular
contributors.
SANNIYEH HABBOOB — First Muslim woman to study medicine
in the United States. She comes from Beirut and is now attending a medical school for women in Philadelphia.
A. HAKIM — Pen name of an old Syrian immigrant who is contributing to The Syrjan World a special series of critical studies
on the Syrians in America.
SEP.
Win*
const
sister
thou
Win!
a IOJ
come
bare;
ulty,
the <
inatc
pel ;
trast
poet
�33
SEPTEMBER, 1928
Books and Authors
POETRY OF CHARM
Winds From the Moon, by Sonia Ruthele Novak.
The Century Co., $2.00.
Reviewed by
DR. NEJIB
A.
New York,
KATIBAH
The existence of truth in everything in the universe, and
consequently the omnipresence of beauty, the inseparable twinsister of truth, seems to be the basic philosophy and the inspiring
thought of Madame Sonia Ruthele Novak in her book of poetry,
Winds from the Moon, which has made its appearance this year.
Madame Novak is a beauty-mystic, and as such is never at
a loss for a theme—never sets out hunting for one. Themes
come to her, for everything that meets her eye unfolds itself and
bares its soul to her; and she, endowed with a rare intuitive faculty, readily understands the message and spontaneously sings to
the object of her attentions and of it.
In this, her first volume, the lyrical strain of course predominates, but with a naturalness and facility of expression that compel admiration. The two following citations from her book contrast widely and serve to illustrate our poet's width of range and
poetic insight:
THE BUBBLE
I am any bubble
Hiding in a glass.
(Only laughing eyes
Perceive me as they pass.)
i
Scintillating, empty,
Glimmering with rose,
I am tart and oval
As the pits of sloes.
When I race in luster
To the glass's rim,
There was never swallow
Dipping forth to skim
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
SEP1
Turquoise-chaliced sun-pools
Gathered in the sky,
Tracing fancied circles
Airier than I!
But when I have risen,
Winged with delight,
Life is but a piercing
Ecstasy of fright:
For I wink a moment,
Then I disappear.
Blessed were my lot
If I were born a tear!
Does this not smack of the tender sweetness of Shelley, or
the soulful emotions of Keats?
THE DEATH OF IGOR
"Igor is dying!"
The maidens are crying,
Vying with jangles
Of trinkets and bangles;
Spent with their panting
From silk bosoms, slanting
Curved as the pillowing
Tents that are billowing
Snatches of singing
From Igor, and bringing
Sorrow to darken
The loyal who hearken
Closely to laboring words he is sighing:
"This is the quiet from which I emerged
Out of creation on noise that surged.
This is the vanquishing shade of my shield.
This is the victor and lo! I shall yield.
Have you not heard it in soughing, old firs,
Worried and bowed when a hoary wind stirs?
Have you not felt it with fain through the night,
Stealthily swooping along in its flight?
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SEPTEMBER, 1928
35
This is the spuming of oceans in space.
This is the desolate end of my race I"
Warriors, scowling,
Are grunting and growling,
Lost in his going,
And maddened with knowing
None will assemble
In might that will tremble
Eager to flatten,
To conquer and batten
Enemies hounding
Their forces, and sounding
Doom to the nettle
Of Igor's proud fettle...
Doom to the fear of his anger and prowling!
"This is the hazard and bleakness that wait.
You, of the sun, would approach it with hate!
Out of the solitude, toward you I slipped
Into the ease of your languor, and gripped
'Plunder to strengthen my puissant lot;
Breathing an air that was troublous and hot;
Flattered by voices, inflated and vain,
Empty as those in the nest of the crane;
Wresting my trophies with love in the wake...
Anything goes to the one who can take I
Oh, the chill dawn spreads the mail of its cloak...
Tears well within me until I must choke..."
While they are failing
To rouse him with wailing,
An ape whirls and titters
Until a tree litters
With leaves all the weeping,
To mock them for keeping
Faith with the dead who is stiffened and paling!
This is almost Byronic in movement and vigor.
I feel certain that the readers of Madame Novak will treasure her first volume, but will hold it in the nature of a solemn
promise. For the book holds for us in expectation a speedy at-
�—
36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
tainment of that enviable poetical height to which she is destined
to arrive. She has imagination, emotion, impulse, expression and
power to a remarkable degree; and the expecting public will not
wait in vain for a higher and still higher development of this
promising poetess. I see the finger of the future pointing to her.
FORTHCOMING BOOKS BY DR. HITTI
Dr. Philip K. Hitti, formerly of the American University
of Beirut and now of Princeton University, is rapidly gaining
in the recognition which his scholarly attainments deserve. The
publication of as-Suyuti's Who's Who in the Fifteenth Century
(Syrian-American Press, New York), which Dr. Hitti published
last year in Arabic, has met with the commendation of the foremost Arabic scholars of the United States and Europe. Dr.
Hitti has now in course of publication several English works, one
of which treats with the history and the religion of the Druzes
and is being published in Europe. Another is a translation of
the Memoirs of Usamah, the Arab-Syrian Gentleman and
Warrior of the Crusades, which will be issued this Fall by the
Columbia University Press of New York. The leading article
in this issue of the Syrian World is an estimation of Usamah
and his works and is taken from the preface of Dr. Hitti's last
mentioned book.
THE GREAT MYSTERY
IMMORTALITY, By Dr. I. G. Kheiralla, New York, SyrianAmerican press. $1.00.
This is a profound discussion of the eternal question the
answer to which has so far baffled the human, mind. The
author characterizes immortality as the "greatest mystery of
all ages" and claims that "it has been conclusively proved from
scientific and logical standpoints." Dr. Kheiralla, although an
octogenarian, is still active mentally and physically. He is one
of the first seven graduates of the great American educational
institution in the Near East which has developed into the American University of Beirut. But perhaps his outstanding distinction is the fact that he was the founder of the Bahai religion
in the United States which claimed at one time thousands of adherents from among the best classes of Americans. This latest
book is but one of a series by the same author on similar subjects.
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
*t
The Syrian Constitution
(Editor's Note.—Press dispatches early in August announced the suspension of the Syrian Constituent Assembly by the French High Commissioner owing to differences arising over the framing of the Constitution.
Due to the special rights upon which France insists under its mandate
over the country from the League of Nations, and the persistent endeavor
of the Syrians to ignore these rights, or to place on them a different interpretation than that advanced by France, it is easy to determine the causes
which led to the suspension of the Assembly. The Syrian demands, held
by France to be incompatible with its mandatory rights, are incorporated
In the official draft of the Constitution as promulgated by thj Constituent Assembly and of which the following is a comprehensive summary.)
Chapter I deals with the political status of the country and
contains four main articles as follows:
Article I declares Syria an independent sovereign state whose
territory is held indivisible.
Article II defines the State of Syria as all lands within the
natural borders of Syria seceded from the Ottoman Empire. The
State as such is declared an indivisible political unit regardless of
whatever administrative changes may have been introduced into
it following the World War.
Article III declares the Syrian State a representative republic
"the religion of whose president shall be Islam" and whose capital
shall be Damascus.
Article IV describes the official flag to be adopted by the Syrian State and defines it as follows: "It must be twice as long as it
is wide and be divided into three equal horizontal colors, the top
being green, the center white and the bottom black. The center
stripe must bear on an even line three red, five-pointed stars.
Chapter II deals with the status of the individual under the
law and contains twenty-four articles which may be summarized
as follows:
All Syrians are equal before the law. No distinction is drawn
between one citizen and another because of his racial origin, his
language, his religion or his denomination.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
38
Personal liberty is the inalienable right of every citizen. All
those who, under the law, are deprived of their personal liberty
by the regularly constituted authorities must be notified of said action not later than the second day of the issuance of the decree and
be allowed immediate recourse to legal methods of self defense.
Torture is declared illegal, as also deportation and exile or
the refusal of any Syrian's right to residence in any particular
place, or his compulsion to reside in any special place, except under
the circumstances and conditions defined by law.
Homes are declared inviolable. Personal property cannot be seized except for public interests and subject to a fair
compensation.
Freedom of worship is guaranteed individuals, the State
undertaking to protect all religious bodies in the exercise of their
religious rites unless found to conflict with law and order and
undermine public morals.
Freedom of thought and speech are guaranteed citizens of
the State. The press is relieved of all form of censorship.
Elementary education is compulsory for both sexes and the
State guarantees to provide free education to all.
Religious minorities are protected in their legal rights and
are allowed to establish private schools to educate their children
in their own languages on condition of complying with state regulations.
Arabic is the official language of all departments of the State.
Chapter III deals with legislative and executive powers and
with other conditions governing elections and representation and
complete the one hundred and fifteen articles of the Constitution. The principal articles in this section may be summarized
as follows:
All authority is declared to emanate from the nation.
Only one representative body is constituted and is called the
Representative Assembly in which is reposed the power of legislation. The executive power is reposed in the President who has
the right to appoint a Ministry subject to the approval of the
Assembly.
Twenty is declared the legal voting age. Balloting is made
secret and every candidate for election to the Representative Assembly must be thirty years of age or over, the term of office
being four years.
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�SEPTEMBER, 1928
39
Religious minorities are allowed special rights of representation.
Maintenance of order within the Assembly is the sole right
of the representative body, and no armed force may enter the
premises or be stationed near its doors except by request of the
President.
The President is elected by a majority vote of the Assembly
for a term of three years. He may be elected for a second consecutive term but not for a third except after the lapse of three
years since his last term.
The oath of office for the President is as follows:
"I swear by the Almighty God that I shall respect the Constitution of the country and its laws and guard its independence
and the security of its territories."
The President selects the Prime Minister and appoints the
ministers subject to the latter's recommendation. He also appoints diplomatic representatives to foreign powers and receives
foreign diplomatic representatives accredited to the Syrian Republic and presides at official functions.
The Council of Ministers is restricted to seven, all of whom
shall be responsible collectively to the Representative Assembly
for the general policy of the Government, and each of whom
shall be responsible individually for the conduct of his own
ministry.
Amendments to the Constitution are permissible by a twothirds majority of the Assembly at any regular session. No
amendment could be made to the present form of the Constitution, however, before the lapse of three years.
A national army is to be formed under a special law.
A special administrative bureau is to be created for the nomad tribes which shall be guided in its policy by the special conditions and requirements of each tribe.
Public religious foundations should be considered purely
denominational institutions and shall be governed by special
boards elected by the Muslims.
The final, and what is termed as a temporary article of the
Constitution, vests in the Constituent Assembly the righ to elect
the first President of the Syrian Republic for a term of office not
to exceed two years.
�40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcoamic picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever
Arabic dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking
writers who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabicspeaking world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take
no part in the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our
task will simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and
with utmost sincerity, what we think is representative of ihe public opimion as expressed in these editorials.
Editor.
ISLAM IN SYRIA
A NATIONAL DISGRACE
There are among us some who
profess liberalism and tolerance,
but who are in reality plain communists, who should understand that
the Lebanese will never subscribe to
the principle of Syrian unity, which
is purely and simply a religious federation, until Syria becomes the common country of all without distinction. As matters now stand, the
Muslims claim the country to be
their own to the exclusion of all others of different faiths. They have
declared Islam the official religion
of the state and furnished the world
with positive proof that they have
not reached the stage where they
could be trusted in carrying out any
promise of equality. The Muslims
of Syria should have realized that
all advanced nations are separating
religion from the state in an effort
to prove that the country is not the
private monopoly of the adherents
of any one religion as against all
others.
The framers of the Syrian Constitution have shown such religious
fanaticism as belied their former
assertion of but yesterday that "religion belongs to God and the country to all is citizens."
We can entertain no doubt that
this clause in the Syrian Constitution
has registered a disgrace against
Syria that will stand for all time.
The majority of the population in
Syria is Muslim and it is but natural
that no Christian, Druze or Jew will
be elected President unless the majority choses to elect him to the
high office. To make the religion of
the president of the republic a condition is, therefore, an unpardonable
crime.
Republics presuppose
equality
among the citizens. Here we have
the Republic of Turkey which has
effected a complete separation between church and state although it
is wholly Muslim in religion. Why
not we Syrians profit by this lesson
and disregard religion in our politics
and concentrate on true patriotism
as our only religion?
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y., Aug. 26,
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Aug. 17, 1928.
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
RELIGION OF STATE IN SYRIA
41
borne down under the yoke of economic necessity, slaves to antiquated traditions and the whip of
the foreigner cracking over their
backs.
As-Sayeh, N. Y.f Aug. 27, 1928.
Consideration of the past is the
only motive prompting the notables
of Syria to declare for a monarchical form of government, and it is
that very motive which prompts the
framers of the Constitution to declare Islam he official state religion.
But neither official religion nor mon- COMPARISON BETWEEN
archy will bring back former glory.
TWO CONSTITUTIONS
This, rather, can be achieved through
Our brother Syrians have certain
compulsory education alone and not
patriotic demands which France will
through any reactionary methods.
It is ridiculous to declare for a surely grant if they prove compatirepublican form of government and ble with reason and conforming to
to shackle the liberty of the repub- the spirit of the mandate. They have
lic by joining to it an official relig- made an attempt before to gain these
ion of state. Republicanism is a demands through force and to that
form of government which outlaws end resorted to armed insurrection
absolutism, while the association of with the assistance of the Druzes.
religion and state is a remnant of But in this they failed and France,
absolutism. A republic has no offi- acting in a true spirit of justice and
cial religion and if the majority magnanimity, was merciful in her
would declare their religion the offi- victory and accorded the Syrians
cial religion of the state then any complete freedom in the election of
claim of equality between the citi- their Constituent Assembly. They
zens of v the republic would become then proceeded to frame a constitution which ignored completely the
groundless.
It is but a short time since we existence of the French Mandate and
heard this same faction which would the authority of the League of Nanow identify the state by an official tions in such manner as would dereligion proclaim loudly their con- clare Syria a fully independent state.
viction that "religion belonged to In view of these developments High
God, and the state to all its citi- Commissioner Ponsot cannot be held
zens." Why then should they now to blame for suspending the Assemrevert to duplicity and false rep- bly acting upon his responsibility toresentation? They should consider wards his government and the
that they are framing a constitution League of Nations.
Why do the Syrians refuse to
not alone for their immediate needs
practice
moderation in the pursuit of
but for posterity. In this considertheir
national
aspirations and to adation they should look ahead instead
mit
the
established
fact of being unof backward. It is evident that the
der
mandate?
France
has granted
religious restrictions in the Syrian
them
many
privileges
which
she has
Constitution were caused by looking
not
granted
even
the
Lebanese
who
backward to a procession of conare
admittedly
the
backbone
of
the
querors and caliphs in a blaze of
French
mandate
in
our
land.
A
glory, but of what avail is this past
comparison
between
the
former
Syrglory when the Syrians of today are
�42
ian Constitution and the present
Lebanese Constitution will disclose
such a wide difference as to prompt
a faction of Lebanese to accuse
France of showing partiality towards
those who oppose 'her by armed resistance. The Lebanese Constitution is the work of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs while the
Syrian Constitution is wholly the
work of the Syrians themselves. In
the Lebanese Constitution there are
such clauses as are not forced on
the Syrians, principally the clause
giving the President of the Lebanese
Republic the right to appoint sixteen
members to the Representative Assmbly subject to the approval of the
High Commissioner. This is more
than a third of the total of fortyfive. Surely this is an indication of
French tolerance which the Syrians
should not fail to take into consideration.
As-Shaab, N. Y., Aug. 17, 1928.
EFFECTIVE ARGUMENT
AGAINST UNITY
If it is permitted the Syrian Muslims to declare Islam the religion of
state why should not the Christian
uphold the Republic of Lebanon and
resist every effort to include it into
the body politic of Syria, so that he
may not become subservient to his
brother Muslim in the enjoyment of
the privileges of citizenship?
Article II of the Syrian Constitution permits of no interpretation
other than that the Muslim enjoys
complete citizenship while the Christian can claim right to it only in
part.
This is the great calamity which
the Christians have forever feared.
We should need no other proof of
THE SYRIAN WORLD
the validity of the reasons which
stand in the way of the Christians
acceding to the principle of Syrian
unity. The Syr;an Christian is still
considered in the capacity of a subject race to whom the Muslims will
not concede equal rights. In view of
these later developments none but
the cowards among the Christ:ans
will approve of the provision of the
Syrian Constitution in respect to the
religion of the sate.
Syrian Eagle, N. Y., Aug. 28, 1928.
WE ARE AMERICANS
We were much impressed with the
remarks of Mr. Salloum A. Mokarzel,
editor of The Syrian World, delivered at the banquet tendered in honor
of Sheikh Joseph Estephan, member
of the Lebanese Representative Assembly and now on a visit to his
countrymen in the United States.
The gist of those remarks is as follows: "We must bear in mind that
we are Americans who have chosen
America as our country and owe it
our fullest loyalty and undivided allegiance. Our loyalty to our adopted
country does not preclude, however,
our love for our motherland. In this
we find our beloved adopted country
setting a laudable example by being
the first among nations to give out
of its great philanthropy not only
to Syria and Lebanon but to all needy
and weak nations."
Yes, we are Americans. We have
sworn to uphold the Constitution of
this country and give it our undivided loyalty and defend its flag
with our lives. Still there is room
in our hearts for the love of the
mother country where we have relatives and friends and to whose people we are bound by ties of blood.
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
•
If we love our mother country we
gain in the esteem of the people who
have welcomed us to their country,
but if we love the foreigner, the
usurper and intrduder before whom
we lay our foreheads in the dust,
who can there be among self-respecting men who will consider us worthy
of his respect?
We are Americans. Yes, and let
us learn from our brother Americans
that self-respect and dignity which
would not tolerate the sacrifice of
independence whether personal or
national.
We would not countenance an attitude of insolence towards those foreigners who are amongst us, but we
do say that our respect for them
should be within the bounds of reason and not to the point where they
begin to think that we are their
slaves to whom we are indebted for
our lives.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y.f Aug. 17,
1928.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
A NATIONAL NECESSITY
While visiting some cities of the
interior, we were often told by many
parents that not infrequently before
the publication of The Syrian World
did their children deny their nationality. Thanks to the policy of this
publication, which strove to give to
our young generation bits of history
on the motherland of their parents,
these same ones who once denied
their racial descent came to acknowledge it with pride.
We commend the publication of
The Syrian World because we believe it is a necessity to all Syrian
readers of English whether young
or old.
We are also of the belief that the
duty of Syriam should be carried a
43
step further; they should make to
their neighbors and all Americans
of influence gift subscriptions of The
Syrian World in order to promote a
better understanding of the race.
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Aug. 17, 1928.
DISCARD TURKISH
TITLES FIRST
The dispatch announcing the discard of the Turkish Fez in Lebanon
either by the mandatory authorities
or by the Lebanese government cannot fail to cause genuine pleasure
among the Lebanese immigrants in
America. But we consider this step
trivial and superficial. What is needed most is the abolition of Turkish
titles which are still in great prevalence in countries liberated from
Turkish rule.
What can be more ridiculous than
that a president of a republic bear
the purely Turkish title of Pasha
or Bey, which is still the case in
Syria and Lebanon, while we pride
ourselves on having thrown off the
yoke of Turkish rule?
Although the Lebanese may have
been liberated from Turkish rule,
they do not seem to have been rid
yet of deep-rooted habits inherited
from the Turks. We find them even
now scurrying to meet every French
official that comes to the land with
the same servility as they were wont
to show during the times of the
Mutasarrefs during Turkish rule.
And what is worse, they still practice those detestable methods of information and calumny which were
so prevalent in olden times.
Discarding the fez is not as important as discardng these old,
loathsome methods which we have
inherited from the departing Turkish rule.
A«h-Shaab, N. Y., Aug. 18, 1928.
�44
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Political Developments in Syria
SYRIANS FRAME CONSTITUTION OBJECTIONABLE TO FRANCE
CAUSING SUSPENSION OF CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY.
It is one crisis following another
in the relations of the Syrians with
their Mandatory Power. The appointment of five High Commissioners in seven years is eloquent
testimony to the troubled relations
which France has been having with
the ward entrusted to its care by
the League of Nations. The success
of the present High Commissioner,
M. Henri Ponsot, in having suppressed the armed revolution and initiated the preliminary steps for representative self-government in Syria
augured well for a time for his continued success in coming to a final
understanding with the Syrians over
the issues which caused the successive upheavals in the country.
The latest developments in the situation, however, indicate that the fundamental deferences between the
French and the Syrians have remained substantially the same, except that armed resistance on the
part of the latter has apparently
been definitely abandoned.
For the last three montihs reports
indicated the continued improvement
of the relations between the Syrians
and the French, due principally to
the policy of non-interference consistently maintained by the French
High Commissioner. Impressed, as
it would seem, with the friendly
attitude of France in making no effort to influence the elections and in
allowing the Constituent Assembly a
free hand in choosing its form of
government and framing its Constitution, the Syrians were said to have
been won over to the policy of cooperation and to have assured the
Mandatory authorities of their readiness to put an end to the disturbances which have gone far in retarding the progress of constructive efforts in the country. During elections for the Constituent Assembly
the French High Commissioner took
up his residence permanently in Damascus to watch personally over the
freedom of the elections, and this action gave rise to rumors that he intended to make his official residence
in the Syrian capital for at least six
months of the year. In short, everything seemed to be progressing in
the most favorable manner towards
a better and permanent understanding between the Syrians and the
French.
But judging by press dispatches
early in August, the Syrian Constitution as framed by the Constituent
Assembly did not meet with the approval of the French and caused
High Commissioner Ponsot to suspend the Assembly for what is
termed a "three months' vacation."
The High Commissioner is said to
have based his action on the fact
that the Syrians adopted a Constitution which amounted to a virtual declaration of independence,
with utter disregard for its status
of being under mandate of the
League of Nations, with France as
WKKK&KIKm-
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45
SEPTEMBER, 1928
agent of the League. This the
French High Commissioner could not
accept in view of his official capacity as Governor of the country under a League of Nations mandate.
REASONS FOR SUSPENDING
ASSEMBLY
'I II
proved to be the ones particularly
objected to by the mandatory authorities. The French High Commissioner, while offering no interference to the Syrians in matters of
internal administraton, deemed it
his duty to take exception to the action of the Syrians on those matters affecting the status of the country's sovereigny, the form of unity,
the organization of the national
army, the style of the flag and the
manner of foreign representation. It
is evident that the conflict of interests springs from the fundamental
demand of the Syrians for complete
independence and full national sovereignty while France, invoking the
special rights of the mandatory, insists that Syria cannot disregard the
mandate of the League and dismiss
it as if it did not exist at all.
Press dispatches bearing on this
grave turn of affairs in Syria are
meagre and conflicting, some stating that the Assembly dispersed
calmly while others reporting that
rioting had developed in Damascus
causing the closing of many shops.
Syrian papers had not arrived in
the United States by the time this
went to press at the end of August, which contained definite accounts of the suspension of the Constituent Assembly. Papers dated up
to August 3rd, however, furnished
a clear presentation of the causes
that led to this action. The full text
of the Constitution as adopted by
the Assembly was published to the
nation apparently without interference by the High Commissioner,
but what may be reasonably surmised is that M. Ponsot, finding the
Constitution incompatible with his
conception of the duties of a country
under mandate, attempted at first
to negotiate with the Syrian Nationalists controlling the Assembly
with a view to inducing them to alter their stand, and finding them
firm in their demands, he finally had
recourse to arbitrary action and suspended the Assembly. This would
be the only logical reason to account
for the week or more elapsing between the publication of the Constitution and the final action taken
by the High Commissioner.
There developed in the Syrian
press a lively discussion on some articles of the Constitution which
In the comment of the Syrian press
on these developments, even before
High Commissioner Ponsot took action, it is claimed that the Syrian
Constitution was fashioned after that
of Egypt which, although under English occupation, enjoys what amounts
to full national sovereignty and has
tne right to in ierendent diplomatic
representation. The army is also
cause for gravj disagreement as the
Syrians insist on its being a purely
native organization while the French
maintain that the General Staff be in
their control.
While information is unavailable
on the final political developments in
Syria through the Syrian press, a
clear idea of the immediate causes
of the crisis and the manner of its
occurrence is obtainable from short
dispatches to the Arabic press of
Egypt filed in Beirut on August 8.
These dispatches report that upon
adoption by the Syrian Constituent
Assembly of the draft of the Con-
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
titution, High Commissioner Ponot, through his political secretary
Mogra, officially notified the constituent body of his objection to several
articles embodied in the Constitution
which he advised should be deferred
for later consideration with a view
to their possible incorporation in the
proposed treaty which is to be negotiated between France and Syria.
The High Commissioner's proposal
was unanimously rejected by the Assembly with only six members dissenting. A reply was immediately
drafted and approved rejecting the
High Commissioner's reservations
and the President of the Provisional
government, Sheikh Tajeddin, left
the Assembly hall in protest. It is
not made plain in the brief dispatches
if the action of the head of the government was taken as a protest
against the decision of the Assembly or the move of the High Commissioner, but it may be reasonably
surmised that he was prompted to
his action by the former motive, as
it had been previously reported that
he had completely broken with the
Nationalist bloc over the national
program and was the subject of public denunciation both within the Assembly and without.
CLAUSES OBJECTIONABLE TO
FRENCH
The specific clauses in the Constitution which the High Commissioner is reported to have singled out
for his objection are the following:
Article 73—The authority of the
President shall be confined to the
granting of individual pardon, general amnesty being reserved for
special legislation.
Article 74—The President has authority to negotiate and ratify international treaties. Those treaties,
however, which affect the security
of the country, and tftie finances of
the State, or those commercial
treaties which are not subject to
annual renewal, cannot become effective unless approved by the Representative Assembly.
Article 75—The President selects
the Prime Minister and appoints
the ministers subject to the latter's
recommendation. He also appoints
diplomatic representatives to foreign
nowers and receives foreign diplomatic representatives accredited to
the Syrian Republic; appoints civil
officials and judges and presides at
functions of state.
Article 110—A national army is to
be organized under a special law to
be considered later.
Article 112—The President is authorized to declare martial law, subject to the recommendation of the
Council of Ministers, in all places
where disorders and disturbances
take place. Declaration of martial
law must be submitted to the Representative Assembly for confirmation and in case the Assembly is not
in session it should be called by the
President to an extraordinary session immediately.
Exception is also taken by the
High Commissioner to the second
article of the Constitution which defines the state of Syria as "all lands
within the natural boundaries of Syria seceded from the Ottoman Empire. The State as such is declared
an indivisible political unit regardless of whatever administratve
changes may have been introduced
into it following the World War."
NATIONALISTS ATTACK
TAJEDDIN
Excerpts from speeches made by
leaders of the Nationalists in the
�47
SEPTEMBER, 1928
Assembly published in the Syrian
press, together with comment by
some influential Nationalist organs,
would indicate that the territories
ceded to Lebanon are claimed by the
Nationalists to be an integral part
of Syria and are the particular lands
implied by Article 2 of the Constitution. Another interpretation of
this article would put in the minds
of the framers of the Constitution
the broad vision of claiming all
lands within the geographical limits
of Syria, including Palestine and
Transjordania.
Severe attacks were directed at
Sheikh Tajeddin, President of the
provisional government, for his supposed complicity with the French
in concurring in the proposal of the
High Commissioner to defer consideration of the objectionable articles
to the forthcoming treaty. Especially
was Fakhry Bey Baroudy, one of
the principal Nationalist leaders,
bitter in his denunciation of what he
termed the sinister and traitrous activities of Sheikh Tajeddin. He accused him in open session of having
guaranteed to the French, in return
for his appointment, the Assembly's
support in framing a Constitution
agreeable to them, and in the promotion of his designs he lavishly
squandered the nation's money to
the extent of "hundreds of thousands of pounds" in order to influence the elections. Failing in this,
he then resorted to threats and promises to win over the nation's representatives, and ended by accusing
the Nationalists of radical and impossible designs.
Representative Faiz Bey Elkhoury
objected vehemently to the rservations of the French High Commissioner and expressed surprise that
M. Mogra, reputed to be an expert
in international law, should hare
not felt ashamed of affixing his signature to such a document as that
presented to the Constituent Assembly of a nation whom France
claims to be educating in the task
of independent government.
STRONG DEMAND FOR
MONARCHY
Meanwhile, a spirited campaign
was being waged by the advocates
of a constitutional monarchy for
Syria to force the hand of the High
Commissioner to declare in favor of
their plan and against a republic.
Immediately before the adoption of
the draft of the Constitution by the
Assembly, four hundred Syrian noables met at the house of Ahmed
Bey Rateb in Damascus and adopted the following resolutions:
1—Appointment of a committee to
conduct active propaganda for the
advancement of the cause of monarchy.
2—Sending of a telegraphic petition to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs declaring that the aspirations of the Syrian nation are
centered on the establishment of a
constitutional monarchy, principally
for the reason that the monarchical
form of government is the one best
suited for their psychology, temperament and traditions, inasmuch as
they have been accustomed to it for
centuries.
3—Appointment of a committee to
wait upon the President of the Constituent Assembly and advise him
that the will of the whole nation is
that the form of government to be
adopted for the country be declared
a constitutional monarchy.
The committee did wait upon the
President of the Assembly, who
promised to lay its demands before
�48
that body, but the leaders of the
Nationalists who carried the day
for the republican form of government were unsparing in their denunciation of all forms of monarchy
because "they would never see the
country turned over to the personal
Ambitions of foreigners." This
was interpreted to mean that the
Nationalists are fearful of designs
on the part of the French to place
on the throne of Syria a prince
from their North African possessions.
Previous to the development, of
this crisis over the Constitution, dissension was reported to have developed in the ministry of Sheikh Tajeddin owing to the refusal of three
ministers to tender their resignation at the request of the Provisional President. Rumors were circulated that these ministers had refused to uphold their chief in his
political ambitions, while from different sources it was learned that
this move was intended to placate
the Nationalist bloc which had accused the three ministers of abetting election frauds.
LEBANON SEETHING
WITH POLITICAL UNREST
While Syria is grappling with her
special problems in the initial stage
of laying down the foundations of her
national government, Mr. Lebanon,
already created a republic, is encountering all the vicissitudes of
painful readjustment to a new political life. The ministerial crises,
since the formation of Lebanon into
a republic, have been many and severe. Only seven months ago what
was (hailed as the most constructive
change took place when the Man-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
datory Power acceded to the demand
of a powerful faction for reducing
the ministry from seven to three in
the interest of efficiency and economy. It was evident that the country was heavily burdened with taxation, plus a severe depression in
the economic situation, and could not
possibly withstand the expense of
so many administrative offices which
were termed by the advocates of the
governmental change as mere sinecures. But the triumvirate had,
ever since its assumption of office, an
extremely stormy career due, it is
claimed, to the efforts of Dr. Ayoub
Tabet to introduce radical changes
in the administration with utter disregard for accepted and time-honored traditions. It was apparent
that he directed his most strenuous
efforts at the eradicaion of what he
considered the fundamental cause of
all governmental ills in Lebanon,
namely, representation based on religious denominational considerations. He began by appointing district governors from among the
Druzes and Moslems in purely
Christian sections, while to the
Druze and Moslem sections he sent
Christian officials. But notwithstanding this radical innovation he
was accused of arbitrary action in
all his official acts both as Minister
of the Interior and of Public Health.
His friends and supporters hailed
this policy as a true indication of
impartialty on the part of the Minister, but there were others who
could not see matters in that light
or accept the Minister's reforms as
coming from purely altruistic motives. Among these were some of
the most influential politicians of
the country who resented particularly what they termed the arrogance
and obstinacy of the Minister
�49
SEPTEMBER, 1928
which found expression at times in
the most violent outbursts of temper.
VIOLENT SCENES ATTEND
DEBATE
\
The campaign against the triple
ministry reached its climax in the
latter part of July, When its opponents secured signatures to a petition for an extra session by a majority of the Representative Assembly which was called by the President of the Republic for August
9. The antagonists of the Government made no effort to conceal their
intentions of deposing the triple Ministry, and no sooner had the several
Ministers taken turns in defending
their records than they were almost
howled down by their well organized and determined opponents. Especially were recriminations indulged
in between the Minister of the Interior and Representative Abou
Nader, and on several occasions there
were attempts at physical violence
from either one or the other. At
one time the President had to declare a recess to avert threatened disorders, but when the session ended
the Ministry found its position untenable any further and had to tender
its resignation.
No detailed accounts are available
at this time as to later developments
except what was reported in brief
dispatches from Beirut to the Arabic
press of Egypt announcing the formation of a new Ministry of five
members under the veteran Lebanese statesman Habeeb Pasha Saad.
This would indicate that the old familiar form of religious representation in the Lebanese government has
been put into effect again, as this
was said to be the main purpose of
the former government's opponents
in deposing it.
As if to offset the added governmental expense resulting from the
increased ministry, it is said that
the same bloc which deposed the former government is now advocating
the amendment of the Constitution
so as to reduce the membership of
the Representative Assembly by
eliminating government appointees
to that body and confining membershhip to those elected by popular
vote.
'
About Syria and Syrians
LEBANESE REPRESENTATIVES
IN THE UNITED STATES
In the August issue of The Syrian
World we announced the arrival in
the United States of Sheikh Joseph
Estephan, member of the Lebanese
Representative Assembly and the
official emissary of the Lebanese
government to the Lebanese immigrants in North America. Soon after his arrival, however, there
reached New York Mr. Raphael La-
hood, publisher of a weekly Lebanese paper, who also claimed to represent the Lebanese government in
an official capacity and for the same
object. Al-Hoda of New York
chided the Lebanese government for
having sent two representatives at
the same time to the same country
for the same purpose, and was inclined to discredit the claims of the
last comer as he could show no credentials and held no official position
in the government-
�50
Whatever the case, Sheikh Estephan, immediately after the banquet
given in his honor in Brooklyn on
August 16, left the city for a limited tour of the United States which
took him first to Boston and other
New England cities and later to Detroit, Mich. In Boston he was given
a hearty reception and was handed
a memorandum of suggested administrative reforms in Lebanon, while
in Detroit 'his reception took the
form of an elaborate banquet at
which many poems were read.
The Lebanest paper Leesan AlAdl, published in Detroit, printed in
its issue of Aug. 28 the text of the
Representative's address delivered at
the Detroit banquet. As'de from
the economic considerations to which
we made reference in the August
issue of The Syrian World, the visitor gave expression to some of his
observations since he arrived in the
United States. He deplored the
gradual loss of the Arabic language
stating that often when he met some
American-born Lebanese he discovered that they could not understand
his questions put to them in the
mother tongue. He asserted, however, that there was no truth to the
claim that the Lebanese spirit is dying out and was glad to notice that
the Lebanese were proud of their
history and exhorted his hearers to
adhere to those sterling characteristics of the East which constitute
their national heritage.
Amplifying on his economic proposals, he said that the Lebanese of
the United States possess an estimated wealth of two hundred million
dollars. Both from reasons of patriotism and in the interest of good
investment, he said, the Lebanese
should be able to devote at least 10
per cent, of their total wealth for
investment in economic projects in
THE SYRIAN WORLD
their motherland. This would afford a capital of twenty million dollars whch would work wonders in a
small country such as Lebanon. He
further intimated that the Lebanese
immigrants should themselves take
the initiative in launching the economic projects open for development in their mother country-
ECONOMIC DEPRESSION
IN SYRIA SEVERE
Moratorium Declared in Damascus—
Syrian Government Takes Measures to Aid Destitute of
Hauran.
Syria is reported to be in the grip
of a severe economic crisis. From
all sections of the country comes the
cry that old-established business
houses are facing ruin while some
weaker ones have already gone into
bankruptcy. This is caused in part
by the prevalence of similar conditions in neighboring countries such
as Palestine and Iraq which depended for large quantities of their importations on Syria, but the principal causes of the depression are the
failure of crops, the high tariff and
the industrial backwardness of the
country.
The Beirut correspondent of AlMokattam, an Arabic paper of
Egypt, quotes the report of the British High Commissioner in Palestine
to prove that Syria is losing ground
in many industries in competiton
with Palestine. Especially is this
true of the soap and wine industries
and the manufacture of textiles.
In Hauran, where the crop failure
this season added another heavy burJ
.
-"-i»'*\a*^
<
�Ma
SEPTEMBER, 1928
51
den to the country which for two CLARA CANDIANI
CAPTURES SYRIANS
years was the theatre of the Syrian
revolutionary campaign, the Syrian
Readers may not be alarmed at
Minister of Finance, Jamil Bey
the title. Mile. Candiani did not
Alshj, caused an appropriation of
go to Syria on a military expedi£25,000 to be made for loans to the
tion, but she has succeeded in capHauran farmers without interest for
turing the Syrians through other
a term of five years. He further
means. She must be possessed of
reduced taxes by 25 per cent, and
extraordinary charms, for she is deinduced the government to set aside
scribed in the newspapers as the
a sum of £45,000 to be spent on pub"Parisian belle." Whatever the case,
lic improvements in the country to
she has succeeded in gaining a lot
afford work for destitute farmers.
of publicity. Every Syrian and
In Damascus an official decree was
Lebanese paper has long accounts
promulgated declaring a moratoof her every movement, the banrium, to be extended at the discrequets tendered in her honor, the
tion of the courts, to those found
manner of her reception whether in
unable to meet their debts. This
the populous cities or the sparsely
is done not alone because of the gensettled dsert. She expressd a deeral conomic depression in the counsire to pay a visit to Sultan Pasha
try but also because of the disasAtrash, leader of the Druzes in the
trous fire of June 20 which destroyed
last revolution, and immediately a
one of the principal business streets
number of Syrian notables offered
of Damascus.
to accompany her and place at her
Another contributory cause to the disposal their automobiles and
Her travels
depression is said to be the steady camping facilities.
through
Syria
are
described
more
draining of the country of its suplike
triumphal
processions,
for
ply of gold. A leading paper of
everywhere
she
makes
her
appearBeirut declares that according to statistics the gold supply in Syria and ance she is received with what seems
Lebanon in 1925 amounted to £41,- more than the traditional Eastern
000,000 while in 1927, according to hospitality. Mile, must be surely
the same source, the supply had fal- endowed with a fascinating personlen to only £13,000,000. The paper ality, because it seems hardly suflays the blame for this gradual de- ficient for her to be the corresponcrease in the gold supply partly on dnt of the Figaro of Paris to be rethe policy of the High Commissariat ceived in such manner.
Out of all the long accounts pubin withholding the gold receipts of
lished
in the Syrian papers about
the customs for payment of the OttoMile.
Candiani
it is possible, after
man debt, and partly on the unproall,
to
extract
a
little substance. She
ductvity of the country and the perseems
to
have
interviewed Sultan
nicious habit of taking to everything
foreign to the detriment of native Pasha Atrash and to have elicited
products and interests. Automo- from him the statement that he supbiles and accessories seem, accord- ports the Syrian Naionalists in the
ing to this paper, to be the largest whole of their program, and that
single item tending to drain the there was absolutely no foundation
to the rumors that he was in favor
country of its gold supply.
�52
of a monarchical form of government for Syria, or that he was promoting the candidacy of the son of
Sultan Ibn Saoud for the Syrian
throne.
Other than the above, all the long
accounts of the movements and the
activities of the mademoiselle simmer into nothing.
Mademoiselle being an able journalist, it should be interesting to
await her own account of her visit
to Syria. Will she write for publication her honest impressions of
the country and its people in a
frank and candid manner, or will
she reserve her intimate impressions
for posthumous publication?
LEBANESE ASK FRENCH
PROTECTION IN LIBERIA
Previous reports that the government of Liberia had placed stringent restrictions on Lebanese traders, prohibiting them from visiting
the interior of the country, have
been confirmed by dispatches to tde
Lebanese papers from their Paris
correspondents.
The Lebanese society in Paris,
acting on the solicitation of sister
societies all over the world, brought
the plight of the Lebanese in Liberia to the attention of the French
Foreign Office seeking redress. The
unsaisfactory reply of the Foreign
Office was that it had made representations to the government of Liberia and that the latter had replied
that the Lebanese had become a
menace to Liberians through their
commercial initiative, which fact
caused it to take action against their
further depredations.
Lebanese papers are of one mind
in blaming France for its indifference in this matter. They argue that
THE SYRIAN WORLD
France has a commercial treaty with
Liberia, and that she has, at the
same time, charge of protecting Syrian and Lebanese interests abroad.
Of what benefit to Lebanon, then, is
this foreign representation if the
rights of the Lebanese in such simple matters as commercial interests
cannot be protected?
MORE THAN 9,000
AUTOS IN SYRIA
Recent statistics disclose the total number of automobiles in Syria
as being 9,318, distributed as follows:
Greater Lebanon
5,613
State of Syria
1,195
Alouite Sate
460
Jebel Druze
195
Alexandretta and Antioch
845
Total
9,318
Economists accuse the Syrians in
general of unwarranted extravagance in the use of the automobile.
For several years past they have
been calling attention to the fact
that the country is rapidly burning
its wealth in gas, as there are no
exports to offset the excessive imports of luxuries. But, according to
the expression of the native papers,
all these warnings have gone up unanswered "much like a cry in a desolate valley."
FOUR GOVERNMENT
HOSPITALS IN SYRIA
The newspapers of Beirut report
that the Mandatory Authorities in
Syria propose to erect in the near
future four governmental hospitals
in Homs, Latakia, Alexandretta
and Aleppo.
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
i
53
AMBITIOUS FINANCIAL
PROJECT FOR SYRIA
SYRIANS OF U. S. AID
DAMASCUS SUFFERERS
Dispatches to the Egyptian paper
Al-Mukattam from Paris announce
the formation of a partnership between Emir George Lutfallah, M.
Henri de Jouvenel and a member of
the wealthy Syrian family of Sursuq for the purpose of establishing
a commercial bank in Syria and
Lebanon to tide these two countries
over in their financial difficulties.
Commenting on this project, some
Lebanese papers claim to discover
in this move a clever attempt by
Emir George Lutfallah to ingratiate
himself with the Syrians and Lebanese for the ulterior motive of promoting his political ambitions. This
Emir has been steadily accused of
strving to gain some position of
power in Syria. During the Syrian
revolution he was said to be the
main financial mainstay of the rebels, and later he was reported to be
conducting an active propaganda for
bis election to the presidency of Lebanon. The Lebanese were infuriated at what they termed brazen audacity because the Lutfallahs, in
their support of the Syrian revolutionists, had indirectly caused the
slaughter of many Lebanese Christians.
Failing in direct methods, Emir
Lutfallah is said to have had recourse to his latest financial scheme
in an effort to win over the Lebanese to his cause, now that they
are in the direst financial stress.
His taking into partnership of de
Jouvenel, a former High Commissioner, together with a member of
the leading familities of the country, is said by his opponents to be
only a cloak to hide his real motives.
Through the initiative of Al-Hoda,
a fund of over $800.00 was collected by popular subscription among
the Syrians and Lebanese of the
United States for the aid of the
Damascene sufferers of the great
fire which devastated a considerable
part of the city last June. Al-Hoda
sent the fund to the Relief Committee of Damascus as a token of good
will on the part of Syrian immigrants. In its comment on this action it states that in times of adversity there exists between Syria
and Lebanon no geographical distinctions.
TOURING THE WORLD
ON FIFTEEN CENTS
The correspondent of As-Sayeh in
Canton, Ohio, writes to his paper
that a Syrian High School boy of
that city, Adib Karam, had just returned from a trip to Mexico which
he made on a capital of fifteen cents.
He had intended, it is claimed, to
extend Irs trip further down to other
Central and South American countries but was dissuaded by the American consul in Mexico on account of
troubled conditions in those countries.
From the same source it is learned
that this enterprising boy had successfully completed a trip around
the world last year also on a capital of fifteen cents. He even went
to Syria and was successful in finding work where there seems to be
so much complaint about non-employment and depression in economic
conditions.
�54
ARMENIAN QUESTION
TROUBLES SYRIANS
The following comment of one of
the leading papers of Damascus is
indicative of the attitude which the
Syrians hold towards the influx of
Armenian refugees into the country.
Commenting on the possible grant
by the Syrian government of lands
for the settlement of the Armenians,
Aleph Ba denies the right of the
government, being only of a provisional character, to undertake a
move of such far-reaching effect before the election of a de jure government. If the reason for such action be humanitarian, the paper argues that there are other nations
who should act on this generous impulse because of their better financial standing. But to graft on impoverished Syria such an industrious
race as the Armenians would amount
to a national calamity. The principal grievance which this paper in
particular seems to hold against the
Armenians is that they are infinitely
more industrious than the Syrians.
This, coupled with the fact that in
Syria there are scarcely means for
the subsistence of the population,
would bring matters to an acute
crisis.
Aleph Ba further laments that the
Armenian problem in Syria is far
graver than the Zionist problem in
Palestine. "By Allah," it exclaims,
"we would rather a thousand times
face the necessity of struggling with
two Jews than with one Armenian,
In the former case we know that
the main motive of the Jew is sentimental, while in the latter case the
motive is purely economic. And the
Armenian is no mean competitor in
all forms of work."
Formerly, it continues, the Palestinian Arabs envied the lot of their
THE SYRIAN WORLD
brother Syrians in that the latter
had only one problem on their hands,
that of evicting the invading European, while they, the Palestinians,
had a double problem of contending
against foreign occupation and Jewish settlement combined. Now the
order has been reversed and it is
the Syrians' lot to face the double
problem of foreign occupation and
Armenian settlement, while the
Palestinians' problem is easing
through a better understanding with
the English and the Jews.
HAURAN DRUZES SEEK
EMPLOYMENT IN LEBANON
The failure of crops in the Druze
Mountain of Hauran has caused a
general exodus of the population to
seek employment elsewhere. Beirut
newspapers report that the Ministry of Public Works in the Lebanese
government alone has given employment to over five hundred of these
Hauranian refugees, while many
more are scattered throughout the
country privately employed.
This action of the Lebanese and
their government is hailed as an
act of charity in repayment to the
people of Hauran for their hospitality tendered the starving Lebanese
refugees in their country during the
trying times of the World War.
SYRIAN APPOINTED
CHILIAN CONSUL
The government of Chili is reported to have appointed Mr. Fouad
Issa Halabi, a native of Syria, as
its consul general not only in Syria
and Lebanon but in the whole of the
Near East, including Turkey.
Chili is anxious to find outlets for
its fertilizers in that part of the
world and has entrusted to the new
consul this commercial task. He hag
chosen to locate in Beirut.
�SEPTEMBER, 1928
55
Readers' Forum
NEGLECT OF ARABIC
BLAMED ON PARENTS
/ f
Editor, The Syrian World:
The debate which is now being
wage in The Syrian World about
teaching the younger Syrians in
America the Arabic language, has
aroused our interests as much as it
has the older people's. The majority of the young Syrians hesitate to
express their views and are waiting to see the outcome.
I say that because we, the younger
Syrians have very little power to
accomplish anything alone without
the firm support and cooperation of
the older people. I shall give an incident which will prove my statement true.
In Lansing the young Syrian people, ranging from the ages of sixteen to thirty, organized a club
known as the "Young Phoenician Society" whose purpose is to create a
better understanding among the
young people.
Three months ago we decided to
take twenty-five or thirty minutes
from each club period which we held
twice a month, and hold a class for
the purpose of learning Arabic
The teacher chosen was a very welleducated young man, and an instructor in one of the best colleges in
Michigan.
Everybody started out very enthusiastically for about four lessons, and after that nobody desired
to advance any further. What was
the trouble? It was that our parents didn't encourage us any further. They didn't care whether or
not we progressed. Some didn't
have patience to help their chil-
dren, some wondered what good the
Syrian language would do them in
America, and others didn't approve
of it at all, and we ceased learning.
Therefore, I believe that the matter should be left to individuals to
find means of teaching their children the Arabic language if they desire to, because it will be a tedious
task to try and accomplish it universally.
RUBY NAKFOOR,
High School Student.
Lansing, Mich.
ARABIC NOT OUR
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE
Editor, The Syrian World:
Five weeks ago, during a conversation with the head of the philosophy department of a large University, we touched on several topics of
thought and activity. We became
interested in each other and carried
the discussion a little further than
one might care to go. Towards the
close he asked me my nationality,
and upon being told that I was a
Syrian, he gave a smile of satisfaction.
Then he said, "In your country
men have much leisure. Due to
their inactivity they think a great
deal, and produce many philosophers.
But the sad part is they get nowhere."
How true he spoke. We talk a
great deal, we write a great deal
and paint pictures of glowing success; but the least obstacle we encounter defeats the end we desire
and throws most of us back to our
original position.
�56
Now the readers are engaged in
an Arabic linguistic duel. I want to
ask, Is Arabic our original tongue?
Indeed not. It was simply grafted
upon us by our conquerors. Then
what difference does it make what
language we employ to convey our
thoughts? Now that the original
medium is lost must it be our duty
to preserve a language not originally
our own ? At any rate it is not an
important language now, since the
Europeans have given the modern
world all the progress civilization
has.
J. J. K.
Syracuse, N. Y.
TEACHING ARABIC
DEEMED UNNECESSARY
Editor, The Syrian World:
I have read the various articles
pro and con on the subject,
"Should Arabic be taught to the Syrian-American Youth?"
Personally I fail to see any good
derived from the knowledge of Arabic as long as one does not intend
to migrate back to the mother country, and incidentally I venture that
not one per cent, of the SyrianAmericans will ever go back. For
those that care to learn it, I'll grant
that it is their privilege, but when
a leader like Mr. N. A. Mokarzel
charges our parents with "criminal
negligence" I don't agree with the
gentleman, and I really don't think
that he meant to make this charge.
In the first place, where is the criminal part of this negligence, if there
is any negligence on the part of our
parents, I suppose that in most
cases the fault lies with the children
themselves. In my case I had no
desire before nor do I have any now
to learn Arabic.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
It has been my observation that
our parents are very eager for their
children to have as good an education as their means will permit.
And even where parents have an opportunity to send their children to
"Arabic" schools I do not heartily
agree that they are doing their children justice in burdening them with
the learning of a language that
will be absolutely useless to them in
the way of advancing them through
life. In this case it appears to me
that they are the ones that are guilty
of '"criminal negligence." It must
be granted as true that if one wished to acquire a broader education
even in Beirut, the cultural center
of our mother country, one must
have a broad knowledge of either
French or English. I am told, too,
that among the younger generation
of Syrians in the larger communities of Syria, they are using the
French language as much so as the
Arabic. I have interested myself in
this discussion from the very first
article, and I have been thinking
over it very much. During this
time I have tried to recall of even
one instance where I could possibly
need thhe knowledge of Arabic. I do,
however, find that I need a broader
knowledge of the English, almost
daily, and I personally think it will
behoove every father and mother to
concentrate their efforts on making
their children better fitted with English, than to waste their efforts on
a language whose only literature is
myths, dream stories, and fables,
and whose Classics are about the
same type of stories as found in the
popular American magazines as sold
on the streets for a price within the
reach of all (five cents).
Is it not a fact that our parents
left the mother country, left their
loved ones, their lands and all be-
�57
SEPTEMBER, 1928
cause of the greater opportunities
for peace, prosperity, and happiness
in the new world? A great majority of our parents are grateful for
the change. They see their children
advancing in all stations of life, in
a manner that would be impossible
in the mother country. Then why
should it be said that they are guilty
of "criminal negligence" if they feel
it their duty to make of their children better Americans first and then
if they (the children) care to, can
fit themselves as better Syrians.
The only result I see looming on
the horizon is: The Arabic press
must consolidate into fewer publications. The Syrian World (more
power to it) must increase its circulation commensurate with the demand that will be made on it. Then
when the Grim Reaper takes the toll
of our beloved parents there will be
no more readers for the Great Arabic Dailies. Then they must of necessity cease publication and join
their fathers in the happy hunting
grounds.
With all due respect to everyone's
opinion, I present these as my own
convictions. I don't expect to have
every one agree with me. Only time
will settle this question. But again
I want to say that only in the case
where our parents neglect any and
all forms of education then and only
then are they guilty of criminal negligence.
GEORGE BOWAB.
Atmore, Ala.
'
,
Syrian World which it has been my
privilege to read, I do not hesitate
to say that for Syrians in general,
and the future Syrian generations
in particular, this opportunity to obtain so much knowledge about their
Mother Country is invaluable. That
we are able to put forth such a high
class publication in English as our
organ is a matter of national pride,
and from this great distance we wish
to extend you our hearty thanks and
congratulations.
MARON T. CAHI.
Elliot, C. P., South Africa.
A CONSTANT COMPANION
Editor, The Syrian World:
It may interest you to learn of the
great benefit I derived from your
publication. Having been born in
this country I knew very little about
the country of my parents. But ever
since the Syrian World was issued I
became a constant reader of it, and
in discussing matters of the old
country my parents were surprised
at the extent of my knowledge
about it.
I made the acquaintance of The
Syrian World when in New York
State, but I have since been married
and moved to the Pacific coast, and
the magazine has been my constant
companion wherever I went. I feel
the
Syrian-American
generation
owes you a great debt of gratitude
FROM FAR AFRICA
for having provided them with this
wonderful publication and it should
Editor, the Syrian World:
So comprehensive is your maga- be a matter of pride on their part
zine that I feel that a knowledge of to support it and help it grow.
Mrs. John Addy.
its contents would be a liberal eduSan Francisco, Cal.
cation. From the few copies of The
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
>»
»
A BOOK YOU SHOULD HAVE
MAKER OF MODERN ARABIA, by Ameen
Rihani has proven a literary sensation. Never before
has a more accurate, extensive and authoritative picture of central Arabia been presented with as much
power. It is an epic of the desert; an up-to-the-minute
"close up" of the cradle of the Arabian race.
The author of this great work is a Syrian of whom
everyone of his countrymen should be proud. A copy
of his book should be found in every Syrian home of
culture.
"Mr. Rihani's picture of the Wahabis is the sort of firsthand authoritative stuff that puts this book above and wholly
outside the range of the usual treatises either of travel, observation or politics."
N. Y. Herald-Tribune.
'The command over the subtleties of our anomalous language revealed in these pages, is uncanny. To read is to enjoy
the pleasure of music. From Ameen Rihani we have what can
scarcely fail to be a final portrait of that formidable chieftain,
Ibn Sa'oud, by right of conquest King of Mecca."
New York Times.
ORDER YOUR COPY FROM THE SYRIAN WORLD
AT THE PUBLISHER'S PRICE
$6.00 postpaid.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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TSW1928_09reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 03, Issue 03
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1928 September
Description
An account of the resource
Vol 3. Issue 03 of The Syrian World published September 1928. The issue opens with an article by Philip K. Hitti on Usamah an Arab-Syrian warrior of the crusades. Following it is an article by Rev. W. A. Mansur which discusses the greatness of the Syrian race. There is also a long poem featured called The Orange Tree by Sonia Ruthele Novak. Next is story by A. Hakim about the display of wealth in America. There is also an article by Miss Sanniyeh Habbob about studying medicine as a woman. The last writing in the issue is an excerpt of the Syrian Constitution. This issue is concluded with the excerpts from the Arab press, political developments, and the Reader's Forum.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
A. Hakim
Medical
New York
Philip Khuri Hitti
Poetry-English
Reverend W.A. Mansur
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/b031746fcfedcca14a21f862a151bb0c.pdf
e62da35e9ed1f2ad2bcb02f911afab65
PDF Text
Text
111
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1
3
VOL. III.
No. 10
APRIL, 1929
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
m
39
1
SYRIANS' LOYALTY TO AMERICA
BEV. "W. A. MANSUB
TRIBUTES TO RIHANI
DB. PHILIP N. HITTI
8
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1
DB. MAEION MILLEB
SALLOUM A. MOKABZEL
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AMERICANISM AND NATIVE CULTURE
AMEEN EIHANI
THE VILLAGE CARNIVAL
IBN EL-KHOUEY
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POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
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THE
SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104
N. Y.
GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK.,
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies 50c
EaWred as second-class matter, June 25, 1926, at the post office at N«w
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. III.
No. 10
APRIL, 1929
CONTENTS
PAGE
Syrians* Loyalty to America
3
REV. W. A. MANSUR
The Village Festival
10
IBN EL-KHOURY
Sayings of Ali
14
Tributes to Rihani—
Rihan?s Contribution to Arabic Lore
15
DR. PHILIP K. HITTI
Rihani's Place in English Literature
18
DR. MARION MILLS MILLER
The Life of Rihani
21
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
Americanism and Native Culture
23
AMEEN RIHANI
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'
�CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
Riddles
25
ELTA D. MADI
Translated by Andrew Ghareeb
Fame
\
28
G. K. GIBRAN
Translated by Andrdw Ghareeb
Books and Authors
29
An Additional Pledge to the Federation
32
Magic—Old and New
33
ALFRED MUSSAWIR
Arab Wisdom
36
Comsy Brother (Poem)
37
LABEEBEE A. J. HANNA
Editorial Comment
38
Intimate Talk
38
The Federation
39
Syria to the Front
40
Changing Times
41
Spirit of the Syrian Press
42
Readers' Forum
46
Political Developments in Syria
49
About Syria and Syrians
53
I
�THE
iU
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. III.
No. 10
APRIL, 1929
Syrians' Loyalty to America
By
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
Syrian-Americans declare our loyalty to America because we
W Emade
America a permanent homeland, because we pledged our
V
I
allegiance through American citizenship, and because we desire
the progress of our race in America. The rebirth of the Syrian
race is bringing to prominence a glorious race whose native land,
contributions to civilization, and racial talents were mighty disseminators of civilizing influence upon mankind. The revival of
the memory of the priceless Syrian race legacies is creating race
consciousness, race pride and race appreciation. The modern Syrian is rising to claim a fame similar to that achieved by his famous
ancestors, the Phoenicians.
The awakened Syrian race consciousness, race solidarity, and
race progress are drawing the attention of the American nation.
The question rises as to what shall be the attitude of Syrian-Americans toward America's ideals, citizenship, and institutions. We
Syrian-Americans answer: We stand for America first and nothing
else. We declare America's ideals, our ideals j her citizenship,
our citizenship; her institutions, our institutions.
We hereby state the nature of our loyalty to America, the
basis of our political allegiance, and the test of our sincerity. The
following are attempts to state the loyalty of Syrian-Americans
to America for the enlightenment of the American nation, for a
testimony to our posterity, and for a program toward a fuller
realization of our American citizenship.
/.
Our Loyalty to America Is Based on Intelligent Choice.
We Syrian-Americans became Americans through intelligent
choice of Amercia. It was not accident of birth, birthplace, or cir-
�-
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
cumstance that made us Americans. Our love of political liberty,
religious freedom, and material prosperity determined our choice
of America as a homeland.
"On the one hand," says Herbert Spencer in "First Principles," we shall not in common with the great mass of the unthinking, let our creed be determined by the mere accident of
birth in a particular age or a particular part of the earth's surface. . . ." Theodore Roosevelt says in "American Ideals,"
"Americanism is a question of spirit, conviction and purpose, not
of creed or birthplace." President Calvin Coolidge said to Congress, "The standard we apply to our inhabitants is that of manhood, not place of birth." It was after consideration the birth of
the American spirit in their hearth, and the realization of progress
that Syrian-Americans chose America as a permanent homeland.
America does not ask us to do that which by nature cannot be
done. It does not ask us to forget our race identity, it does not
desire us to forget our race contributions to mankind, it does not
encourage us to forget the race talents with which we are endowed.
Syrian-Americans will ever love the native land of their race, exalt
their race legacies to mankind, and honor the memory of their
illustrious ancestors.
We Syrian-Americans stand for America first. We were
made Americans first in our hearts, we have made America our
permanent homeland, and we chose to be Americans first and
nothing else. We lay upon America's altar whatever is worthwhile of race character, race contributions, and race aspirations.
We give first place to our American homeland, to the flag that
guards our welfare, and to the Constitution that guarantees our
freedom.
l
II. Our Loyalty to America Is Grounded in the Constitution.
The loyalty of Syrian-American citizenship is grounded in
the Constitution of the United States. It is the guarantee of our
liberties. It is the protector of our privileges. It is the guardian
against our foes. Therefore we believe in upholdnig, preserving
and defending the Constitution.
President Calvin Coolidge said, "The Constitution represents a government of law." "The Constitution is the whole source
and guaranty of national freedom." "We have flourished
as a people because of our success in establishing self-government." W. E. Gladstone said, "The American Constitution is
\
�APRIL, 1929
the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the
brain and purpose of man."
We wish it to be known by the American nation, by our descendants, and by the world that Syrian-Americans are constitutional Americans. We stand for the Constitution above all color,
creed, race, birthplace and outward distinction. We uphold the
Constitution, every word, part and amendment. We challenge
any disrespect, abridgment, or nullification of the Constitution.
We would keep America American by upholding, preserving, tid
defending the Constitution. We charge our posterity to supreme
fidelity to the Constitution of the United States. We urge upon
Syt ian-Americans the intelligent knowledge, loyal adherence, and
faithful application of the Constitution for their welfare in
America.
III. Our Loyalty to America Is U-pheld by Its Equality of
Citizenship.
i
i
We glory in Amerian citizenship because of its equality. We
are proud of America's equality of opportunity and equality before
the law, but our supreme pride is in its equality of citizenship.
The Constitution says, "All persons born or naturalized in
the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."
"The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude," or uon
account of sex."
Abraham Lincoln defined the doctrine of equality of drizenship in his reply to Stephen A. Douglas at Chicago, 111., July 10,
1858. "We have among us," said Lincoln, "beside these men descended by blood from our ancestors, perhaps half our people
who are not their descendants at all; they are men who have come
from Europe—German, Irish, French, and Scandinavian—men
that have come from Europe themselves, or whose ancestors have
come hither and settled here, finding themselves our equal in all
things. If they look back through this history, to trace their connection with those days by blood, they find they have none. They
cannot carry themselves back into that glorious epoch and make
themselves feel that they are part of us; but when they look
through the Declaration of Independence they find that those old
men say, 'We hold this truth to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal,' and then they feel that that moral sentiment,
�6
THE SYRIAN WORLD
taught in that day, evidences their relation to those men; that it
is the father of all moral principle in them, and that they have
the right to claim it as though they were blood of the blood and
flesh of the flesh of the men who wrote that Declaration—and so
they are! That is the electric cord in the Declaration that links
the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together; that will
link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists
in the minds of men throughout the world."
This equality of attitude, citizenship and freedom makes us
Syrian-Americans proud of our citizenship, jealous for the Constitution, and ready for the nation's defense. Because we are
God-fearing, liberty-loving, law-abiding, and country-defending,
we claim spiritual relationship to the founders of the American
Republic. In the doctrine of equal citizenship we claim our rights
of equal standing, respect, and reward with any and all American
citizens native-born or otherwise. We assert for ourselves, we
claim for others, and we challenge our posterity to make paramount, the right to equality of citizenship.
-
IV. Our Loyalty to America Is in Abiding by the Vote of the
Majority.
It is the conviction of Syrian-Americans that in a republican
form of government the decision of the majority shall be the law
of the land. We believe in the protection of the rights of the
minority. We are convinced that there shall be no "abridging
the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." It is our belief that when the decision of
the majority has been made that it shall be the expression of the
thought, feeling and will of the nation.
Chas. W. Eliot said,"... the true American always acquiesces
in the decision of a majority of the legitimate participants in an
election or other public contest. This is an American trait of high
political value." Elihu Root said in a war-time address, "It is
a fundamental necessity of government that it shall have the
power to decide great questions of policy and to act upon its decision. In order that there shall be action following the decision
once made, the decision must be accepted. Discussion upon the
question must be deemed closed."
We have been schooled in the republican form of government through American citizenship. We believe in the right of
self-government, in the American form of representative govern-
:i
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�APRIL, 1929
ment, and in the progress of the American nation. We stand
for the superior rights of the nation over the rights of the individual.
We Syrian-Americans stand for law-obedience, law-enforcement, and law-fulfillment; President Herbert Hoover said,
"Modification of the enforcement laws which would permit that
which the Constitution forbids is nullification. This the American people will not countenance." Let us resist every effort of the
law breaker. Let us withstand any attempt to destroy the nation's
laws. Let us oppose whosoever plans the defeat of our nation's
laws and Constitution by indirection. Let Syrian-Americans perpetuate the Syrian-American pioneers' tradition of law-obedience,
exalt the ideal of the nation's welfare, and maintain true loyalty
by abiding by the vote of the majority.
V.
\
Our Loyalty to America Is Founded Upon Its Religious
Freedom.
Religious freedom has been the desire of the Syrian people
for many centuries. We believe in religious freedom because of
the disastrous results of the union of church and state in our native land. Woven into the urge of our emigration was the desire
for religious freedom. We have advanced in America because
of the separation of church and state, the absence of religious wars
and the practice of religious freedom.
The first constitutional amendment says, "Congress shall
make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof." "Washington and his associates,"
says Theodore Roosevelt in "Fear God and Take Your Own
Part," "believed that it was essential to the existence of this republic that there should never be any union of church and state ;
and such union is partially accomplished whenever a given creed
is aided by the state or when any public servant is elected or defeated because of his creed." "I hold that in this country there
must be complete severance of church and state; that public moneys shall not be used for the purpose of advancing any particular
creed; and therefore that the public schools shall be non-sectarian and no public moneys appropriated for sectarian schools."
We Syrian-Americans stand for the separation of church and
state, religious freedom and liberty of conscience. Not mere religious tolerance but religious freedom is the right of all men. We
believe there are vital differences between "religion" and "a religion"; between political and non-political religions; between re-
�*
Tltit SYRIAN WORLD
ligious freedom and religious tolerance. We stand for the right
to worship God according to the dictates of one's conscience, freedom of religious belief and liberty of human thought. No man
should be discriminated against on account of his religious, political, or other convictions when the same do not conflict with the
rights and privileges guaranteed by the Constitution of the United
States. We stand for a free church in a free state.
Syrian-Americans prize highly America's religious freedom.
In America they are free from religious quarrels, wars and tyranny j they are enjoying political liberty j they are moving toward
greater human brotherhood} and they are prospering materially.
We pledge ourselves to keep eternal vigilance that the church
shall not encroach upon the state, nor the state encroach upon the
church.
i
VI. Our Loyalty to America Is Through Law-abiding Citizenship.
Syrian-Americans are law-abiding, liberty-loving and Godfearing citizens. They came to America healthy in body, industrious in disposition, and appreciative of America's freedom.
They have lived loyally to their American homeland, they became Americans in heart and mind, and they are upholding a pure
Americanism through law-abiding citizenship.
Philip K. Hitti quotes in The Syrians in America the following from Lucius Hopkins Miller's A Study of the Syrian Communities of Greater New York: "In his love of law and order the
Syrian cannot be excelled. Personal inquiry at police stations and
among patrolmen, as well as careful research in the reports of
the commissioner of charities and correction, fail to bring out the
slightest flaw. . . . The universal testimony of the police authorities is that there is no more peaceful or law-abiding race in New
York City."
S. A. Mokarzel, editor of The Syrian World, writing of the
Syrians in New York as an example of other Syrian-American
communities, says: "It is one of the most law-abiding elements and
consequently one of the most constructive." "They are law-abiding and industrious."
Syrian-Americans have written an illustrious chapter on law
obedience into the history of the Syrian race in America. They
believe in the reign of American law. They are loyal to the laws
of state and nation. They have a single loyalty, they deplore
t
,
t
�—g»«MJ—— tmim^———
APRIL, 1929
"—
9
double-allegiance, and they oppose the law-breaker, the nullificationist and the radical.
In law obedience is the welfare of Syrian-Americans, in upholding the nation's laws is their freedom, and in devotion to the
nation's welfare is their security, prospertiy and happiness. We
challenge ourselves, Americans of every creed, color and race,
and our posterity, to make law abiding citizenship the glory of
America.
< II
«l
VII.
Our Loyalty to America Is in Our Readiness for Her
Defense.
In our readiness to defend America with our lives and possessions we show our highest loyalty. We have the right to call
ourselves true Americans because we are ready to fight for America. In our readiness to sacrifice for America's independence and
freedom is the measure of our sincere loyalty, pure Americanism
and intelligent patriotism. Let it be remembered that we stand
for America first, because America is our homeland, America's
flag is our flag, America's Constitution is our Constitution.
During the World War Syrian-Americans enshrined with
glory the Syrian name, brought glory to the Syrian race, and won
undying fame for their Syrian-American patriotism. In the magnificent words of Philip K. Hitti in The Syrians in America we
read the glorious record set down for all future ages: "Among
the foreign born the Syrians hold an enviable war record. In
point of loyalty, patriotism and devotion to the institutions of this
) i
land, as demonstrated by the war, they have been unexcelled—
even by the Americans themselves." "According to a careful
estimate based on the reports of the Provost Marshall General
and other War Department documents, no less than 13,965 or
about 7 per cent, of the whole Syrian community served in the
United States army."
We believe it our duty to uphold our American rights, protect America's Freedom and Independence, and defend the nation
against all enemies. We consider it the duty of our posterity to
tmake paramount America's freedom, to remember Syrian-American sacrifices for America during the World War, and to be ready
for the defense of their American inheritance. We Syrian-Americans desire the American nation, Americans of whatever race,
color, and creed, and the world everywhere to know that we are
ever ready for the defense of the United States against all
enemies.
HI
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Village. Festival
By
IBN EL-KHOURY
£)UE, perhaps, more to the central location of our village than
to any particular virtues of our patron saint, our village carnival was a great annual event in the otherwise tranquil life of
our district.
Other minor factors may not be left out of the reckoning.
One such is that the feast day of St. Elias, our patron, falls in
mid-summer, the twentieth of July. By then our most intensive
labor of the year, which accompanies the silkworm growing season, would haye come to an end with the picking of the cocoons.
The relief from an accomplished task would also at this time be
accentuated by pleasant anticipation of an anxiously awaited
event, the ripening of the grape and the fig. For in our latitude
in the mountain this usually falls around the first of August, and
to the Lebanese who depends so much on his grape and fig crops
for his yearly provisions, this marks a great and happy event.
From the grapes he makes his wine and raisins, besides doting on
the luscious fruit in season for months, and from the figs he
makes his preserve, cooked with sugar and flavored with the
hearts of the walnut or the pine seed, besides drying a sufficient
quantity for winter consumption.
These and other considerations which lighten the hearts of
the villagers and exalt the buoyancy of their spirits make the setting for the celebration of the feast day of St. Elias ideal. And
because they make so much of the occasion they attract to their
village on this annual festival surprisingly large crowds from
both near and distant places. The open space adjoining the church
then becomes alive with all the pageantry that the simple resources of these mountain folk can provide.
The pride which the inhabitants take in the feast day of
their patron saint prompts them to extraordinary preparations
for its celebration. On the eve of the holiday the church candelabra is all polished and the altar linen laundered. The marble
floor is washed with what seems an extravagant use of water
considering the limited supply. A long line of sturdy lasses would
be going back and forth from the rill carrying water jars and proclaiming their happiness in the task by lusty songs 5 while others
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would be engaged in doing the actual washing just as happily.
The cool air of the vaulted church now would take on added
freshness which would be so much appreciated in contrast with
the scorching heat of a mid-summer sun. Meanwhile, young men
and willing boys would bring loads of laurel and olive branches
for the decoration of the altar and the garlanding of festoons for
doorways and windows. The elders of the village, who would
have themselves undertaken this task now left to the younger
generation, would come at frequent intervals to give the decorators the benefit of their advice and experience.
To add pomp and dignity to the occasion, the bishop of the
diocese is often invited to celebrate mass on this day of all days
in the village. This would be all the more appreciated because
of the presence of the shammas, or chorister, whom the bishop
maintains for his vocal and musical accomplishments. Such a
treat the villagers receive only too seldom.
But bishop or no bishop, the festivities must proceed as
usual. The church ceremony usually occupies the whole forenoon, for on this occasion there must be the benediction of the
Host, which takes the form of circumambulating the church three
times amid chants and litanies in which the whole congregation
joins. The thick volumes of incense smoke copiously burned on
this occasion impregnate the air for long distances around. ^
But the real festivities are those which follow the religious
ceremony. They take the form of hilarious merrymaking or challenges of prowess at wrestling, weight-lifting or other feats of
strength. The scene evokes a picture of old pagan festal celebrations of which these might well be a continuity. For along the
seashore and in many places in the upper reaches of the mountain
are scenes of numerous shrines famed in pagan lore tor their
riotous festivities which, even in those days of slow and meager
means of transportation, attracted thousands of visitors from
Cyprus, Egypt and even from distant Crete and other Hellenic
islcs»
A general survev of the scene would present an odd picture
of vivid variety. In the open spaces surrounding the church, along
the roadway, and under the hospitable shade of great oak trees,
would be knots of men engaged in all forms of sports or pastimes A circus performer who anxiously watches for such gatherings would be barking himself hoarse to draw the crowd to his
attraction. A cluster of boys would be pressing closely around
the man with the primitive show-box. A little touch of urbanity
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would be added by the presence of the sherbet vender who clinks
his glasses in the musical manner peculiar to his trade, while the
seller of sesame cakes, with tray on head, would bid for attraction
by his own peculiar call sung in lusty and melodious tones.
Delegations from nearby villages would now be coming
to swell the crowds. They would have attended mass in their
home churches or else made an early start to travel the distance
in time for the festivities. At the head of each group would be
the standard bearer marching with measured strides to the tune
of a reed flute or the martial poetical improvisations of the village
bard. A clash is bound to result when the delegations of two
villages arrive simultaneously and manoeuvre for precedence in
the line of march into the center of the square. The code o^
honor prescribes that the village standard should cede precedence
to none, otherwise the reputation for might of the village manhood would be in jeopardy. The group is ready to uphold the
tradition by actual force. They will challenge the other group
to single combat at wrestling, at weight-lifting, at sword-play or
at any other feat of strength in whatever form to prove their
right to leadership. But inasmuch as precedence can be the lot
of but one, the priest and elders of our village are usually on
hand to take the necessary precautions for the avoidance of actual
conflict between the visiting delegations.
When, however, such a condition arises it acts as a stimulant
to the festivities, for then the sports, whether physical or verbal,
would be endulged in with more spirit, and those of the verbal
variety more often prove the most interesting.
Perhaps nowhere else in the world is the talent for poetical
improvisation cultivated to the extent to which it prevails in Lebanon. True, such improvisation is done in the colloquial Arabic,
but many are those among the literate troubadours who delve
deep into the dictionary for a ready supply of reserve material.
This form of native poetry is called Qawl and the poet Qawal.
Some Qawals are not unlike the itinerant bards of old who roamed
the land to engage in contests for supremacy. Almost all engage
in this pastime out of sheer love for poetical production and for
the honor of raising their prestige in elimination contests, although some are known to have commercialized their talents
even to the extent of publishing their creations in book form.
It can readily be seen, therefore, why the halaqa, or the circle
dedicated to this verbal poetical contest of the festivities attending
the village carnival, becomes the most popular. The two bards
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would be seated in opposite positions, each shaking a tambourine
or lightly tapping on a durbakka, and surrounded by his supporters
and "repeaters." Usually these poetical contests are conducted
on such occasions in the friendliest spirit, simply as a match of
wits, and there would be plenty of araq or wine and the indispensible relishes or maza to give added inspiration. One would start
a matla' or an opening refrain, to which the opposing qawal would
answer in the same meter and rhythm. A break or a thrust would
at times lead to acrimonious rejoinder, but the surprising thing is
that whatever the nature of the contest, or whichever form it
takes, it is at times kept up continuously for hours.
The satellites of each of the principals would enliven the
proceedings by repeating at each turn the prelude of their leader
with much gusto.
At another part of the field would be an improvised arena
for feats of strength and prowess. Usually these take the form of
weight-lifting and sword-play which is much different than the
familiar form of fencing. For in the native game of Lebanon
each combatant is armed with a curved sword and diminutive
shield. They begin by dancing lightly in circles, at times striking
the air in rapid successive motions, or manipulating the blade now
over the right, now over the left shoulder, and striking the shield
behind their back. The purpose is to display their litheness and
agility and strike terror in the heart of the opponent. This is
kept up by both contestants for some time before coming to an
actual clash. When this finally comes it is done with a high jump
and a loud shriek of warning. Then begins a series of staccato
sounds as the blows are warded off by the light shield which fall
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like music on the ears of the lovers of this manly sport. No bodily
harm is known to have been done during these encounters.
Weight-lifting is another sport that also attracts a large crowd.
For here is a contest which demonstrates as nothing else superiority in physical strength. The weight consists of a stone mortar
such are used for pounding the kibbe, and in the hollow of which
would have been wedged a strong oak stick to serve as a handle.
Men of normal strength may not be able to lift it with both hands,
but the young Hercules take turns at lifting it with one hand.
Some succeed in raising it to knee height and there fail, while
others may succeed in raising it to the shoulder. The completely
successful one, however, is he who raises it to arm's length above
his head and walks' with it in that position. A shout of triumph
is then raised in his camp of fellow townsmen and admirers, who
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
then surge around him and bear him on their shoulders and sing
his praises in wildest jubilation.
Nor is the feminine element lacking in these festivities.
Brightly dressed maids and matrons are now and then seen to
move among the crowds. They come as sightseers or as dispensers
of hospitality. The men must be waited on in the East, and to
let the guest lack of any of the amenities is the worst of all shame.
With gracious smiles, therefore, buxom lasses would also bestow
their hospitality in the form of fresh water, and sometimes wine
where the supply of the improvident gives way. At times some
of them are impressed into executing a dance. Quite often they
give vent to their exuberance of joy by hailing with shrill zalageet
the feat of one of the heroes in the several contests. Among these
human wild flowers grown in native Lebanon soil there is not the
least trace of affectation and prudery.
And for the time being St. Elias would be ignored, almost
forgotten. ,The church would remain open and the wafer floating in olive oil would continue to burn in front of the altar. But
for the occasional visits of some old women of the village for
special devotions the church would be deserted.
In such manner the celebration of the patron saint's feastday; would continue until the dusk of evening. Then the crowds
would begin to disperse for lack of artificial lighting facilities.
They would depart in groups and seek to lighten their march by
song and music, and not until the last echo of all visiting groups
is lost among the hills would the people of the village leave the
scene of the day's festivities, in final proof of their genuine spirit
of hospitality to the extreme end.
SAYINGS OF ALI
I never doubted truth since it was first revealed to me.
A person is not blamed for his forbearance in collecting his
own dues, but in claiming what is not his.
He who listens" to counsel is more certain of discovering the
way to avoid mistakes.
Men are enemies of what they do not know.
The most important requisite of leadership is broad-mindedness.
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Tributes to Rihani
TEXT OF ADDRESSES DELIVERED AT THE TESTIMONIAL DINNER GIVEN IN HIS HONOR
ON MARCH 2, 1929
Editor's Note — The addresses delivered at the Testimonial
Dinner given in honor of Mr. Ameen Rihani were -purposely limited in number. They were designed to encompass his life and
travels, together with his literary works in both Arabic and English. The address of Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin, dealing with the standing of Rihani as an Arabic writer,, was the only one delivered in
Arabic. All others were in English and are reproduced herewith
as written afterwards by the speakers at the request of the editor
of The Syrian World. In the case of Dr. Philip K. Hitti, some
amplification was introduced in the text at the suggestion of the
editor in view of the peculiar nature of the subject which could
not be adequately covered within the limited time alloted the
speaker at the dinner.
RIHANI'S CONTRIBUTION TO ARABIC LORE
By DR. PHILIP K. HITTI
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Of all the lands comparable to Arabia in size, and of all the
peoples approaching the Arabs in historic interest and importance,
no land and no people have perhaps received as little attention in
modern times as have Arabia and the Arabs .
Here is a country that is one-fourth the area of Europe,
larger than India, and yet what we do not know about it fills volumes. We are even beginning to know more about the Arctic
and Antarctic regions, through the recent explorations, than we
know about Arabia. Certain parts of this land, such as al-Rab*
al-Khali, have not yet been crossed by any man. Not even an
airplane has yet flown over it. Tut-Ankh-Amen of ancient
Egypt, Ur of the Chaldees and Hatti of the Hitties have become
household words in the civilized circles, but the twenty-one story
palace of Ghumdan (the first skyscraper in history), the remarkable dam of Ma'rib, the Tubba's of Yaman, the Sabaeans and Hi-
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
myarites are, even to the educated classes, an unknown quantity.
Most scholars now maintain that before the Akkadians established themselves, some 3500 B.C. , in the valley of the two
rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, and formed the Babylonians
of history with their glorious civilization, they were living in that
great peninsula of southwestern Asia known to us by the name of
Arabia, And before the Assyrians and Chaldeans, who became
the heirs of the Babylonians and enriched our civilization with
gifts innumerable, chose for abode the eastern horn of the "Fertile Crescent," they were likewise nomads in Arabia. The origins
of the Hebrew religion and literature similarly point in the direction of a Bedouin origin in, the desert. The Semitic Phoenicians
and Aramaeans were also inhabitants of some part of that same
peninsula before they emigrated into the western horn of the
"Fertile Crescent." This would make Arabia the cradle of the
Semitic race, the race which in its later development has meant
more for .humanity, spritually and intellectually, than any other
race not excluding the Nordic. By its location and the configuration of its surface, Arabia lends itself admirably to this theory. As
the surplus of its population sought new elbow room for expansion
and could not find it in the sandy interior nor in the surrounding
seas it pushed northward into the more fertile and favored regions.
Consequently a study of that land, of its geography, climate, and
Bedouin life, is an absolute necessity for the understanding and
the appreciation of the background and the antecedents of the
Semitic history.
Not only was that peninsula the cradle of the Semitic race
but of that mighty medieval people, who, under the banner of Islam, spread its conquests westward as far as the Atlantic Ocean
and eastward as far as the Wall of China. In one hundred years
after the death of Mohammad, his followers were the masters of
an Empire greater than that of Rome at its zenith and the name
of that son of the desert was called out five times a day from
thousands of minarets scattered all the way from Spain to India
and from the Caspian Sea to the cataracts of the Nile. But the
conquests in themselves are not the chief thing. Soon after that
the Arabic speaking peoples became the only bearers of the torch
of enlightenment and civilization. In a few years they translated,
absorbed, assimilated and reproduced in Baghdad what took the
early Greeks centuries to develop. The Christian Syrians acted
as the medium between the Greek learning and the Arab mind.
Bearing the label of the Arab genius, this early classical heritage
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was then passed on to Spain and France, Sicily and Italy, and to
the rest of Europe resulting in the final renaissance of the modern
Western world. We are beginning to realize the magnitude of
that debt which the West owes to the Arabic East. Even in such
fields as music, the researches of a modern Spanish scholar show
Arabic music as the basis of Spanish and south European folk music. The books of al-Razi and ibn-Sina in medicine,of ibn-Rushd
and ibn-Bajah in philosophy, and of al-Khuwarizmi, al-Battani
and al-Idrisi in mathematics, astronomy and geography, translated
into Latin, soon became the standard works for medieval Europe.
Just as today no man in the Near East would be considered
educated unless he knew some European language, so there was a
time, between the twelfth and the fourteenth centuries, in which
no European could be considered educated unless he was familiar
with the contents of the Arabic books of that age. And at the present time the Arabic script, next to the roman, is the most widly
used script in the world. Aside from acting as the vehicle for
transmitting the Arabic language, it is the script of a number of
Malayan languages, Urdu of India, modern Persia and a number
of Turkish dialects.
Not only is our knowledge of Arabia and the Arabs meagre
and scanty, but we have often misunderstood their religion, Islam,
which next to Judaism and Christianity, is the third and only monotheistic religion. All three are the product of one spiritual life,
the Semitic life. Historically Islam is an offshoot of these other
two religions; and of all faiths it comes nearest to our own. And
in spite of all the rivalries and animosities that have in course of
time developed between the followers of these two systems of belief, the fact remains that the realm in which Christianity and Islam share is vastly larger than that in which they differ. A faithful Moslem could subscribe to the Nicene creed with very few
changes in it. Whoever, therefore, is striving to bring about a
better understanding between the adherents of these two world
religions is certainly helping to solve a most knotty problem on
the solution of which much of the future happiness and peace of
the world will depend.
It should also be remembered that there have recently developed a number of Arabic-speaking states with strong nationalistic
ideas and ideals which are ultimately destined to take their place
in the long procession of democratic progress. Since the Great
War Egypt has been declared a sovereign and independent nation,
/ a privilege which it had not enjoyed since the Mamluk days. Iraq
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has installed a king in its capital, Baghdad, which since the days
of the Abbasids has been without a king. Ibn-al-Su'ud, the strong
man of modern Arabia, has consolidated a large kingdom for himself including most of central and western Arabia. The people
of Syria and Palestine are taking long strides towards self consciousness and self realization. All these countries are Arabicspeaking. Their culture, their literature, their philosophy of life,
is Arabic j though their religion is not entirely Islamic and their
blood is not wholly Arabian. The future welfare and success of
these new nationalities will depend to a large measure upon their
ability to understand each other and to cooperate with each other
as well as upon the ability of the European nations to understand
them and cooperate with them.
We have come together tonight to do honor to a fellow
countryman, who, through his travels, studies and writings—in
both English and Arabic—has contributed to our knowledge of
Arabia as a land, of the Arabs as a people, of Arabic as a language and of Islam as a religion. Mr. Rihani has pushed the wall
a little back between the known and the unknown. His writings of
ibn-al-Su'ud and Najd are particularly illuminating. His name
will probably be associated with that subject for many years to
come. But above all, he will be remembered as one who did his
share towards effecting a better understanding among the heterogeneous peoples who constitute the Arabic-speaking world. May
others follow in his steps!
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RIHANPS PLACE IN ENGLISH LITERATURE
By DR. MARION MILLS MILLER
Mr. Chairman, Honored Guest, Ladies and Gentlemen:—
and, I may say, friends and fellow-countrymen, for I am speaking,
not only as an American but as one officially admitted to your Syr-^
ian brotherhood, since the great dignitary who stands in the lobby
of this hotel, and who must from the splendor of his uniform be
the Commodore himself, naturalized me, as it were, into your
nationality by saying, as I entered the hotel, "Apple-pickers to the
right, Syrians to the left—you go with the Syrians." Of course,
as a descendant of Adam and Eve, I might hav* claimect thb-riglit
to go with the apple-pickers,.but I am very glad that I came within,
the quota of those permitted to join the ancient and honorable
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Syrians, and I take it, from your applause, that you have ratified
the action of the resplendent immigration officer.
And to prove to you that I have been thoroughly as well as
instantly inducted into your citizenship, I will say that I listened
to the speech in Arabic of the gentleman who preceded me, Dr.
Alkazin, and I heartily endorse everything he said, especially his
praise of my old and very dear friend Ameen Rihani.
I have known Rihani almost thirty years. He was introduced
to me as a poet, the translator of The Luzumiyat, which, I would
explain to the American-born guests present, is the work of the
Arabian poet-philosopher Abu'1-Ala, who lived in the tenth century of our era, and therefore preceded Omar Kayyam, the Persian poet of The Rubaiyat, and who, in my opinion, based on Rihani's exquisite translation, sang in equally sweet poetic strains a
nobler philosophy of life than the Epicurean one of Omar, celebrating as this does the sensuous of "wine, woman, and song."
Now the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States has abolished wine—at least from our public banquets—
the Nineteenth Amendment, in the opinion of old-fashioned
people, by making woman the equal of man, has robbed her of
that charm by which she used to gain power over the sterner sex,
and jazz has usurped the throne of song. So we will have to resort to the ascetic philosophy of the Arabian poet and make the
best of our limitations, finding consolation in the infinite range of
thought and imagination possessed by our minds. Abu'1-Ala,
aided by Rihani's translation, will, I predict, someday come into
its own.
First impressions are lasting, and, though he has done great
work in other fields in his later years, I always think of Rihani as
a poet, yes, and as a young one too, singing foP pure joy in song.
In fact, all of my fellow Syrians whom I have met this evening,
seem to have been poets in their youth. Rihani introduced one
after another to me as a writer of Arabic poetry, and for the few
who happen to be lawyers, as Ameen himself had been, but fortunately for too brief a time to lose his poetic soul, he apologized
by saying that they had been devotees of the Muse until forced to
earn a living in any way they could.
In later years Rihani published a volume of verse entitled
"A Chant of Mystics and Other Poems," the title of which is an
index of the high imaginative quality of his poetic work. I would
call your particular attention to a sonnet sequence in it called
"Andalusia," showing the mystic sources of Moorish Spain in
desert Arabia.
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But I think that he has best shown the imaginative element
in the mind of his race in a prose work, "The Book of Khaled,"
the story of a simple-minded Syrian emigrant to this country, a
rustic lad who idealizes all American institutions, finding something mystic and wonderful in each—even in Tammany Hall,
which he thinks a kind of a religious order the members of which
are unselfishly devoted to the highest benevolent and patriotic
practices. A more delicious satire has not been written in the
English language.
Of Rihani's seven years service in Arabia from which he has
just returned and for which we are now honoring him, I need not
speak in detail, for you are all familiar with it, especially after
hearing Professor Hitti's address on that country and the part
Rihani has played in its reconstruction period after the Great War,
and the series of volumes he is writing upon his experiences there!
Besides, Rihani himself is to speak on the subject. Let me only
say that I think that we are too close to these events to appreciate
fully their importance. We must wait for that "silence" which
the poet Lowell says will come after the passing of "great captains with their guns and drums" properly to assess the work of
the rebuilders of nations to which order belongs the man we are
assembled to honor. When that blessed time arrives, I predict
that in the new Arabia Ameen Rihani's name, like Abu Ben Adhem's in the old Arabia, will "lead all. the rest". He is one who
"loves his fellow men."
As a school boy in Ohio, because I had read in McGuffey'g
Reader the poem, "The Arab to his Steed," beginning,
"My beautiful, my beautiful, thou standest meekly by,"
I always thought of an Arab as a sort of centaur, an inseparable
combination of man and horse. The idea has remained with me,
and, since Rihani came out of Arabia with not one horse, but a
family of horses, sire, dam and filly, the association is stronger
than ever. And in recent years I have lived in the Blue-grass
region of Kentucky where a horse is considered the more important personage in his association with a man, no matter how great
the rest of the country thinks the latter. Thus, when I first visited Ashland, the historic home of Henry Clay on the outskirts of
Lexington, I saw a sign at the gate reading, not "This was the
home of C]ay, the Great Pacificator," but "Axworthy II, 2.14^".
And going into the stableyard I saw a large and shapely marble
bath tub which was used as a watering trough for his majesty Ax-
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APRIL, 1929
worthy the second, and a hostler informed me that Henry Clay
had brought it from Washington for his own use in the house, the
first of such heralds of civilization to cross the Alleghany mountains. So if Rihani sends his Arab family to a Blue-grass pasture,
and the long lineage they derive from the horses of Muhammad
is continued, his fame as the Pacificator of Arabia may be shadowed by that of the Managyah strain of horse-flesh he brought from
that desert country, and a monument in marble intended for him
may be converted to their use and benefit.
But Rihani needs no monument. He is safely enshrined in
the hearts of his people, and his books, of which the chairman
asked me particularly to speak, will be his lasting memorials.
THE LIFE OF RIHANI
EXCERPTS FROM THE REMARKS OF THE EDITOR OF THE SYRIAN
WORLD, ACTING AS TOASTMASTER AT THE RIHANI TESTIMONIAL
DINNER IN INTRODUCING THE GUEST OF HONOR.
BY SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
Having been assigned the task of speaking on the life of our
guest of the evening, I feel that I should first tell you something
about his birthplace.
In the preface of one of his English books of poetry, Rihani
thus addresses his American reader:
"The stranger at thy gate, hailing from the Orient, holds out
to thee a gaunt and tatooed hand. This hand has often made
mud-pies from earth that might have once mapped out the stars;
or, in a drunken vision, heard the grumblings of a god and made
of them a captivating creed; the cheeks of a Jezebel or a St.
Takla; the heart of a slave that added beauty and horror to the
chariot of a Babylonian king or a Roman conqueror:—any or all
of these might have besmeared this hand."
This might be taken as somethnig more than an allegorical
figure. Who knows that it has not a foundation in fact? For the
village of Freike, the birthplace of Rihani, used to be once upon
a time a great stronghold. In both its location and its topography
it was ideally suited for a natural fort. It is a sort of peninsula
in the heart of the Lebanon mountains. Deep gorges which afford natural protection from attack on three sides are crowned by
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
a plateau which is connected with the mainland by a narrow neck
of land which is easily defensible. The philology of its name in
itself indicates strength and impregnability. The origin of the
word is Syriac and means a stronghold. So from this we can deduce that the town must have had its place of importance in the
remote past.
The location of Freike is, furthermore, amenable to such an
interpretation. It is situated directly above the famous cave from
which issue the waters of the Dog River, and but a short distance
from the famous rock formation at the mouth of this river wherein are inscriptions, preserved to our day, marking the passage of
famous conquerors of history from the times of the Egyptians,
the Babylonians, the Persians, the Romans, the Arabs and other
invaders.
What lends more color tq this hypothesis is the fact that in
our present day we have families in Freike which bear such imposing names as Sultan, King, Wazir, Cadi and other such marks of
rank and authority. I wish to assure you, however, that all have
been reduced to a plebeian state, and all that remains of what
might have been once a flourishing condition are the numerous
churches and native ovens which are altogether out of proportion
with the present size of the town.
So the mud-pies which might have been made of the clay of
kings and astronomers might also have had a liberal mixture of
ingredients of writers and poets and men of other intellectual
achievements.
In this town was Ameen Rihani born. He lived amidst its
wholesome and rustic surroundings until the age of twelve. His
elementary education in the native Arabic was received in the
hospitable shade of an olive tree. But then came a young man of
the town who had had his higher education in the colleges of
Beirut and who cherished educational ambitions of his own. He
started a small boarding school affording higher education than
that available in the class under the olive tree and which both
Rihani and I attended. The founder of this REGULAR school was
N. A. Mokarzel, also a native of Freike, and now editor of AlHoda in New York.
Rihani then migrated with his father to the United States.
They settled in Washington Street, where they engaged in business. But something in the makeup of the boy, due, perhaps,
to some atavistic urge, prompted him to take up literature. Readers of his book, "The Book of Khalid," will discover therein
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APRIL, 1929
much that is based on the author's actual experiences in his early
endeavors. Much midnight oil did he burn in poring over his
Shakespeare and other English authors. He once became a Shakespearean actor, and, like the famous bard, became a member of a
troupe. He was also the first Syrian in America to take up the
study of law.
A few years before the close of the century he went back to
his native Lebanon and it was there that we again met within the
enclosure of an educational institution. But in this instance the
institution was of a more pretentious nature, and dignified with
the title of college, as colleges go in Lebanon. Here Rihani
taught English and mathematics and studied Arabic. He is now
as gifted and versatile a writer in Arabic as he is in English.
' Now Rihani makes his permanent home in Freike. Thither
may be seen headed automobiles bearing not only Lebanese and
Syrian license plates, but plates of much more distant countries
such as Iraq, Arabia and Egypt. Freike has become a miniature
Mecca to those of the East who worship at the shrine of merit and
achievement. Rihani has brought to Freike some of what must
have been its former state of glory and fame. To him more than
to any other belongs the credit for having put it on the modern
map.
.
Rihani's recent travels in Arabia stand out as epics of achievement. They have made him a world figure as an authority on this
mysterious land. We rejoice in his achievements and are proud to
claim him as son of our New York Syrian community. Our coming together this evening to do him honor is but an indication of
our happiness and pride. I take great pleasure in introducing him
now to you.
AMERICANISM AND (NATIVE CULTURE
Following a few remarks in Arabic, Mr. Rihani spoke in
English on his travels and experiences in Arabia. His Arabic remarks, as later rendered by him into English, are as follows:
By
AMEEN RIHANI
Comparatively speaking, the Syrians are recent comers to
these shores; for Syrian immigration, which dates from the eighties is not yet a half century old. But one of the characteristics of
the Syrians is their power of assimilation, and the American-born
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
among them have become thoroughly, though not altogether desirably, Americanized. I am a firm believer in Americanism} but
I believe also in foreign culture. Americanism to me, in its
highest and noblest expression, is the perpetuation of the spirit
of those who laid the foundation of this Republic, as well as the
spirit of those who helped afterwards to make this Republic what
it is today. When we honor, therefore, the Pilgrim Fathers and
the framers of the Constitution, we must not forget the immigrants that camel later from other countries in Europe and that
contributed, through their native culture, as well as through their
industry and skill, to the political and intellectual advancement
and to the economic strength of this great American nation.
Every people, ladies and gentlemen, has a certain culture,
which reflects the best of its racial heritage j and the nation in
which these various cultures abound and are incorporated harmoniously into its own spirit, without losing altogether their original identity, is destined to become the greatest nation in the world.
That is why I think that Americanism, or the American spirit,
with what there is in it of the democracy-urge and the humanityimpulse, is not likely to go beyond its geographical limits and
prevail in the world, as it is hoped and believed, unless it is hospitable to the native culture of the different foreign groups in the
citizenship of the country.
On the other hand, the-foreign-born and their descendants
in this their adopted country, can not better perform their duties
as citizens than by preserving their native culture and keeping
alive all that is good in their racial characteristics. That is why
I say to the new Syrian generation: Do not sacrifice everything
in your racial heritage and do not assimilate everything in your
new surroundings. The greatest good is in cultivating the best of
both j—the greatest good to you and to the country of your adoption, in which you have become a vital and beneficent element, is
in combining, equally and harmoniously, between the two heritages, the innate or native and the acquired.
A.
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APRIL, 1929
iRiddles
By ELIA D. MADI
Translated from the Arabic by Andrew Ghareeb
X.
y
I
Did I know, think you?
I do not know.
MAN
came,
Not knowing whence,
But came.
My feet saw the way,
And I walked therein,
And shall continue
Whether I so desire or not.
How did I come?
How see the path?
I do not know.
Think you
That,before ,1 was born a man
I was nothing
Or was I something?
Is there an answer
To this riddle?
Or must it be forever
Unsolved?
I do not knowj
And why I do not now know
I do not know.
Old or new
Is this existence?
Am I free
Or fettered?
Do I lead myself
Or am I led?
I wish I knew.
I do not know.
\
i
And my path—
What is it?
Is it long or short?
Am I ascending or descending.
And sinking deeper?
Is it I who travel
Along this path?
Or is it the path?
Or are we two still
And is it time that moves?
I do not know.
IN THE MONASTERY
I HAVE been told,
In the monastery are people
Who understand the mystery of
life.
Yet there I found naught
But stagnant minds
And hearts corpse-like,
Wherein desire was outworn.
I am not blind,
Are others?
I do not know.
It has been said
That those best acquainted with
life's secrets
Are
the
hermitage's dwellers.
Would that I knew!
I
say,
if
this saying be true,
While in the safe and unseen
1
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Then the secret is commonly
known.
Strange, how veiled eyes
Can see the light,
While the unveiled
Cannot see it.
I do not know.
If seclusion,
Piety and devotoin be,
Then the wolf is a monk,
And the lion's lair also
Is a monastery,
Which it is meet and right
To love.
Would that I knew
Whether devoutness
Kills or quickens the soul?
How can evil erase evil?
When itslef is evil?
I do not know.
In the monastery
I have seen
Flowers in an inclosure
Contented with salt water
Rather than pure dew.
Around them
Is the light that revives:
Yet they prefer darkness
To kill the heart in,patience,
Is that a wise thing to do?
I do not know.
At morn
I entered the cloister
Happy as the dawn,
And I left it at dusk r
Angry as the night.
There was but one sorrow
Then to vex my soulj
Now there, are many sorrows.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
From the monastery
Or from night
Does my sorrow come?
I do not know.
I entered the monastery
To question the devotees therein
Only to find them
As bewildered and amazed
As am I myself.
Despair overcame them
And found them submissive.
Lo, on the door
Is written:
I do not know.
Strange it is
That the recluse,
He, the all-knowing one,
Should abandon mankind,
When among them
Is the beauty of God,
For which he went
Searching in the desert,
What found he there,
Water or mirage?
I do not know.
Recluse,
How often have you disputed
the truth.
Had God intended
When He made you
That you should not love things
beautiful,
He would have created you
Without heart or soul.
Then, what you are doing
Is evil? He said:
I do not know.
//
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APRIL, 1929
Fugitive,
Disgrace it is to run away.
Surely no good will come
Of what you are doing,
Even to the wilderness.
You are guilty,
Very guilty,
A criminal
With no reason for revenge.
Shall pod approve
And forgive?
I do not know.
THE SEA
I ASKED the sea,
Do I come from you?
Is it true
What some say
Of you and me?
Or is it a lie?
The waves laughed
And said:
I do not know.
1
And said
We ate fruit. >
We drank of you
And said
We drank the rain.
Is this true or false
I do not know.
Sea,
:
I asked the clouds
If they remembered your sands,
The leafy trees,
Your kindly rains,
And the pearls
Their birthplace.
Together I heard them say:
I do not know.
The waves dance.
Yet in your depths
A ceaseless war is waged.
There you made fish
And ravenous whale.
To your bosom
You have gathered
Life and death;
Are you cradle or tomb?
I do not know.
Sea,
How many centuries
Have passed over] you?
How many a lad and maid,
Does the shore know
Like
Leyla
It is kneeling before you?
And Ibn-Ul-Mullawah,
And the rivers, do they know
They are rushing back to you? Spent hours on your shore,
Listening and confessing
Whence did they come?
What was it the angry waves In ecstatic strains
Their love.
said?
Is the sound of the waves
I do not know.
A lost secret?
!
I do not know.
Sea,
You!send the clouds
How many kings at night
Which water land and trees.
Built pleasure domes
We ate you
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
2*
Beside you.
Then morning came
And found naught but mist.
Will they return, these kings?
Are they deep in the sand?
The sand said:
I do not know.
In you, sea,
Dwell shellfish and sand.
Shadow nor mind have- you.
And I have both.
Why should I die?
And you live?
I do not know.
Oh, book of time,
Has time past or future?
I am in time
As a small iboat
On a boundless sea.
I have no goal?
Has time?
Oh, for knowledge?
But how?
I do not know.
Sea,
In my breast
Are many secrets,
A veil fell on them,
And I am the veil.
The nearer I come,
The farther away I am.
When I seem
About to understand,
I do not know.
I am an ocean, sea,
Whose two shores are yours,
The unknown tomorrow
And yesterday.
And you and I
Are but a drop
In their fathomless depth*.
Ask not
What is tomorrow,
What is yesterday?
I do not know.
Fame
By G. K. GIBRAN
Translated from the Arabic by Andrew Gharaeb
I wrote a line at ebb tide
Upon the sand,
And therein I confined
My heart and mind.
Back I came at high tide
To the strand
Seeking?—only to find
That fame is blind.
4j
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APRIL, 1929
Books and Authors
VALUABLE SCRAPS
The American Scrap Book (400 pp., $5.00). The European Scrap Book (398 pp., $5.00.) W. H. Wise & Co.,
New York.
These two volumes represent American enterprise of the
highest type masterfully executed. The splendid quality of the
editorial work is in harmony with the beautiful typographical
results. Both volumes are appropriately illustrated. They bear
out in every respect the statement of the publishers that each,
in its domain, is "An encyclopedia of the year, a world almanac
of ideas—the most vivid and entertaining portions of every
thing that has been discovered, created, achieved or published."
It is a pleasure to state that in the American Scrap Book
a poem by our gifted writer, Ameen Rihani, was selected as
being one of the best poetical expressions of the year.
AROUND THE COAST OF ARABIA
Before penetrating into the heart of the Arabian Peninsula,
our noted author and traveller, Ameen Rihani, made the circuit of the coast of Arabia from the Suez Canal and Jedda to
Basra and Baghdad. In this extended sea voyage he found himself at one time touching the coast of India in order to make
the proper connections for reaching one coast of Arabia from
the other. What he saw during this voyage may be what all
other travellers see, but not all are gifted with the faculty of
perception and the ability for description with which he is
endowed. It may be confidently expected, therefore, that his
account of this voyage will be replete with the charm of witticism that none other than a native of the Arabic language and
a gifted writer such as Rihani can bring to play under similar
circumstances.
A new book of travel by Rihani, under the title of "Around
the Coast of Arabia," will be published this fall by Houghton
Mifflin Co. of Boston, containing the description of what he saw
and experienced during his recent travels before making his
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
entry into the inhospitable desert.
Admirers of Rihani will welcome this opportunity of further
accompanying the author in his travels through lands never before seen through as appreciative eyes or described with as much
ability and talent.
THE GARDEN OF THE PROPHET
°ur ^fted author and poet, G. Kahlil Gibran, author of
The Prophet," "Jesus, the Son of Man," etc., has under preparation another book which may be considered complimentary to
his former notable works in the series revolving around one
grand theme deploying itself with every new publication. The
title of the new book is "The Garden of the Prophet" and is
expected to be published this fall.
As the title indicates, this new work will depict the world
in which the Prophet moves and attempt to give expression to
the ideas which form the garden of his soul. It would be futile
to attempt giving a summary or an outline of what the exact
nature of the work will be, as none other than the author can
conceive of the subtleties which characterize his works. We may
confidently expect, however, that this forthcoming book will be
the expression of the maturer philosophy of this author, born
in the shadow of the eternal Cedars of Lebanon, who was largely
instrumental in bringing a new appreciation of the soul of the
East to the American reading public.
IN TENEBRIS
Dr. Nejib A. Katibah is one of our most gifted poets and
taleftted writers. His original stories and his translations of
Arabic classics will be remembered by readers of the Syrian
World by the masterly art which he has brought into them.
It is a. pleasure to announce that Dr. Katibah is now working on a tragedy to which he has given the title "Tenebris" and
which we- have" every reason to look forward confidently to its
production on the- New York stage. The" plot is woven- around:
a recent famous incident replete-with- dramatic possibilities which
th£Apoet has utilized'to the greatest advantage.
J
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APRIL, 1929
USAMA A DELIGHTFUL CHARACTER
Readers of the Syrian World have had a foretaste of
Usama, whom Dr. Philip K. Hitti describes as a Syrian-Arab
gentleman and warrior of the Crusades and a contemporary of
the great Saladin. What they have read about him, however,
is but a scholarly dissertation on the character of the period in
which Usama lived and represents only an academic appraisal
of the work. The book itself is of a character that brings it
within the definition of popular reading. It is replete with
witticism and gives the versions of an able Moslem writer on
the customs and manners of the Franks as viewed by the native
Syrian-Arab. Especially in the field of medicine, the account
shows the Syrians much more advanced than the Crusaders.
Dr. Hitti has made an able translation of this work which
is being published by the Columbia University Press and is
expected to be issued this fall.
GREEK CLASSICS
w
Dr. Marion Mills Miller, who gave an appreciation of
Rihani's contribution to English literature at the Rihani Testimonial Dinner, is the translator of several classics from Greek
into English poetry that has elicited the admiration and the
highest commendation of the foremost American critics. Now
that we are coming to know Dr. Miller better, we should feel
proud of his having joined the ancient and honorable order of
the Syrians, as he expressed himself.
The two outstanding works of Dr. Miller are The Songs
of Sappho and The Greek Idyls, both published by The Maxwelton Company of Lexington, Ky. In the words of Edwin
Markham, these books are "sumptuous ... for all seekers after
the higher culture . . . a distinguished contribution to American
letters."
MORE ABOUT THE JINN
H. I. Katibah, author of "Other Arabian Nights," is makr
ing further excursions into the World of Arabian fairy tales.
He has now under publication by Scribners another volume
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
which will appear this fall under the title of "The Jinni of
Yabroud and Other Arabian Tales." Yabroud is the author's
native town in Syria and its Jinn must be endowed with special
powers, manifestations of which should furnish interesting reading. Surely, the work of Mr. Katibah should prove a valuable
contribution to this branch of literature.
Mr. Katibah sails for Syria this spring as a correspondent
of several American newspapers and for purposes of special
studies of his own. He has also made arrangements with the
firm of A. K. Hitti & Co., of New York, for conducting a special tour in Syria and Palestine for Syrians and Americans who
wish to take advantage of seeing these historic countries under
the direction of a native scholar.
AN ADDITIONAL PLEDGE TO THE FEDERATION
The following communication was received through Dr. W. S.
Tjirick of Indianapolis, Ind— With this the total number of fledges so far received reaches nineteen from all over the country
Editory The Syrian World.
The Syrian-American Brotherhood of Indianapolis, Indiana,
commends your efforts towards the organization of Syrian societies
into a federation. Collectively and individually we indorse this
worthy undertaking and pledge our support towards its complete
realization.
There is a great need for a movement which would unite
the Syrian people in this country. A Federation would strengthen
its members and be strengthened by them. The ideals, the purposes, and the efforts of the various Syrian societies would be
standardized, responsibilities would be greater, and the subsequent accomplishments a source of pride to every Syrian and Syrian-American. We feel that if the Syrian World had done
nothing else but undertake this Federation movement it would
have justified its existence. Therefore we arise as a body and
acclaim this movement.
The Syrian-American Brotherhood
Indianapolis, Indiana,
II
�APRIL, 1929
S3
Magic - Old and New
Origin of Fire-blowing Trick Identified With a Syrian
Slave in Sicily
By ALFRED MTTSSAWIB
A LL wonder is the effect of novelty on ignorance," says Samuel
Johnson. This obvious principle is the foundation of all magic, ancient and modern.
Ever since man saw the first flash of lightning} ever since he
produced the first flame by rubbing two sticks together, he has
looked upon it with varying degrees of awe, reverence and fear.
This is the reason why priests of olden days used fire in their
rituals, and why the old as well as the modern magicians make
use of fire-eating and heat-resistance in their tricks. Good magicians of today, however, have branded it as cliche, and one sees
fire-eaters now only at cheap carnival side shows.
One of the very early users of fire as a method to produce
awe and wonder among people was a man named Eunus, a Syrian,
who was, it is said, a man of great courage and daring. He was
one of the slaves in Sicily, and during the insurrection of these
slaves against their masters he proved of great value to their
cause. He was very eloquent and made speeches to his fellows
in order to keep up their spirits in their revolt. During his harangues he would pause a while and give an exhibition of blowing
sparks and flames from his mouth. In this way he made people
believe he had communication with the gods, and thus established
courage and confidence in his fellow slaves and proved himself a great factor in their revolution against their cruel oppressors.
Eunus' modus operandi was very simple. He used a hollowed walnut in which a hole was punctured at each end. Some
smouldering rags or other material were placed inside the shell
of the walnut. With this crude apparatus in his mouth he had
merely to blow through it in order to emit sparks and flames.
This trick today carries with it no element of wonder, but the
effect it had in the old days is apparent when we learn that Rabbi
Bar-Cocheba, during the reign of Hadrian, caused people to
believe that he was the Messiah, by the use of this simple means.
i
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!
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Emperor Constantine, we are also told, fled in terror when informed that one of his bodyguard was seen to emit sparks and
flames from his mouth.
Since that time the "art" of fire-eating and heat-resistance
has improved considerably, and we find that in the middle of
the nineteenth century it was one of the most popular forms of
magical entertainment. The"Master Fire-Eater", "The FireKing", was the outstanding performer of that period. He was
a Frenchman , one Chabert, who was a doctor of medicine, philosopher, chemist and pharmacist, and lived in New York City for
twenty-seven years where at various times, besides practicing magic, he also practiced the above mentioned arts. Chabert included
poison-eating and other forms of magic besides fire-eating and
heat-resistance in his performances. He began by partaking of
a hearty meal of phosphorus. He washed this meal down with
oxalic acid and solutions of arsenic. The above mentioned are
all very violent poisons and are fatal even in very small quantities. He followed this by helping himself, with his naked hands,
to large quantities of molten lead followed by several tablespoonfuls of boiling oil, all of which he ate with apparent great
relish. Then after allowing a baker's oven to be heated with
fifteen fagots of wood, Chabert entered the oven with a dish of
raw meat, and when it was properly cooked, he emerged from the
oven with it, entered the oven again with another piece of meat
and remained there until the second piece was cooked. Subsequently he entered the oven for the third time and remained
there for thirty minutes. All this performance was done on the
same day!
Many challenges and wagers were made as to the genuineness of Chabert's performances, but in every instance he was
astute enough to vindicate himself from the brand of faker. He
was once accused of being a quack doctor, at which he became
very indignant, showing innumerable degrees and letters from
various colleges and universities to substantiate his claims. Little
of his mlodus operandi is known today. He was killed while
making an experiment in chemistry at which a violent explosion
occured, blowing him to pieces.
History shows a very long list of fire-eaters, heat-resisters
and human salamanders such as frog and snake and stone swallowers, the details of which are better omitted because of their
nauseating effect.
Sword-swallowing is another performance which is now al-
I
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APRIL, 1929
35
most out of vogue. A sword-swallower of note was one Edith
Clifford, a member of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and
Bailey show. This woman was capable of swallowing ten long
blades at one time. The height of her performance was the swallowing of a twenty-three inch bayonet in a very novel manner.
The bayonet was loaded into a cannon and fired, driving the
bayonet down her throat.
The secret of sword-swallowing is very simple. The aesophagus (food passage to the stomach), is a tube of cartilage which
can be easily distended, and if done carefully, without injury.
The "secret" is to be able to withstand a nauseating effect caused
by introducing foreign bodies into the throat. This can be done
with a reasonable amount of patience and practice. The amateur
first starts by swallowing ordinary walking sticks, and by gradually
getting used to %the introduction of foreign bodies into his throat
and stomach, he is able to manipulate swords and other dangerous articles.
The magic of the old days is now being replaced on the modern stage by elaborate illusions, the apparatus for which runs in
many cases well into the five figures. Among some of the more
modern illusions is the much discussed trick, done for the first
time a few years ago, of "sawing a woman in half."
This proved a most successful illusion and has been performed in a ridiculously crude and inartistic manner in the side-shows
of Coney Island. Here is a brief description of the trick.
A large oblong box is brought upon the stage, at one end of
which are two holes and at the other end but one hole. A girl
enters the box and puts her two feet through the openings at one
end and her head through the opening on the other. In this way
both her head and feet are; protruding from the ends of the box.
The box is then closed. A large saw is secured and immediately
two men saw all the way down to the middle of the box. The
two open ends are now covered each by a board so that the audience may not have to view the "gruesome sight" of the cut body.
The two halves of the box, each of which contains a half of the
separated body, are moved about on the stage to show that the
body is really cut in half. I say this trick was successful, but merely from the standpoint of the impressive effect it had on the audience, but from the point of remaining a secret it was a sad failure.
The secret, of course, when known, is simplicity itself. When the
box is first brought upon the stage, it secretly contains a girl who
is a duplicate or double of the one who is to be "sawed up". As
"
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Al
soon as the girl to be sawed up enters the box, the girl who is
already within puts her feet through the openings at one end
while the girl to be sawed up puts her head through the opening
at the other end. The girls each curls up in her end of the box
so that there is plenty of room in the middle for the descent of the
cruel, cruel saw. And that's all there is to that.
One of the best illusions of today is the one performed by
the famous magician Howard Thurston. It is that of levitigating
a woman several feet in the air. There is no visible means of
support either over, beneath or around the girl, and the audience
is completely baffled to see the girl suspended in this manner. This
is a sample of perfect illusion. Many theories have been formulated as to the secret of this trick, but I think it will remain a
secret for a long time unless Mr. Thurston becomes careless, which
is indeed very unlikely.
The master of them all, however, was the late Houdini. He,
to my mind, is not only a master magician and showman, but a
scientist of the highest caliber whose marvelous career is characterized by unsurpassed gentlemanliness. His tricks, illusions and
escapades are never to be forgotten, especially his fight against
fake and fraudulent spirit meetings and so-called mediums who
have robbed thousands and driven not a few to insane asylums
and suicide. This, I believe, is a social service equal to his service
of bringing genuine entertainment and pleasure to the millions
who have seen him in every nook and corner of the world throughout his long and romantic career.
Arab Wisdom
Beware of superfluous speech, for it acts to reveal your hidden defects.
Knowledge that brings no practical results is like ineffective
medicine.
Preach to wrongdoers by your good deeds.
The slip of the foot might cause a sprain, but the slip of th»
tongue might bring untold misfortune.
&*-.:
�APRIL, 1929
37
Come, Brother
By
LABEEBEE
A. J.
HANNA
Dedicated to the Proposed Federation of the Syrian Societies
In the United States
(
Here, take my hand, brother,
And clasp it warm,
And give me yours in return—
I'll clasp it warm!
I had grown strangely tired—
It's hard this way
Alone amidst some strangers
Most every day.
I love your friendly smile
(You understand)
The merry twinkle in your eye,
Your welcome hand!
I never dreamed or hoped
For aught like this:
To span the miles to find you
Now is real bliss!
Oh, others are fine, yes!
They help, 'tis true,
But my fathers, brothers and sisters
Are amongst you!
Something was strangely lacking;
Though 'tis my prime,
I've hungered, thirsted for something
For a long, long time.
it
-Pi
But, now that I see your smile
The twinkle in your eye
God help us, brother and sister,
You and I.
We are of the blood, brother—
No better charm!
Again take my hand, brother.
Oh, clasp it warm!
4
�iiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiT'iiriiHravi i
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
EDITORIAL COMMENT
INTIMATE
TALK
HTHE Syrian World is primarily a class publication. It
was launched chiefly in the interest of the Syrian-American
generation in an effort to perpetuate a heritage which has come
down to them from great ancestors. In the performance of
this service, the publication'
could not fail but be of benefit:
to all lovers of literature and
students of ethnic characteristics and racial cultures. But the
fact remains that those who
should receive the direct benefit of the publication are those
whom it was intended primarily
to serve.
It would be useless at this
point to recapitulate the specific
objects prompting the publication of the Syrian World. What
may be briefly mentioned on the
subject of the reaction to its publication is that it has met with
the unqualified approval and
disinterested support and cooperation of our foremost thinkers,
educators and writers. The vision of our public men has encompassed the great advantages
that must accrue to our race
from the prosecution of the educational and informative nature of the publication.
Yet the support of those
whom it is mainly intended to
benefit, the rank and file of our
youth, has been far from sufficient to meet the actual cost of
publication. There are thousands of potential subsccribers
who should, in justice to themselves, read the magazine.
There is no argument that could
be advanced against it in view
of the fact that during the almost three years since its appearance none such has been
forthcoming. How to reach
these potential readers is the
question on which depends not
<
only the continuation of the
publication, but the assurance
that it is rendering in fuller
measure the service for which
it was intended.
Under present conditions,
there seems to be no avenue
open to us except that of depending on the voluntary assistance of present subscribers to \
bring about the much needed
increase. We have exhaustively circularized all available lists
but still meet with individual
cases where the claim is made
that the new subscriber had just
had the publication called to his
attention. To that would usually be added the unqualified
praise of the magazine and its
purpose. This goes to prove
the existence of a field yet un-
I)
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�APRIL, 1929
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touched and for the cultiva- crease thtf circulation to the extion of which our only hope at tent of making the publication
present is, as previously stated, self-supporting.
in the voluntary assistance of
We would appreciate this copresent subscribers.
operation all the more at this
As has been repeatedly de- time when we have almost
clared, the; Syrian World is an reached the end of our third
individual enterprise having no year. We plan extensive and
financial support of any nature substantial improvements for
or form. The only cooperation the coming year, and it would
received, and the one for which be most gratifying to have an
grateful acknowledgment is al- increased number of readers get
ways made, is in the form of the the benefit of these added efforts. Especially do we proliterary assistance of our con
tributors. We are also happy pose to have the magazine more
to add that our contributors extensively illustrated and carcomprise practically all of our rying fresh material from the
motherland as a result of the
ranking talent.
proposed trip of the editor to
We venture on these remarks
Syria this summer.
as a form of partial report on
Is it too much to ask each subconditions to our loyal friends
comprising our present subscri- scriber to secure another or supbers. It is the kind of statement ply us with a list of prospects
not usually made by the ordi- to w,hom w,e would be pleased to
nary publication run on regular
We would again call atention
commercial lines. Our claim is
that the Syrian World is differ- to the fact that the Syrian
ent in that it is chiefly for the World, in its public character,
interest of Syrians. It is an in- is the common property of all
terpreter of Syrian culture and Syrians in America and it would
should be looked upon by Syr- be gratifying to us to learn in
ians1 as upholding their prestige a tangible manner that they are
and gaining for them the place acting on this conviction.
among ethnic groups in America
that is rightly theirs. Looked
THE .FEDERATION
upon in this light the publicaDuring the month we receivtion is every Syrian's property
ed
only one additional accepand should be supported as such.
This support we do not ask in tance to join the Federation of
the form of endowment or sub- Syrian societies in the United
sidy but in the simple form of States, but many inquiries. The
cooperative effort to help in- acceptance is from the Syrian-
�'
40
American Brotherhood of Indianapolis, Indiana, whose very
cheering letter is published elsewhere in this issue. We are also
in receipt of a poem in praise
of the movement from Miss
Labeebee A. J. Hanna, {a teacher in Boston, also published
in this issue.
The inquiries received are
from different sections of the
country and deal with certain
details of the proposed Federation. We entertain no doubt
that all these inquiries will ultimately result in favorable action, but their real significance
is in the growth of interest in
the movement and the obvious
intention of many more societies
to join once they are satisfied
about some points concerning
which they seek further enlightenment.
On general principles, we
wish to reiterate that it is far
from; our intentions or designs
to dictate the policies of the federation. Our hope and dream
has been to bring the societies
together on the principle of a
federation in the interest of
promoting the welfare of the
race. The working program is
to be left to them. They are
the better judges of what can
be done whether in the initial
stages or in seeking the ultimate
goal as the work progresses.
In fact, bringing our societies
together in a general convention
on grounds of common under-
THS SYRIAN WORLD
standing to dicuss common problems and seeking means of collective, constructive action is in
itself a great step forward.
There should hardly be any
doubt that so many different
societies representing Syrian
public spirit all over the land,
and coming together on a patriotic impulse and for; a common purpose, could fail to act
except in the best interest of the
race. With such a body of true
patriots the destiny of the race
would rest in the safest hands.
We hope to be able to make
an important announcement
concerning the federaton movement in one of the two coming
issues of the Syrian World. In
the meantime, we would urge
the necessity of further missionary work, on the part of
pledged societies in the hope of
further increasing the} membership before calling the convention or taking any other definite
step towards concrete action.
SYRIA TO THE FRONT
""pHIS issue of the Syrian
World goes to press before
the scheduled lecture of Professor James H. Breasted at Bryn
Mawr on April 11. The announced subject of Professor
Breasted's lecture on that date
is "The Place of the Near East
in Human Development". The
Near East comprises many
countries besides Syria and the
Holy Land, but we may safely
l\
�APRIL, 1929
7
m
surmise that the learned Professor's remarks will be centered on these latter countries.
Professor Breasted is the foremost authority in America on
the history of the Near East.
He is director of the Oriental
Institute of the University of
Chicago, and his works in his
chosen field of research are textbooks in! many high institutions
of learning. He has recently
returned from a tour of Egypt,
Palestine and Syria which he
made in company with Mr John
D. Rockefeller, Jr.
It is most gratifying to note
that the Near East is coming
more and more into its own as
the birthplace of civilization.
Readers of the Syrian World
have had material aplenty along
this line, chiefly from the pen
of our own learned specialist on
Semitic languages and history,
Professor Philip K. Hitti of
Princeton ^University. We can
entertain no doubt that Professor Breasted will corroborate
the statements of Professor
Hitti. After all, facts are facts,
but coming from many authorities they are more readily accepted. Then there would be
no further ground for accusation that in stating the facts of
history one is biased towards his
own country and race.
It has been repeatedly dinned
into the ears of the Syrians that
theirs is a most glorious heritage. We trust that with the
repetition of this statement
from the highest authoritative
sources they will come to appreciate this distinction and devote some effort towards the
perpetuation of that to which
they have fallen heirs.
CHANGING TIMES
The comments so far received
from our readers on the subject
of "The Marriage Problem
Among Syrians", first discussed
by Mr. A. Hakim in his series
The Sage of Washington Street,
present an interesting study in
psychology. We have permitted the widest possible latitude
of comment in order to get the
true reaction of our new generation. It now is evident that,
while there is a strong sentimental attachment to some time
honored customs, the, general
tendency is for the wider exercise of personal liberty.
As stated by students of the
evolutionary process among
other nationalities, this condition is not confined to the Syrians. We also have to allow
due consideration for the spirit
of the times in general, where
tendencies are to break down the
barriers of convention.
The
movement may not be possible
of checking altogether, but it
can surely be modified and
regulated, so that some of the
characteristically Syrian virtues,
such as filial devotion and feminine modesty, may not be lost.
�4Z
THE SYRIAN WQRM>
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope, to present from time to time. a micwjco*Ct re
A u^ L
°f "* Ar*bic presa' not only in *» country, but wherever
A»abic dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinkin.
writers who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabicspeaking world from all conceivable angles. Needles* to say, we will take
no pajrt in the discussions reproduced, no? assume any responsibility Our
task win simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and
with utmost sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opi»ten as expressed in these editorials.
Editor
DEATH OF A GIANT
Death struck Marshal Ferdinand
Foch like a thunderbolt and in laying him low destroyed many hopes.
Words fail to adequately describe
the genius, of the greatest soldier of
this age. Suffice it to say that he
has achieved victory with the minimum of bloodshed that usually accompanies modern warfare.
During our visit to Pars, as delegate to the Peace Conference representing the Lebanon League of
Progress and other patriotic organizations in America, we visited
Marshal Foch at his home on several
occasions. We were struck with the
extreme simplicity of his home life.
We were much more impressed, however, with his extreme solicitude for
the cause of fjebanon. We did not
ask him at the time for his photograph, but upon our return to our
hotel an officer came asking for us
and handed to us an autographed
photograph of the Marshal with a
letter of acknowledgment and thanks
to the Lebanon League of Progress
for its contribution to the victory
memorial which he was then planning-.
Marshal Foch expressed to us personally that never will France forsake the protection of Lebanon in
its natural rights so long as it had
a single army corps left.
This we mention as proof of the
Marshal's interest in Lebanon and
his championship of its cause. Lebanon has lost by the death of this
great man one of its greatest and
most loyal friends.
,
—Al-Hoda, N. Y. March 29, 1929
GENERAL SARRAIL
Death has claimed in the person
of General Maurice Emmanual Sarrail another great Fivnch military
figure. He was one of the heroes of
Verdun, the commander of the Allies
in Soloniki, and, in the opinion of
many, the cause of the Druze revolt
in Syria.
We cannot honestly subscribe to
this last contention because the revolt was for a long time brewing
for the purpose of revenging old
grudges and achieving preposterous
ambitions in which Gen. Sarrail had
no hand.
I
�43
APRIL, 1929
There can be no doubt of the military genius of Gen. Sarrail which
was admitted by friend and foe alike. But he was not a wise administrator. He was a radical military
man who combined certain irreconcilable characteristics which made it
unwise to appoint him to the High
Commissionership of Lebanon and
Syria. This was further aggravated
by the obduracy of his supporters,
whether in Paris or Syria and Lebanon, which brought about added injury to the country under mandate.
At this hour we respectfully bow
our heads in memory of Gen. Sarrail remembering only his many virtues.
—Al-Hoda, N. Y. March, 29, 1929
ing to the civilian inhabitants. This
resulted in no less than five hundred
being killed, mostly innocent womeji
and children.
It is strange that the French should
lay the remains of this general, who
thus caused the massacre of the
people of Damascus, alongside those
of Napoleon and Foch. Sarrail may
lie in the Invalides, but the shame
he has committed will follow him to
the grave and will be his outstanding mark of distinction on the pages
of history.
—Mirror of the West
N. Y. March 27, 193?
THE DEATH OF SARRAIL
The obituary comments on Gen.
Sarrail represent him as being one
of the great geniuses of the late war
but one who could not attain higher
positions of trust owing to his radical
convictions.
During the early stages of the war
Gen. Sarrail did show some ability
at Verdun, but he showed weakness
and incompetency at Saloniki and
proved himself a ruthless tyrant at
Damascus. His overbearing manner
could not have been surpassed when,
at Beirut, he refused audience to the
Druze chieftains and dealt them a
crushing blow to their dignity and
pride. They retaliated with sword
and fire and but for a little would
have taken him prisoner.
Gen. Sarrail did not hesitate to order the bombardment of Damascus
the oldest city in the world, when
the rebels carried the fight on the
French to the heart of the city, and
did so without even issuing a warn-
GENERAL SARRAIL A
FRIEND OF SYRIA
General Sarrail will be remembered as the French High Commissioner during whose term of office
the Druze revolution, otherwise
known as the Syrian revolution, took
place.
Syria has tried many High Commissioners besides Gen. Sarrail, and
she must have surely discovered in
him a man of truer friendship and
more benevolent policy than many
others, although at the time she did
not realize the extent of her good
fortune in having such a sterling
man. True value is appreciated only
after a loss, and, as the Arab poet
remarks, "Only after you had tried
others will you realize the loyalty of
my friendship".
Gen. Sarrail was anti-clerical and
very impatient with the motives
-which caused the division of Syria
into so many small separate political
units or States. Instead of regarding him as a true benefactor, these
elements in Syria which are the cause
of its decadence hated him bitterly
�1HE SYRIAN WORLD
and rejoiced at hia recall.
Gen. Sarrail must have died with
much bitterness in his heart over
Syria. He was anxious to free the
country of its bondage and it was in
this spirit that he insulted those
who have become accustomed to the
yoke of servitude. Instead of being
grateful to him they brought upon
him the grave responsibility of either
bombarding Damascus or permitting
massacres that would claim an untold toll of lives. He chose the former course which seemed to him the
lesser of the two evils.
Syria has had since a succession
of High Cmmissioners and has witnessed lately the proroguing of the
Constituent Assembly. This should
convince the Syrians that the Mandatory Power is in their country to
stay and that with the failure of
conciliatory policies stringent methods will be resorted to. The Syrians
seem to respect m'ore the latter
course, as proven by their contentment under the iron hand of Ponsot
while restive under the gentle hand
of Sarrail.
—As-Sayeh, N. Y. March 27
THE SYRIAN CRISIS
The latest reports on the progress
of the negotiations between High
Commissioner Ponsot and the Syrian
Nationalists indicate that the crisis
is becoming more grave. For these
results we believe the Syrians are
mostly to blame because of the uncompromising attitude they have assumed. They demanded absolute independence when they should have
realized that France, as the Mandatory Power, could not consistently
grant them all their demands. They
misinterpreted the patience and to-
lerance of M. Ponsot and would not
yield in good faith to his advice. It
is their fault that he had no alternative but to prorogue the Constituent Assembly.
We wish to assure our Syria*
neighbors that they have our sympathy and good wishes in their
struggle for independence.
This
would be our attitude for obvious
reasons with all weak nations seeking independence. But events have
so far proved that there are among
the Syrians no able statesman capable of handling the delicate situation in which the country finds itself. If in the realm of politics Syrian leaders had shown the same loyalty and ability which the military
leader of the revolution has shown in
his field their position would now be
much different than what it is. On
the contrary, they have only shown
unreasonable stubborness by demanding what is obviously impossible.
We would advise the Syrians to
believe in the good intentions of
France and follow in their relations
with her such course as would prove
to her their willingness to enter into a true spirit of cooperation and
understanding. They should realize
that the use of force will not only be
unavailing but will react to the further injury of their cause.
—Ash-Shaab, N. Y. Mar. 16, 1929
EVADING TEMPTATION
OF BREAKING FAST
Ramadan is a month of fast with
our brother Moslems in which they
are prohibited from partaking of
food or drink in any form during the
day. During the Turkish regime,
if a non-Moslem indulged in satisfying his hunger or thirst, even if
)
�*5
APRIL, 1929
that be in the form of taking a glass
of water, in view of a fasting Moslem, he was persecuted on the ground
that he was causing temptation to
one of the faithful.
Now the Turkish regime has passed, but not the reactionary custom
of restricting non-Moslems in the
exercise of their personal liberties.
The action of the Syrian government
in Damascus in closing restaurants
and cafes suspected of affording
temptation to the Moslems during
Ramadan speaks ill for the success
of the republican form of government in that country- It tends to
prove the contention of the critics of
the Syrians that they cannot be entrusted with the task of self-government where all elements of the population will receive equal treatment.
Their stipulation in the Constitution that the President of the Republic should be of the Moslem faith
is an indication of their lack of tolerance.
Under the circumstances, what logical reason can be advanced against
the demand of the non-Moslems to
be independent of the Syrian government of the interior? So long as the
Moslems act on the assumption that
the country is theirs to the exclusion of all others, all promises of
equality of treatment to other elements cannot be expected to stand
the test of actual proof.
—Syrian Eagle, N. Y. March 19,
THE WOES OF LEBANON
Many developments have come to
pass since the enlargement cf Lebanon to its present boundaries which
make the Lebanese regret ever having laid claim to any extra terri-
In its former condition, Lebanon
was almost free from taxation. It
was a creditor and not a debtor
country. It had consented, during
the term of Franco Pasha, its second
Mutasarref under the old regime, to
forego the annuity of 500 bags which
the Turkish government agreed to
pay to it following the Protocol of
1860.
Now, with the annexation of small
strips of extra territory, Lebanon is
called upon to pay a disproportionate
share of the old Ottoman debt. The
Representative Assembly has sanctioned these payments amounting to
three-hundred thousand gold pounds
a year for a term of eighty-five
years. We doubt that the government revenue from the; annexed territories will equal these payments.
Our Representatives should have
opposed with all determination such
an arrangement. They should at
least have claimed the sums which
they waived in favor of the Ottoman
government to partly offset these
new demands. They should have
placed the interests of their constituents above those of the French
who are the chief beneficiaries from
these arrangements. Otherwise they
should have resigned in a body rather
than approve of such an arrangement
which spells further economic ruin
to a country already exhausted by
excessive demands on her small revenues.
,
—Ash-Shaab, N. Y. March 24
INDEPENDENCE
Bravo, Syrians! They have built a
church without calling on the emigrants for contributions. There ii
nothing like independence.
—A»-Sayeh, N. Y. March 98
�46
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Readers' Foru m
ANOTHER SYRIAN GIRL
OUT FOR FREEDOM
Editor, The Syrian World,
I agree entirely and absolutely
with Miss Soloman. Why should
Syrian girls be denied the same privileges Syrian boys are allowed?
Why aren't our girls allowed to go
with boys of other nationalities?
Miss Edna Shakar states in her
letter of February that no Syrian
girl need fear a boy of her own nationality. Does she mean to imply
that tihey should fear boys of other
nationalities. She also states that
Syrian girls are respected by boys
of their own race. She says that a
boy realizes how morally clean a Syrian girl is. Are Syrian girls cleaner
and do they have a higher standard
of morals than other girls?. Absolutely not. Don't you think that a
boy of any nationality respects a girl
of any other nationality who is modest and has a high code of morals ?
Of course he does.
Miss Shakar calls herself modern.
But she seems to be far from it. She
also states that she went to a school
in this country. Probably a co-educational one where she came in daily
contact with boys. When she came
home from school, why shouldn't she
be allowed her freedom ?
Why shouldn't a Syrian girl have,
or be thought by her parents, a thorough knowledge and understanding
of sex relationship and then be given
her freedom.
In answer to Miss E. K. Saloomey.
Is there any reason why Syrian girls
shouldn't hate their parents if they
are allowed no freedom or privileges ?
What is the result? A girl steps
out secretly with the wrong kind of
young men. She goes to road houses
•where she consequently learns to
drink and smoke.
If parents are wise and make companions of their children all this and
more would be prevented.
Let us rejoice there are a few
broad-minded Syrian parents.
Kathryn H. Rashid
Chautauqua, N. Y.
MODEL LIFE OF
THE SYRIAN GIRL
Editor, The Syrian World,
Before I undertook to write again
on the subject under discusson in
the Syrian World, I spoke with fathers and mothers as well as with
their sons and daughters, and none
seem to share Miss Mary Soloman's
point of view.
True,I have not studied conditions
in the strict sense, but mostly as a
social pastime. I have visited at
least a radius of 150 miles and nowhere have I seen such strict rules
against the girls.
Miss Soloman's first letter made
us believe her to be an altogether
different type than she really is, but
now that she has modified her expressions, I can more readily see her
stand even if I do not agree with her
on all things. She gave me the impression that she is trying to revolutionize Syrian ideas and customs.
I now see that she shares the ideas
of most of us.
i
�APRIL, 1929
47
The answer to Miss Soloman's are all members of a common social
chib that functions to perfection
query as to why won't our parents
even
if not organized.
give us free will to go out with boys
Instead
of arguing on the marof other nationalities is this: She is
riage
problem,
the question of clubs
not thinking of the future, but only
which
Miss
Soloman
suggested in
of the present. The next generation
one
of
her
letters
is
a
much better
will be so mixed that our heritage
subject
and
a
much
quicker
way out
will be lost, then the remnant of the
Syrian race will regret the condi- of the difficulty.
I have found out if young people
tions and wish we could have remained in our own circle with a trace will have clubs they will find the
freedom they are looking for in a
of our old customs.
Intermarriage with other nation- n'ce, clean and wholesome way that
alities and co-ed freedom is coming will not be objectionable to their
on with a rush—you cannot make parents.
Here's hoping this letter will enit faster nor can I retard it. So why
courage
some to start a club if they
argue about so vital a subject.
already
haven't one, and let's hear
I think I have freedom and yet not
more
on
the subject of club formain the sense you mean it. We are
tion
than
the marriage problem.
allowed everything by our parents
Edna Shakar
except keeping company with boys.
Adams,
Mass.
As I said before, they visit us, and
we make up a party and go out in
a group.
I do like boy and girl companion- A YOUNG MAN
ship, but to go out against my paGIVES AN OPINION
rents' will is not in me. Perhaps it
Editor, The Syrian World,
is the way one is brought up. We do
not couple up and go out, but as a
Miss Soloman lias certainly startcrowd, we go out boys and girls to- ed a very good argument, and now
why not let some of the young men
gether.
The young people in our commu- express their opinion on the subnity do not feel that their freedom ject?
Freedom, according to Miss Solois abused because of this. In Adams
there are about 15 Syrian families man's definition, is blaming the paliving together most harmoniously. rents. But why not let us Bee why
When there is a party everybody is our parents must be so strict.
I think that Syrian girls would
invited young and old. We dance,
have
more freedom if it would not
sing and play games, at times the
be
hampered,
as it is. not by the
old people joining in our fun and at
girls'
mothers,
but by those upon
other times we are left alone.
whom
seems
to
fall the responsiWe get so whether we are in prebility
to
burden
themselves
by prosence of our people or among strantecting
other
peoples'
children.
gers we act the same way and with
The mothers would gladly let their
our usual freedom. We have had
daughters
have more liberty if those
clubs composed of not more than
few
who
are
always ready with unten young people, but then, I have
necessary
gossip
of what they have
found, quantity doe* not matter. We
�48
seen, would only stop to think of the
anguish they cause.
I have read most all of the letters
contradicting Miss Soloman, but I
still agree with her on most of her
arguments.
Her idea of permitting the girls
to bring their boy friends home is
good and wholesome advice. If the
boys are the right sort, they will
without doubt accept the invitation
to "meet the folks"; and, if our parents cannot see "beneath the skin",
why no one can.
Miss Soloman should not touch on
the subject of mixed marriages on
which she is not competent to judge.
But I disagree absolutely with. Miss
Absi in the matter of parental selection and other mild forms of forced
marriages. I am sure she would too,
if she would investigate this more
closely, especially if it is as she has
written, where the parents go out to
select a suit with possibly a man inside for their daughter.
Many of our Syrian girls attend
parties, dances, theatres, go to public places together, have formed
many clubs, are active in church
work and seem to have as much freedom as other girls, but as to their
home activities I cannot speak.
I am sure that more than two-thirds
of our Syrian girls work all day,
have their evenings off, and Sundays to do as they please.
Immorality is an unthought of
thing among Syrians, a delicate subject to extend to parents and an
unapproachable item: to even go as
far as to say that girls of different
nationalities are immoral is not of
much credit to its writer.
Young men seem to enjoy unlimited privileges with the exception
of course, of being permitted to be
seen too often with the same girl
unless they ar« expected to marry
THE SYRIAN WORLD
soon. They cannot be pals, and many
certainly need this companionship.
Perhaps we may give the girls a
rest and I hope that many of the
young men will now enter their viewpoint on the matter.
Abe J. Shalala
Cleveland, Ohio.
A SINCERE PRAYER
The Syrian World is upon my heart
because of its service to our race***
Further, the character of the policies
adopted are of vital importance to
the highest welfare of the Syrian
people in the United States.
For
these reasons, and there are others,
my constant prayer is that our Heavenly, Father may grant you health,
divine wisdom for your daily needs,
and the assistance of heaven to secure success for your noble undertaking for the glorious service of our
race.
Rev. W. A. Mansur
Loretto, Neb.
A NEW OLD DREAM
**** I find our magazine of great
value in my teaching of both English and geography.
One can travel to Syria if one has
the time (and the money!) no matter
what the inclination; but one can
surely try to become saturated to the
bursting point with his knowledge
of Syria by reading the Syrian
World—no matter how casually. It
is an education in itself, and invaluable.
We of the younger generation —
born here, educated here—have been
thirsting for just such knowledge
about OURSELVES for years, It's
been almost a —mystery. And now
the doors are flung open, and we are
cordially welcomed to a new old
realm.
Labeebee A. J. Hanna
Boston, Mass.,
�.,-
'I.I
APRIL, 1929
49
Political Developments in Syria
SYRIAN NATIONALISTS PASSIVE — PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS IN LEBANON
I
The political situation in Syria has
In the meantime, Sheikh Tajeddin
apparently reached an impasse. The remains at the head of the Provisleaders of the Nationalist Party are ional government, which position he
assuming a passive attitude towards is said to occupy simply as accomothe French by refusing to entertain dation to the French until they can
any solution to the crisis other than see their way through the maze of
that of ratifying the Constitution as entanglements.
Sheikh Tajeddin,
passed by the Constituent Assembly. due to his willingness to cooperate
They are abstaining from engaging with the French, made himself perin any form of political activity and sona non grata with the Nationalists
have even refrained from issuing an while the French have lost faith in
official reply to the edict of the High him since he proved unable to rally
Commissioner in which he cited his sufficient support to their policies.
reasons for proroguing the Assembly Who their favorite is for the PresiIn the middle of March, a new en- dency remains an open question, but
voy of the High Commissioner ar- there are many who are inclined to
rived in Damascus to try his skill the belief that Ahmed Namy Bey, the
at unraveling the problem which is Damad, and a former president, is
becoming more complicated. He is the most logical choice since he is an
M. Andre Bruere who bears a long experienced executive, is acceptable
list of titles and is said to be invest- to the French and is conceded by the
ed with plenipotentiary powers. Ru- Syrians themselves to be honest in
mors would have it that he plana his pursuit of the national welfare
to solve the problem by forming a as consistently as can be expected
coalition government composed of under the circumstances.
representatives of all parties which
There has been a revival of rucould more safely take up again the mors lately that France favors a mobroken trend of the negotiations on narchical form of government as the
the question of the Constitution. It best solution of the Syrian problem.
is said for the French, on the other A prominent candidate to the prohand, that they are not over anxious posed throne is a certain Algerian
to force matters and would let things prince, now residing in Paris, and
drift until such time as the Syrians said to be a descendant of the AndaBee the futility of insistence on their lusian dynasty of lyad. Another
demands for complete independence candidate is said to be the Damad.
regardless of the obligations of FranWhat, in the opinion of some, lends
ce to the League of Nations under color to these rumors, is the demonstration which took place in Damasthe terms of the mandate.
�50
cus and other Syrian cities on March
8. The occasion was the commemoration of Syria's declaration of independence during the short reign
of King Feisal, now king of Iraq. On
that day in 1920, Syria proclaimed
to the world her coming into the family of nations as an independent political entity with a regularly constituted king. Gen. Gouraud, then
French High Commissioner in Syria,
sent to the Syrian government an
ultimatum which, it is claimed, was
not answered within the time limit
specified, causing the French to despatch a punitive expedition which
met the unorganized Syrian forces in
Maisalon and put them to rout.
Nevertheless, the Syrians cherish
the memory of that day when they
asserted their independence and still
celebrate it every year. The principal demonstration this year was in
Damascus where, following the Friday prayers in the Umayyad Mosque, thousands of young men gathered in a peaceful demonstration. There
were orators, of course, who reminded the people of their rights and
protested against the colonization
designs of the foreigners. The elders
of the city begged the demonstrators
to refrain from acts of violence, and
the interference of the police was
said to be only a precautionary measure.
What is said to be the unofficial
reply of the Syrian Nationalists to
the declarations by M. Ponsot of his
reasons for proroguing the Constituent Assembly was contained in a
lengthy article published in AshShaab of Damascus, conceded to be
the organ of the Nationalist Party.
The article was unsigned, although
containing many intimate details of
the negotiatons leading to the final
action of tflie High Commissioner.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The article takes up categorically the
five reservations of the? High Commissioner and attempts to prove that
they strike at the very heart of the
Constitution and render it absolutely
meaningless.
The first reservation, for instance,
requires that the Constitution shall
not contain anything that will conflict with the obligations of France
towards the League of Nations in
the question of the mandate. This
in itself, the paper contends, is tantamount to the nullification of the
Constitution, because France's obligations aTe of a nature to look upon
Syria as a backward country unable
to manage its own affairs, while the
Constitution declares Syria fully capable of governing itself without assistance or supervision.
Furthermore, the paper continues,
the self-claimed right of the mandatory includes -tihe establishment of
a judicial system, the supervision of
the religious foundations, the granting of concessions , the exploitation
of the economic resources of the
country, etc. All these are internal
matters which the mandatory claims
for herself the right for their regulation, besides the right to diplomatic representation in foreign countries and military occupation and defense. Taking all these matters under consideration, nothing is left to
the people of the country themselves
and for the Syrians to frame a Constitution that will concede such rights
to France would only tend to intensify their bondage.
The paper further states that England exercises no such rights in
Egypt, all her reservations being
ostensibly for the protection of fore'gn lives and interests in the country. The Egyptian Parliament Is
supposed to be free in its deliberat-
�APRIL, 1929
51
ions and to have full legislative pow- assured, as the Maronite Patriarch
ers in matters affecting the internal is supposed to be the strongest sinaffairs of the country. Still the Bri- gle political factor in the country in
tish objected to a proposed law gov- that his followers form a majority
erning the right of assembly which of the population, and no candidate
is purely an internal measure and may hope to win without his support
forced the Egyptians to accept or approval.
their view. What, the Syrian paper
The Maronite support of President
then asks, will become of the Syrian
Dabbas, although he is not of their
Parliament if such rights as France
claims are incorporated in the Cons- faith, is due, aside from the outstanding personal qualifications of tihe
titution ?
man, to the fact that the only other
By these and similar arguments strong candidate in the field is Emir
the Syrian paper justifies the stand Michel Lutfallah whose inordinate
of the Nationalists in refusing to ac- desire for power is said to be his
cept the reservations to the Consti- only motive for invading the realm
tution on which the High Commis- of Lebanese politics. The few supsioner insisted. Al-Mokattam, a porters of Lutf allah's candidacy base
prominent paper of Egypt, terms
their preference on the man's huge
these declarations the unofficial re- fortune which they say he will use
ply of the Nationalists to M. Ponsot for the economic rehabilitation of
and considers their issuance in this the country. To this his opponents
form as a shrewd political move in reply that the Emir should prove his
that the facts are given out to the solicitude for the welfare of Lebapeople without compromising tfce non by launching these life-giving
Nationalists in their professed pol- economic enterprises first and the
icy of non-interference.
Presidency will come to him begging
later. Furthermore, t)he attempt to
SITUATION IN LEBANON
prove the Emir of Lebanese nationThe Presidential election in Leba- ality failed because he was proven to
non was set for March 27, all indica- have been born in Egypt. As a clitions seeming to favor the reelection max to all these objections, the actof President Charles Dabbas. The ive support of the Lutfallah's to the
Lebanese press is almost unanimous Druze revolution which was attended
in forcasting this result, principally by bloody massacres of Christians
because denominational considera- is held strongly against a Lutfallah
tions appear to have been set aside being elected to the Presidency of a
in this instance. The Maronite Pat- republic which was given its present
riarch is reported to have expressed independent status chiefly because
his preference for President Dabbas it is Christian.
A proposed amendment to the
to the French. High Commissioner
himself upon the latter's visit to his Constitution in Lebanon would extBeatitude to present some of his end the term of office of the Presidnewly appointed administrative as- ent to seven instead of the present
sistants. With this the election of term of three years. The French authe present and first President of thorities are said to be in favor of
the Republic for a second term seems this move.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
INTERVIEW WITH DABBAS
A special wireless to The New
York Times from its correspondent
in Beirut under date of March 24 reports an interview with President
Charles Dabbas of Lebanon in which
he outlined his plans for the improvement of the grave economic condition now existing in the country
and expressed his appreciation of
the hospitable treatment by the United States of tJhe Lebanese. Said the
President:
"It is our intention to improve the
economic condition of this republic
by a vigorous campaign for wider
agricultural activity. The work will
include the irrigation of vast areas
of fertile land which have hitherto
not been cultivated. We also intend
to establish agricultural credits.
Steps have already been taken for
the execution of these plans and we
hope to start work in the next few
months. The capital involved for this
enterprise amounts to $2,000,000, and
it will take three to four years.
"I admit that an economic crisis
unfortunately exists at present
throughout the country. This is due
to the fact that imports greatly exceed exports, but once the irrigation
and agricultural projects have been
accomplished they will enable us to
export vast amounts of cotton as well
as cereals. Our silk cultivation industry suffered greatly during the
war when the Turkish army destroyed practically all the mulberry
trees, thus necessitating the planting
of new ones. We intend to develop
sericulture along the most modern
and scientific lines. We are also concentrating efforts to attract large
numbers of Summer tourists to the
Lebanese mountains, which form one
of the finest Summer resorts in the
world.
"Our relations with the United
States are most friendly, and my
country will welcome any American
business enterprise here. We have
profited greatly from American culture here, and thanks to the American University at Beirut we now
have fine types of educated and cultured men and women. I wish to
express thanks on behalf of the
Grand Lebanese Republic to the people of the United States for the hospitability accorded to the many Lebanese residing in America."
THE WAY OF POLITICS
The Lebanese press of Beirut, especially the Christian contingent,
publishes with much apparent surprise the rumor that Faiz Bey ElKhoury, Christian member of the
Constituent Assembly, had formally
petitioned the government at Damascus for permission to embrace Islam.
With religious feeling always running high in Syria, one can readily
imagine the consternation caused in
all circles by such a rumor, especially when the man involved is not only
a prominent Christian, but one of
the foremost leaders of the Syrian
Nationalist Party. It is he who is
given credit for drafting the Constitution, and in all debates or negotiations was one of the outstanding
figures.
There were some who denied the
authenticity of the report and were
indulgent with Mr. Khoury, holding
his change of faith, even if true, a
matter of personal concern; while
others lashed him mercilessly and
ascribed his Islam to political motives, especially that he had approved of the article in the Constitution
�MR
5i
MARCH, 1929
which stipulates that the President
of the Syrian Republic should be a
Moslem.
,
It will be recalled that Fares Bey
El-Khoury, brother of Faiz and, like
him, a leading figure in Syrian poli-
tics, had been but a short time since
bitterly denounced by the Moslem
press for a statement he had made
in a private letter disapproving of
the clause in the Constitution relating to the religion of the President.
About Syria and Syrians
RIHANI LECTURING
The Foreign Policy Association of
New York gave a private luncheon
in February last to our noted author
and traveler, Mr. Ameen Rihani. A
limited number of selected guests
heard him relate some of his experiences during his travels in Arabia.
Subsequently the same organization invited him to address its Boston branch on April 4.
The Syrian students at International House in New York asked Mr.
Rihani to speak to the student body
of the establishment on March 24.
He spoke for almost an hour and a
half to a very appreciative audience.
The Syrian students were proud and
delighted to point to Mr. Rihani as
an outstanding example of Syrian
talent and achievement.
SYRIAN CONSULS OF
LATIN-AMERICAN COUNTRIES
Fouad Bey Halabi, newly appointed Chilean consul in the Arabic East,
arrived in Damascus on March 15 and
presented his credentials to the
French and Syrian authorities.
The Consul is a Syrian whose parents migrated to Chili from Homs.
A
i \
He is a graduate of a Chilean university and was for some time active
in Chilean politics.
Jacobo Dominguez, a prominent
Lebanese merchant of Panama City,
was appointed Panaman consul accredited to the Republic of Greater
Lebanon. He sailed from New York
on April 10 for Beirut to take up his
post.
STORMS IN SYRIA
CAUSE GREAT DAMAGE
The severe weather reported to
have prevailed in Europe this winter
seems not to have spared Syria,
where storms left in their wake extensive damage to property and much
suffering and inconvenience. Especially in Lebanon, where the snowfall was extremely heavy, reaching
at times a. depth of four meters, the
property loss was much more heavy
and widespread. In some cases whole
towns perched on mountain summits
were destroyed by landslides. Roads
were damaged and bridges carried
away. Train service between Beirut
and interior points was interrupted
for forty days because of the clogging of mountain passes. Packs of
�$4
$HE SYRIAN WORLD
hungry wolves are reported to have
invaded many towns.
$50,000 FOR CHARITY
A correspondent of Ash-Shaab (N.
Y.) in Windsor, Ont., Canada, reports that a wealthy Lebanese of
that city, Elias Peter Barakat, a native of Hasroun, has donated $50,
000 for the erection of an orphanage
and home for the aged in his native
town. The Rev. Msgr. Peter Simany
has sailed on a six months leave for
Lebanon to complete arrangements
for the application of the gift.
LATINIZING ARABIC!
The Lebanese press carries long
reports of an important lecture by
Professor KhalU Taqi Eddin, President of the Alumni Club of the Ecole
Laique of Beirut and Secretary of
Parliament, on the question of substituting Latin for Arabic characters.
The lecturer, who is an authoritative
spokesman for the cultured classes
of the Arabic-speaking countries,
held that such a change would be
neither practicable nor advantageous.
Professor Eddin traced the evolutionary stages of Arabic characters
from the time they were first used
in Al-Yaman until they were finally
adopted in their present form following the introduction of diacritical
marks by Al-Aswad. He then gave
a list of peculiarly Arabic characters
which have no equivalents in the
Latin alphabet. He was emphatic
in his assertion that it is speedier
and easier to write Arabic than any
language using Latin characters.
Aside from these inherent advantages to Arabic characters, Professor
Eddin emphasized the point that such
a change can be advocated only for
the purpose of disrupting the Arabicspeaking peoples by breaking their
common bond. One of his cogent
arguments against the change is
that it would blot the literature of
fifteen centuries, as it would be impossible to reprint all the existing
Arabic works in Latin characters,
while even now there is an untold
number of manuscripts still unpublished for lack of funds and facilities.
POLITICAL AMNESTY
LEADS TO MURDER
During the Syrian revolution, the
chief of the Bedouin tribe of Dandash, whose encampment is near
Baalbek, is said to have murdered in
cold blood Khalil Raphael, one of
the notables of the town of Ras Baalbek.
Ever since, the son of the murdered Christian, Michael, brooded
over the loss of his father and dreamed of revenge. The authorities, fearing the revival of a bloody feud between the Baalbekites and the primitive bedouins, sent a mixed Lebanese-French commission of investigation with instructions to use every
effort to bring about peace. They
questioned Hassan Dandash, the
bedouin chief accused of the old murder, and later entered the town to
interview the son of the, murdered
man. They are said to have counseled the bedouin to remain on the
outskirts until such time as they finished their investigation as he would
be safer under the protection of the
military outpost. Dandash, however,
out of a spirit of bravado, followed
them to the house where they were
holding their meeting, and no sooner
Michael Raphael saw him than he
whipped a revolver and shot him
�;
APRIL, 1929
'
dead, exclaiming "this is the result
of the general amnesty and the government's leniency."
The body of the bedouin chief
was removed by his followers with
great demonstrations of grief and
was buried amidst the discharge of
five thousand rifle shots. The authorities dispatched a large military
force to prevent further reprisals.
CLOSING RESTAURANTS
DURING RAMADHAN
S5
of the State of Syria, of an order
forbidding women to pass through
Hamidyah St. at night even if they
were on their way to their own
homes. The reason given for this
drastic ordinance is that this thoroughfare is the one mostly used by
the Faithful to reach the Umayyad
Mosque. The implication is that the
Faithful would be subjected to undue temptation if their pious eyes
fall on feminine forms while on their
way to prayer-
When pilgrimage to the Holy cities CENTRE IN; AMERICA
of Islam was possible only by the
FOR ARABIC PUBLISHING
overland route, Damascus was considered the gateway to Mecca because
the caravans were formed there for Princeton University Plans Editing
and Publishing Valuable Manuscripts!
the pilgrimage.
Even in this age. Damascus seems
to be jealous of its reputation as the
A project is now under way in
stronghold of Moslem conservatism
and fundamentalism. If the govern- Princeton University to catalogue,
ment should wink at some infraction edit, publish and, in some cases, tranof the Sunnite laws, the people them- slate the 3.000 Oriental and Occidenselves will see that she is brought tal manuscripts in the Garrett Collection, according to a special desback to the path of duty.
The Syrian press reports that du- patch to The New York Times from
ring Ramadhan of this year, devout Princeton under date of March 23.
"Hardly any modern archaelogiMoslems of the city were scandalizcal
find is commensurate with this
ed to witness some moderns of their
from
the standpoint of the history
faith openly enter restaurants during
of
human
thought," said Professor
the day while the Moslem fast reHarold
H.
Bender, chairman of the
quires strict abstention from food or
department
of Oriental languages
drink in whatever form between sunand
literatures.
"With the publicarise and sunset. Consequently, they
tion
of
these
manuscripts,
and of
petitioned the Prime Minister to take
others,
and
by
virtue
of
the
superior
the necessary measures to put a stop
to this scandal. The matter was re- equipment for this work now being
ferred to the Minister of the Interior acquired by the Princeton Univerwho promptly consulted the Mufti, sity Press, Princeton promises to beand later ordered the restaurants come a world centre for Oriental
under complaint closed during the publishing and printing. This task
will take several generations for
day throughout the month of fast.
Another measure affecting public completion."
Contained in the manuscripts in
morals was the issuance by Sheikh
the
Garrett collection is material
Tajeddin, the Provisional President
�-—
—=
THE STRIAN WORLD
which is expected to alter certain
aspects of present knowledge of the
crusades and of the history of geography, chemistry, arithmetic, astronomy and medicine thus revealing
the debt that the Western peoples
owe to Arab and other Oriental civilizations.
The collection contains encyclopedias summing up Arabic and Hellenic learning, and also manuscripts
revealing Islamic sciences and Arabic thought and literature, including
theology, jurisprudence, Sufism, ethics, lexicography, grammar and poetry. Sacred manuscripts of the Druses and other secret sects are included and their editing and publication
will bring to light for the first time
the mysteries of these religions. Hitherto unknown translations of ancient versions of the Bible are also
contained in the collection.
The manuscripts are mainly in Arabic but some of them are in Hebrew,
Syriac, Turkish, Persian, Armenian.
Malayan, Javanese and Sanscript.
Hitherto it has been necessary to
send Oriental texts to Europe for
printing. It is expected in the future
that the largest percentage of American work in this field will be done
in Princeton.
To finance the project more than
$100,000 has already been obtained
either by gift or by appropriation
from the General Education Board,
the Mergenthaler Linotype Company
and Joseph T. Mackey of Brooklyn.
Professor Philip K. Hitti, associate
professor of Semitic literature at
Prinecton, will have charge of the
cataloguing and of the Arabic manuscripts, while Dr. Henry S. Gehman of the University of Pennsylvania will join the Princeton staff this
Fall to work, in particular, upon the
Coptic manuscripts.
YOUNG SYRIAN WOMAN
ARTIST WINNING FAME
Mr. F. E. Stevens of Portage, Pa.,
sends us a clipping of the Southern
Cambria News concerning the artistic progress of a gifted young Syrian
artist which we are glad to reproduce. Said the American paper:
"Miss Edna Haddad is winning
fame as an artist. She has just completed a painting of Christ for the
Syrian Orthodox church of Altoona.
She had been engaged to do the work
and has just delivered the picture
which measures 30 by 48 inches.
Although only 18 years old, Miss
Haddad has produced several works
of art. Among them are paintings of
Moses and the Ten Commandments,
Angel of Sorrow and a number of
portraits. She has been an art student for five years but has always
shown great adaptability for painting. On October 1 she will take up
studies at the Pennsylvania Academy
of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.
FINDS HIS DAUGHTER
AFTER TWENTY TEARS
The strange story of a Syrian
father who had lost his daughter
twenty years ago and finally located
her in a Catholic orphanage in New
York City was told by the Syrian
press of New York.
A surprising detail of the story is
that the girl had been adopted by a
wealthy American lady who made
her her sole heir to a fortune said to
amount to twenty-seven millions.
Joseph Habeeb, the father, now a
well-to-do merchant in Edenton,
N. C, is said to be coming to New
York to claim his daughter with the
aid of the law, if necessary.
About twenty years ago Habeeb
�—
APRIL, 1929
left his wife and two children and
returned to Syria. Later the mother
died and the grandmother of the
children raised the boy and placed
the girl in the orphanage. Upon the
father's return to America he settled
in North Carolina and prospered. His
search for his missing daughter had
been relentless ever since his return.
The newspaper Al-Hoda condemns
the father for his reported intention
of taking legal steps to regain his
daughter and deprive her of an immense fortune, the like of which in
magnitude there are few among the
Syrians.
A MOSQUE IN NORTH DAKOTA
Al-Bayan (N. Y.) in its issue of
March 30, reports the purchase of
ground in Ross, N. D., for building a
mosque for the fifteen Moslem families of that section who are mostly
farmers. Building operations will be
started this Summer.
s
' if
'
u
SYRIANS PERMITTED
TO ENTER COLOMBIA
The French High Commissariat at
Beirut gave the press on February 18
an official statement announcing that
negotiations with the government of
Colombia had resulted in the withdrawal by the government of that
country of its restrictions against
Syrian and Lebanese immigrants.
POPULATION OF PALESTINE
An official census of the population of Palestine for the end of 1928
places the number at 800,000 of
whom 600,000 are Moslems, 100,000
Jews and 100,000 Christians. Of
the Christians 50,000 are Greek Orthodox, 25,000 Roman Catholics, 5000
Protestants, 2000 Maronites and 3000
Syriacs.
AMERICAN-SYRIAN
FEDERATION
The following officers were elected
for the year 1929 at the last annual
meeting of the Federation held in
its clubrooms, 123 Schermerhorn St.,
Brooklyn: S. J. Akel, president; Albert H. Macksoud and Gibran Attiyeh, vice presidents; Michel Dahood
secretary; Joseph Zaloom, treasurer.
At the subsequent meeting of the
Federation held on April 9, U. S.
Commissioner Amy Wren addressed
a large gathering of members and
their friends.
UNITED MARONITES SOCIETY
The annual meeting of this society
for the election of officers for the
year 1929 was held on March 8 and
resulted in the election of the following: President, George Faour;
vice-president,
Tanius Harfoush;
treasurer, A. J. Gorayeb; secretary,
Assad Saad.
HOLY NAME SOCIETY
The Holy Name Society of the Syrian Melchite Church of Brooklyn held
an entertainment and dance on April
6 which was attended by eight hundred. The speakers were John Raheb, president; Rev. Archimandrite
Paul Sanky, the spiritual adviser of
the society, and Joseph M. Khoury,
editor of Ash-Shaab.
NEW KENSINGTON, PA.
A correspondent of As-Sayeh reports the formation in New Kensington, Pa., by the Rev. Nicola Ofeish,
of two social clubs for the young
men and young women of his parish.
The two clubs co-operated in producing an Arabic play on March 10
which was attended by a large number of Syrians from New Kensington and neighboring towns.
�A
GLORIOUS HOLIDAY
AND
A
GREAT EDUCATION
[THERE is no better way of spending your summer vacation
Jthan by taking our tour leaving New York July 2nd,|
Jescorted by the Editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD, Mr.
JSalfdum A. Mokarzel, through
LEBANON, SYRIA ancLTHE HOLY LAND.
Visits will also be made to LISBON, NAPLES, ATHENS,
WSTANTINOPLE, ORAN
and MADEIRA.
^CONGENIAL COMPANIONS
COMFORTABLE ACCOMMODATIONS
SURPRISINGLY LITTLE COST
For booklets and details as well as for membership
in this tour write to
A. K. HITT1 & COMPANY
60 Washington Street
NEW YORK CITY
Telephone—BOWLING GREEN 2765-9754
mmmm
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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TSW1929_04reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 03, Issue 10
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1929 April
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 3 Issue 10 of The Syrian World published April 1929. The issue begins with an article by Rev. W. A. Mansur titled "Syrians' Loyalty to America" which discusses the nature of Syrians' dedication to the United States, the basis of their political allegiance, and the tests of their sincerity. Next, Ibn El-Khoury discusses another aspect of Lebanese culture with an article on the Village Festival, which mostly focuses on religious holidays. Following it is the transcription of an address from the Testimonial Dinner given in honor of Ameen Rihani by Philip K. Hitti, primarily highlighting Rihani's contribution to Arabic lore. After the long discussion of Rihani's importance in literature, there is a collection of Arabic riddles by Elia D. Madi translated to English by Andrew Ghareeb. A short introspective poem by Kahlil Gibran titled "Fame" follows. The next article, written by Alfred Mussawir, discusses the origin of fire-blowing, a talent identified distinctly with a Syrian slave in Sicily named Eunus. The final piece of writing in this issue is a poem by Labeebee A. J. Hanna which is dedicated to the Federation of Syrian Societies and discusses the fellowship present in their confederation. The issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press, the Reader's Forum, and an update on political developments in Syria.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
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1920s
Ameen Rihani
Ibn El-Khoury
Immigration
Kahlil Gibran
Labeebee A.J. Hanna
Lebanon
New York
Philip Khuri Hitti
Poetry-English
Reverend W.A. Mansur
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1
VOL. IV, No. 4^#
DECEMBER, 1929
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
A
MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AP^AIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
RR
DESERTS OF FACT AND FANCY
AMEEN RIHANI
ZAHLE AND POINTS EAST
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
DRUZE EXHORTATIONS AND PRAYERS
DR. PHILIP K. HITTI
THE MURDER OF THE PATRIARCH
(A TRUE STORY)
IN OLD DAMASCUS
ADELAIDE E. FARIS
STAGING A DESERT SCENE
EMILE DUMIT
THE COPY 50c
��THE
SYRIAN WORLD
Tublished monthly by
SALLOUM
A.
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies 60c,
Entered as second-class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. IV. No. 4.
DECEMBER, 1929
CONTENTS
PAGE
/]
Deserts of Fart and Fancy
5
AMEEN RIHANI
Renaissance (Poem)
10
PAUL DEAB
Zahle and Points East
SALLOUM
11
A.
MOKARZEL
Restless (Poem)
18
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
Druze Exhortations and Prayers
DR. PHILIP
K.
19
HITTI
The Murder of the Patriarch (True Story)
FOUAD F. BuSTANY
I
22
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I III
\
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
In Old Damascus
27
ADELAIDE
E.
FARIS
/ Need You No More (Poem)
LABEEBEE
A. J.
35
HANNA
Staging a Desert Scene
36
EMILE DUMIT
Great
SYRIAN WORLD
Contest
4-0
Editorial Comment
The Contest
42
Arabic Newspapers
44
Spirit of the Syrian Press
4-5
Political Developments in Syria
50
About Syria and Syrians
"
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
The Tomb of St. John
General View of Zahle
Inner Court of the Umayyad Mosque
The Plain of Al-Bika(
53
\
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IN THIS ISSUE
u
AMEEN RIHANI minces
no words in exploding the popular American conception of the
stage sheik. After having traveled extensively in Arabia and
visited with kings and common
bedouins, and seen the real
sheikhs in their native habitat,
Rihani should know what he is
talking about. The reaction of
intelligent American public
opinion to his exposure of the
cinema sheik may be gathered
from the letter of Dr. Henry
Van Dyke of Princeton which
is printed as a footnote. For
those who wish to be enlightened, or disillusioned, this article of Rihani should prove invaluable. * * * DR. PHILIP
K. HITTI has succeeded in
procuring what were hitherto
supposed to be the inaccessible
books of the secret Druze religion He has made literal translations of some of the exhortations and prayers contained in
these books. They are of a nature to arouse the interest of
scholars and the general reading public. Some of these selections are published in this issue. * * * MISS ADELAIDE
E. FARIS made a trip to Syria
with her family a few years ago
and appears to have been fascinated with Old Damascus.
Being a college graduate with
a keen sense of appreciation for
the picturesque and romantic,
Miss Faris has drawn a vivid
picture of life in this historic
Syrian city. She takes you not
only to the bazaars and public
places, but lets you share with
her the privilege of a visit to
a private Moslem home. This
contribution by Miss Faris is
her first to THE SYRIAN
WORLD, and we feel sure our
readers will appreciate the valuable information she supplies.
* * * EMILE DUMIT, a
graduate of the American University of Beirut and now taking advanced courses at Columbia, contributed his share in interpreting the true character of
the Arabs to Americans by
dramatizing a desert scene
which was given at International House in New York. As
a literary product his effort is
commendable. That passage of
his play describing the desert
scene is reproduced in this issue.
* * * SALLOUM MOKARZEL continues his chronological narration describing his
trip to Syria. In the present installment he entertains the
readers with an account of his
visits to Zahle. Not only does
he give an account of general
�conditions in this popular Leb- prolific and versatile writers.
anese summer resort, but gives THE SYRIAN WORLD makes a
you also an introduction to many first announcement in this issue
personalities both residents and of a great contest for a FREE
visitors. If you would know TRIP TO SYRIA. The offer
,what is Kaif in Zahle, here is is unprecedented in the annals
your opportunity to get as fair of Syrian journalism and
an idea as can be had. * * * should prove of great appeal
PAUL DEAB is the pen name to the ambitious. The terms are
of a gifted Syrian-American most liberal, especially where
writer who has contributed be- provision is made that gift subfore to THE SYRIAN WORLD. scriptions in any number are
Her present poem must have counted as direct subscriptions.
been inspired by the dreary All contestants are guaranteed
winter days of the comely Con- adequate compensation for their
necticut hills. We are not per- efforts. * * * The political sitmitted to divulge her SEX or uation in Syria is taking a most
real name, although we would interesting turn, while in Pallike to have her receive due estine developments continue
credit for her ability. * * * to engage the attention of the
DR. 8ALIM Y. ALKAZIN world. Some of our reports on
and LABEEBEE A. J. HAN- the situation are taken from
NA have each a charming poet- original sources and never beical contribution. Our readers fore published in the American
may expect much more of these press.
I
GREAT SYRIAN WORLD
CONTEST
FOR
A FREE TRIP TO SYRIA AND RETURN
IS ANNOUNCED
ON PAGES 40 AND 41 OF
THIS ISSUE
V
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�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. IV. No. 4.
DECEMBER, 1929
Deserts of Fact and Fancy
By
AMEEN RIHANI
fHE desert has an irresistible fascination for those who have
never been through it. In the pages of a novel or on the
screen it never fails to cast its spell. The novelist and the film
producer wave a wand and lo, a banquet is spread for the eye
and for starving hearts. The imaginary banquet of the khalif
in the "Arabian Nights" cannot hold a candle to it. But the
guests at the desert feast, unlike the guest of the khalif, cannot
hit back. They eat up the glamour, which satisfies a certain
craving produced by civilization, and go home satisfied, fascinated. That the empty dishes were carried pompously into the
banquet hall by the phantom steward and as pompously whisked
away from before the bewildered guest, is immaterial. The
words of tue khalif—the novelist, in our case, and the film producer—have the fiat of magic.
The novelist, camera man, artist and musician are the stewThis article originally appeared in the Magazine Section of The New
York Times of Sunday, December 18, 1929. Under the same date, Dr. Henry
Van Dyke of Princeton, the well-known American critic, wrote the author
as follows:
"Your article on "Deserts of Fact and Fancy," in the N. Y. Times
today is admirable,—the kind of thing that can be written only by the man
who knows. I have enjoyed it and wish to thank you for the pleasure.
"Our age is cursed by the commercialized fakirs,—critics of the school
of Wynken, Bunkum and Pod. The Hollywood "Sheik" is an abomination to
God and Man,—a fraud.
"Oh, wot's the use, of "red gods," and "Pan" and all that stuff!
" 'The natcheral facts of Springtime is wonderful enuff.* "
"Let us go back to Nature, pure and simple and real, as the Master
from Nazareth taught us."
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
ards of the public; the explorer is the steward of science. The
first four seldom go beyond a certain limit in their travels; and
with the instruments at their command they order the desert to
them. The process of magic is reversed. The artist casts his
spell and the desert unfolds its mysteries.
But in the unfolding there is a wondrous transformation.
The little black tent becomes a castle; the poor roving Bedouin
becomes a "sheik"; the camel loses its hump and acquires the
wings of Pegasus; the raids for daily bread become kidnapping
parties; dangers are clothed in the glamour of adventure, and
the tantalizing mirage resolves itself into a blue lake of real
water. In a word, the wilderness becomes paradise, and artists
of every feather hover around it for inspiration.
One musician I know shipped his piano to the coast of North
Africa and there had it taken apart and carried on camels to his
magic castle—a charming little villa on the outskirts of the Sahara From that villa he caught the melody of the dunes in the
dawn and at sundown. From that villa, at his keyboard, he
soared beyond the dunes to the wells of silence in their heart.
But the bulbuls in his garden and the European canary in its
cage were his traveling companions.
3
It would be fatuous to doubt that the song of the bulbul in
the heart of the dunes has a charm ineffable. But through all
my travels in the deserts of Arabia—and I have been rocked
on the hump of a camel for fifty days—the only birds I have
seen were of two kinds, a dumb little creature with silver-lined
black wings, which in a sandstorm, gave us an exhibition oi a
ship, at sea in a gale, and one of like feather but larger, which
seemed to take pleasure in flying low before us and circling,
when he got ahead of us, to keep within sight of our caravan.
He could only repeat his do re mi.
"What is the name of the bird?" I asked. "That is UmSalem (Mother of Salem)," replied the chief. "And where is
the Father of Salem?" asked Baddah, the wit if the caravan.
"And where is Salem himself?" This from Hamad, who always
tried to vie with Baddah. Well, we met only the mother of
the family and heard her repeat her do re mi. But my friend
in his little villa on the outskirts of the desert, soaring on the
keyboard of his piano, heard the whole sonata. And later the
song of the desert enthralled London and New York.
The real song of the desert, of the men of the desert, is
enlivening, exhilarating. It has, for the traveler in the desert,
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�DECEMBER, 1929
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m
a certain fascination. But to a Western audience, if it were
faithfully reproduced, it would be a barbaric yawp. In the wilds
of the unknown, in the infinite vastness that is expressive chiefly
of danger and of death, the purely artistic is unnatural and does
not, of course, exist. It is only in the oasis, under the cool shadow of the palms, in the bosom of friendliness and security,
that one hears the soft strains of a Bedouin mother's lullaby or
the bewitching plaintive notes of a Bedouin girl in love.
And where are the love scenes: The novelist may not go to
the expense of building or hiring a villa on the outskirts of the
desert. But he sits on the porch of a modern hotel in a town
near the coast and, while sipping whisky or soda or Amer Picon,
evokes the hidden, the unknown. He may even, for the purpose
of his magic, take an excursion in the moonlight to the nearest
oasis or the nearest dune. The rest is a mechanical process, which
is achieved behind a mahogany desk in London or New York.
As for the heroine, who must always be a tall blonde with
a firm chin and a piercing blue eye, she might venture out alone
and find an interpreter in the bazaar. The interpreter soon rises
in the hierarchy of romance to a "sheik." But the "sheik" will
not carry his beloved to his castle hidden among the dunes. He
is bored, and not being used to fetters he mounts a swift camel
and disappears in the moonless night. He may not have so much
as a black tent in the desert. He may have to sleep on the sands,
under the stars.
The "sheik," the harem of the "sheik," the luxury and glamour of the desert dwelling of the "sheik," and the little army of
fierce-looking knights, on the swiftest dromedaries or the most
fiery Arab steeds, in quest of the European girl for the harem
of the "sheiks"—nothing is more thrilling, more bewitching in
the pages of fiction or on the screen; nothing is more poignantly
pathetic in reality.
Don Juan is eternal. But this Arab Don Juan is cinematographic. In spite of the most magnificent incarnation the "sheik"
is a failure. He is the product of our mechanical age. Everything about him, even his name, is false. It is not "sheik" but
shaykh, which in Arabic means a venerable old man, or a man
of learning or of authority. We speak of the Shaykh of AlAzhar University, for instance, or the shaykh of a certain tribe.
Among a few families of the Christians and Druzes of Mount
Lebanon, shaykh is also an inherited title. But of the material
things of life, little or nothing goes with it.
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Even when a shaykh has a harem of two or three or even
four wives, which is nowadays very rare, he cannot afford an
"ensemble." He must segregate them or he is lost. For one
woman alone is a problem, two together are an enigma, three
or four are a conspiracy. Imagine women huddled together like
sheep, or as we behold them on the screen lying in silken ease
in the harem quarters, and a black slave, whip in hand, ordering them to the bath. It is a libel upon womankind anywhere in
the world.
Imagine, moreover, such a scene in the desert. One Arab
shaykh I knew had three wives, each one living in a separate
compartment in the long black tent, but his wealth consisted only
of a horse, a camel and a few sheep. "And how can you support
your womenfolk:" I asked. "Allah be praised," he replied, "it
is by their help that I can keep the fire burning and the coffee
brewing for the guests."
But such desert domesticity is too sordid for the screen. We
must have glamour, romance. We must have the thing that grips
and thrills and enraptures. Here is a raid. Five or ten Bedouins
on mangy camels or on horses that look more, like Don Quixote's
Rocinante than Arab thoroughbreds, and a flock of sheep tended
by a boy shouldering a gun. The raiders shriek their warning
and gallop forth invoking the assistance of Allah. The boy fires
his gun in the air and runs away, hastening to tell his master.
The raiders meanwhile have driven the flock before them and
changed their course to elude the pursuers. They disappear
among the dunes. The owner with a few of his men, his children or his neighbors, pursues them in vain and returns to his
tent in the comfort of resignation. But in a few days later,
trusting in Allah, he goes out raiding to replenish his stock.
Sometimes there is an encounter, an exchange of shots, a casualty
or two, and the recovery of a part of the stolen property. It also
happens that when the two parties, the raiders and the raided,
are of equal strength and valor, a truce is called, which is followed by a council of war and a division of the booty. The Arab
is a sportsman and raiding is his favorite game. You beat us today; we'll beat you, Allah willing, tomorrow.
The womenfolk are seldom involved in these raids. The
cut-throat Arab is the flower of chivalry. He is also a man of
wisdom. If within the sanctum of the harem a comely Husnah
is pining for her handsome Hasan, who may be of an enemy
^
if
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DECEMBER, 1929
«-"
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[\
tribe the father tries to persuade her with the prosaic kindness
oi the bourgeois gentleman; and if she is not persuaded and
the kidnapping takes place, in nine cases out of ten the parents
resign themselves to Allah. In the exceptional case there is a
raiding party and the father of the self-willed Husnah is content with the booty. A few camels or a dozen sheep are better
than his minx of a daughter. She is a punishment to the enemvhusband.
'
But this worldly wisdom does not scintillate upon the screen.
Resignation has no glamour. Cynicism is the enemy of romance
ir.ven primitive people, however, are capable of cynicism. Desert realities sharpen the edge of the spirit and naivete soon giveway to a veneer of sophistication. The roving Bedouin will tell
you, for instance, that dependence upon Allah is conducive to
true piety when the waterskin is full. For does he not, every
time he quenches his thirst, praise the All-High, the All-Giver?
lo the native the desert has no charm. Even to the traveler
with a purpose or on a mission, the charm is intermittent and
often fleeting. A continuity of joyous intervals is impossible,
unless it be on the screen.
The wizards of the studio sift and synthetize and reconstruct.
Ihese celluloid artists must serve a public avid of romance
Hence, the scenes and spectacles that have become stereotyped
We behold them in every film of the desert. Castles on the
sands, silhouettes of caravans treading the razor-like edge of
the imagination, Arabs charging on fiery steeds, armed with rifles
and swords and spears and with nothing to do but kidnap the
sheik s" prettiest wife or a European blonde.
I recall an instance of the film producer's zeal in behalf of
the public. It was in a representation of the Queen of Sheba's
visit to King Solomon. Whether she did visit him or not is immaterial Let us concede that she did. In which case she would
have had to travel from Saba (Sheba) in Southwestern Arabia
by one of two routes, either through the mountains of Asir and
the Hedjaz to Petra and thence to Jerusalem, or by sea from
one of the Red Sea ports to Akaba and thence through Petra
to her destination. But the obliging Queen makes a long detour
in her travels for the sake of the cinema public. She goes through
the desert of Central Arabia that the producer may have a few
sand hills to complete the picture.
Enough of the absurdities. There is in the real desert, in
the heart of the red sand desert, a potent charm, an ineffable
�— ...,-, — —
THE SYRIAN WORLD
10
beauty. But such beauty and charm cannot be caught by the
camera. The glow of the atmosphere at dawn and sundown,
the subtle and elusive coloration of the dunes, the moonlit nights,
the vastness and the silence that no perspective can encompass,
the long weary hours on the march, listening to the crack of
your camel saddle or the tinkle of the caravan bells, hearing even
the still voice of your own soul in contemplation—these cannot
be reproduced on the screen. No, the pure joys, which are at
bottom spiritual, cannot be transported, cannot be filmed.
Even the minor gifts of the desert are not transferable.
The rocking for days on a camel, for instance, is a sure cure for
chronic indigestion. The sun soothes the exhausted nerves. The
evening breeze, vibrating through the moonlight, is reconciling.
The vast silence invites the heart to the higher, universal realm
of love. The infinite spaces, unfolding their horizons, one circle
of the unknown after another, stimulate the imagination.
But the greatest gift of the desert is essentially spiritual.
For the mind, free from the tension of life and all the problems
of a civilized society, issues like a chrysalis from its cocoon, a
full-fledged butterfly, and then experiences a strange reaction.
In the vastnesses of space and silence self is submerged and the
spiritual consciousness is awakened to a realization of the divine
in the universe.
RENAISSANCE
By
PAUL DEAB
When shrill winter winds make eerie the night,
And whistle their harsh and moaning song;
And black clouds hide the moon and stars from sight;
Winter is endless to us who long—
For warmth of spring and a zephyrous breeze,
For fragrant nights and the peepers' song,
And moonlight and starlight silv'ring the seas.
But we are impatient! O, God, we pray,
(Thy Mercy and Love temper everything)
Give us the strength to face each wintry day,
That we may live to be reborn in spring.
�mmmmmmmmmm
DECEMBER, 1929
11
Zahle and Points East
A Chronological Record of the Editor's Trip Abroad
By
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
IV
d.
ns
a
in.
he
ne
I
(CROSSING the Lebanon range over the Damascus Road from
the direction of Beirut, one reaches the highest altitude at a
point called Dhour El-Baidar, or the heights of the threshing
floor. Here one needs some protection against the cold even in
mid-summer. There are no habitations for miles around, and
the low, square stone buildings seen here and there along the
way are the ice-storage plants upon which the city of Beirut
depended entirely in the past for its supply. Even after the introduction of ice-manufacturing plants, natural ice continues to
be used to quite a large extent. The sherbet you buy from the
itinerant saqi is cooled not with the manufactured, but with the
natural ice. And it is not ice at that—it is the natural snow flake
packed hard in winter and stored in the vaulted stone buildings
for summer consumption. You have it served in sparkling balls
whose very sight imparts a feeling of natural coolness that is
most welcome in the torrid heat of the seashore. Manufactured
ice somehow fails to produce the same psychological effect.
From Dhour El-Baidar you begin a slow descent along the
gently sloping terrain towards the Baka' plain. The plain, however, is not yet visible. You follow a long bend skirting the hills
forming the left side.of the valley until you reach the gorge,
and it is then that the plain, in its fascinating beauty, begins to
deploy itself before your wondering eyes. There comes from
that first sight a thrill indescribable. On the left you see Sannin,
and on the right, at a greater distance, Mt. Hermon, commonly
known as Jebel El-Shaykh. Anti Lebanon is directly ahead and
seems surprisingly near. A few villages may be seen along its
foot-hills but it presents a desolate and forbidding appearance.
The two ranges draw closer as you look south until they come
together close to Mt. Hermon near the Palestinian border.
But once this general survey is made the eye becomes riveted
to the beauty of the valley for the unending variety of designs
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
and colors it presents. The courses of its numerous streams are
traced by parallel lines of tall and graceful poplars which form
thickets here and there around ponds or lagoons. In places, one
can distinguish dark-green orchards, located principally along
the fringes of the plain, and forming a sort of hedge to what
appears from the heights like one immense field. Otherwise,
the whole plain is given up to seasonal crop cultivation.
The beauty of the Baka' grows on you as you draw nearer
and are able to discern the nature of the plantations and analyze
the variety of colors. Here is a patch that is uniformly dark-red
which apparently had been planted to winter wheat and is now
being prepared for another sowing. Yonder is a thick field of
dark-green which you soon distinguish as a vineyard, while here
and there are other fields ranging in color from delicate green
to golden yellow according to the earliness or degree of maturity
of the crop. The Baka' plain, seen from the heights of the western Lebanon range, is much like an immense carpet whose delicate designs and variegated hues are such as to give rise to boundless admiration.
Such is the approach to Zahle, claimant to the proud title of
the "Bride of Al-Baka'."
We reached Zahle by dusk of Saturday, July 27. It was
necessary to drive slowly owing both to the narrowness and to
the congestion of the old street. Here we discovered that the
automobile did not enjoy the right of way unless it pleased the
cameleer, or the muleteer, or the back driver to halt to let it pass.
But we were not in a hurry. We were coming for a week-end
and not rushing to business, American-wise. The indispensable
bath after the dust of the roadj-, especially when you do not
have the foresight to provide yourself with a burnus, could be
deferred a little longer. For here were sights to the fullness of
your heart's desire, and it were well to take them in slowly.
Such sights you do not encounter in the big, self-containing city
where there is bound to be some sort of uniformity. The main
street of Zahle was such a medley of people and things as to
stagger the imagination. It is more so on a Saturday night. For
Zahle is neither a big city nor a small town, nor is it self-containing. In all seasons its markets draw a large rural element
from miles around, while in summer it has that and the summer
residents and visitors to boot. I did not feel at all strange there
in my Panama hat, while my companion was in a tarboush. You
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DECEMBER, 1929
n
could see scores in like attire before proceeding a dozen paces.
And, besides, you had the quaintness of the shops and their
helter-skelter formation to give you endless surprises. Due to
the topography of the city, which lies in a narrow valley and
does not permit of much digression or expansion from the limit
of the principal street, trades cannot be segregated into the bazaars typical of Eastern cities. Feed and vegetable stores, garages and harness shops, rug stores and drug stores, and cafes
galore, were all mixed together. And in many places of prominence along the street you could read many a signboard of a dentist or a physician with the typical Armenian ending of "ian."
Debouching from the business street, you come to the broad
boulevard running along the right bank of the River Bardoni
and flanked by modern hotels ablaze with light. This is the real
Zahle you long to see. Palatial homes massed above each other
on the steep sides of the valley converge on the rocks from which
issue the turbulent waters of the river. It can be readily seen
how valuable space is in this center by the fact that a large hotel
was built at the mouth of the gorge hewed in the side of the
rock. Close by is one of the old flour-mills still spouting torrents
of water from its several gaping openings to add a touch of rustic
picturesqueness to the landscape.
\
One cannot retire early on a summer night in Zahle. Of
course, the statement must be made with some qualification. The
Hotel Trabulsi, for instance, where I stopped for the night, is
a conservative family hotel where the orchestra stops playing at
midnight signaling the end of social activities. Then the doors
are locked and the patrons permitted to be lulled to peaceful
sleep to the magic tunes of the soothing Bardoni waters flowing
close bv instead of the strains of stringed instruments. But as
every rule has its elastic features, this hotel has an annex where
those afflicted with the Zahle insomnia may come in at any hour
of the night—or morning—without having to take off their shoes.
Abraham Trabulsi, who had been once in America and returned
eighteen years ago, rightly guessed the state of mind of one
coming to spend as much as possible of a wakeful month in Lebanon during the enchanting summer season and assigned me to a
room in the Annex.
My companion on this occasion, as on many others, was my
same cousin Joseph Mokarzel, publisher of Ad-Dabbour. He
constituted himself in this instance not only guide and guardian,
�=
14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
but "absolute dictator." He was to lead and I to follow. Zahle
was to him his second hometown!
Poor Joseph! He reckoned ill with actualities and did not
foresee that his dictatorship was destined to be short-lived. For
who breaks in on the quiet of our dinner but my old friend
Shukri Baccash, publisher of Zahle Al-Fatat, whom I had known
in New York in the dual capacity of editor and recruit in the
American Army during the war. Shukri had put on some flesh,
but did not suffer any loss of activity. All his old fire and zest
remained. He thundered and bellowed his disapproval of my
not having notified him of my coming in advance. Did I want
to slight him in his capacity as "absolute dictator" in Zahle ?
Joseph should have known better not to let me commit such a
faux pas.
And herein was my cue out of a dilemma and into salvation.
I sensed that in the apparently republican atmosphere of Lebanon,
the sub-consciousness of dictatorship was strongly in evidence.
Here were two editors supporting a republican government,
thinking and talking of nothing but absolutism. Is it possible
that therein could lie the remedy for the chaotic condition pervading the country?
But right then it was too early to venture on a discussion of
politics. The monster, once aroused, could not easily be put to
rest. I was only anxious to escape the holy wrath of my old
friend who had risen from a "comrade" in the ranks during the
war to the role of "dictator" in times of peace.
I could not but realize my shortcomings if I were to run
the risk of an argument with the "autocrat," especially when he
was in a buoyant and militant mood. I put the blame, therefore,
on the "other dictator," and the trick worked to perfection. The
immediate result was a heated argument as to who by right was
the real dictator. Neither would now tolerate my interference
or be satisfied with the explanation that occupants of such exalted
posts in the United States are called "bosses," and that bossism
could be of many forms,—national, state, and city. It seemed
for a while that a battle royal was developing with no quarters
asked or given; but, like all good citizens of a republic, the disputants finally settled the matter by a compromise, Joseph Mokarzel being conceded the "dictatorship" of Beirut and Shukri
Baccash that of Zahle.
Under the conditions, Shukri had the winning hand, became
we were then within the sphere of his jurisdiction and there could
�DECEMBER, 1929
15
be no appeal from his decisions. He fortwith proceeded to exercise his authority and took us in hand to show us Zahle.
Now to Shukri, Zahle at night converged on one focal point,
and meant but one spot, that being Wadi Bardouni, otherwise
the enchanted valley where springs the fountain of joy eternal
that characterizes the life of this Lebanese city. And truly it was
a dream of a place. Walking along the narrow path-way through
the deep gorge leading to the Wadi, one saw high cliffs rising
perpendicularly on both sides and a surging, turbulent stream
beating against the rocks and rushing madly through the narrowing defile, forming a miniature Niagara Rapids. Then at
the turn of a sharp bend in the winding way, one comes suddenly
into a dazzling view of brilliantly lighted cafes thronged with
holiday crowds whose merriment cannot fail of being contagious.
You pass between rows of crowded tables and every group insists
that you join their company. And there are those who either
prefer to walk or else do so perforce because they cannot find
places near the water, and their continuous milling motion lends
the scene an aspect of life and activity. The whole atmosphere
is charged with a spirit of buoyancy.
We crossed a plank bridge to the left and more spacious
bank of the river. Shukri led us to an abundant spring gushing
from the side of the mountain. "This is Ain Al-Baccash," he
said by way of explanation. "Not many years ago the spring, as
the name indicates, belonged to my family, together with all the
adjacent land. Through a pious impulse our grandfather donated
it to a religious order. Now the material benefit from the development goes to enrich a few monks, while all that is left us is
the consolation of a name."
Kaif, that subtly elusive Arabic term which defies definition
m English, can be better understood by describing its requisites.
Through all my recent travels in Syria I saw no better manifestation of it than at Zahle.
One of Kaif's primary requisites is water. If it is the gushing
spring or the running brook blending its soft murmurs with the
sweet notes of the songbirds it is ideal. Otherwise a pool or a
basin will serve the purpose. Water is life itself in the desert,
and inasmuch as the Syrians have fallen heirs to Arabic culture'
they have learned to appreciate most those amenities of life
which the Arabs exalted.
The other requisites are verdure and a graceful form, all of
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
which an Arab poet succinctly put in a single refrain. In the
Wadi all the above mentioned requirements abound. Water
not only runs in the river bed, but is brought by canals through
the cafes to impart a spirit of Kaif to those who are not fortunate
to find seating accommodations on the banks. And in these canals
some addicts to Kaif actually plant their tables and chairs and
sit astride the running water so as to enjoy it the more.
The Wadi is also thick with trees and shrubbery, while the
third requisite is fittingly represented by the women of Zahle
who are noted for their beauty and grace of form.
But the urban Syrians have improved upon the Arab conditions: they have added to them the arac and maza, and made of
the additions an art. Zahle is famous for its arac, although some
fastidious persons now prefer whiskey, perhaps because it is imported. But as to the maza, otherwise the relishes, it affords both
a feast to the eye and to the palate. You order a Khamsinia, or
fifty-gram measure of arac, and along with it comes a tray of
twenty or more little dishes of dainties at which the drinker
nibbles as he slowly and spasmodically sips his drink. There are,
besides, any variety of extra choice relishes sold by circulating
venders, from hearts of green walnuts to roast chicken or leg
of lamb.
Here and there you find a oud musician accompanying a
singer, while those groups that have not such an advantage are
entertained by the blind singer who performs on request.
Our fortuitous visit to the Wadi on a Saturday evening
was most fortunate. Shukri made no mistake in conducting us
thither to see the real life of the town.
Although this first visit to Zahle was by invitation from my
friend and fellow traveler Michel Maloof, I planned to have
it serve a double purpose. Hence my surreptitious entry without notifying my host. I trusted to his sympathetic understanding to accept my explanation, which he did.
Sunday, however, was devoted to my host, the peremptorv
claim of Shukri to dictatorial power notwithstanding. He would
not exercise his prerogative even if he could, because he also
was a guest, along with about twenty-five of Zahle's most prominent citizens and others, among whom were Deputy Shibl Dammns; Dr. Joseph Hitti; Dr. Ashkar; Shehadi Shehadi, editor
of Al-Kulliyah; Dr. Najib Farah; Khalil Harawi; Joseph AbouKhater; Abdullah Bey Abou-Khater, former deputy; Prof.
Boulos Kfoury; Anis Farah; Ibrahim Esper Elkhoury; Joseph
�A GENERAL VIEW OF ZAHLE
Lying snuggly in the Valley of the River Bardouni, at the foot of majestic Mt. Sannin, is the proud city of Zahle,
styled the "Bride of Al-Bika'."
�THE PLAIN OF AL -BIKA', LEBANON
The fertile valley that forms the dividing line between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, at the northern point of which
are located the famous ruins of Baalbeck.
�DECEMBER, 1929
i
17
Lawand; Raji Rahi; Iskandar Issa Maloof, the well-known
scholar and historian; Issa Abousamra; Ccasar Bey Maloof;
helix Fares; Joseph Mokarzel and others.
The Maloof residence crowns Zahle's highest hill and commands a magnificent view of town and countryside. The topography of Zahlc appears from this vantage point rising sharply
along the two sides of the valley, while stretching far into the
distance on one side are the town's famous vineyards, and on
the other looms the towering form of majestic and venerable
Mt. Sannin.
Mrs. Sassul Ferzan, Michel's elder sister, made a perfect
hostess. Naturally, toasts were drunk over real champagne and
the virtues of the emigrants sung in fitting poetry and prose.
The gentle atmosphere of Zahle is productive of the most flowery
language. Besides, Michel Maloof not only suggested many
civic improvements in his native town, but contributed liberally
toward their promotion.
Towards dusk, symptoms of the irresistible urge in every
good citizen of Zahle to direct his steps towards the inviting atmosphere of the Wadi began to be noticeable. So to the Wad;
we all repaired, and there joined in the life of the town up to
the respectable hour of midnight.
They insisted on accompanying me to my hotel. The moon
hung low in the clear sky like a silver disk; the murmur of the
river running parallel to the road was soothing; the cool, dry
mountain air was exhilarating, and the temptation to exercise
one's limbs under this ideal setting was well nigh irresistible.
We broke into small groups and appeared like an army on a
slow march.
But whatever the hour, the Lebanese sense of good manners
would not permit of parting sans a further invitation. The hotel
was my temporary home and it was my privilege to act the host
to my hosts at the only place available. Would they not give me
the pleasure of their company for another half-hour?
There was a good representation of the fair sex in the crowd
and they appeared timorous. The hotel closes at midnight and
that hour had already struck. Plausible excuse.
Realizing my predicament in being anxious to entertain but
not wanting to offend, Shukri stepped in to exercise his prerogative of dictator. Michel's role as host had come to an end with
the expiration of Sunday, and the heralding of a new day was
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
DEt
the signal for Shukri to resume his authority. In that capacity
he commanded, and all obeyed.
Trabulsi was most obliging. No sooner were the doors of
the main drawing room flung open than he disappeared like a
flash to rouse his help. First in order was the bartender, then the
steward who prepares the maza, and finally the members of the
orchestra. The lively tunes which the musicians struck and to
which the company danced proved the men fit for any emergency.
But not all the music was instrumental. The dulcet songs of
George Jebaily, laden with passionate feeling and coming at that
tender hour of the morning, sent the company into delirious ecstasy.
The two other nights I spent in Zahle, although at different
intervals, were as full of pleasant associations. On one occasion
we were in the company of Ahmad Bey Showky, poet laureat
of Egypt, Isaf Bey Nashasheebi, a poet of Palestine and a certain Chinese poet resident of Paris. Showky Bey retired at midnight, but all the rest held the fort until Shukri, in the exuberance
of his enthusiasm, insisted that the Chinese poet sing the songs
of his native land. He sang, and the ladies fled.
On the other occasion, it was my privilege to be the guest of
Ibrahim Trabulsi together with Khalil Moutran, styled the
poet of the two hemispheres, Michel Maloof and others. Moutran Bey's oratorical ability proved to be on a par with his poetical gifts. He spoke in terms of the highest praise of the Syrian
and Lebanese emigrants. Moutran Bey, as behooves all good
poets, is not regular in his habits. We broke company on that
occasion with the break of dawn.
RESTLESS
By
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
Not for the superhuman power
That stills or backward turns Life's wheel
I crave, but that Life's woe and weal
Be crowded in one fleeting hour.
D
Peoi
enlig
Drus
centi
ritui
anot
liirio
trem
Hitt
pray
V
th
pari
whi<
begi
puri
rem
si on
regs
kno'
thus
com
tion
ing
hisl
�DECEMBER, 1929
19
Druze Exhortations and Prayers
By DR. PHILIP K. HITTI
of Princeton University
Editor's Note:—In his latest work entitled "The Origins of the Druze
People and Their Religion," Dr. Hitti gives the world one of the most
enlightening and scholarly studies on the Druzes. The mysteries of the
Druze creed have ever been the despair of scholars who, throughout the
centuries, have advanced many opinions and conjectures as to the tenets,
rituals and moral precepts of this people. Confusing between one creed and
another in the East is made easy because of the existence of so many religious sects, all more or less shrouded in mystery. It is, therefore, extremely significant that in one of the several appendices to his book, Dr.
Hitti gives a literal translation of some of the Druze exhortations and
prayers which help to shed light on their religious beliefs.
Exhortations and Prayers by
AL-SAYYID ABDULLAH
AL-TANUKHI
I*
I
Exhortation to the tAqil
IT IS incumbent upon the 'Aqil (enlightened, initiated, wise)
that he should direct his energy only to the next world, preparing for it the provisions of piety, and not trusting this world
which is a world of passage and not of settlement. He should
begin with training his character, sensing its good qualities and
purifying it from whatsoever alienates it from Allah (may He
remain high!), such as bodily passion, greed for worldly possessions, anger, revenge, ill-temper, pride over others, and selfregard—all of which stand as a screen between him and the
knowledge of his Creator (may He remain high!). And if he is
thus screened from the knowledge of his Creator, he then becomes a victim of evil habits.
"On the other hand, if the worshiper makes his chief ambition and desire the religion of Allah and the fear of Him, holding fast to His commandments, abiding by His laws and turning
his back upon what He has forbidden, then shall the Lord (may
�to
THE SYRIAN WORLD
He remain high!) accord him success, bestow upon him His
wisdom, and enlighten his heart rendering it like a polished mirror in which the divine facts are reflected. For wickedness, feebleness, evil whisperings and corruption lie dormant in the innermost part of the souls; and if the light of Unity and gnosis
(Arabic Ma'rifah,—knowledge) should shine upon it, then all
wickedness therein is destroyed, extinguished and exterminated—
just as when the light of the sun shines, the light of the planets
is eclipsed and entirely put out. Although the planets' light is
extinguihsed in effect, yet it is in heaven in fact, but so long as
the light of the sun is shining, the planets can produce no effect
whatsoever. When the sun sets, however, then the planets will
appear. Such is the case of the soul. As long as the light of
reality and the knowledge of Allah (may He remain high!) are
shining upon it, its darkness and its wickedness are dormant and
have no trace. But in case wisdom and the knowledge of Allah
(may He remain high!) set, then will evil qualities appear and
reveal themselves in the same way as the stars reveal themselves
when the sun sets.
Nothing, therefore, is more incumbent upon the 'Aqil than
to persevere in the reJigion of Allah, to abide by it day and
night, and to bend every effort to keep the company of those
who are useful and godly, so that they may add to his enlightenment. He should also imagine that Allah (may He remain
high!) is with him, watching over him, and not departing from
him for one wink of the eye. At all times should he be mentioning Allah's name, waiting upon Him, and not neglecting
Him for one instant. He should fear no blame in the pursuit
of truth, but should rather devote all energy and direct every
sound mental power to the acquisition of the favor of the Lord
of mankind, and the following of the path of right guidance
which leads to victory on the last day.
II
Covenant Between Allah and Servant
Said Allah: "O my servant, ten for thee and ten for me:—
Be industrious and I shall give thee aid; demand, and I shall
bestow; repent, and I shall forgive; thank, and I shall increase;
depend, and I shall suffice; strive, and I shall give thee success;
beseech, and I shall respond; be content, and I shall enrich thee;
ask, and I shall give."
�DECEMBER, 1929
21
III
Prayer
O my God! Here is thy runaway slave returning to thy
door, thy disobedient slave coming back for reconciliation, thy
sinning slave bringing to thee his excuse. Pardon me by thy
indulgence, accept me through thy bounty, and look unto me
with thy mercy. O God! Forgive me my past iniquity, and
guard me against committing iniquity in the remaining days of
my life; for in thy hand is all good, and unto us thou art compassionate and merciful.
IV
Prayer to Be Recited Before Sleep
In thy name, my Lord, I lay down my side; and in thy name,
I lift it up. Protect me, O my God, against thy punishment on
the day in which thou gatherest together thy creatures. In thy
name, O Lord, I live and I die; and in thee I seek refuge against
the evil of my own self, as well as against the evil of every
creeping creature subject to thy control. Thou art the first: so
before thee there is naught. Thou art the last: so after thee
there is naught. O my Lord! Thou hast made my soul, and
protectest it; thine is its death, and thine is its life. If thou,
therefore, causest it to die, wilt thou pardon it; and if thou
permittest it to live, wilt thou preserve it?
O my Lord! I beseech thee for health. I pray thee to awaken
me at the hour that is most agreeable to thee, and to use me in
the kind of work that is most acceptable to thee. Let thy grace
draw me nigh unto thy favor, and alienate me from thy wrath.
As I pray thee, grant my request; as I seek thy pardon, forgive
me; and as I call upon thee, answer my prayer. "In the name
of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate."
"Allah! There is no god but He, the living, the eternal.
Slumber doth not seize him, nor sleep. His is whatsoever is in
the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who is he that can
intercede with Him but by His own permission? He knoweth
what hath been before them and what shall be after them; yet
naught of His knowledge shall they grasp, save what He willeth. His throne reacheth over the heavens and the earth, and
the upholding of both burdeneth Him not—and He is the high,
the great!"
�•- J
THE SYRIAN WORLD
22
The Murder of the Patriarch
A TRUE STORY
Depicting Conditions of Life in Lebanon in the Early
Nineteenth Century.
By
FOUAD
F.
BUSTANY
(Translated from the Arabic Original) •
- •• •
A BOU K1SHK was one of the leading notables of Kfar'kab,
an important town in the district of Baslcinta, in Lebanon.
His physical build was that of a veritable monster, and his character fitted in with his appearance. His small head rested on a
stout neck between two immense and slightly stooping shoulders.
But his most distinctive feature was his drooping thick lips and
his bulging eyes which had the constant wandering look as if ever
in search of a prey. His stomach was not only uncommonly large
but extremely flabby and loose, which was the cause for his
townsmen giving him the sobriquet of "Abou Kishk" (The
greedy glutton.)
Abou Kishk was blessed with four sons. Surely they were
a blessing to him, but not to the community. If such were possible, they even exceeded him in gluttony and greed, as their
methods of extortion were more subtle and effective. The family
being of one mind, they waxed exceedingly prosperous on the
proceeds of their loot.
Now it happened that Abou Kishk had a niece who fell heir
to a large fortune, and he immediately conceived the design of
taking her in marriage for one of his sons. His heart was set on
acquiring her money and property and, considering the success
of all his schemes in the past, he already began to count on her
wealth as his own.
But the niece added to her inherited cunning the natural subtlety of her sex, and while outwardly consenting to an engagement to her cousin, she secretly continued her amorous relations
with a comely youth of the neighbors.
'
The betrothal dragged. The girl was beating her cousin and
fianc6 at his own game. She had succeeded in wrenching from
him many valuable gifts of jewelry as well as large <JUm% 'of
�DECEMBER, 1929
23
money. And when the nuptials were delayed beyond the customary limit among the people of Lebanon, the wagging tongue
of gossip began to place on the matter all sorts of interpretations.
In time, the ugly rumors floating around reached the ears
of the young man and he attempted to force his fiancee into an
immediate decision. But the answer he received was a point blank
refusal to marry him and an unequivocal statement that she did
not care for him and never would.
The son of Abou Kishlc was beside himself with frenzy at
this unexpected turn of affairs. What is he to do for revenge?
His father is the one best qualified to advise him. And together,
the two decided on the elimination of the rival who was the cause
of the failure of their plans.
Not long after, the inhabitants of Kfar'kab were aroused by
the reports of several shots. The night was pitch dark and they
could not locate the scene of the shooting, but in the morning
they discovered the riddled body of the rival of Abou Kishk's
son along a lonely road on the outskirts of the town.
Three days later, two of Abou Kishk's sons were lodged in
the prison of Beit Eddin.
r
m
Abou Kishk had reckoned with everything except the implacable justice of Emir Basheer. In his passion for revenge, he
had discounted the Emir's uncanny powers for unraveling mysteries and visiting untempered punishment upon law-breakers.
He had forgotten that the unbending policy of this benevolent
autocrat was to stop murders by execution, and prevent shedding
of blood by the spilling of blood. And when he came to realize
his predicament the chance for retrieve had passed.
But a way must be found to save his sons. The use of force
or stratagem was out of the question, because the prison of the
Emir was impregnable. There remained no other alternative
but the power and influence of intercession. But who was the
one big enough to influence the Emir, especially where a contemptible case of cold-blooded murder was involved?
At that particular time, the Greek Catholic Patriarch Ignatius
Sarruf was visiting at a neighboring monastery, and to him went
Abou Kishk with a plea for intercession. The Patriarch, although
realizing that the Emir could never be influenced to stay the
course of justice, acceded to the request of the supplicant as a
matter of formality. He wrote to the Emir a letter couched
�24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
in the most submissive terms appealing to his mercy to spare
the condemned men for the sake of their aged father by transmuting their sentence of death to one of life imprisonment. But
before the Patriarch's messenger reached the court of the Emir,
the men had already been hanged in the outer court of the palace, and the news plunged the household of Abou Kishk into the
deepest sorrow and dejection.
"It was the Patriarch who caused the death of my sons," he
reasoned, "for he must have either purposely delayed the sending of the letter or else written something that did not denote
sincere solicitation. The Patriarch, therefore, must be punished."
Abou Kishk communicated his designs to his two remaining
sen? and the three began to concoct schemes for revenge. The
blow to their pride and prestige was too severe to be tolerated.
Their opportunity came on November 5, 1812, when the
Patriarch, in the course of his pastoral visits, was traveling over
a lonely road in upper Kisrawan. He was accompanied by a small
retinue of attendants and could conceive of no danger in the
peaceful reign of the Emir. Suddenly, three masked men sprang
from ambush and faced the Patriarch. As they levelled their
rifles they shouted, "Revenge for the blood of Abou Kishk's
sons." The Patriarch fell, bathed in his blood, and his followers
fled in all directions and spread the news of the tragic murder.
No trace could be found of Abou Kishk and his sons after
the tragedy. Rumors filled the air about their hiding places but
not one could be substantiated. Some said they had fled to the
farthest borders of Palestine, or to the mountain fastness of Houran, or had even crossed the seas to distant lands. Others, who
could not conceive of anyone risking the dangers of such journeys,
insisted that the murderers remained in hiding in some of the
inaccessible caves of the mountain.
But where the murder of the Patriarch had done most damage was in the blow it dealt to the prestige of the Emir. People
ceased to be awed by the proverbial reach of his power, and the
longer Abou Kishk and his sons remained at large the more the
Emir's authority became undermined.
There were persistent rumors that the culprits had sought
refuge in Cvprus. Cyprus, the distant island in the vast sea where
only the desperate in those days would venture! How can the
Emir ever find the means to drag the murderers from that distant and isolated land!
�DECEMBER, 1929
25
But the Emir was not to be daunted in his determination.
Me was laying carefully and secretly his plans and abiding his
time. And once he became reasonably sure that the murderers
had fled to Cyprus, he called to him Mahmoud, one of his most
trusted Druze lieutenants, and gave him the necessary instructions.
Towards the close of December and out of a raging gale, a
small sailing vessel sought the harbor of Cyprus and landed a
passenger in Lebanese attire who covered the lower part of his
face with the end of his silken shawl, apparently as a protection
from the cold. He went immediately about inquiring for three
of his compatriots who had preceded him to the island. Not long
afterwards, he found them in one of the cafes and accosted them
with a friendly greeting. The elder of the three was visibly
frightened and hastened to cover his face with the end of his
shawl, but the two younger men showed more presence of mind
and asked the stranger who he was and what he wanted.
"I, like yourselves," he replied with the most natural affectation of sincerity, "am a Lebanese exile. I incurred the wrath of
the tyrant and was forced to flee my home and country and face
the perils of the sea at this season seeking safety in this island."
The newcomer was master at the art of deception and the
three soon showed confidence in him as a brother exile. The
reason for his flight, as he disclosed it to the father and his two
sons, was substantially as follows:
"Being of the Druzes of Arkoub, and consequently a neighbor to the Emir, the latter caused my brother to be hanged for
having committed a petty offense. Since then I could think of
nothing but revenge and decided to murder Khalil, the Emir's
son. I saw my opportunity when the latter was out once on the
chase, but owing to my fear and nervousness, my shot went wild.
Some of my neighbors informed on me and 1 had to flee to this
distant island seeking safety."
The account was quite plausible, and for a month thereafter
the four Lebanese exiles exchanged accounts of their experiences
at home, and in this manner the Emir's emissary came into possession of the complete details of the murder of the Patriarch.
He invariably joined them in all their bitter complaints against
the tyranny of the Emir.
One morning, however, Mahmoud came to join his companions affecting a condition of extreme terror. He had learned
by secret channels, he said, that the Emir had discovered their
�26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
hiding place and was bent on using every effort to extradite them.
It was him, Mahmoud, that the Emir was seeking most, because
of the attempt he had made on the life of his son.
This explanation tended to appease the fright and anxiety
of Abou Kishk and his sons for the all too natural reason that
another was running even a greater danger than they were. The
result was that they confided in him the more fully.
Mahmoud was not lacking of a plan. He had many relatives
among the Druzes of Houran who would be only too glad to
welcome and protect them. The Emir could never reach them in
the inaccessible wilds of Al-Lajah, and the Druzes would never
deliver to an enemy a refugee to whom they would have given
asylum.
.
It was therefore decided that they sail back to Lebanon ana
make their way along the northern border to the interior. Mahmoud was to risk a secret visit to his family and meet his companions in the town of Baalbeck. While in northern Lebanon,
father and sons could feel absolutely safe as the Emir had no
reason to suspect their return. Besides, the distance was too great
for him to get the news immediately even though they were
detected.
.
On this understanding, Mahmoud left his companions soon
after landing at a deserted spot along the shore of Al-Batroun.
The three made their way slowly up the mountain until they
reached the town of Al-Hadath.
The night of the third day following, twenty heavily armed
horsemen were besieging an apparently deserted house on the
extreme border of the town. Their captain ordered the occupants to open the door and surrender, but shout as he may,
there was no response to his commands. The door was finally
battered down and the soldiers of the Emir entered the house
with levelled rifles.
Crouching in the farthest corner were three abject looking
figures whose tongues had been tied by fright immediately they
realized their plight. Only too late did they realize that the
hand of the Emir was all too far-reaching.
Abou Kishk and his two last sons were hanged on the same
scaffold that served to hang his two other sons before. The news
spread rapidlv throughout the land and struck terror in the hearts
of the lawlessly inclined. In every home in Lebanon could be
heard the exclamation of surprise and admiration:
"MasMM! He has dragged the murderers from Cyprus!
�DECEMBER, 1929
W!
27
In Old Damascus
Impressions of a Syrian-American College Graduate
of her Visit to Syria.
By
ADELAIDE
E.
FARIS
a.
'QNCE to the Mediterranean—again to the Mediterranean.
You'll come back!"
That is the wise prophecy given on the first glimpse of the
countries bordering those blue waters—a prophecy truer than
is realized at the time, for then shoulders are smilingly shrugged
&s
in light assent.
But there had been no reckoning with the "after effect"
the memories of laughing skies over blue, blue waters—yes,
different from all others, else why the expression "Mediterranean
blue —hills and valleys made round and graceful with time
sunrises and sunsets, starlit and moonlit nights that made David
of old break out into unsurpassed song, riotous color, perfumes
from a hundred flowers, soft, lazy breezes barely breaking
through that too comfortable Mediterranean warmth. The sea
itself, at times an easy, jelly-like mass, too satisfied to moveagain gently rippling—and occasionally showing its vigor with
rollicking waves.
Yes, if one doesn't actually revisit each little place—one returns a thousand times—remembering.
Damascus, the oldest existing city in the world, is enough
to offer unlimited possibilities. One peeps into a past that has
gone by everywhere else, but is a today in Damascus.
The train ride from Beirut to Damascus is a delightful one
A few words must be said about the train. There is nothing
"express" about it, for when it isn't stopping it is just going.
An excellent walker might get there first. At the different stations the water jugs are filled and fresh fruits—even tiny crisp
mictie (small cucumbers)—may be bought from any of the many
peddlers who come to the windows of the compartments. One
goes through rich and fertile valleys with small, winding rivers.
There are masses of trees heavily laden with ripe fruits—peach,
apple, plum, lemon, orange, pear, pomegranate, cherry, almond,'
walnut—oh, an endless number of varieties. Brightly hued
�28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
flowers are everywhere. There is an atmosphere of abundance,
content, prosperity and mellow beauty—a suitable entrance for
Damascus, the city of age, mystery, color, where merchants'
wares from all of the Eastern World find their destination,
where every kind of fruit may be obtained, the city that Mohammed likened to paradise. It is a striking contrast to the route one
takes by automobile, through barren hills and empty plains.
The city itself,—how can one describe Damascus, not the
new section, for that is like any American or European city with
its civic center, park, automobiles and hotels j but the real Damascus, the Eastern section that is as remote and different from
the Western section as it is from Chicago. Shut your eyes and
see color, color, color, and more color—not crude, harsh shades,
but rich, sleepy reds; bright reds that Saladin might have worn
in the Crusades; deep blues that remind you of the Mediterranean—dazzling blues that rival the skies above j greens—restful greens of the fields j a glowing orange that brings to mind
the luscious ripe apricots of the fertile valleys. Smell the odor
of soft and mysterious perfumes—attar of roses, jasmine, that
come from jars of exquisite workmanship. Hear the click-click
of the Kibkabs—(shoes made of wood, some even inlaid with
mother-of-pearl)—on the shaky cobble stones; see the women walking around with their faces veiled, men with their
baggy trousers, turbans, or fezzes. Move to one side, press close
against the wall, when you hear a pitter patter and down the
narrow street come several donkeys or horses or even a few
camels. The driver will shout "Ou aa, ya Hourmey" (get out
of the way, lady.)
. In the midst of all this comes a carriage, top down with
the driver proudly tooting a shrieky horn—you must get out
of the way!
Let the low purring of the bubble-bubble of the narghile
(Turkish pipe) soothe your tired Western nerves—for you are
in the East now! Yes, the two shop-keepers across the street are
smoking their pipes and are having a friendly chat. That shout
you just heard merely announces the commencement of a game
of damma.
Are you thirsty: Here comes the little boy selling drinks
and crying out "Tybeen Bardeen" (they are deliriously cold.)
Or perhaps you are hungry. On the corner they sell hot kibi
(little round cakes made of lamb meat and wheat) and there
the woman calls out "Tybeen Sukhneeyne" (deliriously hot,)
�DECEMBER, 1929
29
Now one sees a group of men drinking coffee from tiny demitasse cups in brass holders. They are merchants who have no
customers at the moment and so are enjoying a social hour.
rime is not money in Damascus! The narrow streets are empty,
it seems. Of course, it is about four o'clock and all good followers of Mohammed are praying.
Yes, you're in Damascus, the city that claims the distinction
of being the oldest in the world.
f'j
The bazaars of Damascus are fascinating. It is folly to enter
them, for you cannot force yourself to leave them. Merchandise
from all the Near East and Northern Africa finds its way into
this center. Merchants from everywhere go to this city, for it
is the place to buy and to sell. You find there anything you could
ask for—Eastern things, of course, and oh! so many you wouldn't
ask for, because you have never known they existed. Here they
Jiterally open up and shut down shop, for the doors slide up and
down like the top of an old-fashioned desk.
The streets take their names from the merchandise that is
sold in them. Silk is sold in one street, cotton in another, silver
m another, gold in its street, candy in the candy street. They are
naively named Suk El-Harieer (Silk Street), Suk El-Fudah
(Silver Street) and so on. It is really very convenient, for if
you are buying, say, a piece of jewelry made of silver, you can
inspect the jewelry in all of the stores, and then go back to the
piece you have decided upon. The proprietors of the stores will
be in their doorways, waiting for you and watching you go from
store to store. They find out what you are looking for and what
price others offered you. Each will call to you and tell you he
will sell that scarf cheaper than anyone else! He has all of his
scarfs ready for you to see and he tells you how much more
beautiful his are than the others'. When you buy in Damascus
everyone knows what you have bought and how much you have
paid for it.
The Silk Street is the most alluring. There are so many
lovely and colorful things on display, all hand woven. One learns
to differentiate between the silk that is native and that which is
imported. The former is pure and far surpasses the imported.
What shall you buy? Surely you must own an Abbaye (wrap).
Perhaps the one in peacock blue with strands of silver woven
with the silk to form an artistic design. You v/ill ask about the
price and Shafic, the blue-eyed proprietor (yes, and light hair)
�3J0
THE SYRIAN WORLD
will smile graciously and say "Whatever you wish—what does
it matter?" And he will drape the lovely thing around you and
tell you that you make it more beautiful. Again you will ask him
the price and he will shrug his shoulders and make you feel that
you are a little too eager about mere dollars and cents, for he
says "At your command, name your own price"
But in the
end you pay Shafic's price!
Scarfs are always popular. There is an array of them, small,
medium, large, square, and oblong, with tiny stripes and large
stripes. The first striped scarfs came from Damascus and the
Roman striped are really copied from them.
It is just as difficult to find old jewelry in Damascus today
as it is to find it anywhere. They proudly show you brand new
jewelry that was probably made in Czecho-Slovakia such as may
be found in any Woolworth store. One has to look in the outof-the-way places and in the tucked away corners of the shops
to find delicate filagree, twisted and braided silver, or the grain
of wheat design. The silversmiths like to dip silver in gold and
the effect is really very lovely.
The "Street called Straight" mentioned in the Bible is still
the long street of the city. Along it are many small places
where caned articles of wood are made. The men sit on the floor
singing, as they work on the wooden shoes (kibkab) or make interesting designs on the quaint bellows—it is all done in the same
way and with the same kind of tools that have been in use there
always,—and each man can finish completely whatever he is
working at and it is with pride that he sells what he has so carefully, almost lovingly, made. There seems to me something personal about each little bellows, about the wooden shoes, when
you buy them from the man himself.
The finest brass is made in Damascus and the brass factory
is not a noisy place, for everything is made by hand. And although
we wouldn't be without our great factories, it is a joy to find one
factory minus machines—aesthetically speaking! Pictures are
nicely hammered on some of the brass so that each piece tells a
story—mftny of them Biblical which is as it should be in this
city where St. Paul spent so much time. Designs are finely
chiseled on other pieces of brass and again there are articles of
chiseled workmanship with silver inlaid. Everything imaginable
is made of brass—tiny bud vases to large jardinieres; desk sets,
ornaments, lamps—one gasps when looking around the display
room. The stands that go with the large trays to form coffee
-
�PK.
m
DECEMBER, 1929
1
31
tables are of especial interest because of the way in which they
are made. There are men who sit on the floor and carve the
pieces of wood into intricate patterns and designs, manipulating
instruments by using their feet and hands at the same time. The
muscles of their toes are as well developed as those of their
fingers. The few men who can do this work have been taught
by their fathers who were in turn taught by their fathers and
so on. Certain families could do this kind of workmanship—it
was their specialty. Mother-of-Pearl inlaid furniture is made
at the same place. Everything imaginable is made here, too.
Living room sets, including divans, desks, chairs, tables of all
sizes and shapes, boxes, smoking stands and many other pieces
of furniture.
Yes, it is the exceptional person who can leave the bazaars of
Damascus without being heavily laden!
f
I
In spite of its remoteness, Damascus is a city where many
events have taken place—it has been in existence long enough
for much to happen, surely. St. Paul risked his life there and
the house where he was imprisoned is being made into a church
so that its identity will not be lost. One of the workmen, noting
your interest in the place, very kindly offers to demonstrate how
St. Paul made his exit. A basket is lowered from a window, pulley line effect, and the obliging workman laughingly jumps out
and bows.
The house where the early Christians held secret meetings is
still preserved and is under ground, giving proof of its age. It
also has been kept as a place of worship.
The beautiful Amawi Mosque is the third largest in the
world. You may visit it on a day when a group of men are
being taught the Koran—a sort of "Sunday School Class"—and
Mohammed help the pupil who doesn't know his lesson, for the
teacher is severely shaking his finger at one poor man. In the
center of the mosque proper is an elaborate tomb where they
say John the Baptist's head is buried. As one gazes in awe at it,
going back hundreds of years in history and visualizing the hardships endured by early Christians, a loud voice breaks the reverie,
saying, "Baksheesh for the sake of St. John's head"—this from
a Mohammedan. And of course, if you are a good Christian, you
give the Mohammedan "Baksheesh" for the memory of a Christian martyr in a Mohammedan mosque that was once a Christian
church! There are still Christian inscriptions all around the
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
walls. There is exquisite mosaic work on the ceilings and walls.
The mosque itself is built around a court in the center of which
is a large "bahra" or fountain. Many good Mohammedans bathe
their feet there before entering the mosque for worship, thereby
obeying their law of cleanliness. On entering the mosque, shoes
are changed for the slippers provided for the visitors.
The Damascus Palace Hotel was once one of the first inns—
in the oldest city—and has plenty of "atmosphere". Colorful
hand-woven Damascus draperies decorate the large windows
while chairs, divans and couches are upholstered in the same
material. Brasses and Mother-of-Pearl inlaid bric-a-brac are
placed here and there. The cuisine is excellent, one is served
French, Syrian or English dishes.
On the night of the anniversary of Mohammed's birthday
the roof of the hotel is a good place for the spectator. The celebration is carried on in the streets and everyone—Mohammedans
only, of course—rides an animal of some sort if he possibly can.
The riders, carrying torches and waving swords, shout continually.
I
The visit to the little Mohammedan school is a memorable
one. It is above one of the stores on the "Silk Street." The boys, I
of primary school age, all wear the red fezzes in small sizes and 4
they are certainly becoming to them. They are like any other
little boys, only more afraid of their teacher than our American
children! He is rather a severe looking person, more like the
teacher of our early Colonial times that we delight in picturing
perhaps a bit unfairly. But he loves them, all the same. One
can tell from the way in which he answers them if they know
their lessons! There are no girls here, for they go to their own
schools. The boys do not even turn around when the teacher is
in the room, but as soon as he is gone—the teacher for the boys
is a man—they certainly are natural again. They have a lively
time looking at the visitor and answering questions promptly,
and occasionally asking them rather bashfully. How they love
the trinkets or the pennies that you may give them. Are they
from America? That makes them more precious. Of course they
know a great deal about the country, they are going there some
day. But the teacher comes back again and the smiles of mischief are gone, all are at attention. There is a great deal of drill
work for the boys. When the bell rings, announcing the end of
*****
�INNER COURT OF THE UMAYYAD MOSQUE
The famous mosque of Damascus converted from a Byzantine Cathedral.
Syria and the third largest in the world.
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�THE TOMB OF ST. JOHN
Still preserved in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus is the Tomb of St. John, held in great reverence
by the Moslems. The tomb occupies the center of the mosque facing the main entrance.
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�DECEMBER, 1929
33
the session, they scramble out as quickly as our boys on Main
Street do!
It is the anniversary of Mohammed's birthday, so the school
children will march through the business streets—just as our
children sometimes take part in the exercises on some holiday.
They march four abreast, wearing their fezzes and their faces
wreathed with smiles. And no wonder, for all the shoppers are
m their doorways waving and shouting, and, what is better,
showering the boys with candy—girls do not march. The old
streets are sweet with the fragrance of the attar of roses that
the onlookers have been throwing on the gay little school children, the hope of the country. They are singing patriotic songs
at the top of their youthful voices and the people in the streets
join with them. It is a gala time, the shops and streets are decorated with a riot of colored streamers of all shapes. Holidays are
big days in Damascus—and all the world is merry.
r
>
As one walks through the streets of Damascus one wonders
that there are no beautiful or even attractive homes. The streets
are narrow and dingy; there are high walls on either side, walls
that look rather uninteresting and unpromising. But again one
is mistaken. You are to enter a home that is not on exhibition,
as are some of the old and truly beautiful places. These homes
nave been in the family for years but the present generation is
in need of money so they exhibit the rare and lovely interiors
to tourists, charging so much a person. But today you are to visit
a place that is not open to travelers, but through the courtesy of
some friend you are invited to see this home that has been in
existence for hundreds of years. You anticipate a great deal, for
it is a family of pashas—formerly judges of the district. Again
you walk along one of the dark streets, narrow, dingy—surely
there is to be nothing lovely there. Your friend stops in front
of a high gate in the very darkest and dullest corner of the
street, where the wall seems most unyielding and grim. But
the gate is opened and you catch your breath. It is as though
you were in another town, for there is sunlight and space—beauty
and fragrance. Before you is a lovely court, in the center of
which is a pool and fountain, beautifully inlaid with rich colors.
The ground has been covered with marble, but at irregular intervals are patches of green grass, in the center of which is a
tree or a group of trees. It is all truly effective. There are all
kinds of trees: lemon, orange, fig, date, pomegranate, rare rose
�«
THE SYRIAN WORLD
34
bushes and delicate jasmine growing here and there, \o\x take
a deep breath—of fresh air and fragrance. Blue skies are above,
the sound of running water is refreshing, birds are singing, it
doesn't seem that all of this loveliness could be on the other side
of the dark and dingy street. No wonder the wealthy Mohammedan women are content to stay at home! The house is built
around the court and you know that it will be as much of a surprise as is the outside. As you gaze in open and frank admiration, the family come out to greet you. A lovely little lady, like
a piece of delicate Dresden china, comes first. Her pure white
hair brings out the clearness of her blue eyes. Then come three
tall, slender girls, beautifully dressed in Parisian clothes, no veils
and robes while they are at home Two of the girls have golden
hair and blue eyes while the third has dark eyes and hair. They
speak Arabic and French well and a little English. While greetings are being exchanged, the gate opens and a handsome young
man in his early thirties enters. The girls give little cries of delight and run up to their cousin and playfully throw their arms
around his neck, pull his tie and joke a bit. It is all so gracefully
and unconsciously done. What a mistaken conception we have
of Mohammedan women, or is it that we have heard only about
the poorer or peasant type! The young man goes directly to his
aunt and kisses her hand, while she kisses him on the forehead.
After the introductions, he tells you that it is a pleasure to have
you there and that he will be delighted to show you their old
house. He speaks English, French, Arabic and German perfectly,
for he has studied abroad.
The inferior of the house is a revelation. The room that was
once a court room is filled with museum pieces and lost arts.
There is a platform where the judges sat, and the divans are covered with rare tapestries exquisitely embroidered with gold and
silver. The embroidery is the same on both sides. There are
vases of delicate workmanship, pictures that are lovely as well
PS old. The walls of the room are all inlaid with workmanship
that cannot be duplicated, for it was made in the time when slaves
worked for the master—hundreds of years ago. Small squares
of the wall have been taken out and you wonder why anything
so rare should be demolished. You are told that during the World
War, when money was scarce in this family, pieces of the wall
were sold. There are robes that belonged to the family many
years back, all artistically embroidered. It is a veritable museum, this house, filled with objtts d'art.
\
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�DECEMBER, 1929 '
1
55
^ Jltde Fl u"ngS y0U Water delicately flavored with ros*
min!rM
°^u f f-?yS' and each Slass de^rated with a jasmme blossom. The family has been so hospitable and so graciousg t0 shoW
LH n
/°uu their reIics- They hope that you have
Jiked Damascus and that you will visit it again
berin ^ ^ f° ^° ^
UnJeSS Y U already haVe
°
/ Need You No More
By
LABEEBEE
A. J.
HANNA
When the thunder rolled above the clouds,
And the lightning struck a tree,
And the awful darkness made me fear
Then I wanted you with me.
\
When the storm sent waves up over the deck
We became wet through and through,
And the danger made me shake with fear.
Oh, then, how I wanted you!
When the enemy levelled its guns at me
And tried to snuff out my life,
Bullets came from every side—
I was alone in the strife.
But now the world is bright again:
There are many good things in store.
You come to see me with a smile!
You must know that I need you no more!
'
'
Remera
"
�_
THE SYRIAN WORLD
56
Staging a Desert Scene
By
EMILE DUMIT
(Editor's Note—On December 7, the students resident at International House in New York gave an entertainment of which the main feature was the staging of a desert scene among the Arabs. The author, Emile
Dumit, sought to dispell some of the misconceptions about the character
of t)he Arabs through a dialogue between an inquisitive, though sympathetic, American tourist and an Arab sheikh. The American is readily
convinced of Arab virtues and promises to "carry the message to his people
in the West." This message could permit of some modifications, especially
where claim is made that raiding by Arabs is "done for fun," but we are
glad to give it further publicity in that it represents an earnest effort to
give an honest apologia for desert life."
MR.
The scene is in the tent of an Arab chieftain
DUBOIS: (American tourist)
"The Arab race I've long admired.
They've stood throughout the ages long
For freedom and democracy.
Yes! Freedom is the desert song!"
SHEIKH FADIL:
u
Oh, this is more than we deserve.
Like other men we rise and fall.
When Allah blew His Holy breath
It was one clay that made them all."
MR. DUBOIS:
"Tell me more about the Arabs;
How they live and what they live for.
Little knows the world about them.
Even that is fairy lore."
SHEIKH JABIR:
"We the Arabs of the desert
Live on dates and bread and butter.
Thus on diet light and tasty,
Health and pleasure thrive together.
We have sheep and we have camels.
But for food we never slaughter
ZX
�DECEMBER, 1929
Save when guests our dwellings honor,
Do our utmost for their pleasure."
SHEIKH JAMAAL:
"So we keep our bodies slender,
Strong as steel yet light as feather.
We endure both thirst and hunger,
And the hardships of the weather."
MR. DUBOIS:
"Tell me if you like the strangers
From the foreign lands and distant,
With their customs and religion
From your own so different."
SHEIKH FADIL:
"When a stranger asks for refuge
And protection, we protect him,
Even tho this leads our tribesmen
To a war with those that seek him."
SHEIKH JAMAAL:
"Yet to those who come to exploit
We are tough and hard and bitter.
Even when we're overpowered
We keep up and hope for better."
SHEIKH JABIR:
"For, above all things we value
Is our freedom and our honor."
SHEIKH AMEEN:
"Sacrifice whate'er is precious
That the race may live for ever."
MR. DUBOIS:
"What of industry and learning?"
SHEIKH JABIR:
"These we leave to our brothers
Who the desert have abandoned
To the land of flowing rivers.
There they till and plough the soil;
And they grow the fruits and flowers.
37
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
38
And in cities they can hustle
Through the noise of looms and hammers."
SHEIKH HABEEB:
"We supply them with the butter,
And the wool of sheep and camels.
They give back the finished products:
Cloth, utensils, shoes and saddles."
MR. DUBOIS:
"There's a point you have to clear up:
That about your love for raiding
Of one tribe against the other.
This the world says is your trading."
SHEIKH JABIR:
"Yes, at times we raid each other.
But we do it for the fun.
Tho we raid with swords and rifles
Yet seldom kill we anyone.
Once we gain much loot and booty.
Other times we lose the game.
Neither gain nor loss affect us.
Our belongings keep the same."
SHEIK HABEEB:
"Thus our raiding is not subtle
As the modern business raiding."
MR. DUBOIS:
"How delightful is the weather
And romantic is the moonlight!
Is the moon full once a week
Or do you have it every night?"
SHEIKH FADIL:
"Oh no! Oh no! How can that be?
Our time is reckoned by the moon
Of which each cycle is a month.
When full, as once per day 'tis noon.
Of our months are Ramadan,
Month of fasting, pray'r and brooding,
�DECEMBER, 1929
And Muharram, month of truce,
When Allah outlaws all fighting.
In the month of Ramadan,
How they wish the moon to speed
In its cycle in the heavens.
But my honest humble creed
And my wish — Oh! Allah knows —
When Muharram blows the horn
That the breaks be steeped upon
For an extra peaceful morn!"
MR. DUBOIS:
"Strange to hear of wheels and brakes
Not of camels and of steeds."
SHEIKH RAJA:
"Still we have them; still we love them;
Still we have the finest breeds.
But we keep them for the sport.
Cars we drive with greatest speeds."
MR. DUBOIS:
"Oh, the sheikhs are interesting.
How is it they make the women
All so crazy? Will you teach me?"
SHEIKH JABIR:
"Oh!
It seems in love you've fallen."
SHEIKH RAFEEK:
"Only one of two gets crazy.
Either one about the other.
. Since 'tis you who have become so
They will not about you bother,"
MR. DUBOIS:
"This, your message I shall carry
To my people in the West;
And shall tell them that the wisdom
Of the desert is the best."
39
�Great Syrian
For a FREE TRIP to
The editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD having made a trip to Syria in
the summer of 1929, which he is now describing in a series of articles in
the magazine, came to realize not only the great educational and cultural
advantages of such a trip, but its unrivalled possibilities for pleasure and
recreation. In our enthusiasm for the benefits of such tours, we decided to
offer one as a prize to our readers. This is on a par with the most liberal
offers made by the biggest American publications, whose readers are hundreds of thousands and even millions. Needless to say that this is unprecedented in the history of Arabic journalism, whether in America or abroad.
THE SYRIAN WORLD, in making the great prize offer in spite of
the heavy sacrifice involved, considers that in so doing it is promoting the
cause of sympathetic understanding of the motherland. This is in keeping
with the main object behind the publication of the magazine. Whether the
winner be a bov or girl, American or Syrian, the purpose would have been
served by the actual contacts established with the great scenic beauties
and places of immense historical interest in our country of origin.
The proposition is unprecedented, the advantages great, the conditions most liberal. It is surely the opportunity of a lifetime for the ambitious.
ITINERARY OF TRIP
The free trip offered by THE SYRIAN WORLD takes the same route
followed by the editor in his recent trip to Syria. Passage will be Cabin
class on the luxurious steamer Providence, of the Fabre Line, sailing from
New York July 2nd. Stops on route and shore excursions will be made at
Ponta Delgada, Azores Islands; Lisbon, Portugal; Naples, Italy; Palermo,
Sicily, and Piraeus and Athens, Greece.
In Syria and Lebanon, the winner may remain as long as he desires
and return on any of the Fabre Line steamers to New York, also Cabin
Class.
.
.
, . „
. .
Sailing from New York will be under the direction and full assistance
of the firm of A. K. Hitti & Co., the well-known steamship ticket agents.
The Beirut Branch of the same firm will render the winner all necessary service and advice free. The editor, thanks to the contacts contracted
on his last trip, will also give the winner letters of introduction and recommendation to many influential friends who would render all necessary
courtesies. The winner, representing THE SYRIAN WORLD whose services
are fully recognized in the motherland, will be assured of the most friendly
reception by the authorities and the public.
^
tej
ret
ab
trj
2.
4.
7.
�World Contest
SYRIA and RETURN
SYRIAN WORLD OFFER
The prize offered by THE SYRIAN WORLD to the »inner in the contest is free passage, Cabin Class, both ways from New York to Beirut and
return, together with a liberal cash allowance for the shore excursions
above mentioned on the outward passage. Is this not a worthy prize to
try to win?
CONDITIONS OF CONTEST
1. THE SYRIAN WORLD prize of a Free Trip to Syria and return will be
awarded the individual securing the largest number of New subscribers to the magazine at the regular price of subscription.
2. Considering the great value of the prize offered, the minimum number
required to win the award must be not less than one hundred.
3. Every contestant, other than the winner, securing more than one hundred new subscriptions, will be awarded a special cash premium of
$1.50 for every subscription. Those securing less than one hundred will
be given $1.00 for every subscription.
4. The contest closes June 10, 1930. Letters post-marked later than this
date will not be counted. Announcement of the awards will be made
June 15.
5. Every subscription must be a new subscription, and must be accompanied by a remittance of the full price of $5.00.
«. Gift subscriptions will be counted as direct subscriptions. For instance,
if a contestant succeeds in inducing a friend to make gifts of a year's
subscription to each of five individuals, he will be given credit for
five individual subscriptions. Multiple subscriptions to the same person
will not be counted by the number of years; as, for instance, a single
individual subscribing for two years will not be given credit for two
subscriptions.
7. Those wishing to enter the contest must write to register, in which case
they will be furnished with special blanks and helpful literature.
8. The contest is open to all friends of THE SYRIAN WORLD anywhere
in the United States and Canada.
�sasEaa
THE SYRIAN WORLD
42
EDITORIAL COMMENT
THE CONTEST
IN OFFERING a prize of a
trip to Syria, THE SYRIAN
WORLD is inaugurating a movement which should prove of
incalculable cultural and recreational advantages. Having
himself made the trip in the
summer of 1929, the editor
came to realize the benefits of
such tours as proven by the enthusiasm characterizing his description of his experiences and
observations abroad in the
series of articles now running
in THE SYRIAN WORLD. It was
but natural that the trip which
was to him a source of so much
pleasure and profit should be
the thing he considers most
valuable to offer to his readers.
The route across will be
identical to the one taken by
the editor on his trip. Not alone
that, but it will also be on the
same ship and the corresponding date as well. The facilities
of attention and courtesy for
which the firm of A. K. Hitti
& Co. are noted will be accorded the winner in THE SYRIAN WORLD contest. The countries touched upon on route offer an unlimited variety of
scenery and possibilities for
recreation and study; and shore
excursions in them will be made
. available^as part of the prize.
„ : -. .; .:-:
The sea voyage itself in midsummer along the Southern
Atlantic route and across the
Mediterranean is in itself sufficient inducement. For a profitable, restful, enjoyable summer vacation there can be nothing nearer the ideal.
Once on Syrian soil, the winner in THE SYRIAN WORLD
prize contest will have all the
advantages of service and attention by the Beirut branch of
the firm of A. K. Hitti & Co.
Friends of the editor, both official and private, will assure
the winner the maximum of
comfort and enjoyment during
his or her stay in the country.
Such an offer, we believe, is
exceptional in its magnitude in
the annals of journalism. It
is surely unprecedented in the
history of Syrian newspaper enterprise in America or abroad.
While the object is not purely altruistic, there is in it a good
deal of the altruistic motive.
We want ambitious people to
see our motherland; to appreciate its beauties and its historical shrines; to place its true
value on the people and the
land whence we came. But, on
the other hand, we like to have
profit by this generous offer
those who show by the greater
degree of their enthusiasm the
�DECEMBER, 1929
extent of their appreciation for
the racial service THE SYRIAN
WORLD is endeavoring to render. It is but natural that to him
who assists us most in extending
our service should be expressed
our appreciation in the form of
a liberal reward. This reward
we have chosen to conform to
the nature of the cause we are
trying to promote.
We are anxious to have our
readers avail themselves of this
truly exceptional opportunity.
To that end we have made the
conditions the most liberal consistent with the cost involved.
These conditions are too obvious
in their liberality to need comment.
And what is the nature of
the publication one is asked to
sell? It is one in which, we may
be permitted the remark, everyone of Arabic-speaking extraction should take pride. Unquestionably it is a fitting organ of
our culture, a champion of our
rights, a promoter of true
Americanism through the propagation of better understanding, and the only Syrian publication in English. Our best
Syrian talent has rallied to its
support in the most splendid
manner. During the three and
a half years of its existence, it
has admittedly done more good
than any other single agency in
the history of our immigration
to bring about a better understanding of the Syrians, and
43
bring honor to the Syrian name.
Such being the case, it is
manifestly a proud distinction
to work for the promotion of
such an organ. A Syrian boy or
girl soliciting subscriptions need
not feel he is imposing. Rather,
it should be his conviction that
he is rendering a public service
not only to the cause of his
people but a genuine, personal
service to the individual approached. An American working for the same cause of fostering better racial; understanding which THE SYRIAN WORLD
advocates has the same cogent
argument.
And the field is by no means
limited. In many a single Syrian community throughout the
land many times a hundred subscribers might be' secured. Why
should not THE SYRIAN WORLD
be in every Syrian home? Besides, solicitation need not be
limited to Syrians. Many an
American, if properly approached, would be glad to receive such a publication to learn
more about Syria and the Syrians. What more satisfaction
could be felt than to have an
increasing number of other races
evince greater interest in understanding and appreciating us!
Entrants in the prize contest
have five months in which to
compete for the awards, from
January 15 to June 10, 1930.
It is our fond hope that the
number of contestants will ba
�44
large and widely scattered. The
cause is worthy, the terms liberal and the award magnificent.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
complete elimination from the
life of America with the extinction of the present generation
of foreign-born.
The Arabic-language press in
the United States is bound to
ARABIC NEWSPAPERS be among the first to disappear.
This is due to the restricted
AT a certain stage in the de- field and to the small quota of
velopment of the American Arabic-speaking
immigrants
nation, the existence of foreign- permitted entry annually. The
language newspapers was not fact that all the Syrian papers
only advisable but necessary. have stayed the hand of fate so
Restrictions on immigration had far is due chiefly to the economy
not been raised and the influx practised in publication and to
of newcomers was at times aver- the desperate efforts of the pubaging a million or more every lishers to carry on by sheer
year. Practically all the immi- pluck.
grants, with the exception of
But if the growing comthose coming from Great Brit- plaints of the publishers bear
ain, could not speak English. any portent, the inevitable
To them the existence of their doom must be rapidly approachnative-language
newspapers ing. Already some breaks have
was indispensable. These news- taken place in the ranks, and
papers were their only medium others threaten. Efforts at connot alone for keeping posted on solidation in the interest of furworld events, but for acquiring ther economy seem to be desthe necessary knowledge of con- tined to failure owing to the
ditions in the new land which uncompromising political attithey chose to make their home. tudes of the publishers. And
With the enactment of the even if such were possible it
present restrictive laws on im- would prove but a temporary
migration,
conditions
have stay of fate.
undergone a radical change of
Perhaps some enterprising
which the first to feel the effect Syrian publisher might launch
were
the
foreign-language an English publication to supernewspapers. Their readers are sede the Arabic ones. But will
steadily decreasing in number there be sufficient race conand they are fast facing the sciousness to warrant the step
crisis in their existence. The when even THE SYRIAN WORLD
inevitable result will be their is complaining?
�DECEMBER, 1929
45
Spirit of the Syrian Press
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but wh
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* er Arab c
SlS T^TVf^ thG °Pini°nS °f resP^^e- thinking wrtor.
where treating: the different problems that confront the Arabicf8peakJ£
world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will tTken?Sta
th. ****** reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our tesk^lS
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n^dtolTs
EMIGRANTS' REQUESTS OF
LEBANESE GOVERNMENT
kn
^ and 4n^tm7.
- * the public opinion as «pr-..d
Editor.
have migrated, and the further appointment of Lebanese representatives in all French consulates, whose
salaries would be paid by the consulate out of its commercial revenue. It is but right that French consulates should not be the sole beneficiaries of the revenue they receive from the Lebanese without
adequate service rendered. Lebanon
should not be a milch cow to the
French, nor is it a colony that they
may control its destinies peremptorily. But it is up to the Lebanese
themselves to affirm their rights and
not put the blame wholly on the
French.
The Economic Bureau of the Lebanese Government has issued a questionnaire inquiring, among other
things, about the naturalization
status of its nationals abroad.
To this we would reply that even
if the Lebanese emigrants were to
maintain their former political allegiance and loyalty their children are
perforce natives of the country of
their birth and are lost to the mother-c«untry of their parents. Furthermore, the Lebanese abroad finds
himself in an anomalous condition,
thanks to the conventions of the
Treaty of Lausanne. Nor are those
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Jan. 8, 1930.
of them who did not adopt a new
allegiance recognized as Lebanese
citizens. This because they failed to
register at a French consulate in ARABS IN AMERICA
pursuance of the conditions of the
MUST ORGANIZE
Treaty.
Before the outbreak of the revoThis is a serious situation which
lution in Palestine, the ranks of the
we have discussed before and which
natives were loose and their forces
requires correction. What we would
disorganized, but when they realized
now suggest to the Lebanese Govthe danger they were facing, they
ernment is the following:
sought to close their ranks so that
The appointment of a Lebanese now they have succeeded in presentrepresentative or attache at every ing to the enemy a solid front. No
French ambassy or legation in coun- doubt this salutary turn of affairs
tries to which Lebanese nationals will result in complete success for
�46
the Nationalists, because with their
solidarity, neither a foreign enemy
nor any other inimical power can
prevail against them.
This has been the result of our
efforts in the homeland, but what
have we, the immigrants, done to
give further impetus to the beneficial work already started?
The answer to this question will
require an explanatory statement.
It cannot be denied that a large
number of our compatriots in the
United States, Canada, Mexico and
South American countries have done
their duty in part by collecting
funds for the relief of the sufferers
of the outbreaks. This is proof of
the genuine sympathy the emigrants
entertain for their countrymen in
the motherland and their sincere desire to see their country achieve its
independence. It further proves that
the Arabs, no matter how far away
they are from home, and how long
their absence, will never forget
their sacred duty to the motherland,
especially when the country is victim to disaster of some sort.
But what this paper strongly
urges is that our brother immigrants
concentrate now on an effort at organization. They already have several committees and societies apparently for the promotion of the same
cause. Now if these separate organizations were to consolidate into one
central body their power for service
would be immensely increased.
The cause is worthy and the need
urgent. There are in Palestine any
number of sufferers who are in dire
need of relief; Palestine delegations are about to come to England
and America to work for the cause
of the mother-country; and all this
requires funds for the proper promotion of the work. Furthermore, we
should not overlook the neoessity of
conducting intensive propaganda in
THE SYRIAN WORLD'
Ameriea for the defense of our national cause, because the Jews have
filled the air with their cries and
lamentations in an effort to raise
funds, and American Jews, as is
well known, are the richest in the
world.
It would be impossible to effectively counteract the organized efforts of our enemies except by resort to their own methods, i. e., organization. We feel confident that
when American Jews are made
aware of the true facts in the Palestine situation they will withhold
financial aid to the Zionists and the
Arab cause would have found therein
its vindication.
Al-Bayan, N. Y., Jan. 9, 1980.
SIGNS OF LIFE
IN SYRIAN NATION
Those patriotic Syrians who have
set as their goal the independence
of Syria are undergoing many trials.
We see them now fail, now rise. But
in either case, there are strong signs
of virility which portends the success
of these patriots in achieving ultimate success.
It cannot be denied that there existed once among the Syrians a sinister form of fanaticism which gave
rise to suspicion and fear among certain elements. But it can now be
truthfully stated that this fanaticism
is showing signs of recession, so
that it may be confidently hoped
that a strong spirit of unity will
soon assert itself and make possible
the co-operation of all Syrian creeds
and factions.
The announcement lately made by
the Syrian press of the intention of
the Nationalists to call a general
convention of all the Syrian parties
and groups to decide on a method
of procedure for the attainment of
i
�DECEMBER, 1929
the national aspirations is a step
in the right direction. It is declared
that the Syrians will demand a degree of independence similar to that
enjoyed by Egypt, and exceeding
that of Iraq. This sure'y will be attained if the Syrians can develop a
spirit of co-operation.
Syrian Eagle, N. Y., Jan. 10, 1930.
ARABIC NEWSPAPERS
FACING EXTINCTION
Our neighbor, As-Sayeh, which is
being published daily, has announced
the possibility of its reverting to its
former condition of appearing semiweekly, owing to financial considerations.
As-Sayeh may be as valuable in
the one frequency of publication as
in the other, but its making public
the possibility of taking such a step,
while it was supposed to be financed
by a strong corporation must be
prompted by serious reasons. It had
been, besides, enjoying the moral
and editorial support of a group of
our foremost men of letters in America.
We do not presume to know the
real motive behind such a decision,
if it should materialize, but speaking in general terms, we must admit
that Arabic newspapers in all the
countries of immigration are "marching toward eternity." This unless immigration laws are so amended as
to permit the entry of a substantial
number of new immigrants who
would naturally have their native
language papers as their only medium of information.
But the immediate reason for the
plight of some of our newspapers
is what may be termed the extravagance of overhead expenses and their
adherence to some practices which
react to their injury in that they
47
cut deeply into their revenue. To
rei ->dy this condition we have often
urgeo upon the publishers the necessity of consolidation as a means
of economy, but our individualistic
tendencies seem to be too strong for
such an undei-taking.
What may be done as an alternative move is to agree on some
common rules and regulations for
the treatment of personal news and
for requiring advance payment by
subscribers. The advantage taken by
some subscribers in being delinquent
in their payment is due to the laxity
of the publishers and their liability
to agree as a body on enforcing advance payment.
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Jan. 11, 1930.
THOSE FOREIGNERS! AND
THEIR MORAL CODE
There is in Beirut a French newspaper called La Syrie whose editor
seems to take special pleasure in insulting the Syrians. He is supposed
to be the mouthpiece of the High
Commissariat, but we are loath to
believe that those in authority sanction the unspeakable accusations that
this filthy foreigner directs at Syrian womanhood, while accusations of
this nature only fit his own kind.
This indeed, is the height of impudence and bad manners. A guest
in our land takes delight in making
us the butt of his jibes and respects
not even the honor of our women
which we hold most sacred!
Vicier, the editor of this French
newspaper, had been in Egypt before and even so early in his career
was given to virulent attacks on the
Syrians. He reached a point in his
insults that prompted the late Salim
Sarkees to publish in one of the
last issues of his publication the
�48
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ization. They were the torch-bearers
of learning when the rest of the
world was groping in darkness. But
it should also be admitted that the
Arabs reached a certain point and
stopped. They became, in the course
of years, prey to religious fanaticism
which tore their unity to shreds and
permitted the people of the West to
overcome them and despoil them of
their freedom and independence.
Now if the Arabs, both Moslems
and Christians, wish to revive their
old glory, they must eradicate the
evils of this prime cause of their
retrogression. No longer should the
Moslem look upon his brother
Christian with contempt and hatred
as an unbeliever, nor should the
Christian be in constant fear that
the Moslem is bent on his destruction. Once mutual trust and confidence are established the Arabs can
direct their attention towards improving their conditions and they are
sure to rival the people of the West
in achievement because they are not
inferior in their native intelligence
and ability.
The claim may be advanced that
the Turks were the ones who planted
the seeds of mistrust and dissension
IN COMMEMORATION
between Christians and Moslems in
OF ARAB GLORY
order to break the unity of the Arab
A suggestion reaches us from the race. But are our brother Moslems
Arab colony of San Luis Potosi. free from blame as regards these
Mexico, signed by Moslems and efforts of the Turks? Why did they
Christians, advocating setting aside approve of this policy on the part
a special day to commemorate the of the Turks, and even encourage
glory of the Arab race following it?
It is painful to us to refer to such
the example set by the Latin races.
It is further proposed that the year conditions, but we find it imperative
1930 be celebrated as commemorat- to do so in order to clarify the situaing the thirteenth century of the tion and help along the movement
launching of Arab conquests, which for establishing a day of commemorating the glory of the Arab race.
began in 630.
We cannot pass this suggestion The Arabs must be united before
without comment. The Arab race, it they can hope to succeed in any
must be admitted, has contributed race movement and it would seem
materially to the progress of civil- to us that the initiative along any
following remark: "The brave youth
of Al-Mazraa have left the land so
that none remain to confront this
vicious Vicier and write a protest
across his face with flaming red
ink."
Is there no one now to strike the
face of this offender and teach him
a lesson that he has failed to learn
before ?
Why not let him understand in
the only language he knows that
even the High Commissariat cannot
hold back your holy wrath when it
is a question of insulting you in
your honor.
It would seem that the proper
course for the High Commissariat
to follow is to take upon itself
muzzling this vicious creature as a
service both to the honor of the
French and to that of Syria and
Lebanon. This would have the effect
of warding off suspicion from the
French themselves, otherwise a repetition of the Carbillet episode when
the country was drowned in a sea
of blood is bound to recurr again.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N.Y.,Dec. 28, 1929.
�DECEMBER, 1929
such line should come from our
brother Moslems, because the Christians have ever been receptive to all
proposals of peace and mutual understanding.
The Christian element in the Arab
race has rendered invaluable services
to Arabic, the language of the Koran. Why should the Christians take
so much interest in perpetuating
and propagating the Arabic language if it weren't for their interest
in the promotion of the cause of the
Arabic race? Their loyalty to the
Arab cause is, therefore, beyond
question, and once mutual confidence
and trust between them and their
Moslem brethren are restored their
concerted efforts could be directed
effectively to the upholding of the
glory of the Arab race.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., Dec. 24, 1929.
TIME FOR UNDERSTANDING
WITH THE ARABS
Dr. Weizman does not consider
the present time opportune for acting on the suggestion of Dr. Magnes
President of the Hebrew University,
for an amicable understanding between Jews and Arabs.
But Dr. Weizman did not designate when, in his opinion, such a
time would become opportune. All
that he expressed was the fervent
hope that England will live up to
its moral obligation contained in the
Balfour declaration. Inferentially,
this statement implies the fear that
once England forgoes its mandate
over Palestine the Zionists will fold
up their tents and depart quickly,
leaving to the Arabs all their investments for the building of a Jewish
national home. They would rather do
that than run the danger of losing
their lives.
I
49
It's a pity that England will not
relinquish her mandatory rights for
at least a single month, as it would
be interesting to see what Dr. Weizman will do in vindication of his
policy of opposition to an understanding with the Arabs.
ZIONISTS AND ARMENIANS
There are points of resemblance
as well as of difference between the
influx of Zionists into Palestine and
of Armenians into Syria and Lebanon. The Jews come to the country
with means of self-support, and
their welfare is looked after by
strong organization, while the .Armenians come penniless and destitute and must subsist on the means
of the country, which are at best
precarious. Still their immigration is
encouraged by the mandatory authorities even to the point of banishing the tribe of Dandash from
their lands in the neighborhood of
Horns in order to settle the Armenians in their place.
Such a policy does not serve the
best interests of the country. The
Armenians compete with the natives
in every manner of occupation and
render the lot of the natives extremely hard. They maintain the
lowest living standard and consequently are able to work for the
lowest wages.
If such is the result of Armenian
immigration into Syria and Lebanon now, what will it be in time
to come? They are still coming in
increasing numbers and the authorities seem oblivious to the obvious
menace of their increase. Surely, but
for the political designs of the
Zionists in Palestine, their presence
would be infinitely more desirable
than that of the Armenians.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb N. Y., Jan. 7, 1930.
�mmmmmmmmm
•>
I
THE SYRIAN WORLD
50
Political Developments in Syria
PALESTINE
The Shaw Commission of Inquiry,
appointed to investigate the causes
of the Arab-Jewish disturbances of
last August in Palestine, returned
to London early in January after
having spent nine weeks in Palestine
taking evidence. The board plans to
hear further testimony on the Palestinian situation before submitting
its report, which it has promised to
do before the end of January.
That it will be able to finish its
work by that time seems rather
doubtful. Both Jews and Arabs are
planning to send special delegations
to London to further present their
case before the commission, and the
same difficulties that beset the work
of the Board while in Palestine may
prove the cause of further delay in
London. Up to the middle of January the Arabs had not decided on
the personnel of their delegation,
and this gave rise to reports that
serious differences had arisen among
them. Hajj Ameen Al-Husseini, the
Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and leader
of the Arab movement, refused to
be a member of the delegation and
with his elimination there was reported to be serious dissension as
to the choice of a leader.
Meanwhile, conditions in Palestine
seem to have returned to a'most
normal. Correspondents seem to have
nothing more important to report
than the conviction of two Arab
policemen for neglect of fluty on the
testimony of a Jewish member of
the police force. Physical violence
appears to have come to an end and
what remains as the aftermath of
the bloody encounters of last August is the commercial boycott which
j
not only does not show any sign of
abating but rather appears to be
gaining in force.
The Arabic press of Beirut reports <
that as a result of this boycott, the
Jewish colony of Tell Aviv, having
a population of about forty thousand, had been forty days without
fresh meat owing to the fear of the
Jews to travel to Jaffa for their
supplies. Although the distance is
not over ten miles, the country is
infested with bands of Arabs whom
the Jews fear to face. They have appealed to the authorities for protection and relief.
What news dispatches failed to
report of the nature of the testimony
of Hajj Ameen Al-Husseini before
the Inquiry Commission was supplied
by the Arabic newspaper Palestine
of Jaffa. When the commission visited the Grand Mufti at his residence,
according to the paper, Sir Boyd
Merriman cross-examined him as
follows:
Q—Were you sentenced in 1920 ?
A—I was tried and sentenced in
my absence.
Q—Were you granted a pardon?
A—I was granted a pardon but
refused to accept it because I refused to admit that I was guilty.
Q—Why were you sentenced?
A—Because one thousand nine
hundred years ago, and only two
hundred yards from where the august
commission is now sitting, Christ
was sentenced to die at the instigation of the Jews.
Dr. Magnes Replies
Following Zionist attacks on his
recommendations for entering negotiations leading to conciliation with
»
MIIUHI...J. ...
�—
DECEMBER, 1929
the Arabs Dr. Judah L. Magnes,
chancellor of the Hebrew University
on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, issued a pamphlet entitled "Like All
the Nations" in defense of his stand.
Dr. Magnes reiterates his condemnation of the use of force, asserts that
Jewish control of Palestine is not so
important as other factors of Judaism and urges political reform that
would immediately put Jews and
Arabs upon an equal basis. He does
not favor the resort of Jews to bayonnets, "like other nations," but
would overcome all obstacles through
all other weapons of civilization:
spiritual, intellectual, social, cultural,
financial, economic, medical—brotherly, friendly weapons.
As may be expected, the views of
Dr. Magnes are being vehemently
attacked by the Zionists who would
see a numerical preponderence of
Jews in Palestine before consenting
to a representative form of government in the country.
SYRIA ON EVE OF
POLITICAL SOLUTION
i
tig-i-
Out of the maze of conflicting reports on political developments in
Syria, the following is the gist of
the sober discussions of the Syrian
press:
High Commissioner Ponsot has
not as yet given any public indication of his proposed program. He has
called his agents in various sections
of the country to a conference in
Beirut which lasted three days, but
its decisions were kept secret. What
is claimed by persons in close touch
with the authorities as being the
ultimate solution of the Syrian problem may be summarized as follows:
Appointment of the Sherif Ali
Haidar Pasha general governor of
Syria for life, being neither a mon-
51
arch nor an elected executive. His
cabinet is to be responsible not to
him but to the Representative Assembly. Once this stable form of
government is established the French
will enter into negotiations with it
for the conclusion of a treaty which
is to be of twenty-five years' duration. Syria will be granted the right
of diplomatic representation abroad
but will not be given absolute powers in matters of major importance.
If the Constituent Assembly, now
suspended, will agree to enter into
negotiations on these terms the
French will permit its convocation,
otherwise new elections will be held
after the lapse of one year.
As regards internal questions
arising between Syria and Lebanon,
a referendum will be held in those
sections annexed to Lebanon to determine the wish of the inhabitants.
If both parties fail to come to an
amicable agreement between themselves the matter will be submitted
to the League of Nations for adjudication.
Comment in the Syrian press on
the foregoing propositions seems to
be favorable, but no indication is
given as to when the High Commissioner will begin putting his program
into effect. Unless the activities of
the agents of Sherif Ali Haidar in
Damascus, which have become intense of late, presage some definite
action in the near future. One of the
sons of the Sherif made himself
conspicuous by his activities in Damascus in conducting propaganda
for his father, and it was reported
that the government of Sheikh Tajeddin ordered him to leave the city.
Other reports would have it appear that France has reached the
limit of her patience in dealing with
the Syrian situation and would like
�ssaDiaat
52
mmmmmrirmm^nHmattmmmmmm
THE SYRIAN WORLD
to bring it to a quick settlement, as
she fears the effects of the protracted delay on her moral prestige in the
East.
LEBANON
Although one of the provisions of
the Eddy program was almost revolutionary in character, demanding
the suspension of the constitutional
rights of the Representative Assembly, the program was approved by
an overwhelming majority. Now the
Cabinet can proceed with its proposed reforms without the delay attending parliamentary debates. The
Cabinet is empowered to use this
almost dictatorial power until July.
1930.
The objections to this grant of
authority were apparently well taken, inasmuch as they were based on
fear of making grants and concessions which would bind the country
ever after without any recourse to
redress. But the implicit trust in
the integrity and patriotism of the
Premier prevailed in the end. The
Lebanese seem to have come to
realize the necessity of dispensing
with dilatory tactics in enforcing
necessary reforms. The Eddy program is concerned chiefly with economic improvements and administrative changes.
It was learned from authoritative
sources that High Commissioner
Ponsot heartily approves the program of Premier Eddy. In fact, understanding between the two men
was reached on all major points
while they were both in Paris last
summer and before M. Emile Eddy
consented to form a cabinet. This
firm action now being taken in the
administration of Lebanon's internal
affairs appears to be a preparatory
move for the general readjustment
of the whole Syrian problem.
The Lebanese Government has
passed an appropriation of £750,000
for the creation of a naval base in
Tripoli as the terminus of the direct
air mail line between France and
Syria. Protests were voiced that
Lebanon should stand this cost instead of France, but the objections
were soon stilled. It is presumed
that this move was undertaken to
benefit Tripoli in an effort to counteract her tendencies for secession
from the Lebanese Republic for
union with the State of Syria.
ENEMY ARABIAN
KINGS TO MEET
A special wireless dispatch to the
New York Times from Bagdad dated
January 16 states that despite the
long-standing feud between the
Arab royal families, King Feisal of
Iraq will soon meet Ibn Saoud, the
Wahabi ruler, in a neutral zone on
the Iraq-Nejd frontier. The two*
monarchs will confer on the "best
measures for ending the activity
of malefactors whose raids are liable
to disturb the friendly relations between the sister States of Iraq and
Nejd."
A great stir has been caused in
Bagdad by the announcement of the
meeting which is a direct result of
Ibn Saoud's recent pursuit and capture of the rebel sheik Feisal ed
Dowish and his followers.
Admiration is everywhere expressed for King Feisal's being able
to disregard the family quarrel,
which reached its climax in the loss
by Feisal's family of the Hedjaz
throne. His willingness to meet his
old enemy is considered a convincing
proof of Ibn Feisal's desire to place
Iraq's interests above all other considerations.
�11 !
'"""
-
n .i
...
i i
L.I,,,
——
DECEMBER, 1929
53
About Syria and Syrian
PHOENICIANS WERE FIRST
TO DISCOVER AMERICA
Inscriptions on Rocks in Amazon
Valley Revive This Belief.
Reference was made on several
occasions by the Syrian press of
Brazil, and noted by The Syrian
World, to the research being made
in the Amazon Valley for Phoenician
inscriptions which would justify the
opinion of certain scholars that the
Phoenicians were the first to discover America. Now it is the Associated Press that reports on the
progress of this research in a dispatch from its correspondent in Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil dated Januarv 1
1930.
'
The Associated
follows:
>
Press
dispatch
"Discovery of inscriptions carved
on Amazon Valley rocks has revived
a belief that 4,000 years or more ago
Phoenicians discovered America,
navigated the Amazon and built a
city there.
"The finds were made by Dr. Barbosa while on a trip a few months
ago with General Rondon, Brazil's
most famous explorer. The carvings
were in hieroglyphs.
"Information about them is withheld while decoding goes on, a job
expected to take about a year. They
were found in rock formations along
the Cumina River in the State of
Para and on bits of pottery.
"If the decoding comes up to the
expectations of archaeologists, it is
said excavations will be attempted
Sl eS 0f
Cumina in searc
fo7tl
, site
^ of
«
for the T
buried
a city
"The name of this city according
to tr.d,t,o„ w.. Atlantida. Curious
y, this is the same as the name of
the continent that some geological
and archaeological writers say ont
existed in the Atlantic Ocean and
that may have formed either a land
bridge or link for communication
between the old and the new hemis
ther J a,itieS ln the Vast
zon°h
r
A^zon basin have furnished Phoenician
traces. At the confluence of thTSS
mao and Negro rivers, on a sma 1
.land called Pedro, what appear^
iaye?o:kn"cianshipiscarvedoNEAR EAST COLLEGES
CAMPAIGN SUCCESSFUL
Fifteen Million Raised to Endow Six
American Institutions, of which
Syrians Contributed $150,000
The Executive Committee of the
Near East College Association announced the completion of the $15
000,000 campaign for the endow':
meat of the American University of
Beirut, Robert College, Constantinople Roman's College, International College of Smyrna American
College of Sofia and Athens College
Greece, as a memorial to the late'
Cleveland H. Dodge.
Mr. Dodge was for many years
president of the board of trustees
of Robert College, Constantinople
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
54
and was instrumental in combining
the financial and administrative
work of the Six American Colleges
in the Near East in a joint office
for increased efficiency in management and in raising the endowment
funds necessary to secure their maintenance and development in the future. His death in June, 1926, occurred while plans for the $15,000,000
campaign were under discussion.
The plan which he outlined was
carried out by the executive committee as a memorial to him and to
his efforts in furthering American
education in countries in the Near
East.
The $15,000,000, according to the
statement of the executive committee, has been raised during the past
three and one-half years. Sixteen
thousand two hundred persons have
contributed to the fund including
many alumni and former students
living in the Near East, Africa,
Europe, North and South America.
The largest single gift was $3,500,000 from the estate of the late
Charles M. Hall.
Three large gifts were conditional
on the securing of the entire amount
by January first, 1930, namely, $1,000.000 from Edward S. Harkness,
$500,000 from John D. Rockefeller,
Jr., and $250,000 from Julius Rosenwald.
Among the notable gifts was an
appropriation of $750,00 from the
Laura Spelman Rockefeller memorial made just before that organization was merged with the Rockefeller Foundation; $150,000 from Ery
Kehaya of which $100,000 went to
Athens College and $50,000 to the
American College of Sofia; $100,000
from Charles R. Crane, through the
Friendship Fund; $60,000 from Professor J. R. Jewett of Harvard University for endowing a chair of
Arabic at the American University
of Beirut, and $150,000 from alumni
of the American University of Beirut.
Mrs. Seth Millikan, as the Chairman of the Women's Committee, engaged William Fellows Morgan, as
the Chairman of a Men's Committee,
in an animated money raising contest which resulted in approximately
$1,500,000 from friends of the Colleges in New York City. Mrs. Frank
A. Vanderlip served as the Chairman
of a Women's National Committee
and addressed a number of meetings from coast to coast.
The object of the campaign was
to bring the endowment of Robert
College up to $4,500,000; Constantinople Woman's College ot $2,500,000; the American University of
Beirut to $4.500 000; International
College of Smyrna to $1,000,000, and
to provide $500,000 for the building
program and $500,000 for the endowment of both the American College of Sofia and Athens College,
Greece. Greeks who requested the
Association to establish an American College in Greece similar to
Robert College agreed to raise the
$500,000 necessary for the College
buildings and have done so.
Another feature of the campaign
was the endowing of the presidency
of Constantinople Woman's College
by a committee in Boston, of the
Athens College presidency by a
Cleveland Committee, the presidency
of International College by a Los
Angeles Committee, a professorship
at Robert College by a group in
Philadelphia and the Millikan Chair
of Science at the American University of Beirut by friends in Pasadena.
The campaign was managed by
Albert W. Staub, the American Director of the six American Colleges,
with offices at 18 East 41st Street,
New York City.
«am
mm
I
DEC
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if
The
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irodui
pe'r-Di
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Janua
The r
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be giv
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social
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Adele
Elmer
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I presid
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f!
II
DECEMBER, 1929
U
SYRIAN JUNIOR LEAGUE
TO GIVE ARAB PLAY
The Syrian Junior League of New
I York will give its first dramatic
iroduction and After-Theatre- Supper-Dance at the Brooklyn Little
Theatre, 122 St. Felix Street, on
January 30th, 31st and February 1st.
The play is called "B;ue and Green
I\!at" by Constance Wilcox and will
be given in the Arabic manner with
settings and music of Arabia. The
proceeds will be applied toward the
social service activities conducted
by the organization.
The play is to be the first of a
series and is being coached by Mrs.
Adele Gutnian Nathan who directed
\ Elmer Rice's "The Subway" for
Shubert's. The settings are being
supervised by Nicholas Macsoud,
president of the Society of Painters
& Sculptors of Brook'yn. The music
is special'y written by Anis Fuleihan, pianist and composer. The costumes are specially created by Helen
and Albert Jacobs and the dancing
supervised by Miss Esther Markowitz who was supervfser of the
dancing of the Arts & Festivals
Committee of the Neighborhood
House of Greater New York.
The Syrian Junior League is a
group of the younger set of prominent Syrian families. It was organized two years ago by Mrs. Joseph
W. Ferris, arid has for its purpose
the cultivation, fellowship and development of social, educational and
cultural programs. Funds are also
raised throughout the year for various social service endeavors.
The officers of the Syrian Junior
League are: Mrs. Joseph W. Ferris,
honorary president; Miss Adele
Macsoud, president; Miss Florence
Jabara.
first vice-president; Miss
:
Helen Jacobs 2nd vice-president;
Miss Marie Trabulsi, recording sec-
55
retary; Miss Selma F. Milkie, corresponding secretary and Miss Wisteen Makla, treasurer.
This first dramatic effort of the
Syrian Junior League will undoubtedly prove a revelation. Those who
have witnessed the rehearsals testify
to the unusual talent displayed by
both the young men and the young
women taking part. The success of
the presentation seems assured.
RIHANI IN DEBATE
ON ZIONIST QUESTION
The Foreign Policy Association
held its regular fortnightly luncheon
and discussion at the Hotel Astor in
New York, on Saturday, Januaiy 18.
The occasion was devoted to the discussion of the Arab-Jewish question
and our celebrated author and traveler, Ameen Rihani, undertook to
defend the Arab viewpoint. Engaged
in the debate were a Zionist and an
Englishman who contributed to the
interest of the occasion with their
presentation of the Zionist case and
the English policy respectively. The
debate was broadcast over WEAF.
Jabir Shibli, a student of Columbia, and one of a large number of
Syrians attending the luncheon, also
spoke for a few minutes in defense
of the Arab cause.
COMING RADIO TALK BY
SYRIAN WORLD EDITOR
The editor of The Syrian World
will speak over station WPCH on
Sunday, February 2nd, at 4 P. M., on
the subject of Syria and the Syrians
in the United States. This talk will
be a part of the National Y. M. C. A.
Radio educational Programs.
�wmv
56
PROF. JABR DUMIT
DIES IN SYRIA
News reached Emile Dumit, a
graduate of the American University
of Beirut and now taking advanced
courses in Columbia of the death of
his father, Prof. Jabr Dumit, in Beirut on Januray 20.
Prof. Dumit was one of the foremost Arabic scholars of the East.
He occupied the chair of Arabic literature at the American University
of Beirut for fifty years and his
golden jubiee as teacher was celebrated all over the Arabic-speaking
world in the summer of 1928. Prof.
Dumit was connected with the University almost from its inception and
his demise must needs be felt as a
great loss to Arabic letters.
Prof. Dumit leaves a widow, three
sons and three daughters.
PRESIDENT OF LEBANON
GOES IN SUBMARINE
M. Chas. Dabbas, President of the
Republic of Lebanon, accepted the
invitation of the Admiral of the
French Mediterranean fleet to a ride
in a submarine. They boarded the
craft in the harbor of Beirut and it
took them under water to the port
of Jounieh, about eight miles north,
returning in the same manner. The
president expressed great satisfaction with his experience.
PORT OF BEIRUT
TO BE ENLARGED
L'Orient, of Beirut announces
definitely that the French have decided to enlarge the port of Beirut
and have appropriated for the purpose a sum of 150,000,000 francs to
be spent over a period of five years.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The French expect to realize on
their investment from the sale of reclaimed land which they propose to
fill in in the process of enlargement.
The new port will be divided into
sections and will make possible the"
docking of large steamers which
now have to anchor in the roadway.
IBN SAOUD SEEKS
TO MODERNIZE ARABIA
The surrender of the rebel sheik
Feisal ed Dowish will enable the
Wa'habi King, Ibn Saoud, to continue
the constructive policy he has begun
in the Hedjaz, including the provision of electric street cars for Mecca, according to a wireless dispatch
to the New York Times from Jeddah, Arabia dated January 12. All
parts of the country are now linked
by radio and automobile transport
is being rapidly developed. In four
years 1,200 automobiles and trucks
have been brought to Jeddah for the
transport of pilgrims to Mecca and
Medina.
The Hedjaz Government is now
studying two important schemes.
The first is for the installation of an
electric plant midway between Jeddah and Mecca to supply both cities
with electricity and later run electric tramways. The second is for the
provision of harbor works at Jeddah
and lighthouses and beacons along
the Arabian coast. The government
is also legislating for the improvement of education, agriculture and
public health.
SYRIAN CENTENARIAN
LEAVES 90 DESCENDANTS
Joseph Gorab, a Syrian centenarian of Paterson. N. J., died late in
December leaving ninety children
and grand-children in America and
Syria.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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TSW1929_12reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 04, Issue 04
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1929 December
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 4 Issue 04 of The Syrian World published December 1929. First in this issue Ameen Rihani discusses the American conception of the "stage sheik," and he corrects this view as he has the experience to do so, with his travels throughout Arabia. Following that there is Paul Deab's poem titled "Renaissance," which paints a wintery scene. Salloum Mokarzel, the paper's editor, is featured next with more of his trip to Syria. This issue covers his trip to Zahle. His account is followed by a poem by Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin titled "Restless." Dr. Phillip Hitti is featured next with his discussion of the Druze religion, a rather secretive organization. Through translating some of the original text and prayers never before seen, he presents an interesting account of the religion. Adelaide Faris is also included for her own account of Syria, taken from her family trip a few years prior. Within it she presents a vivid account of the historic beauty of Syria like never before. An excerpt of Emile Dumit's play "Staging a Desert Scene" is presented last before an advertisement for the Great Syrian World Contest, which if won includes a free trip to Syria following the same route the editor Salloum Mokarzel took the summer of 1929 with his family. The issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press, and an update on the political situation in Syria.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
Adelaide Faris
Ameen Rihani
Druze
Emile Dumit
New York
Paul Deab
Philip Khuri Hitti
Salim Alkazin
Syria
Travel
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/17580152c79d3b5e71901eba7d4d7bf7.pdf
79a025d79711f2b2b40ef02179a3e4b3
PDF Text
Text
&»«3ig»ilPIII
VOL. III. NO. 8
FEBRUARY, 1929
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
ftp
RESTRICTION OF IMMIGRATION
JOSEPH W. FERRIS
OUR SYRIAN-AMERICAN FELLOWSHIP
REV. W. A. MANSUR
THE PRINCE AND HIS BELOVED
DR. SALIM Y. ALKAZIN
THE SAGE OF WASHINGTON STREET
ON PERPETUATING THE MOTHER TONGUE
A. HAKIM
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
THE COPY 50c.
mm
iKawpIPlPliP m
Hi
��THE
SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104
GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK,
By subscription $5.00 a year.
N. Y.
Single copies 50c.
Entered as second class matter, June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
FEBRUARY, 1929
VOL. III. NO. 8
CONTENTS
PAGE
Restrictions of Immigration
JOSEPH
3
W.
FERRIS
The Great Longing
8
G. K.
GIBRAN
The Prince and His Beloved
9
Y.
DR. SALIM
ALKAZIN
Abu Ali
11
IBN EL-KHOURY
Verses To My Enemies
J. D.
j;
16
Our Syrian-American Fellowship
REV. W. A. MANSUB.
Progress of the Federation M.overn-ent
23
The Poet's Nightmare
29
DB.
fcs
15
CARLYLE
NETIB
A.
KATIBAH
�-.'
— J-l
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
Tributes to Gibran
30
Gibran's Place and Influence in Modern Arabic Literature
PHILIP K. HITTI, PH. D.
30
Gibran
32
BARBARA YOUNG
Gibran's Tears
32
S. A. MoKARZEL
The Sage of Washington Street {On Perpetuating the
Mother Tongue}
A. HAKIM
34
Arabic Proverbs
37
Editorial Comment—
Americanism
38
Antiquities
40
Spirit of the Syrian Press
41
Readers' Forum
44
Political Developments in Syria
49
About Syria and Syrians
51
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
Gibran Kahlil Gibran
Testimonial Dinner to Gibran
X
,
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
FEBRUARY, 1929
VOL. III. NO. 8
Restriction of Immigration
WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO
THE NATIONAL ORIGINS CLAUSE
By
*
JOSEPH
W.
FERRIS
THE immigration question is a matter which has considerably
agitated this country. Up to the last Presidential campaign
it was one of the great issues between the two political parties. In
the recent campaigns, both political parties in their platforms stood
for the most restricted immigration, and although the Presidential
candidates of both political parties differed as to details, yet both
stated that they were against increasing the immigration to this
country.
Attention is therefore drawn to this question. Until the Act
of 1921, only certain enumerated classes of aliens were excluded
from admission into the United States, such as (a) idiots, imbeciles
etc.; (b) paupers, professional beggars, vagrants; (c) tubercular
or other diseased persons; (d) mental or physical defectives; (e)
criminals; (i) polygamists; (g) prostitutes, procurers and pimps;
(h) contract laborers; (i) public charges; (j) persons previously
deported; (10 persons whose transportation was paid by others;
(1) stowaways; (m) children under sixteen, unaccompanied by one
or both parents; (n) Asiatics from certain territories in Asia, which
did not encompass Syria (see Syrian World, Vol. II, Nos. 8, 9);
and (o) illeterates.
In addition other aliens were excluded, such as (a) anarchists,
(b) aliens opposed to or disbelieving in organized forms of government; (c) aliens believing in the overthrow by force or vio-
�4
THE SYRIAN WORLD
lence of the government or of all forms of law and of various
beliefs allied thereto; (d) aliens who wrote or had written in support of the foregoing beliefs j (e) aliens who were members of organizations or groups propagating in support of the foregoing j
and (f) aliens advocating or teaching any of such doctrines.
In the year 1921, the first restrictive Immigration Act was
passed. Under this Act the immigration of aliens of any nationality in any fiscal year was restricted to three percent of the number of foreign born persons of such nationality, resident in the
United States, as determined by the census of 1910.
On July 1st, 1924, there came into force what is popularly
known as the "Johnson Act" which superseded the Restrictive
Immigration Act of 1921, and with which we are at present concerned.
Immigration quotas were fixed upon the basis of two percent
of the number of foreign born individuals, resident in continental
United States, as determined by the United States census of 1890,
the minimum quota being 100. Each nationality was given an annual quota equivalent to this two per cent and on this basis the
total of all quotas was and still is 164,66. Under this Act, quota
and non-quota immigrants were defined and preferences within
the quotas were enumerated.
On the basis of the 1890 census, two percent of the Syrians
resident in continental United States was said to be less than 100
and the Syrian annual quota was therefore fixed at the minimum
of 100.
In addition there was enacted what is known as the "National
Origins Provision," under which the annual quota of any nationality for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 1927, and for each
fiscal year thereafter, was fixed at a number which bore the same
ratio to 150,000 as the number of inhabitants in continental United
States in 1920, having that national origin, bore to the number of
inhabitants in continental United States in 1920, but the minimum
quota of any one nationality was to be one hundred.
Under his provision the total of all quotas would be set at
150,000 and this number would be allocated, not according to the
number of foreign born persons resident in the country, but upon
the basis of the proportionate numerical strength of nationalities
among the whole population of the United States.
The census of 1920 would be used, the national origin of all
the people would be calculated, and, for example, if it should be
found that a particular nationality contributed one-tenth of the
�FEBRUARY, 1929
5
whole population that nationality would have one-tenth of the
total quota of fifteen thousand.
I quote the appropriate subdivisions of Section 11 of the
Immigration Act of 1924, which were as follows:
"NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.
Sec. 11. (a) The annual quota of any nationality shall be 2 per centum
of the number of foreign-born individuals of such nationality resident in
continental United States as determined by the United States census of 1890,
but the minimum quota for any nationality shall be 100.
(b) The annual quota of any nationality for the fiscal year beginning
July 1, 1927, and for each fiscal year thereafter, shall be a number which
bears the same ratio to 150,000 as the number of inhabitants in continental
United States in 1920 having that national origin (ascertained as hereinafter
provided in this section) bears to the number of inhabitants in continental
United States in 1920, but the minimum quota of any nationality shall be 100.
(c) For the purpose of subdivision (b) national origin shall be ascertained by determining as nearly as may be, in respect of each geographical
area which under section 12 is to be treated as a separate country (except
the geographical areas specified in subdivision (c) of Section 4) the number of inhabitants in continental United States in 1920 whose orig;n by birth
or ancestry is attributable to such geographical area. Such determination
shall be made by tracing the ancestors or descendants of particular individuals, but shall be based upon statistics of immigration and emigration, together with rates of increase of population as shown by successive decennial
United States censuses, and such other data as may be found to be reliable.
(d) For the purpose of subdivisions (b) and (c) the term 'inhabitants
in continental United States in 1920' does not include (1) immigrants from
the geographical areas specified in subdivision (c) of section 4 or their descendants (2) aliens ineligible to citizenship or their descendants, (3) the
descendants of slave immigrants, or (4) the descendants of American abori(c) The determination provided for in subdivision (c) of this section,
shall be made by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, and
the Secretary of Labor, jointly. In making such determination such officials
may call for information and expert assistance from the Bureau of the Cen
sus Such officials shall, jointly, report to the President the quota o± each
nationality, determined as provided in subdivision (b), and the President
shall proclaim and make known the quotas so reported. Such proclamation
shall be made on or before April 1, 1927. If the proclamation is not made
on or before such date, quotas proclaimed therein shall not be m effect for
any fiscal year beginning before the expiration of 90 days after the date of
the proclamation. After the making of a proclamation under this subdivision the quotas proclaimed therein shall continue with the same effect as if
specifically stated herein, and shall be final and conclusive for every purpose
except (1) insofar as it is made to appear to the satisfaction of such officials and proclaimed by the President, that an error of fact has occurred in
"
�6
THE SYRIAN WORLD
such determination or in such proclamation, or (2) in the case provided for
in subdivision (c) of section 12. If for any reason quotas proclaimed under
this subdivision are not in effect for any fiscal year, quotas for such year
shall be determined under subdivision (a) of this section."
The determination of quotas under the "National Origins
Provision" was an executive function and under the law the Secretaries of Labor, State and Commerce were to be charged with the
responsibility of ascertaining the ratio numbers to be used in calculating quotas to be proclaimed by the President. The law, however, was peculiarly worded. It says:
"Such officials shall jo;ntly, report to the President, the quota of each
nationality, determined as provided in subdivision (d), and the President
shall proclaim and make known thj quotas so reported. Such proclamation
shall be made on cr before April 1, 1927."
But the law said further:
"If the proclamation is not made on or before such date, quotas proclaimed therein shall not be in effect for any fiscal year beginning before
the expiration of ninety days after the date of the proclamation. * * * If foxany reason quotas proclaimed under this subdivis;on are not in effect for any
fiscal year, quotas for such year shall be determined under Subdivision (a)
of this section."
In other words, if the "National Origins Provision" did not
become operative, the existant arrangement should continue.
It must be clear that upon the adoption of the "National Origins Provision" consideration was given the possibility that ascertainment of "national origins" might not be feasible and the above
language was employed to provide authority for the continuance
of existing quotas in such a contingency.
The legislative history of the "National Origins Provision"
might be of interest. This provision was first offered in the House
of Representatives by the late Representative Rogers of Massachusetts. The House rejected the Rogers amendment.
During debate on the Immigration Bill in the Senate, April
14, 1924, the proposition in slightly different language was presented by Senator Reed of Pennsylvania. After amendment it
was agreed to in the Senate.
The only presentment of the subject matter in a committee
hearing before the enactment of the Immigration Act in 1924 was
on March 8th, 1924, when John B. Trevar testified before the
Senate Committee on Investigation.
IV
�FEBRUARY, 1929
7
Having been accepted by the Senate and rejected by the
Hou*e, the "National Origins Provision" became a subject of consideration of the Committee of Conference, which revised the texx
of the entire bill, amended and accepted the "National Origins
Provision" and submitted its report, which was debated and the
bill recommitted to the Committee of Conference, and finally
T)3.SSCCl
R
v?
In 1927 the time for the "National Origins Act" to go into
effect was extended to the year 1923, and the figures "1927
from the original text were stricken out and tne figures 1928
were inserted in lieu thereof.
In 1928 a similar proceeding was filed and the figures
"1928" were stricken out and "1929" inserted.
The law to all intents and purposes will go into effect July
5
1st, 1929.
.
,
-Jr*
Senator Reed of Pennsylvania, as recently as December 6th,
1928 stated that this Act would go into effect on that day and that
the three Secretaries to whom was entrusted the duty of making
up the quotas had rendered two, conflicting reports. In their first
report they sent in quotas, saying that further study would not
materially modify it, and then sent in a report announcing another
draft of the first report in which the opinion was expressed that
the quotas were too vague for satisfactory use.
^ubsequenly the experts from the Bureau of Census upon
whom devolved all the actual labor of the preparation of the
quotas, appeared before the Senate Committee and the House
Committee and testified that the quotas were made up with a high
degree of accuracy and that they had confidence in them. I his
is the present status of the matter.
i
It would therefore be seen that the taking effect of the National Origins Clause has already been postponed twice and proposals are pending to again postpone it, and as a matter of fact,
to repeal it entirely.
The repeal of the "National Origins Clause" would leave
the Immigration Law of 1924 operating as it is now operating.
It would leave the present quotas to continue as they now are.
The House of Representatives in a resolution postponing the
going into effect of the "National Origins Provision" for one year,
expresslv stated that the same uncertainty as to the results of regulating immigration by means of the "National Origins Plan will
continue to exist and that the Secretaries of State, Commerce and
Labor will have little, if any, more positive evidence on which to
�S
THE SYRIAN WORLD
base quota findings than at present, and that it seems far better to
have immigration quotas for the purpose of restriction fixed in
such a manner as to be easily explained and easilv understood by
all.
Although there is considerable agitation in favor of putting
the "National Origins Provision" into effect, there are many facors indicating that the "National Origins Provision" will again be
postponed, if not repealed.
B
The Great JL onging
By G. K.
GIBRAN
J-JERE I sit between my brother the mountain and my sister
the sea.
We three are one in loneliness, and the love that binds us
together is deep and strong and strange. Nay, it is deeper than
my sister's depth and stronger than my brother's strength, and
stronger than the strangeness of my madness.
Aeons upon aeons have passed since the first grey dawn
made us visible to one another; and though we have seen the
birth and the fulness and the death of many worlds, we are still
eager and young.
We are young and eager and yet we are mateless and unvisited, and though we lie in unbroken half embrace, we are uncomforted. And what is there for controlled desire and unspent
passion? Whence shall come the flaming god to warm my sister's bed? And what she-torrent shall quench my brother's fire?
And who is the woman that shall command my heart?
In the stillness of the night my sister murmurs in her sleep
the fire-god's unknown name, and my brother calls afar upon
the cool and distant goddess. But upon whom I call in my sleep
I know not.
Here I sit between my brother the mountain and my sister
the sea. We three are one in loneliness, and the love that binds
us together is deep and strong and strange.
�FEBRUARY, 1929
The Prince aud His Beloved
Adapted from the Arabic
By
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
MOREOVER the prince mused in his heart,
And his musings were in this wise:
My back is bent under the burden of the cares of the people,
And I, the prince, am weary!
It is in a maze of schemes that I live and move.
And I, the prince, am bewildered!
Is it not a task for more than one man to wield the doubleedged sword with one hand and hold high the scales with
the other?
Is it not a task for more than one pair of eyes to direct the
operations of the one and watch the dipping of the other?
Is it the task of a mere man to curb the passions of men and
at the same time to satisfy their greed?
Mv heart is sick within me!
Unstable are the favors of the days,
Changeable are the moods of the hours!
At mid-day a cloud will cast its somber shadow athwart the
sun,
And at its full a mist will veil the beauty of the moon.
From fate's fell bow arrows are flying fast and thick.
Hither and thither they speed,
They crowd the air,
They make a target of every thing that is.
Have I not seen them bury their heads deep in many a heart?
Have I not seen their feathers shiver with the violence of
the impact?
But I, the prince, will wrest a single day out of the hands
of time,
I will be the lord thereof and make of it a slave.
It shall do my bidding.
I will thrust fate aside and shape this day's destiny.
k
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
I will say to my beloved, Give me thy hand, O my beloved
one!
Against my heart will I press thee, and in thy ear will I pour
the fullness of my love.
We shall recline on a bed of roses, the reddest of the red;
A canopy of jasmine shall shade us;
The Buibul shall be our bard, the sprites of the trees shall
be our musicians.
The east breeze shall listen to our whispers,
The flowers shall harken to the beating of our hearts.
I will live this day wholly for thee, O my beloved,
And thou shalt live it for me
And we shall become intoxicated!
Ay, and my intoxication shall be three-fold:
From thy hands I shall drink the cups brim-full,
From thine eyes my eyes shall quaff a wine steeped with
magic,
And from thy lips my lips shall sip a thousand kisses—
A triple intoxication, a triple ecstasy!
In a secluded bower, alone with their love the prince and his
beloved sat.
Around them there was a profusion of flowers,
Before them were wines of varied colors,
Were heaped all the fruits of the orchards.
And they were happy, for there was no cloud in their sky.
But while she, the beloved of the prince, was plucking with her
pearly teeth the ruby heart of a pomegranate seed by seed, a
seed put a stop to her breathing.
Like the lily whose cup is weighted with the dew of the night,
Like the lily that bends before the withering blast,
The lovely head dropped heavily upon the motionless breast.
The beloved of the prince was dead!
�FEBRUARY, 1929
11
Abu Ali
By
.
IBN EL-KHOURY
""THE only beggar I knew in our town, nay, in our whole district,
was a certain Abu Ali, called for short Bu Ali.
When I was in my early teens he was about forty, and I can
recall many a conversation he had with my father touching on his
personal affairs.
Bu Ali lived by begging, but his begging operations were conducted in a gentlemanly manner, so to speak. He never asked for
alms, nor laid down any conditions j he merely made a round of
visits at regular intervals to the people of our town who all came
to concede that he was a legitimate public charge and had to be
supported by public donations.
Who lever there was a feast or a celebration, Bu Ali was sure
to make an appearance the next day, and from the abundance of
what was left over he was given goodly provisions.
Bu Ali was a regular atendant at church every morning. Whenever my father missed him he usually sent me to inquire about
him, for only the most serious illness kept him away.
Having naught else to do but make his regular rounds of
visits, Bu All's services were enlisted in various capacities. His
principal role was that of messenger, especially between lovers,
but on many an occasion he was entrusted with the more important
role of conciliator and negotiator in serious differences threatening
the peace of the town and the good relations between various clans
or factions.
In no other capacity would Bu Ali serve, for he depended for
a living on the good-will of all and he was of too keen a judgment
to expose himself to the ill-will of any.
My father being the pastor of the parish, he was naturally
the confidant and adviser of Bu Ali as well as of others, but the
town beggar being a regular attendant at church, and, besides,
having no regular occupation, he was a frequent caller at our
house, especially at breakfast time at the conclusion of Mass.
One winter morning Bu Ali behaved in a strange manner.
I could observe him hopping on his one normal leg while coming
to church in more haste than usual, while his crippled and shorter
leg—which, by the way, was the only deformity which accounted
�11
THE SYRIAN WORLD
for his becoming a beggar, in that it incapacitated him from engaging in any gainful occupation—swung to and fro violently
with every stride.
All during Mass that day I kept stealing looks at Bu Ali when
I least feared detection by my father who was a severe disciplinarian, and especially would tolerate no distraction during the progress of Mass. I was acting as altar boy and any inattention to duty
was certain to invite a severe reprimand.
But once my curiosity was aroused I could not help but watch
the actions of the beggar. He came to kneel close to the altar
railing and appeared to pray on this day with redoubled fervor.
He would knock at his breast so violently that the echo resounded
throughout the empty church. Several times he stepped back a
few paces from the altar railing so as to permit himself more
space for fully prostrating himself on the stone pavement and
kiss the floor. Then he would rise and lift his face appealingly
to the portrait of St. Elias, patron saint of our church, which was
hung directly above the main altar, and begin to pray in such a
loud voice as to almost drown that of my father in his incantations. St. Elias was represented with drawn sword dealing death
to the priests of Baal, and to the Christians of Lebanon he symbolizes not only aggressive zeal, but moral and physical strength
as well. Bu Ali, in his ardent supplication, seemed to be begging
of the Saint some of both.
My curiosity was to be soon gratified, for that morning Bu
Ali not only accompanied us home, but even preceded us, hopping
along the narrow path leading to the house.
My father seated himself at his accustomed place on a raised
mastaba in a corner spread with cushions. On one side were two
long bookshelves built in the form of a partition to serve as a protection from the draft as the door opens. Behind was the solid
wall with but a niche for the reading lamp. At the end of the
bookshelf-partition was the open fireplace, while all around were
spread thick-wooled sheep skins of different colors.
Breakfast was served my father on a brass tray resting on a
low stool, or tabliah. Bu Ali would not join at the table but
helped himself to some thin bread and cheese while squatting on
a sheepskin close to the fireplace. I proceeded to build a big fire.
My father opened the conversation. "Khair inshallah, Ya
Bu Ali," he said.
"Nothing but good news, with your prayers and blessings,"
replied the beggar-guest.
MMMS)
SBi •,....
�FEBRUARY, 1929
IS
Following the exchange of customary formalities, Bu All
reached the point of disclosing his object.
"You, Abouna (father) Antoun," he began, "are the father
of all. We have none other but you to whom we can come with
our problems. You are our guide in our perplexities whether temporal or spiritual. I came today to say something to you as though
you were in the confessional. Have you a place for a secret ?"
"A deep well," replied my father, in the stock answer to
such a question.
"I am advancing in age," resumed Bu Ali, "and with the
passing of every year, and in my helpless condition, I feel more
and more the necessity of a life-companion. I came to seek your
advice."
My father had had no intimation of any such intention on
the part of Bu Ali. Here was a man supported by the charity of
the townspeople. Only last year they had liberally contributed in
labor and material to build him a house. They had looked upon
the proposition of building him a house as an absolute necessity
inasmuch as no one in Lebanon but had one, even a beggar. They
even went to the extent of roofing it with red tile that he might
be spared the necessity of having to shovel the snow from off the
flat roof. But now I could see by the astonished look in my father's eyes that he considered this new venture of Bu Ali in the nature of an impositon on the good nature of the townspeople.
I was still tending the fire, but upon hearing the beggar's
proposition the satisfaction of my long suppressed curiosity expressed itself in a loud peal of laughter, which made me drop a
heavy log that almost smothered the small sticks I had so painstakingly built to start the fire.
The start which Bu Ali gave indicated that he had not been
conscious of my presence, while the stern look of my father mad :
me fast regain my composure.
"He is but a child," he said to the beggar. "I shall attend
to him at the proper time. But as for yourself, have you thought
of the consequences of the step you are contemplating? Do you
think you can support a wife?"
"All these matters I have considered carefully, Abouna
Antoun," replied Bu Ali, aerain turning his back to me as if disregarding my presence. "You can readily realize that the bed
which holds one can hold two (my father smiled), and thai the
meal which is prepared for one can also be made to satisfy two
with but little additional expense. Besides, the woman I want to
I
.
.
'
�,
THE SYRIAN WORLD
14
take for wife is frugal and economical. She has promised to be
loving and obedient, and you will admit, Ya Abouna, that in my
declining age I need someone to tend my fire and make my bed
and bake my bread."
"And who is the woman?" inquired my father.
"Please bury this secret at the bottom of the deepest well,"
said Bu Ali. "She is Karima El-Aura, the orphan girl who is
blind of one eye."
"And are you sure of her consent?" again asked my father.
"She has given me her word only yesterday," replied Bu Ali.
"Ever since my new house was built she has been markedly courteous to me. Seeing which my heart leaned to her and I frequented her house oftener. Soon we began to exchange confidences
and she told me that her situation had become well nigh unbearable. She ha^ reached the age of twenty-five with no one making
a proposal. But for her minor defect she is constitutionally perfect. She interprets the smiles of other women as expressions of
pity for her having reached this advanced a?e without being married, and she has promised me the utmost of attention and care if
I marry her."
At this junction my father began to show his appreciation of
the comedy of the situation, and while struggling to suppress his
smiles he asked the beggar, "Inasmuch as the matter is settled between vou, what do you want me to do?"
"I have come today," replied Bu Ali, "first to break the news
to you and then to reciuest of you the favor of asking her hand
in marriage formally for me."
"This I shall be glad to do," said my father, "only you now
go and tell her to come and see me."
Bu Ali now displaved surprising agility. He put on his
single shoe which he had shed by the door upon entering and alreadv had reached for the knob, when he suddenly veered around
and called:
"Abouna Antoun!"
"Yes," answered my father.
"If we have a boy will he be lame of one leg and blind of
one eve?" asked the lame beggar.
For some reason which I did not at the time understand, it
was mv father who this time burst out into a hearty laugh, and he
assured the man that such defecte were not hereditary.
*
*
*
There were no invitations to Bu All's wedding.
A man and
FEB
a woi
witne
office
theg
pairs
merr
housi
and i
•
�FEBRUARY, 1929
15
a woman were recruited from among the parishioners to act as
witnesses, while I myself was an involuntary witness owing to my
office as altar boy. But no sooner the news spread about town than
the good people began to trek to the house of the newly-weds in
pairs and singles, seizing upon the occasion to indulge in hilarious
merriment. And they did not.come empty-handed, and Abu All's
house was stocked with rice, and flour, and olive oil, and molasses,
and figs, and even wine, for a good many years.
I
Verses to My Enemies
Translated from the Arabic by J. D. Carlyle.
WHY thus to passion give the rein?
Why seek your kindred tribe to wrong?
Why strive to drag to light again
The fatal feud entomb'd so long?
Think ndt, if fury ye display,
But equal fury we can deal;
Hope not, if wrong'd, but we repay
Revenge for every wrong we feel.
Why thus to passion give the rein?
Why seek the robe of peace to tear?
Rash youths desist, your course restrain,
Or dread the wrath ye blindly dare.
Yet friendship we not ask from foes,
Nor favor hope from you to prove,
We lov'd you not, great Allah knows,
Nor blame'd you that ye could not love.
To each are different feelings given,
This slights, and that regards his brother;
'Tis ours to live—thanks to kind heav'n—
Hating and hated by each other.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
16
Our Syrian-American Fellowship
Apropos of the Federation of Syrian Societies in the
United States
By
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
""THE rise of a Syrian American fellowship is being realized
among Syrian-Americans, creating new race vision, promoting
race solidartiy, and developing a right attitude toward the Syrian
race. Hitherto this fellowship was unrealized by Syrian-Americans because of the thought of a return to the homeland, retarded
by being scattered throughout the United States, and hindered by
lacking a unifying medium. The decision to make America a permanent home, the race urge for self-preservation, and solicitude
for future welfare are giving rise to this fellowship.
Our Syrian-American fellowship is not political in spirit,
economic in purpose, or religious in motive. It is based on pure
Americanism, spiritual heritage, pioneering life, and future wellbeing.
Knowledge of the nature of this fellowship is a source of
inspiration to our race awakening, race pride, social happiness, and
future progress. This will create common understanding, eive
rise to common courage, and result in common sympathy. This
will win for us the intelligent appreciation, respectful friendship,
and sympathetic cooperation of the American people. The following seven points of our Syrian-American fellowship attempt
to define this fellowship, encourage Syrian-American youth, and
establish a common understanding among Syrian-Americans:
/. Fellowship Through a Loyal Americanism.
The primacy of a loyal Americanism is the paramount principle of our Syrian-American fellowship. It finds expression in
an American allegiance, an American attitude, and an American
outlook. We stand for America first. America does not ask that
we renounce our love of native land, repudiate our race identity,
or forsake the legacies our race has bestowed on mankind. America does ask that we give first place to the land that is our home,
to the flag that guards our freedom, and to the Constitution of th«
United States that guarantees our liberties.
1
I
Kl
/
�M
FEBRUARY, 1929
17
Philip K. Hitti says in "The Syrians in America": "Among
the foreign born the Syrians hold an enviable war record In
point of loyalty, patriotism and devotion to the institutions ot the
land, as demonstrated by the war, they have been unexcelledeven by the Americans themselves.
"According to a careful estimate based on the reports ot the
Provost Marshal General, and other War Department documents,
no less than 13,965 or about 7 per cent of the whole Syrian community se-ved in the United States army."
_
Syrian-Americans have written for all time their loyalty to
their American homeland into the history of the Syrian race in
the United States. For Syrian-Americans remember that America's freedom, America's ideals, and America's opportunities drew
them to her As American citizens they pledge a single political
allegiance, law abiding citizenship, and a readiness for America s
defense against all enemies. The record of the loyalty of SyrianAmericans will enhance their standing as Americans, will foster
race pride in Syrian-American youth, and claim prominence tor
the Syrian race in the United States.
II. Fellowship Through, a Spiritual Motherland-.
For Syrian-Americans Syria is becoming the symbol of a spiritual motherland. Gradually physical Syria is becoming a memory. Long separations, the passing of older generations, and the
rise of new venerations are making the change. It is in its spiritual legacies, Syria's historical background, Syrian race character,
and Syrian race achievements that Syria will be enshrined in Syrian hearts everywhere. For in their race urge they feel a contact
with Syrian soil, in their hearts they sense a call from Syrian skies,
and in their minds thev vision life from Syrian hills.
S P Cadman says in an address on "The Friendship ot English-speaking Nations": "A nation reveals and justifies itself,
not bv a narrow insistence upon its pre-eminent virtues and dualities but by its specific contribution to the welfare of mankind.
Tudea rave the world religion. Greece gave it culture. Rome
gave it law, and it still subsists on the rich heritage they beaueathed."
„ _
,
- -,
While the thought of Rome was for Romans, that ot Greece
for Greeks, and that of Tudea for Jews, it was Syria that first
thought of the welfare of mankind. It was under Syrian skies,
on Syrian soil, and in Syrian hearts that mankind first learned to
think in the highest spiritual terms: the universal Fatherhood ot
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
God, man's filial relation to God, the world-wide kingdom of
God, and the hope of human brotherhood.
Knowledge of Syrian history, race character, and Syria's contributions to humanity will enable Syrian-Americans to appraise
Syria in terms of the highest spiritual values. For Syrian-American pioneers, their posterity, and Syrians everywhere it is the
Syria of their spiritual inheritance that will be enshrined in their
hearts as the spiritual, true and eternal motherland of the Syrian
race.
III. Fellowship Through a Glorious Ancestry.
Our Syrian-American fellowship is based on a race that possessed unique talents, developed civilization, and made contributions to the welfare of mankind. Races, nations, and empires whose
support was military conquest, economic exploitation, race superiority, numerous population, or divine favoritism have passed away,
and will pass away, with their transient dreams. The Syrian race,
Syrian history, and Syria's contributions to human progress,
whether of our forefathers the Phoenicians, our ancestors of the
Christian era, or our fathers of Mediaeval times, have enshrined
themselves in human hearts through their beneficent influence
upon mankind.
George Adam Smith says in "Syria and the Holy Land":
"Nor do religion and war exhaust her importance to the world.
Syria bred and endowed the people who first brought the fruits
of Eastern civilization to Europe, taught the nations the value
of sea-power, and set them an example on transmarine commerce
and the planting of colonies."
Our Syrian-American fellowship is the result of an awakened race consciousness, race solidarity, and race vision. There
steals on the Syrian ear the distant triumphant urge of the race.
The modern Syrian has caught the spirit of his Phoenician ancestors, is among the vanguard of human progress, and is taking
his place in spiritual and material service to human welfare.
The revival of the memory of our illustrious Phoenician
forefathers is arousing intelligent appreciation of our race, promoting race pride, and inspiring race revival. The thoughtful
understanding of our race heritage is liberating the latent talents
of our race. The awakened race consciousness is inspiring emulation of the achievements of our famous ancestors. Our SyrianAmerican fellowship is moving us to perpetuate the memory of
m
�FEBRUARY ,1929
19
our renowned forefathers, uphold their priceless legacies, and
maintain their honor through splendid achievements.
IV. Fellowship Through Pioneering in America.
The modern Syrian has caught the pioneering spirit of his
famous Phoenician ancestors. He has endured amid difficulties
He has adapted himself to new conditions. He has maintained
the dignitv of the race, laid a foundation of true character, rose
through industrious living, and vindicated his Americanism
through loyal citizenship.
H H Jessup says in "Fifty-three Years in Syria": "They
have caught the enterprising spirit of western civilization and are
starting out in a new Phoenician migration^ to the ends oi the
earth, seeking to better their condition
"
The lives of Syrian-American pioneers are romances oi the
hiehest order. It was hardship to sever relation with their beloved land. It was heart-trying-to leave home, loyed ones, and
one's kind to become strangers in a foreign land It was embarrassing amoncr those whose language, customs and race were different Yet "throueh their pioneership they followed the gleam,
they worked industriously, and lived loyally to their new homeland. Thev are rising to win for themselves the. enviable place
that was once their Phoenician forefathers'.
We accord the highest honors to the Syrian-American pioneer fathers and mothers. In the villages on the highways, and
on the sea shore of Syria have been many farewells to Syria s sons
and daughters. They came to America healthy in body, courageous in heart, intelligent in mind, industrious in disposition,
God-fearing, libertv-loving, and law-abiding.
•
Here in our American homeland they are the parents of the
rpce that is to be, they are dreaming dreams of glory through love
and tears- and they are blazing a trail of glory laden with the
leo-ades of their ancestry.
• ,«••
O Syrian poet, I pray thee, sing of the Syrian-American
pioneers, the pioneers of the glorious race that is to be.
V. Fellowship Through Common Problems.
The decision to make America a permanent home dosed the
oioneer period of the Svrian-Americm race in America. SynanAmen an pioneers met with race misunderstanding race prejudge and social discrimination. These often intensified their suf-
�mmmmmmmma.
20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ferings, hindered their progress, and tested their resourcefulness.
Yet Syrian-American pioneers emerged from the pioneer period
with their race character untarnished, their achievements magnified, and their faith in America unshaken. They upheld Syrian
character, intelligence, honor, home, industry and loyalty.
Syrian-Americans are now amidst the transition period. The
"complete transformation of the psychology of a nation" is a
gigantic task. Everywhere Syrian-Americans are meeting like
problems, dangers, and sufferings. The transfer from centuriesold language, customs, and point of view to the American language, customs and point of view is beset with many difficulties.
Yet everywhere Syrian-Americans are readily adapting themselves, maintaining stability of character, upholding industrious
living, and perpetuating a law-abiding citizenship.
The rising tide of social problems is pressing for solution.
Let Syrian-Americans remember that America is passing through
a transformation of a social order the like of which humanity has
never experienced. Let it be remembered that modern education
is accelerating the development of the human mind. Let it be
understood that in meeting the problems there must be intelligence, sympathy, character.
I have faith in Syrian-Americans to meet their social problems through resourcefulness, adaptability, endurance and vision.
Here is a Syrian-American family with a marriage problem to
solve; there a Syrian-American community with race prejudice
in the public school; elsewhere is another meeting with social
ostracism; another is grappling with race misunderstanding; and
still another discovering his ignorance of his race and native land.
How shall Syrian-Americans meet these rising social problems, rising from a change of race psychology, the natural accompaniments of adolescence, the intermingling of races, and life in
a changing social order? These seven principles will assist in
meeting the situation. First, religion is fundamental to humanity
and is compatible with science, prosperity, and progress. The
family is the basic unit, and marriage is a social sacrament. Remember that adolescence is prolific with problems, that youth is
the time for self-discovery, self-assertion, self-determination, and
self-realization. Remember that knowledge is necessary to intelligent understanding, that modern life is to be modernly dealt
with. Adaptability is essential to happiness and success, that goodwill, patience, adjustability, charitableness and getting along xre
master keys to meet problems. Character is life's true purpose,
MHIPHHHBHBIP
\
�FEBRUARY, 1929
21
that making a life is man's chief destiny. And remember that
immortality is the hope of man, that he reaps here and hereatter
what he sows here and now.
j
VI. Fellowship Through Splendid Achievement.
There is growing up among Syrian-Americans a fellowship
through splendid achievement. Their integrity, industry, iawobedience, and thrift are becoming a glorious tradition.
/
An admirable summary of the progress of Syrian-Americans
was given by S. A. Mokarzel in an article on "The History ot
Syrians in New York" in The Syrian World. "The Syrian community of New York," he says, "may well be taken as an example of all other communities, although in some respects it
enjoys certain distinctions which cannot be claimed by all others.
In general, however, what is said of the Syrians of New York
applies to all sister communities." (The Syrian World, Nov.,
1927.)
' We shall better appreciate the progress of the Syrian race
in America when we remember his late coming, his peculiar handicaps, and his quickness of adaptability. The Syrian is prospering
everywhere. And the rising tide of prosperity is prophetic ot
larger future success.
In the intellectual field Syrian-Americans are already making themselves felt throughout the world. N. A Mokarzel, the
journalist; Gibran the poet; Hitti the historian; Riham the traveller- S A Mokarzel, founder of The Syrian World, and a host
of other star-lit souls who are bringing glory to our race, encouragement to Syrian-American youth, and honor to our American
homeland.
In the commercial and industrial field Syrian-Americans are
like their Phoenician ancestors blazing the trail for world trade.
Thev are successful merchants and traders and are founding
branch houses in foreign lands. The Syrian colony of Shanghai
China, is prophetic of the rise of the leadership of Syrians in world
commerce. (The Syrian World, Sept., 1927.)
In the field of American citizenship Syrian-Americans have
set an example of superior loyalty through law-obedience, industry and a glorious war-time record. Already in the re igious
field Syrian-American churches are endeavoring to uphold the
Syrian tradition of the compatibility of religion and prosperity.
*-
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
And Syrian philanthropy has written a shining record into the
history of the Syrian race in America.
VII. Fellowship Through Ambition for Posterity.
Syrian-Americans are ambitious for the future of their posterity. They purpose to retain their racial identity through their
descendants. They would revive and maintain the memory of
their illustrious forefathers through future generations. Their
aim is to uphold the priceless contributions made by their fathers
to human progress.
President-elect Herbert Hoover said: "We no longer have
the right to think in terms of our own generation." The spirit
of our forefathers calls upon us to revive their memory, make
known the truth about their bequests to mankind, and awaken the
race to vision, vigor, and vindication. Svrian-Americans are forevisiomng a glorious race in the new world, are laying a foundation of true character, and are making ready for worthy race
progress.
Leonard Darwin says in his "Eugenic Reform": "Pride
in our past achievements must on no account make us turn a deaf
ear to the warnings derived from a study of the laws of nature:
for it will be seen that such a study makes it certain that to be
careless about the future may be to condemn our own nation to
disaster."
Humboldt is right in saying: "Whatever you would put into
the state you must first put into the school." William Allen White
in The Heart of a Fool" makes Mrs. Van Dorn say to her
father, Dr. Nesbi, "It's the children who carry the banner of
civilization, the hope of progress, the real sun-rise."
The future progress of Syrian-Americans lies in the rising
generations. We must awaken them to their noble heritage We
must enlarge upon the historical background of the Svrian race.
We must explain the Syrian race's contributions to mankind. We
must enable them to realize that in their veins courses the blood
of a great race, that they possess latent talents which, awakened
and utilized, will bring new service to mankind, and that they
are the pioneer builders of a new Syrian race in the new world.
_ Success is crowning the efforts of our Syrian-American fellowship in popularizing the knowledge about the greatness of the
Syrian race, the rise of race pride based on the race's exalted contributions to human welfare, and a worthy response of SyrianAmerican youth to meet the challenge of their glorious race
HHHMHMBSHNSBHflflMMMBI
/(
S
�23
FEBRUARY, 1929
Progress of the Federation
Movement
SIX NEW PLEDGES RECEIVED DURING
JANUARY
PLEDGES RECEIVED
Syrian Young Men, Society
The Phoenicians
American-Syrian Federation
Syrian Young Men's Society
, , Citizenship
^-j.v_ ^I„K
The Good
Club
The Goodfellows Club
Syrian-American Club
Syrian-American Club
Ladies' Syrian Association
United Young Men's Aleppian Club
St. George Young Men's Society
The Phoenician Club ...
Young Phoenician Society
YSJSS^SL
oklvn N Y
" ro J ' ' '
2
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Birmingham, Ala.
Texag
! ^ i'.. Detroit, Mich.
Cleveland, Ohio.
b
L
P"nf vaue^
r\Z' Otto
'&2SZ.^
Mkh_
AT this stage of our progress towards the Federation of Syrian
societies in the United States, The Syrian World wishes to
make it plain that it does not consider the movement its own private undertaking. We believe, and here make public avowal
of the fact, that this effort is the spontaneous expression of a desire long entertained by many organizations and individuals It
is the materialization of a growing conviction for the necessity of
collective action which now seems to have reached the stage ot
maturity The Syrian World is but the instrument for collecting
the different strands and winding them together into one solid,
strong and, let us hope, an enduring cable
AU the replies so far received prove the existence of a strong
predisposition to such a movement. What seems to have been
lacking in the way of crystallizing the sentiment, and translating
the desire into action, was the existence of the proper agency. Now
all those who have dreamed of such an ideal can feel the sati faction of having discovered the agency that is ready and anxious
A
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
to serve them. What they should further feel is that they are
duty-bound to use the facilities placed at their disposal to the fullest capacity.
It is a patent fact that no individual, nor single organization;
can undertake such a gigantic public task unaided. The success
of the movement is contingent upon the collective, concerted efforts of all parties interested. Those organizations so far pledged
to the support of the movement have by their very action made
public avowal of their high racial ideals. They have signed a
declaration of faith in the future of the race and committed themselves to the perpetuation of their precious heritage to the end
that they will be proud and useful elements in the American nation. They are pioneers in a movement that is replete with untold possibilities both for their own kind and for the whole nation.
Their enterprise will be recorded as the work of far-visioned, public-spirited pathfinders who are laying down the foundation for
the better service of posterity. And as such they may justly feel
proud of the effort at which they are now engaged.
But the assumption of this role involves a responsibility.
Approval should not be confined to the mere registration of acquiescence. It implies and invites support by way of propaganda
and missionary effort. Each pledged organization must feel honorbound to carry the task to ultimate complete success, and now that
we see the pledges doubling every month, the almost tangible
success should spur us on to redoubled action.
Prompting these remarks is the desire to assure the movement speedy materialization. The preliminary work of accepting pledges cannot be extended indefinitely and the sooner the
national organization takes a definite shape the brighter will be
the prospects for its future activities. It might be unwise to set
a definite date for closing the preliminaries, but, tentatively, a
few more months should be considered sufficient. Then the organizations already pledged could proceed to give form to the
Federation, while the way would remain forever open to the admission of new members.
One of the benefits of speedy action is that the founders
could proceed to formulate the plan and the general object of
the Federation which would be submitted to recalcitrant organizations for study. This might prove the most cogent argument
for them to join, as they would have tangible proof of the benefits
of concerted action.
In the meantime, our efforts should be intensified towards
! SStt
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! i
�=—.
=
FEBRUARY, 1929
23
increasing the number of charter members. As we can now
see, the movement is fast gaining in impetus so that with a little
further effort the partial success so far achieved may be substantially increased by the time the call is sounded for taking final
action.
Following are the acceptances received during January:
CLEVELAND, OHIO
UNANIMOUS VOTE OF APPROVAL
Editor, The Syrian World:
At the last meeting of the Syrian-American Club of Cleveland, we discussed the Federation movement as outlined in the
Syrian World, with the result that the Club voted unanimously
in favor of such a move.
On behalf of the Club, I wish you unlimited success and
hope that other organizations may reward your efforts by joining this worthy movement.
Enclosed you will find a list of the other Syrian societies
in this city and vicinity who could be approached in the matter
of the Federation. As for ourselves, we shall do our best to promote the movement among the different organizations here, as we
are thoroughly convinced of the necessity of a national organization.
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN CLUB.
M. S. Caraboolad, Secretary.
Cleveland, Ohio.
SPRING VALLEY, ILLINOIS
REASONS FOR GIVING 100 PER CENT. APPROVAL
Editor, The Syrian World:
The Ladies' Syrian Association of Spring Valley, 111., heartily
endorses the movement for the federation of Syrian societies in
the United States.
We believe the time at hand when an appeal of this nature
should meet with the support of the public-spirited element
among our people in this country.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
26
We can readily realize that the first comers among the Syrian immigrants were too much taken up with economic considerations. They could not be expected under the circumstances to
plan and develop such enterprises for their public good as behooves them to do at the present time.
Now the Syrians are settled in their new home. They
should realize that it is incumbent upon them to develop their
racial prestige. They can claim such eminent qualities as should
be the pride of any race. They are intelligent, hospitable, industrious and have behind them a fine racial background. The only
thing they seem to lack is the ability for cooperative action. Now
the opportunity is offered them to fill this gap and claim for
themselves the position that is rightly theirs among the racial
groups which go to make the American nation. It should, therefore, be the ambition of every one of us who realizes the benefits
of cooperative action to lend his best efforts towards the success
of the Federation movement of Syrian societies.
We wish to state finally that we are 100 per cent, for the
Federation movement and pledge for its success our best efforts.
We give this unqualified approval to the movement in the hope
that others who are still reluctant will take immediate and favorable action.
LADIES' SYRIAN ASSOCIATION.
Elizabeth Abrahams, Secretary.
Spring Valley, 111.
PATERSON, NEW JERSEY
AMERICAN MOTTO CITED IN SUPPORT OF
MOVEMENT
Editor, The Syrian World:
At the regular meeting of the Board of Directors of our
Club, held on Jan. 17, the movement for the federation of Syrian
societies in the United States was brought up for discussion and
met with the wholehearted endorsement of the Directors.
In advising you of our action, we wish to commend you for
your splendid efforts in promoting the fulfillment of this dream
through the agency of your magazine. When such a worthy undertaking is brought to full realization, it will be possible for the
Syrians to act collectively in matters of general policy and com-
-a
�^—
HMHaMBNBaaBBnMMBnHaanaHMa
27
FEBRUARY, 1929
mand attention and recognition. We have long been fighting
single-handed, in single units, and it seems about time we act on
the famous American motto, "E Pluribus Unum"—"L'Union
fait la Force."
Our only hope is that efforts towards promoting this necessary movement until it is brought to complete success be kept up
with unabated zeal. We have been accused of showing a great
flash of interest at the initial stages and then dropping the matter
and letting it disintegra^. through inaction. We trust this will
not be true in this case.
UNITED YOUNG MEN'S ALEPPIAN CLUB.
John Zaloom, Secretary.
Paterson, N. J.
CANTON, OHIO
OFFERS MORAL AND MATERIAL SUPPORT
Editor, The Syrian World:
The formation of a Federation of Syrian societies in the
United States is a most splendid and worthy undertaking for
which the promoter should be heartily congratulated. • Our Club,
the St. George Young Men's Society, was organized April 22,
1922. Its main object is to promote better friendship and sportsmanship. You can depend upon receiving our support to further
this cause, and to meet any help or obligations that may arise
in connection with this great undertaking.
ST. GEORGE YOUNG MEN'S SOCIETY.
Kyser Salem Shaheen, President.
Canton, Ohio
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
MOVEMENT IS A GLOW OF HOPE
Editor, The Syrian World:
We are happy to extend our congratulations and profoundest
good wishes to your esteemed magazine for its most valued and
remarkable enterprise.
The Phoenician Club of Birmingham, Ala., is always in
readiness to lend assistance to any cause that is for the good of
�28
SYRIAN
the Syrian people, and we believe your success in undertaking
a Federation of Syrian societies should be a glow of hope for
every earnest member of the race.
We hope you will continue to give your best efforts towards
this most worthy cause for which we wish complete success.
THE PHOENICIAN CLUB,
L. C. Bohorfoush, Secretary.
Birmingham, Ala.
LANSING, MICHIGAN
LOGICAL AND NECESSARY STEP FORWARD
Editor, The Syrian World:
It gives me great pleasure to advise you that our club wishes
to be placed on record as anxious for the success of the Federation
movement among the Syrian societies in the United States and
is ready to cooperate wholeheartedly in all efforts tending to
promote the success of a nation-wide understanding among the
organized bodies of our race.
We believe this to be the logical and necessary step for
bringing about the best that is in the young Syrian generation
both for their own benefit and for the glory of the American
nation.
j
,: ,.r;;
We had sent a communication to the Syrian World which
was published in the November issue, expressing our readiness
to correspond with any society willing to enter into negotiations
leading to cooperative action. We took it for granted that this
would be sufficient testimony to our actual approval of the Federation movement. But inasmuch as our club was not mentioned
in the first list of acceptances, we hasten to send in this explicit
acceptance.
Our club was organized in May, 1927, for the purpose of
promoting a better understanding between the older and younger
generation Syrians, as well as for promoting and encouraging
better means of understanding our ancestral background.
Our club is non-sectarian and non-partisan. It has a substantial membership.
We hail the Federation movement as a great step forward
for the Syrian race in America and wish for it complete and
speedy success.
YOUNG PHOENICIAN SOCIETY.
Lansing, Mich.
Ruby Nakfoor, Cor. Secretary.
VHMW^HI I
�FEBRUARY, 1929
The Poefs Nightmare
By DR. NEJIB A. KATIBAH
In Memory of Kahlil Gibran's Testimonial Dinner.
I sat upon a lofty rock,
A ripening field beneath my feet,
A clock beside me went tick-tock,
Tick-tock,—and bade me mind its beat—
Or hastening fall.
A spirit bade me close my eyes,
And quickly touched my brow,
Then whispered in my ears: "Arise,
Thy vision is no vision now,
Nor sight at all."
The clock had vanished from my side;
Two thrones of gold within one ring,
Upon a dreamy azured tide,
Upbore me, wafted on the wing;—
Lo! there's a call:—
I heard a voice beyond the sun,—
(Or was 't my Voice?): "Obey my beck!"
—Lo, there! my thrones, two shrouds in one;
The ring, a halter 'round my neck;—
I could not crawl
But lay upon a swaying rock,
A precipice beneath my feet,
A clock beside me went tick-tock,
Tick-tock—a measured hollow beat—
But that's not all.
A fairy bade me close my eyes,
And lightly touched my brow,
Then whispered in my ears: "Arise!
A clearer vision now hast thou,—
But drink this gall."
Upon a distant foreign shore
Asleep I lie but yet aware;
I'm happy there as ne'er before
—For with my fairy I am there.
—And now that's all.
29
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
3G
Tributes to Gibran
Being the English poetns and addresses delivered at the Testimonial Dinner given by his admirers to G. K. Gibran, author of
The Prophet, Jesus the Son of Man, etc., at the Hotel McCalpin
in New York the evening of January 5, 1929 on the occasion of
the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of his first literary
work.
GIBRAN'S PLACE AND INFLUENCE
IN MODERN ARABIC LITERATURE
By
PHILIP
K.
HITTI, PH.
D.
AS a student of history, the speaker's objective in all his studies
has been and is the fact. In his search for the fact, he divests
himself—as far as it is humanly possible—of all personal equation, all prejudice and sentiment, and seeks through a cold intellectual process to ascertain the fact as that fact took place. And
having found the fact, he tries to express it, to communicate it to
others, in as simple, plain and direct a way as he possibly can. His
ideal is truth, his method is objective, rather than subjective, and
his style is dry prose.
All this, however, does not blind him to the fact that man
does not live by scientific truth alone, that he has another phase
to his nature, the aesthetic phase, and that phase demands beauty
and can be satisfied by beauty and beauty alone.
We have come tonight to do honor to "a man whose objective
in life has been and is beauty; who, by pen and brush, has achieved
the beautiful; and who is himself endowed with a beautiful character.
Gibran is an artist and a poet. His ideal is aesthetic, his
method is subjective and his style is mystic, symbolic, poetic. Such
style, by the nature of the case, is bound to be sometimes obscure.
His writings, his creations, while not intended primarily to provide
nourishment for starving intellects, have certainly brought sunshine, heat, warmth, radiance, light, joy, inspiration to many a
heart and many a soul. And after all, the discrepancy between
the two ideals of truth and beauty is more apparent than real.
The two are the obverse and reverse of the same coin, the opposite aspects of the one being—the Divine being. God is truth.
He is also love: He is beautv.
ery,
i
i \
�——
FEBRUARY, 1929
31
The influence which Gibran exercises in modern Arabic literature can be measured, in a way, not only by the multitude of
people who have been benefited by reading him but also by the
big crop of would-be Gibrans, quasi-Gibrans and Gibran-imitators
who have in recent years, mushroom-like, sprung up and flourj ished all over the Arabic speaking world. So much so that you
can hardly nowadays pick up an Arabic paper printed in Beirut,
Cairo, Baghdad, Sao Paulo or Buenos Aires without finding somebody consciously trying to write Gibran-like.
Of course, the esoteric, figurative, imaginative style, with its
flowery expression and rhymed prose, is not a new thing in Arabic
literature. It is as old as the Sufis of early Islam who borrowed
it from Indo-Persian sources. But our hero of tonight, through
his unmatched mastery of this art, through his pure and rich imagery, through his lofty and noble idealism, through his unexcelled
diction and composition—be it in Arabic or in English—has become the father of a new school of thought all of his own. While
others use empty words, are affected and artificial, Gibran unfailingly produces gems of thought and is always natural and sublime.
Besides writers, Gibran has a host of followers who admire
him to the highest degree. This silent admiration affords another
criterion of measuring his influence. Some of them may be inj clined to treat him even as a prophet and to build up a sort of
a cult around his teachings. Of course, in one sense, he is a prophet. Any one who is expounding the eternal principles of righteousness, goodness and beauty, interpreting them in new and modern terms, inculcating them in the minds of his fellowmen is a
prophet. In fact we can go one step further. To the extent to
I which any man or woman, by his or her creations and discoveries,
7 is serving as an instrument of God, is furthering God's purposes
here on earth and executing God's plans for the betterment and
the development of mankind, to that extent that person is Godlike, is divine, is made after God's image. In so far as you and
I are cooperating with the forces of right to overcome those of
wrong, the principles of good to overpower those of evil, the
agencies of light to overthrow those of darkness, we are more than
prophets—we are divine. In that sense, the bridegroom of the
evening is a prophet and more than a prophet. And we have in
his common sense, level-headedness and inborn humanity a guarantee that no matter what some of his over-enthusiastic admirers
may wish to say or do, he would always remain human, man
among men, and would ever maintain that the difference between
, f
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
32
him and all good teachers, preachers, poets and so forth, on one
hand, and the ordinary man, on th<* -'her, is quantitative rather
than qualitative.
#
#
*
As your fellow countrymen, Mr. Gibran, we rejoice and pride
ourselves tonight, and justly so, over your past achievements, both
literary and artistic; and we hope and pray that the future will
have greater and more numerous things in store for the honor of
yourself and for the glory of the Syrian name which we jointly
bear.
GIBRAN
By
\
BARBARA YOUNG
Sent by Miss. Young from her retreat in Florida to the Editor of
The Syrian World to be read at the Dinner to Gibran.
[ ET me pour wonders on his wondrous name
Like waters on the green crest of a hill.
Let me pluck thunders from the thundrous sky,
And let me gather lightnings as a harvester
Gathering ripened grain
For his refreshing.
Let me lift up his name upon the wind,
Lo,„as the wing of a bird I would lift it up,
A mighty wing cleaving the uttermost sky,
As a flame, as a living, leaping, deathless flame,
All of my days I would lift up his name.
GIBRAN'S TEARS
By S A. MOKARZEL
j FEEL that I cannot add much to your knowledge of
Gibran the thinker and author, but I may profit of this opportunity to relate to you one of my experiences of Gibran the man,
an experience which has never before been told in print.
It was during the World War in 1916 when Turkey had
sided with the Central European powers, and a naval blockade of
the Syrian coast was being maintained by the Allies. Word
reached us at that time that famine had gripped Syria and that
the population, particularly that of Lebanon, was succombing by
the scores of thousands. An appeal was made to the late Presi-
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TESTIMONIAL DIN NER TO GIBRAN.
^SKo^ka w
H
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Dinner given to the celebrated Syrian poet and artist on the twenty fifth year of his literary and artistic
activities, and held at the Hotel McAlpin, New York, January 5, 1929. .Gibran appears in the center
background to the right of the American flag.
0)
IH
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�_
FEBRUARY, 1929
__
33
dent Wilson to use his good offices with the Turkish government,
with whom the United States had not broken diplomatic relations,
to allow provisions to be sent to the famine-stricken population
as an act of humanity. This the President did and the help of
the American Red Cross was enlisted to provide a ship and provisions. It then devolved upon the Syrians in America to contribute their share towards the relief of their suffering countrymen, and an appeal was made to form a committee to collect
funds. But at the very outset a snag was encountered in choosing
for the committee a name, some holding out for naming it the
Syrian Relief Committee while others were insisting that Lebanon
should be recognized by its independent identity, and the committee named The Syrian Lebanese Relief Committee.
While these deliberations were taking place, extremely valuable time was being lost. Finally a meeting was called of the
leading figures of the community to discuss the situation. The
meeting was held in the offices of Al-Hoda of which I was in
charge at the time, and among those present was Gibran. There
appeared for a time that this last meeting would go the way of
the preceding ones and result in disagreement. Both factions were
obdurate and hope was about to be given up when Gibran rose to
say a word. One could see by the expression of his face that he
was choking with emotion. For here were we quarrelling over a
word while our countrymen in the homeland were dying for lack
of relief. The situation was tense with tragedy and the heart of
Gibran could not suffer its continuation any longer. He was to
make his final appeal to the nobler feelings of the disputants.
But Gibran could hardly speak. There was something
clutching at his throat as he seemed to look into the distance and
vision the thousands of helpless men, women and children, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters all, being stricken by famine and
dying on the highways and byways in their vain search for food.
He stood for some time motionless, then managed to spurt out
only the single sentence:
"My brothers, shall we let them die?"
And Gibran could not control his tears. He sobbed as he
delivered his pathetic appeal. And the effect was miraculous.
Gibran's tears won the day for our people threatened with extermination.
This is an unwritten chapter about Gibran which I feel proud
to relate on this occasion as further illustrating the singular qualities of the man whom we are gathered to honor this evening.
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Sage of Washingto7i Street
ON PERPETUATING THE MOTHER TONGUE
By A. HAKIM
1 HAD a definite question to put to my friend the Sage on the occasion of our last interview. I wanted to get his impressions
on the future prospects of the mother tongue in America and what
he thought of the efforts of some zealots who are raising a cry of
despair over the fact that we are fast losing the knowledge of
Arabic and that our children seem decidedly averse to learning
the language of their parents.
I had given the sage no advance intimation of the subject of
the interview, as I deliberately sought to get his first reactions.
Consequently he was a little slow in venturing an opinion.
After reflecting on my question for a few moments, the
sage began in a simple and characteristic manner.
"Although this is a question that has been discussed in our
native press for some time, I doubt if anyone applying the process of cold reasoning could escape the conclusion that the mother
tongue will die with the first generation and that with its passing
little could the loss be felt. The individual family is the criterion by which the question could be properly judged, and for
the purpose of illustration I will cite my own case.
"Here I am a man of the first generation immigrants, and
one whom some sophisticated persons would call of the old type,
meaning thereby that I am behind the times. Whatever my
personal qualifications to pass judgment on the question on general grounds, I deem myself competent to discuss the trend of
affairs as I see it in my own family. Mine may be cited as the
average Syrian family of the first generation.. I was born abroad
and married here. My children all attend public school and the
effect of public school teaching is the same all over the country.
Consequently, we may safely presume that what applies to my
case properly fits all others in like circumstances.
"Now my children receive their education in English, the
language of the country. Whether in the lower or higher grades
they are required to do intensive work. Subjects of general
""
«'
�FEBRUARY, 1929
35
knowledge are so numerous that they scarcely leave room for
other matters. Even in the higher grades, where children are
given a choice of foreign languages, these languages are chosen
for their utilitarian or cultural advantages. Spanish is considered a valuable commercial language in America because of the
future great possibilities of trade with South American countries. French is viewed in the same light with the additional
scholarly advantages. German was at one time a language of
choice for similar reasons. Aside from these principal languages
no opportunity is afforded in our public schools for the study of
foreign languages. Certainly from the utilitarian point of view
Arabic does not rank even with the lesser European languages.
"Consequently, through the regular available educational
channels of learning, Arabic cannot be acquired. The only two
alternatives remaining are private schools and home teaching.
As regards private schools, I doubt if any father would consent
to sending his children to institutions of extremely limited means
in preference to the public schools which abound with unlimited
facilities. It is as plain as day that the father who thus places
the value of a language of questionable benefit to children in
America above that of the general educational advantages of
public schools would be subjecting his children to irretrievable
loss. Even the parochial schools, with all the power of the
Catholic church to support them, are considered by some parents
of the Catholic faith to lack in educational facilities and advantages as compared with the public schools.
"We now have the remaining alternative of the parents
themselves giving their children home courses in Arabic and
this we will find to be utterly impracticable. In the first place,
only few Syrian parents have the proper qualifications to teach,
as the majortiy have but an elementary knowledge of such a
highly complicated language as classical Arabic. Besides, the
children themselves rebel at the thought because of the necessity
of devoting so much time to their compulsory school^ studies.
The net result being that besides the lack of personal incentive
and interest on the part of the children, they consider the study
of a superfluous language an unwarranted hardship.
"What can be done, and this is the condition which now
generally prevails in Syrian homes, is that the children acquire
a speaking knowledge of the mother language of their parents.
This, I must say, is due more to necessity than to choice. Where
the spoken language of the home is Arabic the children cannot
�msss
36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
fail but acquire a smattering knowledge, but they can never
become sufficiently proficient in it to use as an adequate medium
of expression. They cannot even develop sufficient knowledge
to understand the classical language when it is read or spoken to
them. In fairness, it may be stated that many of those born in
the language fail in this understanding.
"This prompts us to the consideration of the benefits of
learning classical Arabic. Whatever benefits accrue from such
tedious labors as are necessarily required by such study are purely
scholastic. Only those, then, who choose a literary or a highly
specialized educational career are justified in making a full study
of the language, and in this, the Syrian-American would be on
equal standing with the Orientalist, except for the added advantage to the Syrian-American of being closer to the understanding
of the Arab vernacular.
"For the average Syrian boy or girl in America I cannot
but give an illustration of conditions as they exist in my own
house. I have children of various ages, but in one thing they are
all alike—they are naturally inclined to speak English, although
the language of the household is our native tongue. The youngsters who play with their chums in the street come home to speak
the language they find easiest for expression. They demand to
eat the things they see on display in bakery shops and grocery
stores while our native foods have almost to be forced on them.
As for the children of school age they discuss their work not in
the language we speak but in that in which they are being taught.
Their natural tendency is to speak to us in the language which is
easier of expression for them, while if they learn anything of
Arabic, such knowledge is confined to what they cannot escape
learning from our conversation.
"As for myself, I believe that it would do my children no
harm to learn an extra language, especially that the language
of their parents is the easiest of acquisition. In this I recall our
famous Arabic adage that an extra tongue is an extra person.
But I must admit that in this I am going contrary to the natural
current. This is not a matter of sentiment but of cold reason
that other than the native language of the country cannot thrive
in America.
"You being, like myself, an old immigrant, can readily
realize the transformation wrought in our use of the Arabic language within the past two decades. Whereas all our transactions were previously conducted in the mother tongue we now
!
�37
FEBRUARY, 1929
find that they are done almost wholly in English. The business
of our societies is conducted in English. Not one of our commercial establishments but has its books and correspondence kept
in English where such cases were extremely rare not more than
twenty years ago. Even our native churches are finding it necessary to bend to the general trend and partially conduct their
services in English. In many home gatherings the general conversation almost unconsciously shifts to English, especially where
the young Syrian generation is in evidence.
"You see that I am neither American-born nor one whose
native tongue is Engilsh, but 1 consider it poor policy, to say
the least ,to blind one's self to the obvious fact. It is neither in
a spirit of pessimism nor criticism that I give expression to these
beliefs, but rather in the interest of honesty and truth. I believe
it neither possible nor essential to keep the Arabic language alive
in America.
"What I do believe, however, is that we should never permit
ourselves to wane in the appreciation of our racial heritage. The
American nation is composed of different racial strains and to the
end of time history will record this fact and give each race credit
for its special contributions. It should be our ambition to get
our due recognition. Our mother language is not essential to
the attainment of this end.
"Here, where I live, I am in daily touch with people of
different racial origins. This district, as you know, was the original settlement of all new immigrants entering through the port
of New York. The Irish rubs shoulders with the Italian, the
Pole and the Syrian. But in our common dealings we all use
the medium of the English language, while each retains his racial
characteristics. You can as well say this is America in miniature.
In time all trace of foreign languages now spoken in the country
will be obliterated and naught will remain but the memory of
the various racial origins. It would be preposterous on the part
of the Syrians to be an exception to the general rule."
ARABIC PROVERBS
He who fails at a thing abuses it.
He eats with the wolf and keeps tune with the shepherd.
�38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
EDITORIAL COMMENT
AMERICANISM
pEBRUARY first witnessed a
significant event in the life of
America. The President of the
United States journeyed from
the capital to Florida to dedicate
the Bok Carillon and "Singing
Tower" at Mountain Lake, Fla.
which was erected by Edward
W. Bok as a gift to the American people in memory of his
grandparents. President Coolidge, on this occasion, expressed
himself in terms befitting the
high state of spiritual and artistic development of the American people. "The material prosperity of our nation," he declared, "will be of little avail unless
it is translated into a spiritual
prosperity." He then cited an
increasing number of individuals who "have sufficient resources to enable them to minister in a most substantial way to
the humanitarian and artistic
side of life."
Now who is Edward William
Bok who has attained such an
eminent position in the spiritual
and artistic life of the American
people that the President of the
United States journeys to faraway Florida to dedicate in person a bird sanctuary and retreat
he has given the nation? Who
are the grandparents of this outstanding figure in America
whom he so lovingly honors by
dedicating this gift to their
memory?
Edward W. Bok was but a
poor immigrant boy who had
his elementary training in the
American public schools and
rose to the editorship of one of
the most widely circulated periodicals in America. He sought
the opportunity for advancement and made the best of it.
He retired from gainful activities while comparatively young
and is now seeking to devote the
rest of his life to the promotion
of higher culture. He published his autobiography upon retiring and it immediately proved
a best seller because the people
are fascinated by the simple narration of facts depicting the relentless pursuit of an ideal. The
story of Edward W. Bok should
be an inspiration to every American boy, especially those of immigrant stock who should know
of opportunities for advancement available in America.
But the significant thing to us
is that Edward W. Bok should
so revere his grandparents in
thus seeking to perpetuate their
memory. In this Bok sets himself up as the champion among
successful immigrants of the
principle of love and loyalty to
one's ancestors—loyalty in the
sense of keeping alive and in
high esteem their memory while
in no way permitting such devotion to conflict with the higher
ii
�FEBRUARY, 1929 .
!V*
.> ,).
i
39
sense of loyalty to one's adopt- be a strong moral in this action
ed country. In this he pro- of Edward W. Bok. A sense of
pounds the principle that loy- appreciation of our ancestral
alty to one's deserving forebears background cannot fail but
is an inspiration to the newer prompt us to worthy achieveimmigrants in America. It not ment. Such a stimulus is needed
only prompts the scions of wor- for the continuation of progress,
thy ancestors to nobler achieve- especially along the lines of culments but in so doing it brings tural and humanitarian endeavto young America that which is ors. Ours is a history rich in
ennobling and spiritually en- spiritual heritage, the very kind
riching of the influence of past which President Coolidge deems
generations. We believe this so essential that lacking which
last accomplishment of Mr. material prosperity would be of
Bok an outstanding event in the no avail. It would therefore
history of America in that it behoove us to follow in the
translates into a glorious deed footsteps of our ancestors and
the convictions of an individual bear forth the torch left into
on the duty of posterity to their our keeping by them.
So far we have not developed
ancestors. Especially is this siga
Syrian
Edward W. Bok, but
nificant in America where the
nation is drawn from all the ra- we believe we have reached the
cial strains of the Old World. comparative stage of material
Now for Americans of different prosperity, thanks to the opporracial extraction to revere and tunities available for the exerperpetuate the memory of their cise of our native talents in
forebears is but a healthy sign America, where we should deof consciousness of worth. This velop many Boks on a smaller
in turn would be translated into scale. The field is certainly
healthy ambition to emulate the unlimited for thq display_ of
worthy deeds of one's ancestors such proclivities, and principal
and transform that ambition in- among our ambitions should be
to glorious achievement for the propagation and the perpetAmerica, to the end that this uation of "the worthy deeds of
new country of ours shall be- our forebears in such manner as
come the repository and custo- would help properly evaluate
dian of the best traditions and our contribution to America.
the most virile characteristics of It is time we emerge from the
the races of the world, all elementary state of pure perblended into one new, distinct, sonal gain and seek the higher
level of cultural pursuits. We
and ideal cultural whole.
For us Syrians there should should profit by the example of
�40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Bok who, like most of us, represents the first generation immigrants.
Above all, we should be conscious of the fact that we have
a precious racial heritage, one
of the oldest and the best of
which any small nation can boast
and that in keeping alive and
in reverence the memory and
the best traditions of our ancestors we not only do not go counter to the interest of America
but obviously serve it by adding
our contribution to its accumulating national culture. America, as should be made plain,
dees not require us to deny our
origin, but rather expects us to
give it the best that is in us as
loyal and loving citizens. Bringing our share of old culture to
our new homeland is our best
and most valued contribution,
and this we should strive to develop if not by individual testimonials and proofs at least
through our concerted and collective efforts.
and time and all other new phenomena in means of communication and travel which have become so numerous as to cause
little wonder. Our age becomes
therefore, not only the age of
new marvels but one in which
modern science applies itself to
the discovery of old marvels
which had hitherto remained
a secret to man.
At the time of the discovery
of the tomb of Tut Ankh Amen
in Egypt the whole world stood
in amazement. Was it possible
for old civilizations to have attained such a degree of perfection in culture, in the arts and
in science? Then we of this advanced age began to recall that
the ancients, in spite of ever present danger from wars and invasions , had made many valuable discoveries which are now
lost to the world. The Egyptians and Phoenicians share equal
honors in this respect. It follows that, we still have much to
learn from searching the past
as we have to expect in looking
ANTIQUITIES
to the future.
£)ISCOVERY of relics threeThe Gobi desert has yielded
thousand years old or more some valuable finds which help
are now being treated as impor- to clear the early history of man
tant news of the day. In Iraq, but no part of the world can
as well as in Palestine and other ever rival that small section of
parts of Syria, many important Asia and Africa bordering on
archaelogical discoveries are the southeastern tip of the Mebeing made which are not only diterranean. And paramount
of great significance to students in importance among these lands
of history but form as interest- is Syria which comprises; Palesing a part of our daily reading tine, Lebanon, the Phoenicia of
as Einstein's theories of space old, and the Syrian hinterland.
MMHHi Mi
'•
�FEBRUARY, 1929
41
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microeoamic picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but whereTtr
Arabic dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking
writers who are treating the different problems that confront tha Arabicspeaking world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take
no part in the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our
task will simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and
with utmost sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed in these editorials.
Editor.
rienced European Prince who would
be of proven loyalty to Lebanon is
Now that Emir George Lutfallah a thousand times more preferable as
has arrived in Beirut and is again a governor for life over the country
being spoken of as a possible candi- than any native aspirant devoid of
date for the Presidency of the Re- these qualifications.
public, we wish to reiterate our forWe have repeatedly proclaimed
mer assertions that this Emir should that the best form of government
never be considered for such a post. for Lebanon would be a constituLutfallah was not born in Lebanon tional monarchy in which the incumand it is nowhere pernrssible in the bent would be elected for life but
constitutions of civilized nations for deprived of the right of succession
a foreigner to aspire to the Presi- to his he'rs. This would follow the
dency of the country. Lutfallah could lines of the Papacy or the Patriarseek Lebanese citizenship and if any chates of the East and would be
of his children proves worthy then more in conformity with the tradithe child could claim the right to tions and psychology of the people.
the presidency, otherwise the wisest We would not, however, press this
course for Lutfallah to follow is to point at the present time in order to
invest his large fortune in the eco- prove to our opponents that we abide
nomic rehabilitation of the country by the will of the majority.
which would bring him more honor
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Jan. 9, 1929.
than any political office.
It has been our contention right
along that if a foreigner is to be
IRAQ IN THE LEAGUE
placed at the head of the Lebanese
OF NATIONS
State it is best that such Prince be
a European, preferably a FrenchThe British member of the League
man. We cannot but admit that the
election of a native Prince would of Nations Council has openly reclead to endless complications. We ommended the entry of Iraq in the
have not yet developed the art of League. The League, it is also regovernment to the point of parity ported, sees the necessity of the
with the Europeans. It naturally continuation of the British mandate
in Iraq for many more years.
follows that a wealthy and expe-
THE PRESIDENCY OF LEBANON
�r-
42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The British mandate in Iraq began exercise the privilege of the vote we
simultaneously with that of the find them failing in seeking political
French in Syria. A comparison of offices. Judging by what we read
;
administrative progress in the two of the political prom nence of some
countries discloses, however, a wide of our countrymen in South Amerdivergence of conditions. Iraq 'has ican countries who have been elected
achieved a stable form of govern- to high offices of power and trust, we
ment, while Syria is still being sub- see no reason why they should not
jected to successive experiments. The meet with the same fortunes in the
latest in the way of administrative United States.
We have often advocated the nepolicy is the proposed further division of the country by making the cessity of more application to politiNorth, or the Aleppo district, inde- cal activities in our adopted counpendent of the South, or the district try, and a corresponding decrease in
of Damascus. This ;s but another our interest in the political fortunes
move to weaken the Nationalist de- of our motherland. It should not be
mands for administrative reform and inferred, however, that we are in fathwart the designs of the f ramers cf vor of forgetting altogether the
country of our birth. On the conthe Constitution.
We further discover that the Iraqis trary, we believe in the necessity of
have often used their prerogative as the continuance of such interest but
an independent nation and openly not along political lines.
The main object of our Syn"anopposed the English in their debates
-Ameiican
societies should be the proin Parliament. The Iraqis had no
fear of the British High Commis- motion of the welfare of the race in
sioner in demanding their just rights. America primarily. With the creaThe British, however, did not resort tion of such societies in every popto the extreme measure of proro- • u'ous center we would have the nuguing the Iraqi Parliament, nor did cleus of a powerful body both for
they seek to weaken the country by defense against our racial status in
dividing it into many small units, or case of necessity, and for accelershackle the deputf.es and deport them ating the Americanization movement.
to distant places of exile. _ On the These units should in turn be federcontrary, we now see the British ad- ated so that the general objects of
vocating the admission of Iraq in the different representative bodies
might be better attained.
the League of Nations.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., Jan.26,1929.
Considering the above, we are
prompted to ask: When will there be
a stable form of government in Syria, CHARLES CRANE AS A
FRIEND OF THE ARABS
or France redeem her many promises
Mr.
Charles
Crane is described as
and seek to have Syria admitted to
the
friend
of
all
the Arabs without
the League of Nations?
distinction.
The
attack
on his party
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y., Jan., 1929.
lately, in which one of his missionary compamons was killed, proves
IMMIGRANTS IN POLITICS
that he has enemies among his supNo less than seventy-five per cent, posed friends.
It is said that the friend of all is
of our countrymen are naturalized
the
enemy of all, and this may well
American citizens, and although they
Ii!i
�—
FEBRUARY, 1929
HI I
I
II
\
V<
h
apply to Mr. Crane in that he cannot bo the friend of all the Arabs
while they are torn by bitter factional strife and each of their leaders considers the friend of his enemy
his own enemy.
Mr. Crane is undoubtedly guilty
of wrong judgment when he thinks
he can be the friend of Ibn Saoud
and of Imam Yahya at the same
time. The two are wrestling for
supremacy in Arabia and it should
be but natural for each to look with
disfavor upon anyone maintaining
friendly relations with his opponent.
We wish to tell Mr. Crane that
the Arabs are capable of both love
and hate. They can be loyal and
true, but do not hesitate to take revenge when wronged. Now if you
wish to be the friend of all you must
beware of all, because the Arab chieftain is a jealous friend and will give
his undivided loyalty only to those
who prove wholly loyal to him.
As-Sayeh, N. Y., Jan. 29, 1929.
REFORM IN AFGHANISTAN
The revolt in Afghanistan against
the reforms introduced by King Amanullah is due to the reactionary influences still predonrnant in that
country. In this respect Afghanistan
is unlike Turkey, let alone the fact
that King Amanullah made the mistake of resorting to the same methods employed by the Ghazi Mustapha Kamal Pasha, not realizing the
difference in the psychology of the
Turkish and the Afghan peoples.
Nevertheless, and in spite of the
fact that Amanullah was defeated
in his first attempt, his effort will
go down in history as a glorious experiment. He will be remembered
as one who sought to benefit his people by the introduction of modern
reforms. The sincerity of his purpose is above question, but his only
43
mistake was that of applying force
where the subjects were not ready
for a peaceable change.
As-Sayeh, N. Y., Jan. 20, 1929.
HARMFUL CUSTOMS
Some of us are wont to boast of
their old customs to the extent of
blinding themselves to the ugly and
incompatible in them. They think
that adherence to their old, inherited
practices are a sign of healthy conservatism and stability of character.
They fail to see, however, that some
imported customs are unsuited to our
times and our new environment. An
Oriental, for instance, believes the
place of woman to be in the home
and that her only usefulness in life
is to cater to the comfort and pleasure of the man. Men who hold such
antiquated beliefs refuse to consider
the inev;table process of evolution
which has placed woman on a different scale than that formerly prevailing. A wife in this age cannot be
considered a slave, nor the daughters mere chattel whose father can
deprive them of all liberty of action.
Just imagine the father who would
prevent his daughter from bobbing
her hair, or wearing short skirts,
and see what place he occupies in
this modern age.
This is not meant as an indictment of all our customs. Undoubtedly we have many commendable
ones to which we should adhere. But
our objection is to the retention of
harmful customs to which some of
us are wont to adhere only through
sentimental reasons and out of all
consideration for the changing times.
Such views should not be held in
this country and age, and it would
be well for those who still cling to
them to give a little thought to their
new surroundings and conditions.
As-Sayeh, N. Y., Jan. 28, 1929.
�I
44
FEBRU.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Readers' Forum
STRONG DEFENSE
OF SYRIAN PARENTS
Their Criticism Held Unjustified
Impartial Opinion of American Social Worker Cited in Praise
of Syrian Home Life
Editor, The Syrian World,
•yHE younger generation has been
flinging its challenge to the older
generation quite consistently in the
"Syrian World." Some of the controversialists would fit very comfortably in that class of the younger
generation which, in the words of
the writer, Mr. Reuben Maury, six
or seven years ago, was about to set
our world ablaze and which, at last
report, was still striking matches.
To see publicly printed unqualified statements belittling Syrian
fathers and mothers in general is
startling. Even less flattering must
be the effect on readers of other nationalities. To honor even in a very
small way the splendid manner in
which Syrians have acted in their
capacity as parents is far more important than counteracting the exaggerated statements of the "match
strikers."
The younger generation, meaning,
of course, those of Syrian descent,
has developed a psychosis like the
Siamese twins. The similarity lies
in the juxtaposition of two channels
of conduct and the impossibility of
totally disuniting them. The conduct of the younger generation is divided into the channel of the Syrian
ultra-conservative ideas of ethics,and
that of the American liberal belief
in the freedom of the individual.
The astringency of Syrian interpretation of right and wrong makes
it seem, in principle, impossible to
deviate from the ultra-conservative
far enough to acquire the freedom
of the American mode of living and
thinking. Because the younger generation wishes the older generation's
approval of the manner in which
other young people are living, and
because it can not revolt entirely
from accepted ethical standards
(any more than society at large can
revolt from them) it flings its challenges and "calls names."
It is not unlikely that the hopes
of the fondest believers in the individual's right to self-expression
have been surpassed. Since the war
the so-called narrow path of right
L;ving seems to have widened into a
five-line speedway. "C'est la guerre"
has been the proper explanation for
many queer changes which have come
about. There are, undoubtedly, many
parents of other nationalities who
are as unwilling as Syrian parents
to accept all the changes. They are
the intelligent parents who consider
and weigh, else they would not have
given these matters any thought.
The young man, who shouldered a
gun and went forth to the worst kind
of a war the world has ever witnessed, must certainly have come
back from the battlefield with a bit
of indifference to the smugness of a
peaceful civilization's ethical standards. Having sensed the uncertainty
of his own existence, he commences
to assume that all life is an uncer-
I
'II
>2\
tainty and
The you
was throw
man's worl
inevitably
this equal
dependenc
the young
communic
of the yoi
commence
everythini
mence to
This ur
tween the
tinue to i
become tr
been tauj
tude of <
its wake
tified in
freedom.
It was
write ths
abroad h
their pai
blood an
What m
and all i
to those
gardless
it can i
which it
appear t
of educi
heads oi
ity whic
of blood
Whenev
had the
career,
rents, w
the pro
have be
nity be>
Miss
undue ;
she mat
Syrian
�FEBRUARY, 1929
45
nationalities, etc. We are certain
tainty and not worth the struggle.
The young woman, in whose path that the persons unworthy of parentwas thrown the opportunity to do a hood do not flourish among the Syrman's work and who did it well, must ians. Why such a general outpourinevitably find herself clothed by ing of hate? An unbiased opinion
this equality in the garment of in- may be more acceptable and such an
dependence. The attitude of both opinion was had from a social work
the young man and woman has been leader, an American. She was escommunicated even to the youngest pecially qualified to judge Syrians
of the younger generation. And we as a group as she worked extensively
commence to think that we know with a large Syrian population of
everything, and our parents com- moderate means. She stated that
her organization held Syrians in
mence to frown.
the
highest esteem; that charitable
This unsettled state of affairs beassistance
had rarely been sought by
tween the two generations will conthem;
and
that
very few family quartinue to exist until the younger has
rels
had
even
been known. As for
become the older generation, and has
the
Syrian
girl
who 'hates her parbeen taught by time and the multients,
I
have
never
had the misfortude of experience which comes in
its wake that our parents were jus- tune to meet such a queer creature.
tified in disapproving an unlimited If any of them have nothing to live
for, it is due to their own shortsightfreedom.
It was amusing of J. M. Abbott to edness.
Most of the younger generation
write that "children of persons born
interpret
American life as meaning
abroad have little in common with
the
going
nightly to theaters, nighttheir parents . . . but the bonds of
clubs
and
public dances, and an inblood and filial and paternal love."
discriminate
choice of friendships
What more would he have? Any
for
the
sake
of
having many. The
and all other bonds are subservient
theaters
have
a
high place in our
to those which he mentions. Resocial
and
educational
life, but they
gardless of the greatness of a part,
are
not
above
reproach.
They are
it can never exceed the whole of
being
criticized
freely
for
the laxwhich it is a mere part. What would
ity
of
their
standards.
The
nightappear to a true scholar only a drop
clubs
are
for
jaded
appetites,
which
of education is enough to fill the
are
not
desirable.
Public
dance
halls
heads of some people with the vannever
will
be
proper
places
to
Syrity which makes them forget bonds
ian
parents
in
general,
and
discrimiof blood relationship and filial love.
Whenever we see a child,«who has nating persons know that nothing is
had the advantages of an educational lost by not going to them.
If Miss. Soloman will look about
career, which was denied to his paher,
she will see that her American
rents, we wonder only how unlimited
girl
friends, who have attended so
the progress of the parents might
many
dances and with, perhaps, a
have been, had the child's opportudifferent
escort to each, are no more
nity been his.
Miss Mary Soloman is taking an content than she. There is an uncerundue privilege in her letter when tainty about the permanency of their
she makes the general statement that friendships because the equality
Syrian girls hate their parents, their which Miss Soloman advocates so
�-
sacassEsness:
46
THE SYRIAN WORLD
strongly usually results in a certain
levity.
There is another interpretation of
freedom and right living which is acceptable to the older generation.
The attending of worth-while plays,
of concerts; the cultivation of worthwhile friendships; the entertaining
of them at home and the being entertained by them in their homes;
all these are acceptable. That is a
part of American life which is usually overlooked.
Equal'ty does not necessarily enhance a girl's charms. If the truth
were revealed, the hospitality of her
parents' home (more likely her
mother's good cooking) have made
a deep impression on her admirer.
As for the Syrian young man who
likes to have flappers for his friends,
he should be wise enough to know
that he can find any number of them
of Syrian extraction.
Hate our parents? On the contrary, we love them because they
look as seriously upon the sacredness of their obligations to their
children as they do upon their right
to teach them what constitutes right
and wrong. They belong to that
class of parents which is found all
over the world, and which believes
that conservatism is necessary to the
welfare of mankind, even if stifling
to the individual's pleasure. If there
were more like our Syrian parents,
there would be no need for Juvenile
Courts, Divorce Courts, and the increasing number of private schools
wlrch must serve as homes, as well.
Syrian social cancer and social evil.
Call it that if you will. We call the
guidance of Syrian parents good
American citizenship.
E. K. SALOOMEY.
Bridgeport, Conn.
IN DEFENSE OF THE SYRIAN
GIRL
Editor, The Syrian World:
In your January issue, Mary
Soloman's article made me very indignant.
Many of her views are wrong and
quite Moslem, or she must have
some sort of a complex.
Girls are not coerced into marriage
and how she gets that way I'm sure
I don't know. She is fifty years behind the times! Maybe she means
by following modern customs free
love, companionate marriage, divorce, etc. It is a known fact that
America leads in the number of divorces.
The one case she cites is nothing,
and cannot be taken against our race,
Kow many May and December marriages are there in this country? Is
the girl compelled to marry then?
You girls who are dissatisfied, why
not analyze yourselves. Aren't you
allowed to go to shows, parties, entertainments of all kinds? Boys are
allowed to visit you in your homes
—am I not right? The thing that
you girls are hollering about is "The
right to go out with boys at will."
Do you realize that among nations
the Syrians are one of the cleanest?
It is a great exception if one of our
girls goes wrong. Is that not enough
to make you grrls proud and hold
your heads just a litt'e higher?
Do not get ths idea that I am a
girl from the old country. I was
born and educated in this country.
I have gone through high, and when
I saw what girls did to be popular,
I decided I'd much rather be a mouse
than do as they did. My people are
very liberal w^'th us, that is they allow us everything except going out
with every Tom, Dick and Harry.
FEBRV
Nothing i
tions of e
among us
am so gla
, ally we
whom w
chance ac
No Syr
her own
respected
superior
fact. He
she is ai
her incr
Come
about ox
They are
Hold yo
race con
for the
divorces
By a
Adams,
ADV1
Editor,
Of al
kim ha
Washin
marriai
Its i
that it
affectii
also tl
which
ever si
mothei
The
old fa;
bands
and sc
they i
in an
�FEBRUARY, 1929
the one in which they were brought
up themselves.
Some parents, however, are broadminded enough to admit the fact,
but will not allow their children to
pract'ee modern ways.
In this I believe they are about
half right.
In the first place, the older Syrians want to have their sons and
daughters intermarry within their
own people and therefore object to
having their children chum around
with strangers, especially their
daughters, because their sons are
given more freedom.
Now, at times, it is almost a necessity for a Syrian girl to step out.
If she is in the business world,
she may be benefited. If she goes to
school she must step out at times or
she ;s apt to be an outcast.
EDNA SHAKAR.
But the majority of the older SyrAdams, Mass.
ians just don't undertand, or else
they don't try to.
On the other hand, if a girl is allowed her freedom she should not
ADVICE TO SYRIAN GIRLS
abuse it. We Syrian girls must keep
our good reputation.
Editor, The Syrian World:
Of course "character is what we
Of all the topics which Mr. A. Ha- really are, but reputation is what
kim has discussed in his "Sage of people think we are."
Washington Street" the problem of
The two are important factors in
marriage is the most important.
our lives, and I conscientiously beIts importance is due to the fact lieve that most Syrian girls possess
that it is of universal application them.
affecting the race as a whole. It is
Finally, it must be admitted that
also the one great problem with
our parents were brought up in
which the Syrians have had d:fficuUy their mother country to maturity
ever since they migrated from the:r and therefore it is hard for them to
mother country.
adjust themselves to entirely new
The older Syrians still cling to the customs, so we must make the best
old fashioned idea of choosing hus- of the s;tuation.
bands and wives for the;r daughters
RUBY NAKFOOR.
and sons, regardless of the fact that
they are bringing up the-'r children
in an antirely different country than Lansing, Mich.
Nothing is done secretly and questions of every sort are thrashed out
among us. Perhaps that is why 1
am so glad I am a Syrian. Occasionally we go out with Syrian boys
whom we know but never with
chance acquaintances and strangers.
No Syrian girl need fear a boy of
her own race. She is most highly
respected by them, nor do they feel
superior to her. That I know for a
fact. He realizes how morally clean
I she is and his respect and love for
her increases.
Come on, g:rls, don't grumble
about our people holding us back.
They are doing it for your own good.
Hold your heads 'high and let our
race continue to be first on the list
for the cleanest morals and fewest
divorces.
By a Modern Syrian Girl.
I
47
�48
SYRIANS IN ARGENTINA
MASSACRED FOR REVENGE
Can Such a Report of a Syrian
Newspaper Be True?
Editor, The Syrian World:
I was deeply interested in an article appearing in Byblos under date
of October 21st last which narrates
an incident in which an official of the
Argentinian Government, against
whom some Syrian had complained
to his superior officers, retaliated by
the cruel and barbarous method of
murdering some of our countrymen,
including women and children.. The
article continued that Syrians in Argentina approached the French consul in Buenos Aires and requested
him to take appropriate action to
have the offender punished and to
prevent a recurrence of such savagery. It was hoped that the Consul
would do his utmost to obtain some
redress in this matter. It appears
that no official notice of the incident had been taken by the Republic
of Mt. Lebanon or by the French
Government which holds a mandate
over Syria from the League of Nations. If this is really the situation,
cannot we Syrians who are living in
friendly countries where freedom
reigns, urge and assist our people at
home in obtaining official representation in all the leading countries of
the world so that any similar happening which might occur in the future will be speedily and effectively
dealt with? To say the least about
the matter, it seems unfortunate
that when our countrymen residing
in a foreign country are the victims
of the brutal savagery of some Government, our native country does
not immediately raise a protest and
THE SYRIAN WORLD
take strong measures to prevent a
repetition of the brutality, and that
it should be left to a society of Syrians in some other country to beg
of the French Consul to do someth-'ng. This state of things should
not be allowed to continue. Our country may be under the control of a
mandatory power^ but surely the
Syrian people are entitled to the ordinary protection enjoyed by other
nationals throughout the world, and
we should not be expected to stand
silently by while our brothers and
sisters are ignominiously treated and
even massacred by officious servants
of a fore;gn government.
Although the Syrians living in
New Zealand are only a handful compared with the number of their countrymen residing in U. S. A., they feel
this situation keenly and will do
everything possible in assisting $ieir
brothers in the homeland in securing official recognition and representation in other countries. If the government at present controlling Syria
cannot offer adequate protectfon to
the Syrians abroad we must alter the
existing state of things or seriously
consider surrendering ourselves body
and soul to France or some other
Power.
I sincerely trust that there will
be a movement on the part of all my
countrymen throughout the world to
ensure that we will have the ordinary protection and freedom at present enjoyed by other nations less important than ourselves.
S. MATTAR.
Foxton, New Zealand.
Correspondents are requested to
send their communications typewritten and double spaced on one
side of the sheet only.
I
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FEBRUARY, 1929
49
Political Developments in Syria
sioner had been in Paris a long time
THE HIGH COMMISSIONER
RETURNS TO SYRIA during which he was in constant
touch with the Foreign Office seeking
M. Henri Ponsot, the French High
to reach a favorable solution of the
Commissioner for Syria, returned to
Syrian question, and while still in
his post the latter part of December.
Paris Premier Poincare made his
He came overland from Egypt and
momentous declaration of policy as
his arrival in Beirut was almost unregards Syria, reiterating former
expected and void of all demonstraassertions that France intends to retions, he having sent instructions in
main in the country to carry out the
advance that he wished his arrival
mandate of the League of Nations
to be as unostentatious as possible.
regardless of all charges of coloniNaturally, religious dignitaries
zation, inasmuch as Syria would be
and civil officials flocked to pay their
open to exactly such a fate from
respects to the High Commissioner
other powers if France were to reimmediately upon his arrival, all belinquish its hold upon it. It may
ing anxious to learn from him the
be safely stated, considering (the
nature of his new policy for the adabove mentioned developments, that
ministrative and economic reforms
M. Ponsot returns to Syria with a
in the country, but the High Comdefinite program reached after long
missioner adhered strictly to his forand mature deliberation with a govmer policy of reticence, or he may
ernment conscious of its power in the
have sworn those in whom he conChamber of Deputies.
fided to absolute secrecy.
But what this program is M. PonBoth government officials and repsot has so far succeeded in keeping
resentatives of the Nationalist Party
a closed secret. At best one has to
in Damascus hastened also to visit
take the statements of persons close
the High Commissioner in Beirut,
to the French Foreign Office but who,
and some of the latter were in connevertheless, do not speak with defiference with him for several hours,
but the nature of their conversa- nite authority.
The most plausible of such reports
tions was not made public. It was
is that which is sa<d to have been
reported that M. Ponsot intended to
given by a high French official to a
visit Damascus in person immediprominent Syrian politician visiting
ately upon complying with some necin Paris, outlining the new program
essary formalities.
of the French High Commissioner in
While M. Ponsot maintains his
Syria as follows:
characteristic silence, it is futile to
1 Strict adherence to the letter
attempt a forecast of the future poand
spirit of the mandate of the
litical events in Syria. No date has
League
of Nations to France for the
been announced so far for reconvengovernment
of Syria.
ing the Constituent Assembly, nor
2—A
most
liberal attitude towards
has any official intimation been given
the
aspirations
and demands of the
of the nature of the propositions
Syrian
Nationalists.
France intends to make to the Syrian
3 Agreement to the creation of a
Nationalists. The Higb. Commis-
�50
national army on condition that it be
officered by the French.
4—Syria to be granted the right
of foreign representation on the understanding that such representation
rest on a basis of cooperation between the representatives of Syria
and Lebanon and those of the French
Republic abroad.
5—The present administrative divisions of the country to remain
strictly along their existing lines.
6—Adjustment of the budget for
both Syria and Lebanon.
7—Inauguration of a progressive
program of economic rehabilitation
for the country under mandate.
Meanwhile, some disturbances are
reported to have taken place in Damascus following the return of M.
Ponsot which manifested themselves
principally in attacks upon editors of
Nationalist papers. Three such attacks are reported to have occurred
in as many successive days, prompting the leader of the Nationalists to
send a telegraphic protest to the
High Comm'ssioner.
Little has been heard during the
month of the progress of the movement for constitutional monarchy.
Wh?.t appears evident is that the Nationalists have almost complete control over the country, and inasmuch
as they are not in favor of a monarchical form of government, all efforts along this l;ne are looked upon
as a sort cf harmless diversion.
THE SITUATION IN LEBANON
The principal subject of discussion
in the politics of Lebanon during the
past month has centered on the political aspirations of Emir George
Lutfallah. The Emir arrived in Beirut shortly before the High Commissioner, he having also come from
Paris where he had spent several
months ostensibly seeking to pro-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
mote his political ambitions. Upon
his arrival he met several prominent
politicians and paid a formal visit
to the Maronite Patriarch who received him with all manifestations
of courtesy and encouraged him in
his proposed economic projects for
the rehabilitation of the country. The
Patriarch, however, made it plain
that any political activity on the part
of the Emir would be looked upon
with disfavor. Nor did the Emir display any interest along this line.
Coincid'ng wth the arrival in Beirut of Emir Lutfallah, many reports
appeared in the local press on the
proposal to re-elect the present President of the Republic for another
term. An interview with the venerable Maronite Patriarch represented
him as being in favor of this move
although President Charles Dabbas
is Orthodox.
The project to build a railroad running from Tripoli to Nakora along
the Lebanon coast has been definitely abandoned. This line would have
supplied the missing link for through
rail communications between Europe
and Egypt. Such an object, however,
was not considered commensurate
with the cost, inasmuch as the government refused to issue the franchise to private interests.
The Lebanese people and government are greatly concerned over the
prospective terminus on the Mediterranean of the Mosul petroleum p;pe
line. The government has addressed
a strong petition to the French
Cabinet pointing out the vital importance to Syria and Lebanon of
having the terminus in their territory, while from Palestine comes the
report that England will insist on
making Haifa the terminus and that
she is being supported in this view
by Turkey.
: :|
�FEBRUARY, 1929
51
About Syria and Syrians
boundary line of Syria a salvo was
fired from the guns of the" fort at
Maisaloon in honor of the deceased.
In Damascus, the seat of the PaSyrian and Lebanese Governments triarchate, the demonstrations were
Participate Officially in Funeral
even greater than those which took
place in Beirut, and for another two
The death on December 11 of the days the body lay in state in the
late Patriarch Gregory Haddad of Cathedral while great throngs filed
the Orthodox Church in Syria was by day and n'ght and services were
the occasion for such demonstrations held in which representatives of all
of public grief as the country never religious denominations eulogized
witnessed before, according to re- the dead Patriarch as a great religious and patriotic leader.
ports of the Syrian press.
The death of the Patriarch having
In the United States memorial
occurred in Suq El-Gharb, Lebanon, services were held for the Patriarch
his body was brought to Beirut, in all the Syrian Orthodox Churches.
where it lay in state for two days, Principal among these obsequies was
before it was taken to Damascus the requiem mass held in the Antifor burial. The funeral cortege was ochian Cathedral in Brooklyn on Jancomposed of 267 coaches to which uary 27, which was followed by a
was added upon its arrival in the cap- memorial service at which spoke repital a long procession of public of- resentatives of all religious denomificials and religious and civic orga- nations as well as members of the
nization. Of the latter no less than Orthodox faith. Archbishop Victor
sixty were represented in the line of Aboasaly presided, while Mr. Nicola
march. The government of Lebanon Khouri introduced the speakers,
declared a day of public mourning among whom were Archimandrite
and all activities in the ctiy were Eernardos Ghosn, pastor of the Melsuspended. The foreign consuls in chite Catholics of New York; Dr. K
the city joined the funeral proces- A. Bishara, minister of the Syrian
s;on along with the highest govern- Piotestant church in Brooklyn; Salment officials and representatives of loum A. Mokarzel, editor of tte Syrthe French authorities.
ian World; Archimandrite Hannama
While the body of the Patriarch Ka?sab, and Rev.. Gafraol Berro fo
was still in Beirut the Provisional the Cathedral clergy; Nagib Badran,
President of Syria came in person to editor of the Syrian Eagle: ToufiK
Beirut to offer his sympathy in the Kakhr, Assad Mudarry, Moussa
name of his government and escort Khouri and Alexander Fakhr.
the body to Damascus. All along the
Similar services wer.; reported to
route of march there were delegahave been held in every Syrian Ortions from every town to escort the
thodox community <n the United
procession within their own boundaStates and other countries, proving
ries ,and when the body reached the
SYRIA MOURNS DEATH
OF ORTHODOX PATRIARCH
�—
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52
the extent of deep sorrow the death
of tihis great Patriarch has occasioned among the Syrians in general all
over the world.
GIBRAN HONORED AT
A TESTIMONIAL DINNER
Syrians Show Pride in Writer Who
Has Brought Honor to Race
Gibran Kahlil Gibran, author of
"The Prophet," "Jesus the Son of
Man," and many other notable works,
was tendered a testimonial dinner by
his Syrian admirers at the Hotel McAlpin in New York on January 5 on
the occasion of the twenty-fifth year
of his literary and artistic activities.
The sponsors of this admirable gesture of pride and appreciation were
the members of the Arrabitah, the
literary society of which Gibran is
president. The attendance was about
two hundred drawn from the best
elements of the Syrian community.
Copies of a beautiful souvenir book
autographed by Gibran and containing choice extracts of his Arabic writings covering his whole literary career, were distributed to the guests.
All speeches with the exception of
three were in Arabic. There were
also many original poems composed
erpressly for the occasion.
Mr. Wm. Catzeflis presided. The
speakers included Michael Naimy,
Dr. Philip K. Hitti, Dr. Elias Mussallem, Dr. Najib Barbour, Richard
Ayoub, Salloum A. Mokarzel who
also read a poem by the American
poetess, Barbara Young, composed
for the occasion; Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin, H. I. Katibah, Elias Atallah,
Rashid Abdelnour, Nassib Arida, Jo-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
seph N. Maloof, Nadra Haddad,
Milhem Saidah, Jamil P. Holway,
Milhem Hawy and A. A. Haddad.
Upon introducing the guest of
honor, the toastmaster presented him
with a specially bound copy of the
souvenir book of his writings, explaining that it was an expression
of the appreciation and admiration
of his fellow countrymen now gathered to honor him. With visible emotion Gibran then spoke of his pride
in his race and in most appropriate
terms expressed his deep gratitude
for the honor thus shown him.
Many telegrams as well as floral
and other gifts were received from
numerous organizations and individuals from many parts of the
United States. Cables were also received from Syria, Egypt and other
parts of the world where the genius
of Gibran is known and appreciated.
BRAZILIAN WOMEN
RETURNED FROM SYRIA
In an official statement issued by
the Brazilian Foreign Office it was
stated that the number of Brazilian
women in Syria and Lebanon married to men of the Moslem faith does
not exceed four, and that their conditions are not such as to warrant apprehension. The statement also explained that the government had
taken the necessary steps for the
prevention of the recurrence of such
unfortunate incidents in the future.
Readers of the Syrian World will
recall that the plight of these and
other South American women in
Syria had been the subject of much
comment in the Syrian and South
American press. Explanations had
to be made that the men to whom
these women were married were all
ji
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�•
FEBRUARY, 1929
•'
I
)
of the Moslem faith who believed in
polygamy and upon their return to
their native country took to themselves other wives of their own kind,
which fact gave rise to complaints on
the part of their American wives.
From Argentina, however, comes
the report that Sr. Albert Candioti,
former Argentinian consul in Syria
who has been recalled by his government, asserts that there are no less
than a hundred Argentinian women
married to men of the Moslem faith
in Syria and Lebanon who all complain of their uncongenial conditions.
The consul stresses the fact that such
conditions do not prevail among the
Syrian and Lebanese Christians, and
that the Argentinian women married
to Mohammedans should have first
inquired into the religious and social beliefs of their husbands. During the year and a half which the
consul spent at his post in Syria he
had ample opportunity to study and
appreciate the true situation.
Announcement was made at the
same time that the Argentinian consulate in Syria had been closed permanently.
53
DINNER PLANNED IN
HONOR OF RIHANI
At the invitation of the editor of
the Syrian World, the principal Syrian societies in New York have
agreed to sponsor collectively a reception and dinner in honor of the
noted Syrian writer and traveler, Mr.
Ameen Rihani, now visiting in the
city.
The societies cooperating to give
the dinner under their joint auspices
in the name of the Syrian community
of the city are the American Syrian
Federation, the Book Club, Damascus
Fraternity, the Syrian Junior League
and the Syrian Educational Society.
Representing these different organizations on the General Committee
are the following: Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin, Sabri Andria, Elias J. Audi,
Michel A. Dahood, Miss Najla Dowaliby, Mrs. Joseph W. Ferris, Joseph W. Ferris, Abraham K. Hitti,
James B. Holway, Nasib K. Kalaf,
Habib I. Katibah, Albert H. Macksoud, Miss Mary Milkie, Dr. Fouad
A. Shatara and Salloum A. Mokarzel.
The dinner is to be held at the Hotel Commodore Saturday. March 2.
Mrs. Joseph W. Ferris was appointed chairman of the committee
on arrangements and Mr. A. K. Hitti,
NEW SYRIA PARTY
HOLDS ANNUAL CONVENTION treasurer.
The subscription is $5.00 and resAn announcement by the general ervations can be made through Mrs.
secretary of the New Syria Party in Joseph W. Ferris, 106 Prospect Park
the United States which was organ- West, Brooklyn, N. Y.
zed to support the Syrian revolution,
An opportunity to meet the guest
stated that this year's convention of of honor will be afforded at a recepthe party would be held in Chicago tion which will precede the dinner.
instead of Detroit. Unlike the convention of last year, no delegation
from abroad is attending the present SYRIAN BACTERIOLOGIST
CONTRIBUTES TO SCIENCE
gathering, there having developed internal differences within the party
At the thirtieth annual meeting
abroad which made it advisable to of the Society of American Bactewithhold invitations from the two riologists held at Richmond Va., Deopposing factions.
�54
cember 27-29, 1928, Mr. George
Knaysi the well-known Syrian bacteriologist connected with Cornell
University, whom readers of the Syrian World know by his past contributions to this publication, read two
valuable papers entitled "Remarks
on two modes of cell division in bacteria" and "A preliminary note on
the cytology of mycobacterium tuberculosis" which were printed in the
January, 1929, issue of the Journal
of Bacteriology, the official organ of
the national organization.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
those pledges which should be sacred
to the American people and government.
,
Mr. Crane evaded on these occasions touching on politics and confined his remarks to the spiritual
leadership of Palestine which has
left such a deep impress on human
progress and urged his hearers to
work towards the retention of their
position of leadership in the spiritual domain.
A SYRIAN'S HONOR
GREAT RECEPTION TO
CRANE IN PALESTINE
On his way to Arabia, where press
dispatches reported his having been
attacked by raiding Arabs and one
of his party killed, Mr. Charles
Crane, member of the King-Crane
Commission to Syria and noted
friend of the Arabs, visited Jerusalem, Bethlehem and other cities of
Palestine where he was received
with great demonstrations of enthusiasm. In Jerusalem he was tendered
a reception by Haj Ameen Hossaini,
President of the High Islamic Council and escorted by him to the Mosque
of Al-Aqsa where Mr. Crane is reported to have greatly admired the
beautiful work of the early Arab
architects. The day of his arrival in
Jerusalem was designated by the
Arabic press as "Crane Day" and in
the public receptions held in honor
of the visitor he was eulogized as
the friend and benefactor of the race.
A note of disappointment, however,
was evident in some of the speeches
over the failure of the plan of the
late President Wilson upon which the
Arabs had built their hopes for independence. They appealed to Mr.
Crane to use his influence to redeem
By the Hon. Wm. Lathrop Love
(In his dealings with the Syrians
Senator Love, of Brooklyn, who is
also a highly respected member of
the medical profession, has come to
intimately know and appreciate
them. We are glad to reprint from
the Evening Graphic of January 10
this public testimony by Dr. Love
of one side of the Syrian's character.
—Editor.)
In my senatorial district I have
quite a few Syrian voters. I have
spoken at several of their functions
and have admired the distinct contributions that they make to good
citizenship. They are an honest,
industrious, hard-working people,
and very rarely does one go wrong
and get enmeshed in the toils of
the law.
,
I have seen few Syrians in the
prisons of this state. They impress
me as a home-loving people, and
the'r women, with the jet-black hair
and large brown eyes, are particularly attractive and beautiful. The
Syrian men cherish a high standard
of honor for their women.
I remember a particularly sad
case that I saw in Sing Sing prison
>
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FEBRUARY, 1929
f
*«
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55
some years ago. A Syrian, soft- fering for a crime that you never
spoken and intelligent, the last man were guilty of almost breaks my
in the world one would pick out to heart, for I am the guilty one."
I read the letter. It seemed genuoe a murderer. He was a model
ine
to me, but the jury hadn't beprisoner, always on the job, never
lieved
it. He said to me, most wistguilty of any infraction of the rules
fully
and
with tears in his eyes.
—never gave any one the slightest
"Won't
you
help me, Senator? I
sign of trouble.
want
to
go
to
Syria and see my old
Apparently he had not the slightmother
before
she
dies. She is waitest trace of any criminal instinct,
ing
for
me."
He was so mild in manner, so gentle
and refined, that he seemed much
out of place there. He had been an SYRIAN OFFICER IN
inmate of this institution on the HudLAWYERS ASSOCIATION
son for many years.
In its issue of December 21, The
He had a sister-in law, a beautiStar of Indianapolis, Ind. announful, dark-featured girl with pearly
teeth and long black hair to whom ces the formation of the Young Lawhe was devoted. She had a lover to yers' Association of that city and
whom she had been engaged for a publishes the photographs of its offiyear or more. Their marriage was cers.
Prominent among the group is
postponed longer than they had anMr.
A. F. Zainey, a Syrian lawyer of
ticipated, for financial reasons. UnIndianapolis
who was elected treader promise of marriage the man
to whom she was engaged took ad- surer.
vantage of her and deserted her.
She was considerably younger than
her brother-in-law, and was the idol GIFT OF SYRIANS
TO ARGENTINIAN CITY
of his eye. He learned of this betrayal and became infuriated, vowThe Syrian papers of the Argentine
ing vengeance upon the girl's betray- Republic report that the Syrian coler if he ever caught him.
ony of Bahia Blanca made a gift to
One day the man was found stab- the city of a fully equipped wing in
bed to death. It was known that the the city hospital on the occasion of
girl's brother-in-law had a knife of its centenary. This action by the Syrthe type that had been used, and ians greatly enhanced their prestige
the threats of vengeance had been as there was a great public demonrepeated often. The chain of circum- stration in connection with the dedistantial evidence was strong, and the cation ceremonies which were attendyoung Syrian was arrested and con- ed by the governor of the State and
victed.
the leading State and City officials.
I talked to him there in the prison.
He protested his innocence of the
The Syrian press reports that an /
crime and showed me a letter from
aviation field will be made ready this
the betrayed girl Which read:
coming summer near Latakia for re"I am thinking of you every day
gular passenger and mail service
and praying for you that you may
between
France and Syria.
be freed. To think that you are suf-
�56
THE SYRIAN WORLD
RIFT IN RANKS OF
SYRIAN NATIONALISTS
NEWS OF SOCIETIES
Nassim Bey Saibaha. prominent
Syrian publicist residing in Egypt
and former delegate to the convention of the New Syria Party in the
United States, has been openly questioning in the Arabic press of Egypt
the loyalty of Dr. Abdul Rahman
Shahbandar to the Syrian nationalist
cause. In his most recent article
published in Al-Mukattam of Cairo,
Saibaha accuses Shahbandar of duplicity and deceipt and of being in
the pay of Emir Lutfallah whose activities are said to have caused the
split in the Central Syrian Revolutionary Committee. Shahbandar is
further accused of writing scurrilous
attacks on the military leaders of the
revolution under assumed names.
Saibaha is supporting the faction of
Sultan Pasha Atrash and Emir Adel
Arslan who are still holding out with
their loyal Druze followers against
the French.
From this it can be seen that the
central figure in the controversy is
Emir Lutfallah who, after having
supported the revolution during its
two years of field activities was said
to have incurred the enmity of his
colleagues on the Central Committee
for advocating a conciliatory attitude towards the French. This was interpreted by some as being a move
to further his personal political ambitions, and by others as a protest
on the part of the Moslem members
aga;nst the fact that he is a Christian. Saibaha, who now is lined openly against him, is also a Christian af
Lutfallah's own denomination.
A contributory cause to these complications is the supposed mismanagement of the funds received from
the United States and elsewhere for
relief work among the revolutionists.
* si-,.
NEW YORK
The Syrian Educational Society of
New York held a Reunion Dinner at
the Syrian restaurant of the Hotel
Latham on January 24, the attendance exhausting the capacity of the
place which seats close to two hundred. Mr. A. K. Hitti, President of
the society, presided, the guests of
the evening being the Syrian students at Columbia University, and
the speakers including Mr. Khalil
Tawta'h, former director of Teachers'
College in Palestine; Mr. Emile Dumit, of the faculty of the American
University of Beirut who is taking
a post-graduate course in physics in
Columbia, and Dr. Riza Toufik, the
Turkish philosopher who formerly
held h'gh educational positions in
Turkey.
Two prominent patrons of the society, Messrs. Salim Mallouk and
Dumit Faour, were called upon for
short addresses.
St. Nicholas' Young Men's Society
of Brooklyn gave a play early in
January at the Brooklyn Academy of
Music which drew a large attendance
from all over the metropolitan district. The play was in Arabic and
the principal actors are described by
the Syrian press as having done extremely well for amateurs.
TORRINGTON, CONN.
The Syrian Girls' Society of Torrington, Conn., was formed on Wednesday, January 16, and elected the
following officers: Miss Alice Stevens, president; Miss Sadie Ann Ganem, vice-president and treasurer,
and Miss Josephine Haddad, Secretary.
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�FEBRUARY, 1929
ECONOMIC DEPRESSION
IN SYRIA
Failure of the main crops in Syria
has aggravated the economic depression in the country and caused the
government of the interior to forego
the collection of taxes for the present
year. A commission has been appointed to study the situation and
recommend the amount of financial
assistance the government should extend to every district. In the State
of Houran, the principal activities
are in road building which is being
conducted on a large scale so as to
afford employment to the destitute.
Commercial interests are also complaining of the lifting of the restric-
&
tions to export gold from the country. Statistics on the gold supply
now in the country place the amount
at ten million Turkish pounds,
whereas at the time of the Allied occupation ten years ago the amount
exceeded thirty millions.
Further aggravating the situation
is the refusal of the population of
the interior to accept paper or even
silver currency, insisting in all their
transactions on payments in gold.
This situation led at one time to the
forced closing of all butcher shop*,
in Damascus for several days because of the refusal of the Arabs to
sell the butchers sheep except for
gold while gold was unavailable.
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
JOSEPH W. FERRIS — Prominent Syrian-American member of
the Bar practicing in New York.
REV. W. A. MANSUR — Syrian patriot and scholar, educated in
Syria and at present minister of the First Methodist Church in
Loretto, Nebraska. He is one of our regular contributor*.
KAHLIL GIBRAN — Author of The Prophet and other celebrated
works and styled by American writers Poet of the Cedara and
The Syrian Poet.
BARBARA YOUNG — Noted American author and poet.
DR. PHILIP K. HITTI — Historian, scholar and Arabic and English author. Formerly professor at the American University
of Beirut and now of Princeton University.
DR. SALIM Y. ALKAZIN — English and Arabic poet and scholar.
Professionally a dentist of Brooklyn. One of our regular
contributors.
DR. N. A. KATIBAH — Arabic and English poet and scholar.
Professionally a dentist of Brooklyn. One of our regular contributors.
IBN EL KHOURY — Pen name of a regular contributor specializing in description of phases of life in Mt. Lebanon.
A. HAKIM — Pen name of an old Syrian immigrant who is contributing to The Syrian World a special series of critical studies
on Syrian- American life in general.
�^> #fr -^<j»
A BOOK YOU SHOULD HAVE " Vli
MAKER OF MODERN ARABIA, by Ameen
Rihani has proven a literary sensation. Never before
has a more accurate, extensive and authoritative picture of central Arabia been presented with as much
power. It is an epic of the desert j an up-to-the-minute
"close up" of the cradle of the Arabian race.
The author of this great work is a Syrian of whom
everyone of his countrymen should be proud. A copy
of his book should be found in every Syrian home of
culture.
"Mr. Rihani's picture of the Wahabia is the sort of firsthand authoritative stuff that puts this book above and wholly
outside the ranze of the usual treatises either of travel, observation or politics."
N. Y. Herald-Tribune.
"The command over the subtleties of our anomalous Ianguage revealed in these pages, is uncanny. To read is to enjoy
the pleasure of music. From Ameen Rihani we have what can
scarcely fail to be a final portrait of that formidable chieftain,
Ibn Sa'oud, by right of conquest King of Mecca."
New York Times.
ORDER YOUR COPY FROM THE SYRIAN WORLD
AT THE PUBLISHER'S PRICE
X
>
JS
»
»
•.•tamamMSHaaxtmjMm —I
» <» »» »» »»—»»
$6.00 postpaid.
<»» <*» »» »» »
^
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
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Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
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1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
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English
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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NS 0002
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
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Identifier
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TSW1929_02reducedWM
Title
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The Syrian World Volume 03, Issue 08
Date
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1929 February
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 3 Issue 08 of The Syrian World published February 1929. The issue begins with an article by Joseph W. Ferris titled "Restriction of Immigration." This article relates to the National Origins Clause in the Immigration Act of 1924, which established a quota system for determining how many immigrants could enter the United States, restricted by country of origin. Next is a prose poem by G.K. Gibran titled "The Great Longing," where Gibran names his brother the mountain and sister the sea, showing the connection of human life to nature. Yet another poem follows this one, longer and adopted from Arabic, titled "The Prince and His Beloved." Following it is a story by Ibn El-Khoury about a beggar named Abu-Ali. Rev. W. A. Mansur also has an article in this issue that discusses Syrian-American fellowship. A further discussion on the federation societies formed of Syrian-Americans, this article also includes a progress report of the movement which features a list of societies formed throughout the United States. There is also an address published from the Testimonial Dinner given by admirers of G.K. Gibran in New York January 5, 1929, for the 25th anniversary of his first publication. Lastly there is a continuation of "The Sage of Washington Street" by A. Hakim. The issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press, the Reader's Forum, and more on political developments in Syria.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
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English
Creator
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
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Text/pdf
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Text
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
Ibn El-Khoury
Immigration
Joseph W. Ferris
Kahlil Gibran
Law
New York
Philip Khuri Hitti
Poetry-English
Reverend W.A. Mansur
Salim Alkazin
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/34f708151c04dbc4b8c774e0cfc2a1f0.pdf
fbe339335336dd6566359b2474e60f50
PDF Text
Text
VOL. Hi. NO. 7
JANUAR:
THF
SYRIAN WORLE
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE!
8?
ARABIA AND ITS PROBLEMS
AMEEN RIHANI
PROGRESS OF THE FEDERATION MOVEME
TRAGEDY OF THE BARMECIDES
A TRUE ARABIAN TALE
THE SAGE OF WASHINGTON STREE.
ON THE MARRIAGE PROBLEM AMONG SYRl
A. HAKIM
THE SYRIAN POET OF WILLIAMS COLLEGI
NEWS ABOUT SYRIA AND SYRIANS
THE COPY 50c.
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THE
SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104
GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK,
By subscription $5.00 a year.
N. Y.
Single copies 50c.
Entered as second-class matter, June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. III. NO. 7
JANUARY, 1929
CONTENTS
PAGE
Arabia and its Problems
3
AMEEN RIHANI
Progress of the Federation Movement
The New-born Babe
9
17
EDWARD
B.
KARAM
The Sage of Washington Street {On the Marriage
Problem Among Syrians)
A. HAKIM
18
Defeat
23
KAHLIL GIBRAN
The Weaver and the Rose
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24
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ip
)
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
77s<? Syrian Poet of Williams College
DR. NEJIB A. KATIBAH
26
A Syrian Sunset
31
GEORGE MALOOF
The Tragedy of the Barmecides
A TRUE ARABIAN
32
TALE
New Books
37
Rihani's Lecture in London
38
Sayings of Ali
41
Editorial Comment—
Spirit of Enterprise
A New Department
Questions Answered
Individual Opinions
42
43
44
44
Readers* Forum
45
Spirit of the Syrian Press
About Syria and Syrians
50
53
t 1
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
The Patriarch Gregory Haddad
SEE
I
�I i
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. III. NO. 7
JANUARY, 1929
*
Arabia and its Problems
SYRIAN AUTHOR AND TRAVELER REVEALS CONDITIONS HITHERTO UNKNOWN
By AMEEN RIHANI
YS/HEN the Imam Yahya of Sana' made certain proposals,
through me, to the British Government at Aden, Hodeida
and the coast towns north of it up to Midi were in the hands of
the Idrisi, while Dhala, Shuib, Subbaiha and Ajoud in the Aden
Protectorate, were occupied by Zaidi troops. But Hodeida at that
time, together with Salif (noted for its salt works) and Loheia,
was of more importance to the Imam than what he held in the
Protectorate. He was, therefore, inclined to bargain, and he
adopted the tactics, which are recognized as sound and efficacious
in war or diplomacy, of striking in one direction to compel the
opponent to yield in another.
The Seyyid Mohammed el-Idrisi, who was then Emir of Abu
Arish and Sabia, was the strong man of Asir; and his military
* Mr. Rihani is perhaps the best informed authority on present-day
conditions in Arabia. His book, "Maker of Modern Arabia" (1928), was
immediately recognized as a standard work of reference on Arabia and
its politic*. Happenings in Arabia cannot fail to have their repercussion
i» adjacent countries, especially Syria, which some reports would have us
believe is looked upon with covetous designs by King Ibn Sa'oud as a
prospective kingdom for his son. Political interest in Syria would, therefore, ma*umlly include intaarsst i» the conditions of Arabia aad thase have
been ably and authoritatively dealt with by Mr. Rihani in this article which
first appeared in The London Times of December 11.
—Editor.
�—
"
4
THE SYRIAN WORLD
strength, aside from the assistance he was receiving from the British, was based upon the attachment and devotion of his soldiers.
For the Emir had a magnetic personality and he was open-handed.
Zaidi soldiers, during the Tehama campaign, on more than one
occasion went over to him, because they received more pay and
were better treated.
Besides, the Zaidi soldier, who is noted for his bravery, labors
under a great disadvantage when he is fighting at a distance from
his hills—in the plains, for instance, of the Tehama. This disadvantage is little known even to those Europeans who are interested in Arabia, and is often overlooked by those who make
a special study of Arabian affairs. The Yemen, like most countries in the world, has a "dope," and its people, men and women,
young and old, are slavishly addicted to it. This "dope" is called
"ghat" {catha edulis), which is like the spindle-tree and has the
effect of a drug. The green leaves—the tenderer the better—
are chewed as tobacco is chewed, and are supposed to give to the
Yemeni the strength and the endurance which the hardships of
mountain life require. As a daily function it is to them what tea
is to the English.
Like a Thirsty Plant
This ghat is grown only in certain districts and at certain
altitudes 5 and when it is carried to a distance of more than two
days' journey by camel it loses its freshness and its potency, but
is sold, nevertheless, at a prohibitive price. The soldiers cannot
afford to buy it, and when they can they do not find in it what
the Americans call a "kick." In the Upper Yemen, the soldier
receives a daily ration of ghat; but when he is in a ghat-less land
he pines for it and his spirit droops like a thirsty plant. It is a
fact that the farther Zaidi troops are from the ghat-grown hills
the less fit they are for fighting. That was the case, to a certain
extent, in the Tehama; and the Imam Yahya realized that he
could not in a protracted campaign conquer the Idrisi. He, therefore, invaded the Aden Protectorate, and, having occupied certain
States which are virtually in the shadow of ghat-gardens, held
them as against Hodeida and Salif, intimating that he would withdraw his troops if the British would eject the Idrisi from the three
coveted coast towns. Another condition was imposed—namely,
that the British Government should exercise no authority in the
Protectorate, which was to be ruled autonomously by its own
princes, and that he should appoint the judges. On the other
�hand, the Imam was ready to sign a treaty of friendship and
trade with the British, his exact words being, "We will trade exclusively with the Ingliz."
A few months after, however, the strong man of Asir died,
and he was succeeded by his son, a hare-brained boy who could
not manage the affairs of a tribe, much less a tottering State which
was the prey of the ambitions of his cousins, all intriguing for
power. Here was the Imam Yahya's supreme chance. His army
swooped upon Hodeida and occupied all the other towns north
of it up to Midi. The boy was subsequently deposed and his
uncle, the Seyyid Hasan, succeeding him, entered into a treaty
with the Wahabi King similar to the British treaties with the
princes in the Aden Protectorate. Now the Zaidi Imam holds
Hodeida, the strip of coast up to Midi, and the Wahabis have
what amounts to a protectorate over the rest of Asir. The Idrisi
are no longer a factor in Arabian politics.
Be Independent!
But the Idrisi Emirate, which was divided between these two
rulers, is a significant commentary upon the general political
tendency in Arabia today. It is most unlikely that the Zaidi
Imam and the Wahabi King, made stronger by the acquisition,
will exercise their strength upon each other. The Imam will
not embark upon a perilous campaign outside the Yemen, and the
Wahabi King is too wise to follow in the fatal path of the Turks.
But both of them will use their strength in other drections.
The Imam, who recently evacuated that part of he Aden
Protectorate which he had occupied, will not rest until he succeeds in freeing it at least from British control. Be independent
of both the British and the Imam—this is the gist of the propaganda that is being conducted in the Protectorate. Will it succeed? Even if it does not, it will add to the difficulties and complications of the task of the British at Aden. Why not simplify
the task by holding Aden, which is all that the British Government needs in that part of the world, and let the Protectorate
solve its own problems?
The question, often asked, whether the States of the Protectorate will be safe if British protection is wihdrawn from them
is, to say the least, amusing. When the Turks marched on Aden
in 1915, it was the Arabs of the Protectorate who held them in
check at Lahej. The irony is poignant. And it is about time
that the obsolete method of the East India Company of setting up
�T
6
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"independent" buffer States to protect British interests, be abandoned. The more honorable and consistent policy would be to
find the strong man there and conclude an alliance with him.
The strong man is the Imam Yahya, and he is not unamenable if certain concessions are made to favor his political programme. Some such arrangement as the one outlined in this
article is still within the bounds of realization.
The Wahabis and Iraq
In Central Arabia the Wahabi King has recently refused
certain recommendations made by the British Government for
the settlement of the dispute between Nejd and Iraq about wells
and boundary lines. The situation is not so clear as it should be,
and I shall try to shed some light upon it.
There are no boundary lines in Arabia as they are understood in Europe; for the Arabs only recognize watering places
and glens of pasture as possible boundaries. That is why the
experts shook their heads when the diplomatists at the Conference of Ojair mapped out, with amused satisfaction, a rhomboid
of about 600 or 700 square miles as a neutral zone between Iraq
and Nejd. In that rhomboid are several wells of * importance,
the nearest to which are the 'Amarat and Dhafir, of the tribes
of Iraq, and the Mutair, of the tribes of Nejd.
These three tribes have disputed the ownership of those
wells, and fought battles round them, and raided each other on
account of them long before there were any treaties or political
entanglements between Nejd and Iraq. Even northward, beyond
the Neutral Zone, there are other wells which seem to be common property, according to the phrasing of the Second clause of
the Protocol to the Mohammerah Agreement; and because the
outposts were built somewhere near these wells, Sheikh Feisal
ed Do wish and his Mutair Arabs cried, Ghazu! (Raid!). while
the Wahabi King was seeking diplomatically to get the Government of Baghdad to respect the Second and Third Clauses of
the Protocol. The Second Clause reads as follows:
Since many wells fall within the boundaries of Iraq, the Nejdi side
being thus deprived of them, the Government of Iraq agrees to permit the
Nejdi tribes, which live along the edges of the border, to use these wells
in Iraq territory, in case of necessity, provided that the said wells are
nearer to them than the wells within the borders of Nejd.
The situation of these wells is not specified. It may be with-
�JANUARY, 1929
'
in any distance, in the vicinity of Nejef, or of Basra for that
matter, when necessity or a year of drought drives the Nejdi
tribes northward for water and pasture. Who shall say, then,
whether the wells of Nejd are farther for those roaming tribes
than the wells of Iraq? Water and pasture, these are the magnets of the tribes; and when they gather round the wells in a
year of drought or of little rain, even if they are not enemy tribes,
they quarrel, they fight, and the strongest drives the others away.
It may be possible to police the wells, but if this is not done by
both Governments it will only aggravate the matter. As for the
Second Clause of the Protocol, it affords no hope of peace and
order, because of its loose phrasing.
There is a vagueness also in the atraf el-hudoud of the
Third Clause. No forts or anything else of a military nature
shall be built on atraf el-hudoud, or "the extreme ends of the
boundary lines." What this means, where the extreme ends do
end, I do not think anybody knows. It seems, therefore, that the
first step towards a proper solution of the problem is the policing
of the wells by both Governments and the more precise rewording of the Second and Third Clauses of the Protocol of Ojair.
i:
The Frontier Raids
But more important than the wells in dispute is the question
of the Shammar, or the section of the Tribe of Shammar which
migrated to Iraq after the fall of Hail. Long before this migration, however, other sections of Shammar had made their home
north of Baghdad, round Mosul and east of Aleppo in the Syrian
desert. The recent immigrants were not, therefore, strangers
in the land. They were welcomed by their fellow tribesmen
in Iraq and they were also helped by them in their raids on the
tribes of Nejd. A few years ago the Government of Iraq was
not able to prevent some of these raids and did not punish the
raiders when they returned from them and were again within
its territory. Sir Percy Cox, who was then High Commissioner,
in a letter to the Wahabi King, promised to take the necessary
measures to prevent the raids; and the Prime Minister, Abdul
Muhsin Bey es Sa'dun, who was then, as now, in office, sent a
strong note to the Mutessarif of Mosul and to the Chief of the
Shammar about them. "The Iraq," he said, "should not be made
a base of operations for raids against the tribes of Nejd."
But the raiding did not stop. There were raids and counterraids, and there are many outstanding claims for the restoration
�ii" Tiimr
8
THE SYRIAN WORLD
of plundered property and for reparations on both sides of the
border. Now, why did the Wahabi King not prevent his tribes
from raiding the tribes of Iraq, when he could have done so:
We find an answer to this question in the Green Book of Neid
wmch says that because the Government of Iraq was unable'or
unwilling to punish the offenders the Wahabi King had undertaken to do so. In other words, the Wahabi raiding parties were
what might be called punitive expeditions. That is virtually what
we are told in the Green Book of Nejd. But such publications
issued by Governments in trouble as honest confessions do not
always confess everything. The old feuds, the amour fro-pre of
the chiefs of the tribes, and the necessity in a year of drought of
seeking water and pasture and taking them, even at the muzzle
of a rifle, wherever they are found—these are the snags in the
problem. But they are not unyielding to diplomacy when it is inspired by candor and good will.
Absent Treatment
They are not, on the other hand, subject to what might be
called absent treatment. The British Government in Iraq proposes to prevent the raids by building outposts about 500 miles
away from the raiders' base of operations. That is what I call
absent treatment. The reader will bear in mind that the home
of the Shammar is north of Baghdad in the Mosul region. Now,
a raiding party sallying forth on ghazu cannot travel 500 miles'
witnout being detected by the Government's Desert Patrol. Is
it not reasonable, therefore, to suppose that an efficient Desert
Patrol will render the outposts superfluous?
One word more about the Shammar. There is in the Syrian
desert, as I have said, another section of this powerful tribe.
I met its chief, Mijham Pasha, some few months ago in Damascus, and I asked him about the old feuds between them and the
people of Nejd. "There are no more feuds between us," said
Mijhamj "we and the people of Nejd are brothers." He then
invited me to his tents in the desert. "Come to us," he said,
"and we will go together to King Abd'ul-'Aziz." Why is not
the attitude of the Iraqi Shammar that of their brother tribesmen, the Shammar of Syria?
These are the bare facts in the dispute. But there is more
behind the facts, as I have attempted to show, than there is in
them; and only by removing the screens on both sides can a satisfactory and lasting agreement be achieved.
i
�JANUARY, 1929
[
I
9
Progress of the Federation
Movement
SYRIAN WORLD APPEAL MEETS WITH HEARTY
RESPONSE FROM ALL OVER THE UNION
PLEDGES RECEIVED
Syrian Young Men's Society
The Phoenicians
American-Syrian Federation
Syrian Young Men's Society
The Good Citizenship Club....
The Goodfellows Club
Syrian-American Club
i
Los Angeles, Calif.
Jacksonville, Fla.
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Birmingham, Ala.
Birmingham, Ala.
Tyler, Texas
Detroit, Mich.
(
I
THE replies received from Syrian-American societies in different parts of the United States and published herewith
eloquently speak for themselves. They prove conclusively the
readiness of our scattered organized bodies to join hands in an
effort to promote those forces which tend to best serve our interests and those of our adopted country. The replies, all received in the course of December, shed interesting light on various aspects of the undertaking. Each society sees the advantages of the federation movement from a different angle, but
all agree that the basic principle is not only sound but unquestionably vital. The committee on the constitution will no doubt
take under advisement the many valuable suggestions advanced in
the subjoined enthusiastic communications.
In some replies there is noticeable a certain disposition towards caution. Perhaps this is caused by the failure of previous
efforts at federation and the reluctance of some organizations to
commit themselves to what may prove another abortive effort.
This attitude we believe is wrong. All former attempts at national organization are to be commended and looked upon as
naturally leading to the present effort. It was necessary to
prepare the minds for a collective undertaking heretofore foreign to Syrian psychology. Those who took the initiative along
this line in the past may be given full credit for the preparatory
�1
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10
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
work. And for those who took part in past efforts to align themselves with the present movement should be but the natural
sequence of their convictions previously registered. Persistent
effort is but proof of a confirmed determination, and those who
believe in the righteousness of a cause should not falter at initial setbacks. There should be, on the contrary, a certain sense
of moral satisfaction in the constant pursuit of an ideal whatever the hopes of its realization.
In the present case, we are pleased to say, the prospects are
all in favor of success. The number and the enthusiastic nature
of the acceptances amply attest to this fact.
What tends to confirm our hopes is the propitious circumstances of the present movement. Heretofore efforts had been
confined to the first generation Syrians who are still more or
less influenced by their various traditional differences. To deny
the existence of such a condition is a poor palliative. The hope
for a truly cooperative undertaking lies with the young generation—American-born Syrians and those who are fitted by the
circumstances of their lives and by their education and viewpoint on life to appreciate the benefits of collective action. This
view we have expressed editorially in our issue of October, 1927,
when even at that time it can be seen that we had in view
preparing the minds for a national organization.
We wish to thank the societies responding for their patriotic interest. WTe also feel confident that each and all will work
actively for the greater promotion of the cause.
To the Syrian Young Men's Society of Los Angeles, Cal.,
belongs the honor of being the first to respond. The Phoenicians
of Jacksonville, Fla., were second.
We also wish to register a word of grateful appreciation
of the sympathetic attitude towards the movement taken by the
Springfield Union (Springfield, Mass). Its warning of the
latent danger of the movement if it should take a course contrary to the full development of American citizenship is but natural. But we wish to give it the fullest assurance that such
danger is beyond the range of possibility. The Syrians' loyalty
to their adopted country is too well proven to admit of any
danger along that line.
The Syrians, nevertheless, should consider this a healthy
challenge. Will they form the Federation and demonstrate conclusively just what they are willing to do in tne way of promoting sound Americanism?
\
�r
1
JANUARY, 1929
11
OUR BULWARK
An Editorial from the Syrian World of October, 1927.
IT is a sign of a healthy social condition for the Syrian young
folks to establish societies of their own. It is also a sign of intelligent understanding on the part of the parents not to thrust
themselves into the affairs of their youth and insist on managing
things their own, old way. There is a chasm between the old
and the new which has to be carefully bridged by mutual tolerance. For the young generation it is hard to fathom the conventional, decorous methods of conduct which their elders have inherited from a country steeped in the traditions of countless
centuries. The elders, quite naturally, will look askance upon any
breach of their accepted order of etiquette in conduct. Modernism has been thrust on them too suddenly and not by degrees.
Even a moderate exercise of independent action on the part of'
their children they are liable to characterize as insubordination
and rebellion.
What it is necessary for the parents to realize is that conditions and surroundings in America are totally different from
those obtaining in their motherland. Changing times must also
be taken into consideration. Appreciation of all these differences is essential to bring about a proper understanding between
the two elements.
The young folks should not be ridiculed or discouraged
in any of their legitimate efforts. Coming together in a social
club, a fraternal or a benevolent society is a most laudable undertaking. In the management or conduct of such an organization
the older generation should not meddle or interfere. The younger
generation is bettre schooled in parliamentary procedure and
more capable of understanding its own mind. The parents, if
they value their traditions and wish to see what is best in them
perpetuated, should encourage all forms of social activities leading to cooperation among their youth. This is the best method
for holding together the scattered fragments of the Syrian race.
It should gladden the hearts of the elders merely to see their
youth come together with unflagging spirit and without shame
and unite on working for a common cause.
In the news section of this issue of the THE SYRIAN WORLD
(Oct., 1927) there is reported the formation recently of two organizations of the young Syrian generation in two widely separated cities, each striving to attain a commendable object. Un-
�12
JANU
THE SYRIAN WORLD
doubtedly, there are scores of such organizations of our youth
throughout the land, some of which we had occasion to refer to at
different times. This movement should by all means be encouraged, not hampered. It may prove to be the nucleus of a nation-wide movement for the unification of the race in what is
bound to become a great force for good both for the race and
for the nation of which it constitutes a racial unit. Such a national organization would be our best medium for bringing out
the best that is in us and using it to the best advantage. It
depends mostly on our proper appreciation of the latent possibilities of our youth.
OLD CULTURE IN NEW LAND
An Editorial from the Springfield Union of Dec. 12, 1928
Mr. Salloum A. Mokarzel, editor of the Syrian World, in
an article in that magazine entitled "Can We Retain Our Heritage" presents and forcefully urges a plan for a national federation
of Syrian-American societies in the United States which should be
of vital interest not only to all members of his race but also to the
public in general inasmuch as those to whom the writer addresses
himself form a definite part of our citizenship, sharing in and
contributing to the progress of our national life. Because we are
a young nation and homeland ties are still comparatively fresh, it
is not surprising that newcomers to this country should feel the
urge to retain their memories and also to keep alive certain spiritual and cultural attributes peculiar to their native land.
The natural way to do this, these newcomers have found, is
in the formation of societies or organizations—groups which have
been readily enough accepted and commended in America. The
feeling here has been that any society of such a nature was beneficial because it facilitated the work of Americanization, work
which could be done better with an organized group than with
individuals.
Furthermore such an organization helped to transplant to this country those cultural elements which were of distinct value and which were in danger of being lost to this country
unless kept alive by more definite effort on the part of the people with whom they were inherent.
Mr. Mokarzel feels that through co-operative union of the
Syrian and Lebanese societies of this country his people will be
better able to make a more effective contribution to the well-be-
! 4
�JANUARY, 1929
12
ing of the nation and he makes a special appeal to the younger
generation of Syrians in this country, hoping to arouse in them a
desire to demonstrate to this land of their fathers' adoption that
they possess the qualificaions which go to make as fine a type of
American citizen as those of any other racial group. He feels that
by their solidarity they will be better able to accomplish this end.
If this move toward a federation proves successful, the fusion of American ideals with the spiritual and cultural heritage of
an ancient civilization that has survived hundreds of years of oppression should result in a genuine contribution to our national
life.
4
It would be unfortunate, however, if the racial or the national consciousness should be carried so far as to interfere with the
full development of American citizenship. Those whose childhood has been spent abroad cannot be expected to divest themselves of the influences of their native land, and they do not need
to, but if they and their children are to become typical Americans
their racial or national inheritances should not be cultivated at the
expense of their Americanism. There is probably little danger of
this, as ordinarily and naturally the grandchildren of those who
come to this land from any quarter become fully assimilated into our American life.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
SYRIANS WANT TO WIN RECOGNITION
Editor, The Syrian World,
V
In response to your editorial in the November issue of The
Syrian World concerning the proposed federation of Syrian societies, will say that this society wishes to be listed as a prospective member of the "Federation."
The Syrian World is to be commended for its position in
this movement; for its untiring efforts towards its materalization.
It is now evident that the Syrian people in this country refuse to further remain in obscurity. It is also gratifying to
note that our people have awakened to the call—the call to band
themselves together; to come to the fore; to win recognition.
Thus organized, wonders may be accomplished. Undoubtedly,
the requisite number of bodies will readily respond to this movement.
�___
14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
This society was organized April 29th. 1926, and it boasts
of a substantial membership. The chief features are: It is nonsectarian, non-political, and it's membership consists of Syrian
young men only, as the name signifies.
If further information is required, it will be pleasure for us
to furnish it.
Very sincerely yours,
Syrian Young Men's Society,
David Zail, Secretary.
Los Angeles, Calif.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA.
ON THE THRESHOLD OF A NEW ERA.
Editor, The Syrian World,
I am very pleased to announce that at the last regular meeting of this club, a resolution was unanimously passed heartily endorsing the plan for the federation of Syrian Clubs, now being
sponsored by the Syrian World, and expressing its willingness to
join in such federation, should it finally be formed.
Our Club was organized last May, and has a present membership of about 50. Its objects are general. Social, civic and
other activities are within its purvue.
We wish to extend to The Syrian World our sincerest congratulations on its undertaking, with the earnest hope that Syrian organizations throughout the country, will not let this opportunity
to achieve a notable accomplishment escape them. The Young
Syrian element stands, as it were, on the threshold of a new era.
If it succeeds in this project much that has been heretofore only
a desire or a hope, will become a happy reality. If, on the other
hand, it fails—through lack of cooperation—there will be little
hope for the Syrian element in the future, with the years thrusting it continually farther away from the memory of its homeland.
Now is the time for all good Syrians to come to the aid of
this most worthy cause!
Yours Very Truly,
Fred S. Rizk,
Comm#d©re, "The Phoenicians."
Jacksonville, Fla.
.
�JANUARY, 1929
15
NEW YORK CITY
SORELY IN NEED OF NATIONAL FEDERATION
Editor, The Syrian World:
The idea of the formation of a Federation of Societies
throughout the United Sattes, with respect to which the Syrian
World has at present taken the initiative, was a subject matter
of discussion at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the American Syrian Federation.
The concensus of opinion was that our organizaton should
co-operate in the formation of such an organization and a Committee was appointed to that end with instructions to report back
to our Board.
Personally I believe that the organization of a central body
representative of all the Syrians of the United States would be
a splendid undertaking. We are sorely in need of such a body.
Permit me to commend your efforts in that direction.
Respectfully and sincerely,
AMERICAN SYRIAN FEDERATION,
By JOSEPH W. FERRIS,
President.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA.
FEDERATION A MAIN OBJECT
i\
Editor, The Syrian World,
One of the chief principles of the Syrian Young Men's Society
of this city has been the keen and sincere desire that all Syrian
societies might become a federation. In endorsing this idea we
are only emphasizing one of the chief fundamentals of our society.
The Good Citizenship Club, another organization of which
I am President, has also endorsed the federation movement.
Should the movement reach such a stage wherein my services
over the country as an emissary and propagator are needed, I
shall be delighted to serve freely and gladly.
Dr. H. A. Elldae-urie, Pres.
SYRIAN YOUNG MEN'S SOCIETY
Birmingham, Ala.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
16
TYLER, TEXAS
HEARTILY ENDORSE THE MOVEMENT
Editor, The Syrian World,
In the November issue of the Syrian World you suggested
that every Syrian or Lebanese society in the United States which
has for its purpose the promotion of the welfare of the Syrian
race in America file with you its name and the date of its organization together with whatever information it desires to give.
At our recent meeting your article entitled "Can We Retain
Our Heritage", was discussed and analyzed to the conclusion,
that we, "The Goodfellows Club", heartily endorse the movement for a National Federation, and we offer our utmost cooperation for the welfare and promotion of our race.
In order to keep up interest in the Club, we have a program
which includes Banquets, Dramas, Parties, Picnics. We also observe and commemorate important events in American and
Syrian Histories.
Wishing you the greatest of success in your laudable undertaking of organizing a National Federation, and hoping to see
Syrians throughout the United States band themselves together
for the greater honor and glory of God, our race, and the country of our adoption, we beg to remain,
The Goodfellows Club
By:Geo. S. Saleh
Cor. Secy.
Tyler, Tex.
'
DETROIT, MICH.
PROVES CONCURRENCE OF THOUGHT
Editor, The Syrian World,
I have been appointed by the Progressive Syrian-American
Club of Detroit to inquire about the developement of federating
the Syrian-American Clubs throughout the country which you
have proposed.
Since we have ourselves discussed the matter
upward of four years ago, it seems that it is a concurrence of
thought among us all, due to the similarity of circumstances surrounding every community.
�BWBFBBBIE—M
JANUARY, 1929
17
I wish to inform you of our readiness to join the movement
when the other clubs rally to the cause. We heartily approve of
the attitude of the Syrian World in propagating the idea
John A. Nassar.
Detroit, Mich.
The New-born Babe
A SYRIAN-AMERICAN FEDERATION
Hark! ye winds, and stop a-whining,
Star of the East as of old is shining!
See its rays a-scintillating
As if beckoning, as if articulating:
"Awake! ye sons of the East and stop a-pining.
"Awake, awake, I say! and lo behold!
"A babe is born amidst your fold.
"Keep it alive, keep it nurtured;
"Nothing gained if nothing ventured.
"Like the wise men of the East, bring forth the myrrh and gold.
"In union there's strength you all know,
"So let this babe into manhood grow,
"Let this be the christening day and rejoice!
"For then indeed you can raise your voice
"Above the winds that howl and blow!"
So come young, come old, come ye noble throng!
Let's obey that star with cheer and song.
Let us march on, and on together
Through sunny or stormy weather
And to victory! "The new-born babe" will lead us on.
^. r u AI o
EDWARD B.
Pittsfield, Mass.
KARAM.
�-..a
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Sage of Washington Street
ON THE MARRIAGE PROBLEM AMONG SYRIANS
III
I
By A.
HAKIM
J^S on the preceding occasion, my last interview with my friend
the Sage was by appointment. I realized that the holiday
season was a busy one for him and even an "always welcome"
friend should not give his visits the nature of an imposition. Had
it not been for the assurance the Sage gave me that he was as much
interested in discussing our current social problems as I was in
hearing him expound them, I would have acted on the advice of
the other Arab sage who enjoined friends against making visits
too frequent that they may be more fully appreciated. As it
was, however, I felt perfectly satisfied that my friend was animated by the true spirit of public duty and welcomed the opportunity to give publicity to his observations and views; and to
this, may it be here reiterated, he was prompted by no personal
motive, because he had from the outset laid down the condition
that his identity should not be revealed. This being the case,
the Sage launched immediately on the business of the day.
"Not a long time since," he said, "one of our Arabic daily
papers invited its readers to give their specifications of the ideal
choice for husband or wife. The readers being all Syrian-born,
they confined their views to the personal qualifications of the'
mates of opposite sexes, seemingly taking it for granted that they
should be Syrians. Some expressed preference for the girl bred
in the atmosphere of modesty and devotion to domestic duties
characteristic of the so-called old fashioned girl, while others
voted for the modern, wide-awake girl who knows the ways of
the world and can take care of herself under all circumstances.
I doubt that those most affected by the peculiar development of
our ^social problem derived any benefit from the discussion.
"In the present case, however, the result is bound to be different. You are writing in English, the only medium to reach
the young generation. And it is my belief that this young generation is vitally interested in the discussion of this grave problem
�JANUARY, 1929
19
in the desperate hope of finding a suitable solution.
"In our previous conversation I attempted to describe our
present social condition and suggested a possible improvement
I tried to show that the root of the problem was in the lack ol
social contact, the solution of which would be in mobilizing the
facilities at the disposal of the two principal agencies—the religious and the civic organizations. Let us hope that these agencies will awaken to the performance of this prime duty, and go
about it in such a discrete manner as not to make the purpose too
obvious for fear of defeating the very object in view.
"Now these conditions previously discussed are the reasons
responsible for the large number of marriages contracted mostly
between our young men and girls of other racial extractions.
We now come to the question: Are these inter-racial unions desirable and conducive to happy results? Or is it safer for one ot
a certain racial extraction to marry within his own kind?
"I must admit at the beginning that unconditional generalization on any subject is always dangerous. Never can a rule be
laid down that will not admit of any infraction, especially in matters subject to the vagaries of emotional influence. In the matter of inter-racial marriages I can point to individual cases where
the union was a blessing and demonstrated complete compatibility,
while other cases proved to be most unhappy and disastrous. Now
one cannot justify one view or the other on the strength of isolated incidents. Too many would-be students of the situation
have erred in narrowing their views to isolated cases and thereby
building on false premises. It is the law of averages that should
be applied in situations of this nature The psychology temperamental disposition and environment of the largest number shoukl
serve as a basis for deduction. In this alone could we feel somewhat safe in rendering judgment.
"On the basis of the above, I would say in general terms that
it is more desirable for the first generation of any nationality to
marry within their own kind. For this conclusion I would advance
the following reasons:
"The success of marriage is based on compatibility, that disposition towards meeting on common grounds, sharing; the|IW
views, being actuated by the same impulses and motives and bound
by the samf sympathies. Marital union is a -Partnership for life
and the prime requisite for its success m the business of building
a home aPnd rearing a family is the ability to pull together, to do
team work. To insure the success of the enterprise there must
�20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
exist between man and wife not alone complete intellectual and
temperamental affinity but also that quality of general sympathy
for persons and things which make up the ensemble of life. This
latter quality is a matter of cultivation and acquisition and is not
instinctive. It comes mainly from environments and associations
from early childhood. It comprises almost everything from the
question of food to aesthetic and cultural tastes. Such common
sympathies bring understanding and lessen the danger of friction.
"Now, for people of the same race and the same generation
this condition is more possible of fulfillment. The husband and
wife would both be the son and daughter of first generation immigrants. _ Parents of both would have struggled against the same
economic difficulties. More probably the parents of both would
be of the same district or even the same town in the mother country, each knowing the genealogy of the other even to a remote
past. This tends to equalize conditions and eliminate many causes
of friction. Think, for instance, what bitter feelings would result
if in a moment of anger the husband or wife should taunt the
other of being a son or daughter of an immigrant, while the one
making the accusation boasts of being American up to so many generations. Strive as we may, we cannot deny such a possibility, especially now that a revival of this spirit has become more evident
lately in various shapes and forms. Its influence is even felt in
the immigration laws which are suspected of discriminating
against particular races, principally those originating in Mediterranean countries. While in rural and other sections uninfluenced
by the metropolitan spirit there is open, organized action against
men of certain racial extractions and religious beliefs. We Syrians have reason to resent these prejudicial tendencies just as
strongly as any other of the affected races because of the open
attempt to deny us at one time the right of citizenship. It requires
no straining of the imagination to discover the reason for such an
attitude.
"One of the principal reasons for the desirability of such
unions m preference to inter-racial marriages is the psychological
affinity between members of the same race brought up in similar
surroundings. As has been often repeated, we are in the stage
of transition and some of our pet customs and manners are dying
hard. The old folks cannot help reminiscing about the motherland, taking interest in activities of the home town, showine *olicitude for the relatives and friends they left behind, remembering the houses in which they were born, the fields they plowed
. iVHMHnRMMHHBH
�JANUARY, 1929
21
the vineyards and the fig orchards they tended, and the many
scenes and incidents of their youth. Of course all these things do
not enter into the life of their American-born children, but the
latter, in deference to their parents, cannot help sympathizing with
these feelings. A certain disposition quite naturally develops to
look more kindly on things Syrian. In this respect we may well
term the second-generation Syrians as social straddlers inasmuch
as they are neither totally Syrian nor totally American in their
home atmosphere. Their position, for that reason, is a peculiar,
and in some respects, a difficult one, especially where parents and
children continue to live together for sentimental or economic
reasons.
"Considering the above and many similar reasons, how can
we escape the conclusion that for this particular class of people
the most natural thing would be to marry within their own circle?
Not only are they better fitted one for the other temperamentally
and by their racial traditions, but their general outlook on the
problems of life is conducive to better harmony.
"Even under the most propitious auspices, marriage in its
earlier stages takes the form of a strenuous effort to adjust tastes
and dispositions and find a common meeting ground between husband and wife. How much harder will this process be if racial
characteristics prove an added burden to the common difficulties.
Not only within the confines of the home, where individual
tastes and preferences may differ and lead to friction, but also
in the larger field of social contacts lies the danger of divergence
of tastes. A Syrian of the second generation would naturally
want to move within his own circle. In this circle the influence
of the first generation has not been entirely eliminated and cannot
be ignored. Deference to the tastes of the parents causes the
American-born Syrian to forbear with old customs and traditions
if not actually sympathize with them, but his American wife could
not be actuated by such feelings and considerations, and if she
bears up with what, to her, are unpleasant conditions she would
be doing so with a painful effort and at the expense of considerable good feeling.
"We also have to consider the different outlook on the question of divorce. Let us admit that no man or woman contracting
marriage does so with any mental reservation or ulterior motive.
Both husband and wife take each other for better or for worse,
but when it comes to the worse the Syrian is at a disadvantage.
Most Syrians in the United States are Christians of the two old
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
churches, Catholic and Orthodox, neither of which countenances
divorce, and when marital difficulties lead to divorce the Syrian
cannot face the situation with the same attitude of mind. The
Syrian social mind has not reached the point where it could look
upon divorce as excusable or justified, whatever the circumstances.
The agreement entered into by man and wife to take each other
for better or for worse "until death do us part" holds binding
in the fullest sense. Divorces can hope for no recognition in our
social life as it now stands.
"In this, as in everything else, you will realize that I make
statements in their broadest sense. The general viewpoint on
divorce as just explained, for instance, could not hold true in respect to our Moslem element whose situation is almost totally
the reverse of that of the Christians. With the Moslems it is the
men who marry American women because of the scarcity of women
of their own faith in this country, due, as explained in former
conversations, to the rigorous enforcement of the strict rules of
ethical conduct for women in the East. Furthermore, divorce
among Moslems is a thing of common practice and is looked upon
with much more tolerance than among the Christians. The case
of the Argentinian and Brazilian women who complained of desertion and ill-treatment by their Moslem Syrian husbands is of
recent occurrence and our papers have discussed the subject at
length. All this is mentioned by way of illustrating that an individual case, whether the outcome be good or bad, cannot be taken
as a general criterion. The Moslems, on the other hand, are a
small minority in our Syrian-American communities and their
problems are confined to themselves. It can be readily inferred
that in speaking of the Syrian problem the Moslem element must
be naturally excluded.
"I have tried in this conversation to touch only on the high
spots of the problem of inter-racial marriage and do not claim to
have covered the subject completely. Such a vital, complicated
and extended question could not be fully treated in the course of
an hour's conversation. A general outline, however, cannot fail
of being helpful even with limitations.
"What I would like to stress, nevertheless, is the point that
our social status has no bearing on our patriotic or political standing, neither should the two questions be confused. What is convenient for the Syrian-American generation for the congeniality
of their home atmosphere should not affect their political loyalty.
It does not impugn one's Americanism to marry in the class and
�23
JANUARY, 1929
under the circumstances most conducive to his happiness. I am
rather inclined to hold that it is in the interest of better Americanism to effect just those conjugal unions which would promote
the spirit of harmony and contentment in the home rather than
breed disaffection and discord which would naturally grow out of
unsuited unions."
Defeat
By
KHALIL GIBRAN
HEFEAT, my Defeat, my solitude andjny aloofness,
You are dearer to me than a thousand triumphs,
And sweeter to my heart than all world-glory.
Defeat,'my Defeat, my self-knowledge and my defiance,
Through you I know that I am yet young and swift of foot
And not to be trapped by withering laurels.
And in you I have found aloneness
And the joy of being shunned and scorned.
Defeat, my Defeat, my shining sword and shield,
In your eyes I have read
That to be enthroned is to be enslaved,
And to be understood is to be levelled down
And to be grasped is but to reach one's fulness
And like a ripe fruit to fall and be consumed.
Defeat, my Defeat, my bold companion,
You shall hear my songs and my cries and my silences,_
And none but you shall speak to me of the beating of wings,
And urging of seas,
And of mountains that burn in the night,
And you alone shall climb my steep and rocky soul.
Defeat, my Defeat, my deathless courage,
You and I shall laugh together with the storm,
And together we shall dig graves for all that die in us,
And we shall stand in the sun with a will,
And we shall be dangerous.
�24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Weaver and the Rose
Adapted from the Arabic
TOURING the reign of Al-Ma'moun, the son and successor of
the illustrious Haroun Al-Raschid, culture and the appreciation of aesthetic pursuits among the people of Baghdad had
reached a stage even greater than that which prevailed during the
time of Al-Raschid. Al-Ma'moun employed every means to encourage and promote these tendencies, and bid his courtiers bring
to his attention all incidents illustrating manifestations along these
lines.
One spring day, when Al-Ma'moun was holding one of his
pleasure seances in the gardens of the palace, admiring the variety
of flowers in their riotous colors and listening rapturously to the
murmur of scores of fountains weaving their magic spell of rhythmic cadences, he inquired who of the assembly could describe the
scene in fitting verse, and a poet recited:
The Rose is King! Hearken ye to the sweet call of nature,
And divest yourselves of all care while the rose reigns in full
bloom.
The caliph was greatly pleased and asked the poet if the
verse was his extemporaneous composition or quoted from another. Then the poet begged leave to tell how he had come to
hear the verse, and upon permission being granted he began as
follows:
,*
"O Prince of the Faithful! May Allah grant you long days
and establish your rule everlastingly. The verse I have recited is
not mine but one I have heard repeated by a weaver of the Abode
of Peace (Baghdad) seemingly with great transports of joy and
an immense depth of feeling.
"I was passing in one of the obscure alleys of the city early
one spring morning when I heard shouts of revelry amidst which
a lusty voice repeated the above quoted verse in ondulous tone
and almost insatiable relish. I was driven by curiosity to discover
the reason for the celebration at such an early hour, and found my
way to the secluded garden whence the sounds emanated. There,
seated by a cascading fountain surrounded by well-tended beds ofi
beautiful roses in full bloom, was a company of men apparently
of lowly station indulging in wine and song. They no sooner
I
�mam
JANUARY, 1929
25
v
noticed me than they invited me to join their circle and share in
their joy. I thanked them for their proffer of hospitality but
begged to be acquainted first with the cause of the celebration that
I might more fully join in the spirit of it. At which one of the
company, apparently the host, cast a tender surveying look at the
flowers about him, then, with a gusto and a surprising display of
emotion burst out with the song:
The Rose is now King! Hearken ye to the sweet call of nature,
And divest yourselves of all care while the rose reigns in full
bloom.
I then gathered from the accounts of those present that love
of roses had become with this man a cult and an obsession. A
weaver by trade, he worked at his loom uninterruptedly the whole
span of the year, not even observing Fridays or other holidays,
but once spring ushered in the rose season, he lay aside his shuttle
and forsook his loom, and, with a selected number of boon companions, flung himself unreservedly into the enjoyment of his
favorite flower. From early morning till the advanced hours of
night they drank and sang their love for the rose and continued
thus for the whole six weeks of the season, at the expiration of
which the weaver would intone this lamenting farewell:
"If God should keep me till thy season come,
O Rose, I shall again drown my care in drink and in the admiration of thy beauty,
But if, O Rose, my death should precede your return,
Then God I pray to make thee my share in Paradise."
"This, O Prince of the Faithful," concluded the poet, "is the
source of the verse which I recited at your bidding to describe the
beauty of this setting, which is made complete only by the presence of your gracious person."
Al-Ma'moun was pleased exceedingly by the account of the
weaver and remarked: "This lowly man is truly endowed with
a lofty soul. But for his aesthetic tastes he could not evince such
appreciation of flowers and the inimitable gifts of nature. _ We
shall assist him in pursuing the worthy inclinations of his kindly
nature."
Saying which, the caliph ordered that an annual stipend for
life to the amount of ten thousand dirhams be given the weaver
during each rose season, that he might more contentedly indulge
in the enjoyment of his love for the king of flowers.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
26
The Syrian Poet of Williams College
Not only as a translator of Arabic classics, but also as a poet of originality and versatility, Dr. Katibah ranks high for merit and ability. In
his class at Williams College he was unanimously elected Class Poet, and
the following poem composed on the occasion of the last Class Reunion
highly commends itself to lovers of good poetry.
—Editor
By
DR. NEJIB
A.
KATIBAH
I.
THE TRIP TO WILLIAMS, UP THE HOOSAC VALLEY
Qomes Colonel in one busy afternoon,
('Twas nineteen twenty-sev'n, twelfth day in June,)
"To our reunion you must go," he said,
"Or else, by Jove, I'm here to scalp your head}
Phil James's car is big—a beauty too—
He'll take some boys, Lynn Norris, Peake and you."
So on th' appointed day, to save my skin,
Phil's car I mounted ere the rest were in.
—A Cadillac, all-willing and in trim,
She seemed to hem and whinny low for him.
Phil then hopped in behind the steering wheel,
Responsive she, his presence seemed to feel;
She breathed a moment and with emotion shook,
And heaved as if a deeper breath she took,
Then softly, gently, glad had come the hour,
She crept along, her heart a muffled power.
Ere long New York receded from our sight,
And hills and woods went chasing down its flight;
The quickened road, now startled by the chase,
Upheaved beneath and swam to join the race;
And in their turn, or hedge, or inn, or hill,
In eager pursuit passed—and we stood still.
The spirit seized them all, and, all-possessed,
They milled and passed along from East and West.
Nor did they flit in fright nor scamper mad,
But gave us time t' enjoy the charms they had;
JAh
�1
27
JANUARY, 1929
However sharp the curve or steep the grade,
They bowed us gently by, ere haste they made;
The valleys widened to display their charms,
And glens and dales approached with outspread arms,
Then closed behind us, quick to say adieu,
Thus, scene on scene, till Williams came in view.
II
REFLECTIONS
'Tis good to heed the call of youth again,
And by her walls sing Williams' old refrain,
—That song of mountains and of woodland heights,
We used to sing on Hopkins' steps o' nights.
'Tis good to see these ivied walls once more,
That speak a tongue they never spoke before:
Each whispering leaf a wistful thought imparts,
And plucks a silenced chord within our hearts.
The shaded campus—has it shrunk at all?
And is that whitened steeple there as tall?
Or do the ghosts of thirty years arise
To fill the scene and make it small in size?
The streets, the trees, the hills are truly there,
And yet I feel a change somehow, somewhere.
Dear college town, my Alma Mater kind,
There is a change-but 'tis in me I find.
And here they come, the friends of college days;
All hear the call, and each the voice obeys.
0 yes!—The lapse of years has left its traces,
Not in their hearts, but in their builds and faces.
1 look at one and wonder whence he came,
But as he clasps my hand I call his name;
And some their voices bring their names to me,
As others in their smiles the youths I see.
Ill
RECOGNITION
Lo, here comes Bliss, his heart upon his face,
Unchanged his guileless smile, though changed his pace;
�I
28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
J/.
And Dewey, too, though bald, and stern his air,
His sparkling wit and airy soul are there j
And Hall, besides this princely part or that,
I know him by the way he tilts his hat;
Meek-hearted Duley, unpresumptuous pease,
And Briggs and Levy—men of God are these.
And here comes one—I know his name is Hill,
He thrived on Latin once, and, doubtless still;
And Miner too, aglow his face with joy,
A savant 'mong his peers, once more a boyj
And here is Hawkins of the kindly brow,
I see his heart a-melting here and now.
Gillette, light-heart!—just hear him, now and then,
With pious face insert his quaint "Amen!"
Magnetic Bird! However grand your girth,
I'd know by that eye that glows with mirth.
Hey, Wright! If with your weight your might has grown,
You'd make poor Amherst gasp again and groan.
That's Lee—serener now and stouter too,
But single stays his eye, his heart as true.
Judicious Burns! I could have once foretold
You'd mount the bench at forty-odd years old.
Here come some more, bespectacled and gay,
Of prosperous fronts that smile their age away;
Those stoop a bit and ponder as they talk,
Alert their mind, though slow their speech and walk.
Lo, Gordon there, now bearded and sedate,
His pipe is lit to help him ruminate.
Comes room-mate Riggins last.—'Tis Cleveland's bet
The dear old soul will never learn to fret.
IV
UP THE MOHAWK TRAIL
It is the hour—oh for that hour of day,
When light and shadows hold the soul in sway;
When deeper hues in mantled glens are set,
And pensive day departs with fond regret j
m
�JANUARY, 1929
When lingering rays the blushing hilltops kiss,
And softened echoes voice their dreamful bliss;
And here and there a star in heaven assays
To steal our thoughts upon its liquid rays.
Along the Mohawk Trail from view to view
Th' enchantment passes on forever new:
Here lies a glen in sweet retirement gowned,
And there a tor with mystic glory crowned,
And here a valley, winding round the hills,
Enjoys in peace the music of its rillsj
And there a meet of chieftains, rising high,
Proclaim their pomp and will to earth and sky.
Lo, here a precipice that awes your soul,
And there a height that soars beyond control;
And now a curve that prays you "please, go slow,"
And now a view that hails you from below;
And yonder sweeps a wide expanse of land,
Endowed with beauty by a magic hand;
And all to Greylock modest homage bow,
Who wears his aeons lightly on his brow.
A little farther up the Berkshire heights
To nobler grandeur rise; the eye delights
To dwell upon the scene and contemplate
The charms that power only can create.
From peak to peak our vision travels on,
Here sweeps abroad and there it halts to scan,
Until serenely 'gainst the darkened sky
The pride of Vermont boldly greets the eye.
THE REUNION DINNER: FAREWELL
Around the cheer now standing side by side
We pay a solemn thought to those who died.
Then comes a toast to Williams' honered name
—A tribute this with burning zeal aflame.
Now comes a speech, a flash of wit by one,
A joke, a banter, or a round of fun:
29
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
In joy the greatest, though in length the least—
These happy hours of our reunion feast.
Come Roy, I now recall your voice that night
When first I heard you sing "Lead Kindly Light}"
The organ's tuneful peal, vibrating hum,
Resounding through the years how clear they come!
And there you stood and proudly heaved your chest,
Your voice-control controlling all the rest,
Then meekly-powerful came the solemn tune,
—Delightful moments those, and passed too soon.
Yes Roy—go call Gillette and Drysdale too,
I know not now the fourth that sang with you;
And while the cheer is still before us set,
Whip into proper mood our class quartet,
Then let the affection of our former days
Revive with college songs and roundelays;
And when you've done, I ask this simple boon:
Before we part to sing this following tune:
REUNION SONG
On a day that is gone
Old Billville sang a song,
And the strains of this song we entone;
'Tis a song without notes,
In our minds though it floats
With a sweetness and rhythm all its own.
'Tis a song of the heart
That each soul sings apart
To itself as that day it recalls;
Comes its force like a tide
That will never subside
Till we meet face to face by these walls.
Come, this song let us sing
Till its echoes re-ring
From the hills and the woods we love so;
JAN
�31
JANUARY, 1929
Let us sing this sweet rhyme
And improve it with time,
Small however our number may grow.
Tune your song to our tone,
Do not sing it alone,
Sing your song with us all and be true ;
Come again to Billville
With a heart and a will
And the pledge of our friendship renew.
A Syrian Sunset
By
GEO. MALOOF
TTS late in the day; we see a hue,
Not far away, beneath the blue,
We gaze in admiration;
Our eyes are fastened to that spot,
The air is cooled, where 'twas hot;
We voice our acclamation.
The end of day has come, too soon,
Reflected there; a blazing moon
About to disappear;
We are intent; it seemed so strange,
Too intent to sense the change
In the Syrian atmosphere.
Then when it seemed the end had come,
Entranced, we were, as we watched from
Our hill—procrastination
Lingered it on, as we each one,
Drank the beauty of the setting sun,
More than our estimation.
Then as the end of a beautiful story,
And in a blaze of dying glory,
It sank to leave us there
In awe, in reverence, and in a daze;
We had seen the sun in its final phase
Over Syrian soil so fair!
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Tragedy of the Barmecides
THE PATHETIC CASE OF THE OLD MAN CAUGHT
.... WEEPING IN THE RUINS OF THEIR PALACES ...
A True Arabian Tale
VWHEN the great Haroun Al-Raschid put the powerful Barmecide klan to the sword, supposedly to avenge the indignity
attaching to the royal house by the love of Yahya, the vizier, for
Al-'Abbasa, sister of the caliph, but more probably to eliminate
the influence of the Barmecides which not only rivaled but almost
overshadowed that of the reigning house itself, he also caused
their great palaces to be razed to the ground so that the ruins may
be a constant deterrant to those whose inordinate ambitions carry
them beyond their proper stations and prompt them to assume
roles which should be the exclusive privilege of the caliphs.
The great tragedy befallen the Barmecides plunged Baghdad and all of Arabia and the great Abbaside empire into grief
over the fate of this illustrious family whose fame had traveled
far and wide for its munificence and splendor. But not once did
any of the courtiers of Al-Raschid dare mention the Barmecides
to him during the rest of his life, and this rule was followed almost as rigidly during the reign of his son and successor,
Al-Ma'moun.
One day, however, it was reported to Al-Ma'moun that every
night, under cover of darkness, an old man visited the ruins of the
Barmecide palaces and wept and lamented as one bereaved of one
of his immediate family. Al-Ma'moun became greatly indignant
and called to him his trusted servant Ibrahim Ibn Maimoun and
ordered him to proceed forthwith to the ruins and apprehend and
bring before him the culprit.
Says Ibn Maimoun: "I realized by the tone of the caliph's
command that he considered the matter of utmost gravity, and I
immediately summoned Ali Ibn Muhammad and Dinar the guard
and proceeded in all riaste to the ruins. There we concealed ourselves behind a wall overlooking the former court of the principal Barmecide palace, and but shortly thereafter we noticed two
phantom-like figures cautiously making their way in the darkness
until they reached a position directlv in front of our hiding place.
t
�JANUARY, 1929
33
One of the two proved to be a servant carrying a rug and a stool
which he placed on the ground and retired to a respectful distance.
Then the other figure approached and he proved to be an old man
of venerable mien and respectable bearing, who no sooner WS
seated than he began to bewail in piteous tones and lament the
paslng glory of he Barmecides. At times he would wring Ins
Lnds nervously or survey the ruins with a vacant stare as if in
a daze then after intermittent periods of silence would again indulge in new outbursts of weeping and recite eulogistic verse such
as the following:
"When in the fury of fate, I saw the sword descend on princely
Then "heard the caliph's crier proclaim death to the equally
magnanimous Yahya,
, mm(1
I renounced the world. For life without them had become
meaningless."
"After listening to him and watching him for some time, we
emerged from our hiding place and seized him in thename_c> the
Prince of the Faithful. When he realized his situation he became
^atly allrmed and begged for a few minutes' grace tc> write h,
will, which we allowed him to do and he entrusted the paper to
WS
^"Atlhe palace Al-Ma'moun, in spite of the lateness of the
hour, was still awaiting our return. When we brought the man
before him and apprised him of what he had said and done, the
Siph rebuked himseverely: 'What have the Barmecides done to
See ' he said 'for thee to frequent the ruins of their palaces and
amentthem in such ~~#^*^J£^£
fear the man replied: "If the Prince of the Faithful will but grant
me leave to explain my case I ^all relate it to him m all detail,
after which my life will be in his and in Allah's hands.
"Nlw Al-Ma'moun was noted for his clemency and forbearance and he readily granted the man his wish.
" 'I am Al-Mundher Ibn Maghirah, of royal descent began the old man, 'and I have met with such a succession of misfortunes that I was forced, in the last extremity, to seU my ancestral home and migrate with my family from Damascus to
Baghdad. Here I found myself stranded in a strange city with
my familv of thirty wives and children completely desti ute.
We sought shelter in one of the mosques ^ * ^f *Erirt
I went out to solicit alms. But my pride rebelled at the thought
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
in spite of my great distress, and for almost a whole day I wandered aimlessly about the streets of the city, until I came to an
ornate mosque at the entrance of which stood two richly dressed
slaves. And I made bold to enter, reasoning that admittance to
a house of God could not be denied the faithful.
" 'Once in the mosque I saw that a company of one hundred
richly dressed sheikhs had gathered therein seemingly for some
festive occasion. My realization of the awkwardness of my position caused me great discomfort and covered me with perspiration.
But through sheer desperation I decided to remain. Presently
an attendant entered and bade the company follow him to the
palace of Yahya. Meeting with no objection, I joined the procession and soon found myself in the inner court of the palace
where Yahya was seated on a raised dais flanked by ten of his children in semi-circle formation. When each had taken his position there emerged from a side apartment a youth of comely
appearance followed by a hundred servants each girdled with a
golden belt of at leas'- a thousand weight and carrying a golden
brazier in which burned the costliest kind of royal ambergris. The
youth advanced and took his position beside Yahya while the
servants deposited the braziers in double rows in front of them.
Then Yahya addressed the cadi who was at the head of the hundred sheikhs and said: "Pronounce now the word and join my
daughter 'Aisha in marriage to this youth, the son of my uncle."
And the cadi pronounced the solemn words while all the sheikh?
present bore witness.
" 'No sooner was the nuptial ceremony concluded than the
bridal pair and the whole party were pelted with balls of musk and
ambergris in such a shower as to resemble a heavy hail storm. I
observed the actions of the company and, like them, filled my
sleeve with the precious balls.
" 'Then there emerged from a side of the court a long train
of servants, as richly dressed as the first contingent, each carrying
a silver tray heaped with a thousand pieces of gold. To each
member of the company was presented a tray and I noticed that
all, including the cadi, emptied the gold in their sleeves and carried the trays under their arms and departed.
" 'I was the last to leave. I had hesitated to take the gold
and the silver tray until one of the servants motioned to me
to do so. But still I walked with faltering step, casting fearful looks behind, and Yahya, noticing my hesitant manner,
recalled me for questioning.
-
in
�JANUARY, 1929
35
« 'The servants first relieved me of all that I carried, then
Yahya bid me be seated and asked me in a kindly tone for an
account of my case, which I gave without concealing a single
«<Yahya then ordered an attendant to call to him his son
Moussa, and when the latter came he thus spoke to him: Here,
my son, is a stranger whom I entrust to your care. Treat him
as befits the requirements of our hospitality.
« 'Moussa then took me by the hand and conducted me to
his house where I was treated with the utmost of kindness and
consideration. While I thus enjoyed the bounty of my host
only my anxiety for the condition of my family marred my
otherwise complete happiness, but all my pleadings to be allowed to leave went unheeded.
« 'On the morning of the following day Moussa took me to
his brother Al-<Abbas and turned me over to him with the remark "Know, my brother, that our father the
er has ordered me to surround this guest with all our facilities for hospftalky. You well realize my duties at court which compel me
to neglect personal attention to our guest, and it is for that
reason that I now turn him over to your keeping.
« 'At the house of Al-'Abbas I encountered equally munificent treatment, and continued for ten days to be handed over
from one to the other of Yahya's sons unti 1on the, deventh
day, a head servant waited on? me and said that I could leave
in peace to reioin my family."
«'At this I could not help but lament my cruel fate.
"Alas!" I said, "I have been despoiled of the silver tray and the
gdd pieces and in this condition of empty-handedness do they
want me to reioin my family?"
. i tlw>
" 'But the servant maintained his silence and raised the
rich curtains leading to a spacious corridor, at the end of which
was another curtain, then a third and a fourth.
« 'At this stage the servant spoke to me, saying. I have
been ordered by my master to cater to thy everywant. Only
armrise me of thy wishes and they shall be fulfilled.
appn
^hen the final curtain was lifted I beheld a spaaous,
sunny room such as are described in the abodes of ^**> f m
whTch was wafted the fragrance of musk and ^^^£f£
dal wood. And there were my wives and f^^^J,
silk and provided with every comfort. They had all been sent
for and lodged in the palace of the Barmecides even on the same
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
day that I first entered the court of Yahya.
'Presently servants began to arrive bearing gifts of all
description, including not only the silver tray and the thousand
gold pieces but one thousand thousand dirhams and ten thousand dinars besides, and a deed to two rich plantations with which
lanya saw fit to endow me out of his great munificence.
" 'For thirteen years thereafter, O Prince of the Faithful,
1 continued to enjoy the great bounty of the Barmecides, being all
the while treated by them with such unabated consideration that
none but took me to be one of the family. Then the catastrophe befell them and your agent Omar Ibn Mas'ada levied on
my two plantations such heavy taxes that their combined yield
was insufficient to meet, and I Xas again plunged in the abyss
or destitution and despair, and found my only relief and consolation m paying the nocturnal visits to the ruins of the Barmecide palaces to bewail their fate and mine.'
t uTb^ Caliph A1-Ma'mo«n was visibly affected by the tale
or the old man and ordered that his tax collector be brought
before him even at that very hour. When 'Omar Ibn Mas'ada
appeared Al-Ma'moun inquired of him: 'Knowest thou this
man? <Yes, O Prince of the Faithful,' he replied. 'He is one
or the former proteges of the Barmecides.'
' 'What is the total taxation thou hast collected from him
so far on his two plantations?' again asked the caliph, and when
he was told the amount ordered that it should be refunded to
him in full and a dispensation issued from anv further taxation
in any form on the property so long as it remained in the man's
possession or in that of his heirs.
"At this great act of magnanimity the old man gave way
to his feelings in such a violent outburst of weeping that the
caliph asked in .surprise:
" 'Showest thou such grief, old man, when we show thee
only consideration and generosity?'
" 'And between his sobs the old man replied: 'O mighty
-Prince, it is not with any intention of belittling your great kindness and generosity, but even your present act I cannot help but
attribute to the munificent influence of the Barmecides which
increases my undying gratitude to their memory. For how otherwise could my plight have been brought to your attention for you
to overwhelm me thus with your munificence and bounty had it
not been for my frequenting their ruins?' "
Says Ibrahim Ibn Maimoun, who had been witnew to the
�JANUARY, 1929
37
whole affair: "I then noticed that Al-Ma'moun, in spite of
his great fortitude, was moved almost to tears and after a pause
of a few moments said to the old man: 'Verily, O uncle, this also
may be attributed to Barmecides. They alone thou shouldst
thank and their memory mourn and their benefactions recall.''
New Books
A NEW BOOK ON SYRIA
The Nationalist Crusade in Syria, by Elizabeth P. MacCallum, New York, The Foreign Policy Association, 300pp. $2.50.
" Miss MacCallum has been connected for some time with the
Foreign Policy Association of New York in the Research Department, and in that capacity was able to fully acquaint herself with
the causes and the development of the Syrian Revolution. Her
book is the result of these studies, and her marshalling of facts
is both interesting and helpful. The author lays claim to being
impartial, but it may be readily seen by her interpretation of
cai^es and effects that her sympathy lies with the Nationalist cause.
The Daughter of David, by Rev. Seraphim Nassar, 40pp. 50c.
The author of this religious tract takes for his subject the annunciation and its mysteries, and uses it as a means to remedy the laxity
in religious education among the younger generation communicants of the Orthodox Church.
The object of the author is best illustrated in the passage
where he says: "In this country I noticed in many quarters that
the standard of morality and regard for religion was taking a serious decline, the latter in several instances among ministers ot the
Gospel This I found to be due in a great measure to a failure
to build up education and religious instruction upon the foundation of true and real Christianity, and also as a result of witnessing obscene and indecent shows of both silent and spoken drama,
which are presented in many theatres throughout the land.
�38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Rihani's Lecture in London
(In the December issue of the Syrian World only a brief mention
was made of Mr. Ameen Rihani's important lecture before the Central
Asian Society in London. The following full account of the lecture and
the ensuing discussions by English noblemen and statesmen is taken from
The Near East and India of November 15, 1928.—Editor.)
TINDER the heading of "Arabia—An Unbiased Survey," Mr.
Ameen Rihani lectured to the Central Asian Society at Burlington House on November 7. Brigadier-General Sir Gilbert
Clayton, High Commissioner-designate for Iraq, who was in the
Chair, spoke of Mr. Rihani as having attained some eminence
as journalist and author.
The lecturer began by referring to his parentage. It was
at the age of ten that he had left Syria for the United States
of America. His love for Arabia was not derived primarily
from Arabic sources, for what had first fired him were the writings of Washington Irving and Carlyle. Then came Burton,
who brought Arabia to him: Doughty, however, carried him to
Arabia. His intellect was, therefore,, a complex of the East and
the West, for although his point of view might be that of an
Arab, his intellectual heritage—which was Anglo-Saxon—made
him place the attachment to truth above all racial, religious, and
political attachments.
In an interestng way Mr. Rihani developed the question
of the accessibility of truth. Was perfect impartiality possible
on either side in, say, an Anglo-Arabian or an Anglo-Egyptian
dispute if the points of view clashed? The Arab who went on
a ghazzu, for instance, could see the truth only in the loot: he
could not see it in the other man's right of possession. And the
man in possession, whether herding his camels or ploughing his
field or just sitting upon his pile, could not see the truth in the
circumstances that drove the other man to the ghazzu. In the
highest summit of human development, however, force should
be condemned and it was from this summit of civilization that he
carried in his heart a beacon to light his way through Arabia.
He went to Arabia, he claimed, with no preconceived ideas:
he came out of Arabia with no misconceived opinions. Before
he landed in Jidda he had an exaggerated notion of ex-King
Husain's power (an error for which the British Government
of
�JANUARY, 1929
39
was responsible). He soon found that little way outside Mecca
and Medina did the Sharif's writ run: beyond that limit were
tribes out of his hand and not yet in Ibn Saoud's. These tribes
were in the hand of the devil. They represented ignorance in
arms, without a hand to control them, not a mind to direct them
for their good. The Harb and the Ataibah and the Juhainah,
as well as the Sharifs of Zu Hasan round Lith and Qunfudha,
were all out for loot.
In the Yamaj*, however, between Aden and Sanaa, the position was worse. For there were ignorance and fanaticism in
arms, and some of it under the protection of the British Government. The Imam Yahya, moreover, was using the power
which he had against the Idrisi of Asir. The "happy Yaman"
enjoyed a medieval social condition—no schools, no hospitals, no
doctors, no drugs, not a decent inn.
When he arrived at Sanaa, the Imam was away, and the
lecturer was held in captivity for seven days. He had been suspected by the British in Aden, and was now suspected by the
Imam at Sanaa!
A letter of introduction from King Husain
was useless, because it failed to mention the bearer's name! But
finally it became known that "the bearer of the letter is Ameen
Rihani, and he is suspected by the British Government." He then
was able to interview the Imam. After explaining that he was
a "self-appointed missionary of civilization," Ameen Rihani
pleaded for an understanding between the Yaman and the British Government and for a treaty with King Husain: he appealed
for education and peace.
The lecturer then developed his idea of a Yamani-British
reconciliation. This might be easily achieved, in his opinion,
by the cession of the Protectorates, which were not only a blot
on the British escutcheon—their rulers having been corrupted
with gold and titles—but were also unnecessary, in view of the
Air Force, as a protective zone round Aden. All that was required by the British was a breathing space of, say, ten or twenty
miles as far as Lahaj, for instance, in one direction. The rest
of the Protectorate should be turned over to the Imam—an act
which would be befriending the general tendency in Arabia towards solidarity and unification. For all the Arabs of the Peninsula with a few exceptions, would sooner or later come under the
rule' of the two biggest leaders, Ibn Saoud and the Imam Yahya.
Turning to Central Arabia, Mr. Rihani narrated the history
of British-Najdi relations. The friendship between the two
�40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
peoples went back to the days of Faisal, grandfather of the
present King Abdul Aziz. Whereas men like Polgrave and
Wallin, emissaries of foreign powers, had been unsuccessful politically, the Englishman, Pelly, was in 1865, successful. An
agreement was signed between him and the Amir Faisal. Subsequently Sir Percy Cox, in 1915, signed an agreement with the
Wahhabi monarch; and later still, in 1925 and 1927, Sir Gilbert Clayton was similarly successful. But Sir Gilbert had recently returned from Jidda with an empty portfolio. Why?
The lecturer then examined the present relations between
Iraq and Najd. King Ibn Saoud, he said, had put an end to the
ghazzu in Najd and in the Hijaz. Did similar conditions obtain
in Trans-Jordan and Iraq? For the better control of the tribes
the British Government in Iraq had built three outposts some
miles (30 to 70) from the border line. The lecturer then showed
how the Wahabis based their objections to these posts on Articles
2 and 3 of the Protocol of the Treaty of Muhammarah. It had
to be borne in mind that there were no boundary lines in Arabia
as they were understood in Europe; the Arabs could recognize
as possible boundaries only certain landmarks, principally watering places and glens of pasture.
Over the wells in the rhomboid the tribes of Amarat and
Dhafir, in Iraq, and of Mutair, in Nijd, had long fought. The
permission which was given in the Protocol of Ujair to Najdi
tribes to use neighboring wells in Iraq territory, in case of necessity (provided that said wells were nearer to them than the wells
within the borders of Najd) did not specify the location of such
wells. They might be within any distance. This second clause
of the Protocol, in fact, because of its loose phrasing, afforded
no hope of peace and order. Mr. Rihani then turned to the
Third Clause, and examined the problem of the Shammar of
Iraq. He disputed the wisdom of building police posts to control the Shammar some five hundred miles away from their
base, or dim, for a party going forth on the ghazzu could not
travel fifty miles without being detected by the Desert Patrol
of the Government. Why could not the Iraq Shammar be like
the Syrian Shammar, who were now "brothers with the people
of Najd?" But the people of Iraq were not hostile (on the
whole) to the people of Najd: King Faisal and King Abdul
Aziz had recently exchanged letters of friendship, and the
Baghdad press had been warned to cease its attacks on the Wahhabis. It was for the British Government to bring the drama
�<&m
41
JANUARY, 1929
to a happy ending, and so not only preserve the friendship of
sixty years between the British and the Wahhabis, but also consolidate its position in the Near East.
In the subsequent discussion, Mr. Cunningham Graham, author of "Mogreb el Acksa," compared the raiding in Arabia to
what took place in, and was the curse of, Morocco. He thought
the lecturer's suggestions for the preservation of peace in Arabia
quite admirable.
Lord Lamington inquired whether Mr. Rihani was satisfied
that, if the British were to relinquish certain tribes to the Imam
Yahya, they would not be persecuted. To this the lecturer replied that he was so satisfied, that the Imam might have trouble
with the subsidized tribes, but that he was fitter to rule them.
Mr. G. M. Lees, speaking with considerable knowledge of
Arabia and of the Arabs, remarked upon the difficulty of understanding the Arab "mentality"; nor did he believe in the possibility of a united Arabia. The Arab felt that he was, given
money and arms, a better man than the European j and this fact
caused difficulty. Mr. Rihani's ideal was, however, an admirable
one and something to be aimed at.
In conclusion, the Chairman dissented from the notion
of the Oriental's having a different mentality from that of the
Occidental. All the Arab wanted was to be treated courteously
and to be told the truth. And, finally, he remarked that, although unable to bring back from Jidda any written agreement,
he cherished King Ibn Saoud's word that the differences which
had arisen were "differences between friends."
Sayings of Ali
Boasting of knowledge is proof of ignorance.
If I were a merchant I would prefer nothing to perfume:
For if I miss the profit I would not miss the fragrance.
Youth should be credited with their good traits and not
be held responsible for their mistakes.
Lift your head high among men, for apparent meekness
does not add to what is in the heart, and he who would showmen more than what is in his heart adds hypocrisy to deceit.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
EDITORIAL COMMENT
SPIRIT OF ENTERPRISE
ing urgent financial relief.
On both of these occasions,
however, their hands were forced by compelling necessity.
Whatever the reason, it is to
their favor that they proved
capable of collective action.
But now our social conditions
in America are undergoing a decided change which grows in
momentum with each succeeding year. The effect is marked
not only in our economic life
but in our social life as well.
'THE record of Syrian immigrants proves that in some respects they possess a wonderful
spirit of enterprise. The mere
fact that they have taken the
courage to leave home and
country in quest of better opportunities is ample testimony
to that effect. The record of
their achievements in America
during the comparatively short
time they have been here speaks
highly for their ability and acumen.
Under the circumstances the
But the Syrians' enterprise question naturally arises:
has shown itself mostly along Should we maintain in our pubcommercial lines. This is ex- lic matters that passive, almost
plained on the grounds that indifferent attitude characteristhey emigrated chiefly for eco- tic of our former state, or
nomic reasons and concentrated should we develop a different
their energies on material pur- tendency that would be more in
suits. Let us hope that this ini- harmony with the spirit of this
tial stage is now nearing its age and accelerate the moveclose.
ment of those forces whose efDue to these peculiar circum- fect we are bound to feel soonstances Syrians showed aptitude er or later? In other words,
for collective action only in ex- should we be content to act only
treme emergencies. Two occa- on the defensive, at the urge
sions in particular stand out as of extreme necessity, or should
cogent proofs of their latent we display the vision and enterpowers once aroused, the one prise of those who are capable
when they were accused of be- of planning for constructive acing of Mongol descent and on tion in the future?
that assumption their right to
The opportunity for such
citizenship questioned; the oth- needed action is now at hand
er when news reached them of and it rests on the success of
the deplorable plight of their the Federation movement of
country during the war requir- our societies. We are not now
-v.
�JANUARY, 1929
43
in any danger; no right is de- fying our efforts along those
nied us that is enjoyed by other lines deemed most helpful both
citizens; but should that repre- to ourselves and to the nation
sent to us the ideal state of con- of which we form an integral
tentment as model citizens and part.
descendants, of a proud race?
Now that we are fully settled
in our new home and that our
A NEW DEPARTMENT
young generation is coming
more and more into control of
With a view to broadening
our destinies, *we should assume
the
scope of its service, the
the initiative in planning for
something constructive to which Syrian World will now inauguwe would not be driven by dur- rate a department for news of
ess but by our full and volun- Syrian fraternal activities.
All Syrian societies are intary will to do for the good of!
a public cause. By such action vited to avail themselves of
alone could we promote our in- this new department to publish
terests, enhance our prestige, results of elections, reports of
and gain for ourselves the rep- debates, entertainments, educautation and the standing of a ional and civic, enterprises and
valuable, and useful element. like news of a public nature.
Only through the mobilization
There appears to have develof our general forces could we oped lately a growing interest
lay down a national program in cooperative efforts. During
for bringing to the attention of the past few years a large numthe American people a greater ber of fraternal organizations
appreciation of our racial con- has sprung up among the Syrtributions, and for working to ians throughout the country, espreserve that precious heritage pecially among the new generawhich should be the lasting tion. Our young men and woglory of a proud race that has men are awakening to the necontributed in no mean degree cessity of coming together for
to civilization and to the prog- the better promotion of objects
of common appeal and interress of the human race.
This coalition of forces for est. For our societies to be
constructive, far-reaching action kept informed of their various
is now within our power. It is activities cannot fail but act as
in our coming together in a a stimulant and an incentive.
nation-wide federation of so- There would be established
cieties for mapping a general through this means a better unprogram coordinating and uni- derstanding leading to closer
�44
cooperation. Many an idea
successfully carried out by one
organization might prove the
pattern for all others to follow..
What is also to be hoped for
above all else is that mutual
interest thus developed will create a uniformity of policy which
will crystallize and systematize
our efforts towards the promotion of our own general interests and the better service of
the country.
QUESTIONS ANSWERED
The question on the spoken
languages of Syria at different
periods answered by Dr. Philip
K. Hitti prompts us to again
remind our readers of Dr.
Hitti's willingness to answer all
questions of historical nature
submitted to him through the
Syrian World.
We consider ourselves fortunate in being able to call upon
such an authority and scholar
for information, and we take
this opportunity to repeatedly
thank Dr. Hitti for his proffer
of cooperation. Dr. Hitti is
one of the first and steadfast
supporters of the Syrian World
and we wish to make public acknowledgment of our debt ofj
gratitude to him for his valuable cooperation throughout the
career of the publication. His
reiteration of the offer to answer all questions is a fresh
THE SYRIAN WORLD
proof of his sustained interest.
We would only wish to have
our readers avail themselves
more fully of this exceptional
opportunity.
INDIVIDUAL
OPINIONS
The Readers' Forum in the
Syrian World is open to the free
expression of opinion by our
correspondents of whatever nature. We assume, however, no
responsibility for individual
opinions and our publication of
them should not be taken as an
indication of our editorial policy. Those holding convictions
to the contrary are equally entitled to a hearing and our conduct of this department so far
has sufficiently proven our impartiality.
The discussion of the marriage problem among Syrians
by Mr. A. Hakim has aroused
considerable interest among our
readers and elicited many comments. Some communications
printed in this issue might be
looked upon by some as indicat
ing extreme tendencies. Parents or others who hold different views are welcome to an
explanation of their side. The
subject is manifestly debatable
and a full exchange of ideas by
those interested will undoubtedly assist parents and children
affected in formulating a proper
policy.
�45
JANUARY, 1929
Readers' Forum
SYRIAN WORLD WRITER
REPLIES TO A CRITIC
Editor, The Syrian World:
In his letter of criticism appearing
in the December issue of The Syrian World, Mr. J. M. Abbott was
severest on me. He is not pleased
with my treatment of the subject of
"divided loyalty" which I discussed
in the October issue. He accuses
me of setting a stage on which appears a common, ordinary storekeeper delivering a pedantic lecture
to a shopper. He exclaims that if
I am a friend of his hiding under
an assumed name his stepping on
my toes should serve me right.
I must admit that I have not had
the privilege of the gentleman's
friendship and therefore 'he need
feel no scruples about stepping on
my toes. I doubt that he would have
any consideration for me anyhow,
seeing that he has let himself loose
and stepped on everyone's toes.
Distributing the shock makes it less
painful!
But since you, Mr. Editor, have
seen fit to publish his letter, I am
claiming the privilege of like treatment for this short reply, in which
I shall even overlook the fact that
you yourself, in your answer to the
critic, have deemed it fit to neglect
any mention by way of defense of
your anonymous contributors.
Mr. Abbott accuses me of rambling
and murdering a vital subject. Rambled I may have, but does the critic
stop to consider that he has paid
me the high compliment of choosing
for discussion a vital subject? Now
insomuch as the subject is vital why
not Mr. Abbott take the cue and give
us an orderly, logical, unrambling
treatment of this admittedly vital
matter ?
Then there is the question of setting a stage and attributing philosophical discussions to a shopkeeper.
The answer to this unjustifiable
thrust was unconsciously answered
in my second instalment of the series
on The Marriage Problem when I
quite inadvertently remarked that
"wisdom was not the monopoly of
the learned." I would loathe to delve
deeply into history for illustrations
of this truth, but among our great
contemporaries I may mention two
who "learned wisdom from the
mouths of lowly cobblers." I refer
to David Lloyd George and our own
President Calvin Coolidge.
So for me to interview a shopkeeper to learn his opinions on our
everyday, homely problems should
not be deemed unduly strange. Furthermore, the shopkeeping sage was
not delivering his discourse to an
ordinary shopper, but rather to one
who sought his opinions by prearrangement in the regular, decent, acceptable manner of newspaper interviews.
The trouble, Mr. Editor, with this
critic is that he has not been following the Syrian World closely in a
manner enabling him to come to a
fair and judicial judgment of the
situation, which fact you have rightly pointed out in your reply to him.
It pains me to have to step on the
gentleman's toes so painfully.
A. HAKIM.
Somewhere in the U. S. A.
�46
AGAINST A CHANGE
IN THE SYRIAN WORLD
Dear Editor:
I am very glad the Syrian World
enlightened us as to the nationality
of Mr .Abbott for I would have taken
the gentleman for a 100 per cent.
American, picturing him with a
mouthful of Brown Mule, h;s legs
cocked up on the table boasting of
the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon
race.
Constructive criticism bares our
mistakes and teaches us to correct
them, but Mr. Abbott's criticisms
are of the destrucitve kind. I will
not ask Mr. Abbott to g've us something better in the place of the
things he criticises, for his criticisms
are not justified.
The Syrian World would lose its
value and its very reason for existence if you divest it of the articles
which do not seem of interest to
Mr. Abbott, such as Arabic poetry,
which is unexcelled; archeological research for more exact Syrian history; news of its civil;zation, arts
culture, history, political developments, Spirit of the Arabic press,
etc. In fact, articles dealing with
these subjects are just the things
that give the magazine its splendid
educational value.
What Mr. Abbott wants <« read is
not the Syrian World, but the True
Story Magazine or the Whiz Bang.
JOSEPH MAWOD|
Dallas, Texas.
SYRIAN-AMERICAN CLUB
ENDORSES SYRIAN WORLD
Editor, The Syrian World:
The Syrian World was discussed
at one of our meetings and the mem-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
bers expressed their approval of the
publication and went on record so
as to encourage all Syrians in Cleveland to subscribe to it, as they have
found it to be the best medium of
keeping this new generation in touch
with the affairs of the Syrians here
and abroad.
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN CLUB.
M. S. Caraboolad, Sec'yCleveland, Ohio.
HELPS MAKE BETTER
AMERICAN CITIZENS
Editor, The Syrian World:
I wish to congratulate you on such
a beautiful and useful magazine. . . .
It is my belief that young people
who know more of the culture and
background of their forefathers will
make better American citizens, because they will have more to contribute to American life that is
worth while.
ROSE A. DAVISON,
National Director, Dept. of Racial
Groups.
National Woman's Christian Temperance Union.
Mt. Vernon, Olr'o.
SUGGESTING REFORMS
IN MARRIAGE CUSTOMS
Editor. The Syrian World:
All fair-minded observers must admit that what Mr. A. Hakim writes
about the marriage problem among
Syrians is true. I know of many actual cases to verify his statements.
I would not, 'however, call those
brides brought over from the mother
land "imported wives." As the writer
�JANUARY, 1929
explains, social conditions among the
Syrians in the past were such that
young men had to seek brides abroad.
Now, however, conditions have
changed, and the crux of the problem is for Syrian girls ;n America to
find suitable husbands.
\
47
A SYRIAN GIRL
VOICES AN OPINION
Complains Girls Are Not Given
Sufficient Freedom and Lead
Lives of Drudgery.
I believe something should be done Editor, The Syr:an World:
in the way of educating the parents
I wish to congratulate the Sage
in changing their point of view in of Washington Street on his wonmatters of personal conduct among derful article regarding the marriage
their daughters. Old country stand- problem among the Syrians, publishards are not applicable to, or prac- ed in the December issue.
ticable in. this new land. The age
The marriage problem is admitin which we live, besides, is not in tedly a very serious one and should
harmony with medieval practices and be given much consideration.
ethics. It still seems the unchanging
It is a shame the way Syrian girls
rule among the old folks that a have to live. All their life is nothyoung man cannot speak to a young ing but a drudgery. Something must
lady unless he contemplates mar- be done to change our present situriage, and that once a girl is seen ation. Girls must be given more
talking to a boy it necessarily fol- freedom. They must be put on the
lows that they are engaged or oth- same basis as the boys. Our Syrian
erwise people will begin to question boys have the privilege to go into
the character of the girl as to why the world and do as they please,
did So-and-so stop his calls on her. which is perfectly all right, but how
This is carrying the point a little about the girls—shouldn't they be
too far and stands in the way of our given the same privilege?
g;rls finding mates.
Very few g'r's ever have the
The question of pre-nuptial de- chance to pick out their own husmands on the part of the parents bands. The parents usually pick out
is also a serious matter. I know of the fellow. Most of the times the
cases where the groom was required girl has never seen the fellow beto buy a specified quantity of jew- fore, and while she is not always
elry, and after the marriage found willing to marry him, she is persuaded by her parents. At other times
himself unable to furnish a home.
she thinks she can have more freeThen, too. there should be no
dom by marrying. I know of a case
shame in both husband and wife which involved a 16-year-old girl
working and cooperating to bu;ld
and a man of 35. She knew nothing
themselves a little nest. Syrian
of love and she did not love him.
girls are now permitted to work,
Her parents persuaded her; he lured
whereas they were not allowed out
her with his gifts; they were marof the house before. Why not show
ried. Two or three years later she
the same liberal tendencies in other
began to awaken to a new realizamatters ?
,
tion—that she did not love him; he
ALBERT G. ABOUD. was of one generation, she of another; their ideas were different; they
Detroit, Mich.
�48
had nothing in common. She sought
the company of others and found
love in another. The result: Divorce,
remarriage, a broken home, and little innocent children left to grow
up into the world fatherless.
All this could have been avoided
had the fellow found a mate of his
own type, and the girl been given
the freedom and the privilege to pick
out her own mate.
We are living in America. We
have adopted America as our country—we must adopt her ideas, and
live an American life. We must put
away those foolish ideas of the past
and the Orient. We must give our
girls the freedom which other girls
in the world enjoy.
We are a Christan nation, and a
Christian nation treats the women
the same as the men. Women are
honored and respected. In a heathen
country women are treated like dogs.
We are not heathens. Do we not
claim to be as civilized as any other
nation ?
God made Man and Woman. Without either the world cannot go on.
Both are vital to society. Why then
can't the Syrians put them on the
same scale?
Girls everywhere are beginning
to awaken. They want more freedom. They are going to demand it
—and will get it. Every time a bunch
of girls get together all they can
talk about is why they can't have
the same freedom as the rest of
girls, and why should the boys have
all the freedom, and they none.
It is not fair. We are only going to ruin our girls. Syrian girls
hate their parents, their natiionalality; they lose interest in life—have
nothing to live for, no ambitions,
and I dare say that any number of
girla are on the verge of rebellion.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Nine out of every ten girls go out
secretly and the tenth goes out openly. The nine girls who go out secretly do not enjoy themselves in
that they are always afraid of being caught or of being seen by some
Syrian. They are only living under
a fear, a false pretense and their
whole life is miserable. The tenth
girl enjoys a reputation. She is
the subject of conversaton for the
gossip lovers. Wherever she goes
she seems to hear "There goes that
girl, she goes out with anybody and
everybody." Her life is just as miserable as the other nine. While all
ten of the g'rls go out, none of them
are very happy, or could be under
the circumstances.
Why all of the narrow-mindedness
on the part of the older generation ?
It doesn't get them any place. They
cannot expect us to live as they did
when they were young. We are living in a different age. They never
had radios, pianos, theaters, and
dances, and all the modern conveniences we have today. Why all the
selfishness? Why not stop and consider the girl's side of it. She is just
as human as the rest of the world.
Most Syrians think they are doing
their daughter good by not giving
her any freedom. It is true in their
opinion, and the way they look at
it, but we have different opinions
and look at it from another standpoint—and we have just as much
right to our opinions as they have.
Girls have lived the way of their parents long enough. It is about time
the parents compromise.
Syrians are not only doing injustice to the girls, but they are also
spoiling their boys. The boys look
down upon the Syrian girl and feel
superior to her, and have no respect
for her. They go out with other
'
'M
�JANUARY, 1929
49
girls until they find the right one. to have this freedom soon, and esSometimes they do not find the right pecially with the rising tide of a
one and when they have roamed United Federation of Americanaround for a long time, they seek a Syrian societies. I am sure that one
Syrian girl whose reputation has not of the purposes of the National orbeen marred by gossip lovers. Tfts ganization, which I hope we will
is not fair to either sex. He has have in the near future, will be to
had his fun, his fling. He is ready promote understanding among our
to settle down—all he wants is a young people of both sexes.
I'm hoping that the Syrian World
wife who will devote the rest of her
will
open its pages for the discussion
life to his comfort. She has not had
of
this
subject, as it is just as imher fun, is not ready to settle. How
can she make a good wife? Never- portant to our American-Syrian generation as any other subject and
theless, she is expected to.
On the other hand, if the girls had more so.
MARY SOLOMAN.
the same freedom as the fellows
Mishawaka, Indiana.
and were at liberty to go with them,
there will be a mutual understanding between, and perhaps better
matched marriages would result. The CHRIST SPOKE THE
OLD SYRIAN LANGUAGE
fellows would look up to the girls,
and the girls would look up to the
Editor, The Syrian World:
fellows, and life would be happier
In reading Dr. Philip K. Hitti's
for both.
book, "Syrians in America," I came
If the fellows want to marry g^rls
across the statement that the spoken
of other nationalities, they are at
language of Syria was the Aramaic.
liberty to do so, and I am sure the
Will you please tell me what that
girls won't be brokenhearted. Give
language was? I was under the
them the same privilege and they
impression that the Syrians spoke
will be satisfied.
the language of the people who govNo other people will ever take us
erned Syria.
into their social circles unless we do
JAMILE J. KANFOUSH.
away with this social evil.
Syracuse, N. Y.
Of course, I could go on and on,
but what's the use. Everyone should
DR. HITTI'S ANSWER
be aware of this social evil. A lot
Before the people of Syria spoke
of the older folks are aware of it,
but they won't admit it, and they Arabic they spoke Aramaic, which
don't want their daughter to be talk- is a Semitic language and a sister
ed about, but if all the girls were of both Arabic and Hebrew. The
given the same freedom, there would Arabic language superseded the
Aramaic as a result of the Arab
be no talking.
conquest
in the middle part of the
Perhaps, some of the older folks
7th
century,
A. D. Syria itself bewill never submit to this new freefore
the
Arab
conquest was called
dom, and perhaps it will never be
the
land
of
the
Arameans.
during this generation but it is bound
Aramaic is the language which
to come sometime or other.
I feel confident that we are going Christ spoke. It was the language
)
�50
THE SYRIAN WORLD
of culture in all Western Asia before the Arabic language replaced
it. It has two branches, an eastern
branch and a western branch. The
western branc'h is sometimes called
Syriac.
Aramaic, or Syriac, is still spoken
in three villages in Eastern Lebanon, near Damascus. It lingered
in Lebanon until the fourteenth or
fifteenth century.
PHILIP K. HITTI.
Princeton, N. J.
SYRIAN FARMERS
PIONEERS IN CALIF.
Editor, The Syrian World:
In regard to the statement on
Syrian farmers in the United States
I wish to add a little information
to the survey already covered by Dr.
Hitti in his book, "Syrians in America." An area in central California
was never touched by a plow owing
to the fact that it was a desert, and
being such it was shunned by American farmers and others until a Syrian from Zahle came along and
bought it from the State for a song.
Immediately he and lvs son set to
work on this "desert" land and transformed it into one of the most productive ranches in that district. The
grapes he raised on it captured first
prize in an exhibit'on and the State
sent a photographer to take pictures of the crops. Now our BouNajeeb owns several cars and is living on Easy Street.
JAMILE J. KANFOUSH.
Syracuse, N. Y.
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcosmic picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever
Arabic dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking
writers who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabicspeaking world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take
no part in the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our
task will simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and
with utmost sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed in these editorials.
Editor.
THE WEALTH OF AMERICA
In Florida even at this season farmers are busy in their fields and
the land is surprisingly productive.
In mid-winter grapes are growing
on the vines, roses are blooming in
the gardens and the fields are beautifully green with systematic rows
of beans and pepper plants.
Truly, we know but little of America. Opportunities are to be found
here as nowhere else in the world.
What a boon it would be for industrious Syrians to take to farming,
especially in sections where there
are no changing seasons and where
the earth produces the year around.
This brings to mind the report
that some of our immigrants in this
and other countries have petitioned
the home government for return
transportation as they are destitute
and cannot find employment. Such
�51
JANUARY, 1929
people cannot be of any benefit to
the motherland and to furnish them
with free transportation would be
sheer waste of good money, because
if they are unable to find employment and remunerative occupations
in this land of plenty they will prove
equal failures in the poor country of
their birth.
Al-Hoda. N. Y., Dec. 18, 1928.
NO NECESSITY TO MIGRATE
themselves profitable occupations,
why should the orginal inhabitants
complain of lack of opportunities?
The trouble with the majority of
the Lebanese is that they want to
"get rich quick," and they overlook
the fact that to gain a livelihood in
America at the present time is one
of the most difficult tasks. Any
man of willingness and industry can
make a living anywhere in the world
as well as he can make it in America.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., Dec. 11 ,1928.
We read in the Lebanese press
that the Lebanese have almost gone
migration-mad. Any number of
them seek passports to leave the
country and some of them do not
even take the precaution of ascertaining whether they would be admitted to the country of their destination. This has led to deplorable
results in some instances where
large numbers of immigrants were
turned back after a perilous sea trip
and found themselves stranded and
destitute.
The Lebanese Government should
take more forcible means to prevent
a repetition of such occurrences, and
it should employ stricter supervision
over the practices of some steamsh;p
agents who entice the ignorant and
lead them to sad situations.
After all, the Lebanese at home
envy us for being in America, while
we who are here envy them for be^.ng
in the most beautiful country on
earth, where climate and natural
scenery are unexcelled and where
one can live in peace and tranquility
far from the din and the press of a
gigantic civilization which at times
has a very sinister effect on the virtues of the soul. . .
Furthermore, if the Armenians
eom« to Lebanon and find in it for
ARMENIANS IN SYRIA
The population of Syria was at
one time several folds what it is
now, still the country enjoyed prosperity and there seemed to exist no
fear of famine or lack of gainful occupation.
Now we find Syria, in spite of it3
reduced population, in constant fear
of losing the little it possesses, and
whenever a contingent of Armenian
immigrants arrives there is immediately raised a cry of bitter complaint.
In view of these complaints we cannot but wonder how a country which
normally supported five or six millions is incapable of supporting two
millions now. Is it not that the
earth is not made to yield its normal crops owing to lack of labor?
It is not too much to expect that
a population of ten millions should
live comfortably and contentedly in
Syria. It is therefore to Syria's advantage to encourage immigration
for the purpose of increasing pro
duction. The Armenians come to
the country seeking work and in that
capacity they should be welcomed
as a useful and productive element.
Syria, however, could lay down cer-
�52
THE SYRIAN WORLD
tain conditions on immigrants in order to insure their engaging in productive occupations, and through
that means could enlist them as a
most helpful addition to the population of the country in bringing
about a rehabilitation of its industrial and agricultural conditions.
As-Sayeh, N. Y., Dec. 15, 1928.
COMING EVENTS IN SYRIA
The Syrians await with impatience
the return of High Commissioner
Ponsot to learn the nature of the
new proposals he brings from Paris.
It is now evident that these proposals will not permit of bargaining,
but will represent the final conditions laid down by the French Foreign Office for the Syrians to accept. Some form of an agreement
will have to be reached the nature
of which it is now impossible to determine.
As matters now stand, the settlement of the Syrian situation does
not rest on right but on might. The
Syrians claim natural rights while
France claims the right of mandate
from the League of Nations. It is
evident that Syria cannot assert its
own right against the will of the
Powers in control of the League.
This should not be taken to mean,
however, that the Syrians should
forego their national aspirations.
The mandate is but a temporary
arrangement and cannot last forever.
It becomes, therefore, the duty of
the Nationalists to persevere in the
prosecution of their just demands
as in that alone they would be fulfilling the trust reposed in them by
the nation.
—Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y., Dec. 29.
General Amnesty Necessary
Sultan Pasha Atrash and Emir
Adel Arslan remain self-exiled in
the Syrian Desert. They have so
far refused to go to either Al Hijaz
or Egypt where surely they would
find the most considerate treatment.
But what can be the cause of this
persistent refusal? Surely there
must be a secret in the matter. Let
us see.
So long as they remain in the
Desert they give the impression
that the fires of the Syrian rebellion are still smouldering—that the
revolution is dormant but not dead.
Now again, is this decision prompted by military or financial reasons?
The answer to this last question
can best be found in an explanation
of the present situation.
If the two mentioned leaders were
to depart from the Desert there
would be no further incentive to the
money collecting campaigns waged
among some of the misguided supporters of the revolution in America.
In which case it would be evident
that the revolution had truly come
to an end and that to raise money
for its further prosecution is but a
pretext at extortion.
As the situation now stands, the
only effective move that France can
make to put an end to these campaigns is to issue a general amnesty to include the leaders of the revolution. Then there would be left no
valid reason for political tramps to
be running all over Europe claiming
to be the official representatives of
the Syrian cause, while in fact they
represent no one but themselves and
are only seekers of personal profit
and their only political qualification
is the ability to deceive the simplehearted Syrian immigrants in America to extract their money.
�t\
$3
JANUARY, 1929
With the issuance of the general
amnesty Atrash and Arslan in the
Syrian Desert could not continue in
their claim of still prosecuting the
Syrian revolution, nor Shakib Arslan
in Europe persist in claiming representation of the Syrian cause before the League of Nations and
European governments.
As-Sayeh, N. Y., Dec. 27, 1928.
SYRIANS ARE TO BLAME
The Syrians blame the French for
the selfishness the latter display in
promoting their own interests. We
believe the French are not to blame.
Those to blame are the Syrians themselves who are forever busy in petty
factional quarrels and open the way
for foreigners to gain their ends at
their expense. If the Syrians showed but a little capacity for unity and
concerted action not only the French
but all other foreigners would respect their rights and abstain from
taking advantage of them in their
own land.
The Syrians have many wise sayings but seem to be unable to act
on any. We would remind them of
what the Arab poet says:
Whoso takes his sheep to pasture
in a land infested with beasts
of prey,
And failed to watch over them,
the wolf will tend his flock in
his stead.
Cooperation is necessary not only
between Druze and Druze, Moslem
and Moslem, and Christian and Christian, but it is imperative between
all these different elements in such
a public-spirited manner that all
should lay aside their religious "fanaticism" in working for the general cause of the country.
The Syrian Eagle, N. Y., Dec. 4,1928
About Syria and Syrians
DEMAND FOR MONARCHY
DEVELOPING IN SYRIA
!
The Syrians took the second postponement of the Constituent Assembly with apparent resignation to the
inevitable. The extended stay of
the High Commissioner in Paris
made it impossible to reconvene the
Assembly at the expiration of the
first three months and this has kept
the country in suspense and somewhat lessened the interest of the
people in political developments.
The general realization is that nothing can be expected before the return of the High Commissioner,
while his return has been so long
delayed that people have tired of
speculating as to his probable future
policy. The leaders of the Nationalists apparently remain as steadfast
as ever in their demands, but there
is a suspicion that their position
is being weakened by the heavy inroads which the advocates of a Constitutional Monarchy are making in
the popular sentiment. There are
even some who assert that an overwhelming majority of the population
prefer a monarchy in that it is more
in keeping with their traditions and
religious concepts. For the furtherance of these claims many an aspi
rant to the throne has gone to Paris
with the ostensible purpose of influencing the decision of the French
�$4
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Government in favor of declaring a
A mixed commisson has been apmonarchy. Especially are their ef- pointed lately in Syria by an order
forts in this direction more intense of the Acting High Commissioner to
at the present stage because of their settle war claims and deal with the
realization that France will make special cases arising from the revoher forthcoming declaration of pol- lution. It is composed of two Syricy her final word in her conduct of ian and one French members to
the Syrian mandate, and if a mon- whom may be added the legal reprearchy is declared it would not only sentatives of the claimant and tha
find many enthusiastic supporters defendant. It is given the widest
but would also lessen the possibility latitude of power and its decisions
of resistance on the part of the Na- are final.
tionalist Party which favors a republican form of government.
An interview by a representative DEATH OF THE SYRIAN
ORTHODOX PATRIARCH
of the Egyptian paper Al-Ahram
with Emir Said Abdelkader, surCable dispatches from Beirut on
named the Algerian, and one of the December 11 reported the death of
principal aspirants to the Syrian his Beatitude Gregory Haddad, Pathrone while on 'his way to Paris, triarch of Antioch and of the East
would have us believe that this for the Syrian Orthodox Church.
Prince, if appointed King, would
Death came to the Patriarch after
come to an immediate understand- a long illness which at one time neing with the French on the question cessitated an operation at the hosof the six Nationalist demands by pital of the American University of
the simple expedient of foregoing Beirut. His advanced age, however,
them. The Prince is reported to rendered it difficult for him to rally
have said that these points are un- completely.
tenable in that they represented deFuneral services were held for the
mands impossible of fulfillment, Patriarch in Beirut, after which his
principally that point referring to body was taken to Damascus for inthe integrity of Syria which would terment.
necessitate the surrender by EngThe late Patriarch was one of the
land of Palestine and by King Ibn great ecclesiastical dignitaries of the
Saoud of large territories now with- East, and his record is or.e of illusin his jurisdiction. On the question trious achievements.
of the National Army, however, the
Born at Obeih, Lebanon, in 1859,
Prince thought that a suitable solu- he received his elementary education could be reached which would tion at the American Protestant Misbe agreeable to both the French sionary school of the town, but at
and the Syrians.
the age of thirteen was transferred
Prince Said is the grandson of the to the Orthodox seminary of Beifamous Abdelkader who resisted the rut. He later joined a religious
French for fifteen years in Algeria order and continued rising in rank
and was finally exiled to Damascus. until elected Bishop of Tripoli in
He later became one of the staunch- 1890.
The succeeding years until tha
est friends of France as have subsequently all members of his family. close of the nineteenth century were
�JANUARY, 1929
V
55
stormy ones for the Syrian Orthodox ties many favors for the Syrian
Church owing to the growing move- Church.
During the World War the Patriment for independence from Greek
rule. Only a bishop of Greek nation- arch used his great influence for inality was eligible for election to the tercession with the Turkish authoriPatriarchate of the Syrian Church ties for the protection and relief of
the Christians, and in the troublous
since 1724.
times following the war he was one
The controversy culminated in vicof the potent political leaders and
tory for the Nationalists in 1899
gave his support to King Feisal.
when the Greek Patriarch Espiridon
Later he transferred his political alwas deposed and Bishop Malatius
legiance to the French and exerted
Dumany elected to succeed him as
great efforts to establish harmony
the first native Patriarch. He reand understanding with the Manmained in office six years When, upon
datory Power.
his death in 1906, he was succeeded by Patriarch Gregory Haddad.
The work of the late Patriarch AN ARAB PRINCE
was directed chiefly towards interGIVES MUSICAL CONCERT
nal reorganizaton of the church and
Prince Muhi-Ud-Dn, scion of the
in this he succeeded brilliantly durSherinan family and for several
ing his long tenure of office. The
only sad incident that attended his years a resident of New York, gave
administration was the dissension in a recital at the Town Hall on Thursthe Orthodox Church of America fol- day, December 13, which attracted
lowing the death of the first bishop a large audience in which the Syrof the church, the late Raphael Ho- ians were largely represented.
Prince Muhi-Ud-Din is perhaps the
waweeny, who professed allegiance
most
prominent exponent of Oriental
to the Russian authorities.
music
now in the United States. The
The death of Bishop Howaweeny
selections
he played on the oud thrilland the disorganization of the Rused
the
large
audience Which called
sian Church as a result of the defor.
several
encores.
It was apparent,
bacle in Russia caused Bishop Gerhowever,
that
his
art was being
manos Shehad}, then visiting in
heavily
impregnated
with the WestAmerica, to claim the American see
ern
technique,
at
least
in the numfor the Syrian Church, and over this
bers
of
his
own
composition
which he
matter a heated controversy has
played
on
the
oud.
His
cello
proved
been waged ever since, causing the
to
be
a
revelation.
rise of three distinct factions in the
The Syrians participating were
Syrian Orthodox Church in America
drawn
from the best class in our
and the establishment of as many
community.
The Syrian Junior
bishoprics.
League
attended
in a body.
In 1913 the Patriarch visited RusPrince
Muhi-Ud-Din
is the son of
sia at the invitation of the Czar to
Sherif
Ali
Haidar,
now
a resident
assist at the celebration of the terof
Beirut
and
at
one
time
a claimant
centenary of the Romanof dynasty.
to
the
throne
of
Al
Hijaz.
The
He was one of the principal figures
;
Prince's
love
for
music
took
h
m
to
of the celebration and while there
Europe
to
master
the
western
art
received from the Russian authori-
�56
after having perfected his Oriental
technique in Constantinople and
other musical centers in the East.
Besides his adeptness at his art, the
Prince is the perfect type of the
eastern gentleman, a true representative of the illustrious Arabian
house which claims the honor of having given the world the great
Prophet of Islam.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES
The Syrian World is finding its
way to an ever increasing number of
public libraries in the United States
through the patriotic? action of some
of our public spirited countrymen.
Mr. Frank Karam of Bangor, Me.,
has renewed his gift for a second
year to the Public library of his city,
announcement of the fact being made
by the Bangor Commercial. In its
book column, the Bangor paper lists
first the Syrian World in its recommendations for Good Book Reading
week and gives an outline of the
topics of the magazine and its educational value.
SYRIAN NURSE PRAISED
FOR HEROISM IN DANGER
During the past summer there
developed an epidemic of septic sore
throat in the small Massachusetts
town of Lee which had no hospitals
and had to call on neighboring cities
for aid. Worcester was the first to
respond and its contingent of physicians and nurses improvised a hospital and began immediate care of
the stricken population. But for this
quick help a large number of the inhabitants of the town would have
perished. As it was only fifty succumbed.
Among the first to arrive on the
scene was the Syrian trained nurse,
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Miss Laura R. Agbay, who. like the
rest, worked in 12 hour shifts. After
about a month of the hardest fight
under unfavorable circumstances the
epidemic was brought under control
and Miss Agbay returned to her
home town.
The Worcester Daily Telegram
published a long interview with Miss
Agbay and commended her pluck and
determination in face of grave danger.
AMEEN RIHANI, AUTHOR,
ARRIVES IN NEW YORK
Ameen Rihani, author of "Maker
of Modern Arabia" etc., arrived in
New York December 25 after having
spent several months in London lecturing on Arabia and the Near East.
Preparations are under way by
the Syrians of New York City to
hold a banquet in honor of this returning son of the colony who has
achieved world-wide fame by his travels and his literary works.
Mr. Rihani has brought with him
the three full-blooded Arabian horses
which were presented to him by
King Ibn Saoud of the Hijaz. While
in the city he is a guest at the Authors' Club.
FIRST MARONITE
CHURCH IN CANADA
What is claimed to be the first Maronite Catholic Church in Canada
was dedicated last Fall in Windsor,
Ont.
The pastor is Mngr. Peter
Farah through whose untiring efforts the success of the undertaking
was made possible. A generous
contributor was Mr. Louis Peters
who was knighted by His Holiness
the Pope in reward for his gift of
$10,000 towards the building fund
of the Church. On the occasion of
the consecration ceremonies conduct-
L
�THE LATE GREGORY HADDAD
Patriarch of Antioch for the Syrian Orthodox Church
( 1859 — 1928 )
�]
�-
57
JANUARY, 1929
ed by the Rt. Rev. M. F. Fallon, D.D.
Bishop of London. Ont, Canada, a
souvenir ibooklet was issued in English giving the history of this parish
as well as of Syria in general, laying special emphasis on the attachment of the Maronites to the Catholic faith throughout the ages.
SYRIAN UNIVERSITY
STUDENTS IN NEW YORK
A statement which appeared in
the metropolitan press early in December and was taken for its face
value by the Arabic press of the city,
gave the number of Syrian students
in Columbia University and living
at International House as only two.
The Syrian World asked Mr. Emile
Dumit for information as to the exact number of Arabic speaking students living at International House,
and he prepared the following list
which numbers eighteen, all of whom
are studying at Columbia with the
exception of two who are studying
at New York University.
Matta Akrawi of Mosul. — Subject,
Education.
Rafik Ashsha, Damascus—Business.
Ibrahim Dada, Damascus—Education.
Emile Dumit, Beirut,—Physics.
Hassan A. Ghamrawi, Egypt—Finance.
A. Haddad, Transjordania^—Agrjiculture.
Iskandar Harik, Lebanon,—Education.
William Hazam. Egypt—Journalism.
Fuad Husaini, Damascus—Agriculture.
Jamil Isterabadi, Baghdad—Business
Dawud Kasri, Mosul—Education.
Jamal Khurdeji, Dahascus—Electrir
cal Engineering.
Midhat Sirbaji, Tripoli—Music.
George Serrafian, Beirut—Archaeology and Pusiness.
Miss. Theodora Skaff—History.
George Shiya—Law.
Miss. Elizabeth Shiya—Business.
T. Shiya—Business
The last four are American-born
Syrians.
1
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
AMEEN RIHANI—Internationally known scholar and traveler.
Author of "Maker of Modern Arabia" and of many other works
of poetry and prose.
KAHLIL GIBRAN — Author of The Prophet and other celebrated
works and styled by American writers Poet of the Cedars and
The Syrian Poet.
DR. N. A. KATIBAH — Arabic and English poet and scholar.
Professionally a dentist of Brooklyn. One of our regular contributors.
A. HAKIM — Pen name of an old Syrian immigrant who is contributing to The Syrian World a special series of critical studies
EDWARD B. KARAM — A Syrian-born American of Pittsfleid,
Mass.
GEORGE MALOOF — A new contributor of Pawtucket, R. I.
J
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A BOOK YOU SHOULD HAVE
MAKER OF MODERN ARABIA, by Ameen
Rihani has proven a literary sensation. Never before
has a more accurate, extensive and authoritative picture of central Arabia been presented with as much
power. It is an epic of the desert j an up-to-the-minute
"close up" of the cradle of the Arabian race.
The author of this great work is a Syrian of whom
everyone of his countrymen should be proud. A copy
of his book should be found in every Syrian home of
culture.
"Mr. Rihani's picture of the Wahabis is the sort of firsthand authoritative atuff that puts this book above and wholly
outside the range of the usual treatises either of travel, observation or politics."
N. Y. Herald-Tribune.
"The command over the subtleties of our anomalous language revealed in these pages, is uncanny. To read is to enjoy
the pleasure of music. From Ameen Rihani we have what can
scarcely fail to be a final portrait of that formidable chieftain,
Ibn Sa'oud, by right of conquest King of Mecca."
New York Times.
ORDER YOUR COPY FROM THE SYRIAN WORLD
AT THE PUBLISHER'S PRICE
1
>
» »»
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$6.00 postpaid.
» <»» »»—»» <»» . «»» <t» <»» »» .»» +» <»+»
I
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
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English
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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NS 0002
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
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TSW1929_01reducedWM
Title
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The Syrian World Volume 03, Issue 07
Date
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1929 January
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 3 Issue 07 of The Syrian World published January 1929. The first issue of the year begins with an article by Ameen Rihani discussing Arabia and its problems-- an informative discussion on the current issues in the Middle East, specifically Syria and the nations surrounding it. As mentioned in the December issue, there was a desire for Syrian-Americans to join Syrian-American societies. The next article is an update on this discussion that showcases a few of the societies in various parts of the U.S., a show of the collective unification of Syrian-Americans. Following this article there is a poem dedicated to the idea of the new Syrian-American Federations titled "The New-Born Babe," by Edward B. Karam. Following it is yet another inclusion of "The Sage of Washington Street," with a part III discussion of the marriage problem among Syrians by A. Hakim. Yet another poem included in this issue is by Kahlil Gibran titled "Defeat," a poem with a tone of resilience. The next story is a classic adopted from Arabic titled "The Weaver and the Rose," which discusses Al-Ma'moun the 7th Abbasid Caliph. There is another work by Ameen Rihani that is a transcript of his lecture in London titled "Arabia--An Unbiased Survey." The issue concludes with the Reader's Forum and excerpts from the Arab press.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
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Text/pdf
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Text
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
Ameen Rihani
Marriages
New York
Poetry-English
Syria
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/782d1bfa2a69f2bcc7dcf632bd52e5e3.pdf
d9158c0c06efe6f169ccca978cf3ffab
PDF Text
Text
VOL. Ill No. 12
•• .lift Ufi£
JUNE, 1929
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
i
EDUCATION AND CATASTROPHE
DK. BAYABD DODGE
RIHANI'S EXPERIENCES IN ARABIA
AMEEN RIHANI
THE GREATNESS OF JOHN HASBANI
REV. W. A. MANSUR
THE REWARD OF HONESTY
DR. PHJLIP K. HITTI
OTHER ARTICLES AND POEMS BY
Rev. Dr. K. A. Bishara, Dr. George Knaysi, Labeebee A. J.
Hanna, Thomas Asa, Josephine M. Crick
mm
��THE
SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEE,
Editor.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104
GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK,
By subscription 55.00 a year.
N. Y.
Single copies 50c.
Entered as second-class matter, June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March
3, 1879.
JUNE, 1929
VOL. Ill No. 12
CONTENTS
PAGE
Education and Catastrophe
3
Dr. Bayard Dodge
RihanPs Experiences in Arabia
12
Ameen Rihani
Will You Come Back? (Poem)
....
18
Labeebee A. J. Hanna
The Greatness of John Hasbani (Short Story)
19
Rev. W. A. Mansur
Wings (Poem)
27
Thomas Asa
lu
.r..,-_
-.
_..,
.
. ,f „_.,_,.
�CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
The Reward of Honesty
28
Dr. Philip K. Hitti
The Green of Innisfail (Poem)
32
Josephine M. Crick
The Biological Significance of Youth and Age
33
Dr. George Knaysi
Music—East and West
35
Rev. Dr. K. A. Bishara
Editorial Comment
Changing Frequency of Issue of The Syrian World 37
The Federation
39
Spirit of the Syrian Press
40
Readers* Forum
43
About Syria and Syrians
45
News of Societies
55
THE SYRIAN WORLD WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED
DURING JULY AND AUGUST
(Read Statement On Page 37)
Ett
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
JUNE, 1929
VOL. Ill No. 12
Education and Catastrophe
By
DR. BAYARD DODGE
President American University of Beirut
I
The popular English writer, Mr. H. G. Wells, has written
the phrase, "History — a race between education and catastrophe."
If there was any place where education flourished in the ancient world, it was around the Roman forum. Philosophers gathered from all parts of the Empire to ennoble the capital with
their learning. Ancient superstitions disappeared in the light of
new wisdom, and crude ideas of religion changed to the lofty
idealism of Epictetus and the Emperor, Morcus Aurelius.
Science developed to make possible the construction of magnificent buildings. The forum became a wonder of the ancient
world, because of the beauty and size of its temples, triumphal
arches, and amphitheatres. From the marble palaces beside the
forum, the Caesars sent forth their soldiers to conquer the world,
by means of their science in constructing ships, engines of war, and
weapons of defense.
At the same time, their imperial engineers set out to build
gigantic acqueducts, and a network of highways and post routes,
which reached the North Sea and across the sands to the borders
of Iraq and Arabia.
' Orators held the Roman mob spellbound in the courts of the
forum. Drama flourished in the theatres; music and art were
there, as well as poetry. The heart of the Roman Empire was
adorned with a brilliancy of culture.
Education transcended differences of race and sect. Egypt-
�4.
4
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ian devotees of Sarapis; Syrian worshippers of Adonis; Greeks
fresh from the Hall of Mysteries at Eleusis, and eunuch priests
of Cybele met with giant warriors of Gaul and ebony chiefs of
Ethiopia in a common appreciation of that culture, which blossomed on the Seven Hills of Rome.
From the marble porticoes of the forum, there radiated out
a sparkling enlightenment, which shone in marked contrast to
the dark ignorance of the Huns, Vandals and other tribes that
harrassed the frontiers of the Empire.
Today the glory of the forum is faded, the life of its courts
has perished, the temples and palaces are ground to dust. Plundered are the treasures, overturned are the columns, and forgotten are all but a few of the men of learning. Ignorant hordes
'of illiterate barbarians broke the proud spirit of Rome and left
her a ruin, bereft of power and learning.
Education lost and the struggle was won by catastrophe.
If we study the cause of Rome's fall, we discover an unexpected truth. It was not because of the strength of the barbarians
on the frontiers that the Empire collapsed. As long as the Romans kept strong and brave, their legions were able to scorn the
wild tribes that threatened them.
Rome rotted from within, and that very culture and education, which seemed to be her glory, was really her nemesis.
What was true of Rome was equally true of Baghdad. At
one time mistress of half the world, pride of the caliphs, and
centre of culture, she symbolized learning and enlightenment.
Her scholars kept alive the best thought of the East and transmitted the lost learning of Greece to later generations. In an
age of religious sterility, her Arab masters awakened faith in God.
Because of education, Baghdad shone out as a beacon light in the
East, whose brilliancy lit up Europe and helped to start the Renaissance.
Yet amid this atmosphere of learning and culture, the people
of Baghdad grew lazy and weak. Slaves robbed them of their
heritage of true manhood and foreign servants did their thinking
for them. Thus Baghdad too was ground to dust by ignorant
Tartars from the bleak steppes of Asia, her education being overtaken by catastrophe.
In order to understand why Rome and Baghdad fell, let us
ask,—what are the effects of education?
In the first place, peasants leave their farms to seek the at-
�JUNE, 1929
5
tractions of the great cities. As formerly they passed from the
gardens of the Orontes to the busy markets of Antioch, today
they abandon their Lebanon terraces to flood the streets of Beirut.
In the second place, enlightened people shrink from the sordidness of commerce and industry, to spend their money for social pleasure. Once a landlord might have farmed out his lands
to slaves, so that he could mount his chariot and drive to the villas
of Pompeii. Today a man will abandon his farm and business
house, to spend his fortune on motors and new pleasures from
abroad.
In the third place, an educated man loses the rugged strength
of farm life and becomes too weak of limb and too fond of luxury to be a soldier in time of war. If there is hard manual labor
to perform, or fighting to be done, he hires ignorant mercenaries
to do it for him.
In the fourth place, humble faith in old traditions of religion is turned to materialism and unbelief. Formerly an Epicurus could deny the powrer of gods over nature and exalt pleasure
as the end of life. 'Omar Khayyam could flaunt the faith of the
'Ulema in orthodox religion and sing the praises of women and
wine in his enchanted rhapsodies. Thus today many a man is losing faith in the traditions of his fathers, before the inexorable
advance of science.
In the fifth place/simpie home life gives way to public meetings and amusements. In Rome, education drew men from their
quiet homes to classic dramas, pageants of the arena, and political discussions in the market place. Today history repeats itself
as so-called "enlightenment" empties the homes and fills the
cinemas and places of recreation.
In the sixth place, educated women demand freedom. The
cultured daughter of some proper Roman matron would break
away from her mother's housekeeping, to mingle naked with
the elite of Roman society in the imperial bathing clubs of the
Caesars. Today educated girls cast off their veils and mingle
gaily in the enjoyment of European amusements.
Lastly, as education gives freedom from ancient prejudices
and social traditions, it inevitably brings moral laxity. The
iron physique of ancient Rome was rotted by venereal disease, as
simple virtue gave way to vice. Today the educated peoples of
great western cities are too often scorning old notions of morality
and creating new centers of shame, that outdo Babylon herself.
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Since the cannons of the great war ceased to roar, a new
day has dawned for the Arabic speaking lands. No longer are
they isolated and content to be cut off from the fruitage of science and invention of the West. They are anxious to partake
of so-called "modern progress' and to gain prosperity as people
of Europe and America have attained it. In this hour of rejuvenation the Eastern peoples have come to believe that education is a cure-all for weakness and a basis for progress.
New systems of government certificates are being adopted.
Many private and government schools are being built up in Palestine and Syria. New universities are forming at Cairo and
Damascus. The Shah of Persia is sending over a hundred students to be educated in Europe and Iraq is developing an active
system of state schools.
On all sides you hear people saying that there will be prosperity and progress, if there can only be enough educated men to
understand modern methods and to enjoy the advantages of
science. Statesmen feel that differences of race and sect will
disappear, as soon as education becomes common j that superstition and bigotry will fade away as soon as the people become enlightened. It is a popular belief held by cabinet ministers and
peasants alike, that public wealth, national unity, and workable
democracy depend upon education and that education is the one
means of avoiding catastrophe.
What a challenge this situation offers, both to teachers in
schools and to educated people themselves!
Is our education to be truly a blessing, or is it to sap our
manhood, to rot our morality, and to create materialism, until
modern civilization is wrecked, as were those of Baghdad and
Rome?
At this point it is important for us to appreciate three fundamental things about education: In the first place it is a weapon
of tremendous power. "The pen is mightier than the sword."
Ability to think deeply and to set down those thoughts for all to
read wields an influence of great force. In these days when
printing has given even the poor a chance to read, the masters
of men are not the military rulers, but the men of education, who
formulate public opinion by power of the pen.
In the second place, education may be a force either for
good or for evil. Like electricity, if it is controlled, it will give
light, but if unharnessed as the lightning, it will strike to destruc-
r
,,:>
�JUNE, 1929
'
tion. The problem of our age is to use our culture and enlightenment to strengthen manhood, to purify morality, and to quicken
progress, so that we can enjoy civilization to the utmost, free
from danger of catastrophe.
In the third place, we must realize that our modern civilization cannot exist without education. Today a taxi chauffeur must
have a more practical knowledge of physics and machinery than
did Archimedes and Galileo of old. When I was a child in New
York City, a ditch for a water pipe used to be dug by newly
arrived immigrants. When I visited New York last winter, I
noticed that ditches were no longer being dug by ignorant men.
Today a ditch is made by a great steam shovel, which accomplishes the labor of scores of uneducated immigrants. To manage the shovel a highly trained mechanic is necessary.
In ancient days an ignorant brute could sit in a gallery, with
lash in hand, and force his slaves to pull their oars and drive the
ship ahead. At the present time it requires the graduate of an
intricate engineering course to manipulate complicated engines,
which propel the ship across the waves. If we examine the Temple of Baalbek, the Colosseum at Rome, or the great aqueducts
of ancient times, we realize that in spite of their huge size these
structures could have been built merely by master mechanics. To
construct them required artistic designing, accurate measuring,
and expert stone fitting. Higher mathematics, chemistry, and
advanced physics were not needed.
In our modern times, when a tunnel like the Simplon is
built, it is necessary to drill through a mountain for twelve and
a half miles, so as to reach a certain point without error of
more than a few centimeters. Only engineers of unusual training can perform such a feat of measurement. When a great steel
skyscraper or bridge is built, chemistry is needed to mix the metal;
strains and stresses must be determined by intricate forms of
mathematics; and physics is needed to make allowance for the
expansion and contraction of steel, due to changes in temperature.
The people of Tyre manufactured their famous purple dye
by crushing shell fish. To make modern dyes demands a knowledge of chemistry such as only a few countries have developed.
Once the village barber cared for teeth and old women prescribed
their herbs to heal disease. Today a self-respecting dentist or
physician must have a knowledge of science, such as Hippocrates
and even Avicenna never possessed. If Napoleon could once
�——
8
THE SYRIAN WORLD
more draw up his long lines of infantry and brilliant ranks of
cavalry, how helpless they would be before clouds of mustard
gas and volleys from giant tanks!
Modern life has become so much more complicated than
ancient civilization, that higher education is necessary, whether
we wish to seek defense in war, or to enjoy the fruits of peace.
Furthermore, ignorance was not a serious drawback, under
the despotisms of ancient Persia and the Caesars of Rome. Slaves
did the work; few dared to hold original thoughts; and initiative of action or sharing in civic responsibility was discouraged.
Things depended upon the command of a despot or one of his
underlings. Even at the time of the great caliphs, progress was
due to the ability of a few military rulers, rather than to a general participation in the responsibilities of community life.
In modern times it is not so. Rulers are elected and not
born. Legislation depends upon the will of men and women
who can read. Progress is based upon team work in community
service. Democracy is a farce, unless the people are well educated.
Thus, although education may have paved the way for
moral breakdown and military weakness in times gone by, it is
absolutely essential for a modern people. Military defense no
longer rests upon physical strength, as much as upon chemistry
and engineering. Industry, transportation, and democratic government depend altgoether upon education.
Accordingly, there can be no thought of getting on without
education. We must face the question squarely—as to how we
can make education in our modern life a support for morality
and progress, rather than an incentive to decay.
True education should contain three main elements—technical training; culture broadening, and character building.
If the young are taught how to do some one, useful thing
in a thoroughly skillful way, it will give them a desire to work,
rather than to be lazy. If education can so stimulate pride in
technical efficiency that it will cast a stigma upon idleness and
superficiality, it will do much to avoid degeneration.
But technical skill alone, without breadth of culture, is apt
to lead to narrowness and materialism. A doctor, for instance,
who has great professional ability, but no other interests, may
be a skillful physician, but he can never become a very influential citizen. He will have few points of contact with people who
•„„
b
t
<
1
�JUNE, 1929
y
are not also doctors and find it hard to mingle with persons who
belong to races and social groups other than his own. Uncultured people find little in life to live for, except for mere money
making by means of professional skill. They seldom attain to
an international point of view. It is only as men and women
read books of all kinds, travel about, and feel the refining touch
of poetry, music and art, that they can learn to live for something more than money, and feel a sympathy for mankind as a
whole.
.
.
Yet breadth of sympathy and aesthetic emotion cannot alone
save active, successful men and women from worldliness and its
resulting decline. Only as civilization is fused with some deep
moral purpose, will it escape catastrophe. Unless men are public spirited and feel social responsibility, they will degenerate.
What is needed in education as the third and most important element is to provide an unselfish motive, so that a skilled
and cultured man will net use his influence for personal gain,
but rather for social good. As students are given skill and
breadth of culture, they must be made to feel that their energies can contribute to something more than transitory, worldly
gain, for they can cooperate with the divine power, that is working out a great purpose for the world.
If education can lead to service of God and the public good,
it will indeed bring our modern civilization to a rich fruitage and
save us from the catastrophe that overtook civilizations of the
The question arises, then, how are we to breathe into education some higher purpose, to bring forth moral vigor and love
of service, as one breathes into a nay to bring forth tones sweet
and clear?
There is no mechanical or automatic means of accomplishing this task. If the divine power flooded mankind with spiritual
refreshment every year, as the Nile floods her banks, we might
be sure that generation after generation would yield a harvest
of moral virtue, without effort on the part of men themselves.
But it is not so. Moral vigor depends upon the active care
of men, just as an ordinary garden cannot yield unless it is conscientiously watered and tended. In the days of the Rashedin
and Beni 'Umayya, Wadi of el-Kura, for instance, provided
rich crops, as landowners used the spoils of jihad to enrich their
gardens and maintain series of wells. But when revolt and dis-
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
order set in, the wells were neglected, the gardens became covered with drifting sands and the Wadi lost its fertility. So it is
with civilization. Neglect means decay.
It is a solemn truth to ponder over, that only as men themselves train their children to value public welfare and virile morality, can they avoid degeneration and final catastrophe.
It is not necessary for teachers to be versed in theological
learning or to try to force their own peculiar ideas of doctrine
upon their pupils. Education need not be prostituted to the
propaganda of a sect. In fact, it is not always imperative that
religion should be taught as such in a school curriculum. Sometimes children become hypocritical or even revolting, when they
feel that their schooling is being used as a means of inducing
them to subscribe to some particular sect or dogma.
What is absolutely essential is that the teachers should so
value spiritual things that by every act and word they spread
the contagion of true religion among their students.
How sad it is that although many states spend hundreds of
thousands of pounds for roads, hospitals, and parks, they support their schools so meanly, that education is entrusted to incapable teachers, who are too often chosen because of political
pull, rather than because of moral character. In the same way,
many a parent devotes great care to business and social engagements, but leaves the children to be trained by ignorant servants.
Only as the citizens of a country realize that the welfare of their
state depends upon inspiring the young with lofty ideals, can
the state escape decline.
Such ideals cannot be imparted to the rising generation by
empty phrases or lessons from books. They must be exemplified
by contagious personalities, who actually live them. As the
Arabic speaking peoples open up a new chapter of scientific advancement and contact with the West, it is timely that they
should realize that true national strength does not rest alone
upon technical efficiency or economic wealth, for even the empire
of the Caesars fell to pieces, because of lack of moral strength.
Great Britain is far more powerful than was the vaunted
Empire of Rome. Even the Pharaohs and the Caliphs never
dreamed of wealth, such as exists in America. Yet the AngloSaxon civilization is doomed to the fate which overtook Rome
unless private morality and public service can be preserved by
the untiring care of the people. What is true of Anglo-Saxon
�JUNE, 1929
u
culture is equally true of Arab civilization
Our present age is an especially critical one. The Orient is
being deluged with new thought from the West
Boy and
tils are revolting from the simple traditions of their parents
3S&2vsrM«££»s
blatently exploited in every eastern ^> J^hfskv is in eve y
hidden in the lands across the sea. English whisky is.in every
snoD window the beauty of the English home stays behind in
cottajof B Htain. French dances and theatres are also in eviH,nrf but the subtlety of French music and art cannot be appreoat d ^SndSnas thrill our Oriental youth with extrava
gant passion and adventure, but they fail to portray that respect
for labor which has made America prosperous.
How Important it is that children of the Orient should not
sell tSrirthright for the superficial things from the West, and
That the shoulcflearn to appreciate those elements of civilization
which have made the 20th century the great age that it is!
Thus our modern generations must be tested just as truly
as were the generations of the past. Education is indispensable
a modern life is too complicated to exist without it. If the people
oiZr day use their education to grow rich and in turn employ
therWeaTth for the enjoyment of idle pleasure education will
not prevent catastrophe, but on the contrary will invite degeneration.
The challenge of modern life is to train our youth, that
education will sustain a strong moral basis for continued progress and thus ward off calamity. It is a challenge that comes to
each one of us as individuals, for it is only as. individual men
and women live for ideals that are spiritual, that one generation
can leave to another a heritage of enduring strength.
':. .
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Rihani's Experiences in Arabia
A LESSON IN ZOOLOGY AND HEALING
By
AMEEN RIHANI
KING HUSSEIN believes firmly in the principle of reciprocity,
whether in politics or in ethics; and he finds, as usual, in the
Koran the strongest argument for his belief. It is ordained, for
instance, that the Muslem should pray and fast and pay the
zakci money; in return for which Allah promised him Al-Jannat
(Paradise). This is reciprocity in duties and rights. Now, the
English exacted a pledge from the Arabs to fight with the Allies
during the World War, which pledge the Arabs made good. The
English in return pledged themselves to help the Arabs to achieve
unity and independence; but they were not, alas! faithful to
their pledge.
When His Majesty mentioned or thought of the English,
he got the blues. He did not always succeed even in concealing his anger and indignation. But he had in those days a man
from Hadhramout, who was his Minister of Finance, and whom
he would call into his presence for amusement whenever the pall
of the English was upon him. The Hadhromunt Minister was
a man of weak nerves, very sensitive to strange voices and motions, and quick to react to the least adventure of insects and
creeping things. In plain words, he was a coward, the first coward
in the Hashemite Government. There was another, the poet;
for His Majesty believes that every poet is a coward.
But neither strange voices nor shadows, nor the bugaboos
of politics affected King Husein in a manner unbecoming of man.
He is strong of sinews, firm of heart. When the Turks were
bombarding Mecca and the Kaaba, their shells fell on his palace, piercing the walls of his private majlis when he was therein.
But he did not move or show the least sign of perturbation.
As for the Turks, they were in his sight but like insects and
creeping things, over which he shed his pity and with which at
times he frightened people. He is, I learned, particularly fond
of little animals and is familiar with their nature and habits.
Moreover, they were in those days of especial benefit to him; for
�JUNE, 1929
13
with the help of the Hadhramout Minister they dispersed all
royal cares and killed the greater monster, which darkened his
hall at the mention of the English.
One of his black slaves came to me of an evening and said.
Saiyedna desires thee—forthwith. I hastened to the palace,
where I found, seated opposite his Majesty on the diwan, the
British Consul. Evidently the Hadhramout Minister was_ not
within reach of the black slaves. But am I, the thought was irresistible, to act in his stead, am I his understudy? No, King
Husein could not be so ungracious to a guest.
He started his conversation by giving me another surprise.
He spoke of the weather! He, the Descendant of the Prophet,
the Grand Sherif of Mecca, the King of Al-Hijaz, the Great
Emancipator,—these and more titles graced the communications
of the Foreign Office to His Majesty—he condescended to talk
about the weather. The English have taught him the trick of
talking about the weather! I do not think, however, that he
has learned from them anything else, except it be a few syllables in the phraseology of diplomacy. But this phraseology can
better be acquired in'Stamboul, and King Husein is a master
of it, as we shall see.
The weather was the general topic that day, however, for
it rained the first time, I was told, in twelve years. It rained a
drizzle in places for about fifteen minutes, and the joy was great.
The King told us that along the sixty-mile front, between Jeddah and Mecca, there were spasmodic and local cloud-bursts—
a feeble barrage, fired here and there by the East wind. After
all, His Majesty's talk about the weather was not perfunctory.
He held forth on the clouds, the winds, and the seasons in eloquent and lucid speech. Indeed, he is most charming when he
is not on his favorite topic, the politics of Arabia and Great
Britain.
"Hast thou not witnessed, O brilliant one, the way of the
clouds?—their idiosyncracy, their false promise of rain, their
stinted bounty, and their generosity at times when it does more
harm than good?"
The British Government again, thought I. But he was
quick to come down to what did not seem to have any symbolic
significance—to the seasons of the year. There are, it seems,
five seasons in Al-Hijaz. To the traveller, however, there is
but one, which is neither summer nor winter nor autumn nor
�14
T::E SYRIAN WORLD
spring, but a colorless and not infrequently a most exasperating
combination of all four.
—"The Arabs of these climes, O worthy One, divide summer into two parts, the first, which is evil, the second, which is
good. In the first, that is in May and June, the rain is a calamity because it brings out of the earth a certain worm which devours the grass. Finished, no pasture." His Majesty stroked
one hand against the other and continued. "But the latter summer rain there in truth is the white hand of Allah. The winds
are our enemy, in all seasons for they drive away from AlHijaz the blessings of the rain-clouds. But the mountains south
of Mecca hold them back at times, and At-Taief, the garden of
Al-Hijaz, catches the blessings of heaven ... of the nature
of our soil, as of our people, is contentment. Our soil requires
but a little rain, and the fields are verdant with thankfulness."
He then asked me, of a sudden changing the subject, if I
had ever seen the dhab. The dhab is an animal we meet with
everywhere—in Arabic books; in poetry, in prose, in history,
sacred and profane. I have always wondered what it is like,
for I have never come upon a description of it; Arab writers
thinking, I suppose, that he who knows Arabic must know the
dhab. My ignorance, however, was doublefold, so too my humiliation, because I did not know its name in English.
But the royal and benign gentleman, who will give us a
lesson in zoology, will not only tell us what the dhab is, but
actual]v, billah! he will show us the animal. The poet, the second Minister of Fear, was present; and when His Majesty
clapped for one of the slaves, he seemed as if he would jump out
of the window.—"The dhab, the dhab is coming."
The King did not say whether it was a year old or a hundred, whether it was the size of a rat or as big as a crocodile.
But the black slave soon dispelled my fear; for he came in holding something in his hand.
"Bring it here!" said His Majesty, and the slave placed it on
the diwan between him and myself. The British Consul was
on tiptoe with excitement. He even rose from his chair, forgetting all formality, and came nearer to see the animal.
"This is a chameleon," he said, and I translated chameleon
to the King.—"No, no," said His Majesty, "the chameleon's
back is round, the back of the dhabt see you, is flat. The cha-
�JUNE, 1929
IS
meleon's tail is soft like his body, but the tail of this one—give
me, O worthy one, thy hand."
I do not think His Majesty's intentions were honorable;
for he took the Consul's hand and pressed it against the rough
spinous portion of the animal. The Englishman felt the sting
and showed it in his face. His Majesty laughed. I too now
know how rough and sharp are the thorne in its tail} and I know,
thanks to King Husein, something of its nature. But I still
ask what is the dhab? Is it a lizard? Is it a species of crocodile, or is it a chameleon gone wrong? I still am in a confounding smatter,—and I'd like to know what in the language of
Shakespeare and Shelly is the dhab. But my royal Professor
from Mecca has something: more to say about it.
—"This is a small dhab, O thou esteemed Consul. I have
seen others that long," opening his arms, "which might be called
the dhab of politics. Its tail is half the size of its body, and it is
very knotty. The Arabic proverb, Knottier than the tail of the
dhab, is true; and this tail is his sword; with a few blows he kills
his opponent. But this is a small dhab—there is neither good
nor evil in him."
The slave at the door announced the Hadhramout Minister.
The King quickly hid the animal under his jubbah, saying,
"Yes, yes, there is some good in him."
His Excellency the Minister of Finance entered and took
his usual seat, three or four spaces down. The King motioned
to a place near him, and turned towards me with a furtive smile.
The second Minister c>f Fear, the poet, knowing what was coming, moved toward the door; for no sooner the Hadhramout
Minister took his seat than the hand of His Majesty, with the
dhab in it, stealthily, quietly placed the animal in his lap. The
poor man uttered a cry, "O my Master O my Lord!" screaming
like a frightened child; and he jumped from the diwan shaking
his jubbah, and towards the door running against the black slaves
there on guard.
His Majesty laughed—we all laughed merrily, like children. Even the poet who was still seated with his arms folded
across his breast, as usual, and who had been attempting all along
to repress a smile and control withal a fear, surrendered at last
to the general mirth, giggling like a school girl. But His Maiestv, becoming serious again, turned to him and half-mockingly
said: "Thou hast no right to laugh—no, no:—no right hast thou
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
until thou art willing to ride a horse or go up in an aeroplane."
The poet-Minister feared the two as much as his contemporary from Hadhramout feared the dhab.
When we left the King's majlis that evening the Consul
said to me: "It is the most interesting hour I have yet spent
with His Majesty. He is, outside of politics, a brilliant conversationalist, and a gracious host." The which from a consul,
though not devoid of truth, was, I thought unfair. Do not all
people in politics speak at times only with the purpose of concealing their minds? But I learned afterwards what the British
Consul and Agent in Jeddah had to suffer in unravelling the
skeins and solving the riddles of the Hashemite Secretariate's
communications, which were often written by the King himself.
I too realized during my stay of a month in Jeddah how capable
was His Majesty in knotting his ideas, and how wonderfully
proficient in ambiguity and evasion. He would make the circuit
around a certain point, as if it were the Kaaba, seven times without touching it; coming alarmingly near it; and then quickly
receding from it; but his hearer, in an attempt to follow, becomes giddy from the circumambulation; knocks his head against
a wall or against a door in the temple of mystery; and, turning
around to see where he is, finds himslef, alas! very far away from
Majesty and completely mortified, not knowing what to say. Nor
is there a better refuge in silence. Should he say: I understand,
O my Lord, he will set himself down as one of his official sycophants; and should he keep silent, his silence might be misconstrued. Therefore, to escape both difficulties, he nods, and nods,
awaiting patiently the end.
I have often been attracted by a beautiful gesture of His
Majesty's to the mysterious something in his hand and expression; aye, I have been like one enchanted by the magnetic flow
from his fingers and his eyes. For what is diplomacy, and what
is truth, and what is wisdom as compared with the magic of one
who makes you oblivious of the theatricalities of men and the
pyrotechnics of nations?
Indeed, my Lord of Hashemite eminence and diplomatic
nodosities hath pauses in his speech, which humiliate all elormenee; and gestures which can solve even the riddles of the
ancient priests; and glances which enthrall his hearer's mind and
heart. He holds out the palm of his right hand or both in em
phasis, when he feels that he has proven his point; he folds
�JUNE, 1929
17
his arms when he pauses for a reply; he rearranges his ighal
or his turban when he thinks you are dubious or losing interest;
he changes his position on the diwan when he starts, as it were,
a new paragraph; and he lays his hands on his knees tilting the
head, when he makes an argument irrefutable. Follows, a smile,
and silence. What matters, therefore, his meaning and purpose, when he himself is there before you, a personification of
majesty and magic?
At times, when he changed his seating position, I would
avail myself of the ooportunity to ask a question that has no connection with the subject, stating, in apology for my indecorum,
<"hat I was a traveller seeking knowledge.—"Indeed, O thou
learned one, there is still left of Qoraish (the tribe of the Prophet
Mohammad) about five thousand. They are of three sections
of the tribe, one section of which lives near At-Taief; and there
is still between them and the descendants of the Prophet much
sympathy and good feeling. ... As for Benu Sa'd, those whose
ancestors nursed the Prophet, their dirah is also near At-Taief,
and there is a family among them and of them who have a wonderful knowledge of surgery and medicine. Thev inherit it one
from the other. . . . Do vou know, ayuha'n-napb (O thou brilliant one, that fever can be cured by cauterization? Ben Sa'd
the surgeons thus cure it."
His Majesty held out the proof of it in himself. He had
the fever once and he was cauterized. He showed me the marks
of the two actual cauteries, one in his right arm, the other in his
left leg.
"The secret is in choosing the place for the burn, and that
reouires a good knowledge of anatomv. The surgeons of Benu
Sa'd do not leave the cautery open for a discharge of matter,
as others do. They seal it (help it to heal) with a little salt—
I say, a little salt, which they strew upon it."
Having then observed a twitch, indicating pain, in my arm,
the King inquired about it and continued: "Allah mav cure thee,
O dear one, through the medium of a surgeon of Benu Sa'd."
A dav after, of a certainty, the surgeon arrived from Mecca.
He had come bv order of His Maiesty to treat my neuritis. He
did not examine me professionally,. Allah be praised! bat he
asked me three questions only, and then said: "Cauterization will
not benefit thee. Hast thou some butter, mix it with a little
mashed garlic, and rub thrice a day. Thus wilt thou be cured
�a
18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
by the help of Allah, and thou wilt remember me with kindness." Saying which, he salaamed and walked out.
In sooth I do remember thee, O Brother Arab, O thou
camel-herd and royal surgeon, O thou prince of all the doctors
I have met! And I shall ever remember that simplicity of thy
manner, and that brilliance in thine eye, and that grandeur in
thy voice and gesture. I shall remember too that thou didst not
prescribe for me thy special treatment as do the specialists in
civilized lands. But thou hast coupled Allah with thy remedy
and thus art thou an honest leech and a true sage. I shall always
remember thee, O thou royal surgeon and camel-herd, because
in the remembrance of thee I forgot my pain. And this, by the
life of Allah and thine, is the best cure, the balm that truly heals.
Will You Come Back !
By
LABEEBEE
A. J.
HANNA
Will the summer bring you back—
Bring you back again?
Must I only dream of the past—
And dream but in vain?
The old house is all in ruins—
Is all in ruins now.
Gone is the porch and the parlor—
(Gone the fevered brow).
There we sat each afternoon,
Just before darkness fell.
There we trembled at every step
That broke our magic spell.
I can still see the wistaria,
I smell its odor sweet,
The blackberries in profusion,
Whose brambles tore our feet.
I hear you whisper still:
You hardly dared to talk—
Hand in hand—with flowers and berriesBack in the garden walk.
�19
JUNE, 1929
The Greatness of John Hasbani
(A Short Story)
By
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
"One of the greatest Syrians of modern times is John
Hasbani," said I to my friend as we were evaluating the great
men of our race.
"That is saying a great deal," he replied. He mentioned
many famous Syrians: patriots, preachers, merchants, editors,
poets, doctors, writers, lawyers, travelers, educators and others,
but among them was not Hasbani's name.
"I will support my statement," I volunteered, "if you allow
me to relate the story of Hasbani's struggles, achievements and
influence."
"Glad to hear about him," said he. Briefly this is the story.
The Family Tradition.
The American Hasbanis came from a healthy, intelligent,
industrious and liberty-loving family. Tradition says the Hasbanis withstood fire, sword and lash in the days of autocracy.
The father received his education at an American Mission school.
The mother, daughter of prominence, attended another American
Mission school, married one she "respected, was educated, and
had a future." The wanderlust of Phoenician ancestors was
in them. In America they proved to be loyal citizens, hard
workers, and ample providers for their growing family. The
Hasbani children received their education at a public school.
They grew up knowing little of their native land, its customs,
language, and history.
When America entered the World War, Syrian-Americans
supported her giant crusade for democracy. Syrian youth, not
waiting to be drafted, enlisted in army or navy. Because they
received their intellectual equipment in America's public schools,
their outlook was wholly American. On hearing America's martial airs; on seeing American soldiers on parade; and in feeling
�"TriL
20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
within their hearts the stir for liberty, they rallied to support
their beloved land.
"America has been a mother to us," father Hasbani often
said; "we have enjoyed her freedom, her protection, and her opportunities. We show our gratitude to our American homeland
by being loyal Americans."
The Innocent Abroad.
Our interest centers about the post-war period with its political campaigns, economic deflation, and race struggle.
It was during the American race agitation that young John
Hasbani began to come to himself, his Syrian self. He heard
and read much about the "scum of Europe," "aliens," "Asiatics,"
"foreigners" and "inferior races." It was claimed that inferior
races were hindering America's progress. This led to hurried
Americanization, inquisitorial patriotism, and race prejudice.
Young Hasbani, like all Syrian-American youth, was busy
being a good American, getting an education, choosing a vocation, and thinking of a home. Although he knew, read and heard _
about the fierce race struggle, he felt it did not apply to loyal
Americans such as he. But this conviction was not to remain
so very long.
The Great Disillusionment.
Disillusionment came during his senior year at the University. He had been taught that all Americans have the right to
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that all men are created free and equal; that character is the measure of the man.
The climax of the disillusionment came when the University
was highly agitated over the race question. This is how it came
about. On the way to the sociology class, Hasbani was about
to pass a group of classmates.
"There comes Hasbani now!" exclaimed Dick Wilson.
"Hello, Dick! what's the argument about " inquired John.
"We are discussing Americanism and the race question," said
Jim Oneill.
"Are you a foreigner, or were you born in the United
States?" asked Howard Jones.
"I am a loyal American," answered John as he tried to evade
the purpose of the inquiry." Where a man was born has nothing
to do with true Americanism."
�JUNE, 1929
21
"Tell us where you were born," demanded Henry Lewis.
"I was born in Syria," John challenged. "I want you fellows to remember that Americanism has nothing to do with one's
birthplace."
"Syria!" exclaimed Fred Maxwell. "Where's that country
located?"
"It's the Bible country about which you study in Sunday
school, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean sea," said John.
"Mediterranean Sea! Why are you a Mediterranean?" shot
Howard Clay.
"I am a Syrian by birth, and an American by choice. Don't
you know Syria, the Bible country?" John asked.
Dick, Jim, Howard, Henry, Fred and others who had gathered gave each other an understanding look.
"Well, Hasbani," said Henry Lewis, "we were talking
about those inferior races about the Mediterranean Sea. We
didn't know you were a Mediterranean." Just then Dick jostled
Henry to let Mary Khouri, a Syrian classmate, pass by. This
afforded opportunity to disband for classes.
The Divine Inspiration.
"What difference does A make where a man was born so
long as he is a loyal American," John kept asking himself as he
reflected upon the remarks of his classmate; "these inferior races
about the Mediterranean Sea," and "we didn't know you were
a Mediterranean." There was evident a changed attitude toward him. Like all Syrian-American youth, he knew America's
historical background, the rise of the American nation ,and America's political philosophy; but he did not know his Syrain race
history, race talents, and race achievements. He knew of no
expression of Syrian race solidarity, no Federation of Syrian
societies, and no- Syrian leaders to whom he could point with
pride.
As a Syrian, John Hasbani felt himself to be an orphan
among the races in America. His mental agony increased from
day to day at the hands of his classmates. It was Mary Khouri
who gave him the much needed sympathy.
"John," said Mary, "what do you know about Syrian history?"
"That's what I've been trying to find out," laughed John.
"Why do you want to know about Syrian history:"
"Lucille Jackson asked about what country I came from,"
said Mary. "I told her from Syria. She asked about where
�I
_- .:_
22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Syria was and I said it was on the eastern shore of the Mediter ranean Sea. Since then she avoids me, and so do other classmates.
Since there must be something awful about being from Syria, I
thought of inquiring into Syrian history."
John could contain himself no longer. He recited his experience with his classmates. The similarity of their experiences
brought mutual understanidng and sympathy.
"But, John," exclaimed Mary, "a country that produced
Jesus, Moses and influenced Mohammed must have a great
history."
"Mary, you give me an inspiration," said John. "Let us
make some research together into the origin, history, and achievement of the Syrian race."
"I agree," said Mary; "the University library will be great
help."
The New Light.
It was in June when John and Mary began to see each other
in a new light. Never did Mary appear so charming. Never did
John look so manly. Something was being born in their hearts.
Mary inherited from her father the endurance of the Orthodox,
from her mother the courage of the Maronites. The Khouris
stood for their rights, fought for their liberties, and upheld the
honor of their race. Mary, an only daughter among five sons,
was the pride of the Khouri household.
During their research they seemed to hear the voice of
God saying, "Let there be light," and they received light. They
found the greatness of the Syrian race. They realized a changed
attitude in their minds. And a deeper admiration was growing
for each other.
Occasionally they would digress to discuss current topics.
"Jazz" did not charm them. "Companionate marriage" they
scorned. "The strictness of Syrian parents," they commended.
"Race prejudice" was repulsive to their finer feelings. In their
hearts they felt something nobler, bigger, and of superior worth
to race, color, creed and birthplace. They decided and planned
to bring the discussion of the race question out into the open in
the University.
It was a sunny day toward the end of the school year that
John and Mary were walking together to the sociology class.
�JUNE, 1929
'4
23
"I hope," said Mary, "that we can bring the discussion about so
we can work our plan."
"The chapter on The Immigration Problem fits well with
our plan," said John.
"Strange, I, too, thought the chapter appropriate," agreed
Mary. "Something tells me that today is the day. I am anxious
about the outcome."
"Why the anxiety?" John asked.
"I am a representative woman of the Syrian race," explained
Mary. "I represent the childhood, manhood and womanhood
of the Syrian race. The honor, rights and happiness of future
generations of the Syrian race are at stake. John, you and I
must stand up
"
"I will stand up for our Syrian race," he answered.
"I will stand up_ for the future of our race," she added.
"Let us stand together," he asked.
"I am glad to stand by you," she answered.
"Why the gladness?" he inquired.
"It's a secret," she said, her face blushing; "I will tell you
later."
Facing the Issue.
Professor Charles Case was a scholar, honest to the facts of
history, and well informed in education, philosophy, and science.
He was of American Revolutionary stock. He refused to be
swayed by popular prejudice, accept the unproven theories of science, and be domineered by flag waving patriots.
"We continue," he said in opening, the class period, "the
study of The Immigration Problem. Fred Lawrence, What consequences are there of immigration on the social evolution of
America?"
Lawrence. "The process of migration has been a socializing
factor; it brought intermingling of races, mixture of cultures, and
awakening of the races to a consciousness of their kind."
Prof. Case: "George Hess, what is the effect of the races
upon American nationalism?"
Hess: "It is generally held by students of social history that
migration exercises a selective factor in favor of the stronger,
more energetic, more restless types of people."
Impulsive Henry Lewis secures permission to speak. "While
what has been said is true of the Old immigration," he said ner-
�«--—.
24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
vously, "it is not true of the New immigration. I refer to the
races bordering the Mediterranean Sea."
Prof Case: "Explain your position."
Lewis: "The races comprising the New immigration are inferior to the races included in the Old immigration. The Mediterranean and Slavic races, biologically, belong to the sub-races
of the white race. They have not shown capacity for self government. By habits of centuries they are enslaved in their mentality. Cultunfjly, they are illiterate, ignorant, and superstitious.
Socially, they are clannish, tend to form colonies, and propagate
their customs, ideas and language. I am convinced of their inherent inferiority, their detrimental influence, and the necessity of
prohibiting their further entrance into the United States."
Hasbani felt a quickening, a call, and a decisoin to meet the
issue.
Prof. Case: "Lewis, you made an able presentation of your
side. If we had a statement of the other side, we could pass intelligent judgment. Yes, Hasbani
"
Hasbani: "I am an immigrant of the New immigration. May
I present the other side?"
Prof. Case: "To be fair you may proceed."
Hasbani: "I wish to maintain, with the help of my notes,
that the coming of the Syrian race to America is a worthy addition
to America's national life. I hold a Christian philosophy of the
race question in relation to America. No man chose his color,
creed or birthplace at birth. Such may be due to parental choice,
they are never due to personal choice. They may be due to accident of birth in a given time, place or circumstance, they are never
due to individual choice, thought or plan. They are due to divine
will, but never to human prerogative. A man is either ignorant
or a fool to pride himself in that which he is by birth, and in
which he had no thought, no choice and no will. It is what a man
is by choice, growth and achievement that counts, and not that
which he is by accident of birth.
"I believe there is no respect of persons, color, creed, race
or place, with God. I believe in the Fatherhood of God, the infinite worth of man, and the brotherhood of mankind."
"My philosophy is working out successfully in America.
Biologically there is no basis in fact for any claim to race superiority. Socially, the races of the Old and New immigration are
living happily together. Peace, prosperity and happiness are in-
�JUNE, 1929
25
creasing daily. The last presidential election proves conclusively
the Americanism of the New immigration in self government and
free institutions. Culturally, you must judge a people by not
whence they came, but to where they are going. Among those
who signed Magna Charta were illiterate men who signed their
names with a cross mark. Remember that the American language
is spoken, written and read by over 120,000,000 people. They
have the same language, ideals and flag. Remember the children
love, know and defend only America.
"I will now uphold the honor of my race, the Syrian race, by
giving three arguments. First, the Syrian race stock is of the
highest character. It is a branch of the white race. Scientific scholarship says there are no pure races. All races, due to repeated migrations, are highly mixed races. Several strains make up the
Syrian race, chief of which are the Phoenician, Aramean, Greek,
Arab and European Crusaders. Syria, situated between Asia,
Europe and Africa, became a land-bridge, often making it a
battlefield, market place, and highway for trade, culture and migration. The Syrian race survived the vicissitudes of centuries j
resurging armies, changing civilizations and repeated migrations.
"Second, the Syrian r*ce has ontributed some of the greatest
things to human progress. Our ancestors the Phoenicians improved the alphabet, created sea ship-building, sea commerce, and
emigrated for trade. Our forefathers propagated the highest
thoughts of man in religion, morals and society. They organized
schools of religion, philosophy, law, science and education. Among
the foremost of earth are Syrian Roman Emperors, Popes, philosophers, lawyers, poets, scientists, soldiers, prophets and preachers. From Syria, as a pivot, learning spread to Africa, Europe
and America.
"Third, we Syrian-Americans are loyal Americans j we uphold the Constitution, we reverence the flag, and we are ready
for the nation's defense. Our World War record is unexcelled
for patriotism. We are, perhaps, the most law-abiding, Godfearing, and liberty-loving citizens. We may not be Americans
by birth, we are Americans through appreciation, choice and sacrifice. We are a worthy addition to America because of our intelligence, industry, loyalty and achievements.
"Therefore, I claim for the Syrian race an equal place among
the races which make the Amercian nation."
When Hasbani took his seat, Prof. Case led his class by vig-
�26
THh SYRIAN WORLD
orously applauding the statement of the courageous youth.
Lawrence: "Hasbani's remarks make me feel I am ignorant
of the true character of other races."
Jones: "Hasbani's presentation is a revelation to me."
Lewis: "I feel I have been swayed by prejudice. It seems
that the races are endowed with different talents. The weaving
of various race contributions would make for greater America.
I recall my previous remarks."
Prof. Case: "Fairness and open-mindedness are American
virtues. You have been practicing them today. The day has come
for Americans of various races to respect each other on the basis
of Americanism, humanity and character. Through you I see a
new America."
After class, Mary Khouri and Henry Lewis were the first to
greet John. Prof. Case and classmates gathered about him to
express their approval of his Americanism. Hasbani became the
talk of the University. The Bugle, the University newspaper,
lavished its praises upon Hasbani. The metropolitan city newspaper broadcasts Hasbnai's Americanism to the nation. The happiest person on the University campus was Mary Khouri.
The Secrets of Happiness.
"Mary," whispered John one evening, "what about the
secret?"
Eyeing him lovingly, "Are you anxious to know it?" she
teased.
"Certainly. Eventually—why not now?" he pleaded.
"You have been patient. I said if we succeed in upholding
the honor of our race, I will say the beautiful word," Mary answered smiling.
John approached her. "Say the beautiful word now," he
coaxed.
"I—I—would,—that is—if father and mother—" Mary
spoke softly.
John laughed the happiest laugh of his life. He knew he
won Mary's heart. "You are right. We are Syrian-Americans.
Syrian fathers and mothers ought to have a part in saying the
beautiful word."
A deep respect had grown between John and Mary. They
were healthy. John was prospering in business. Mary learned
the art of homemaking. They attended church. John became a
^
IMPPfeM
,-,-- -,:.
I
�.
27
JUNE, 1929
leader in his community. Common sense, friendliness and adaptability were their common virtues.
Not longer after the wedding of John and Mary was announced.
*
*
*
"John Hasbani is a symbol of the enlightened Syrian soul,"
said I to my friend. "Hasbani defended the Syrian race, upheld
the honor of the Syrian home, and vindicated the right of the
Syrian race to an equal place among the races. He is one of the
greatest modern Syrians because in his life we have the personification of Syrian race virtues; realization of Syrian race inheritance; and prophecy of Syrian race progress. My story is a
parable of the rising tide of Syrian race greatment."
"Reverend, your philosophy of the rising tide of Syrian race
greatness wins my heart," exclaimed my friend. "Do I understand that Hasbani's enlightenment, prospertiy and influence symbolize the awakening, progress, and leadership of the modern
Syrian race?"
"You understand me perfectly," said I.
"I heartily agree that Hasbani is one of the greatest Syrians
of modern times. Hasbani is truly an ideal representative of the
modern Syrian race."
Wings
By
THOMAS ASA
Oh! were the clouds my own exalted wings,—
No idle thought has made me utter this,
Without erotic dreams of undreamed bliss,
But for the nonce to shake the sordid things,
To quench the thirst at those Pierian springs;
No earthly stream, but where its waters kiss
The virgin banks, where God had left amiss
The touch that ceaseless march of time soon brings.
Where the stress of years has left no broken hours,
With the dawning morn no thought to meet desires,
And where the vault of heaven shows no hidden way;
While the inner soul emerges with full powers,
And its seeking heart, without consuming fires,
Wrought with the Hand, and never knows decay.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
28
The Reward of Honesty
And Other Anecdotes Related in the Book of Usama
"An Arab Syrian Gentleman and Warrior of the Crusades"
By
DR. PHILIP
K.
i
HITTI
The following story was related to me on unimpeachable authority:
In the course of my pilgrimage as I was making the tour of
the Ka'ba I found, all unexpectedly, a pearl necklace, which I
tied to the end of my pilgrim's robe. An hour later, I heard a
man seeking its recovery by making inquiries in the sanctuary
(haram) and offering twenty dinars to him who would restore it.
I asked him for a sign proving that the lost article was his, and
he gave it to me. So I delivered the necklace to him. Receiving
it, he said to me, "Accompany me to my house so that I may pay
thee the reward I had promised." To this I replied, "I have
no use for that reward, nor have I given the necklace back to thee
for the sake of the prize. For, thanks to Allah, I live in great
bounty." He asked, "Thou hast not then returned it except for
the sake of Allah (mighty and majestic is he!)?" "Yes," I replied. "Let us, therefore, turn our faces," said he, "towards the
Ka'ba and thou shouldst say 'Amen!' to my prayer." Accordingly,
we turned our faces towards the Ka'ba and he prayed, "O Lord,
forgive him (and me) our sins and grant me means to repay him."
Then he bade me farewell and departed.
It happened later that I undertook a journey from Mecca to
the land of Egypt and took a boat to al-Maghrib (Mauretania).
Our boat fell into the hands of the Byzantines and I,among others
was taken captive. My lot fell to one of the priests, in whose
service I remained until the hour of his death approached, upon
which he willed that I be set free.
Consequently I left the land of the Byzantines and made
my way into a certain region of al-Maghrib, where I was employed as a clerk in a baker's shop. Among the baker's customers
was one of the great landowners of the town. At the beginning
of the new month, a servant of the landowner came to the baker
and said, "My master calls thee to make the account with him."
1
�JUNE, 1929
:
I
'
29
The baker asked me to accompany him, and we went together
to the landowner, who settled the account according to his bills.
Impressed by my knowledge of arithmetic and my beautiful handwriting, he demanded me from the baker. The landowner
changed my clothes and intrusted to me the collection of the levies
from his estate, he being the proprietor of a vast piece of land.
In the meantime, he vacated for me a special apartment on one
side of his mansion.
After the lapse of a short period of time, he said to me,
"Abu-Bakr, what thinkest thou of marriage?" I replied, "My
master, I cannot stand the expense of my own living; how can I
stand the expense of a wife?" He said, "I shall provide in thy
behalf the dowry, the dwelling place, the clothing and everything
else that thou needest." I said, "Thy order is done." Then he
said, "My boy, here is a wife that has a great number of defects,"
and he did not leave a possible physical defect from her head to
her foot which he did not enumerate, while I replied, "I am satisfied." In fact, I felt satisfied internally as I claimed I was externally. Then he continued, "That wife is my daughter." He
called a group of people and the contract was closed.
A few days later he said to me, "Prepare thyself to enter thy
home." He ordered for me superb clothes, and I entered into
a house luxuriously furnished and equipped with the best outfit.
I was placed on a high seat and the bride was brought covered
with a colored woolen mantle. I immediately arose to meet her
and, pulling aside the cover, found a coutenance prettier than
which I never saw in the world. I fled out of the house. The
old man met me and asked me about the reason for my flight, to
which I replied, "This wife is not the one thou hast described to
me as having the defects which thou hast enumerated." Hearing
this, he smiled and said, "Yes, my boy, she is thy wife, and I
have no other child but her. But I described her the way I did
to thee so that thou mayest not be disappointed on seeing her."
And the proper ceremony of unveiling the bride was conducted in
my presence.
The second morning, as I was admiring the jewels and precious gems she wore, I saw, among other things on her, the necklace which I once found in Mecca. I was amazed at that and was
absorbed in the thought of it. As I was leaving the bedroom my
father-in-law called me and asked me about my condition, repeating the verse, "Legitimate enjoyment has mutilated the nose
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
of jealousy." (Meaning, I can now ask you without arousing jealousy, as she has become your legitimate wife). I thanked him
for what he had done for me and then felt possessed with the
thought of the necklace and how it got to him. Noticing that,
he asked me, "What art thou thinking of?" I replied, "Of such
and such a necklace. For in such and such a year I made a pilgrimage and found itself in the sanctuary, or found some other
necklace very similar to it." The man exclaimed, "Art thou the
man who returned my lost necklace:" "Yes," said I, "I am he."
He said, "Rejoice at the good news, for Allah has forgiven me
and thee, for I, at that moment, prayed Allah (worthy of admiration is he!) to forgive me and thee our sins and to grant me
means to repay thee. And here now I have delivered into thy
hands my possessions and my child. And I have no doubt that
my end is near at hand.
He later drew his will in my favor, and after a short period,
he died—may Allah's mercy rest upon his soul!
A funny race between two aged women.
I found myself in Tabarayyah at the time the Franks were
celebrating one of their feasts. The cavaliers went out to exercise
with lances. With them went two decrepit, aged women whom
they stationed at one end of the race course. At the other end
of the field they left a pig which they had scalded and left on a
rock. They then made the two aged women run a race while each
one of them was accompanied by a detachment of horsemen urging her on. At every step they took, the women would fall down
and rite again, while the spectators would laugh. Finally one
of them got ahead of the other and won the pig for a prize.
Their judicial trials. A duel.
I attended one day a duel in Nablus between two Franks.
The reason for this was that certain Moslem thieves took by surprise one of the villages of Nablus. One of the peasants of that
village was charged with having acted as guide for the thieves
when they fell upon the village. So he fled away. The king sent
and arrested his children. The peasant thereupon came back to
the king and said, "Let justice be done in my case. I challenge
to a duel the man who claimed that I guided the thieves to the
village." The king then said to the tenant who held the village
in fief, "Bring forth someone to fight the duel with him." The
tenant went to his village, where a blacksmith lived, took hold of
�JUNE, 1929
31
him and ordered him to fight the duel. The tenant became thus
sure of the safety of his own peasants, none of whom would be
killed and his estate ruined.
I«saw this blacksmith. He was a physically strong young
man, but his heart failed him. He would walk a few steps and
then sit down and ask for a drink. The one who had made the
challenge was an old man, but he was strong in spirit and he would
rub the nail of his thumb against that of the forefinger in defiance, as if he was not worrying over the duel. Then came the
viscount, the seignior of the town, and gave each one of the two
contestants a cudgel and a shield and arranged the people in a
circle around them.
The two met. The old man would press the blacksmith
backward until he would get him as far as the circle, then he
would come back to the middle of the arena. They went on exchanging blows until they looked like pillars smeared with blood.
The contest was prolonged and the viscount began to urge them
to hurry, saying, "Hurry on." The fact that the smith was given
to the use of the hammer proved now of great advantage to him.
The old man was worn out and the smith gave him a blow which
made him fall. His cudgel fell under his back. The smith knelt
down over him and tried to stick his fingers into the eyes of his
adversary, but could not do it because of the great quantity of
blood flowing out. Then he rose up and hit his head with the
cudgel until he killed him. They then fastened a rope around
the neck of the dead person, dragged him away and hanged him.
The lord who brought the smith now came, gave the smith his
own mantle, made him mount the horse behind him and rode off
with him. This case illustrates the kind of jurisprudence and
legal decisions the Franks have — may Allah's curse be upon
them!
Ordeal by water.
I once went in the company of al-Amir Mu'in-al-Din to
Jerusalem. We stopped at Nablus. There a blind man, a Moslem, who was still young and was well dressed, presented himself before al-Amir carrying fruits for him and asked permission
to be admitted into his service in Damascus. The amir consented. I inquired about this man and was informed that his mother
had been married to a Frank whom she had killed. Her son used
to practice ruses against the Frankish pilgrims and co-operate
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
with his mother in assassinating them. They finally brought
charges against him and tried his case according to the Frankish
way of procedure.
They installed a huge cask and filled it with water. Across
it they set a board of wood. They then bound the arms of the
man charged with the act, tied a rope around his shoulders and
dropped him into the cask, their idea being that in case he was
innocent, he would sink in the water and they would then lift him
up with the rope so that he might not die in the water; and in
case he was guilty, he would not sink in the water. This man did
his best to sink when they dropped him into the water, but he
could not do it. So he had to submit to their sentence against
him — may Allah's curse be upon them! They pierced his eyeballs with red-hot awls.
The Green of binisfail
By Josefhine M. Crick
The cooling-green of willows as they wave above the stream,
The tender green of poplar leaves that hold a starry gleam—
The green of fragrant apple trees, fruit laden, bending low—
The green of growing meadows with the sinking sun aglow.
The green of mist-clad mountains 5 when the sun lifts up the veil,
Is the green that I remember, the green of Innisfail.
The green of rain washed pine trees with the light just glinting
through,
The green of young grass shining in the early morning dew.
The green of great rocks rising where the moss, sea-splashed
climbs high 5
The green of mist clad mountains, when the sun lifts up the
veil,
Is the green that I remember, the green of Innisfail.
�JUNE, 1929
33
The Biological! Significance of
Youth and Age
By
unit of living matter is the cell, that is, as far as we now
certainly know, any living system is made up of one or more
units or cells which, when destroyed or injured beyond a certain
degree, life is destroyed. The smallest known living systems
consist of one cell only, which carries on all the complex functions
of nutrition, reproduction, etc. In some unicellular organisms
the cell may be very complex. Higher plants and animals, such
as the human body, are made up of billions of cells presenting
great variety of form and associated into tissues. In these cases
each cell and tissue is dependent on other cells and tissues to
carrv on its function. We commonly say that, on account of long
specialization, due to association, these cells have lost the power
of living: independent^. Aside from its extreme organization
and the intimate interrelation of its parts, the human body is, in
a biologic"1 sense, a mere agglomeration of cells, subject to the
same laws and presenting similar problems to a colony or a culture of bacterial cells. The similarity is very striking.
Suppose now that we take an actively growing bacterial cell
and that we put it in a suitable environment, for instance, in a
solution containing all of the necessary nutriments. The cell soon
increases in size and multiplies rapidly, and the daughter cells
grow and multiply until a large number of cells has been formed
from the single cell we put in. The majority of these cells presents characteristic form, size, structure and physiological behavior that we recognize as being the form, size, structure and
behavior of vouth. This rapid rate of nutrition and multiplication cnnnot, however, go on indefinitely, for soon the culture becomes crowded and a shortage of food may take place. At the
same time, the products of life processes accumulate and begin
to produce a harmful influence. The rate of multiplication falls,
rtierefore, is the cells consume the reserve food material, ? *><*
their shape, size, structure and physiological behavior change corTHE
1
DR. GEORGE KNAYSI
�54
THE SYRIAN WORLD
respondingly into the shape, size, structure and behavior of age.
Finally multiplication becomes impossible, and the cells present
an appearance of poverty, starvation and disorganization.
If now we take one of these old cells and transport it into
a favorable environment such as the one we started with, it does
not stare multiplication immediately. Several hours may elapse
before the first reproduction takes place. This period is commonly referred to as the "lag" period. The writer has suggested the use of the term rejuvenation period, for the cell is then
most active repairing its injuries and recovering from the influences of its environment. Before any multiplication takes place,
the cell must present again the characteristics of youth.
The same phenomenon takes place in the human body. Our
cells, like those of bacteria, take their nutrients from the blood
which is for us what the nutrient solution is for the cells of bacteria. It is, furthermore, endowed with the remarkable power
of self-purification and self-enrichment. Our cells should therefore be constantly bathed with a fresh nutrient medium which
should make it possible for them to remain young and multiply.
Now multiplication cannot go on indefinitely and is automatically
limited by factors known "to the biologist. We are thus confronted with the universal problem of the density of population,
referring to the cells that make up our body rather than to the
individuals inhabiting a country. Fruit, flies, bacteria and all
other living things are confronted with the same problem, and
the question arises as to whether it is possible for the cells, while
not multiplying, to remain young. Theoretically, the answer
should be in the affirmative. The writer, who is now investigating the question, will have something more definite to say before
lone- Under actual conditions, however, we know that our cells
gradually assume the characteristics of age and, when enough of
the cells of an indispensable organ become so old that that organ
can no more carry on its vital functions, death follows immediately. Thus the death of one fundamental organ brings about
the death of other organs relatively young. Man pays dearly
for his complex and efficient organization.
It seems that a more thorough understanding of the properties of living matter should enable us to live much longer, if
not to render ourselves immortal.
�JUNE, 1929
35
Music — East and West
By REV. DR. K. A. BISHARA
Like beauty and electricity, music is a mysterious something
that can be neither comprehended nor defined. Science may hover
over its circumference, but can never enter into the center, or the
Holy of Holies. Having to deal mainly with the affections, music must cling to Nature, never allowing itself to be unduly artificialized. Oriental music, chiefly the Arabic, is more thrillingly
effective than other systems by reason of its contiguity to the
bosom of mother nature. It is readily enjoyed by the heart, while
other systems are admired by the intellect. It is interesting to
notice how the European music has gradually been subjected to
the process of orientalization through the efforts of a worthy
group of masters in Spain, Italy and Germany. One of the greatest Spanish musicians in Portugal has openly avowed the superiority of Arabic music in melodiousness and scope. He went so far
as to declare it the mother of all modern music after the Renaissance. In his words, "The Arabic music is the mother of the
Spanish, which is the mother of all modern music in the world."
Outside of Spain and Italy, Mozart was the first great musician
to enrich modern music with the thrilling beauties of Arabic airs.
Others followed, including the great Beethoven whose masterpieces can competently vie with the sweetest melodies ever heard
in the halls of Baghdad, Cordova and Damascus.
The golden age of Oriental music was inaugurated in the days
of Haroun-al-Raschid and his son Al-Macmoun in the celebrated
metropolis of Baghdad. Mausali was the Beethoven of those
days. A little later on Andalusia, (Spain under the Arabs) became the music hall of all Europe. The age of retrogression
set in after the fall of Baghdad in the East, and Grenada in the
West, until the most widely developed system of music in the
world, which had integrally appropriated and preserved in its
bosom the genius of China, Persia and Greece, welded into that
of resourceful Arabia, was reduced to a dilapidated patchwork
of Tarn Tarns.
', .:.;_
,
,
;
•
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The modern Renaissance took its incipiency in the ancient
land of Egypt, which has already given to the Oriental world
such illustrious names as Hamooli, Salameh, Hilmi, Manilawi,
Mahdiah and Um-Kalthoum.
Ash-Sham, including Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, has already rendered a remarkable co-operative service in this great
enterprise of reconstruction. Madame Fadwah Kurban is an
outstanding example, while Mr. Alexander Maloof is making
steady progress in his efforts to make Oriental music accessible
to the West by the application of the note system. The motto of
all these agencies concerned seems to be. Back to the days of Haroun Al-Raschid, then up and on, if possible, to a higher level!
Maybe, it's a long way to Tipperari; but—
As a modest amateur of small stock, but one intensely interested in music, I feel inspired through my affections to proclaim the fact that music is originally intended to rouse the subconscious in man on his way to a fuller realization of himself as
the most glorious visible image of the Creator. For this purpose,
the minor keys of music are more effective than the major keys.
This secret the Orientals have known for many centuries. And
this fact is accentuated, to my mind as well as to my heart, by the
psychological fact that man has long been, as he still is, oscillating
between "the two well-known factors of self-pity and self-conceit,
the former of which being childish while the latter is ridiculous.
Now, this ill-developed man is still in need of pity, rather than
ridicule. And when music does, as it seldom does, succeed in
rousing both the conscious and the sub-conscious in man, he at
once, and almost unawares, reasserts and recognizes his inherent
dignity—though for a moment, and through indignation and
when he is fully roused, whether at home or on the battle-field;
just keep off the grass! Man is great and noble and mighty; but
he never knew it before. It is at such a moment of transcendent
ecstasy that we witness a real case of "Deutchland uber alles!
Superman-king-angel, ad infinitum. There is the horizon of the
spirit, the realm of the ideal homos, where are to be found the
mystic poets, the musical sufis, the seers, the prophets, the apostles
and what is higher—where the chosen few may stand and say:
After all, the Master didn't ask much when He said. "Be ye perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect."
�. rngt/gt/Kj^
JUNE, 1929
37
EDITORIAL COMMENT
CHANGING FREQUENCY OF ISSUE OF
THE SYRIAN WORLD
i ,!
For reasons which I shall enumerate below, I have decided
to suspend publication of The Syrian World during the months
of July and August. This decision applies only to the present
year so far as I can now see, but future developments might make
it advisable to continue this policy, in which case the regular year
of The Syrian World would comprise only ten issues. This step,
if finally decided upon, will be announced in due time.
Subscribers who have already paid in advance on the basis
of twelve issues per year will be adequately compensated either
by advancing the dates of their subscriptions or by other suitable
awards in books to the value of the two omitted issues.
The Syrian World has completed its third year of publication with the present (June) issue. During all this time it has
appeared punctually at the beginning of each month without a
single omission. The difficulties which I have encountered were
many and tremendous, and, I feel constrained to add, cumulative.
I need not go into a detailed discussion of these difficulties at the
present time. What I can conscientiously state, however, is that
these difficulties served only to add stimulus to my determination
to carry on the work which I felt from the beginning was destined to endure. In this my energy was sustained by the wholehearted encouragement of a group of loyal friends who gave
unstintingly of their moral support.
If, therefore, I am now suspending publication of The Syrian World for two of the summer months, the action should not
be misconstrued as a sign of faltering determination or weakness.
On the contrary, it is but a respite to lay plans not only for a
more enduring publication, but for a stronger and a more progressive one.
This step is made necessary by my coming trip to Syria and
other parts of the Near East, principally in the interest of the
Syrian World. The tour which I have sponsored and agreed to
conduct is in harmony with the fundamental principle of the
magazine in providing better knowledge of Syria and the Syrians'
�38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
historical background. An educational tour to Syria is obviously
a complement to the educational mission of The Syrian World.
But the principle object of the trip is to gain first-hand
information of present conditions in Syria in order to better serve
our readers. A general survey will be made covering the political, social, educational and economic fields. Special attention
will be given to the taking of a photographic record which will
graphically portray the country and its different phases of life in
its present crucial stage of rapid transition. Leaders in various
fields of activities will be interviewed and their opinions recorded
without prejudice or bias. Personal observations will naturally
be made and faithfully transmitted to our readers.
This is but a mere outline of the general purpose of the trip,
but once on the ground many more points of interest might develop which will widen immeasurably the scope of service. These
possible developments will be left to the future.
Three years experience in the publication of The Syrian
World having brought the conviction that this step had become necessary in order to make the service of the magazine more effective and beneficial, the next problem was how to make the undertaking possible under the conditions governing the publication of
the magazine. Ever since its inception, The Syrian World has
been an individual enterprise depending mainly on personal efforts. Only in the literary field has any assistance been forthcoming to a limited degree. By this qualification I do not wish
to intimate lack of appreciation of this valued co-operation. On
the contrary, Iwould fully emphasize that but for this liberal assistance on the part of the loyal friends of the magazine the task
would have been rendered doubly difficult. The point in view is
that all work aside from this partial assistance had to be performed personally.
Such being the case, and there being no substitute to carry on
the work of editing and publishing in my absence, it became necessary to decide on the only remaining alternative, which is to suspend publication during July and August.
During my absence the publication office will remain open
for the transaction of routine business, Our friends are invited
to avail themselves of this opportunity whether for the purchase
of books and back numbers, or for the payment of past accounts
and other matters.
Enthusiastic friends of The Syrian World are urging the
f«
�39
JUNE, 1929
formation of a corporation to fully promote its service which has
come to be viewedas indispensable. This and other matters^wi
be discussed in the coming issue which will appear in September
upon my return.
Editor & Publisher
THE FEDERATION
Although proportionately substantial the replies so^ far received to our questionnaire on the proposed federation of Syr an
societies in the United States do not warrant a decision as to the
tm and place of the convention. Hardly three agree on any
given question, and because of the length of tune neees^or
' bringing about a general and uniform acceptance, it has been
£Ed wiser to defer further action on the matter un^efeU.
\s regards the ultimate results, our faith remains unshaken. Added reSon for this optimism is contained in the rephes r^eivedto
the questionnaire. In each case the responding society pledges
tself anew to the support of the cause and voices enthusiastic
hopes for the expected benefits to be derived from such a move
It is a situation which, having been nursed to its present stage of
development, should be handled with extreme care lest its fai ure iniure irreparably all attempts at collective action in the tuZc ItTs for this reason that it has been deemed more advisable
not to take any peremptory action at the present stage.
In the meantime, pledged members may further prosecute
missionary work for the cause of the Federation. They are honorbound to see the work culminate in complete success, not merely
for the personal prestige involved, but out of devotion to the
basic principle of unity. We have long been unmindful of our
future and our racial status, and the example of other ethnic
croups seems to have had little effect in rousing us to action 1 he
strongest hope now lies in federating our organized bodies for toe
promotion of national policies, and although this work shou d
proceed with caution, it should, nevertheless, be prosecuted with
relentless energy.
-
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
¥)
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcosmic picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever
Arabic dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking
writers who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabicspeaking world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take
no part in the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our
task will simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and
with utmost sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed in these editorials.
Editor.
CONSTITUTIONAL
MONARCHY
FOR LEBANON
In view of the persistent factional
strife among the Lebanese, we are
all the more confirmed in our belief
that they are still unfit for complete
independence. But for the French,
Lebanon would be the slave to either
the Turks, the Arabs or the English.
And this condition would be brought
about as the natural result of the
internal strife which would tear Lebanon to pieces and reduce it to a
state of complete impotency.
Take for illustration the Presidential elections. What greater farce
could there be than the manner this
is brought about ? Nor are the members of the Representative Assembly
of such caliber as to command confidence and respect. They are all
there for their personal gain while
the French look on in an attitude of
total indifference. For this policy
we believe France has a well defined
reason, which is to prove to the Lebanese that they have not yet grown
to the responsible age of being trusted with complete independence.
Our program for the government
of the country remains as heretofore
announced; that a constitutional
monarchy be adopted for Lebanon,
at whose head would be placed a
French prince who would have first
embraced Lebanese citizenship. He
should rule for life, but his throne
should not be hereditary. France
should remain the protector of the
country, as otherwise Lebanon would
become the prey of its greedy neighbors because of its inability to defend itself.
—Al-Hoda, N. Y. May 24
THE PARADOX OF LIBERTY
The celebrations in Paris for Joan
of Arc, the Maid of Orleans, during
the month of May, were intended to
recall with pride the great struggle
of this patron saint of France for
the cause of liberty.
It is altogether fitting and proper
that the French pay honor to this
great heroine. She has succeeded in
liberating her country from the grip
of the foreigner after an occupation
�JUNE, 1929
M>
of a hunderd years, and was reward- ty and come to sympathize with us
ed for her deed with burning at the in our demand for freedom, instead
stake. It is only now that the full of assuming the paradoxial attitude
meaning of her great sacrifice is of preaching one form of liberty at
being appreciated. France should be home and practicing another abroad.
proud of having produced such a
—Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y. May 15
heroic Character in the shepherd girl
who was instrumental in regaining
for her country its independence and
LEARNING FROM EUROPE
freedom. She was later consecrated
a saint and well is she deserving of
It is reported that King Ibn Saoud
the honor; she met her martyrdom of Arabia intends to visit Europe in
in the cause of her country just as the near future in the hope of gainthe saints faced death in their de- ing practical knowledge for the upvotion to the cause of God.
lift of his own country. The time
Not alone the French, but all liber- is surely opportune, and the Arab
ty-loving nations should join in pay- King's observations abroad should
ing tribute to the lofty patriotic spir- serve him to good purpose at home.
it of Joan of Arc.
We may be confident, however, that
*** We have often heard our coun- he will not rush matters and commit
trymen sing the praise of the French the mistake of king Amanullah of
and their great love for liberty. We Afghanistan, because not everyone
have listened to their panegyrics of can emulate the example of Mustathe shepherd girl and their expres- pha Kamal Pasha of Turkey with
sions of unbounded admiration for the same success. Turkey 'had been
her. One hearing them would ima- prepared for the reforms which Kagine that she belonged to them for mal Pasha had the courage to introthe extent of pride they take in her duce, while this cannot hold true of
achievements. At the same time, Arabia. The degree of difference is
they seem oblivious to the fact that at least a hundred years, and the
they are trailing the chains of bond- Arab king would do well to introage and slavery. Cannot the Leban- duce such reforms as would gradualese say to the people of France that ly bring his subjects to the point of
Lebanon before their occupation was accepting Western ideas in full. He
a free country while now, although could encourage steady settlement
having a republican form of govern- and agricultural pursuits to the end
ment, it is shackeled to the point of that the ghazu, or raids, will come
being a republic in name only? How to an end in Arabia. And perhaps
comes it that the French glorify he will learn in Europe the fundaliberty in their own country and erect mental lesson that stability is the
monuments in its name, while in prime requisite of a progressive goforeign lands they destroy its temp- vernment, while ambition for agles and shrines and make every at- grandization may react to the injury
tempt to smother it completely.
of a government that is structurally
We heartily join the French in weak. If King Ibn Saoud should
honoring their great patron saint succeed in achieving internal reform
Joan of Arc, but we hope they will he would be deserving of more credit
live up to the principle of true liber- than Mustapha Kamal Pasha him-
- ""°| • ' ' *'
i
n
�42
self, in that he would have laid the
proper foundation before raising the
structure, thereby evading the disastrous mistake of Amanullah.
—As-Sayeh, N. Y. May 27
HAS THE SYRIAN
BECOME A NEGRO
The tragedy of Lake City, Fla.,
in which the Syrian Nicholas Romey
and his wife were killed should
arouse the Syrians everywhere in
the United States to action. The
details of the lynching of this Syrian
are revolting. From whatever angle
we view the case we can find no justification for the barbarous treatment visited by the police and the
mob oh this Syrian family. A full
investigation of the circumstances
surrounding the tragedy should be
made and those responsible brought
to justice. The Syrian is not a negro whom Southerners feel they are
justified in lynching when he is suspected of an attack on a white woman. The Syrian is a civilized white
man who has excellent traditions
and a glorious historical background
and should be treated as among the
best elements of the American nation.American sense of justice should
not permit such lynchings without
the benefit of a trial, as was done
in the case of Romey. Even the
anarchist murderer of President
McKinley was protected from the
fury of the mob and given all the
benefits of a judicial trial.
We are not making any direct accusation, but we feel that a thorough
investigation of the circumstances
surrounding the tragedy should be
instigated so that those responsible
should reap the reward for their
I
THE SYRIAN WORLD
cruelty.
-Ash-Shaab, N. Y. May 24
SULTAN PASHA ATRASH
TRUE TO PRINCIPLES
More than three months have now
elapsed since the Havas Agency
broadcast to the world the news that
Sultan Pasha Atrash , military leader of the Syrian revolution, had
offered his unconditional surrender
to the French in the hope of returning to his native country from his
desert exile. No better proof is
needed to demonstrate the falsity
of this report than the fact that it
has failed of materialization in spite
of all this length of time. The elation
which the Francophile papers displayed at that time is obviously unjustified.
We are in a position to affirm that
the hero, Sultan Pasha Atrash, never
contemplated submission to the
French; nor will he ever return to
Syria except on the conditions he
laid as the basis for the armed revolution, namely the complete independence of the country from foreign
control. Those who know Sultan
Pasha Atrash best never wavered in
their belief that his loyalty to the
sacred cause of the country would
remain unshaken to the end. We,
as well as many other true patriots,
are in constant receipt of letters
from the Commander in Chief of the
revolutionary forces indicating his
tenacity of purpose and unfaltering
loyalty to the cause. This should be
sufficient proof to unmask the lying
intentions of the Havas Agency and
brand with shame the foreheads of
sympathizers with the colonization
policy.
—Al-Bayan, N. Y. May 25
•
�43
JUNE, 1929
Readers' Forum
tional Origins Plan are the product
of brains steeped in race-consciousness and full of racial prejudices.
Senator Reed protests that anyone
Comment on his Recent Remarks who undertakes to debate the subject
in Congress
of immigration restrictions "will be
accused of a raaial prejudice of
which
he is wholly unconscious." We
Editor, The Syrian World,
can imagine such a thing happenIt is a curious fact that proponents ing under existing rules of politics
of the Anglo-Saxon racial culture in this country. But Senator Reed
in America never fail to manipulate cannot claim immunity from critithe Declaration of Independence to cism for racial bias on that plea.
suit or cover their own prejudices. His utterances have been too outSenator Reed's earlier statement spoken to admit of an alibi. Only
clearly speaks of the "trash of the last month, in the course of a naMediterranen" as "all the Levant- tion-wide broadcast, in defense of
ine stock that churns around through his favorite brain-child, the Natonal
there and does know what its own Origins Plan, Senator Reed said that
ancestry is." And as if these words the plan gave a fair limitation "in
did not clearly delineate the parties strict accordance with our racial
mentioned, the honorable Senator make-up," because, according to it,
went on to specify the countries of "each year's immigration will be in
origin of the "trashy stock" and miniature a counterpart of the whole
added, "It came here in large num- population of our country." And even
bers from Syria and the Turkish those interested in the merits or deProvinces.." It would be the sheer- merits of the National Origins Plan
est sort of sophistry for Senator will not fail to take notice of the
Reed or any one who thinks like scar of racial prejudice that this
h;m to explain away the pointed valiant "defender" of the Declaramention of Syrians as an undesirable tion of Independence, and proponent
stock of immigrants. The truth is of the dictum that all men are born
that he meant exactly what he said, equal, inflicted on the charter of hufor he does clearly look upon Syria man liberty which is the foundation
and the Turkish provinces and dif- of the Constitution of the United
ferent countries of the Balkan Pen- States, when he defiantly challenged
insula and that part of southeastern the non-Anglo-Saxon races by sayEurope" as the habitat of the trash. ing, "We will not permit our racial
I have followed from its begin- composition to be changed by imning this controversy of the restric- migration." Shades of Thomas Jefton of immigration and have no he- ferson and Abraham Lincoln!
sitation in asserting that all preObserver
tense of fairness and equality notNew York
withstanding, measures like the Na-
SENATOR REED'S BRAND
OF AMERICANISM
>
�44
THE SYRIAN WORLD
A CLERGYMAN ANSWERS
Editor, The Syrian World,
May I give my opinion of "Senator
Reed's 'trash' " ?
The more I think of this gentleman's designation of the Syrians as
"trash", the more I admire William
Shakespeare's play "Much ado about
Nothing". The zealous senator must
be comparing us, not with other nationalities, his own not excepted, but
with ourselves two, three, or four
thousand years ago, when we were
busy, on a gigantic scale, laying
down the foundations of this wonderful American civilization.
Instead of wasting valuable time
by way of self-defense, —on mere
words,— let us get busy making
"works" speak louder than words.
Nothing is too big for us. We ought
to feel proud that our neighbors
voice their disappointment when we
come short of their expectations.
At any rate, Senator Reed should
be reminded of the fact that he is
counted among the "white trash"
by his Southern negro neighbors.
I imagine, however, that he pays
no attention to this appelation, seeing the source it comes from. Let
us learn wisdom from the honorable
senator!
K. A. Bishara
Pastor, Syrian Protestant Church
Brooklyn, N. Y.
AGAIN THE QUESTION
OF DISCRIMINATION
Editor, The Syrian World,
The outburst of Senator Reed only
substantiates what I have repeatedly
asserted in what I have contributed
to previous issues of The Syrian
World, that the Syrian people are
discriminated against in this country
on account of racial prejudice. Let
me repeat, therefore, that the Syrian
is better off in his own country living on bread and milk and enjoying
the good opinion of his neighbor,
than to live sumptuously in a palace
and be socially ostracized and discriminated against as a citizen.
M. Shadid, M.D.
Elk City, Okla.
Editor's Note — The controversy
v/aged over previous assertions by
Dr. Shadid will be recalled as having
drawn strong rejoinders from many
quarters on the question of social
ostracism. As regards his advice
to Syrians to return to their motherland for economic considerations, Dr.
Shadid himself later altered his
stand as a result of personal observation of condition abroad.
NEW ZEALAND SYRIANS
ORGANIZE
Editor, The Syrian World,
*** All those in New Zealand who
came in contact with The Syrian
World were delighted with its contents and the manner in which it is
being edited and published. Allow
me also to congratulate you upon
the success attending your efforts in
forming the Federation of Syrian
societies in the United States. The
prospect of such federation has already influenced the Syrian young
men of Wellington, N. Z. to form the
Syrian Social Club which was launched with great enthusiasm and under the most favorable auspices. I
doubt whether this could have taken
place had it not been for the influence of the Syrian World.
K. E. Alexander
Wellington, N. Z.
�^ Mi
JUNE, 1929
45
About Syria and Syrians
POLITICAL SITUATION IN
SYRIA UNCHANGED
The summer lull seems to have
affected political activities in Syria.
During the month covered by the
latest Syrian mail hardly anything
of consequence was entered in the
political record. Following the announced re-entry of the Nationalist
Party into the political arena, matters continued to drag in the same
manner prevailing since the abrogation of the Constituent Assembly.
What seems to have been the direct
result of the prolongued negotiations
on the political problems in Syria
was the wider divergence of opinion
as to the possible solution to a point
bordering on confusion. According
to present indications, no agreement
seems possible of being reached this
summer.
Syria was visited lately by many
high French officals presumably for
a further study of the political situation. In every instance Syrian
leaders were interviewed and their
opinions sought as to an acceptable
compromise. Most of the visitors
have returned with voluminous notes
but no decision, and what augurs
further delay is the forthcoming departure of M. Ponsot, the High Commissioner, for France in the middle
of June. Naturally all negotiations
will have to be suspended pending
his return.
NEW MINISTRY IN LEBANON
Following the Presidential elections in the Republic of Lebanon the
latter part of March, the Cabinet
of Habib Pasha Saad tended its resignation owing to the growing antagonism to its policies in the Representative Assembly. President Dabbas immediately called on Bishara
Bey Khouri, a former Premier, to
form a new cabinet. This move resulted in the reduction of the ministries to three in the interest of economy. At the same time, the Assembly passed the new amendments to
the Constitution empowering the
President to adjourn that body on
his own authority and call for new
elections. New elections are scheduled for June.
This measure has been severely
criticised by the press in that it reduces the Assembly to the role of
mere figureheads, but inasmuch as
it was sponsored by the mandatory
authorities it was approved.
SYRIAN AND WIFE
KILLED IN FLORIDA
Woman Fires at Chief of Police in
Defense of Husband and is shot
and Killed—Man Later Taken
From Jail and Killed by
Mob
One of the saddest tragedies in
the history of the Syrians in America was the brutal murder of Nicholas Romeo and his wife which occurred in Lake City, Fla., on May 16
and for which the Chief of Police
of that town and his men are said
to be responsible. From the many
�i;
46
accounts published by the Syrian
press of New York and coming from
various sources, the events preceding
and following the tragedy appear
to be substantially as follows:
In the town of Lake City, Florida,
there are but two Syrian families,
one of which is that of Romey, corrupted into Romeo. The family cons:'sts of the father, mother and four
children, the eldest, leer, a lad of
seventeen years.
On Thursday, May 9, leer took his
two younger sisters out for an automobile ride around the lake. They
were struck by another car emerging
suddenly from a side street at excessive speed. The occupants of thi.-;
car were found at fault and arrested.
It was discovered later that they
h-id concealed weapons under the
front seat and that the car had been
stolen, Which seems to account for
the!r reckless haste. They were
held under bond and a sum of $240.
found on their persons was taken
by the police. The Syrian boy was
not only absolved of all blame but
was even promised, according to
testimony, to have the cost of repairs to his car met out of the sum
seized from the occupants of the
stol"n automobile.
This supposed promise to make
good the cost of repairs seems to
have been the cause for the tragedy
which followed. For no sooner leer
Romeo had the damage repaired than
he cpllsd on the Chief of Police to
sett'e with the repair man who had
refused to deliver back the car unless paid or guaranteed the amount
by the Chief of Police. But when
the latter was called upon to redeem
'his promise he disclaimed all knowledge of the matter and flatly denied having guaranteed the cost of
repairs. It transpired later that
THE SYRIAN WORLD
the men responsible for the accident had been released and permitted to leave town.
A week later, Mrs. Romeo met
the Chief of Police and reminded
him of his promise to her son, and
upon denial by the chief of his ever
having made such promise Mrs. Romeo called him a liar.
Later the Chief of Police and a
number of his men came to the Romeo store and asked for Romeo or
his son, and upon being informed
that neither was there he ordered
Mrs. Romeo in harsh tones and with
the use of abusive language to remove from the sidewalk the vegetables she had on display there. She
protasted that other storekeepers
in the immediate neighborhood had
their goods on display on the sidewalk also, and when she refused
compliance with his order the Chief
of Police and his men attempted to
drag her forcibly to their car which
they had parked across the street.
At this a crowd collected and the
woman was released on the protest
of some leading citizens.
While all th:s was taking place
Nicholas Romeo, the husband, was
absent in Georgia on business. Upon
his return on May 16 he was informed of what had occurred and
in his anger called up the Chief of
Police and remonstrated with him
for his action. It is claimed that
he used harsh language and invited
the chief to come over and see if
things were as he wanted them.
Some state that in his anger he
even threatened the chief with violence.
' Taking the man at his word, the
Chief of Police, with four of his
men came over immediately and all
entered the store with drawn guns.
Mrs. Romeo, fearing just such re-
�JUNE, 1929
suit, had concealed her husband's
gun. Consequently, Romeo was defenseless against five armed men
who are said to have begun firing
without the least provocation, but
presumably for purposes of intimidation oniy. But when Romeo made
an attempt to steal behind the counter, a policeman is said to have struck
'him with a blackjack and felled him
to the ground where he lay unconscious with blood gushing from his
wound.
Mrs. Romeo came rushing to the
front of the store at the sound of
firing, and seeing her husband prostrate and wounded imagined he had
been killed. She thereupon fired at
the Chief of Police and wounded
h:m, the latter returning the fire
with the same result.
Just then the son, leer, came rushing to the side of his mother who,
fearing he would meet the same fate,
was admonishing him not to offer
any resistance, when one of the policemen, bending over her, is said
to have again shot at her several
times with a curse and the exclamation "Aren't you dead yet?"
Mrs. Romeo was removed to the
hospital and her 'husband taken to
jail. The son leer was also arrested,
and while being taken to jail is said
to have been threatened with lynching "because that is what is going
to happen to his father". That same
night a mob is claimed to have broken into the jail and taken Nicholas
Romeo to a spot several miles from
the town and killed him. Thirteen
bullet wounds were counted in his
body, some of which are said to
'have been dry, indicating that they
were inflicted after death.
Two negroes occupying cells adjoining that of Romeo are said not
to have heard any sound during the
47
whole night in question, which would
prompt to the conclusion that the
mob, if such was the case, must
have acted very efficiently and without encountering the least resistance.
On that very night Mrs. Romeo
died in the hospital.
The Governor of Florida was petitioned for the removal of the son
leer from the local jail owing to prevailing prejudice. The other children were also removed to Georgia
where they were given over to the
care of relatives.
The tragedy has aroused intense
feeling among the Syrians throughout the country, principally among
those in the Southern States where
several individuals and organjizai
tions have interested themselves actively in the matter. The Syrian papers of New York all carry long accounts of the circumstances surrounding the tragedy, of which new
details seem to develop every day.
Al-Hoda, the principal Syrian paper, announced that it had retained
Mr. Joseph W. Ferris, a Syrian
lawyer of New York, and Mr. F. S.
Rizk, another Syrian lawyer of Jacksonville, Fla., to study the circumstances of the case and report on a
suitable course of action. Mr. Rizk
went to Lake City and made a personal investigation of the whole affair and interviewed many prominent citizens of the town—bankers,
merchants, newsnapermen, etc.—
and embodied his findings in an exhaustive report to Mr. Ferris which
was published by Al-Hoda and contains substantially the facts as given
above.
Al-Hoda is of the opinion that the
Syrians should proceed with extreme
caution in this matter and await the
results of a thorough and impartial
�48
investigation before forming judgment. A certain feeling of prejudice undeniably exists against the
Syrians in some parts of the South
and any rash action on their part
might tend to aggravate matters unnecessarily.
STAND OF SENATOR
REED ON SYRIANS
He Amplifies his Statement on 'the
Trash of the Mediterranean"
Congress
The statement of Senator David
Reed of Pennsylvania that the Syrians were of the "trash" of the Mediterranean 'has aroused intense indignation among Syrians throughout the country with the result that
scores of protests were sent to many
Senators in Washington. One such
protest came from the Syrian American Club of Cleveland, Ohio, and
was read by Senator Burton on the
floor of the Senate and published in
the Congressional Record of June 7.
Later on during this debate not only
was there a recapitulation of the
original charges of Senator Reed,
but an amplification by him of his
original remarks which cannot be
termed a retraction.
As reported in the Congressional
Record, Senator Burton prefaced his
speech by reading What he termed
the "pertinent portion" of the remarks of Senator Reed made in the
Senate during the debate on the National Origins clause of the Immigration Bill on April 29, which were
as follows:
"For a long time before the war"
"broke out in Europe this country"
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"was the trash basket of Europe."
"We were sent thousands of immi-"
"grants who were excused from"
"penitentiary sentences on condi-"
"1jion that they would emigrate"
"to America. We got the trash of"
"the Mediterranean, all that Le-"
"vantine stock that churns around"
"through there and does not know"
"what its own ancestry is. It came"
"here in large numbers from Syria"
"and the Turkish provinces and"
"from different countries of the"
"Balkan Peninsula and from that"
"part of southeastern Europe."
"This sweeping condemnation,"
said Senator Burton, "seems to include the Syrains, and very naturally
the community of Syrians in northern Ohio have protested against
such an attack as this. Of my own
acquaintance with them I shall wish
to speak in a few minutes, but I
would ask at this t:me that the clerk
read the protest filed by the Syrian
American Club of Cleveland."
At this point an able exposition
of the clean record of the Syrians
in the United States, prepared by
the Club above mentioned, was read
by order of the Vice President. It
was signed by the Good and Welfare
Committee of the Club consisting
of Jess. N. Saba, chairman, James
Solomon and Michael Caraboolad.
Senator Burton then continued:
"I am acquainted with many of the
Syrian people of northern Ohio, and
I may say for them that their names
very rarely appear in the criminal
court records. As soon as possible
they become naturalized American
citizens. Their children are taking
an honorable place in the public
schools and they, whether as merchants, laborers or in whatever capacity, are becoming an integral and
helpful part in otfr cosmopolitan
�mmmmmm
JUNE, 1929
49
population. I much regret the state- ever made on immigration that we
ment made by the Senator from can treat this question only in the
Pennsylvania, and at the same time spirit of the Declaration of IndepenI must say that the letter just read dence that all men were born equal,
is a little stronger in some of its and that remark is always included
adjectives than I would altogether and invariably an effort is made to
approve, but it is very natural that . introduce questions of race prejuthe writers should be extremely sen- dice. If America is to legislate
sitive about the attack and should soundly on this subject it can not
answer with some degree of bitter- be done in that spirit."
ness."
SYRIAN PROTESTS
In defense of his own stand, Senator Reed made the following reSenator Reed's remarks gave rise
ply to the remarks of Senator Burto one of the rare occasions when
ton.
the Syrians throughout the United
"It seems impossible to discuss States were aroused to action. The
immigration without arousing the Syrian press of New York publishes
feelings of a great number of sen- the text of many protests sent by
sitive and hypersensitive groups. Syrian organizations and individuals
I never said that the Syrian people in various cities. Miss Lila Manwere the trash of the Mediterra- dour, born in Pennsylvania, Senator
nean, and anyone who reads my Reed's home state, wrote the Senastatements will see that I did not. tor a strong letter of protest to
I said that from all around the which he replied with the explanashores of the Mediterranean came tion that his remarks were not inthe trash of that region and that tended to include all Syrians. He
they came from the Turkish Pro- makes no retraction of his statevinces and from Syria and from all ment in Congress, but promises Miss
other countries which I could have Mandour to read the book of Dr.
listed. That is true. Everyone who Philip K. Hitti "The Syrians in
hears my voice at this moment knows America" which she had sent him.
that it is true. But it is equally
Owing to the identical nature of
true that I made no reflection what- the protests, we are omitting their
soever upon the Syrians as a race or publication textually. Senator Hias an* immigrant strain.
ram Bingham of Connecticut, ack"Anyone who undertakes to de- nowledging the protest of Joseph
bate the subject of immigraton res- Hage, Secretary of the Syrian Amertrictions will find himself the un- ican Association of the United States
lucky victim of that kind of mis- with headquarters in Connecticut,
construction. He will be accused iadvises that "the subject having!
of a racial prejudice of which he been considered on the Senate floor,
is wholly unconscious. Sometimes I am of the belief that it has now
the accusation will be made to curry received sufficient official cognizance"
favor with the people in question This advice is timely as regards
and sometimes it will be made be- perfunctory protests sent to Senacause of their hypersensitfveness. tors, but it is equally obvious that
I have said in every speech I have the Syrians should learn a lesson
�=====
so
from this incident and seriously con-"
sider means for improving Ijhercr;
status as a component element in
the make-up of the American nation. Senator Reed plainly accuses
them along with other Mediterranean
"trash" of not knowing what their
own ancestry is. This is a direct and
open challenge to Syrians to develop a little more knowledge of their
ancestral background that they may
be able, when the necessity arises,
to defend and prove their racial extraction. The young generation Syrians in the United States should be
especially interested in such poignant remark which seems to be directed squarely at them, and it
should arouse them to take interest
' in those matters which affect their
status as a racial strain in the country.
SYRIAN GRADUATES
OF COLUMBIA
Six Syrians graduated from Columbia University in New York this
year, one of whom being a Syrian
girl of Boston who had specialized
in the study of ancient history.
The graduates are:
David Kasir of Mosul, Ph. D. in
mathematics and education.
Shafik Nafash of Horns, Syria and
Union City, N. J., M. D.
Miss Theodora Scoff of Zahle, Lebanon and Boston, Mass. M. A. in
history.
Ibrahim Dada of Damascus, M. A.
in education.
Iskandar Harik of Shwair, Lebanon, M. A. in education.
Jamil Esterabadi of Bagdad, M. A.
in business.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
DR. HITTI SUCCEEDS
PROFESSOR ROGERS
A special despatch to the N. Y.
Times from Princeton on April 27
carried the announcement that Dr.
Robert William Rogers, professor
of ancient literature on the Paton
Foundation at Princeton University
and a specialist in ancient Oriental
literature, will retire at the end of
the academic year. Professor Rogers' course will be conducted next
year by Associate Professor Philip
K. Hitti, who has been a member of
the Department of Oriental Languages and Literature for three years.
MEANING OF "SYRIA"
Philip C. Sabbagha, a Syrian high
school boy of Columbia, S. C, availing himself of the offer of Dr. Philip
K. Hitti through the Syrian World
to answer historical questions on
Syria, has written to Dr. Hitti asking the meaning and the philological
derivation of the word "Syria". Dr.
Hitti's answer follows:
The English word Syria comes
from the Greek Suria.. Arabic Suriah comes also from the same Greek
word and is nearer to it than the
English word because Arabic got
it directly from Greek, whereas English got it through Latin and other
Romance languages. The first Greek
writer in whose works we find Suria
is Herodotus, the historian who lived
in the fifth century before Christ.
In Septuagint, the Greek translation
of the Bible, the word Suria is also
used. But Homer, the early Greek
poet, used "Arameans" for the people
of Syria.
The Hebrews did not know the
word Suria. They use "Aram" in
?
�wmm
—
7LW£, 7929
r\l t /
it
'
the Bible. This is the word translated by the Greek Septuagint Suria.
Likewise, before the Arab conquest,
the Syrians called themselves Arameans, and their country Aram. After
the Arab conquest the land was called al-Sham.
Now the question is where did the
Greeks get the word Suria from?
They got it from the ancient Babylonians. In cuneiform, the ancient
writing of Babylonia, all the land to
the west including northern Syria
and northern Mesopotamia is called
Suri.. What Sufi means in Babylonian is not certain. Some scholars
think it means "the west", others
"the highland."
English Syria and Arabic Suriyah,
therefore, come from Greek Suria.
Greek Suria is from Babylonian Suri,
meaning "the west" and possibly
"the highland".
Those who say that Syria is derived from "Assyria" or from "Sur"
(Tyre, meaning rock,) are wrong.
They are deceived by the superficial
similarity of sound.
DINNER IN HONOR
OF FADLOU HOURANI
The Alumni Association in New
York of the American University of
Beirut gave a dinner at the Hotel
McAlpin on June 13 in honor of Mr.
Fadlou Hourani, now touring the
United States with his family.
This public testimonial to Mr.
Hourani was in recognition of the
fact that he was largely responsible
for the success of the Alumni movement which he had sponsored and
financed in its earlier stage. Himself an alumnus of the A. U. B. and
having achieved considerable success
51
in his commercial enterprises in
Manchester, England, Mr. Hourani
gave liberally of his time and money
to educational, social and church
work. He was appointed a member of a delegation of six laymen
representing the Presbyterian church
of all England at the general convention of that church to be held in
Boston.
Mr. Nesib Trabulsi, president of
the Alumni Association of New York,
after briefly welcoming the distinguished guest in the name of the
Association, requested Dr. Philip K.
Hitti of Princeton University and the
foremost representative of the alumni body of the American University
of Beirut in America, to act as toastmaster. The speakers were: Dr. R.
G. Haddad, prominent physician of
Brooklyn; S. A. Mokarzel, editor of
the Syrian World; N. M. Diab, editor
of Meraat-Ul-Gharb; Albert Staub,
American director of the Near East
Colleges Association, and Mobadda
Rashid of Chautauqua.
SYRIAN TO CONDUCT
.. PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
During every summer, the Philharmonic Orchestra holds a series
of concerts at the Lewisohn Stadium
in New York. This year three of the
performances will feature Ruth St.
Denis, Ted Shawn and their ensemble. Of special interest to us is that
all of these three performances will
be conducted by our talented pianist
Mr. Anis Fuleihan. On each of
these occasions the full orchestra
will be used, and the pieces to be
played are of Mr. Fuleihan's own
composition.
We are further informed that one of
�52
the numbers will represent a North
African scene depicting certain Arab
ceremonies and rituals.
CONCERT IN NEW YORK
BY FEDORA KURBAN
The first concert in New York by
Mme. Fedora Kujrban, styled the
Syrian nightingale, was given under
the auspices of the Rev. Dr. and
Mrs. K. A. Bis'hara at the Brooklyn
Academy of Music on the evening
of May 16. Mme. Kurban was assisted by Mr. Alexander Malaof and
his Oriental orchestra, and the proceeds of the concert were to help
the institutions for the blind and
the orphans in Syria.
Mme. Kurban gave selections in
several languages, and her art was
well appreciated by the audience of
over five hundred. Miss Amelia Hall
was at the piano in several numbers.
Dr. Bishara spoke in both Arabic
and English on this occasion. The
text of his English address appears
in this issue of the Syrian World.
SYRIAN BOY WINS
ORATORICAL CONTEST
Louis Dakhil, 18, of McAlester,
Okla., and sophomore at the University of Oklahoma, has for the
second time won first place in the
State Oratorical Contest on the subject of "World Peace." Besides the
honor of being state champion, the
winner also received a cash prize
of $100.00.
Mr. Dakhil is a graduate of McAlester High School and is now
studying medicine.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
LEBANESE POET
DIES IN FRANCE
The Syrian press reports the death
on April 3 of Chukri Ganem, famous
Lebanese poet, at his villa at Anteib,
France, at the age of 67.
The best known work of M. Ganem
was 'his play "Antar' which was acclaimed with great enthusiasm when
it was first presented at the Odeon
in Paris. This and other works entitled M. Ganem to a high rank
among the contemporary poets and
writers of France. * He was decorated with the Commandant medal
of the Legion d'honneur.
M. Ganem was born in Beirut and
educated at the Lazahist College at
Aintoura, Lebanon. He early in life
chose to live in France and in a short
time came to move in the highest
literary and political circles of Paris.
During the World War and after,
he was special adviser to the French
government on Near Eastern affairs,
especially those of Mt. Lebanon and
Syria. He counted among his intimate friends M. Raymond Poincare,
the French Premier.
In recognition of his distinguished
services to his motherland, the Lebanese government, at the suggestion of Gen. Weygand when French
High Commissioner in Syria, made
him an annual allowance of 30.000f
for life.
i
i
SYRIAN GIRL OFFICER
OF SPANISH CLUB
We copy the following item from
the Worcester Evening Post of
June 1.
"Miss Helen G. Agbay, a junior
at Emanuel College in Boston, has
�^^••-• -
JUNE, 1929
been elected president of the Spanish
club, El Club Espanol, for the coming college year. Miss Agbay served
as treasurer of the club in her sophomore year and was its secretary in
her junior year."
SYRIAN INVENTS
CARDING MACHINE
A machine which has long been
the hope of manufacturers of hatters' fur has finally been perfected
by a Syrian fur manufacturer, Mr.
Joseph Morin of Newark, N. J.
Mr. Morin has been in the hat fur
manufacturing business for a considerable time, and enjoyed the advantage of having learned the industry from the ground up. Realizing both the danger and the waste
of the old-style machines used in
the application of nitrate of silver
to the pelts he conceived the idea of
making a machine that would automatically do the work without injury to the quality of the product.
He perfected the machine and secured the necessary patents for it in
1928, and this year he placed it on
the market by renting it out to hat
manufacturers.
While the old style machines required the services of almost ten
men who ran the dangers peculiar
to the industry, Mr. Morin's machine
is so simple and practical that it can
be operated by two children with
absolute safety and accuracy.
STORY OF SYRIAN
PRISONERS A HOAZ
For the past year or so the Syrian
press both at home and abroad had
been greatly agitated over the supposed existence in Singapore of some
-—
33
twenty thousand Syrian prisoners
who were said to have been taken
by the British during their Mesopotamian campaign and held in Singapore in conditions resembling penal slavery.
It has now transpired that the
whole story was a hoax concocted
by one Sadik Abbas of Bagdad for
exploiting patriotic sentiment. The
British authorities of Palestine, although having categorically denied
the truth of any such reports, continued, nevertheless, their persistent
efforts to trace them to their source.
Finally Sadik Abbas was arrested
and questioned. He denied that he
was acting for any foreign government maintaining that his sole object was to secure easy money by
this means. He was sentenced to
three years' imprisonment and deportation from Palestine at the expiration of his term.
A Jewish accomplice, also a native
of Iraq, was sentenced to only three
months' imprisonment and subsequent deportation.
NOTED ORIENTALIST AT
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Professor A. T. Olmstead, noted
American Orientalist and formerly
Professor of History and Curator of
the Oriental Museum at the University of Illinois, has accepted a position as Professor of Oriental History in the Oriental Institute of the
University of Chicago. The Oriental Institute is especially interested
in the earlier history of the Near
East, and has excavations and other
work going on in the field in Egypt,
Palestine, Asia Minor and Mesopotamia. It has, besides, much research work going on at home at
.
�54
the University of Chicago. This
Institute is one of the foremost
American institutions specializing^
in such work, and many discoveries
and field expeditions on a large scale
may be laid to its credit.
Professor Olmstead is the author
of several authoritative works on
the history of Assyria and has spent
several years in Syria engaged in
field work and study. Readers of
the Syrian World will recall his generous assistance in the translation
of articles describing the many interesting antiquities in the Beirut
Museum.
NEAR EAST RELIEF
COMPLETES ITS WORK
Further Efforts will be to Help Near
East Peoples Help Themselves
In a report issued the latter part
of May by the American Near East
Relief, covering a period of ten years
and an expenditure of $100,000,000,
an account of its stewardship is given together with recommendations
for the discontinuance of all relief
emergency work after present commitments are met.
The report is declared to "mark
the virtual completion of the tragic
chapter of massacre and exile,
brightened only by deeds of mercy
done on such vast scale as the world
had »never known before. It marks
the beginning of a new chapter—one
of constructive helpfulness through
education to those who sit in the
ancestral house of Christendom that
new woes may be prevented."
The conclusions of the survey, as
reported by the New York Times of
THE SYRIAN WORLD
May 21, are partially as follows:
"American effort in the Near East
has been of splendid service in helping in the task of rehabilitating the
countries that make up the area.
"Unfortunately there has been
too much tendency to institutionalize
and to consider the institution as an
outpost of civilization carrying a
message to barbarians.
"Great need exists for wholesale
training of the masses in ways of
earning their daily bread, safeguarding against sickness and appreciating the values of life."
,
A significant statement in the report is that alluding to the status
of the Armenians residing outside
Armenia and making suitable provisions for them as "minorities in
populations often keenly antagonistic."
Another significant statement is
the comment on the nature of education heretofore prevailing in Near
Eastern countries. While acknowledging the services rendered by
American institutions of higher education in the Near East, it points
out that their work is badly needed
along the line of developing native
leadership of the highest type. The
outstanding need, it is pointed out,
is for "boys and girls with the kind
of practical education that will equip
them for leadership in the small villages in which the bulk of the population of the Near East lives, not
the kind of education that will cause
them to turn their backs upon the
people from which they came."
The main recommendations in the
report have already been approved
at a conference of American agencies
in the Near East, held at Constantinople, a summary of which is contributed to the report by President
Bayard Dodge of the American Uni-
i
i
s
�JUNE, 1929
55
versity of Beirut, who was chairman
of the conference.
Cleveland H.
Dodge, it was said, heads a committee now working out a program
to put into effect the recommendations of the survey.
SYRIAN PHYSICIAN CLAIMS
IMPORTANT DISCOVERY
A paper by Dr. M. A. Shadid of
Elk City, Okla., appearing in the
May, 1929 issue of Clinical Medicine
and Surgery published at Chicago,
gives the result of a treatment discovered by Dr. Shadid which is said
to be an effective cure for influenza
and pneumonia.
Dr. Shadid received his medical
education in the United States and
is the founder of Elk Sanitarium at
Elk City.
NEWS OF SOCIETIES
i
!
PLEDGE FROM TEXAS
Editor, The Syrian World,
At the regular meeting of the Syrian American Club of this city, held
on May 5th., the Federation movement was brought up for discussion
and I wish to advise you that the
entire membership gave it their
whole-hearted endorsement.
We are of the conviction that this
is the first and only logical step toward organizing Syrian-Americans
into federated societies, which may
ultimately causa co-operative and
unifying action among our people.
There exists no doubt that we are
in dire need of leadership.
Our club is still in its infancy; it
was organized on April first of f this
year, and we now have a substantial membership.
We feel that the Syrian WTorld has
justified its existence in undertaking
the federation movement. Therefore
we are happy to extend our congratulations and profound good wishes
to your magazine for its most valued
and remarkable enterprise.
S. J. Ackels, Pres.
Dallas, Texas.
AMERICANS SPEAK TO
SYRIANS ON SYLIA
(Special Correspondence)
Boston, Mass.—The members of
the Caravaneers Club of this city
had an especial treat when Miss
Grace Freidinger and the Rev. Mr.
Lawrence McGuffin entertained them
with stories and stereopticon views
of Syria on Monday evening, April 1
And it was no April Fool joke,
either! for Miss Freidinger and Mr.
McGuiiin know Syria very well, 'having lived and taught there.
The Caravaneers were very much
thrilled to find Miss Freidinger singing Syrian songs written in Arabic.
Mr. McGuffin, who is a product of
East Lynn, Mass., taught for three
years at Suk-el-Gharb, and, while
visiting his boys during the summer,
took many interesting pictures and
had many fine opportunities to know
the country.
Miss Freidinger, who taught for
nine years in the Lebanon Mountains
is a product of Springfield, 111. Since
her return in December 1927, she
has been longing for an opportunity
J
�$9
THE SYRIAN WQRL&
to mingle with Syrians in this country. She is very much interested in
Syrian affairs and considered that
she had discovered a "gold mine"
when she became acquainted with
Miss Labeebee A. J. Hanna, a Boston
school teacher of Syrian descent,
through whom she was introduced
to the Caravaneers Club.
This informative and entertaining
talk held the interest of the members
for two hours, not only because of
Miss Freidinger's enthusiasm, but
because it was about a country of
which many of the members had
heard but had never seen.
PLAY BY LADIES' SOCIETY
ENTERTAINMENT AND DANCE
The Daughters of the United Maronites Society of New York held
their fifth annual entertainment
and dance at the St. Paul Council
of the K. C. in Brooklyn on Saturday
evening, June 1st. The affair was
thoroughly enjoyed by a large attendance.
The Ladies' Syrian Association of
Spring Valley, 111., gave a three-act
play on the afternoon of Sunday,
May 12. for the benefit of St. George
Orthodox church of that city.
The whole cast was made up of
the younger members of the society
and were complimented for their
display of talent.
Addresses were delivered by the
Rev. Seraphim Nassar; Mrs. Sam
Aboud, President; Miss Elizabeth
Abrahams, Secretary, and Miss Ameline Jacobs.
LEBANESE CLUB FORMED
On April 13 the young people of
Adams, Mass. formed an organization to which they gave the name
of Lebanese Boys' and Girls' Social
Club. Their first entertainment was
held during the latter of May and
was attended by over 250 persons
from Adams and neighboring cities.
Writing of the purpose of the club,
Miss
Edna Shakar, the president,
NE(WS OF CLEVELAND, OHIO
said that "until the formation of the
A dance and card party for the club there was little social enterbenefit of St. Maron's church was course among the Syrian community
held at the K. of C. Hall on June 1. of the city, but now there has been
The committee in charge reported created a common interest."
the affair a financial success.
The club would like to correspond
—The play "Rabeebat Al Gibal", with similar organizations in New
given by the Zahle American society England for the promotion of soof this city at! the Metropolitan cial activities. Its address is 87
Theatre on May 12 was well acted Commercial St., Adams, Mass.
and consisted of a cast wholly comOne of the first official acts of
posed of members under the able the club was in making a gift of a
direction of our Dr. H. B. Khuri.
year's subscription to the Syrian
During one of the intermissions, World to the local public library bethe Rt. Rev. Msgr. Riashi of Akron cause "we want Americans to come
gave some appropriate comments to know us as we really are through
on Mother's Day.
the medium of this wonderful organ
A. J. Shalala of Syrian culture."
�Memoirs of Usamah
By Dr. PHILIP K. HITTI
Who was Usamah?
»'
Usamah was a warrior, a hunter, a gentleman and a
poet who sojourned in the courts of the Fatimite caliph in
Cairo, of Saladin in Damascus and of Zanlci in al-Musil. His
Memoirs, of which only one copy is preserved in the Escurial
Spain, open before us a wide and new vista into medieval
times and constitute an invaluable contribution to our knowledge of Arab-Syrian culture in itself and in its relation to
Western thought and practice.
Usamah gives us a first-hand description of the battles
in which he took part in defense of his castle, Shayzar, against
the Franks and native enemies. He then devotes a section
to rare anecdotes more delectable than which can be found
nowhere in Arabic literature, and closes with another on falconry as practiced in Syria, Egypt and Mesopotamia. Long
paragraphs are devoted to his impressions of the character
of the Franks and their methods of medication and judicial
procedure. In their simplicity of narrative, dignity and
wealth of contents and general human interest, these Memoirs stand unexcelled in the literature of the Crusades.
They acquaint us with the Syrian methods of warfare, hawking and medication, and usher us into the intimacies of
Moslem court life as well as private home life.
This book is published by the Columbia University Press.
We rust our readers will show their apprecaition of Syrian scholarship by the liberal purchase of copies both for
their private libraries and for gifts.
THE SYRIAN WORLD has been appointed sales agent
for the Syrians, and sells the book at the publishers' regular
price of $4,50, plus 25c for postage.
ORDER YOUR COPY NOW
JL.
�ar" . .
E
T:
•»
»
»
» +» «»-<» *».;>—-<x>~»» o» ^
A BOOK YOU SHOULD HAVE
MAKER OF MODERN ARABIA, by Ameen
Rihani has proven a literary sensation. Never before
has a more accurate, extensive and authoritative picture of central Arabia been presented with as much
power. It is an epic of the desert j an up-to-the-minute
"close up" of the cradle of the Arabian race.
*
The author of this great work is a Syrian of whom
everyone of his countrymen should be proud. A copy
of his book should be found in every Syrian home of
culture.
"Mr. Rihani's pieture of the Wahabis is the sort of firsthand authoritative stuff that puts this book above and wholly
outside the range of the usual treatises either of travel, observation or politics."
N. Y. Herald-Tribune.
f a
II
"The command over the subtleties of our anomalous language revealed in these pages, is uncanny. To read is to enjoy
the pleasure of music. From Ameen Rihani we have what can
scarcely fail to be a final portrait of that formidable chieftain,
Ibn Sa'oud, by right of conquest King of Mecca."
New York Times.
II
I i
-4 I
V
ORDER YOUR COPY FROM THE SYRIAN WORLD
AT THE PUBLISHER'S PRICE
$6.00 postpaid.
-J
it
�!&i&»M^^
A
GLORIOUS HOLIDAY
AND
A
GREAT EDUCATION
is no better way of spending your summer vacation
than by taking our tour leaving New York July 2nd,
escorted by the Editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD, Mr.
Salloum A. Mokarzel, through
THERE
I
LEBANON, SYRIA and THE HOLY LAND.
*
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Visits will also be made to
CONSTANTINOPLE, ORAN
and
LISBON, NAPLES, ATHENS,
MADEIRA.
CONGENIAL COMPANIONS
1
'!
COMFORTABLE ACCOMMODATIONS
SURPRISINGLY LITTLE COST
Si
It
For booklets and details as well as for membership
in this tour write to
A. K. HITTI & COMPANY
60 Washington Street
NEW YORK CITY
Telephone—BOWLING
GREEN
2765-9754
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LEGAL DEPOSITORY OF The United States—New York StateNew York City.
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*
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We invite the accounts of Individuals, Firms, Corporations, Banks, and Trust Companies j offering all facilities consistent with conservative banking.
INTEREST DEPARTMENT
AT 4%
Deposits made on or before the ten days of January,
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Certificates of Deposit, an attractive short-term investment, if left for six months or longer will bear interest for the full term of deposit, at such rates as may be
agreed upon.
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A bank account is ESSENTIAL and advisable.
Read carefully the following suggestion:
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Personally conducted tours insuring maximum pleasure and eomIfort at moderate costs.
Our experience covering a period of fifty years enables us to
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The Syrians in America
By Philip K. Hitti, Ph. D.
*f
A book that is encyclopedic in
its information about the Syrians
—their origin, history, progress,
faiths, racial peculiarities and
particularly their present status
in America.
Dr. Hitti is an authority on this
subject. His book should be read
by all Americans of Syrian descent and all Americans interested
in Syria and Syrians.
Price, $1.25 postpaid.
On sale at the office of
"The Syrian World"
Sheik Coffee
is the master coffee made to
meet all the requirements
of the strict coffee connoisseurs. It is genuine Arabian
Coffee and has all its Aroma, Flavor and Quality.
Ground fine for the Turkish
Cup and coarse for
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If you are unable to get
if from your grocer, order
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for the Model 14 Arabic Linotype now adopted as the standard
machine for composition in all languages using Arabic as their
basic characters. Late in 1928, an order for such a machine was
received from the Government Press at Alor Star, Kedah, Federated Malay States. This same Press had purchased a machine in
1924, and its reorder of another one four years later proves its
satisfaction with the first machine during its long period of trial.
This case is but an indication of the general trend in the printing
industry in the East, where the Linotype is bound to revolutionize methods of composing type just as it did in the West.
The Model 14 Arabic Linotype is capable of composition not
only in Arabic and all other languages using Arabic characters,
but in all Western languages as well by the simple change of
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
TSW1929_06reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 03, Issue 12
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1929 June
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 3 Issue 12 of The Syrian World published June 1929. The issue begins with an article by Dr. Bayard Dodge titled "Education and Catastrophe," which discusses the importance of education as an internal measure of preventing catastrophe in society. Following it is a continuation of Ameen Rihani's travel experiences in Arabia, this time a "Lesson in Zoology and Healing." Rihani spends time with King Hussein, and in doing so sees how much the king enjoys the company of small animals and takes an interest in traditional medical practices. The king enlists one of his own surgeons to help Rihani with arm pain, which disappears after a simple salve of butter and garlic. The next piece is a poem by Labeebee A. J. Hanna titled "Will You Come Back!" which discusses the pain of remembering times lost. The short story "The Greatness of John Hasbani" by Rev. W. A. Mansur is next. A continuation of Dr. Philip K. Hitti's discussion of Book of Usama follows. Dr. George Knaysi writes about the relationship between science and the biological significance of youth and age. The issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press, the Reader's Forum, and news on the Syrian societies from around the U.S.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
Ameen Rihani
Education
George Knaysi
John Hasbani
Labeebee A.J. Hanna
Medical
New York
Philip Khuri Hitti
Reverend W.A. Mansur
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/7d71568b2e868bae17709f2444991409.pdf
b2f221da8d02158171de8c5d6bb301ec
PDF Text
Text
^
THE
SYRIAN W(
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENG
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABU
m
AT THE GATE OF ARABIA
AMEEN RIHANI
A DAY IN ABU-HAMED
DR. NEJIB A. KATIBAH
DISCOVERING THE SYRIANS
JAMES MYERS
EASTERN RELIGIONS IN THE WEST
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
THE COPY 50c.
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SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104
GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK,
By .ascription $5.00 a year.
N. Y.
Singl,
^^ ^.
Sntw-ed as second-class matter, June 25, 1928, at the post offic. at New
York N
> - Y., under tke act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. III.
No. 9
MARCH, 1929
CONTENTS
PAGE
At the Gate of Arabia
3
AMEEN RIHANI
The Saint
j 3,
KAHLIL GIBRAN
Children of A merica
\4
Eastern Religions in the West
SALLOUM A.
lg
MOKARZEL
Snowdrops
20
PAUL DEAB
A Day in A bu-Hanted
DR. NETIB
21
A.
KATIBAH
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—
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
Verses To My Daughters
J. D.
29
CARLYLE
Discovering the Syrians
30
JAMES MYERS
Arab Wisdom
32
Success of Federation Assured
33
Editorial Comment—
Tours to Syria
37
Pride in Ancestry
38
Youth and Age
39
Spirit of the Syrian Press
41
Readers' Forum
45
About Syria and Syrians
50
Political Developments in Syria
56
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
Ameen Rihani
Testimonial Dinner to Ameen Rihani
xs
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. III.
No. 9
MARCH, 1929
At the Gate of Arabia
FIRST LEG OF THE EPIC JOURNEY OF THE NOTED AUTHOR
AND TRAVELER, AMEEN RIHANI, TO FORBIDDEN ARABIA
By
AMEEN RIHANI
"THEY were loading petroleum, stacking the surplus cargo on
the promenade deck of the Dakhalieh, when we arrived. The
other passenger, a lady going to Tor, did not seem perturbed,
For her, inflammability had perhaps lost its charm; or she was
accustomed to a repression hermetically sealed. But for me, there
was the possibility of annihilation, particularly because a certain
happy climax of life had already been reached. I imagined myself going up in a bonfire East of Suez—it needed but a lighted
cigarette to do it—and I enjoyed the extravagant fancy. But,
being a reader as well as a writer of books, I had come prepared
for everything saving such an end. Civilization was left behind,
and all that was antithetic to it I expected to find East of Suez.
It were best, however, had I contented myself with the literary
conception megaphoned to two worlds by Rudyard Kipling. In
any case, there was still a rush-light of romance left, which no
disappointment, literary or real, could snuff out.
East of Suez, south of Suez rather, particularly on a February afternoon, when the Dakhalieh, with its inflammable cargo,
steamed out of the harbor, was full of promise. I deserved all
that was coming; for I had insured myself only against Incredibility and its lame cousin Doubt. My sympathetic mood, which
often became a sympathetic vision, was my only pass-card to
the heart of Arabia, its people, and its kings. I learned to say
mashallah and inskallah, whether I was listening to a historical
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
narrative or to a fairy tale (both are too, often hopelessly mixed
in Arabia), and afterwards, despite the buckram of common sense,
included Allah in my judgment. I was a traveller, a pious and
believing traveller; and, with all the willingness in the world, I
was ready to believe that the Red Sea, for instance, was at one
time as red as carmine, and that East of Suez is, even in our day
of grace, a moral murk, an abysmal continent. For not only
Orientals delight in romancing, be it remembered. You may
travel in Arabia with the Critique of Pure Reason in your saddlebag; but you have to balance it, willy nilly, with the Koran.
WHY THE RED SEA IS CALLED RED
The only other passenger on the Dakhalieh, the lady going
to Tor, knew something about the Koran and the Red Sea. Indeed, although of Celtic origin, she was at home in both. She
told me the story of a sea monster once captured near Tor. The
strength of forty men was required to pull it out of the water.
She saw it and wrote about it to the Royal Society. It had a head
like a monkey's, a thorax like a human being's, while the rest of
the body was that of a fish. This was neither a mermaid nor a
merman, but a mermonkey, unknown, methinks, to the students
of Celtic folk-lore. She also told me why the Red Sea was called
Red; and here too she spoke as an observer with a scientific mind.
It was not red once upon a time as the legend goes; it is not red
everywhere and at all times; but only in the spawning season and
in places where the sea swarms with gold fish, which glisten in the
pellucid water and impart to it the color that gives it its name—
Red Sea!
The sundown glow interrupted the folk-lore conversation.
Celtic mermaids and gold fish were forgotten as we steamed south
between Africa and Asia in what seemed an apotheosis of calm,
crowned with chromatic grandeur. Mt. Sinai was partly in shadow; Mt. Ataka opposite to it was in effulgence; while behind
us, the canal looked like a green ribbon floating northward, and
Suez faded in a purple haze. The scene was continually shifting
and changing. No sooner had the sand hills of Sinai lost the glamor of sundown than the hard contours of Ataka softened in the
glow, undulating withal. Gradually again the scene was transposed. Mt. Sinai was resplendent in rose and violet hues, its outline seeming wondrously plastic, while in the West the dark grey
and sable of Ataka, set off by a rich cream tinged here and there
With gold, made its peaks seem more aggressive as the sun dis-
�MARCH, 1929
5
appeared. It was indeed a masterpiece of atmospheric beauty
and color-contrasts. The ruggedness of Ataka and the delicate
splendor of Sinai could not be more appropriately rendered, or
more harmoniously composed. Hardly anywhere else in Egypt
is the colorful Oriental sky so eloquently expressed. The close
proximity of two continents, rising in a supreme effort on either
side of the water, must give the sun its cue; and when it goes
down, the interval between two splendors is not long. Soon after
darkness the sky is crowded with stars. They had all come out
to enjoy, like ourselves, it seemed, the warmth and the calm of
that February evening. A low sky crowded with stars. It was
"rush-hour" in heaven!
PURIFYING THE PURIFIED
My fellow traveller spoke of the pilgrims and of the Quarantine at Tor. She has been in the Egyptian service more than
twenty years, has seen more of Al-Islam in its pious mood and
squalor than any one else of her race East of Suez or West of it,
and continued nevertheless to love the Muslems and nurse them
with tender care. Not without reason is she called Mother of
the Pilgrims. She carries in the pocket of her love the key to
health and sanitation. She reads the Koran to better understand
her children and she continues, for the sake of remembrance,
to read the Bible. "Let them go to Mecca," she said; "it's a
iplendid spiritual exercise. But they must on their way back
make us also a call—at least for a bath."
The Quarantine Station at Tor, the second best in the world,
is, indeed, one of the guide posts of Civilization East of Suez.
It is international; but its administration is in the hands of the
Egyptian Government. On that sunbaked sandy wilderness, not
far from the village proper, it stands out, a town by itself, hygienically conceived and built; its wards and its stores, its clinics and
disinfecting rooms, its soda water factory and ice plants—they
recall the best in Europe. It can accommodate from two to three
thousand pilgrims at a time, the total number for the whole season sometimes rising to forty thousand. The Egyptian pilgrims,
returning from Mecca, are first disinfected and then sent into
wards for a period of from three to ten days, according to the
prevailing health conditions at the time.
No greater service to Al-Islam, to the world, in fact, could
be rendered by medical science. Ever since the Tor Quarantine
was established, about thirty years ago, Egypt has not had a single
�6
THE SYRIAN WORLD
cholera epidemic. It is, moreover, teaching the Muslems sanitation and hygiene. They first balked at the idea of a quarantine,
resented the interference with the pilgrimage, and objected
strongly to the disinfecting process 3 but they have gradually reconciled themselves to it, and now they appreciate the incomparable virtues of Tor. They are beginning to even enjoy the stay,
and the first thing they ask for, when they arrive, is the bath.
There may be something blasphemous in a disinfectant after a pilgrimage to the Holy Places. "But health and well-being and
cleanlniess," said the Celtic Mother of the Pilgrims, "are enjoined
by the Prophet." She knows the Muslem's Book as well as her
own.
MOTHER OF THE PILGRIMS
A quiet, modest, sympathetic soul, and not without a warmth
of feeling, was my companion of an evening; she had also a sense
of the divine, which her silence expressed. I could not help
thinking that, like the local deities of old, she had imbibed the
spirit of the place. From Suez to Tor and from Tor to Suez
is a pilgrimage in itself, chastening, uplifting. For one thing,
there are no loud voices on the Red Sea, neither in the sky, nor on
the water, nor upon the hills on either side of the Gulf of Suez:
—no over tones in the coloration, no dogmatism, as it were, in the
forms, no harsh outcries in the waves. Everything seems to contribute to the apotheosis of tender variability.
In the morning, at sunrise, the opposite coasts are a pageant
of peaks and domes of a texture not unlike the dunes of the Nufoud; they seem so brittle on the African side that they would
crumble under a gust of wind; while the play of light and shade
on the Sinai slopes, set off by a strip of pinkish haze above, and another of white sand looking like a mirage at the base, is like quicksilver and bronze in a frame of fascinating composition. On
neither side do the colors betray the least violence. At sunset they
are more expressive but not less delicate. The orange that melts
into saffron, and the saffron that goes into mauve, and the mauve
that rises to the sky to embrace its azure limpidity, all stand in the
background of a picturesque chain which becomes bolder in outline as its color atmosphere becomes more subtle, more ethereal.
Even the darkness on the hills is not devoid of a certain glaze,
a certain shade of lucidity. It makes them look in their serrated
peaks like scalloped black lace hung upside down on a silver
thread.
�1
MARCH, 1929
*
There are also peaks softened by time in the soul of Mother
of the Pilgrims} and there is a silver thread for a few ideals
among which she sometimes hangs her humor to dry. Some one
was carrying in a crate a few geese to Tor. "But surely they
can not in Tor afford fresh water for geese," said I. "They
are Muhammedan geese," she remarked, "and if they do not like
salt water they can have sand.* In any case, they'll die among
the pilgrims and go to Paradise." A lucky goose who can find
some one to take him to Tor.
Measuring my luck, since I cherished the hope of going even
to Mecca, though there be something of the goose-nature at the
bottom of such a hope, I considered myself the happier traveller.
For a moment, however, when saying good-bye to my Celtic
friend, a shadow of sadness lingered across my path. What if our
humor were the reality, the Koranic truth? Here be a Christian
woman doing Al-Islam a noble service; and Al-Islam, in the
Paradise to come, gives all its prizes exclusively to the Muslem
man. Mother of the Pilgrims, forsooth. I prefer not to dwell
further on the subject.
Even the Dakhalieh's tea, a murky mixture of something and
milk, which was brought early in the morning by the steward in
a cup as thick as his thumb, were more welcome than such a Paradise. The sin of the steward was in knocking at my door when
I had just gone asleep. For I had spent most of the night on
deck, enjoying the blissfulness of an evening of ineffable calm
as compared with the disquieting atmosphere of a Transatlantic
ship of tourists. In fact, I was still under the influence of the
sunset, and the gibbous moon, with malice or without, came offering me another drink. She brought with her a soft enticing
breeze—another intoxication. I surrendered myself. I was in
thralls. About morning I went down to my cabin, seeking freedom in sleep; but soon after, the steward knocked at the door and,
opening it, offered me a cup of tea. I cursed him in Arabic, thinking half-awake that I was on an Atlantic liner. He apologized
afterwards—in Arabic! He crushed me.
The Dakhalieh is not the best steamer of the Line, but she
is better than the general run of Red Sea craft. I was disappointed, because I did not expect anything so good south of Suez
—barring the tea—and so clean. What does it matter if she makes
* "And if you can not find water, make your ablutions with sand."—The
Koran.
�8
THE SYRIAN WORLD
but seven knots an hour, and if the skipper is a prurient Greek?
From Tor down I was the only saloon passenger, and, in spite of
the cargo on the promenade deck, the illusion of a private yacht
was irresistible. Allah in His mercy has not forgotten His slave
Ameen of Manhattan Island. Allah be praised.
AN EXCITING FIGHT
Al-Wajh, the first Arab port of call, is a little village on a
sandy coast, with two mosques, twelve policemen in khaki uniform, a school, and an empty prison. But this should not be
mistaken. The prison is empty, not because of the want of criminals, but because they are seldom caught. Nevertheless, Al-Wajh
breathes an air of prosperity. It makes its own smacks (sanbooks)
which carry its charcoal, its salt fish, and its sheep butter to Suez
in exchange for wheat and cotton cloth. And north of Al-Wajh,
near Dhoba, I was told, are oil fields unexplored. The seepage
along the coast runs visibly into the water.
One of the twelve poilcemen of the town, a youth of twenty,
carrying a whip with a silver knob, came on board with the school
teacher to supervise the discharge of the cargo. There was, to be
sure, a chaos of outcries and a crowding of sanbooks; but the
only incident that threatened the peace was handled by the young
policeman with firmness and decision. A black boy in one of the
sanbooks picked a quarrel with an Arab; and the two, from the
prows of their boats, not far apart, shouted insults at each other.
The black was the first to act. He stretched himself forward,
lying on his bosom, and clutching at the Arab's arm, dragged
him forth and pushed him into the water. The boy struggled
amidst the craft, and climbed up again to his own, crying and
cursing aloud. The police lad, who witnessed the quarrel and
tried to stop it from the deck, adding his own curses to those of
the two boys, sent for the black eventually and there and then
applied the whip to his bare skin. The boy did not cry. But when
he went back to his sanbook, he stretched himself on the prow,
grinned at his victim, and spat into the water. He then looked up
towards Abu-Kirbaj (Father of the whip) and grinned and spat
in the water again.
CAMELS HAVE MANNERS TOO
Just then the camel of Sherif Zaggal was in the air above the
black's head, hanging by a rope to the derrick chain; and either
out of fright or meanness she staled upon him. Where-
I
�MARCH, 7929
»
upon, the Arab boy chuckled and exclaimed: "Allah is just!"
The Sherif Zaggal, Governor of Al-Wajh, who was going with
us to Jeddah, changed his mind at the last hour and sent his
camel instead. The camel, too, might have changed her mind,
if she were human. But being a camel, and, although on her
first sea voyage, she was indifferent. I paid her a visit on the
morning of the following day when she was lying down. A twoyear-old, and evidently a thoroughbred. Her manner, if not her
features, was a proof of this; for like an Arab girl she was extremely polite. She got up when she saw me coming and stretched
her neck towards me, turning her head to the right and to the
left;—turning her cheek rather, for she did not resent being
kissed. The camel of Zaggal is gifted also with curiosity; for
often she would stretch her neck above the railing and gaze at
the sea and snort. As much as to say, Why has the desert changed
its color? And why do the sands roll and tumble over each other
as if swept by the simoon? Yet, there is no simoon. She sniffed
the air which she seemed to enjoy, and, pursuing her adventure,
she made an effort with her neck to reach the water. She was
wondering whether it was real sand: she would find out for herself. Gifted with curiosity, indeed, is Sherif Zaggal's camel, and
well bred. I wonder if his subjects are likewise.
The police lad at Al-Wajh was certainly polite, and, in one
or two instances, evinced curiosity. He asked me if we had any
camels in New York and if we taught the Koran in our schools.
I made a straightforward reply, which surprised and shocked
him. He was surprised to know that we had no camels, and
shocked to hear that we did not know anything a^out the Koran,
and that we seldom really pray.
At noon and at sunset, the Third Class passengers, who sleep
on the lower decks, spread their little rugs or mats or bits of cloth
and turn towards the East to pray; they really pray;—honestly,
strenuously, fervently pray. For Allah is there, beyond, as palpable as the ship under their knees, and is all-hearing. Beside
him sits Muhammad, who smiles benignly upon the Faithful.
And the huris are there, too, waiting for the Faithful to come.
If this were not so, how could they put up with life, how could
they endure its hardships and trials, how could they see and not
desire the creature comforts that we in our First Class infidelity
were enjoying? No, they neither desire nor envy. They have
the best God in the world, the best Prophet in the world, and
the best Paradise in the world to come. It is yet my lot, and that
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
of the reader who goes all the way with me, to realize that an
illusion in a state of detachment can achieve reality, though but
for a spell.
AN ARTIST'S DELIGHT
Meanwhile, we toy with little things and surrender ourselves to the joy of the moment. Color is not only a form of enjoyment j it is a necessity as well as a luxury—like love. Indeed,
color is to the soul what air is to the lungs. And what on the
Red Sea is more gorgeous than its blue? It is a limpid and
lustrous blue, a deep and sensuous blue; a nile blue which is lyrical
in the sun; a blue through which, even in the shade, you can
see the porpoises many feet under water. Neither the Carribean
nor the Eastern Mediterranean in the shadow of the Lebanons
can approach it in purity and rare glaze. It is washed, as it were,
of all the atmospheric vapors and all the particles that make the
waters of the Atlantic opaque and dark. It is a filtered blue.
The eye drinks of it and never tires.
In the Gulf of Suez after sunset there still lingered here
and there patches of gold which added to the fascination of its
blue. The fusion made the slow rolling little waves look like
melted emeralds in gold-lined bowls; and where they did not
fuse, they presented a charming design, a lyrical design j—a melody of saffron hues moving briskly over the broad cerulean
rhythms of the sea.
I asked the Maltese ship doctor if it was the same blue early
in winter, and his reply was that he didn't pay much attention
to it. He further admitted that he couldn't tell one shade of
blue from another. But I heard him at table speak of the blue
mouth of a pretty girl among the Arab passengers. Her lips
are tattooed, said the Skipper, and then made a remark in Greek,
at which the Doctor laughed. The wireless operator, a pinkcheeked, clean-shaven youth from Lancashire, who understood
the Skipper's Greek by inference or by precedent, did not try to
conceal his disgust. He later told me that he was going to leave
the ship. Once I tried to change the conversation, asking, to my
regret, a question about the Maltese language, which is considered to be a conglomeration of Italian, Spanish, and Arabic. But
the Doctor, coming to the rescue, seemed to say, My mother
tongue, right or wrong. He told us that Maltese is the ancient
Phoenician language and that Arabic is derived from it, that is,
�MARCH, 1929
11
from the Maltese! There is always some one on board to spoil
a sea voyage.
It is not necessary, howerver, to make any serious attempt
to avoid an unpleasant subject or situation, on board a ship which
brings you everyday to a new port. The change, with a little
patience, is inevitable. At Yanbo', which is the seaport to AlMedinah, I met an ancient friend, who is familiar to every one
that reads Arabic poetry. For what poet, ancient, medieval or
modern, has not drawn upon Mt. Radhwa for a simile or a metaphor? They have made it walk, and ride, and fight battles; but it
still stands where it stood of old, casting its shadow over Yanbo',
in the morning, and in the afternoon, over the plains and hills
which separate it from the second Holy City of Al-Islam.
Not only the Mountain has not changed, but it harbors a
section of the tribe of Juhainah which shares with it the virtue
of immutability. These Juhainah Arabs are herdsmen who have
lived apart from their fellow tribesmen ever since the days of
the Prophet. They go in sheepskins, live in huts up in the mountain summits, and are self-sufficient. Seldom does any of them
come down to the plain, and seldom do any other Arabs go up
to their heights. Of a certainty, no traveller, native or European, has visited the Juhainahs of Mt. Radhwa, for the Hijaz
Government, even today, cannot give the necessary protection.
AT THE GATE OF ARABIA A T LAST
About twenty-four hours after we leave Yanbo' we sight
the first landmark of the harbor of Jeddah, that is the clearing
•7iark of the navigator, which is Mt. Hamaniyah and the saddle
of Mt. Hadda beyond it. Soon after we come to the outer reefs
near which the water is of a milky color caused by the coral sand,
which is stirred up by tidal streams or storms. Over these reefs
the billows break and form in winter a line which, seen from
Jeddah, gives the illusion of a foaming coast in mid-ocean.
From the first reefs to the shore is a body of water, which
is only affected by the tide. This is the harbor, and in it are
three lines of reefs, with gateways, which are charted minutely
for the foreign navigator, giving the direction of the reefs, their
size, their form, and their sloping to shoals. All of which the
native boatmen know as good as the book of the Red Sea pilot.
They even know more, or they have an eye that penetrates the
darkness. For they can negotiate the reefs at night without any
mishap, zig-zagging around them and gping through the gates
�*
12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
l
as if they were lighted with electricity.
We made our way through the hidden gates meandering
to an anchorage about two miles from land. The reef formations were betrayed by the light and dark green color of the I j
water j—crescents of emerald, floating ribbons of saffron, and here '
and there a white spot indicating a shoal. Another charming
passage in the canvas was the ochre over a bed of sand forming
a foil to the green, and both balancing a path of deep blue.
Jeddah is a clutter of buildings from two to four scories
high stretching about a mile along the coast and inward not more
than half a mile. Its minarets and its tall buildings make its skyline suggestive in parts of that of lower Manhattan. The architecture is pure Arabic, but not of an elaborate style. The walls
are mostly of madrepore plastered on both sides, and a characteristic feature is the woodwork of the mashrabiyahs (lattice
screens) which stand before the windows. They have also contrived, to combat the summer heat, a sort of bay window, a projection of wood rather, which hangs like a balcony over the street,
and can be opened on three sides to the breeze. From a distance the city presents a decent view of prosperity} it is not even
lacking in the aspect of grandeur.
Steam launches and sanbooks came zig-zagging around the
reefs to meet us. And lo! My friend Constantine Yanni, who, ,
ten years ago, a beardless youth, was editing a newspaper in Syria \
and fulminating against the Turks, had become a hirsuit Arab and \
was in the uniform of a Captain of the Hijaz Army. Hola, li
Constantine! But he had come with other officials of the Hashemite Government, and the greeting, in the name of His Majesty
King Husein, was formal, as it should be, and a bit pompous.
Later, we slapped each other on the back.
At the Quarantine pier, more officials and more ceremony.
The mayor of Jeddah expressed to me the regret of His Majesty,
who was in a state of uncertainty about my arrival, caused by
my neglect to cable from, Suez that 1 was coming on the Dakhalieh. Otherwise he would have come down from Mecca to meet
me. "But he is waiting for a word from us," said the Collector
of Customs, as he entered into the office of the Quarantine Superintendent. And there I got the first big surprise in my travels
in Arabia. A telephone in the Holy City of Mecca! The Collector sat at the desk, and, taking up the receiver before him,
asked Central, without any preliminary "Helo" or " 'Elo," to
give him Mecca—Royal Palace. There was no parley and no
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�13
MARCH, 1929
waiting. The Hashemite Secretariate was informed of the arrival
of "Saiyed" Ameen Rihani, and in half a minute the Collector
conveyed to me the Hashemite Secretariate's reply: "Saiyedna
(our Lord) is coming. He will leave Mecca in half an hour."
The Saint
By
KAHLIL GIBRAN
TN my youth I once visited a saint in his silent grove beyond the
hills j and as we were conversing upon the nature of virtue a
brigand came limping wearily up the ridge. When he reached
the grove he knelt down before the saint and said, "O saint, I
would be comforted! My sins are heavy upon me."
And the saint replied, "My sins, too, are heavy upon me."
And the brigand said, "But I am a thief and a plunderer."
And the saint replied, "I too am a thief and a plunderer."
And the brigand said, "But I am a murderer, and the blood
of many men cries in my ears."
And the saint replied, "I too am a murderer, and in my ears
cries the blood of many men."
And the brigand said, "I have committed countless crimes."
And the saint replied, "I too have committed crimes without number."
Then the brigand stood up and gazed at the saint, and there
was a strange look in his eyes. And when he left us he went skipping down the hill.
And I turned to the saint and said, "Wherefore did you
accuse yourself of uncommitted crimes? See you not that this
man went away no longer believing in you?"
me.
And the saint answered, "It is true he no longer believes in
But he went away comforted."
At that moment we heard the brigand singing in the distance,
and the echo of his song filled the valley with gladness.
�«=
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Children of America
The following article, based on the research and study of the Foreign
Language Information Service, and published in the January, 1929, issue of
The Interpreter, its official organ, is an able presentation of conditions obtaining in the homes of recent immigrants in America. The relations between the older and younger generations have been the concern of all ethnic
groups, Syrians included. The article touches on many social problems
which the Syrian World has been treating for the past three years. Principally because it comes from an organization specializing in the study of
conditions among the foreign born, and committed to the policy of sympathetic interpretation of the point of view of the immigrant, the article recommends itself highly to the serious study of our readers.—Editor.
"pHE sweeping indictment of aliens as criminals, implied at
least in so many discussions these last ten years, has been dismissed by all fair-minded Americans. It had its origin in a
racial holier-than-thou attitude and fell to the ground as soon as
our sociologists and statisticians had time to marshal the facts.
The conclusion of careful students seems to be unanimous that
the percentage of law-breaking among our immigrant population is less than with the native born.
Yet the "crime waves," which are still with us, have made
notorious a host of "foreign" names. The role of inmates in our
prisons and reformatories creates an impression of immigrant
criminality which is not justified by investigation and statistics.
Most often the "alien criminal" turns out to be American born
and American bred, with an "un-American" name for his only
foreign heritage. It is the second generation that contributes
more than its due quota of arrests and commitments to American
prisons. The children of immigrant parents have a still higher
rate of juvenile delinquency. There is comfort in the fact that
this same second generation has apparently produced more than
its quota of achievement in science, the arts, business and inventions, of feats of enterprise and valor. In such instances these
young people are our pride, not our problem. We speak of them
as Americans. It is when they are socially inadequate, that we
are apt to refer to them as the second generation.
Theirs is an American birthright, with opportunities far
greater than their immigrant parents had. With them is no
handicap of language. They are beneficiaries of our public
schools. In many cases poverty or social environment may work
HHH^HHMH^BBHHI^HHHHH^PHMi
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i
�MARCH, 1929
15
for delinquency but, on the other hand, the immigrant father,
just because he has been at the bottom of the ladder, usually
does his utmost to see his children ascend. Their frequent failure is the more striking because of the straight path which their
parents have kept in a country strange to them.
Obviously, no theory of race or nationality fits here. The
complaint that there is more respect for law in foreign countries than in America with its tradition of pioneer freedom, does
not suffice to explain the apparent anomaly. In the villages and
small towns of Europe from which so many of our immigrants
have come, behavior was controlled not so much by outside^ pressure as by habits which had been formed in many centuries of
living together. That the daily bread must be earned by hard
work and by work only, was an experience of daily life for many
generations. The few and simple social groupings had developed
a strong group solidarity. The mode of life was primitive
and for every occasion there were fixed standards of what was or
was not fit to do. There were ancient usages, codes of honor
and the power of a closely-knitted community opinion. In America the immigrant slowly moves away from his traditional norms
but the old habits persist and are still so strong that his proportion of delinquency is below that of native-born Americans.
No such tradition exists for the second generation. No
cultural values have come to it from long lines of ancestors.
The old country community with its fixed limits and standards has
no substitute here. Even the immigrant family—the only social
grouping to survive the trip across the sea—breaks down, strong
as are its ties. Only parents of more than average intelligence
and intuition are able to transmit to their American-born children
something of their cultural tradition and to preserve the solidarity of the family. More often the "revolt of youth" leaves
here much deeper wounds than in native families. The new,
English-speaking American is prone to look with contempt upon
the language and the queer customs and memories of his parents.
He hears the terms of derision which we apply to foreigners and
greenhorns. Even in school he may learn that everything that
is not American is inferior, and he sees this inferiority exemplified in mine workers and factory hands who want to exercise a
parental authority over him. He is ready to gain his way wilfully
—maybe with a justifying reference to "American customs''—
and when the father tries to enforce obedience in a way which
is actually un-American, their relationship may be past remedy.
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F//£ SYRIAN WORLD
Every teacher, social worker, and discriminating law officer knows
how much youthful wrong-doing can be traced to homes which
have been broken up by such cultural dualism.
If Americanization is too rapid it may be as bad as though
it were too slow. Externals of American life are easily assimilated but it is difficult for an individual to establish his own
standards in the stream of American migrations, occupational
changes, social contrasts and shifting groups. With no fixed
habits of conduct young people are apt to assimilate what James
Truslow Adams calls our lawless heritage.
It is mostly for the sake of their children that immigrant
fathers and mothers go to evening school. They are anxious
to keep up with their sons and daughters and to make themselves understood in a common language. Often by teaching
English to parents our evening schools have helped them to keep
their homes together and to check the early delinquency of their
children. Yet a knowledge of English can not be a remedy for
all cases. The first immigrant generation, no matter how willing
it may be, cannot meet the second on the fetter's terms alone.
Few immigrants can assimilate the life of America so rapidly as
to be able to cope with the influence of our "lawless heritage"
on their children. If a too rapid disintegration of our ethnic
groups with their traditional standards of behavior is to be prevented, the parents must be met by the children half-way.
The task of bringing the second generation nearer to the
traditions and ideals of the first cannot be accomplished by the
individual father or mother. How many of us can effectively
interpret the culture in which we live? There is a task for each
immigrant group as a whole acting through its organized bodies.
Unlike the immigrant "colony" which is an expression of the
newcomer's strangeness in America, the fraternal, social and educational organizations which have been established by various
groups, represent their conscious effort to adjust themselves to
Amercian conditions. More or less effectively the old country
language, culture and associations are reconciled with and brought
into touch with the new life in America. An effort by these organizations to reach out after the younger American-born generation is only a recent development. It is dictated only in part
by the wish to increase membership. There is always
current feeling that the organizations should take care
members' children and bridge the gap between the. tw<
ations.
; f
�MARCH, 1929
»]
17
If they can do it, these foreign language organizations deserve our encouragement and cooperation. There is no danger
of perpetuating a foreign language or loyalty even among the
American born. Each organization which bids for the interest
of its members' sons and daughters, starts by introducing the
English language in its publications and lodges; it is the only
language in which the second generation can express itself freely.
As additional inducement activities and devices are adopted which
will attract American born children, and, as a sanction in their
eyes, the cooperation of American schools and agencies is looked
for. Instead of falling back into alienism, the children will bring
their parents further within the influence of American life.
They never can have the same interest that the first generation
has in politics abroad or journeys to the mother country. But
they will be willing recipients of a historical tradition, art and literature in which they can take pride among and as Americans.
Italian or Spanish, Slav or Scandinavian books will teach them
that it took all sorts of "wops" and "bohunks" to make the
world's civilization and that the language and the culture of the
old folks may be worth getting acquainted with. If the organization brings to the younger generation an understanding of another civilization and of folkways and traditions of other peoples and inspires in them a respect for their own parents, a benefit will accrue to everybody concerned. As between a "native"
neighborhood gang and commercial amusements, on the one side,
and a "foreign" club room with American parties, sports and contests, some old country music, song and dance and a "parental
blessing" on the other, the choice should not be difficult.
Three basic truths must not be forgotten: that crime has
always been a problem chiefly of youth; that while there is no
single cause for delinquency, the conflict or inadequacies at home
lie nearly always at the bottom of it; and that the conflict in
immigrant homes is a conflict not only of generations but of culIt is not inevitable. Many of us have traveled abroad,
led a foreign language and have acquired another culcoming nearer to prison gates. Why should the
generation be burdened only with the conflict
to which it is the natural heir? It would
sion is to reconcile them and to interpret
life the valuable elements of all the
its of the "second generation" have
rid.
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Every teacher, social worker, and discriminating law officer knows
how much youthful wrong-doing can be traced to homes which
have been broken up by such cultural dualism.
If Americanization is too rapid it may be as bad as though
it were too slow. Externals of American life are easily assimilated but it is difficult for an individual to establish his own
standards in the stream of American migrations, occupational
changes, social contrasts and shifting groups. With no fixed
habits of conduct young people are apt to assimilate what James
Truslow Adams calls our lawless heritage.
It is mostly for the sake of their children that immigrant
fathers and mothers go to evening school. They are anxious
to keep up with their sons and daughters and to make themselves understood in a common language. Often by teaching
English to parents our evening schools have helped them to keep
their homes together and to check the early delinquency of their
children. Yet a knowledge of English can not be a remedy for
all cases. The first immigrant generation, no matter how willing
it may be, cannot meet the second on the latter's terms alone.
Few immigrants can assimilate the life of America so rapidly as
to be able to cope with the influence of our "lawless heritage"
on their children. If a too rapid disintegration of our ethnic
groups with their traditional standards of behavior is to be prevented, the parents must be met by the children half-way.
The task of bringing the second generation nearer to the
traditions and ideals of the first cannot be accomplished by the
individual father or mother. How many of us can effectively
interpret the culture in which we live? There is a task for each
immigrant group as a whole acting through its organized bodies.
Unlike the immigrant "colony" which is an expression of the
newcomer's strangeness in America, the fraternal, social and educational organizations which have been established by various
groups, represent their conscious effort to adjust themselves to
Amercian conditions. More or less effectively the old country
language, culture and associations are reconciled with and brought
into touch with the new life in America. An effort by these organizations to reach out after the younger American-born generation is only a recent development. It is dictated only in part
by the wish to increase membership. There is always the recurrent feeling that the organizations should take care of their
members' children and bridge the gap between the two generations.
�imwMinw,
MARCH, 1929
I
i
V
17
If they can do it, these foreign language organizations deserve our encouragement and cooperation. There is no danger
of perpetuating a foreign language or loyalty even among the
American born. Each organization which bids for the interest
of its members' sons and daughters, starts by introducing the
English language in its publications and lodges3 it is the only
language in which the second generation can express itself freely.
As additional inducement activities and devices are adopted which
will attract American born children, and, as a sanction in their
eyes, the cooperation of American schools and agencies is looked
for. Instead of falling back into alienism, the children will bring
their parents further within the influence of American life.
They never can have the same interest that the first generation
has in politics abroad or journeys to the mother country. But
they will be willing recipients of a historical tradition, art and literature in which they can take pride among and as Americans.
Italian or Spanish, Slav or Scandinavian books will teach them
that it took all sorts of "wops" and "bohunks" to make the
world's civilization and that the language and the culture of the
old folks may be worth getting acquainted with. If the organization brings to the younger generation an understanding of another civilization and of folkways and traditions of other peoples and inspires in them a respect for their own parents, a benefit will accrue to everybody concerned. As between a "native"
neighborhood gang and commercial amusements, on the one side,
and a "foreign" club room with American parties, sports and contests^ some old country music, song and dance and a "parental
blessing" on the other, the choice should not be difficult.
Three basic truths must not be forgotten: that crime has
always been a problem chiefly of youth; that while there is no
single cause for delinquency, the conflict or inadequacies at home
lie nearly always at the bottom of it; and that the conflict in
immigrant homes is a conflict not only of generations but of cultures. It is not inevitable. Many of us have traveled abroad,
have learned a foreign language and have acquired another culture without coming nearer to prison gates. Why should the
second immigrant generation be burdened only with the conflict
of the two cultures to which it is the natural heir? It would
seem that its natural mission is to reconcile them and to interpret
and contribute to American life the valuable elements of all the
rultures from which the parents of the "second generation" haTre
come, which is all the world.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
18
Eastern Religions in the West
Extracts from the address delivered at the luncheon of the
Daughters of the United Maronites* Society at the Hotel St.
George in Brooklyn, February 10, 1929.
By
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
A preceding speaker referred to the fact that the Feast day
of St. Maron, the patron saint of the Maronites, falls in the same
month as those of Lincoln and Washington. Let me remind you
that this in itself is no indication of greatness. Greatness is in the
work which endures—in the character of the service that is so
essential, so noble, that it is carried on from one generation to another with as much conviction and enthusiasm as when it was first
performed by the author himself.
NoW here you are in the United States celebrating the feast
day of a saint who has given his name to a valiant people and
whose work has endured for many centuries long before the discovery of America. There must be something of genuine value
and worth in the teachings and the services of this religious
teacher that they have endured so long. Owing to this very fact
you who are now honoring his memory should be proud that you
are carrying on a work and keeping alive a tradition which has
withstood the ravages of centuries. This is a privilege and a distinction of which you should be especially conscious.
But you are now facing a situation unlike that which obtained
during all the centuries since St. Maron was establishing his work.
You are now in a new country and encountering new conditions
which require unshaken determination to carry on the work preserved by your forefathers. You find that your services and rituals are unlike those practised by your neighbors and might at
first waver then decide to break the ties which bind you to the
past. In this I would like to issue to you a warning—I would
loath to see you lose a valuable heritage and a precious legacy o£
which you are now the custodians. Religion is not a style that
could be subject to the vagaries of fancy. Religion is a principle
and a creed whose test of worth is in its endurance. It would be
a great pity indeed if merely with the change of fcolitica] allegiance you would be prompted to a change of religious rituals.
MHMitWWW
�MARCH, 1929
19
This could not be construed as an indication of progress since it
would not entail a repudiation of creed or change in fundamental
dogma, but merely a superficial transition from one form of ritual
to another.
I wish here to remind you of some historical facts over which
you may reflect and ponder. The Maronites profess the Catholic
faith. They are as much Catholics as the American, Italian,
French or any other Catholics anywhere in the world. The fact
that they practice a different form of ritual does not alter in the
least the fundamental character of their creed. They shou1''
rather, feel proud of the distinctive merits of this ritual. It is
conducted in the very language supposed to have been spoken by
Christ Himself. Aramaic, the spoken language of Syria and Palestine during the time of Christ, is a bosom sister of the Syriac.
They, together with the Hebrew, Chaldean and Arabic, form the
Semitic group. That the rituals of the Maronites' services are
conducted in Syriac should be a distinction and an honor of which
the Maronites should feel proud.
We see the Latin language used in Catholic rituals and we
'ook upon the fact as a matter of course. Now let us see how
Latin came to be used as the ritual language of the Catholic
church.
At the time of Christ Rome was the capital of the Roman
Empire, of which Syria was a vassal state. St. Peter, head of the
/
Apostles, came to Rome to establish Christianity as the state re'i ligion of the Roman Empire. Latin, the spoken language of the
state, was adopted for the rituals because it was the language commonly spoken and understood. Hence we discover that the language of the ritual is but an expediency. Latin has now become
unintelligible even to the descendants of the Romans. Still we
find it used in the ritual out of respect for ancient tradition. This
tradition seems to have been sanctified by constant and uninterrupted usage. Now one is prompted to ask: If the question is o-1
one of tradition, why shouldn't we adhere to the tradition that is
more substantially based on fact than of expediency?
Regardless of the fact that the Maronite ritual is conducted
in the language suppose^ to have been spoken by Christ, its hoary
age and its hallowed traditions should make it worthy of perpetuation for the particular purpose for which it is being used. In
this respect it is of a class with the ritual language of the Greek
Orthodox and the-Melchite Catholic churches. They should all
be preserved as a matter of racial pride and as indication of tenac-
�20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ity in religious principles. To renounce them would be to break
the most sacred ties that bind us to our ancient and honorable
history.
With the present generation this precious heritage seems to
be safe, but the concern is for the future and it rests upon the coming generations to insure the continuity of the work that has so
far endured for nearly sixteen centuries. Those of the younger
generation who are here today celebrating the day of the patron
saint of their parents should be congratulated upon their sense
of appreciation of a noble and worthy heritage. It is to be hoped
that they will imbue coming generations with this same sense of
obligation towards a sacred cause, to the end that this noble heritage which has come down to them through the ages will endure
to the lasting glory of a valiant race and a most worthy saint and
reformer.
Snowdrops
By
PAUL DEAB
jyjY love sleeps deep in a snowdrop's heart,
That grows on a gaping mountainside,
By the banks of streams that leap and dart—
Dazzling and ruffling that mountainside.
The snowdrop bides in a paradise
Of carrolling birds and sighing pines j
Of velvety shades and saphire skies;
Love's symphony—those sighing pines.
My love now lies in eternal sleep $
For the snowdrop did weary of earth.
Both secret treasures are buried deep}
Loved and cherished by wearying earth.
But love is no vagrant gypsy elf
Frollicking here and then out of sight.
Its roots, deep as the snowdrop's itself,
Shall live forever in thy heart and sight.
• WL
J
«(/
�—
21
MARCH, 1929
A Day in Abu-Hamed
By
DR. NEJIB
A.
KATIBAH
was late in 1897. The Dervishes had been routed at AbuF.Hamed
in August, and Kitchener Pasha had already pushed
y
his troops farther south toward Berber. All was excitement and
activity at Wady Haifa, then the headquarters of the Sudan
Military Railway. Two construction trains had to be loaded
and dispatched to railhead daily, in order to keep the terminus
within easy reach of the advancing army, so as to prevent catastrophe in case of unexpected reverses, and to facilitate the transport of ammunition, supplies and reinforcements whenever necessary. With the carrying capacity of that single-track narrowgauge line taxed to the extreme, it was impossible to furnish comfortable passenger accommodations. In fact this was reduced,
in many instances, to spare space in the "brake-van," or to a
returned empty "animal-truck," in the case of officers and civilians,
the troops shifting as best they could on top of sleepers and rails.
It was in one of those springless brake-vans that, one day,
I found myself traveling, in obedience to orders detailing me for
temporary duty at Abu-Hamed. It was, therefore, not without a
sigh of relief that I did limp out from my irksome place, as soon
as the stout little English engine came to a stop at railhead, now
in the midst of the Nubian Desert. "Surely," I said to myself,
"they will furnish me with less wearisome conveyance for the rest
of my journey." But alas! In this I was doomed to be keenly
disappointed; for, from railhead to Abu-Hamed—a distance of
about 100 miles—I was made to experience what it was to be
churned into—not butter—but a mass of aching muscles and
bruised bones. This process was brought about by a Sudanese
camel and a Sudanese camel-saddle, minus the makhloofa, the
usual riding fur. Ah well! I do not wish to dwell long upon this
part of my experience, as the memory of it creates within me a
sense of extreme tension and discomfort.
There is, however, one thing in this journey, over which my
memory loves to hover. It is the desert. There is a peculiar
charm in that golden yellow sheet of sand spreading out in gentle
undulations all around you. It is the charm of feeling, somehow,
greater than you had been hitherto. You feel that you have a
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
personality, and that that personality gradually expands seeking
to fill the vast expanse around you, or perhaps to come in touch,
to commune, with the universal personality that permeates all
space. A feeling of reverence overpowers you. Unconsciously
you become—you feel you are—a Moses, a prophet and a leader,
free, noble, indomitable and full of holy zeal. On one occasion
I was exceptionally impressed as my eye rest fully followed the
successive waves of sand until they kissed the azured sky in the
distant horizon, describing a clearly denned line against the "welkin's cheek." It was early in the morning, and the east blazed
with blending hues of purple, orange, yellow, pink and red, which
my Arab guide appropriately termed "Allah's radiating glory."
And then all was still—nature was worshipfully silentj and, as
it were in obedience to the natural promptings of the heart, my
only companion, the Arab, fell on his knees, looked up to heaven,
then prostrated himself in befitting adoration.
Such, however, were not my thoughts as I neared AbuHamed. I was then musing over war and its horrors. I had
previously witnessed an action, and visited the battlefield an hour
later. It was sickening. The suffering, the agony, the anguish
of the human soul as it violently leaves its earthly abode, without
a word of sympathy or term of endearment, away from home
and friends, and sullen with deep longing for a last look from
that eye that once beamed warmth, devotion and love, was a
sight at once repellant and heartrending. Such were the thoughts
that arose in me as the tall date trees, fringing the Nile, broke \
upon my view in the distance, and reminded me of the struggle
to death between man and man that had taken place there a few
months before. Yes, I expected to arrive in a village laid waste
and desolate by war, with nothing therein to greet the eye save
wounded and disabled men, or no men at all, orphaned children,
and disconsolate wives.
What was my astonishment, therefore, to find that this was
not the case. I found that if, indeed, the people had suffered,
their suffering must have been slight; or, perhaps, owing to the
childish nature of the Sudanese, upon whose memory fortunes
and misfortunes make no lasting impression, the natives had buried their sorrows along with the dead, and, for the time being,
given themselves up to merrymaking. The hubbub of voices,
mixed with the loud and measured beating of drums, filled the
air for miles, and reached my ear long before I arrived at my
destination. As I drew nearer, the noise grew louder but more
i
�MARCH, 1929
J
23
distinct. Finally I alighted in the midst of the rejoicing blacks.
My first observation was that the crowd was divided into as many
groups as there were drums, each drum being the center of a
circle, and each circle making a strenuous effort to out-drum, so
to speak, and to out-sing the other circles.
The Sudanese will not have to have a cause for frolicking.
The whim.suddenly strikes someone to sing, someone else hears
him and runs to his side, others soon join, and the contagion
spreads like wild fire. The drum-beaters come out. Each one
of these worthies is usually affiliated to a staff of volunteer experts, composed generally of a "master-minstrel," a responding
chorus, a few noted dancers, and various odd seconds and sympathizers. The drummer, being attracted by the noise, selects
a spot of vantage near it, and beats away at his drum; his supporters congregate around him, and by their combined effort
attract a crowd.
In this instance, however, there was occasion for the hilarious gathering. A buxom Sudanese lass had been receiving attention from two young men at the same time; and as it was
not within her power to reject either, and naturally impossible
for her to espouse both, the rivals determined to fight it out—
the usual recourse in those climes when Eros is thwarted. The
drummers were promptly advised, hence the gathering and the
noise. The time for the duel not having come yet, the various
circles were still intact, wholly absorbed in their noisy songs
any naive dances, and ostentatiously displaying their vigor, skill
and taste to the admiring spectators. One circle after another
could be seen to thin down to the modest number of its performers, and again swell to exaggerated proportions, as the spectators were attracted by uproarious flourishes, now here, now
there, by the emulating "artists.." At times the competition grew
so keen that the specators themselves were carried away by enthusiasm, and frantically yelled and clapped and hopped in
unison.
There was dancing in every circle, the man usually holding
the woman around the waist in European fashion and dancing
in regular steps to the measured beats of the drum. Some of
their dances seemed to require practice, but, on the whole, the
movements were too violent and the steps too grotesque to suit
our taste.
However harshly we may express our opinion about his
other dances, the Sudanese seems to grin indifferently; but he
�__
EggS
24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
does not do so when we happen to speak lightly of the Shubbal
dance—the goal of every young woman's ambition in that land.
The supple Shubbal dancer is the graceful ballet artist of AngloEgyptian Sudan. She is always sure of large and appreciating
audiences. Lightly she steps into the enclosure, and at once
throws her chest forward and upward, and imitates, with wonderful accuracy, both the movements and the cooing of the male
pigeon a-courting. She puts her feet closely together and takes
the smallest steps possible, thus making but little progress as she
makes her round. She, however, manages to complete the circle,
notwithstanding the prolonged stops she makes in front of the
men to whom she intends "giving the Shubbal." During these
stops she gradually exaggerates the forward and upward upheaval of the.chest, bending backwards, until she makes a sharp
curve of her body, her head hanging within a few inches from
the ground. At this, the man steps forward, gently stoops over
her, passes his hand under her loins, snaps his fingers in a peculiar fashion over her face, and shouts "Hababik ashara, hababik
ashara!" (you are ten-fold welcome), then deposits a coin upon
her forehead, which she will retain if she manages to keep in the
same position so long as she remains thus arched. On resuming
the natural erect posture, supported by the man's arm, she
makes a side sweep with her figure, and'gently brushes his face
with her short braids, thus bestowing upon him the highest public
favor within her power. This means as much as a kiss, and is
termed "giving the Shubbal," after which the dance is named—
the word Shubbal meaning a suit of hair.
V
Some of their songs struck me as being politically unwise,
to say the least. The expedition for the reconquest of Sudan was
virtually an expedition for the destruction of the rule of fire and
sword created by the Mahdi. And it was only recently that these
folk had witnessed the superiority of regular troops to the disorderly hordes of the Khalifa. The breaches made by the cannon balls in the walls of their mud huts had not been repaired
yet, and should have stared their dull brains to reflection. Yet
there stood those negroes, who had come out much the worse for
wear and tear of Dervish misrule, singing the praises of the very
impostor at whose door they should have laid their miseries.
Here are some of those songs with literal translation:
W'el Mahdi ya khulla,
D'an nawwar el hulla,
th
su
tu
wi
to
m
th
fo
Y
'C
n
E
�MARCH, 1929
25
Darab el medir zallaj
Gumu b'il ajal d'al Mahdi d'az zahar!
The Mahdi, friends,
It is he who has illumined the camp,
The sword of victory he has drawn;
Arise quickly—it is the Mahdi who has appeared!
Another:
El Mahdi nuru tibbi!
W'il nima jabik rabbi!
B'ul Kasim balabbi.
El Mahdi, his light is medicinal!
O the grace my Lord has brought thee!
It is B'ul Kasim's (call) that I answer.
(B'ul Kasim is one of the names of the Mahdi whose
full name reads: Mohammad Ahmad Abu'l Kasim El
Mahdi.)
Another stanza of the same:
El Mahdi nur ainaiya,
Kharab el dawla el misriya!
B'ul Kasim zukhriya.
The Mahdi is the light of my eyes,
He has destroyed the Egyptian government!
B'ul Kasim is my treasure.
The nature of these songs spoke plainly of their origin and
their date, and at first I was at a loss to explain why they were
sung in such an incongruous connection, and at such an inopportune time. Of course wide margin should be allowed for their
wild enthusiasm, under the influence of which they were likely
to say what they never meant. In confirmation of this I should
mention that the very singer (not a drinking man) leading in
the first song quoted above, was, soon after, the soloist in the
following:
Ya teir in masheit sallim ala Amara,
'O kul lihum el balad 'tsallamuha el Baggaraj
W'il bint el min gubeil b'il baham tiddara
El yom wityet el mallala.
�26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
O bird, if thou goest, give greetings to Amara,*
And tell them that the town is captured by the Baggara;**
And the girl who formerly took shelter from the moon's rays,
Today steps barefooted on the hot sand.
i
This will be enough to show that they sang at random, giving
no thought to the meaning.
But apart from all that, drunkenness was a great factor in
this confusion.
The Sudanese, both men and women, have a strong appetite
for intoxicants, and, like monkeys, take to them naturally. Every
Sudanese family brews its own beer under the name of Merissa.
It is "dhurra" (a kind of maize), soaked in water long enough
to be mashed by hand, then left undisturbed to ferment. Merissa is a repulsive-looking drink, thick and muddy, but to all
appearances, its effect is quite equal to that of beverages more
tempting to the eye.
On occasions like this, Merissa is procurable from any dame
who seizes upon the opportunity- of making a few pennies by converting her hut into a temporary tavern. She advertises this by
hoisting a rag, plain or red, at her door. There the men (and
occasionally women) resort, squat in a circle on the bare ground,
and help themselves to repeated and deep quaffs from a wooden
bowl—the Sudanese stein—that the woman fills and refills and
passes around.
The time for the duel having come, its announcement was \
followed by a general scramble for the first line, the sitting row,
in the duel circle. The rivals had already taken their places in
the enclosure and proceeded to bare their chests and backs. Soon
they were ready and stood with folded arms, proudly and defiantly
facing each other. They carried no weapons. The commotion
arising from the rush for places soon subsided and eventually
ceased.
Suddenly someone uttejed a loud shout, and tossed a whip
into the circle, which fell between the motionless rivals. It was
a monstrous article. The handle, which was beautifully and artistically covered over with interwoven strips of variously dyed
leather, was a little over one foot in length, of medium weight
and of exceptional strength. The lash which was slightly over four
* Amara is a village on the Nile, north of Dongola.
** Baggara (herdsmen, cattle breeders) is the aristocratic tribe of the
Dervishes, from whom the Mahdi sprung.
\1
V,
�MARCH, 1929
ays,
\
27
feet in length and moderately flexible, was made of tough rhinocerous hide, emerging thick from the handle and tapering to a
free but weighted extremity.
"Begin first, Idris," shouted one of the spectators.
"No, no, you go first, Fanoos," replied another.
At this one of the girls sang a verse in praise of Idris, which
was promptly answered by another in behalf of Fanoos. This
broke the ice, and a flood of panegyric flowed from all quarters,
here in eulogy of one, there of another, until it was impossible
to distinguish either words or tunes. In the meantime each rival
invited his opponent to pick up the whip, and each in turn turned
away from it, haughtily pointing to his back.
Finally an elderly man, apparently of some authority, cast
lots, and Fanoos was handed the whip. Idris, with perfect composure and apparent indifference—nay, with a faint smile on
his lips—leaped into the center of the circle, folded his arms,
balanced himself firmly on his feet, and looked fixedly at his
rival's face. Forthwith the duel began.
The duel is a test of endurance, of fortitude, of stoicism.
Whilst being flogged by his opponent, the man must remain motionless and insensible. He must not flinch or wince; an involuntary shrug, an unintentional twitch, a slight betrayal of feeling on
his part, will be sufficient to constitute defeat. Each adversary
in turn takes the hateful whip in hand, walks, leaps, and jumps
around his silent opponent, swings his arms at full length, and
works his whip ready for the cut; and when all are silent with
exquisite expectation, and the poor devil has strained his nerves
to their highest tension in anticipation of the blow—all is brought
to naught by the sudden walking away of the man with the whip.
He, however, soon recoils and seeks again to quell his victim^
spirit by resuming his hellish work. He jumps exultingly in the
air, flourishes his whip and fiercely bites his lip to nurse his ire;
now he lands to the right, now to the left of his man; now he
gives a terrible cry behind his back, now he steals, cat-like, upon
him; here he whips the air to display his skill, and there he flogs
the ground to show how deep he cuts the sand; and through it
all his piercing eye remains rivited upon his prey. He studies
to defeat his rival, not only by the might of his arm and the exercise of skill in managing the whip, but also by wearing out his
mettle and never dealing the blow when most expected. The
whole sight is repulsive and savage, and this feature of it is the
most inhuman of all. The cruelty of the spectacle can be appre-
�26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
O bird, if thou goest, give greetings to Amara,*
And tell them that the town is captured by the Baggaraj**
And the girl who formerly took shelter from the moon's rays,
Today steps barefooted on the hot sand.
This will be enough to show that they sang at random, giving
no thought to the meaning.
But apart from all that, drunkenness was a great factor in
this confusion.
The Sudanese, both men and women, have a strong appetite
for intoxicants, and, like monkeys, take to them naturally. Every
Sudanese family brews its own beer under the name of Merissa.
It is "dhurra" (a kind of maize), soaked in water long enough
to be mashed by hand, then left undisturbed to ferment. Merissa is a repulsive-looking drink, thick and muddy, but to all
appearances, its effect is quite equal to that of beverages more
tempting to the eye.
On occasions like this, Merissa is procurable from any dame
who seizes upon the opportunity of making a few pennies by converting her hut into a temporary tavern. She advertises this by
hoisting a rag, plain or red, at her door. There the men (and
occasionally women) resort, squat in a circle on the bare ground,
and help themselves to repeated and deep quaffs from a wooden
bowl—the Sudanese stein—that the woman fills and refills and
passes around.
The time for the duel having come, its announcement was
followed by a general scramble for the first line, the sitting row,
in the duel circle. The rivals had already taken their places in
the enclosure and proceeded to bare their chests and backs. Soon
they were ready and stood with folded arms, proudly and defiantly
facing each other. They carried no weapons. The commotion
arising from the rush for places soon subsided and eventually
ceased.
Suddenly someone uttejed a loud shout, and tossed a whip
into the circle, which fell between the motionless rivals. It was
a monstrous article. The handle, which was beautifully and artistically covered over with interwoven strips of variously dyed
leather, was a little over one foot in length, of medium weight
and of exceptional strength. The lash which was slightly over four
* Amara is a village on the Nile, north of Dongola.
** Baggara (herdsmen, cattle breeders) is the aristocratic tribe of the
Dervishes, from whom the Mahdi sprung.
�LD
yhip
was
f the
**
MARCH, 1929
27
feet in length and moderately flexible, was made of tough rhinocerous hide, emerging thick from the handle and tapering to a
free but weighted extremity.
"Begin first, Idris," shouted one of the spectators.
"No, no, you go first, Fanoos," replied another.
At this one of the girls sang a verse in praise of Idris, which
was promptly answered by another in behalf of Fanoos. This
broke the ice, and a flood of panegyric flowed from all quarters,
here in eulogy of one, there of another, until it was impossible
to distinguish either words or tunes. In the meantime each rival
invited his opponent to pick up the whip, and each in turn turned
away from it, haughtily pointing to his back.
Finally an elderly man, apparently of some authority, cast
lots, and Fanoos was handed the whip. Idris, with perfect composure and apparent indifference—nay, with a faint smile on
his lips—leaped into the center of the circle, folded his arms,
balanced himself firmly on his feet, and looked fixedly at his
rival's face. Forthwith the duel began.
The duel is a test of endurance, of fortitude, of stoicism.
Whilst being flogged by his opponent, the man must remain motionless and insensible. He must not flinch or wince; an involuntary shrug, an unintentional twitch, a slight betrayal of feeling on
his part, will be sufficient to constitute defeat. Each adversary
in turn takes the hateful whip in hand, walks, leaps, and jumps
around his silent opponent, swings his arms at full length, and
works his whip ready for the cut; and when all are silent with
exquisite expectation, and the poor devil has strained his nerves
to their highest tension in anticipation of the blow—all is brought
to naught by the sudden walking away of the man with the whip.
He, however, soon recoils and seeks again to quell his victim's
spirit by resuming his hellish work. He jumps exultingly in the
air, flourishes his whip and fiercely bites his lip to nurse his ire;
now he lands to the right, now to the left of his man; now he
gives a terrible cry behind his back, now he steals, cat-like, upon
him; here he whips the air to display his skill, and there he flogs
the ground to show how deep he cuts the sand; and through it
all his piercing eye remains rivited upon his prey. He studies
to defeat his rival, not only by the might of his arm and the exercise of skill in managing the whip, but also by wearing out his
mettle and never dealing the blow when most expected. The
whole sight is repulsive and savage, and this feature of it is the
most inhuman of all. The cruelty of the spectacle can be appre-
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
28
dated only when one sees that every time the whip falls, it inflicts a deep gash from which the blood quickly trickles.
But it is the supreme delight of many a Sudanese to hear
some admiring girl sing out his praise and pour out her love to
him in verse, the louder, the deeper cuts the lash into his flesh.
How often have I seen them bare their backs to each other and
exhibit the scars in proof of their superior "manliness." In fact,
some of them become so enthused over the scene between the
rivals that they jump into the circle and brave the whipper to
make them flinch. To this end they provoke him, calling him
"sissy-armed," "a mere woman," "a feeble stripling," and the
like. These are generally friends of the victim, and probably
do this to afford him a moment's relaxation, as well as to focus
attention upon themselves.
And at last, when one of the two is defeated—when he
shows he is more normally human than his fellow—he walks
away crestfallen, or sinks down to be carried away by his friends.
He never again shows his face in that community, but betakes
him to some distant land, where ridicule and satire, sung in commemoration of his "unmanliness," never reach his ear.
Two verses of such a song are the following:
Ya ammati Hawwa,
_
Ma jibti 'wleid..
Ya ammati Hawwa,
Ma jibti 'wlied;
Y'al fanjari daggo kidi rakasan suleib!
O Aunt Eve,
Thou hast not begotten a man child.
O Aunt Eve,
Thou hast not begotten a man child;
The worthless fellow! When they struck him his backbone
danced!
Ya ammati Hawwa,
Kharji Allah,
Ya ammati Hawwa,
.... Kharji Allah,
Y'al fanjari daggo kidi agio 'nsalla!
O Aunt Eve,
Allah be my help,
PHMI
m
�29
MARCH, 1929
O Aunt Eve,
Allah be my help;
The worthless fellow! When they struck him his mind slipped
out!
Verses to My Daughters
Translated from the Arabic by J. D.
CARLYLE
WITH jocund heart and cheerful brow,
I used to hail the festal morn—
How must Mohammed greet it now?—
A prisoner helpless and forlorn.
While these dear maids in beauty's bloom,
With want opprest, with rags o'erspread,
By sordid labors at the loom
Must earn a poor, precarious bread.
Those feet that never touch'd the ground,
Till musk or camphor strew'd the way,
Now bare and swoll'n with many a wound,
Must struggle thro' the miry clay.
Those radiant cheeks are veil'd in woe,
A shower descends from every eye,
And not a starting tear can flow,
That wakes not an attending sigh.
Fortune, that whilom own'd my sway,
And bow'd obsequious to my nod,
Now sees me destin'd to obey,
And bend beneath oppression's rod.
Ye mortals with success elate,
Who bask in hope's delusive beam,
Attentive view Mohammed's fate,
And own that bliss is but a dream.
�3G
i MA
THE SYRIAN WORLD
nor
by t
geli
Discovering the Syrians
By JAMES MYERS
Industrial Secretary, Commission on the Church and Social
Service of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ
in America.
(Editor's Note — This article is appearing in the followiing publications. The Baptist, The Churchman, The Christian Leader, The Evangelical Herald and Zion's Herald. It is to be included in a book by the
author which is to be published next fall under the title of "Churches in
Social action.")
JT was with unusual anticipation that I followed the man with the
gray megaphone on a trip to Little Syria and later to radical
headquarters. The man with the megaphone was the Reverend
Clarence V. Howell, an ordained Methodist minister, who has
pioneered in the development of Reconciliation Trips in cooperation with Dr. George B. Dean, Secretary of the Department of
Evangelism of the Methodist Episcopal Church, working through
the New York City Society of that denomination.
When I joined the group it had already reached the Syrian
quarter on old Washington Street, one block back from the river
front in lower New York. We went from shop to shop, viewing
the distinctive arts and crafts of the Syrians, the pottery and
earthen vessels of the east, the hammered brass, the Oriental
rugs, the embroidery and fine linens, the beatiful furniture: tables,
chairs and desks all inlaid with ivory and pearl in intricate designs.
The personnel of the trip was a study in itself. They were
college students from the graduate schools, for the most part,
with a few professors, a minister or two, and some social workers.
The students included a Negro, a Chinese, a Japanese, a Frenchwoman, and a German, as well as Americans and others. There
were Jews, Protestants and Catholics. We were about as interesting to each other and to the Syrians as they were to us. "Oh,
look at the Chinese lady," said a little Syrian girl as we passed.
"They're slumming," said another, and "He's drunk," remarked
a little boy of the Reverend Mr. Howell' as he waved his megaphone at the head of the group. But we were not slumming,
i!f
I
l
�MARCH, 1929
31
nor was our leader filled with new wine—a familiar accusation,
by the way, of those other disciples under the spell of a new evangelism in the past.
Mr. Howell led us to "The Sheik," a Syrian restaurant
where a luncheon of native dishes was set before us. There were
i two menus, one printed in English, the other in Arabic. Mr.
Howell came to each table and explained what we were eating!
1 The menu included stuffed grape leaves, squash dried in Syria
and sent over; rice, okra, and lamb roasted on a spit. Thoughts
of an ancient civilization and religious sentiment entered in as
we were told that the large, thin "loaves" of Syrian bread before
us were undoubtedly identical in form and substance with those
broken by Jesus long ago by the shores of Galilee. For dessert
we had biklawa, a Syrian confection made up of pastry, nuts,
fruits, and honey, followed by Turkish coffee.
Mr. S. A. Mokarzel, editor of the Syrian World, then addressed us. He alluded to the ancient culture of his people. He
recalled the contributions of their forefathers, the Phoenicians,
to civilization, including the art of navigation and the invention
of the alphabet. He spoke of the hospitality of the east and assured us that this trait had been brought to America by his people,
in whose name he extended to us a most gracious welcome.
He explained that the Syrians have immigrated only within
the last fifty years. They had all been peddlers at first, dealing
largely in religious goods, rosaries inlaid at Bethlehem, carved
wood from the Mount of Olives. The Syrians have prospered
greatly. They are no longer peddlers. Each has his store and
the line of goods which they carry has greatly widened in scope.
Their more prosperous stores have moved uptown and now occupy sites on Fifth Avenue and the side streets. They do a worldwide trade in laces and rugs. Single houses now have their own
factories in China, Japan, Italy, France, Belgium, as well as in
Syria. For the opportunity of economic prosperity, the speaker
said, his people are deeply grateful to America.
Mr. Mokarzel brought out the fact that the Syrians are a
most law-abiding element in the population and are seldom found
in the courts or jails. The filial respect and devotion of the Syrian
home is the ultimate reason for their good citizenship. These
Syrian domestic traditions are maintained in this country, although
their homes are subjected to serious strain from the prevailing
American environment and ideas. He spoke of recent contributions to art and literature by Americans of Syrian birth. "America
I
V
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
has developed in intellect and material things," he said, <cbut has
not yet refined its palate." He pointed to the careful combinations and subtle flavors of Syrian dishes and the sweets, famous
from the time of the Arabian Nights, as indications of an ancient
culture and one of the Syrian contributions to American life.
The question period which always follows an address on a
Reconciliation Trip brought a query from the group in regard
to the language of Syria, which Mr. Mokarzel said has been Arabic since the conquest of the country by the Moslems but was previously Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. Other questions
followed in regard to assimilation and American citizenship, Syrian women, the "younger generation"; did they go to college?
What did the Syrians think of Lawrence? Was the immigration
quota law fair to the Syrians? The friendliness, the fairness, and
the informative nature of the speaker's address and answers to
questions were the climax of our colorful visit to Little Syria. No
one in the group would be likely ever again to think of the Syrians
as despised foreigners. Rather, one felt a strong inclination to
return, as was suggested by Mr. Howell and as many do after
Reconciliation Trips, to visit the shops and restaurants and to cultivate a further and more intimate acquaintance with these interesting people. When one realizes that Reconciliation Trips are
conducted not to Syrians alone, but to Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Italians, Indians, Mexicans, Latin Americans, to Negro
Harlem and to the Jewish Ghetto, to the Stock Exchange, to factories, to regular labor headquarters, and to radical labor groups,
some of which I shall describe, the results are felt to be incalculable. Only in that day when the thoughts of all hearts shall be
made known, will it be possible fully to measure the results of
these human contacts.
Arab Wisdom
For one to leave wealth to his enemies after his death is
better than to be in need of his friends during his lifetime.
Two things give rise to the greatest worry: The loss of a
beloved and the passing of an opportunity.
Little work with knowledge is infinitely better than much
work with ignorance.
Relaxation of mind is as important as the relaxation of body.
a
�D
i
MARCH, 1929
,--
S3
Success of Federation Assured
11
FIVE ADDITIONAL PLEDGES RECEIVED
DURING FEBRUARY
PLEDGES RECEIVED
Syrian Young Men's Society
The Phoenicians
American-Syrian Federation
Syrian Young Men's Society
The Good Citizenship Club.
The Goodfellows Club
Syrian-American Club
Syrian-American Club
Ladies' Syrian Association
United Young Men's Aleppian Club
St. George Young Men's Society
The Phoenician Club
Young Phoenician Society
Ladies' Auxiliary Phoenician Club
Progressive Syrian-American Club
League of Americanized Syrians
Caravaneers Club
St. George's Syrian-American Society
-Los Angeles, Calif.
Jacksonville, Fla.
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Birmingham, Ala.
Birmingham, Ala.
Tyler, Texas
Detroit, Mich.
Cleveland, Ohio.
Spring Valley, 111.
Paterson, N. J.
Canton, Ohio.
Birmingham, Ala.
Lansing, Mich,
Birmingham, Ala.
Oklahoma City, Okla.
f
Oklahoma
Boston, Mass.
Cleveland, Ohio
The number and the tone of responses so far received to our
call for a federation of Syrian societies in the United States indicates that the idea is increasing in favor to a degree which promises ultimate success. Although there had been previous attempts
at such coordination, judging by the several references to this fact
in some of the pledges received, not one, to our knowledge, was
ever launched on such a large scale nor received such nation-wide
response. A perusal of the pledges will immediately reveal the
widespread interest created by our appeal. From as far West as
California, to as far South as Texas, and throughout the other
sections of the Union the spirit of our progressive element has
been aroused to action, and indications are that the movement is
destined to complete success. The cause is admittedly worthy
and our civic consciousness is now being directed in the proper
channels. The example so far set by pledged societies will undoubtedly have its effects in prompting others to take action.
As previously mentioned, final action cannot be deferred,
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
indefinitely. It would, therefore, behoove those who still have
the matter of joining under consideration to ponder the necessity
of an early decision. No single organization need fear the loss
of its individual identity and autonomous prerogative, as the fundamental purpose of the Federation is to bring the scattered units
together in matters of national policy only. This is a fundamental fact upon which the appeal was based and in conformity with
which action has so far been taken.
. Furthermore, organization and purpose, together with the
definition of the status of the different constituent bodies, will be
subjects for decision either by the assembly, if convened, or by
referendum, and in this every constituent member will have a
voice. From this it can readily be seen that the destiny of the
Federation is in the hands of its own members who may shape
it in the manner they find best.
The immediate objective, however, is to get pledges to the
basic idea of the Federation, leaving working plans to be formulated later.
It is with satisfaction that we publish the following additional pledges. Thev mark a substantial increase in the general
list of acceptances. We further trust that they, also, like formerly pledged organizations, will work actively to promote the
movement.
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
WOMEN'S CLUB JOINS MOVEMENT
Editor, The Syrian World:
The Ladies' Auxiliary Phoenician Club of this city heartily
endorses the movement for a national federation of Syrian societies in the United States and wishes to subscribe its unlimited
support towards the success of the undertaking.
For the benefits that are bound to accrue from such a project,
we sincerely wish that it will become a reality in the near future.
Heretofore the activities of this club have been limited to the
Syrians in this city, but through the Federation, in cooperation
with its several constituent bodies, it hopes to extend its field of
activities to include the general welfare of the race.
The Ladies' Auxiliary is a sister organization of the Phoeni-
�MARCH, 1929
35
cian Club, composed of Syrian business and professional men and
women of Birmingham. It was organized in 1916 and is chartered under the laws of the State of Alabama.
The principal object of the Phoenician Club and its Auxiliaryis to develop its members educationally, socially, physically and
morally, and to absorb the ideas and principles of Americanism,
thereby creating worthy, representative citizens. It also supports and strives to advance any undertaking which aims towards
the betterment and progress of the Syrian race.
For your splendid efforts in promoting the Federation Movement, we wish to extend to you our hearty congratulations. Truly
no other medium could better serve this purpose.
LADIES' AUXILIARY PHOENICIAN CLUB.
Mrs. Wm. Meshad, President.
Birmingham, Ala.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA.
JOINING IN PARIS
v r
ect,
i-
<
Editor, The Syrian World:
At a recent meeting of the Progressive Syrian-American
Club of this city, the matter of forming a federation of Syrian
societies in the United States which you are advocating was
brought up for discussion and an expression of commendation
was made by nearly every member present. For your information I beg to state that our club, together with the League of
Americanized Syrians of the eastern part of this state, has discussed the organizing of a federation of Syrian societies of this
state with the hope that the movement would eventually become
a national one. From that you will see that the idea has been
in favor with our club and only goes to show the necessity of forming such an organization for the welfare of our race.
Kindly keep us posted on the progress of this most worthy
movement which we earnestly hope will materialize in the very
near future.
PROGRESSIVE SYRIAN-AMERICAN CLUB.
E. Samara, Secretary.
Oklahoma City, Okla.
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
BOSTON, MASS.
CARAVANEERS ARE ON THE MARCH
Editor, The Syrian World:
It pleases me to let you know that the proposed federation
of Syrian societies in the United States has met with the wholehearted approval of our organization. We gladly pledge our
consent as we are very much interested in the furtherance of this
movement.
II
With every good wish for the success of this patriotic undertaking, and assuring you of our keen willingness to cooperate in
all activities along this line, we are,
Fraternally yours,
CARAVANEERS CLUB OF BOSTON,
Samuel E. Kinhan, Secretary.
Boston, Mass.
CLEVELAND, OHIO
BEAUTIFUL DREAM THAT SHOULD BE REALIZED
Editor, The Syrian World:
I am happy to advise you that the St. George Syrian-American Society of this city has taken under consideration your proposition for federating the Syrian societies in the United States
and decided to subscribe to this most worthy movement in view
of the great benefits it is bound to bring to our race. This is a
most beautiful dream which every true Syrian patriot should
cooperate in bringing to a realization. Our society feels it is its
patriotic duty to respond to the call and hereby pledges its moral
and material support for the success of the undertaking.
I wish to add a word of commendation for the lofty motive
prompting you to this action and pray that your efforts will be
crowned, with the greatest success.
ST. GEORGE SYRIAN-AMERICAN SOCIETY No. 1.
C. Shantery, Secretary.
Cleveland, Ohio.
�37
MARCH, 1929
EDITORIAL COMMENT
TOURS TO SYRIA
AMERICANS are no longer
the;! provincial, self-sufficient
people they were once reputed
to be. Now Americans are the
greatest traveling nation in the
world. American tours are conducted every year not only to
near-by countries of Europe but
to every other country of any
interest. Americans are becoming increasingly interested in
world conditions, and to that
end seek to gain more accurate
knowledge of countries and
peoples by actual contact. This
is proving to be the best medium
for bringing about a better understanding among nations, and
ultimately will develop into a
most potent factor for the elimination of misunderstanding and
the establishment of permanent
peace. It naturally follows
that all efforts to develop
international amity and accord
should be heartily commended
and encouraged.
Aside from its ultimate effect on international understanding and good-will, travel
should be encouraged for its
broad educational value. The
march of human progress cannot be more graphically illustrated than by a survey of the
actual scenes of the outstanding
events in history. One can re-
construct and appreciate as by
no other means the evolutionary
stages through which the world
has gone.
For these considerations, we
believe Syria should be the most
attractive land in the world for
tourists and students of the evolutionary stages of human history. Containing, as it does,
the Holy Land with its Biblical
and Christian associaitons; old
Phoenicia with its remains of ancient cities once the centrifugal
point of knowledge and civilization, and its many other points
of inestimable interest, Syria
should be the land of first choice
on every tourist's itinerary.
Leaving out of consideration
the recreational attractions
found in some cities and resorts
of Europe, where else in the
world could we find within the
confines of a small country like
Syria such an impressive mass
of genuine historical and educational material — Jerusalem,
the city holy to three great religions, is in Syria, as also are
Bethlehem, the birthplace of
Christ j Tyre and Sidon, seats of
the great Phoenician civilization j Damascus, reputed to be
the oldest city in the world;
Baalbek, whose ruins have defied time and remain to this day
one of the wonders of the
world, and many other places
�Si
of similar import?
Not alone to the average
tourist, but especially to American educators and to the young
American generation of Syrian
extraction a visit to the historical
places of Syria should prove of
unusual interest.
Considering the above, and in
furtherance of the educational
purpose of the Syrian World in
bringing to the Syrian-American
generation a better understanding of their historical background, this publication heartily
endorses and approves of the
projected plan of educational
tours to Syria now being actively promoted by Messrs. A.
K. Hitti & Co. As further encouragement, the editor will
conduct in person the first tour
scheduled to begin with this
summer season. We trust our
readers will approve of this step
as marking another milestone in
our career of service along our
chosen line. We further hope
to bring back material of such
vital and varied interest as will
afford them pleasant and profitable reading for a long time
to come.
It is also our purpose to take
photographs of persons and
places in an effort to make the
Syrian World more profusely
and interestingly illustrated
than heretofore. Other plans
for innovations and improvements in the publication will be
announced in due time.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
PRIDE IN ANCESTRY
There is no gainsaying the fact
that America is the most democratic
country in the world. We 'have no
classes and no nobility. The highest
office within the gift of the nation
is within the reach of every man no
matter how humble his birth. The
fathers of the country, in framing
the Constitution, meant it as a document of complete and absolute disfranchisement of all Americans for
all time from all hereditary and distinctive ranks and stations of the old
world.
Nevertheless, there is that latent
desire in human nature which craves
for distinction. Somehow, there are
still many, even in the most democratic of countries, who place the
highest value on social rank and pay
high premiums for the privilege of
its acquisition. Hence an impecunious European prince recoups his lost
fortune by marriage to an American
heiress. An American millionaire
spends fabulous sums in transplanting whole an old European castle.
The art of the old world is being
rapidly transferred to American museums and homes. In architecture,
old style public and private buildings are being copied profusely in
this land in the making, and home
furnishings and decorations have
taken a decidedly "period" style. In
his search for the aesthetic, the modern American seeks to lend the?
charm and the grace of antiquity to
his new surroundings.
In purely American history, it is
subject of the greatest pride to trace
back one's ancestry to the Pilgrim
Fathers. It is of common occurrence
to hear one remark, under the flimsiest pretext, that he is American
in the fifth, sixth or so many more
t '
-'
�_
;
39
' MARCH, 1929
ViV
j£
generations.
One of the most indicative recent
illustrations of pride in ancestry
is the statement by the founder of
a nationally known chain of restaurants at a stockholders' meeting at
which he was ousted from control,
that with him it was a question of
family pride to retain control of
the company. His forebears, he explained, had been pirates as far back
as the thirteenth century and had
won for themselves a coat of arms
which he 'has adopted as a sign of
distinction for his business establishment. His pride in the retention of this family emblem was so
manifest that he seemed to deplore
the loss of control of the business he
founded chiefly on this account.
All of which goes to prove that
there is that subconscious feeling
deeply rooted in human nature which
seeks the distinction of that which
has been hallowed by age and which
cannot be claimed as the common
heritage of all sons of man. Material wealth is within the reach of
all, and in the attainment of it there
is undoubtedly a distinction. But
the nouveau riche abhors to be alluded to as such even to the extent
that a claim to pirate ancestry having a coat of arms seems to be more
of a desirable insignia of honor.
Money would have as a complement
anything that bears the stamp of antiquity.
In the nature of the case, there
should be some moral satisfaction
to Syrians who can lay claim to one
of the oldest civilizations in history,
and whose ancestors roamed the seas
not as pirates but as merchant
princes bent only on promoting the
interest of civilization and peace.
~:-.
W :'v'-".-:"-'-'->;.
.''"
YOUTH AND AGE
Some wise cousel is being dispensed in the many communications
on the subject of the young generation's relations with their parents.
It is sincerely hoped that the discussion will result in a better understanding by the youth of the parents' viewpoint. The wide divergence in opinion must have some
particular reasons inherent in the
writers' special circumstances or resulting from varying points of observation. What must be taken in
consideration is that not all home
surroundings are alike, nor also the
particulaf dispositions and train-i
ing of either parents or children.
It is dangerous to lay iron-bound
rules or draw immutable conclusions.
An article appearing in another
section of this issue treats of the
same problem as it exists among
other nationalities. What must be
considered is that the period of transition from old traditions and customs to new modes of life is always
a painful one, let alone the fact that
we are living in a rapidly changing
age. Some concession, it would seem,
must be made from both sides.
In the conduct of this controversy .
we are permitting the widest latitude of liberty in order to give each
side the fairest possible hearing. It
would not be conducive to an amelioration of the situation if the facts
were suppressed. Syrians, while
perhaps brought up under a stricter
code of family restrictions, cannot,
nevertheless, be impervious to the
influences of times and conditions.
Most assuredly practices and standards obtaining in the motherland
cannot be rigidly lived up to in
America. Conditions in Syria itself are undergoing a violent change,
�mmr^r—rvr-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
40
and to expect rules of conduct of
even a generation ago to be enforced on the present generation
would be demanding the unreasonable and the impossible.
What we would urge is that the
young generation weigh with calm
deliberation and in a sincere spirit
of moderation the causes which
prompt their elders to their action.
Surely the parents cannot be accused
of remaining altogether foreign to
the requirements of modernism after
having* been so long in America. It
must necessarily be deduced that
they cannot be altogether blind and
deaf to reason. Their solicitude for
the welfare of their children is admittedly above question, and with
the proper method of approach they
may be expected to make some eoncessions.
But the children must never dream
of coercive tactics. They must ever
bear in mind that their debt of devotion to their parents can never be
fully repaid, and the least that is
expected of them is kind consideration. The Syrian World, while permitting the freest expression of opinion, is fully alive to its peculiar position in that it is read mostly by
the young generation and it is in
the hope of bringing to bear the
proper influence on the youth that it
strives for the establishment of harmony wherever the problem under
discussion has become acute in Syrian homes.
n
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
AMEEN RIHANI—Internationally known scholar and traveler.
Author ef "Maker of Modern Arabia" and of many other works
of poetry and prose.
KAHLIL GIBRAN — Author of The Prophet and other celebrated
works and styled by American writers Poet of the Cedars and
The Syrian Poet
DR. N. A. KATIBAH — Arabic and English poet and scholar.
Professionally a dentist of Brooklyn. One of our regular contributors.
JAMES MYERS—Industrial Secretary, Commission on Church
and Social Service of the Federal Council of the Churches of
of Christ in America.
PAUL DEAB — Pen name of a Syrian college graduate living in
the vicinity of New York.
1
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MARCH, 19m
44
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hop* to present from time to time * microoe*oti« picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever
Arabic dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking;
writers who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabicspeaking world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take
no part in the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. OUT
task will simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and
with utmost sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed in these editorials.
Editor.
EXCLUSION IN MEXICO
The present immigration law in
Mexico is tantamount to an exclusion measure against the Lebanese
and Syrians. Every Lebanese and
Syrian seeking entry into Mexico
is required to possess 10,000 pesos,
or the equivalent of $5,000. It is evident that anyone in possession of
such a large capital is not in need
of immigration.
This represents a discriminatory
measure taken by Mexico only
against the Lebanese and Syrians.
Why such a law was enacted permits of several interpretations, two
of which are the most current and
seem the most plausible. One would
have it that a certain close friend
of Gen. Calles was bribed by some
of our people and when his case was
exposed fell into disgrace. Calles,
therefore, is taking revenge on the
Lebanese and Syrians for having
caused the fall of his friend. The
other explanation is that Calles has
been repeatedly referred to in the
press as being of Syrian extraction,
and he, in order not to show any
partiality towards his kinsmen, singled them out as an object of discipline.
Whatever the case may be, it must
be admitted that business rivalry
is a potent factor in the situation.
The Lebanese and Syrians are noted
for their commercial and industrial
enterprise, and the natives must
seek some way of eliminating their
strong competition.
Among the Syrians, however, there
are thousands of Jews who, while
not associating with our countrymen, assume their name. This element has been responsible for gross
infractions of the law and the stigma of their onerous actions has attached to the Syrians as a whole.
There seems to be no possible way of
correcting the situation other than
by the Lebanese and Syrians arousing themselves to take collective
and effective action to save their
reputation from further injury.
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Feb. 23, 1929.
ZIONIST ACTIVITIES IN
PALESTINE
The Jews appear to be working
methodically and speedily towards
the attainment of their racial objectives in Palestine. A perusal of their
reports on economic development indicates that they are quietly but
steadily making progress along con-
<
�mm
42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
tractive lines. They are engaged
In exploiting the resources of the
country in establishing factories and
pushing land developments. They
are reported lately to have asked the
government for a protective tariff
as a means of insuring the prosperity of some of their infant industries.
The Arabs, on the other hand, are
loud in their protests and complaints
about the activities of the Jews.
Their papers are full of lengthy articles on plans and suggestions,
while no constructive action is being taken. It is but natural that they
should get nowhere if this continues
to be the case. For them there is
no hope of ever achieving their national aims unless they emulate the
Jews and buckle down to work. In
other words, they should stop talking and do some working. They
should turn their attention to the
land and display some genuine energy in cultivating it, the same as
the Jews are doing.
It is evident that the Jews are
making progress in Palestine. They
are fast gaining on the Arabs and
absorbing the land. Are not the
Arabs of the same clay? The only
difference seems to be in the willingness to work. Work is the only
weapon for waging modern warfare, and if the Arabs are really sincere in their determination to effect
the salvation of their country they
should employ the only and most
effective weapon in hand above mentioned.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y. Feb. 19,1929
THE NEW SYRIA PARTY
The fourth annual convention of
the New Syria Party in the United
States is an added proof of the Syr-
ian Nationalists' determination to
continue their fight to the end.
Not only the general public but
the Mandatory Power itself has
come to look upon this Party as the
most potent and active factor in the
prosecution of the just demands of
the nation in the claim of its right
to life and liberty. The great sacrifices of the Party have become
known and appreciated by all, and
the nation that is capable of producing such an active force is a nation
that can be trusted to govern itself.
It must also be borne in mind that
these sacrifices are not confined to
the contribution of money but have
manifested themselves most nobly in
the readiness to court danger in the
battlefield. Such a party, therefore,
deserves the support of every liberty-loving, liberal-minded Syrian,
and those renegade papers Which
have been opposing th:s party should
cover their faces in shame when they
perceive the great efforts the party
is doing for the welfare of their
country. These papers should at
least display some consideration for
truth by giving their readers honest
and fa;thful reports instead of feeding them on lies. In this they are
only exposing themselves to the ridicule of fair-minded observers.
Al-Bayan N. Y., Feb. 7 ,1929.
EMIGRANTS AND THEIR
MOTHERLAND
The visit of Sheikh Joseph Estephan member of the Lebanese House
of Representatives, to the United
States and Australia is bound to result in immense benefit to both the
emigrants and their motherland. The
two principal objects underlying this
\isit are to study the advisability of
appointing Lebanese attaches at
I
�MARCH, 1929
French consulates and to promote
the emigrants' interest in the economic development of their country of
origin. Both objects are not only
feasible but of prime importance. In
regard to the first question we can
readily see the benefits accruing
from the presence of Lebanese attaches at the consulates who would
expedite the business of their countrymen and help thereby to eliminate
the cause of much misunderstanding
resulting from the lack of knowledge of French. This at times gave
rise to suspicion which had no foundation in fact.
As to the exploitation of the national resources and the development
of industrial enterprises in Lebanon,
such a policy seems the only way to
the salvation of the country from
being depopulated through the ever
increasing stream of emigracion. The
emigrant sons of Lebanon may be depended upon to extend the proper
help in all such enterprises.
As-Shaab, N. Y., Mar. 1, 1929.
ASKING THE IMPOSSIBLE
The action of High Commissioner
Ponsot in dissolving the Syrian Constituent Assembly had not been altogether unexpected. Ponsot could
not with any semblance of consistency concede to the Syrian Nationalists their demands embodied in the
six articles under dispute. It must
be admitted that he was not sent
to Syria to enact the role of French
generosity. In his capacity of representative of a definite policy he
had to obey orders and under these
orders it was impossible to grant the
Nationalists their demands, otherwise Ponsot and his whole retinue
would have nothing left for them to
43
do in Syria but pack and return
home.
Looking at the situation from this
viewpoint it can readily be seen that
in the face of the Syrians' obstinacy
the situation had to come to such
an impasse with the result that we
have seen. Now their Assembly has
been dissolved with no prospects for
its reconvention in the future. The
result is not very encouraging to the
success of the Syrian nationalistic
policy.
The six disputed articles are
above reproach in themselves. They
represent the enthusiastic aspirations of their makers and stand for
lofty Syrian patriotism. But the line
should be drawn between the possible
and the impossible. The six articles
are of such a nature that it is impossible for the High Commissioner
to grant them.
Now the Syrians have lost the opportunity of winning at least some
concessions by bargaining. They insisted on the six articles in whole
and only succeeded in los'ng them
in whole. The wiser policy would
have been to consent to a compromise in an effort to gain the ultimate national ends gradually.
As-Sayeh, N. Y., Feb. 14, 1929.
UNIFYING LEADERSHIP
No great work can be accomplished without the unification of leadersh;p. Even the most casual observation of events will illustrate
to us the truth of this axiom. It is
doubtful if the result of the World
War would have been what it was
had it not been for the unification of
the Allied command under Marshal
Foch. In our everyday surroundings we find that every family or
T'
�44
THE SYRIAN WORLD
dream of democracy was never to
be realized.
Now we find the world rapidly
gravitating towards dictatorship.
Foremost among the dictators are
Mussolini in Europe and Mustapha
Kamal in Asia. Each is doing splendid work for the stability of his people's affairs and the advancement
of the cause of order and peace.
Amanullah of Afghanistan made a
weak attempt to imitate them and
failed miserably.
If dictatorship has proven of such
benefits to Europe it should prove
infinitely more so to the peoples
of the East. The East is still far
removed from democracy because
Orientals are still slaves to old traditions and customs which render
them incapable of understanding the
true democratic spirit. They are envious of their gold brocaded uniforms and what follows in their
train of worthless titles. It is surprising that the country which, used
to give the Syrians their titles has
now discarded them while the recipients cling to them as though of
the utmost value.
NEED OF DICTATORSHIP
Especailly do we believe that Syria
IN THE EAST
and Lebanon are in the greatest
Democracy was the battle-cry of need of a dictator, a man of iron
the Great War. Its name was held will and inexhaustible energy who
synonymous to the lofty principle would take charge of the helm and
of equality for which nations were save the country from its present
fighting. The youth of each land chaotic condition. Greed for office
gave its blood freely for the dis- has been the greatest curse of our
franchisement of the world and the people, leading to the bartering away
establishment in all its glory of the of the liberties of the nation.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y. Feb. 20,1929
great theory.
After four years of bloody strugWhy do archaeologists in our
gle peace came to the world and the
great nations reverted to their greed country restrict their operations to
and love for additional power. They digging in the ground? In the very
were not cured of the evil of colo- souls of our people there are many
nization and the subjugation of weak- antiquarian relics which date back
er nations. The autocratic spirit was thousands of years.
As-Sayeh N. Y.
still rampant in the world and the
clan has its leadership, and so on
all the way up the line from the city,
to the state and the whole country.
We Syrian and Lebanese immigrants are in urgent need of an intelligent leadership. Those of us
who are in any particular city may
speak for themselves but cannot represent all the race in the whole country. What would appear logical under the circumstances would be for
the local and regional representatives to elect a national leadership
in which alone would be vested the
power to speak for the people as a
whole. This leadership should enjoy the cleanest record both in its
political and economic activities. A
convention should be held every year
for elections and for the discussion
of national policies. A strict account should also be given as to receipts and disbursements. From
these different leaderships should
evolve a world leadership that
would represent all of our settlements in every part of the world.
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Feb. 19, 1929.
�\1/
MARCH, 1929
45
Readers' Forum
I,
SYRIAN GIRL EXPLAINS
MEANING OF FREEDOM
Edna Shakar that I do not believe
in free love, companionate marriage
etc. Also to Miss Saloomey, "I do'
Criticism Directed Only to Some
not believe in going to theaters and
Syrian Social Practices
dances every night." I go to a dance
•
occasionally,
to a theater quite freIS
quently,
but
I
have never been inside
Editor, The Syrian World:
of a night club, and I hope that as
I was glad to see the criticism in
long as my mind is normal, I will
the February issue regarding my never be seen in one.
letter which appeared in the Janu"Freedom" does not necessarily
ary issue. My letter seems to have
mean dances and theaters every
caused lively arguments and discusnight, night clubs, and so forth
sions, and I am glad because that is
Freedom" can be had with very litjust what I wanted it to do. My crittle or no attendance to any of these
ics made me realize that my letter
places. A girl need not go with every
was incomplete. I would say in this
Tom, Dick and Harry. That is not
connection that the conclusions I
at all what freedom means. But a
reached in January's letter were the
girl should be at liberty to have boy
result of nearly two years of study friends.
and observation of Syrian social life
One of my critics stated that there
and discussions with many different
were
thousands of fatherless children
Syrian girls, old folks and all.
born each year. That is very true,
Through these conversations I find
but is it all due to freedom? Can
that most of the problems of our
you
solve the problem by keeping
girls are alike, and while there may
your daughters home? I say that
be many exceptions, the condition
really exists among Syrians in gen- you cannot. There isn't a girl but
eral, especially in large Syrian lo- desires to go with the other sex
sometime or other-not because she
calities.
is immoral, but because she is huMost Syrians misunderstood that man.
word "Freedom," which appeared so
Most Syrians seem to think that
often in my letter. My critics, Miss
it
is impossible for a fellow and a
E. K. Saloomey and Miss Edna Shagirl
to go together unless something
kar, misunderstood the word. I am,
happens.
If that is the case, then
therefore, writing this letter to exthere
must
be something wrong with
plain my understanding of "Freethe Syrian morals. Isn't it possible
dom."
I don't doubt that most people who for a girl and a fellow to go togethread my letter think that I am one er unless something happens ? Can't
of those wayward girls who believe a girl and a fellow be companionable, friendly, and have a good clean
in doing "everything" and "nothing."
time?
They certainly can, and for
Well, you may be surprised, but I
that there is all the proof in the
am no*. I want to explain to Miss
world. Nothing make* a man out
,-
�46
of a fellow more than the companionship of good clean girls, and the
same holds true with a girl. Girls
and fellows should go together—and
there is nothing more wholesome for
either. The trouble with most Syrians is that they are narrow-minded
and can only see the dark side of
such friendships. They never stop
to think that there is another s;de,
which is bright and beautiful, and
which leads to happiness.
Does a Syrian mother ever say to
her daughter, "Now, daughter, since
you are old enough you may have
boy friends, but be very careful who
you go with. You must always go
with someone who is dependable,
someone you know very well. Bring
him home first. And when you go
out always be a lady, and gain the
respect of your companions. Never
cheapen yourself by doing things
against your will. Go only to respectable places, etc. etc." Oh, no!
Rather, she would say, "Daughter
don't you ever go out with fellows,
especially American fellows, because
it isn't nice and the people will talk,
and no one will want to marry you."
So you see, the mother does not even
expect her daughter to go out. Perhaps that would be a fine thing if
all the girls abided by such a rule,
but do they? I don't believe very
many do. Instead, many girls will
step out secretly and fall in line with
the rest of the crowd. Nine chances
out of ten, when a girl goes out
secretly, she is not going to go with
the right company, but when she is
expected to bring her boy friends
home, she is going to bring someone
whom she would be proud to introduce to her folks—a gentleman.
Now, then, which is best, to let
your daughter go out with your permission and know with whom she is
f«inr, or make her stay home .until
THE SYRIAN WORLD
she becomes rebellious and steps out
secretly? Isn't it much better to
know that your daughter is being
escorted to a theater, party or wherever she may go, by a nice, clean,
trustworthy fellow than to know that
she is coming home alone which gives
a chance for other fellows to pursue
or scare her ? How are you going to
solve the problem? Surely not by
keeping your daughter home. Don't
forget that every girl wants to go
out and be among young people. She
wants to have her good time while
she is young and carefree.
Some Syrians may let their daughter go out with Syrian fellows but
they will hold the line when it comes
to going with American fellows. Why
is this? Simply because they think
that a Syrian fellow is cleaner. He
is not. Of course, a Syrian fellow
acts nice when he goes with a girl
of his own nationality, but does he
act in like manner when he goes
with other girls? Syrians have the
wrong attitude towards American
fellows and girls. There are some
wonderful American fellows—fellows
that are clean, respectable and trustworthy. No parent need worry about
their daughter if she goes with a
nice, clean American lad. Syrian fellows are all right, but a girl can
not always find a suitable Syrian
fellow neither is she required to. Syrian fellows do not always marry Syrian girls. When a girl works, goes
to school, attends some church, belongs to any club, she comes in contact with Americans, and oftentimes
meets an American fellow that she
likes to go with. Why not give her
the privilege to do so ? The boys have
had this privilege all along. American fellows are human; they are
Christians, and I believe that American fellows make just as good husbands as Syrian fellows, if not bet-
�S^P^S
—.
MARCH, 1929
I
ter. At any rate, no fellow, whether
he be Syrian or American, would
harm a girl against her will. A girl
that respects herself can easily gain
the respect of others, but if a girl
does not respect herself then Why
should a fellow respect her?
• Then, we often misunderstand the
American girl. The American girl
is not as bad as most people think
she is. A girl that comes from a
good American home is sweet, attract;ve, full of pep, life and ambition. She is a lady—clean in mind
and body. She is a girl that fel'ows
love and respect. Of coursa, there
are very nice boys and girls in every
nationality, and there are others
that are not so nice. No one nationality gets all the credit. Therefore, we should treat all people alike.
I wish to congratulate Miss Edna
Shakar on the stand she takes towards popularity, and I only wish
that every girl felt the same way.
Let's give our girls more freedom,
but teach them how to use it. I am
sure that most Syrian girls are capable of taking care of themselves.
MARY SOLOMAN.
M'shawaka, Ind.
47
Probably this is true, but it does not
imply that they are far superior to
the girls. Not by any means except in one case which I will cite.
later. Our parents impose restrictions merely for the protection of
their girls against the influence of
some degrading social conditions. Independence is often the cause of unhappiness and misfortune; so, girls,
let's not complain about not being
allowed privileges as are the Syrian
boys because our prudent parents
know exactly what they are doing.
It is for our own good at the present
time and in the near future. We
owe our parents the highest esteem
possible. Sometimes their opinions
and moral codes seem a little harsh
and do not please us at that particular moment but they generally are
true and will be realized later. Miss
Edna. K.
Saloomey is absolutely
right in stating that "If there were
more like our Syrian parents, there
would be no need for Juvenile Courts,
Divorce Courts and the increasing
number of private schools which
must serve as homes as well."
In Miss Edna Shakar's comment
about defending the Syrian girl, she
advocates that most girls complain
about not having "The right to go
SYRIAN GIRL APPROVES
out with boys at will." Personally,
OF OLD CUSTOMS if my mother gave me absolute permission to go out with boys at will,
Editor, The Syrian World:
The young Syrian generation in T would not care to do so. Now why
America must feel grateful for the should I come to this conclusion? The
opportunity of expressing them- simple reason is that upon analyzing
selves through the Syrian World. this problem, I became greatly proThe magazine is getting to be in- voked at the actions of some girls
dispensable as an organ of service in their reach for "Popularity." If a
girl is tactful, reserved, well-manand usefulness to our race.
In recent discussions in the maga- nered, and possesses poise, she will
zine I noticed lately that some easily reach that goal.
Our boys are also accused of being
girls complain about the fact that
most Syrian boys are allowed more parsimonious when in company with
privileges than tha Syrian girls. Syrian girls and liberal whan in tn«
�48
THE SYRIAN WORLD
band meet the demands of his wife
after he is married?
Another reason for the decrease in
Syrian marriages is that a Syrian
boy feels as though he is under a certain obligation if he speaks to a girl.
Also, if, perchance, "a girl is seen
talking to a boy, it necessarily follows that she is engaged or else people will proceed to question the character of the girl as to why that certain boy ended his calls on her." Is
this fair to our present generation?
No, not by any means. A boy or girl
who possesses self-respect is always
respected under all circumstances.
What harm is there ;n a boy conversing with a girl if he or she were present at some social affair, or anything
of the sort, where both are surrounded by many people or just a
few? That is the vital po'nt in which
our girls and boys are handicapped.
People begin to gossip. Nine times
out of ten it is mostly false.
Syrian girls do not hate their parents (wlr'ch is contrary to Miss
Solomon's statement in the January
issue), but they are disgusted with
the point of view of their parents In
Mr. Aboud, in the January issue, regard to matters of personal consuggested reforms in marriage cus- duct. Although I have never attendtoms which are excellent. Pre-nup- ed any Syrian social affairs in New
tial demands are quite ridiculous. York, I have heard girls compl&'n
This is the cause for a decrease in about their parents' strictness at
our present marriages. Girls and these affairs. They stated that quite
even parents in many cases expect often they would sit as wallflowers
too much from the future husband. during these special occasions. Now
Immediately this causes him to hesi- what wrong can there be found in
tate about marriage. Can anyone dancing properly, especially in the
blame him? How many young men presence of one's parents? I am
can readily be classed as being "set- sure certain reforms can be made in
tled," say, at the age of twenty five. persuading the parents to become a
Quite a minority, indeed. Very few little more lenient.
When the Syrian girl starts out
are even in business for themselves
in
life, she is deprived of certain
or have a position where there are
freedom,
which is true. Later OH,
opportunities for advancement. Conwhen
she
«** married, kits * **••
sequently, how can the future kus-
company of others. My analysis of
this is that our boys look upon our
girls in an altogether different capacity. They do not expect anything
from them in return and their companionship therefore does not become
lavish. This in itself is proof of more
respect on the part of our boys for
our girls.
It has been stated that "few girls
have a chance to select their own
husbands." In reply to this I would
say that the marriages in which the
parents did the selecting, the results
seem to have been very successful
and encouraging. When parents select the husband, they generally use
good judgment. They visit the boy's
parents several times and then form
their opinion as to whether he is suitable or not, for if a boy is good to
his parents and very considerate of
his mother, naturally he will have
the tendency to act the same to his
wife. In most Syrian families there
is always much peace and happiness.
Therefore, the custom of Syrian marriages is certainly worth while in order to aid our race in living happily
and successfully.
1'
�AMEEN RIHANI
Photo by Chas. Matar
�TESTIMONIAL DINNER TO AMEEN RIHANI
Photo by Nash B. Ne Jame
Given by the Syrian community of New York under the auspices of the Principal societies, at Hotel Commodore , March 2, 1929. The attendance was over four hundred
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home and children, she knows that
even to the end her husband only
belongs to her and no other person.
I feel sure that we all firmly be|. lieve this is a splendid characteristic
7 found among the Syrians.
There is just one more thing I
would like to mention about the Syrians as a whole. Why is there so
much conceit and jealousy amongst
• I us? I believe it is because we attempt to live far beyond our means,
and consequently, envy gets the best
of us. This problem must be faced
and conquered, for "Envy is the root
of all evil." Some people become
narrow-minded on account of it.
When the problem is solved, we all
will become happier and more progressive. The decrease in marriages
and the problem of social freedom
will be solved, if our parents will
practice certain reforms advocated
by Mr. Aboud. If the Syrians thought
more of cooperaton and stopped gossipping and being critical, how much
more improvement would accrue especially to the future of our girls
and boys? Let's all respond to this
chord in the interest of our personal
success and happiness and to the
good cause of the race.
MATILDA G. ABSI,
1928 Graduate of High School.
Norfolk, Va.
DON'T RAISE SLAVES
IN YOUR HOMES
Editor, The Syrian World:
I am following with much interest the controversy that is being
waged in the pages of the Syrian
World on the question of social ethics and moral concepts among Syrians. To my mind, it is a mistake
49
to live in this age according to the
laws of the past, or to expect compliance with the code of even two
or three decades ago.
To expect a girl in these modern
times to live in strict confinement
is to apply to us moral laws that
were born in the remote past and
are applicable only to particular
countries. Why should a Syrian
girl be expected to remain at home
and be refused the privilege of going
out? As for myself, I see no reason for such a strict rule and feel
that the girl who is brought up in
conformity with Syrian concepts of
morality needs no such restrictions.
She may be absolutely trusted to
be able to take care of herself providing, of course, she would have
been properly enlightened and advised as to the consequences of undue liberties.
My whole reaction to this situation may be summed up in the following: Don't raise slaves in your
homes, but independent, intelligent
ladies with the right perspective
upon the problems of life, who appreciate the value of a clean, moral
character, and they may be trusted
to take care of themselves under
all circumstances.
CLARA K. BISHARA.
Brooklyn, N. Y.
EDITORIAL NOTICE
The editor is in receipt of several
anonymous communications on the
present controversy which he is compelled to ignore. Letters may be
published under assumed names if
the writers so wish and advise the
editor confidentially.
�50
THE SYRIAN WORLD
About Syria and Syrians
SYRIANS np NEW YORK
FETE AMEEN RIHANI
Celebrated Author and Traveler
Entertained At Reception And
Dinner By Over Four
Hundred Admirers
The Syrians of New York celebrated the return of Ameen Rihani
to their midst with fitting jubilation.
On Saturday March 2, the Reception and Testimonial Dinner tendered
in his honor were held at the grand
ballroom of the Hotel Commodore.
The large dining room was filled to
its capacity of over four hundred.
Guests began to arrive at seven,
and in spite of the inclement weather had all arrived within an hour.
The gradual arrival of the guests
permitted orderly introduction to the
guest of honor who received in a
private room adjoining the ballroom. All were seated promptly at
eight.
The gathering was one of the most
distinguished in the annals of the
Syrian community of greater New
York. There was, besides, a substantial representation of American men
of letters, arts and the professions.
The speaking program was restricted to four speakers and planned so as to encompass the life and
literary and scholarly accomplishments of the guest of honor. Mr.
Salloum A. Mokarzel, editor of the
Syrian World, presided and introduced as the first speaker our foremost educator, Dr. Philip K. Hitti of
the faculty of Pr'nceton University
who gave a comprehensive outline
of the history of Arabia, dwelling
particularly on the fact that while
tlv's old country is in the heart of
the world, it still remains a land of
extreme mystery, man being ignorant of vast areas in it while he has
succeeded in exploring both the
North and South Poles. The world,
therefore, he concluded, owes a debt
of gratitude to Ameen Rihani for
the contr-'butions he has made to human knowledge of this interesting
country by his travels and researches.
Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin, the second
speaker, equally able in his scholarly attainments in Arabic and English, surveyed the works of Ameen
Rihan' in Arabic.
,
Dr. Marion Miller, American author and critic, gave a glowing appraisal of Rihani's contributions to
American literature both as an essayist and a poet.
In introducing Mr. Rihani, the
toastmaster spoke of his early life
and his sustained efforts in his literary quests.
Mr. Rihani's address was in both
English and Arabic. He expressed
pleasure at being back among the
friends of his youth in New York
and spoke a word of sound advice
to the young generation of Syrians
on the necess;ty of retaining that
which is valuable in their racial characteristics. In his account of his
travels in Arabia Mr. Rihani told of
many novel experiences in a most
entertaining manner.
The committee had decided on
making an appropriate gift to Mr.
Rihani on this occasion and Mrs.
�MARCH, 1929
h
4
Joseph W. Ferris, chairman of the
Comnv'ttee on Arrangements, was
asked to make the presentation. In
introducing her, the toastmaster
took occasion to refer to her tireless efforts in planning the arrangement for the dinner, and described
her as a "human dynamo." The g:ft
consisted of a gold watch and a set
of thermometer, compass and aneroid.
(Excerpts from the speeches delivered at the d4nner will be published
in a coming issue of the Syrian
World.)
At the conclusion of the ceremony,
the toastmaster announced receipt
of telegrams of good wishes and regrets from the following:
Mr. N. A. Mokarzel, editor of AlHoda; Mr. N. M. Diab, editor of
Meraat-Ul-Gharb; Mr. and Mrs. Caesar Sabbagh, Mr. Guttas Faris and
Dr. Najib Barbour.
An old friend and admirer of Mr.
Rihani, Judge John Jerome Rooney
of New York, sent a beautiful letter
of appreciation with Mrs. Rooney.
What gives cause for elation is
that the dinner, given under the auspices of the Syrian societies of New
York in the name of the Syrian Community, was the first effort of its nature undertaken collectively by the
Syrian organizations of the city.
They came together at the invitation of the editor of the Syrian World
and their display of a fine cooperative spirit gives promise of much
greater collective and constructive
action in the future.
The organizations officially participating in the promotion of the
affair were: American Syrian Federation, Book Club, Damascus Fraternity, Syrian Educational Society
and Syrian Junior League.
Guests of honor as given in the
program included: Dr. Salim Y. Al-
51
kazin, His Excellency A. Azer Bey,
Mr. Sliman Baddour, Mr. Nageeb
G. Badran, Mr. and Mrs. James W.
Barrett, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur W.
Colton, Mr. Najeeb M. Diab, Mr. Nat
J. Ferber, Mr. A. A. Haddad, Dr.
Fh'lip K. Hitti, Mr. Joseph M. Khoury, Mr. and Mrs. Troy Kinney, Miss
Amalie Knobel, Mrs. Laura Miller,
Dr. Marion Miller, Mr. Naoum A.
Mokarzel, Mr. Salloum A. Mokarzel.
Mrs. Max Morgenthau, Jr., Miss
Theresa R. Nagel, Mrs. Henry Neumann, Mr. J. G. Raphael, Mr. Ameen
Rihani, Mrs. V. G. Simkhovitch, Dr.
Riza Tewfik, Miss Lillian Wald and
Capt. and Mrs. M. A. E. White.
MERCANTILE STANDING
OF ARGENTINE SYRIANS
A report of American Consul Dana
C. Sycks at Buenos Aires, Argentine, gives the following information abstracted from the November
16, 1928, issue of the Review of the
River Plate:
"The Syrian community in the Argentine Republic consists of 400,000
members and boasts of 18,000 business houses having an aggregate
capital of 500,000,000 paper pesos
($210,000,000). Of the 18.000 Syrian firms operating in Argentina,
no less than 7,000 are engaged in the
textile and dry goods trades. The
banking needs of the Syrian community are served by the Banco Sirio-Libanes del Rio de la Plata, established in 1925. One of the recent
innovotians to the credit of this bank,
and one which has met with the
greatest success, is its commercial
department and permanent exhibition of merchandise covering the
lines of no less than 65 different
importing and manufacturing firms
operating in Buenos Aires. The per-
�52
manent exhibition is so arranged
that the buyer from the provinces
is able to look over the latest novelties offered by the 65 exhibiting
firms in a very short time. The bank
does not act as intermediary in any
sale resulting from this service, but
does handle mail and telegrams for
its clients."
IMPORTANT LECTURE BY
DR. PHILIP HITTI
Prof. Philip K. Hitti of Princeton
University and formerly of the
American University of Beirut, delivered an important lecture at a
meeting of the Brooklyn Society for
Ethical Culture at the Brooklyn
Academy of Music on February 24.
Dr. Hitti's subject was "Civilization's Debt to the Near East" and
his easy manner of delivery together with his wealth of historical material made a profound impression on
his audience. Dr. Hitti, admittedly
our foremost educator in the United
States, is ably and nobly serving the
cause of Irs countrymen by his erudite exposition of their eminent racial qualities on every possible occasion.
It is a pleasure to state that the
metropol'tan papers carried long accounts of Dr. Hitti's lecture, some
of them devoting to it as much as
a whole column.
SYRIAN ENGINEER
HONORABLY MENTIONED
The Sibley Journal of Engineering, in its February issue, publishes
the following on the success of one
of our Syrian engineers:
"Dr. Michel G. Malti of the Electrical Engineering faculty was recently notified that his paper, "A
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Theory of Imperfect Solid Dietetrics," has been awarded honorable
mention for 1927 by the American
Institute of Electrical Engineers.
"The paper which received this
recognition consisted of the last four
chapters of a Thesis, presented by
the author to the Graduate School
of Cornell University, for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy."
The same Journal announces simultaneously the election of Dr.
Malti to its editorial board.
DODGE MEMORIAL FUND
The late Cleveland H. Dodge will
ever be remembered with the deepest feeling of love and gratitude by
the people of the Near East for his
many benefactions and sincere and
helpful endeavors. Especially do the
Syrians cherish lr*s memory for the
solicitude he displayed in promoting
the cause of education in their country through the American University
of Beirut of which his son. Dr. Norman Dodge, is now president. The
proposed Memorial Fund bearing*
h's name and intended to complete
the work he had begun should,
therefore, be welcomed as a fitting
opportunity to honor the memory of
the man by helping the cause that
was so close to his heart.
The appeal explaining the purpose
of this Memorial Fund, addressed to
us by Mr. Wm. M. Kingsley, chairman of the Executive Committee,
should not fail to meet with adequate response from the Syrians of
America. It follows:
"On the sixty-eighth anniversary
of the birth of the late Cleveland H.
Dodge, January 26, a group of
friends who had been associated
with him in his many philanthropies
EBaSBB^SSeKfifSMffiHiBSgKra^
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�MARCH, 1929
53
began raising a $4,000,000 "Dodge sociation, 18 East 41st Street, New
Memorial Fund" to realize one of his York."
most cherished dreams—the permanent financing of the six American
Colleges in the Near East.
"Shortly before his death in June, MUNIFICENT GIFT TO
A SYRIAN NEWSPAPER
1926, Mr. Dodge formulated plans
for raising $15,000,000,00 to endow
What As-Sayeh, a daily Syrian
these colleges with wh'ch his famliy newspaper of New York, heralds as
had been connected for four gener- an unprecedented event in the anations and to which he had devoted nals of the Syrian press in the United
much of his time, his thought and States, was reported by that paper
his wealth. At the beginning of the in its issue of February 26. In their
year the fund amounted to $11,000,- comments on this extraordinary and
000. His friends decided therefore unexpected good fortune, other Syrthat the most fitting memorial to ian newspapers agree with As-Sayeh
his name would be the completion of that the latter has good reason to
the fund by July 1, 1929, the date thank its lucky stars and deal praise
which Mr. Dodge determined.
to this modern Hatem Tai in fullest
"The memorial appeal is a strong measure.
one to the men and women who have
Here is What happened, according
been connected with Mr. Dodge in to the report of the editor of the
one or another of his humanitarian Syran paper:
and educational undertakings. The
Early one February morn, when
possibilities for training leadership he came to his office with an overthrough these institutions, in a field burdened brain and an extremely
still barely touched by the force of light wallet, the postman handed
organized modern education, has a him with the mail a letter from Custrong appeal to believers in inter- racao, B. W. I., which, upon being
national cooperation. Mr. Dodge duly opened and its contents carehimself was firmly convinced that fully examined, was found to contain
American wealth could be put to no a draft on a New York bank for the
more useful purpose than to offer exact amount of $2,361.58. The treasmodern scientific training and an un- urer of the publishing company was
derstanding of western ideals to the called over the telephone to be told
youth of backward countries.
the good news, but April first being
"Substantial gifts have already still far in the distance, and the
been received toward this Dodge Me- treasurer being too shrewd a busimorial Fund, on condition that the ness man and too practical a fellow,
entire amount be subscribed before he refused to believe. How could he
July 1, 1929. Among them was a when such a thing was never heard
personal gift of $500,000 from Mr. of before? Nevertheless, he came
John D. Rockefeller Jr. Friends and down to the office that day earlier
admirers of Mr. Dodge throughout than usual, for the purpose of getthe United States are being urged ting to the bottom of what he still
to help perpetuate his name and his considered a hoax. But, to his
work by sending contributions to the amazement, he found the report aboffice of the Near East College As- solutely true, so true that the
�S4
amount was immediately put to use
in paying some past due accounts
which had been a source of no little
annoyance.
Now the man who sent in this
draft :s a Mr. Waheeb Boulos Simon
who had been a subscriber but for
a short time and is a total stranger
to the editor. Realizing, however,
the necessity of supporting such a
worthy Arabic newspaper as AsSayeh, he sent the large sum as a
price of one share of the stock of
its publishing company, the par
value of which is $100. The draft
was accompanied by a covering letter which left no doubt as the purpose of the donor.
Considering the continuous wailings of Arabic papers in re the
tardiness of their subscribers in remitting their subscriptions, such
good fortune as befell As-Sayeh
should give the editors 'hope that
chivalry is not dead.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
a sort of coalition among the different emigrant groups. Recruits to
the party will be made from each
country as it is reached. The itinerary will include not only Syria,
Egypt, and other Near Eastern countries, but South Africa, Australia,
New Zealand and countries of the
Far East as well.
LEBANON NATIONAL REMAINS
UNDER SYRIAN DIRECTION
A rumor to the effect that the
Lebanon National Bank of New
York had passed from Syrian hands
elicited prompt denial by the bank
in a signed statement published in
the Arabic-language press of the
c:ty. Those who had been associated with the bank since its organization and have so far guided its
affairs remain in office. At the last
election held in January the President and founder was returned to
office as well as many other officers
and directors. The present manageN. Y. SYRIAN EDITOR
PLANS WORLD TOUR ment is composed as follows:
Officers: J. A. Mandour, President
Mr. N. A. Mokarzel, editor of the and chairman of the Board; J. F.
leading Arabic-language newspaper Connor, Esq., Vice President; J. W.
in New York, after a recent visit to Griffiths, Assistant to Vice PresiMexico, announces that he plans to dent; H. A. Walsh, Cashier; N. A.
undertake a world tour in the inter- Haddad, Assistant Cashier; Wm. N.
est of studying the conditions of Syr- Mandour, Assistant Cashier; C. V.
ians in all countries of their immi- Tapp, Assistant Cashier; W. C. Bargration. No definite date is set by ber, Credit Manager.
the editor for his tour, but he states
Directors: J. A. Mandour, George
that he will undertake it immedi- B. Zaloom, M. A. Saidy, Wm. F. Buately the necessary arrangements zaid, Henry Hadad, Hon. George A.
can be made.
Colgan, Theodore J. Richmond, BarHis plan, as outlined, is to form ron W. Schoder, Nathan Berkman,
a party of prominent Syrians, each Abner Baron, Louis Borgenicht, Abof whom will travel at his own ex- raham Jelni, Irving L. Kadin, Hon.
pense and take observations which Lester Lazarus, Stuart C. Ross,
will be later compared with those Henry D. Sinram, Abraham Prince,
of the others with the object of sug- Isidor Wels, Samuel Davis, J. Jogesting improvements and creating nas Jacobs, Edgar A. B. Spencer.
\
I
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m.ii-nrtOTl
55
MARCH, 1929
k
NEW EGYPTIAN CONSUL
IN NEW YORK
A. Azer Bey, the newly appointed
Egyptian consul in New York, is the
typical modern, well educated Egyptian who combines the genial characteristics of the East with the erudition of the West. In the discharge
of his duties he is most efficient and
conscientious. He professes genuine
friendship for the Syrians and bids
them avail themselves of all the facilities of the consulate.
Heretofore, however, they had no
trade association in which they
could come together for the protection of their mutual interests or the
promotion of purchase or sales policies. This they are now reported to
have attempted to remedy by forming a trade organization early in
February to which have already subscribed almost five hundred members.
NEWS OF SOCIETIES
ELECTION OF ORTHODOX
PATRIARCH IN SYRIA
)
Following the death of the late
Patriarch Gregory Haddad of the
Syrian Orthodox Church, rumors
have been circulated to the effect
that the Greeks are plotting to regain their lost control of this church
by the election of a bishop from
among them to the vacant see. Other rumors maintain that there exists
among the Syrian Orthodox themselves a strong preference for the
election of a Russian Patriarch who
would give the Syrian Church the
benefit of his organizing ability
without subjugating it to foreign
domination. What appears certain,
however, is that a native Syrian will
be elected from among the several
candidates whose names have been
proposed.
POWERFUL SYRIAN
TRADE COMBINATION
The Syrian community in Detroit,
Mich., is second only to that of New
York City in numbers. It is said to
total about twenty thousand.
The Syrians of Detroit have gone
heavily into the grocery business,
their retail stores in this line totaling almost one thousand.
At the last election of the Ladies
Auxiliary Phoenician Club of Birmingham, Ala., the following officers
were elected for the current year:
Mrs. Wm. Meshad, President; Mrs.
M. H. Bite, Vice-President; Miss
Emiline Meshad, Secretary; Mrs. C.
S. Meshad, Treasurer; Miss Amelia
Mickwee, Publicity Director. Board
of Managers: Mrs. J. N. Pharo, Miss
Clementine Kabose, Mrs. Abraham
Tebsherany, Chairman.
NEW YORK
The Daughters of the United Malonites' Society gave a luncheon and
dance at the Hotel St. George in
Brooklyn, February 10th, on the occasion of the feast day of ti>e patron
saint of the Maron't'.-s
Miss Munera Asfour president of
the society, presided but requested
Mr. Joseph C. Chediac to act as
toastmaster. The guests of honor
were the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Francis
Wakim and Rev. Mansour Stephen.
The speakers were the Rev. Mansour, Dr. Najeeb Barbour, diplomatic
representative of Lebanon with the
French Consulate in New York; Naoum Hatem, Dominick Faour and
Salloum A. Mokarzel.
Miss Margaret Hatem gave several piano selections.
A
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Political Developments in Syria
All hope for a rapid solution of Assembly as contained in his letter
the Syrian problem seems to have on the subject addressed to Hashem
been shattered by the action of the Eey Al Atassi, Nationalist leader
French High Commissioner in Syria and President of the Assembly, is
in proroguing the Syrian Constitu- contained in the following paraent Assembly only a few days be- graph:
fore the date set for its reconvoca"It is neither in an atmosphere of
tion on February 11. Ever since misunderstanding nor by attempting
the return of the High Commission- to disregard the plain facts of the
er from France after his absence of situation that the difference, which
almost six months, negotiations had has interrupted for six months the
been carried on actively between him work of the Constituent Assembly,
and the leaders of the Nationalist can be settled. A preserving effort
Party in the hope of finding grounds still appears necessary in order to
for a common understanding. When, find an issue from the present difhowever, the negotiations dragged ficulties. But in the meantime, and
until almost the very date set for until deep reflection 'has prepared a
the reconvocation of the Assembly way for a solution of this essential
without any announcement being problem, the convocation of the Asmade of a solution, the Syrians were sembly would be without object. This
convinced that the situation had is why, in the present state of unreached an impasse. Their fears certainty, when a definite result, so
were justified when the High Com- much desired in France as well as
missioner promulgated his decree in Syria, I have today issued a deadjourning the Assembly sine die and cree adjourning sine die the Constitmade public the text of the letter uent Assembly."
which he sent to the President of the
It will be remembered that, havAssembly stating the reasons for ing permitted elections to the Conhis action. Now the situation is stituent Assembly, the French High
shrouded with so much obscurity Commissioner gave this body a free
that it isj impossible to advance any hand in framing a constitution for
possible suggestion as to the prob- the country. In this the Assembly
able outcome. On the face of it, it adopted certain clauses to which the
would seem that the Syrian Na- Mandatory Power took exception as
tionalists have steadfastly refused being in conflict with the terms of
any suggestion of compromise in the its mandate from the League of Nastand they have taken since the first tions. The High Commissioner ofmeeting of the Constituent Assem- fered the suggestion at the time that
bly at which the Constitution was the Assembly adopt the constitution
formulated containing the clauses minus the objectionable articles which
objectionable to the Mandatory would be deferred for discussion at
Power.
a later date and probable inclusion
The reason given by the High in a treaty to be entered into beCommissioner for proroguing the tween France and Syria. This the
I
-.
HI
~~'"~~~—*
i
<
�"*"
MARCH, 1929
«
Assembly refused to entertain, with
the result that it was adjourned
for three months pending the result
of negotiations between the High
Commissioner and the Foreign Office in Paris. The protracted sojourn of M. Ponsot in Paris necessitated another adjournment, but the
negotiations initiated after his return the latter part of December
having failed, the Assembly was prorogued.
,
The native Syrian press sheds no
light on the exact nature of the new
causes of disagreement, but it is
hinted in some quarters that the Syrians agreed to exclude the objectionable articles from the body of the
Constitution in an effort to arrive
at a solution of the difficulties, the
articles to be incorporated later in
the proposed treaty according to the
High Commissioner's original suggestion. At this stage, however, M.
Ponsot is said to have insisted on
the elimination of the articles unconditionally, leaving the matter to
the option of France whether or not
to consider them as a basis for future negotiations. This the Syrian
Nationalsts are said to have refused
on the ground that they were responsible to the nation for carrying out
the program upon which they were
elected and could not yield to the
point of betraying their trust.
As the situation now stands, the
provisional government appointed
for the supervision of the elections
to the Constituent Assembly is still
in power. Sheikh Tajeddin, the
President, continues to enjoy the
confidence of the mandatory authorities in spite of the strong opposition to him by the Nationalists. The
agitation for the establishment of a
constitutional monarchy seems to
have abated. Public demonstrations
57
are reported to have taken place in
Damascus following the proroguing
of the Assembly but without any violence. The Nationalists are extremely reserved in discussing their
future plans with the result that the
country is as much in doubt now of
its future as it ever was. The next
move seems to rest with the High
Comnrssioner.
Sultan Pasha Atrash, the famous
Druze leader of the armed revolution in Syria, was reported in press
dispatches to have made to the
French an offer to surrender. This
was promptly denied by the New
Syria Party of the United States.
Act;ng on the conviction that the
Druze refugees in the Syrian desert
are still holding against surrender,
branches of the New Syria Party are
sending funds continually to Sultan
Pasha Atrash and h;s band of faithful followers.
,
THE SITUATION IN LEBANON
The approaching presidential elections in Lebanon appear to have assumed secondary importance in face
of the violent controversy which continues to be waged around the personality of Emir George Lutfallah
who is said to be a candidate for the
office. His hopes of ever achieving
this ambition seem, however, to have
been definitely put at rest with the
issuance by the Bureau of Statistics
of the Lebanese government of a
statement denying him the right of
claim to Lebanese citizenship. The
Maronite Patriarch is said to have
endorsed the present incumbent of
the office for a second term, waiving
thereby the right of claiming the office for a Maronite, which makes it
almost certain that Mr. Charles
Dabbas will be re-elected.
�iii
A
y-riiniinitim,
GLORIOUS HOLIDAY
AND
A
GREAT EDUCATION
is no better way of spending your summer vacation
than by taking our tour leaving New York July 2nd,
escorted by the Editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD, Mr.
Salloum A. Mokarzel, through
THERE
LEBANON, SYRIA and THE HOLY LAND.
Visits will also be made to LISBON, NAPLES, ATHENS,
CONSTANTINOPLE, ORAN
and MADEIRA.
CONGENIAL COMPANIONS
COMFORTABLE ACCOMMODATIONS
SURPRISINGLY LITTLE COST
For booklets and details as well as for membership
in this tour write to
A. K. HITTI & COMPANY
60 Washington Street
NEW YORK CITY
Telephone—BOWLING GREEN 2765-9754
1—ff^wpil if '''I'llPlShiMHM
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
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English
Contributor
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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TSW1929_03reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 03, Issue 09
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1929 March
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 3 Issue 09 of The Syrian World published March 1929. The issue begins with an article by Ameen Rihani titled "At the Gate of Arabia." This article is a travel journal entry of Rihani's own experience traveling to Arabia. Next is a poem by Kahlil Gibran titled "The Saint," which describes an encounter with a wise divine entity. Next is an article titled "Children of America," based off of research and study of the Foreign Language Information Service, which touches on many social problems. Salloum A. Mokarzel is featured next with an article that covers Eastern Religions in the West. The article is comprised of extracts from the address Mokarzel delivered at the luncheon of the Daughters of the United Maronites Society, Feb. 10, 1929. Next is a short story titled "A Day in Abu-Hamed" by Dr. Najib A. Katibah. The last article is "Discovering the Syrians" by James Myers. There is another update on the successes of Syrian-American federations, which also provides a list of more pledged societies formed throughout the United States. The issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press, the Reader's Forum, and more on political developments in Syria.
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Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
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English
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
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New York Public Library
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
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1920s
Ameen Rihani
Kahlil Gibran
Maronite Church
Najib A. Katibah
New York
Religion
Travel
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VOLUME III No. 11
SYRIAN WORLD
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
m
SYRIANS' FUTURE IN AMERICA
GEORGE A. FERRIS
URBAN ARAB AND BEDU
AMEEN BIHANI
THE SUDANESE SOLDIER
§
DR. NEJTB A. KAXIBAH
A CHAPTER FROM USAMA
DR. PHILIP K. HITXI
IX THE ROSE SEASON
DR. SALIM Y. ALKAZIN
G. K. GIBRAN
DR. GEORGE KXAYSI
LABEEBEE A. J. HANNA
THOMAS ASA
II
i
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
THE COPY iOc.
��THE
SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A. MOKARZEL, Editor.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104 GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies 50c
£»t*r*d as second-class matter, Jane 25, 1926, at the post office at N«w
York, N. Y., under tke act of Maroa 3, 1879.
VOLUME III
MAY, 1929
No. 11
CONTENTS
PAGE
Syrians' Future in America
George A. Ferris
3
The Justice of Nour-Eddin
8
Urban Arabs and Bedu
9
Ameen Rihani
Out of my Deefer Heart
Kahlil Gibran
..14
The Sudanese Soldier
Dr. Nejib A. Katibah
15...
The Place of Poetry
20
A Chapter from Usama
Dr. Philip K. Hitti
21
A Comparison
25
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�CONTENTS (Contimud)
PAGE
In the Rose Season
26
Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin
From the Arabic
.... Labeebee A. J. Hanna
28
Sonnets
30
Thomas Asa
Man is Potentially Immortal
.
Dr. George Knaysi
wTo My Mistress
31
32
J. D. Carlyle
Books and Authors
33
Editorial Comment
Future of the Race
35
37
Collectivism
Trash
39
~
40
Readers' Forum
43
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Political Developments in Syria
*
49
About Syria and Syrians
News of Societies
—
—
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
Ex-King Hussein of Arabia
Dr. Ibrahim G. Khairalls
._ 55
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
VOLUME in
MAY, 1929
No. 11
Syrians' Future in America
By GEORGE A. FERRIS
•
|T IS well nigh impossible to predict what the future of the Syrian race in America will be, except insofar as we can by a study
of the past, partially lift the curtain as to the future. In studying
the history of foreign minorities in the United States, it would
seem to indicate that seperate, distinct, racial groups are doomed
to be absorbed into the body politic leaving little, if any, traces of
their racial characteristics.
In spite of the persistence of the "Pennsylvania Dutch" in
a small section of Pennsylvania and a few French-speaking groups
in Louisiana and Northern New York and New England, the racial minorities that existed a hundred years ago have disappeared.
There are still, of course, colonies of aliens, many of which
are in the cities. New England has a rural population of Polish,
Italian and Portugese origin. In portions of the Dakotas, the
Scandinavian element persists. Michigan has a colony of Hollanders. Elsewhere are other racial groups cherishing the language of their fatherland, or, as in the case of the Irish, still keenly interested in the current affairs of Ireland. New Mexico and
Arizona have large Spanish populations. Yet a glance shows
how, with the exception of the Spanish, the French and the "Pennsylvania Dutch", the separate racial groups have gradually been
amalgamated.
New York State has long been an example. The descendants of the earlier settlers combine in their veins English, Dutch,
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
German, French, Irish, Scotch, Scandinavian and Jewish blood.
Long Island, west of Brooklyn, and Flushing have been peopled
largely by the English 5 the Hudson Valley by the Dutch; the
central Mohawk Valley by the German Palatinates, and the region about Johnstown by the English. It is most interesting to
note that, although the city and state of New York were settled
by people of different racial origins and possessing different languages and in many instances professing different religions, yet
the blending of Germans, Hollanders, English and other races
has been such that there is a complete amalgamation of these various races and the creating of a composite of all of them. Even
though in the process of amalgamation there is a liberal fusion
of Irish and Scotch blood, and in recent years additional contributions from many other nations in Europe are bringing fresh
material, still the process of complete amalgamation is relentlessly going on. In view of what has happened in New York State
and elsewhere, the surprising thing is not so much that racial ties
with Europe have been lost as it is that three language groups
that are the exceptions—the Spanish New Mexican, the Pennsylvania Dutch and the French Canadian or Lousiana origin—
have managed to maintain their separateness so long.
These settlers came to America with historic backgrounds of
distinct types. In most instances they did not have the community
of language, yet in the process of time all racial and other similar
characteristics have been practically obliterated.
The historic background of the Syrians is most interesting.
Our native country is the birthplace of the two great religions,
Christianity and Judaism, and is closely related to the growth of
the third large monotheistic religion, Islam. The alphabet was
given by our forefathers, the Phoenicians, to Europe. It was they
who, long before the Christian era, carried the products and wares
of Tyre and Sidon as far as the Canaries and the West Coast of
Africa. Mathemathics, the basis of all sciences, was the product
of the genius of our forefathers.
Despite the fact that Syria has been the battlefield of the
world from the dawn of history and has been the objective of
those seeking world conouest from Thotmose. the Ee-vptian, down
to Allenbv, the Englishman, she still survives. Although unable to achieve national unity, yet it has been of greater signifi-
�MAY, 1929
3
cance to mankind, spiritually and materially, than any other single country.
That the race still survives is striking proof of our vitality
and our power of adaptation to changing conditions and circumstances.
It is this heritage that has been handed down to us, and no
peoples that have sought America for their permanent home have
a historic background equal to ours, and it is difficult to bring oneself to the conclusion that a people possessed of such qualities, intellectual and spiritual, are doomed to complete absorption into
the body social of the United States. Yet the writer, analyzing
the situation dispassionately, has arrived at this conclusion.
What is it that induced Syrians to immigrate to the United
States? Undoubtedly, because of economic conditions, lack of opportunity and religious and political oppression. During the greater part of the nineteenth century, Syrians sought other fields of
opportunity and endeavor. Egypt, because of its close proximity
and the fact that it has a common language with Syria, first beckoned to Syrian manhood, and immigration to that country assumed
extensive proportions. It may well be said that the future of the
Syrians in America may be indicated by their experiences in Egypt.
But an analysis will demonstrate the basic differences between the
situation in Egypt and that in America.
In the first place, Syrians immigrating to Egypt had a community of language. Secondly, the proximity of the two countries
did not necessitate the severing of social ties with the homeland.
Syrians spent their summers in the Lebanon hills and intercourse
between the two countries, commercial and otherwise, rendered a
severing of ties unlikely. None of these conditions obtain with
regard to the Syrians in America. It is only necessary to point
out the radical differences between the two situations to demonstrate that We can draw no analogy from the Syrians in Egypt. In
America, a different language is spoken. It is obvious that the
younger generations of Syrians in America are rapidly losing contact with the native tongue of their parents. Many of them, educated in the public schools and in colleges, although able to understand the Arabic language, yet are unable to read or write it,
and, as indicated by the recent discussion in the pages of the Syrian World, the Arabic language among those of Syrian descent
�6
THE SYRIAN WORLD
is doomed to extinction, or near extinction. The remoteness of
America from the homeland renders it difficult for Syrian-Americans to visit the land of their ancestors, except at rare intervals
and for short periods of time, and as in course of time families—
a part of which is here and a part in Syria— disappear, the necessity for other than a casual contact will disappear also.
A study of conditions in America under which Syrians live
will be interesting in the determination of the subject in hand.
Syrians are not confined to any one particular locality in America.
Wherever there is a village, town or city, you will find at least one
or more Syrians, and it is only in the larger cities that colonies of
them are established where contact between them is intimate. It
is said that there are some three hundred thousand Syrians in the
United States, and it is a fair guess that at least half of them are
scattered in smaller communities where they have no opportunity
for social intercourse with their countrymen and are by force of
circumstances dependent entirely on social intercourse with Americans. As to that portion of our countrymen, there can be no
doubt that in the process of time, and in a comparatively short one
at that, they will rapidly lose their identity as Syrians and become
in every sense of the word Americans.
In the cities, however, the process is bound to be a little
slower. There colonies, numbering in the thousands, are gathered
in particular neighborhoods. There social intercourse is largely
confined to themselves, but there, again, because of the great business acumen that they possess and the rapidly expanding field of
endeavor in which they are engaged, their contacts with Americans
are becoming of greater frequency and intimacy. There, again,
the younger generation of Syrians are coming in contact with Americans and contracting friendships with them that are bound to
wean them away from exclusive social contact with their countrymen.
Syrian immigration to the United States commenced in the
80's of the last century. The reasons for their immigration here
has already been adverted to hereinabove. Despite radical differences in environment,customs and language,and despite the handicap of inexperience, they have truly accomplished wonders in selfadvancement here. It was through hard work, perseverence and
a desire to be law-abiding that they were able to advance from the
�humble beginnings of the 90's to their present position in the
community, and as they expand their field of endeavor they are
bound to come into more and more intimate relations, business
and social, with the general community and less with their own
race It is interesting to note that while for the first two decades
they confined themselves strictly to business, they are latterly invading various professions. Many physicians are to be found
amongst them, and it is among the Syrian-Americans that men
of the type of Gibran, Rihani, Dr. Hitti and Rev. Mansur have
been developed. The lawyers of Syrian-American origin number
at least thirty or forty. This is a most encouraging sign and demonstrates the quick adaptability of the race. But, in connection
with the subject in hand, doe$ it not point unerringly to the conclusion that as our contacts broaden we are bound in the process of
time to lose our racial identity?
Of course, that does not mean that no traces of us will be
left in America. As each foreign element has been introduced into the body politic, while the element may have lost its racial characteristics, still it has left its impress upon the character of the
people, the institutions of the country and an indelible mark upon
its history.
The Syrians bring to America a proud heritage of historymakers of the past. They come possessed of an inherent love of
justice and the desire for truth that successive generations of oppression have failed to obliterate. They have come with the innate desire to abide by the law of the land and an unconquerable
love of home and family and the maintenance of the purity thereof, and, lastly but not least, the true Oriental godlike spirit of
hospitality that has been handed down for countless generations.
Can anyone say that these qualities will not make their indelible impress upon this beloved adopted land of ours? The passage
of time and the constant changing conditions cannot obliterate
characteristics that the past has failed to change, and the Syrians
will make their contribution, and a very important one, to the upbuilding of the country, its people and their character.
The analogy has been drawn between Syrians in America
and those in Egypt to demonstrate the conclusion attempted to be
expressed in this article. We may with profit study the effect of
Syrian immigration on Egypt to determine the effect of their im-
i
�S
THE SYRIAN WORLD
migration to America. In Egypt the Syrians have attained a dominant position in industry, finance, the professions and letters,
only through sheer native ability and capacity for work; and the
Syrians in America, in the process of time and by dint of the same
qualities, are bound to achieve a comparatively similar position
here. To accomplish the greatest possible result, isolation cannot
be endured. The best thing for Syrians in America is to avoid colonies where social and other intercourse is confined to themselves.
Their capacity for usefulness will be greatly enhanced by the widest contacts. We Syrians in America are here to stay. We are
not Americans by accident of birth, but by choice. That we are
true Americans in the highest meaning of the word is beyond
doubt, as has been amply established by the contribution of Syrian-Americans, both in men and in money, in the late war, and no
more fitting exposition of the ideals of Syrian-Americanism can
be pointed out than that made in the able article by the Rev. Mansur, published in the April issue of the Syrian World.
Limitation of space prevents a further discussion of the question here, and this article will have served its purpose if it gives
rise to independent thought amongst our people on this subject,
and if it creates a discussion amongst them which is bound to prove
interesting and profitable.
THE JUSTICE OF NOUR-EDDIN
Abu'l Faraj, one of the best known Arab chroniclers, relates
the following as the highest standard of justice and integrity in
office set by any of the Arab caliphs in history.
The caliph Nour-Eddin, he states, would never permit expenditures to exceed the lawful income from his personal possessions. One day, his wife complained to him of the meagerness of
her allowance, and he assigned to her the revenue from the rent
of three of his stores in the city of Horns, which amounted to
twenty gold pieces each year. Upon her protesting that the sum
was insufficient, he replied, "This represents the whole of my
lawful income. Funds in the treasury I could never permit myself to use because they are a sacred trust for all the Faithful.
This trust I shall never betray and thereby render myself deserving of the fire hell for the sake of thy extravagance."
�\
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EX-KING HUSS EIN OF ARABIA
The only photograph of him given out to the world.
(See article by Ameen Rihani)
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MAY, 1929
9
Urban Arabs and Bedu
By
AMEEN RIHANI
Editor's Note—This is the second of a series of articles by Mr. Rihani
describing the first leg of his trip to Arabia. The author's observations
on some phases of Arab life and psychology are distinctly original and
should add greatly to our knowlege of Arabia. This material was never
before published.
LJORSES and groom and bishas (1) were waiting outside} and
when we got into the saddles, the bishas walked ahead of us,
their guns slung butt rearward on their shoulders. They wore
short brown smocks, black ighals over red headkerchiefs, and were
barefoot. The grooms in white smocks and blue sashes carrying
bamboo sticks, walked alongside. A crowd of people had collected in front of the Quarantin Building, but they did not follow.
As we passed by the city gate the Mayor excused himself,
saying: "I must go to the noon prayer." We proceeded to the
madhif (guest house), a two-story building, in front of which is
a parched-up garden and two drooping tamarisk saplings; and
going up the stairway covered with mats, we came to a vestibule
which led to three rooms, a dining room and a bed room right
and left, and a reception hall, the length of the building, in front.
The walls are practically windows, connected by three or four
feet of masonry, commanding a view of the sea to the west and the
lagoon to the north; and in each window, the lower half of which
is fitted with lattice, the upper half with blinds, is a sort of diwan
about a foot high and three feet deep, spread with carpets. The
floor was covered with one large Tabriz rug, and all around were
rush bottom chairs, a few upholstered armchairs, and two sofas
on opposite sides of the room. The oval marble table in the centre was another incongruity, and in one of the windows was the
telephone.
About an hour after we entered the house, the telephone
rang and the servant who answered it announced that His Majesty
had arrived at Hadda, which is half way between Jedda and Mecca. Another hour, and an ebony black soldier in blue kirtle and
(1) Soldiers of the King's Guard, ori ginally from Bisha,
At-Taief.
southeast of
I
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
red head-dress entered the room, saluted German-fashion, and
said: "The automobile of the King has entered the city gate."
So, we all went down and walked over to the Palace, which is
but a few steps from the guest-house. A multitude of robed and
turbaned citizens, sherifs, sheiks, saiyeds and military officers in
khaki and ighals, coming from every direction, gathered in front
of the Palace. We were standing on the steps when the automobile arrived.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was the first to step
out, was followed by two other officials; the Ameer Zeid then preceded his father, a man of short stature in a green jubah and headkerchief and ighal of cream-colored silk. Thus on the 25th. of
February, 1922 my feet first stepped on Arab soil and my eyes
first beheld the most famous of the Kings of Arabia, the only
Arab King, in fact, that was then known to Europe and America.
I came from New York with a lingering uncertainty in my
heart, caused by the saturnine countenance of His Majesty as
revealed in the picture given to the world during the War, the
only picture of him known; and he came from Mecca with a picture in his mind of fame and distinction drawn for him somewhat
rhetorically by my two friends in his service, the Foreign Minister Fouad'ul-Khatib and Captain Yanni. That we were both disappointed at first, I cannot say. But I soon discovered that the
lingering uncertainty which I carried with me from New York
was not justified.
I shook hands with His Majesty as he stepped out of the
automobile and behind him into the Palace. But as we were ascending the stairs he looked back to see where I was, and, taking me
courteously by the hand, made me walk by his side. The furniture in the Palace is not superior to that of the guest-house. The
usual diwans covered with cotton cloth, the usual rush-bottom
armchairs, and the usual, if not more inferior, rugs. It is Arab
democracy, which is not unpleasant to one coming from America.
There are other signs of it, outward signs, in King Hussein, as in
his dress for instance, and his manner of living.
His picture does not do him justice, and I have it to thank
for my second pleasant surprise in Jeddah. Here is a suavity rather
with an undercurrent of sadness, and a serenity coupled with genial grace. He is, of all Arab Kings, the most kingly, if not also
the most spiritual and the least clannish. Nor is this strange.
�MAY, 1929
I\«l
11
For he is a descendant of the Prophet and he has lived twenty
years in Constantinople. His charming personality, therefore,
has two sources, innate and acquired—the Prophetic and diplomatic.
In his face is an eloquent expression of both. His white
beard is not flowing and vagrant; his delicate white skin has in
it veins of pink; his straight nose is not formidable; his soft brown
eyes are fortified with a ring of blue around the pupils; and his
brow is shown to advantage when he wears a turban instead of a
sumadah{ 1) and ighal..- Withal, he has a smile than which I have
not known a more captivating, except it be the smile of his enemy
Ibn Sa'oud, King Abd'ul-Aziz; and his voice—it is softer than the
light in his eyes; and his hands—they are more eloquent of blood
and more cogent in their proof of a noble, nay, an apostolic ancestry, than all the books of lineage in Arabia. Besides, these
excellences were more enhanced in my eyes, because they were
devoid of pomp and pose. The King, when traveling, is not distinguishable from any other Arab sheikh exce- t by the yellow silk
ighal and the lighter yellow silk sumadah under it. The ighal is
an heirloom of the Numaiy, the King's immediate ancestry—the
crown of its ruling house. But the turban he wears is distinguishable from other white turbans by a few inches of the end falling
over his right ear. This democratic tenu is common to all the
Kings of Arabia.
His Majesty sat in a corner of the diwan Arab-fashion, that
is with one knee folded under him, the other raised as a rest to his
arm, and offered me the seat to his right. Something very strange
then happened. I said that his was, outwardly at least, democratic. But the citizens of Jeddah came in to prove that in the salaaming ceremony he was not; and I wondered whether the Turkish
manner in urban Arabia began or ended in Al-Hijaz.
They entered, the distinguished citizens of Jeddah, and came
up in a line, silent and head-bowed, their hands folded across
their breasts, to make salaam; and every one bent reverently over
his Majesty's hand, kissing it once, twice, three times, back and
palm. Some kissed it multitudinously in rapid succession- stopped a second for breath, and bussed it a last buss for good measure.
Others, not satisfied with the hand, rubbed their lips also against
(1) Sumadah in Al-Hijaz, Gutreh in Nejd, Kufiyah in Syria, is the headkerchief worn under the ighal or cord.
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
the royal knee. His Majesty in return kissed a few of his subjects on the cheek, and from a few ethers he withdrew his hand.
These were royal cousins, sherifs of the ruling house. Thus are
the various degrees of servility and royal favor made manifest,
made public. Every one knows his rank in servitude and is not
ashamed to betray it by kissing , for instance, the royal knee or
by just attempting to kiss the royal hand. These are the urban,
the Turkefied, Arabs.
But the Turkefying process did not reach the Bedu, who remain free of all the Abd'ul-Hamidian ceremonies imported into
the Hejaz. The beduin comes into Jeddah, stands in the street
under the Palace window, and calls out "O thou Abu-Ali!" And
he makes his demand in forthright speech, as man to man, without preliminaries or embellishments. In his tone is the spirit of
equality, the spirit of the desert. King Husein accepted this as
he accepted from the civilized, the Turkefied, the kiss of reverence and loyalty. Aye, he accepted with a smile the mark of servitude as he accepted with a smile the liberty-and-equality manner
of the Bedu. He did not change in either circumstance. Does it
astound you, this royal and apostolic conduct?
The urban Arab is usually a merchant, the beduin is usually
a fighter. Both are necessary for the welfare of the State and
the maintenance of the throne. We take from the one to give to
the other j and sometimes we have to humiliate the one that we
might be able to take and give, especially if the other be hardheaded and carries withal a gun. Indeed, the Bedu understand
but two languages—money and arms;—the language of force
pre-eminently, and King Husein unfortunately did not or could
not speak forcefully in either tongue. He was firm in the belief
that the smile of the descendant of the Prophet was riches to the
Faithful, and that his frown was force sufficient. Besides, he always thought well of the Bedu.
"The Bedu, O worthy one, are simple, and poor, and ignorant. But they are honest, and they stand by their word."
There is much to doubt in the last half of His Majesty's
statement. But I learned afterwards that he was speaking, as he
often did, in inuendoes, and that he meant to cudgel the English
who, in their diplomacy and their pledges, are not even like the
Bedu. In the many political conversations that followed he recurred frequently to this subject, and he was always woefully
�MAY, 1929
13
cryptic. He spoke in symbols and riddles and proverbs. Seldom
did he think a straight thought or express it in a straightforward
manner. But in our first conversation he touched but the rings
of politics, preferring, in a public majlisy to hold forth on religion and the Arabs, illustrating his words from the Koran and th^e
Hadlth ,(Sayings of the Prophet).
"The Arabs and Al-Islam are one—who supports the Arabs
supports Al-Islam—cling to the bond of Allah and disperse not—
Al-Islam, O brilliant one, fights only those who fight it—we fight
only in self-defense. Al-Islam teaches simplicity, faithfulness,
equality and contentment
It were well if the Syrians of America came to Al-Hijaz to live. They could continue to trade
and be happy—I say, happy. They would also help us in building an Arab kingdom based upon Arab unity."
I had conveyed to His Majesty the salaams of my Syrian
friends in New York and of certain Arabs and pro-Arab Egyptians in Cairo.—"We greatly appreciate this visit, O worthy one,
and we thank thee—I say—the greatest— to a country which is
poor and unattractive, with seas between it and civilization. But
thou hast come in obedience to a call of the heart. Thou hast
returned after a long migration to the cradle of the highest virtues. Allah keep thee, Allah enfold thee in His blessings."
His silken voice drops into inaudibility at times. Whereupon, he repeats his word, preluding it with an 'I say', or 'I say,
0 worthy one'; and sometimes, in emphasis, he repeats his words.
The lI say', aqoul, is common with the Arabs, however, as with
the English.
The distinguished citizens of Jeddah, as His Majesty spoke,
were seated all around on the diwans like so many statues of reverence and silence; and when the most ancient among them got
up to ask for permission to leave, they all followed suit, performing again, with the same energy and exactness, the ceremony
of "kissing hand." Thinking that it was time for me also to leave,
1 made a vain attempt to get up; for seated Arab-fashion in my
European clothes, I felt that I was tied into knots and that I had
to go through the slow process of untying before I could resume
my ambulant habit. But His Majesty motioned with his hand,
'Stay'; and so I availed myself of the opportunity to change my
position and thus facilitate the untying process. He then spoke
�14
T::E SYRIAN WORLD
a word of apology, which was most gracious and sincere,—both
eloquent and true. "We are a simple people, and within our
crude way of living we offer all that is available. Let this love
and devotion intercede for us."
I tried to emulate him in the like expression, and I failed.
For when I said something about his condescending to come from
Mecca to meet me, he silenced me with a motion of his hand and
added to my confusion and shame:
—"Shall we not traverse a few leagues to meet him who has
crossed many seas to visit us?"
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Out of My Deeper Heart
By
KHALIL GIBRAN
Out of my deeper heart a bird rose and flew skyward.
Higher and higher did it rise, yet larger and larger did it
grow.
At first it was but a little swallow, then a lark, then an eagle,
then as a vast spring cloud, and then it filled the starry heavens,
Out of my heart a bird flew skyward. And it waxed larger
as it flew. Yet it left not my heart.
O my faith, my untamed knowledge, how shall I fly to your
height and see with you man's larger self pencilled upon the sky?
How shall I turn this sea within me into mist, and move with
you in space immeasurable?
How can a prisoner within the temple behold its golden
domes?
How shall the heart of a fruit be stretched to envelop the
fruit also?
O my faith, I am in chains behind these bars of silver and
ebony, and I cannot fly with you.
Yet out of my heart you rise skyward, and it is my heart
that holds you, and I shall be content.
I
..
�MAY, 1929
13
The Sudanese Soldier
By DR. NEJIB A. KATIBAH
Editor's Note — The following is a reminiscent account of the time the
writer served with the British forces in the conquest of the Sudan. He had
then just graduated from the American University of Beirut and was out
looking for a career and adventure. He succeeded well in both. His other
equally interesting account of his experiences and observations in AbuHamed was published in the March issue of the Syrian World.
The Sudanese is not endowed with considerable intelligence
or wit, much less the Sudanese soldier who is noted for blind
obedience to orders accompanied by an innate tendency to gravity
and barbarism. I have not known of a single incident where real
witticism exhibited itself in the Sudanese, and so far as my personal experience is concerned, I have discovered that the greatest
attempt at humor on his part consisted of merely making the
greatest fool of himself. Those who wish to classify the following incident under "wit" might do so, but I know for certain that
the party in question merely hit upon the reply accidentally.
Once a Sudanese soldier applied through me to the Commandant for a day's absence from the camp to see his wife and
children. It might be said in passing that the Sudanese batallions
in the Egyptian Army are given the privilege of taking their wives
and children with them whenever ordered to change camps j but
they are not allowed, for the sake of military discipline, to live
with their families in one camp. Women, children and non-combatants are invariably alloted separate barracks more or less under
military supervision. This soldier's request was accorded by the
commanding officer and I communicated the approval to him in
the usual military terms of "You are granted twenty-four hours'
leave." He, however, did not respond to the roll-call for three
consecutive days, neither did he appear at tatoo, retreat or reveil,
t
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
and in consequence his name was given as an absentee. He showed
up on the fourth day and was brought up before the officer to give
an account of his conduct. His explanation was 'that he always
asked what time o'clock it was and was told that it was either one,
three, nine and even eleven and twelve but never twenty-four
o'clock.'
There are two contradictory characteristics in the Sudanese,
but which are nevertheless co-existant in him, viz: sensitiveness
and impassiveness. The latter attribute, I am sure, is considered
a well established fact and I need not dwell long upon it to prove
its existance in him. I heard and read hundreds of stories where
the Sudanese slave underwent physical punishments of the most
atrocious nature with unflinching endurance 5 and I have seen
black soldiers sentenced to corporeal penalties stand the cutting
lash with stoical calmness. Probably when hurt physically the
Sudanese suffers it from a sense of pride. I have seen them several times laughing heartily at Egyptian soldiers who cried and
twisted their bodies in anticipation of pain before the lash touched
their backs. But when the Sudanese is hurt morally the consequence becomes quite different—he cannot brook an insult. The
following incident will illustrate this as well as his extreme vendictiveness:
A Sudanese soldier of the 9th batallion was one day brought
up before the commanding officer of the corps for summary trial.
His crime was neither great enough to entail detention, fine or
physical punishment, nor yet light enough to be remitted. The
officer was quite at a loss what award to give and finally gave vent
to his hesitating mind in the somewhat forcible reprimand to which
most men of the army are addicted and told him that he was a
d—d fool. The Sudanese thought this too derogatory to his personal honor and at once retorted in similar language for which the
offended officer sentenced him to ten lashes and 168 hours' imprisonment with hard labor. Three months later, at the engagement of Abu-Hamed against the Dervishes, the soldier in question took advantage of the disorder occasioned by the complete
rout of the enemy and murdered the officer in the fray by shooting him in the back of the head.
I could quote several instances of this nature where trivial
insults occasioned serious trouble and sometimes mutiny, but the
�MAY, 1929
17
incident given above is one of the most glaring that was ever
brought to my notice. I will, however, relate another incident
which occurred to me in person and which will further illustrate
the above characteristics of the Sudanese:
In the year 1897, when I first joined the Anglo-Egyptian
forces in the Sudan, I took my sporting gun one afternoon and
went out shooting. I was after small game such as pigeons, quails
and turtles, and I necessarily had to go into the fields in quest of
them. I crossed one field after another taking great pains not to
tread on the herbs and to confine my way to the paths assigned to
wayfarers. I finally came to a solitary tree where I thought I
could at once take rest and watch for the birds. A Sudanese old
man— the only person I saw in the open that day— was languidly occupying himself with his sickle at weeding at a short distance from the tree; but I took no notice of him. He, however,
as soon as I attracted his attention, got up, shook his sickle menacingly and ordered me to clear out of the place at once. I did not
know much of the people at the time and naturally took offense at
his demeanor and told him to keep quiet and mind his own business. What followed took less time than it takes to relate—his
bloodshot eyes were eagerly fixed upon me as he ran with all his
might towards me shaking his sickle in the air. His intention was
quite plain, and to intimidate him I immediately levelled my gun
in his face and covered him; but my action did not have the least
effect upon him. In a moment I understood that I had only one
of two alternatives: either shoot him or take to my heels, and'l did
the latter for which I am sure my readers will appreciatinglv
commend me.
These characteristics are considered by the British military
authorities excellent attributes in the Sudanese soldier especially
during active service, and this has been greatly justified during
the war for the reconquest of Sudan. I can quote hundreds of
stones from the history of this war which will verify this, but I
wish to speak of my personal experience and observation. "
At the battle of Atbara, a detachment of Sudanese -soldiers
was ordered off to reinforce a body of Egyptian Infantrv which
was being seriously embarassed by odd numbers of the" Dervish
Light Gavali-y. Off wem the Sudanese lads quite happv to render assistance and prove their courage. Thev had to crtts a small
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
jungle to reach their destination, but as soon as they were fairly
iri the thicket they were surprised by an ambush of Dervish Lancers which sprang up in their very faces. The black lads did not
falter but at once charged upon the enemy with their bayonets.
It was a terrible conflict, but one in which victory was due solely
to numbers. The unhappy detachment would have been completely annihilated had not the enemy been scared by a false alarm
and fled away. The detachment was reduced to a dozen or so
disabled men who in compliance with their orders were subsequently detected limping off on the other side of the thicket and
loudly exhorting the Egyptian Infantry, (who were already losing heart), that they were coming to reinforce them. It must be
recorded that this again alarmed the Dervishes and their cavalry
at once wheeled aside and retreated with heavy losses into a neighboring ravine.
Then again at Karrari, the decisive battle which determined
the fate of the Sudan, I was an eye-witness to another exhibition
of bravery which has impressed itself strongly upon my mind.
This time it was on the part of a banner-carrier of the Dervishes.
In fact, the Dervishes manifested great bravery, perhaps recklessness, in this battle, and I do not know what the result of that engagement would have been had they organized their defense according to the modern military system. As it were, they left
Omdurman in hordes under various chiefs and huddled into one
great mass unmarked by lines or divisions and devoid of any order
or organization. We saw before us but a vast assemblage of men
armed with swords, spears, old rifles and sporting guns indiscriminately mixed up. Hoisted flags of various colors patched up
with texts from the Koran, and round which the pressure of men
ostensibly thickened, were seen here and there flying above the
heads of this great crowd and indicated the exact number of chiefs
under whom this medley of humanity was to make battle. When
we opened fire, this gigantic body made a convulsive internal
movement by rallying round the flags and splitting itself into so
many centers. At our second volley they gave a vehement shout
of "La ilaha ilia lah" and rushed madly forward precipitating
themselves upon our fire.
My attention was dragon to one of their hordes which moved
forward mindless of our showering bullets. Their number was
?
�MAY, 1929
19
being quickly diminished but they kept leaping over their fallen
ones and trotting forward with their flag flying in the center. Onward they dashed and one by one they fell, but the flag kept advancing. Finally the whole body was annihilated and not a single
man could be seen accompanying the solitary flag that was proudly flying towards us. Everybody shouted to the man to surrender
and let down the flag, but we heard him shouting in reply "I prefer death." A little later his left arm was seen hanging helplessly to one side, but he still advanced. Shortly after he fell on his
knees but he clung to his flag and crept energetically onward. He
at last fell dead at a few yards from our lines and was carried
to the camp hospital where it was discovered that his body was
fairly riddled through with bullets.
The Sudanese is, moreover, very jealous over his rifle, ammunition and uniform. I know of several cases where, owing to
old age or unfitness from wounds or illness, a black soldier would
feel greatly humiliated when pensioned off and made to part with
his beloved arms and kit. The following incident will, however,
bring this characteristic into greater light:
Shortly after the hoisting up of the British flag side by side
with the Egyptian flag at Khartoum, the Egyptian officers and
men took serious exception to the attitude of England in the matter, and it was rumored that they planned an insurrection. The
British authorities were anxious to avoid being drawn into fresh
diplomatic difficulties over the Egyptian Question and naturally
looked for some means whereby they could disempower the Egyptians. It was finally considered expedient to disarm the men temporarily pending the arrival of an adequate British force to Khartoum. In order to make this measure pass under the pretext of
a bona fide military expediency, a general order was passed to
both Egyptian and Sudanese batallions to return their arms, which
have become old, to the Ordnance Store for checking and control,
and to await a new issue of arms later on. The Sudanese soldiers,
however, refused to give up their arms and insisted upon the new
issue being first distributed. When a little coercion was used they
actually mutinied and the authorities were compelled to let them
have their way. The Egyptian soldiers, on the other hand, with
a little pressure, delivered their rifles. That was all that was
wanted.
"Arm a Sudanese and order him to shoot—were it at his fa-
�,~
20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ther—and he will do it," is a widespread saying among the Egyptians and British officers in the Sudan. This is not an exaggeration, but to those who are inclined to disbelieve it I will quote the
following occurrence:
The 11th., 13th. and 14th. batallions Sudanese are noted for
their close relation and friendliness to each other. Intermarriages
among the Sudanese batallions have been going on for some time,
but more so amongst the above three corps where it is not an uncommon occurrence to have the male members of one family attached solely to them. Once at Omdurman, it happened that two
officers' sons of the 13th. and 14th. batallions, respectively, were
circumcised on the same day, and according to custom, the event
was celebrated in noisy ceremonials. Both boys were mounted on
horses and followed by two long processions of women and children of the batallions who sang, danced, pranked and beat their
tambourines as they marched along. The two processions met in
one of the streets and each expected the other to make way for it
to pass. This occasioned a dispute and a scuffle ensued in which
hair pulling was the main feature. The shrieks of the women
alarmed the men in the camps who immediately took their rifles
and ran to the spot. The two officers, the fathers of the two boys,
at once assumed leadership and a real skermish followed. They
shot at each other in earnest and peaceable means could not make
them cease. Finally the British officer in command at Omdulman
ordered the 11th. batallion to the scene and fired at both. The
firing on all sides took some time and occasioned heavy loss before
peace was at last established. Amongst the killed and injured
were several members of one family who fell at their own kinsmen's hands.
THE PLACE OF POETRY
Al-Nabigha, the poet laureat of the tribe of Beni Ja'da,
could not compose a single refrain for forty days, and his admirers were in despair. At that time, the tribe undertook a ghazu
and were successful. Upon hearing the news of victory, Al-Nabigha was so thrilled that he began forthwith to pour out verses
in torrents. And his people exclaimed, "In truth, we are happier
for the return of your poetical inspiration than for having achieved victory."
�21
MAY, 1929
A Chapter From Usama
By
DR. PHILIP
K.
HITTI
Their lack of sense.
Mysterious are the works of the Creator, the author of all
things! When one comes to recount cases regarding the Franks
he cannot but glorify Allah (exalted is he!) and sanctify him, for
he sees them as animals possessing the virtues of courage and
fighting, but nothing else; just as animals have only the virtues
of strength and carrying loads. I shall now give some instances
of their doings and their curious mentality.
In the army of King Fulk, son of Fulk, was a Frankish reverend knight who had just arrived from their land in order to
make the holy pilgrimage and then return home. He was of my
intimate fellowship and kept such constant company with me
that he began to call me "my brother." Between us were mutual
bonds of amity and friendship. When he resolved to return by
sea to his homeland he said to me:
"My brother, I am leaving for my country and I want thee
to send with me thy son (my son who was then fourteen years old,
was at that time in my company) to our country, where he can
see the knights and learn wisdom and chivalry. When he returns,
he will be like a wise man."
Thus there fell upon my ears words which would never come
out of the head of a sensible man; for even if my son were to be
taken captive, his captivity could not bring him a worse misfortune than carrying him into the lands of the Franks. However,
I said to the man:
"By my life, this has exactly been my idea. But the only
thing that prevented me from carrying it out was the fact that his
grandmother, my mother, is so fond of him and did not this time
let him come out with me until she exacted an oath from me to
the effect that I would return him to her."
Therefore he asked, "Is thy mother still alive?" "Yes,"
I replied. "Well," said he, "disobey her not."
....
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
22
Their curious medication.
A case illustrating their curious medicine is the following:
The lord of al-Munaytirah in Lebanon, wrote to my uncle
asking him to dispatch a physician to treat certain sick persons
among his people. My uncle sent him a Christian physician
named Thabit. Thabit was absent but ten days when he returned.
So we said to him, "How quickly hast thou healed thy patients!"
He said:
~~" "They brought before me a knight in whose leg an abscess
had grown; and a woman afflicted with imbecility. To the knight
I applied a small poultice until the abscess opened and became
well} and the woman I put on diet and made her humor wet.
Then a Frankish physician came to them and said, "This man
knows nothing about treating them." He then said to the knight,
"Which wouldst thou prefer, living with one leg or dying with
two?" The latter replied, "Living with one leg." The physician
said, "Bring me a strong knight and a sharp ax." A knight came
with the ax. And I was standing by. Then the physician laid the
leg of the patient on a block of wood and bade the knight strike
his leg with the ax and chop it off at one blow. Accordingly he
struck it — while 1 was looking on — one blow, but the leg was
not severed. He dealt another blow, upon which the marrow
of the leg flowed out and the patient died on the spot. He then
examined the woman and said, "This is a woman in whose head
there is a devil which has possessed her. Shave off her hair."
Accordingly they shaved it off and the woman began once more
to eat their ordinary diet — garlic and mustard. The physician
then said, "The devil has penetrated through her head." He
therefore took a razor, made a deep cruciform incision on it, peeled off the skin at the middle of the incision until the bone of the
skull was exposed and rubbed it with salt. The woman also expired instantly. Thereupon I asked them whether my services
were needed any longer, and when they replied in the negative
I returned home, having learned of their medicine what I knew
not before."
I have, however, witnessed a case of their medicine which
was quite different from that.
The King of the Franks, Fulk of Anjou, king of Jerusalem,
had for treasurer a knight named Bernard who (may Allah's curse
�____
MAY, 1929
f
23
be on him!) was one of the most accursed and wicked among the
Franks. A horse kicked him in the leg, which was subsequently
infected and which opened in fourteen different places, livery
time one of these cuts would close in one place, another would
open in another place. All this happened while I was praying
for his perdition. Then came to him a Frankish physician and
removed from the leg all the ointments which were on it and began to wash it with very strong vinegar. By this treatment all
the cuts were healed and the man became well again. He was up
again like a devil.
New Frankish arrivals rough.
Everyone who is a fresh emigrant from the Frankish lands
is ruder in character than those who have become acclimatized
and have held long association with the Moslems. Here is an
illustration of their rude character.
Whenever I visited Jerusalem I visited the Aqsa Mosque,
beside which stood a small mosque which the Franks converted
into a church. When I used to enter the Aqsa Mosque, which
was occupied by the Templars, who were my friends, the Templars would evacuate the little adjoining mosque so that I might
pray in it. One day I entered the mosque, repeated the formula
"Allah is great," and stood up in the act of praying, upon which
one of the Franks rushed on, got hold of me and turned my face
eastward saying, "This is the way thou shouldst pray!" A group
of Templars hastened to him, seized him and repelled him from
me. I resumed my prayer. The same man, while the others
were otherwise busy, rushed once more on me and turned my face
eastward, saying, "This is the way thou shouldst pray!" The
Templars again came to him and expelled him. They apologized
to me, saying, "This is a stranger who has recently arrived from
the land of the Franks and he has never before seen anyone praying except eastward." Thereupon I said to myself, "I have had
enough prayer." So I went out and have ever been surprised
at the conduct of this devil of a man, at the change in the color of
his face, his trembling and his sentiment at the sight of one praying towards the qiblah, (direction of the Ka'bah in the holy city
of Mecca.)
�'
THE SYRIAN WORLD
24
Naive conception of God.
I saw one of the Franks come to al-Amir Mu'in-al-Din (May
Allah's mercy rest upon his soul!) when he was in the Dome of
the Rock and say to him, "Dost thou want to see God as a child?"
Mu'in-al-Din said, "Yes." The Frank walked ahead of us until
he showed us the picture of Mary with Christ (may peace be upon
him!) as an infant in her lap. He then said, "This is God as a
child." But Allah is exalted far above what the infidels say about
him!
Franks lack jealousy in sex affairs.
The Franks are void of all zeal and jealousy. One of them
may be walking along with his wife. He meets another man who
takes the wife by the hand and steps aside to converse with her
while the! husband is standing on one side waiting for his wife to
conclude the conversation. If she lingers too long for him, he
leaves her alone with the conversant and goes away.
Here is an illustration which I myself witnessed:
One day a Frank in Nablus went home and found a man
with his wife in the same bed. He asked him, "What could have
made thee enter into my wife's room?" The man replied, I was
tired , so I went in to rest." "But how," asked he, "didst thou
get into my bed?" The other replied, "I found a bed that was
spread, so I slept in it." "But," said he, "my wife was sleeping
together with thee!" The other replied, "Well, the bed is hers.
How could I therefore have prevented her from using her own
bed?" "By the truth of my religion," said the husband, "if thou
shouldst do it again, thou and I would have a quarrel." Such
was for the Frank the entire expression of his disapproval and
the limit of his jealousy.
Consider now this great contradiction! They have neither
jealousy nor zeal but they have great courage, although courage
is nothing but the product of zeal and the ambition to be above
ill repute.
Here is a story analoguous to the one related above:
I entered the public bath in Sur (Tyre) and took my place
in a secluded part. One of my servants thereupon said to me,
"There is with us in the bath a woman." When I went out, I sat
on one of the stone benches and behold! the woman who was in
�25
MAY, 1929
'!
the bath had come out all dressed and was standing with her
father just opposite me. But I could not be sure that she was a
woman. So I said to one of my companions, "by Allah, see if
this is a woman," by which I meant that he should ask about her.
But he went, as I was looking at him, lifted the end of her robe
and looked carefuuly at her limbs. Thereupon her father turned
toward me and said, "This is my daughter. Her mother is dead
and she has nobody to wash her hair. So I took her with me to
the bath and washed her head." I replied, "Thou hast well done!
This is something for which thou shalt be rewarded (by Allah)!"
Another curious case of medication.
A curious case relating to their medicine is the following,
which was related to me by William of Bures, the lord of Tiberias, who was one of the principal chiefs among the Franks. It
happened that William had accompanied al-Amir Mu'in-al-Din
from Acre to Tiberias when I was in his company too. On the
way William related to us the following story in these words:
"We had in our country a highly esteemed knight who was
taken ill and was on the point of death. We thereupon came to
one of our great priests and said to him, 'Come with us and examine so and so, the knight.' 'I will,' he replied, and walked
along with us while we were assured in ourselves that if he would
only lay his hand on him the patient would recover. When the
priest saw the patient, he said, 'Bring me some wax.' We fetched
him a little wax, which he softened and shaped like the knuckles
of fingers, and he stuck one in each nostril. The knight died on
the spot. We said to him, 'He is dead.' 'Yes,' he replied, 'he
was suffering great pain, so I closed up his nose that he might
die and get relief.' "
A COMPARISON
A proud Arab poet was told that his ability was belittled by
some of his wealthy enemies, and he replied, "Our times are like
the sea. Pearls settle at the bottom while dead carcasses float on
the surface."
�26
In the Rose Season
By
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
The rose is king, and his kingdom is in the garden!
It is the rose season.
It is love's season,
And thou art its queen, and thy kingdom is in my heart.
Give me thy hand and I will lead thee to the garden.
Like Al-Motawakkil, we will don robes of the color of the
rose,
On our heads we will sprinkle the essence of the rose,
We will cool our hands and faces in the water of the rose;
We will lay us on a couch of the petals of the rose.
We will gaze at the stream,
We will cover its breast with roses, and the roses will float
down to the sea.
It is love's season, and our love shall have the color and the
scent of the rose.
We will gaze at the day,
We will cover its bosom with wishes, and our hopes shall ascend even unto the zenith of the future.
O, come with me to the garden and I will tell thee the story
of the weaver,
The weaver who lived in the days of Al-Ma'moun, the son
of Haroun,
The weaver who, of all the flowers of the earth, most dearly loved the rose.
Day in and day out, on Fridays and holidays, the weaver's
loom ne'er stopped its click,
But when the earliest May rose pursed its lips to kiss the
morning breeze,
The weaver left his loom and sped him to the garden, singing:
"With happiness the days are rife,
For are not the roses here?
�MAY, 1929
27
O, let us greet the sun with brim-full cups,
Let us rejoice as long as roses live—
As long as maiden roses from their chambers venture
forth,
And roses fully grown the secrets of their flaming
breasts expose."
And when the wine warmed his heart he sang:
"Thirty days and ten and five—
Such is the rose's life.
Then let us greet its birth with song,
And turn its short life to a jubilee,
Its progress mark with wild festivity.
The rose will hence! O, come with me,
And on a bed of roses quaff the clear red wine,
As long as roses live."
Such was the weaver's custom every year,
And thus he sang.
And when his story was brought to the hearing of Al-Ma'moun, this prince admired the sentiment and ordered his treasurer
to present the weaver with ten thousand pieces of silver as often
as the rose season made its appearance.
It is the rose season,
It is love's season—
What will be thy gift to me
In the rose season,
In love's season?
i»i
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
24
From the Arabic
By LABEEBEE A. J. HANNA
Editor's Note — The translator of the following poems from the Arabic
is a teacher of English in a Junior High School in Boston. Although born
in America, she has seriously takien up the study of Arabic, and with her
gift for poetry, is able to make excellent use of her knowledge of the mother
tongue of her parents. We hope to give our readers later some original
compositions of Miss Hanna.
A MAN IS DEAD
"Ah! embalmer," said I
"Withhold your water.
Is he not washed
With tears
That the eyes of praise and honor
Have shed at his .demise?
"Ah! embalmer," I cried,
Withhold your perfumes
And embalming fluids.
Is not the memory
Of noble deeds
Sufficient substitute?
"Let his pallbearers be
The holy angels.
Do you not see
They encircle him?
"This is more fitting
Than to burden the shoulders of men
With his weight—
For they are already heavily laden
With his benefactions."
MA:
�>ic
rn
er
ier
lal
29
MAY, 1929
IBN EL-JAWZY REPLIES
\
Ibn El-Jawzy, preacher and mystic
Of Islam, of long ago,
Was noted for his cutting repartee—
As everyone must know.
Upon a certain occasion
He was called upon to speak,
And one of his audience heard a remark
That made him very weak!
Ibn El-Jawzy recited a poem
Of verses one or two
About the zephyr and the flowers
And the morning dew:—
"When I have become like the zephyr,
Dainty and soft,
As it passes over the flowers in the fields,
And whispers aloft,
"When I have become sensitive
That I feel
The intangible
And my senses reel.
"I drink the wine of subtle meaning
And find delight—
And enjoy to ecstacy every sound in Nature,
And all is right."
And everyone listened and was thrilled
But one suddenly cried,
"And what if the sound be the braying of an ass."
At which Ibn El-Jawzy replied:
" 'What if the sound be the braying of an ass?' "
You boldly ask.
Why, then, if you wish to know, I would say,
" 'Be quiet, you ass!' "
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
3G
Sonnets
By
THOMAS ASA
Dedicated to Gibran K. Gibran
TO FRIENDSHIP
Proceeding with the march of passing years
With friendship's beacon light to mark the way,
From early morning's breath till close of day,
And though its joy is not without its tears
Its imprint on the knowing mind endears;
While Time has cast its thorns and weeds away,
And wrought for it a mold without decay;
And strenghtened with the ebbing tide, and rears
Itself a throne within the heart of man.
And a passion more worthy to possess
Has never graced the flowing stream of life—
The surest path o'er which the soul may span
The reaches of divine perfection, unless
God's whole existence is not worth the strife
TO A FOND MEMORY
How like the ling'ring fragrance of a flower,
That implants its chastened breath upon the mind;
And the exquisite fancy of its form will find
The human heart a perennial bower
Of calm repose, and which no earthly power
Can change, nor Time's erratic flight can bind
It with the chaff of all the worldly kind,—
The purest gift that God to man endower.
And though the clutching hand that strife commands
While yet the bitterness of worldly tears
Would taint the mortal mould of natural birth;—
The fondness of a memory that knows all lands;—
Has drunk the waters of all joys and fears,
Is yet the sweetest treasure of our earth.
�m^
31
MAY, 1929
Man is Potentially Immortal
By
DR. GEORGE KNAYSI
Editor's Note — The subject of this article was suggested to the author
by a conversation with the editor of this publication upon the former's visit to New York. Dr Knaysi being an instructor in bacteriology at Cornell
University, a discussion of the progress of his research work naturally led
to the subject of longevity of human life. Such an opinion, in the nature
of the case, must only be a bare outline. In giving it, however, he took the
precaution to express the hope that "readers will understand from the close
of the article that it veils no atheistic tendencies. On the contrary, it pictures the continuous struggle of man against the unknown which he is and
in which he is placed, with man's usual slow but sure conquest."
The phenomena of life and death, youth and age, have baffled the human mind for ages. Generation after generation have
seen the babe develop into man and the man gradually wane and
disappear. It was a law, universal in its application, governing
both the plant and the animal kingdoms. Youth, age and death
seemed to be the corollaries of life.
Although the problem of life is still far from being solved,
and, indeed, only our faith in human progress gives us hope that
some day the human mind may penetrate the secrets of life as it
did penetrate the mysteries of space and those of the atom, yet
man's attiutde toward life and its manifestations has changed
considerably during the last hundred years. The year 1828 will
always be remembered as the year during which Wohler, a German chemist, accidentally synthesised urea, a substance known
then to be produced only by living matter. The mystery was
gone forever. Since then many such substances have been prepared in the laboratory, some of which are very complex indeed.
Another significant advance was made toward the beginning
of this century when the late Jacques Loeb, then of the Rockefeller institute, was able to fertilize eggs of sea urchins, frogs,
etc., by chemical and physical means. Sexual fusion is therefore
merely a type of chemical or physical stimulation.
The above two great discoveries, however, should not ec-
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
lipse many less important ones which enable us now to understand more or less thoroughly the basis of heredity, the nature
of youth, age and death, and the behavior of the living matter
toward various agents and under various conditions. We now
know, for instance, that life processes go on exactly according
to the laws of physics and chemistry, that age is manifested by
structural and chemical changes in the cell under the influence
of environment, and that death is a gradual process beginning
with age. The old theory that death is a corollary of life can no
more be accepted, in the light of modern investigations, and man
should be looked upon as potentially immortal.
For all these invaluable informations we are indebted to
experimental sciences, a century of which did more to enlighten
us than ages of speculative philosophy. We are justified, therefore, in looking hopefully into the future for a more complete
understanding of living matter, its nature and its properties. The
foundation is laid, and we can depend on the man of tomorrow
to contribute his share of honest and intelligent effort.
As to the question of the origin of life, it is likely to remain
a mystery for many years to come, for the simplest living system that we are able to observe shows a very complex organization. The attempts to prepare artificial systems endowed with
certain properties of life have, so far, yielded meager results. It
is significant, however, to note that all living systems are built
according to a general plan which, so far as the writer was able
to see, suffers no exceptions.
TO MY MISTRESS
Translated from the Arabic by J. D. Carlyle
Ungenerous and mistaken maid,
To scorn me thus because I'm poor!
Canst thou a liberal hand upraid
For dealing round some worthless ore?
To spare 's the wish of little souls,
.The great but gather to bestow;
Yon current -down the mountain rolls
And stagnates in the swamp below.
...
�I
MAY, 1929
j I
*
I*
Books and Authors
If*
SYRIAN FOLK-SONGS
33
The Smell of Lebanon, Francis Walterson, Talybont Dyffryn, North Wales. 50pp. $5.50
This is a book of twenty-four Syrian folk-songs collected
by S. H. Stephan, the English versions of which are by E. Powys
Mathers. Most of the songs are of the variety more in vogue in
Palestine, and while some are comparatively old others are fairly
modern. The English rendition is generally true to the letter
and the spirit of the original and the author is to be commended
for his painstaking ability.
These songs, however, cannot stand favorable comparison
with the selection of similar songs published in the Syrian World
in 1926 and 1927 as translated by two of our noted authors and
poets, G. K. Gibran and Ameen Rihani. The song of Marmar
Zamani (my days are bitter), occurring in both collections, may
be taken as an illustration.
A laudable feature of the book is that the Arabic original
and the English translation are printed on opposite pages to facilitate comparison. This scheme had also been followed by the
Syrian World. The Arabic characters of the Walterson book
which was printed in Leipzig, Germany, although clear, are of
an obsolete face which would have never been used had the book
been printed either in Syria or Egypt, or in America. The Arabic
faces of the Linotype in which all Arabic composition in America
is now being done have been used to infinitely better advantage
tage in giving the book a better typographical appearance.
USAMA APPEARING SOON
We acted on wrong information when we announced in the
preceding issue of the Syrian World that the Book of Usama,
which is being published by Columbia University Press, will appear next fall. Professor Philip K. Hitti, the translator of this
rare Arabic manuscript which sheds interesting light on certain
phases of the Crusaders' stay in Syria, assures us that the book
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
will be on the market the latter part of May. This we consider
good news which we gladly impart to lovers of worthwhile books
and admirers of the versatile talents of Dr. Hitti.
In making the statement in our last issue that Usama was a
delightful character, we had relied on fragmantary oral information about the nature of his work. We are now glad to give
a substantiation of the statement by the advance publication of
some chapters which Dr. Hitti has kindly given us. The installment published in this issue deals with the author's appreciation
of the Frankish character. In the subsequent installment which
will appear in the June issue, he gives a wondrous tale on the reward of honesty which does justice to the highest type of Oriental imagination.
Some allowance will have to be made for the frank language
employed by the author. Moslem writers are not generally prudish and the translator, true to scholarly ethics, was minutely
faithful to original. It should be remembered that Dr. Hitti is
making his contribution by the translation of this work on purely
scholarly lines, and it is by strict adherence to the original text
that an adequate appraisal can be made of the standards prevailing
in the particular period under discussion. It should be further
stated to the credit of Dr. Hitti that he has given the world an
English translation of Usama even before the appearance of the
original in print in the native language.
CONSTANTINOPLE
Stamboul, by Col. George A. Haddad, Shreveport La, 48pp.
The author of this little book is a Syrian rug merchant in
Shreveport, La., who has seen active service in the American Expeditionary Forces during the World War. He has dedicated the
work to his wife and young child and has apparently made every
attempt to make of the book a little work of art by a profusion
of illustrations, some of which are in colors. If he should decide
to issue further editions in the future, he will surely have the
language revised to fit more properly the subject matter. No
price is mentioned for the book, which fact prompts to the conclusion that the author intends the copies for private circulation as
gifts to his friends.
V
>
.
�.—.
MAY, 1929
35
EDITORIAL COMMENT
FUTURE OF THE RACE
The able article of Mr.
George A. Ferris on the future
of the Syrians in America
should be provocative of interesting and constructive discussion. While many hold the opinion expressed by Mr. Ferris,
to wit, that the action of the
melting pot is bound to take its
course and that a complete fusion of the different racial
strains in America shall eventually take place in course of
time. Mr. Ferris here gives a
clear and concise presentation
of conditions which is to be expected of a man of such long
legal training. Mr. Ferris, it
will be remembered, is the dean
of the Syrian legal corps in New
York and the United States, he
having been the first Syrian to
take up law as; profession. For
his pains in writing his opinions
for publication in the Syrian
World we feel that we owe him
full measure of thanks.
Mr. Ferris makes no effort
to conceal his belief that the opinions he has set forth are highly controversial. He must have
in mind the persistent sentiment
obtaining among certain elements of ethnic groups that the
survival of their racial entity
is not only possible but desirable. With the exception of a
few isolated cases, as he points
out, this has proven totally impracticable.
His deductions are that
"while the Syrians are bound,
in the process of time, to lose
their racial entity, ***the passage of time and the constant
changing of conditions cannot
obliterate characteristics that the
past has failed to change, and
the Syrians will make their contribution, and a very important
one, to the upbuilding of the
country, its people and their
character."
Further continuing his argument, he states that while each
foreign element may lose its racial characteristics in the process
of amalgamation, still it leaves
its impress upon the character
of the people, the institutions of
the country and an indelible
mark upon its history.
Here, according to this reasoning, we are driven by inexorable forces to lose our racial
entity while our potent characteristics are bound to remain. It
is a situation that could stand
further elucidation. How, for
instance, is it possible to perpe-
�36
tuate, for the good of the American nation, those characteristics of each racial element
which is destined to lose its
identity and entity? Does it behoove these elements to make
serious efforts, as distinct ethnic ^oups, to cultivate in their
new home that which is valuable of ,their customs and traditions, or would that action on
their part be construed as alien
to the spirit of America? Is
there a distinctly American culture which all newcomers
should strive to acquire in the
interest of homogeneity, or is
American culture still in the
making and it is the duty of all
elements to contribute to its
building in a conscious effort?
Pride in one's origin and
fealty, to certain valuable traditions do not necessarily mean
treason to one's adopted ,country. If in every element there
are certain laudable characteristics which are worthy of preservation for contribution to
America, the question which
then presents itself is how these
characteristics should be preserved. If, according to Mr.
Ferris's reasoning, only a small
proportion of Syrians in the larger cities is able to resist for a
longer period the action of amalgamation, while the larger
proportion scattered in smaller
THE SYRIAN WORLD
communities is bound to speedily lose its identity as Syrian,
how are we to reconcile the desirability of loss of racial identity and the advisability of preserving native characteristics?
It is a fact that many will disclaim their origin because of
lack of knowledge about their
racial extraction, particularly in
smaller communities where the
natural tendency for the weaker elements to merge both socially and religiously with the
dominant element. Is it advisable, under the circumstances,
to bring to these scattered elements what they now lack of
the necessary knowledge of
their ancestral background so
that those valuable traditions
that are a distinct racial contribution may be assured of perpetuation?
Aside from these isolated instances where the native language itself was possible of preservation so far, there are in
many sections of the United
States elements whose influence
transcends in the community
owing to their numerical preponderance despite the loss of
the original language. In other
instances, as in the case of the
Greeks, who are as widely scattered as are the Syrians, with
perhaps even less opportunity
for exclusive social life, organ-
MHHHHWHNIHHI
i
>
�I
MAY, 1929
ized efforts are being made to
perpetuate the memory of their
ancestors out of sheer racial
pride.
In the confusion attending
the present period of transition, with racial animosities
being fanned even by some
members of Congress who are
swayed by racial prejudice and
animated by un-American motives, it is difficult to ignore racial divisions. It seems to be a
question of pure self-assertion
on the part of the different racial elements. Now it is for the
Syrians to determine what their
future status and influence will
be as a component element in
the making of the American nation. Shall we drift aimlessly,
letting maters take their course,
which we may well admit is
being determined by the organized efforts of other groups,
or shall we make an equally
conscious effort to assert ourselves?
This is a question we would
like to throw open for discussion. We are contending with
two extreme elements, one ultra
Syrian and the other which
tends to ignore altogether its
racial extraction and heritage.
Is there a middle course that
should be defined and adopted,
and what are the logical methods of procedure for the at~
37
tainment jbf such an end? In
other words, are we to ignore
or to assert our racial characteristics, and in the latter case,what
are the best means for the achievement bf such an object?
Opinions are solicited on this
questoin to the end that our
position and disposition may
better be elucidated and defined
COLLECTIVISM
Syrian writers often complain that their countrymen are
highly individualistic with almost a total lack of capacity for
collective action. This trait is
said to have been imported by
the Syrians to America where
we find them successful in almost all jfields of endeavor as
individuals, while not having
yet acquired from their new environment the faculty for cooperative effort. The Syrians,
being given chiefly to commercial pursuits, this deficiency is
particalry noticeable in the lack
of corporate business undertakings amongst them.
Admitting this to be the case,
every attempt at co-ordinating
efforts for collective action must
necessarily be a difficult one.
Native characteristics bred in
the race throughout the course
of centuries would seem impos-
�%
38
•ible of eradication in one generation.
There is now evident, however, a healthy sign of a more
amenable disposition on the part
of Syrians toward collectivism.
Many inherent obstacles, it is
true, will have to be overcome
before the successful operation
of a new order of things which
is more in the nature of an experiment, but with the existence of the will to act on a firm
conviction, success is bound to
result in the end.
Within only the last few
months, there seems to have developed a violent outburst of
passion among Syrians for all
sorts of co-operative activities.
Several large Syrian kimono
houses in New York are reported to be conducting active negotiations for consolidation j retail Syrian grocery establishments in Detroit are planning
the formatoin of a co-operative
association for their trade; several leading Syrian newspapers in New York are facing
actualities and openly discussing the necessity of consolidation; a number of Syrian clubs
in New England have come together in a federation, while in
Paterson local civic organizations, with the approval and assistance of the clergy of all denominations^ have co-operated
THE SYRIAN WORLD
in forming a general society.
The agitation for the federation of Syrian societies in the
United States as advocated by
the Syrian World has, of course,
been going on for some time.
The progress of the movement
has been regularly reported in
our pages. It is cause for genuine satisfaction to state that
never before has a public movement of this nature met with
such success among the Syrians.
With the additional pledge received this month, the number
of pledged members reaches
twenty. Given this substantial
number as a nucleus, and with
the application of proper efforts
to the propagation of the movement once the federation is formed, the increase in membership should be rapid and continuous.
The important announcement
we had promised for this or the
subsequent issue was in reference to the proposed convention
of pledged societies to bring
forth the federation. A questionnaire had been sent to all
members calling for a choice
of date and place of meeting.
The answers so far received are
insufficient to determine a course of action. Due allowance
must be made for the fact that
all corporate action must of necessity be slow, especially when
�%
MAY, 1929
I
i
,
m
;
the movement is in the experimental stage and where the
members are scattered throughout the length and breadth of
the land. The announcement,
therefore, will have to be deferred to the coming issue.
In reviewing the situation,
one cannot escape a feeling of
elation at our steady progress
in the way of collective action.
We are not so sanguine as to believe that the ultimate goal has
been reached, but there is sufficient cause for elation in the
fact that we are headed in the
right direction, and that proof
of our progress is steadily accumulating.
Such signs as we see appearing simultaneously in different
localities and in various forms
indicate a growing conviction
and presage fruitful action.
Our greatest need, under the
circumstances, is to further prosecute this advantage in an effort to accelerate this healthy
movement. The tendency of
the times is towards cooperation
and it behooves us to be abreast
of the times and not behind
them. We would especially
urge pledged members to the
proposed federation not to falter in their determination to see
the movement culminate in the
hoped-for success, because they
are the custodians of the destinies of the race and theirs will
be the honor of achievement in
proportion to the effort they
bring to use in this crucial and
initial stage.
TRASH
If the different raeal elements in America were to indulge in acrimonious reciprocal accusations, there would be fine
prospects indeed for the sympathetic understanding and harmony which are so essential to
America's welfare.
Senator
Reed of Pennsylvania is surely
doing his utmost to serve the interests of his constituents by
hurling indiscriminate accusations at an element of the American nation. His attitude is
about the best that could be conceived for the fostering of a
spirit of harmony.
We may be sure that the Senator only proves his ignorance
when he brands (the Syrians as
trash. For the responsible position which he holds, he would
be expected to be better informed,not only on the achievements
of the Syrians in the past, but
on their present contributions to
the upbuilding of America.
Perhaps the Syrians will learn
from this deplorable incident
the necessity of organizing their
forces to take proper action in
such emergencies.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
40
Readers' Forum
RECONCILING VIEWPOINTS
OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN
Girls are Restricted Beyond the
Normal Supervision
Editor, The Syrian World,
their attitude here in America. It
is very difficult for a grown-up to
adapt himself as readily as a young
person. He brings with him, almost
entirely, the atmosphere of his native country. He even goes to the
extent of continuing to speak his
own language to his children all
through their life so that his children in turn may speak to him. He
tenaciously holds on to all those native things which are dear to him:
his language, his food, his religion,
his ideals, his culture, his home life.
In reading the 16-35-year case
which Miss Mary Soloman cites, one
would think he were reading a story
peculiarly American. It is not uncommon to learn of May and December unions, or unions where the
The first generation born here,
groom of fifteen years or more older naturally enough, attend the Amerthan the bride.
ican schools and daily come in conThe type of people that she had tact with American life. They learn
in mind when she wrote that letter of American ideals from the school
must have been the kind who regard teacher and the school book. Outtheir daughters as instinctively help- side of the home they learn of Amless children. Their outlook on the erica; but inside of the home they
world is that it is a hard place to must live in an old-world atmosphere.
live in, and their girls should be Sometimes there is a marked conshielded from all harm. They have trast. Not infrequently the result
the right idea, but they carry it a is confliction. They find it difficult
to adjust themselves to every sudlittle too far.
Fortunately, there are Syrians, and den change. Questions arise: Shall
they are many, who have struck a the girls play with boys and girls,
happy medium; who believe in al- or shall they play with girls only,
lowing their children enough inde- and shun the boys? Shall they go
pendence to develop their character to the movies, or shall they not?
and, at the same time, the parents Shall they attend the dance with
hold out a guiding hand.
other young people, unchaperoned, or
There has been too much of a ten- shall they not ? Each question must
dency to blame parents, especially be answered depending on the indithose of us who are the first gene- vidual case. However, when some
ration born here in this country. We some of our parents are ignorant
must take in consideration that they of the benefits of a certain thing
come from an entirely different they prohibit it to their children racountry as regards customs, free- ther than take a chance that it might
dom, dress and climate. All these do their children harm. It is only
things have something to do with a natural thing for them to do. It
�MAY, 1929
is the idea of protection which
prompts them to prohibit. Consequently, some of us rebel, and some
don't, depending on the courage we
have, or the freedom we have, or the
strength of our convictions. Then,
there ensues friction, because there
is misunderstanding. The children
do not understand the parents, and
the parents do not understand the
children, and neither one makes an
effort to understand the other. Must
there be submission?
I say, no.
There should be an intelligent discussion by both parties. The parent
should give his view and opinion, and
the child have his turn to speak.Then
a satisfactory decision might be
brought about. If so, the parent
can continue to live his way happily,
and the child will in all probability
have a much more wholesome outlook on life ond will be much more
content in the assurance at least,that
his parent is really concerned with
his, the child's, well-being and happiness. • There are parents, however,
who do not value the child's opinion.
Then how can they expect the child
to value their opinion when they do
not show respect by example?
I am in sympathy with Mary Soloman, although she has made many
statements which inspire lenghty discussions, pro and con. She cites a
case which is, fortunately, not universal. Nevertheless, the freedom
she asks presents an almost serious
problem among many of our young
people. It is true, though, that there
are girls who are hampered in the
development of their mental and
physical growth.
Certain things
which might prove beneficial to their
well-being are prohibited, and these
very things which are denied them
are allowed the boys- Why is this?
It certainly is a problem which has
risen before my very eyes many
times, and which I have always been
trying to solve. Whether or not I
shall come to an intelligent solution
I have yet to know. I feel that I
must still dwell upon it and study it
before I can state any.
Some parents lay too much stress
on behavior, and the girl's conduct
in the presence of people, and forget
the higher, nobler purposes of life,
so much so that she becomes selfconscious. Consequently, she does
not act natural and the result is suppressed desire or an inferiority complex. It will be difficult for her to
make and hold friends. If she does
not act in a natural and wholesome
manner people will not be anxious
for her companionship, and soon she
realizes this. So, she goes into seclusion rather than face being shunned. Who loses out? The girl, of
course, and not the parent. In the
meantime, the boy is leading a much
more normal life. The parent has
lived his life and has made of it
what he could. But what of the
young girl? Hasn't she a right to
live, too ? Hasn't she a right to mingle amongst all kinds of people so
that she may develop the ability to
discriminate? Some parents, in their
desire to shield their daughters, have
lost sight of the fact that their daughters are emotionally the same as
the boys, only a little more sensitive.
We do not know how different black
is from white until we see them both.
Hasn't she a right to substantiate
her parents' ideals by going out into
the world? However, I do not mean
that she should go out into the world
without being fortified with intelligence and whatever strength of character that her parents have helped
her to develop.
The girl's life should be just as
�42
happy and normal at her mother's.
I think that some parents have a tendency to lay too much stress on some
things and neglect atiher things
which are necessary in the development of one's character. A good
many have not struck a happy medium as yet. There is either one extreme or the other. Fortunately,
these extremes are gradually passing. As the first generation here
grows, marries and have children,
they will surely direct the growth of
their young ones in a much more
satisfactory manner; as they will
have profited by the mistakes of
their parents.
,
We all know the result of no freedom at all. When they go out into
the world the freedom which they
experience is a new sensation to
them and tlhey run rampant. The
parents have neglected to teach the
child to walk with a steady gait.
There are stones strewn on the roadway. One may trip and fall and the
result in all probability, will be bruises which may or may not leave
scars, depending on how hard the
fall.
Then, there is the other extreme.
Not too much freedom, but too little
education and intelligent discussions
in the home on the part of the parents in the presence of their children. Gross neglect!
The home lacks discipline. The
system in the home is loose. There
is no orderliness.
The parents'
world is so small that they cannot
see beyond their own selves, and
the children, therefore, are in want,
morally. When they do go out into
the world they never appreciate the
fine points of life. They mock, they
scom, and laugh at the honorable
and worthy "character. They do not
understand because they have never
been taught. How unfortunate for
THE SYRIAN WORLD
them- They do not know what they
are missing!
There is a light which I can see
through the darkness. It is the hopeful thought that, as the first generation grows and the second generation takes its place, the problem
of adjustment which have confronted the first generation and their parents will have been gradually solved, and the darkness will have been
changed into broad daylight.
Anna F. Shire
Roxbury, Mass.
>
AGAINST MIXED MARRIAGES
Editor, The Syrian World,
In the question of marriage, we
think we should follow the customs
of our forefathers. One very seldom
hears of our people divorcing, which
is something to feel proud of.
We would ask Miss Soloman if she
remembers one particular reason for
the Pilgrims' coming to America.
Their children began to marry the
Dutch and they did not like it, so
they left. By this you can see that
the Syrians are not the only people
that do not like for their children to
marry into different nationalities.
When you said that a mother will
advise her daughter not to go out
with boys as the Syrians will gossip
you speak as though the Syrians are
the only ones that gossip. Others
gossip as well and even better. When
your mother advises you, she is doing so for your own good. A girl
can find a suitable Syrian fellow easier than one of a different people.
Why not adhere to our Syrian
ideas. We know that, after all, they
are best for our own good.
Olga Aurady
Josephine Farris
Charleston, W. Va.
�..„
MAY, 1929
43
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a micrt
mic picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever
Arabic dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking
writers who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabicspeaking world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take
no part in the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our
task will simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge ana
with utmost sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed in these editorials.
Editor.
SYRIANS AS TRASH
The Syrians of Massachusetts have
sent vigorous protests against what
they term an insult to their race in
the remarks of Senator David Reed
of Pennsylvania during the debate
on the national origins Bill when he
referred to the Syrians as the "trash
of the Mediterranean". This action
on the part of our countrymen in
New England is praiseworthy and
commendable; but rebuke and protests are not in themselves sufficient,
and we would expect of our able lawyers to devise some other effective
means of action in similar situations.
Perhaps Mr. Joseph W. Ferris, leader of the American-Syrian Federation of New York, will volunteer his
opinion in the matter. Al-Hoda and
the Lebanon League of Progress.on
their part, retained a well-known
lawyer in Washington a long time
since to follow up the proceedings
on the immigration and similar questions and report to us on the result.
We expect his report soon.
There are still among us those
who have an inordinate infatuation
for office and constitute themselves
on their own authority public lead-
ers. They organize societies, collect dues, hold meetings and entertainments and require the press to
give them full measure of publicity
gratis; but when it comes to actual
public service these pseudo-leaders
are not there.
What have these so-called SyrianAmerican societies done so far? Do
they not consider themselves under
obligation to take up the fight for
the rights of the Syrians—who also
comprise the Lebanese—whom Senator Reed considers not only of the
trash but of the scum?
—Al-Hoda, N. Y. May 3, 1929
STATUS OF SYRIANS IN
AMERICA
Many Americans, including some
members of Cpngress, still show
helpless ignorance of the historical
background of the Syrians and are
therefore prone to belittle them. The
debate on the national origins Bill
and the insulting remarks of Senator Reed of Pennsylvania furnish a
recent illustration.
We wish to congratulate the Syr-
�ians of Boston on the action they
have taken in protesting against the
utterances of Senator Reed.
The moral we should draw from
this incident, however, is tihat it is
now time for us to form a national
association of Syrian citizens which
would take upon itself the defense
of our people against such attacks.
We should realize that we can prove
ourselves a potent political factor
if only we can organize our strength
This national organization should
confine its activities to the promotion of the interests of the Syrians
in America to the total exclusion of
affairs abroad. We have often commented on the imperative necessity
of such an organization and believe
the time now propitious for its realization.
—Ash-Shaab, N. Y. May 3
ANOTHER INDIA
There was a time when the most
potent political excuse in the vocabulary of the English was their
claim of the necessity of protecting
the route to India. Now there must
be some ironic satisfaction in the
English losing the monopoly on this
term. France has now resorted to
the same diplomatic expediency and,
according to a high official of the
Committee on Foreign relations in
the French Parliament, France must
remain in Syria to protect the safety
of its communications with IndoChina! To this gentleman it appears
imperative that France establish an
aerial station in Syria for the safety
of its communications with its Far
Eastern possessions. Gradually we
are given to understand that the
mandate in Syria is not what it ap-
pears on the surface, but that it is
only a link in the great scheme of
European colonization.
Why, O Lord, hast thou created
India a curse on the weak, that the
strong may take possession of everything in its nameWhoever dreamed that Indo-China
would become an excuse for France's
perpetual occupation of Syria? Are
we supposed to offer our country as
a sacrifice for that far-off land?
Why should our country be the open
door to outlying French possessions
and we become slaves on account of
Indo-China ?
—Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y. April 19
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ALLAH,
We are informed by the Arabic
press of Damascus that the police
of the capital city of Syria arrested
seven men for publicly breaking the
fast of Ramadan and held them for
trial.
y
tf
It is most commendable that the
government be actuated with the
highest spiritual motives and strive
to revive piety in the souls of its
subjects. But the surprising thing
is that the government should resort
to force in imposing pious observances.
Would that the government of
Syria leave the arrangement of matters of this character to the discretion of Allah, while it occupy itself
with the enforcement of civil laws
and regulations as, for instance,freeing the country of outlawry and
guaranteeing the inviolability of the
home,
It would behoove the Syrian government, in its excess of pious zeal,
to stop and consider the fact that
'
:
�MAY, 1929
Imposing piety by force is transgression on the prerogatives of God.
God may expect governments to
teach people the voluntary practice
;of pious observances, but not to
resort to force in compelling people
to practice that which affects only
their individual souls and for which
He alone should be the judge on the
last day.
—As-Sayeh, N. Y. April 8
ISLAM IN VOGUE
It is very seldom that we hear of
a Moslem in Syria or Lebanon becoming Christian. But we do, at
frequent intervals, hear of Christians embracing the Moslem faith.
What can be the reason for this onesided action?
It has been reported lately that
two prominent Christians, both of
whom are adherents of the Orthodox
church, have renounced their mother
religion and embraced Islam. One
is Fayez Bey Khouri, a prominent
leader in the Syrian Nationalist Party, and the other is Elias Bloudani,
a notable of Rashayya.
During the Turkish regime, Islam
was upheld by force and it became
natural for some Christians to seek
personal benefit by a change of faith.
But Syria is not under Turkish rule
today. The mandate is Christian
and the form of government democratic, where opportunities ,6re supposed to be equal. Why then do
some Christains choose to change
their religion?
Especially is such a condition deplorable on the part of a prominent
Christian of Rashayya where the
Orthodox still suffer from the effects
of tlno catastrophe! which befell
4S
them from their neighbors.
The truth of the situation is that
several factors combine to make
such a condition possible. Personal
grievances are partly responsible,
but the main cause of such defections
from the ranks of Christianity is the
weakness of the mandatory administration and of the native government. The Orthodox, in particular,
have become awarei that the country
is headed for Islam and not for a
true patriotic spirit; while those in
charge of the mandate show manifest partiality to the Moslems because of their numerical preponderance. Consequently they say to
themselves, "Why should we waste
our days in an unprofitable struggle
in a country which is admittedly
Moslem? We will, therefore, embrace Islam!"
This is not written in a spirit of
enmity to our brother Moslems
whose unity we greatly admire, but
we cannot fail to comment on the
sad situation where religious belief has become the main avenue for
political and social opportunities.
—Syrian Eagle N. Y. April 24
FOR RELIGIOUS REFORM
Our spiritual conditions in all of
our countries of immigration are
deplorable. While we of the United
States may fare better than our brothers of Mexico, still it cannot be
denied that we are headed for the
same result unless we take energetic action to bring about an improvement.
The immigrants represent that
progressive element which sought to
improve its conditions in new surroundings. Their main object having
�46
been achieved, self-interest steadily
works to increase their attachment
to their adopted country and to gradually forsake the old.
Having in mind particularly the
spiritual condition of the Maronites
in the United States, we can conscientiously state that conditions almost border on the chaotic. Some
priests openly rebel against the Patriarchate and their direct and lawful superiors. They find themselves
somewhat in the anomalous situation of being between two authorities, the Eastern and the Western,
and they have recourse to either one
as best suits their convenience.
Some missionary priests are a disgrace to their vows and should be
recalled, while most are mercenaries who are seeking only to enhance
their personal interests.
We know, of many cases where
Maronites have joined other religious
denominations owing to the unethical practices of some of their nat've
clergy, and in this we do not' hold
them at fault.
In view of this situation, we would
propose that the Maronite Patriarch
delegate as visiting prelate to the
United States the Rt. Rev. Archbishop Ignatius Mobarak who, we
feel confident, will be enthusiastically
received and whose mission is bound
to be fruitful of the most good. He
may succeed in inducing many parents to send their children to Syria
for their education and, besides, put
the Maronite house in the United
States in such order as to guarantee the perpetuation of the valuable
traditions preserved by the Maronites throughout centuries.
—Al-Hoda, N. Y. April 15
THANKFULNESS!
Arab authors invariably open their
THE SYRIAN WORLD
prefaces with praise and thanks to
Allah. It is the only occasion they
have for offering thanks.
—As-Saye'h, N. Y. "April 24
BREACH OF PROMISE
A Syrian young man was sued by
an American young woman for
breach of promise and the complainant awarded a verdict of $3,401
Such eases are not only rare but
almost totally unknown among Syrians. The Syrian girl does not believe in forcible marriage, nor does
she relish living with a man where
there are no prospects of maintaining the happy traditions of the Syrian home.
This, however, does not preclude
the fact that the Syrian and Lebanese young women in America are
Traced at a disadvantage. They are
hidden pearls whose beauty is not
permitted to be brought to light by
proper social contact. Due to this
deplorable condition, the number of
unmarried girls among us is steadily
mounting. Such a condition could
be remedied only by the active interest of the press, the clergy and
social organizations who have the
welfare of the race at heart.
The custom of seclusion has given
rise to a distorted conception of the
Syrian young woman by the Syrian
young man. Her reticence is interpreted as meaning excessive financial demands. Exceptional and isolated cases of this character may
have taken place, but they surely
cannot apply to the whole.
Tt would behoove Syrian young men
to employ some discretion in their
choice of companions and not give
promises promiscuously and run the
danger of court action.
—Aslh-Shaab, N. Y. April 80
�HI
MAY, 1929
47
Political Developments in Syria
What supporters of the Nationalist cause in Syria hail as a new
lease of life for their cause is the
announced return of the organized
Nationalist group to active participation in politics. Substantial results are expected to develop from
this move, principal among which is
the defeat of the several schemes
which are being concocted to reach
a compromise with the French which
defeat the aims of the Nationalists.
Ever since the proroguing of the
Constituent Assembly, many political leaders nursing personal ambitions have been engaged in formulating programs aiming at the solution of the problem. Almost all these
programs are said to be willing to
barter away the sovereign rights of
the nation, as denned by the Nationalist draft of the Constitution, for
the sake of compromise. One would
instijtute new elections under the
supervision of the government in the
hope of reposing representative authority in a new Assembly more
agreeable to an understanding with
France; while another would form a
permanent government by appointment, and invest it with authority
to enter into treaty relations with
the Mandatory Power on conditions
agreeable to the latter.
Realizing, it is said, the danger of
permitting the destinies of the nation to be shaped by their opponents,
the Nationalists decided to forgo
their policy of aloofness and again
enter the field of politics in an active
and agressive manner. They are
said to have decided previously on
a policy of passive resistance, resting
on the assurance that they had the
support of the nation in that they
were the lawfully elected representatives to the Constituent Assembly,
which authority they do not admit
having lost by the peremptory action
of the High Commissioner in proroguing the Assembly. But realizing that they were doing njury to
their cause by their continued withdrawal from the political field, they
were forced by developments to resume their former activities.
The stand of the Nationalists has
not undergone any change: They
stand for the Constitution as drafted and approved by the Constituent
Assembly. They are said to be ready
to resort to extreme measures for
the enforcement of their demands,
and to oppose particularly all attempts to enter into treaty relations with the Mandatory Power before the ratification of the Constitution. The Constitution, on the
other hand, by the establishment of
the sovereign rights of the nation,"
would place the mandate in a different status than that which it now
claims and automatically change the
aspects of the situation in favor of
the Syrian nation.
The resumption by the Nationalists of active politics has not apparently caused any change in the policy of those directing French affairs
in Syria. High Commissioner Ponsot is said to be playing a game of
watchful waiting in an effort to wear
down Syrian resistence. Some observers think that the French have
stolen a leaf from the English book
of colonial administration and are
�:
THE SYRIAN WORLD
48
counting on tihe lack of staying powers among Orientals to help them
gain their ends by continual delay.
A responsible official of the High
Commissariat is reported by one of
the Damascus papers to have said
that the French will never again resume negotiations with the Nationalists owing to the excessiveness of
their demands Which are incompatible with France's obligations as mandatory. This is taken to mean that
the French are striving to eliminate
the Nationalists as an active force
in Syrian politics in the hope of inducing the formation of a moderate
party.
The only disturbances reported in
Damascus by the latest issues of the
Syrian newspapers to reach the United States are the demonstrations
of the Syrian University students
in protest against the reduction by
the government of about $75,000
from the University appropriations
for the current year. Native students in the school of the French
Freres in Damascus having joined
the student strikers of the University they were expelled, wlv'ch added
to the bitterness of feeling both
against the French and the native
government of Sheikh Tajeddin.
ELECTIONS IN LEBANON ..
The Presidential elections in Lebanon were held on March 27 and resulted in the re-election of the first
President of the Republic, Charles
Dabbas, for a second term of three
years. The vote of the Representative Assembly was almost unanimous, 42 out of the 43 votes being
cast for the President while the single dissenting vote was cast in favor
of Sheikh Al-Jisr, President of the
Assembly.
Followng the elections, th« man-
datory authorities are said to have
fostered a proposition to extend the
term of office of the President to
six instead of three years, the amendment to take effect upon the expiration of the present term. Other
amendments are said to include the
right of the President to appoint
Ministers from without the ranks
of the Assembly and to adjourn the
Assembly on his own authority. Already the signatures of seventeen
Representatives are said to have been
secured to this proposed amendment
which, however, has been received
unfavorably by the press.
Upon his re-election, President
Dabbas paid a personal visit to the
Maronite Patriarch as an act of appreciation and courtesy.
President Dabbas was born in
Beirut in 1884 and received his educaton in the Jesuit University of
Beirut, going later to Paris for his
law degree. He was at one time
editor of the French-language newspaper La Liberte published in Beirut
and was sentenced to death by court
martial for his liberal activities during the war. He filled several positions of trust in the Lebanese government and was for several years
Minister of Justice. When Lebanon
was declared a republic in 1926 he
was elected first president. He married in 1919 a Frenchwoman, Mme.
Marcel, who is said to take a leading part in charitable and philanthropic activities in Lebanon.
No developments of any consequence have been reported from Wadi
Sirhan, the refugee camp of the
Druze revolutionists in the desert.
Emir Adel Arslan arrived at Jerusalem ostensibly to recuperate from
illness and it was denied for him that
he had broken with Sultan Pasha
Atrash.
�'"» —
mmi———
Dr. IBRAHIM G. KHEIRALLA
(1850—1929)
The Syrian who first brought Bahaism to the United States.
��MAY, 1929
!!
49
About Syria and Syrians
DR. I. G. KHEIRALLA
DIES IN SYRIA
Noted Religious Teacher Was First
Missionary of Bahaism in
America.
By Ameen Rihani
The recent death in Beirut, Syria,
of Ibrahim G. Kheiralla brings to
mind the early days of Bahaism in
this country. It was through the
efforts of this Syrian Arab, whose
country is the cradle of two of the
monotheistic creeds, Judaism and
Christianity, that the first American
converts to Bahaism were made.
Ibrahim Kheiralla was born in Mt.
Lebanon, Syria, November 11, 1850,
and he was the first graduate of the
American University of Beirut, heading the class of 1870. He afterwards
came to Egypt, where he met some
of the Persian Bahaists, who were
at that time persecuted in their own
country. With these refugees he
studied the tenets of the new sect
and was accepted by Ba'ha'-Ullah in
an especially written tablet as one
of his pupils and followers.
In 1893 he came to the United
States to attend the Congress of religions, which opened to the Western
mind new vistas of the spiritual
philosophy of the Orient. Dr. Kheiralla was an enthusiastic and discriminating student of this philosophy,
which found its embodiment in Bahaism. He was its evangelist. And
in a comparatively short time over
three thousand converts were made,
and several assemblies were orga-
nized in Chicago, the headquarters,
and in Kenosha, New York, Cleveland, Philadelphia and other cities.
It is paradoxial that the first scholar and graduate of the American
Missionary schools of Syria should
come to America to convert thousands of Christians to the belief that
the Arabian Prophet Mohammad was
one of the truly inspired Prophets
of God. It was, moreover, a labor
of love with him, for he preached and
taught without remuneration.
In 1895, six years after the death
of Baha'-UHah, Dr. Kheiralla returned to Acca or Acre, Syria, the present seat of Bahaism, with some
prominent American converts.among
them the late Mrs. Phoebe Hearst.
The Bahaists were then split into
two factions, one of which was headed by Abbas Effendi, called Abd'ulBaha. He was Baha'-Ullah's eldest
son, and while professing attachment to him, he refused to publish
his works and did not strictly adhere to his teachings. "He offered
the world a bland cafeteria programme of take what you wish," as Dr.
Kheiralla put it. The other faction
was led by Mohammad Ali Effendi,
and it represented the fundamentalists who insisted upon the promulgation of Bahaism as set down by
Baha'-Ullah. In this dispute Dr.
Kheiralla supported Mohammad Ali
and proved to be as staunch an opponent of Ab'ul-Baha as he had been
a faithful follower of his father.
Dr. Kheiralla wrote several books
and pamphlets dealing with Bahaism, mental science and philosophy.
His book "Baha-Ullab," published
�50
thirty years ago, contains a comprehensive and thorough study of
Bahai theology. His latest booklet
on Immortality was published a few
months ago, before he sailed for
Syria, where he had hoped to spend
his last days. But he died very soon
after his arrival.
He was a man of strong and imposing personality, with a sincerity
of conviction and an eloquence of
speech that carried his word and
his faith to the hearts of the thousands of people he preached to during his thirty-five years of residence
in the United States. His deep and
clear knowledge of mental philosophy, in which he excelled, was overshadowed, however, by his Bahai
mission.
Orientalists like Baron Rosen,
Count Gobineaux and Professor
Browne have studied Bahaism and
written sympathetically upon it, but
its spread in the West is due solely
to the zeal and untiring efforts of
Dr. Kheiralla who made it his supreme lifework.
As Wahabism represents the Puritan movement in Islam, Baharsm is
the expression of the Protestant reform of it. Baha'-Ullah taught that
Budha, Jesus and Mohammad all
strove for the amelioration of human conditions and the elevation of
mankind. In his eye, all the faiths
are inspired and should be the means
of promoting harmony.
Bahaism cannot be better summed
up than by the words of Baha'-Ullah
himself as quoted by Professor
Browne after a conversation he 'had
with him: "That all nations should
become one in faith and all men as
brothers; the bonds of affection and
unity between the sons of men should
be strengthened; diversity of religion should cease and difference of
THE SYRIAN WORLD
race be annulled. What harm is
there in this? Yet, so it shall be.
These fruitless strifes, these ruinous
wars shall pass away and the most
great peace shall come. Do not you
in Europe need this also? Let not a
man glory in this, that he loves his
country. Let him rather glory in
this, that he loves his kind."
SYRIANS OF MASS.
PROTEST INSULT
Hold Meetings in Boston and Lawrence and Send Telegrams
During the debate in the Senate
on the national origins Bill the latter
part of April, Senator David Reed
of Pennsylvania made a broadside
attack on the peoples originating iD
Mediterranean countries, branding
them as "trash of the Mediterranean" the "Syrians and other immigrants from the Turkish provinces."
This specific reference to the, Syrians must have been given particular prominence in press dispatches
to New England papers which accounts for the display of indignation
among our countrymen in that section. No action is reported by the
Syrian press to have been taken on
the matter by Syrians in other parts
of the United States.
The resentment of New England
Syrians took the form of public
meetings of protest and the sending
of telegrams by representative Syrian individuals and organizations to
Senators Walsh and Gillett of Mass.
defending their countrymen against
the attack of Senator Reed and calling for retraction. The Boston Herald of May 1 prints the text of such
|!
�MAY, 1929
51
a telegram sent by Elias F. Shamon, brave to dare to utter such words
a prominent Syrian and lawyer of concerning a people whose number
Boston, in which the remarks of Se- is almost negligible in a country of
nator Reed are characterized as this size.)
Where did he get this impression?
"false, biased and slanderous." While
Have
we been asleep? Has somein Lawrence, Mass., the Syrian-Amething
been happening of which we
rican Citizens' Society took the inhave
not
been aware? What is this
itiative in calling a special meeting
insidious
weapon
which we have not
of protest and adopted strong resorealized?
What
has
made the honorlutions, copies of which were sent
able
senator
from
Pennsylvania
soto Senators Walsh and Gillett and
blunt,
so
harsh,
so
unfair,—so
blustto Representative William F. Connery. Farris Morad as president, rous, so cocky?
Hurried meetings of protest have
and A. John Ganem, a young Syrian
been
held in several cities of Massalawyer, acted for the Lawrence sochusetts,
notably Lawrence and Bosciety in this instance.
ton.
Miss Labeebee A. J. Hanna, a SyrThe Boston meeting was to seian High School teacher of English
riously
discuss the matter of the inin Boston, sends the following acsult
to
the Syrian by Reed. All of
count of the Boston meeting of prothe
speakers
touched upon the subtest and of how she feels the Syrians
ject,
although
from various points
should react to the situation.
of attack. The most important facts
brought out are as follows:—
SHALL WE DESPAIR?
America will not appreciate fully
who we are and what we are until
By Labeebee A. J. Hanna
she is shown. We must prove ourAll over the country, more powerselves. We cannot dwell on our
ful than a forest fire, more turbu- past, but look to our future — being
lent than the stormy seas, has spread
Americans, loyal always and showthe news of the terrible insult upon
ing it, while retaining the best of
the Syrian by Senator Reed of Pennour Syrian heritage.
sylvania at Congress during the deWe have faith in our Youth and
bate concerning National Origins
must do all we can to keep our
and the quota on April 30, 1929.
Youth worthy and proud of his SyrShall the Syrian be stigmatized?
ian heritage as he proves himself a
Has some horrible force been on foot real American.
that has already tended toward stigWe have not harmed America. We
matization of our race?
have probably been misunderstood.
Have our fathers dared the seas Few are now the third generation
and ventured into strange lands to here, but we must forge ahead quickfind this?
ly so that we shall not be a target
Let us say that Senator Reed does for swaggerers.
Our way is strewn with many
not know what he is talking about.
Let us say that he is an estimable thorns, chief of these being the thorn
man, for he must be. Let us say there of lack of representation. We have
is no man more self-respecting. Let no ambassador to appeal to in time
Ought not
us say he is brave, (He must be of stress and insult.
�52
France, having a mandate over Syria, do something here—or, can't she
be relied upon ? Of the senators from
Massachusetts, Gillett semed to dodge the issue by saying, according to
Mr. Shamon, "that there must be an
error."
The Honorable David I.
Walsh, in response to telegrams,immediately took steps to reply in our
favor to Eeed.
Every Syrian knows, and those
who have troubled to investigate
know, that Syrians come to this
country of immigrants (for are we
not all of us immigrants, no matter
how many generations back?) Syrians come here to make homes. They
do not come to acquire wealth and
leave. They are here to stay. They
are peaceful and law-abiding, and
they love America. They give fairness and demand fairness.
All the speakers were agreed that
we must forge ahead and prove ourselves, but we cannot do much in the
face of damning stigmatization.
ARABS CAN BOAST
EARLIEST SKYSCRAPER
The Arabs are being given credit
for distinction in many fields, not
the least of which is architecture
and building ingenuity and creativeness. For, according to our Dr. Ph.
K. Hitti of Princeton University,
they were the ones who built the
world's first skyscraper. This information is contained in a letter by
the professor to the editor of the
New York Times and published in
that paper in its issue of April 25.
It would seem to bear out the familiar saying that there is nothing new
under the sun, only it takes a man
who knows to dig out from the ruins
of the past proof to fit every instance.
"THE SYRIAN WORLD
Following is the letter of Dr. Hitti
to The Times:
In reply to the question "What
was the world's first skyscraper,"
raised in The Times editorial, that
edifice stood in a part of the world
where it is least expected—in Yemen
of Southeastern Arabia. Ghumdan
was its name. Its height was 200
feet and its floors twenty.
If we are to believe reports of alHamdani and other early Arab geograpders, this palace was built of
granite, porphyry and marble in
San'a the ancient capital of al-Yemen
by a Himyarite King who flourished
in the first century of our era. The
King installed his court in the uppermost story, the roof of which he
covered with such transparent slabs
of stone that one could look through
it skyward and tell the difference
between a crow and a kite. An early
Moslem poet refers to the clouds as
the turban of Ghumdan, and the fog
as its belt. The structure survived
until the rise of Islam in the seventh
century and its ruins may have been
the ones discovered some sixty years
ago by the French archaeologist Edward Glaser.
If modern New York wants something over ancient San'a, it has to
look for it in some other field than
that of skyscrapers.
ANOTHER SYRIAN
IMMIGRANT FORWARD!
(Special correspondence)
Boston—It isn't every one who is
willing to devote all his evenings to
study after a hard day's work—and
pass the Bar, even though at the
start he could hardly write his name!
The information has just come to
I
�MAY, 1929
our attention of the passing of the
Bar examinations by Faris S. Malouf, a naturalized Syrian in his late
thirties, and resident of Jamaica
Plain, a suburb of Boston.
About twenty years ago, Mr. Malouf arrived in America with no
knowledge of the language. He first
attended evening school in Boston
and on graduating, was the speaker
of the eveningIn June, 1924, having attended
both summer and winter classes, he
was graduated from Northeastern
Preparatory School where he completed a four year course in two and
a half years. It is creditable that
he was never absent from school. His
courage led him still further. Why
not study law?
There was none to help him. He
realized he would study and strive
alone. That would not be an easy
task. He was not wholly at home
with the language, and many would
be studying and rubbing elbows
with him who were at a much greater advantage.
Mr. Malouf studied and was again
successful. He received his L.L.B.
Degree from Northeastern University Law School in June 1928.
However, that was not all. He
must pass the Bar. He redoubled
his efforts and continued neglecting
his social life to study—every night
and all day Sunday. Such courage
is deserving of the highest awards.
He passed the Bar on December 31
1928 and took the oath May 1, 1929.
GIRL PLAYS TUNES
ON HER TYPEWRITER
The following news item, together
with a picture of Miss Olga Elkouri,
appeared in the Washington Post of
il
April 14:
"Miss Olga Elkouri, formerly of
Detroit, Mich., who held the world
champion's title as stenographer-typist for three years, has moved to
Washington where she is employed
by the Immigration Bureau.
"In addition to her title as champion stenographer-typist, Miss Elkouri, who is of Syrian descent, is
an accomplished pianist. She is 21
years old and began her career of
rapid typing when of high school
age.
"Miss Elkouri is planning a number of typing exhibitions at schools
of the capital and probably will give
recitals at the piano as well. One
of the favorite numbers of Miss Elkouri's program is playing tunes on
the typewriter."
The Syrian World further learns
that this able Syrian young lady
has attracted the attention of motion picture producers and that she
has already given an exhibition on
the typewriter for the Pathe News,
where not only she can be seen operating but is also heard producing
on her machine well regulated tunes.
SYRIAN COLLEGE GIRL
HAS MANY ACTIVITIES
Both the Milwaukee Journal and
Calumet News publish glowing accounts of the many activities and
versatile talents of Miss Irene Nicholas of Calumet, Mich., said to be
the only Syrian co-ed in a Mid-West
University.
Miss Nicholas is now at the Wisconsin University and recently has
received many honors. She was elected a member of the Wisconsin Y.W.
C.A. International Institute's Foreign Committee which is conducting
�„^-^^...a^—f§MMMff
*
1 |
THE SYRIAN WORLD
S4
a survey of foreign nationalities. She
is in charge of the Syrian group. The
purpose of this survey is to ascertain
the race's accomplishments in the
literary, artistic and scientific fields
as well as to study their living conditions, employment opportunities
and other contributions that the race
has made to America.
SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRIESTS
Up to the present time, and owing
to the comparatively recent date of
Syrian immigration, all Syrian missionary priests of all denominations
were educated and ordained in the
mother country and sent here by the
religious authorities abroad to minister to the spiritual needs of the immigrants.
A change in this method is bound
to take place, according to Al-Hoda,
the leading Arabic newspaper of the
United States, in commenting editorially on the recent ordination of
a Maronite priest drawn from the
ranks of "the immigrants themselves.
The newly ordained priest was
formerly Far is Nasr Jowdy, who
was raised in Niagara Falls and was
later sent to a seminary in Cleveland, Ohio, and finally to Switzerland to complete his theological
studies.
Al-Hoda also recalls that the Catholic Archbishop of Portland, Me.,
sent an immigrant Maronite \>oy
back to Lebanon to study Arabic and
Syriac so as to be able to continue
here in America the rites of the old
Maronite church. The paper points
to these cases as an indication of a
new order of things which should
be seriously looked into for suitable
arrangement between the American
1
and Maronite ecclesiastical authorities.
TWO PRIESTS PASS AWAY
At about the same time early in
May, two Syrian missionary priests
in the United States passed away.
Father Louis Letaif, Maronite, of
Utica, N. Y. died of a sudden heart
attack, while Father Malatius Fihani, Greek Orthodox , of Pittsburgh,
Pa., died of pneumonia.
SYRIAN GIRL LEADER
IN MUSICAL ACTIVITIES
Readers of the Syrian World will
recall our numerous references in the
past to Miss Louise Yazbeck of Shreveport, La., who is establishing a
name for herself in musical circles
in that Southern city.
We are now pleased to further
state that Miss Yazbeck continues to
forge ahead in her chosen profession. An important recital was held
recently at the ball room of the Washington Hotel of Shreveport for
the benefit of the Holy Trinity Rectory in which this Syrian young woman was chairman and in which assisted many of the most noted artists
of the South.
SYRIAN GIRL WINS HONORS
The Elk City News-Democrat of
Elk City, Okla., publishes in its issue
of April 11 a list of the high school
pupils elected to the Oklahoma High
School Honor Society, which election is conducted under very rigid
rules. Among the seniors receiving
the honor this year was Miss Bessie
Shadid, daughter of Dr. and Mrs.
M. Shadid of Elk City.
�mm
55
MAY, 1929
DISTURBANCES IN HOMS
imposed they were placed under a
rule bordering on martial law.
The French are accused of enacting in Homs, a city of Syria, the
iniquitous practices which were supMOSLEMS IN AMERICA
posed to have been the monopoly of
Al-Bayan, a daily Arabic newsthe Turks of the old regime. Words
paper
of New York, reports in its
to that effect were contained in a
telegraphic petition by the Homsians issue of April 18 the holding of an
important meeting of the Moslem
to the High Commissioner.
The recent misfortunes of the city Young Men's Society of New York
were brought about by the depreda- City which was attended by many
tions of a few bandits who terrorized delegates from other cities and at
the whole countryside and foiled all which the conditions of the Moslems
attempts of the military authorities in America were discussed at length.
Resolutions were adopted to join
to apprehend them. The authorities ascribed this failure on their hands with other Moslem organizapart to the sympathetic attitude of tions throughout the world for the
the population toward the bandits defense of Islam, and the society
and retaliated by imposing heavy went on record as favoring the tafines on the while city. This policy king of the necessary steps for regulating religious observances by
the Homsians resented, and when
they refused to pay the penalties Moslems in America.
NEWS OF SOCIETIES
ANOTHER SOCIETY
JOINS FEDERATION
Editor, The Syrian World,
We wish to add our name as anther link in your chain of organizations, and are heartily in accord with
the fundamental idea of a National
Federation.
A small group of Syrian young
people met on April 12, 1927, with
the idea of forming an organization
which would prove to be of social
value among the Syrians.
Insofar as we have succeeded to
a certain degree, we are still, notwithstanding, constantly on the alert
for opportunities that will further
enhance the sociability of our society. Therefore, it is only natural that
we should express our desire to join
you in extending this chain, and to
help make it stronger.
a
We take this occasion to pay tribute to the parents who sympathetically encouraged us to form this
organization; as it was they who
so graciously helped us get together,
and who readily grasped our purpose of comradeship and good fellowship.
We are conciously trying to retain
the culture and ideals of our Syrian
parents, and to couple them with the
spirit of patriotism in an effort to
attain the highest type of American
citizenship.
i
One way we can develop and grow
in this respect is by learning of other
organizations through the Syrian
World ;for to isolate ourselves is to
remain provincial.
The Syrian Young People's
Association
Anna F. Shire, Secretary
�SPSS!
THE SYRIAN WORLD
SYRIAN- AMERICAN
SOCIETY IN PATERSON
Up to about two months ago, there
was in Paterson, N. J. no general society for the large Syrian community
which is said to number between
four and five thousand, although numerous societies of a local character
had long been in existence.
A number of public-spirited Syrians of Paterson sought to remedy
this apparently awkward situation
by working for the federation of the
different local societies in an effort
to provide means for more collective
action. Their efforts resulted in the
formation of the Syrian-American
Society which was officialy launched
on Sunday, April 21. The hall in
which the mass meeting was held
was filled to overflowing, and among
those present were the pastors of
all the Syrian congregations of the
city.
Mr. Kareem Maroon, Vice President of the society, presided. The
speakers were the Rev. A. Gorab,
minister of the local Protestant Syrian congregation; the Rev. Abdallah
Khoury, pastor of the Greek Orthodox church; Salloum A. Mokarzel,
editor of the Syrian World who, after having spoken in Arabic, was
also called upon to speak in English
for the benefit of the Syrian-American group; the Rev. Cyril Anid, pastor of the Greek Catholic church;
Joseph Khoury, editor of the daily
Ash-Shaab of New York; George
Hamid and Salim Barakat.
The officers of the new organization are: John Isaac President; Kareem Maroon, Vice President; Farid
Gorra, Secretary; Michael Seergy,
Treasurer; Shafik Wanly, Recording
Secretary, and Wadih Hatem, Sergent at Arms.
-
i
CARD PARTY FOR CHARITY
The Syrian Junior League of New
York held a card party and dance at
the hall of the American Syrian
Federation in Brooklyn on Saturday,
April 20, which were attended by
over three hundred. Two floors of
the spacious building were used for
the purpose. The proceeds were
donated to the Brooklyn Bureau of
Charities.
PARENTS' MEETING
HELD IN BOSTON
The Caravaneers Club, a Syrian
student organization, held a parents'
meeting on the evening of Monday,
May 6, which was well attended. It
had been originally as one of the
frequent educational meetings and
social entertainments of the Club,
but owing to the remarks of Senator
Reed on the Syrians, it took on the
nature of a meeting of protest.
The speakers were: President Al
Aboud, on the Club Constitution;
Louis George on the aim of the Club;
Elias F. Shamon on Protest against
Unfairness; Labeebee A. J. Hanna,
on Enlightening America; Nicholas
Samaha, on Praise of Faris S. Malouf; Grace Friedinger, on the Syria of Tomorrow.
Miss Hanna's talk, by unanimous
request, was given in Arabic, which
proves that those born here do not
neglect their fathers' tongue.
Mrs. Elias F. Shamon, Miss Labeebee A. J. Hanna, Saleem Attyah
and Faris Moses supplied the musical entertainment.
For refreshments, the Social Committee prepared wheat with nuts,
ammmmem >;-::<. '
�MAY, 1929
served like tea in cups, and macaroons. This was styled as distinctly
"different."
SYRAMAR GOLF CLU3
ELECTS OFFICERS
loum and K. J. Nassiff advisory
council.
After the meeting, the delegates
attended a luncheon at the Wendell
Hotel.
Information regarding the Association can be had from either the
President Box 1467 Pittsfield, or the
secretary Box 1097 New London.
Joseph S. Hage, Secretary.
In a communication dated April
19, the secretary of the Syramar Golf
Club of New York advises that the
following officers were elected for
the current year: Nat Mallouf, Pre- CALIFORNIA SOCIETY
ELECTS OFFICERS
sident; Henry Haddad, Vice-President; Ferris M. Saydah, Treasurer,
Los Angeles, Cal. April 20— The
and Richard E. Macksoud, Secretary. Syrian Young Men's Society of this
Syramar is a compound word ad- city held a meeting for the election
opted by the Club to indicate its of officers for the current year, the
Syrian-American composition.
result being as follows: Elias ShaMr. George A. Ferris was appoint- heen, President; Leon Saliba, Viceed chairman of the Golf Committee President; Samuel Mamey, Secretary
which is now working on final arran- and Wm. Baida, Treasurer.
gementp for the Spring TournaThe Executive Committee is comment. He was referred to as the posed of the following-.Lester Peters,
Club's champion.
Andy Abdo, Edward Gillett, David
Zail, Samuel Mamey, Leon Saliba,
Elias Shaheen.
David Zail
FEDERATION OF CLUBS
.
New London, Conn.—Representatives cf Syrian-American clubs and
societies in New England met in a
preliminary convention at Pittsfield,
Mass. on April 14 to form a national
association. The organizations represented were those of Pittsfield,
New London, Torrington and North
Adams. They called the new federation the Syrian-American Association of the United States and the
following were elected officers:Louis
Habib, President, Pittsfield, Mass.;
Michael Karam, first Vice-President,
Torrington, Conn.; Edward Karam,
second Vice President, Pittsfield,
Mass.; J. S. Hage, Secretary, New
London, Conn.; George Abalan, Treasurer, Hartford, Conn.; Michael Sal-
INAUGURAL DANCE
Canton, Ohio, April 12—The Young
Syrian-American Club of this city
held an inaugural dance of which the
two main features were a prize waltz
and a fox trot with a loving cup as
a prize for each.
Two Akronites claimed the cup for
the waltz, Genevieve Nahas and Ned
Attella, while Nellie Smith of Canton and James Attella of Akron
danced away with the cup for the
fox trot.
The officers of the club are: Geo.
Nickolas, President; Florence Namey, Vice President; Mary Sliman,
Secretary; Lucy Karam, Treasurer.
A. Shalala
�STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, CIRCULATION.
ETC, REQUIRED BY THE ACT OF CONGRESS OF AUGUST 24,1912.
Of The Syrian World published monthly at New York, N.Y,April 1st, 1929
STATE OF NEW YORKCOUNTY OF NEW YORK,
Before me, a Notary Public, in and for the state and county aforesaid,
personally appeared Salloum A. Mokarzel, who, having been duly sworn
according to law, deposes and says that he is the publisher of the The
Syrian World, and that the following is, to the best of his knowledge and
belief, a true statement of the ownership, management (and if a daily paper, the circulation), etc., of the aforesaid publication for the date shown
in the above caption, required by the Act of August 24, 1921, embodied in
section 411, Postal Laws and Regulations, printed on the reverse of this
form, to wit:
1. That the names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing
editor, and business managers are:
Name of—
Post office address—
Publisher, Salloum Mokarzel
104 Greenwich Street.
Editor, Salloum Mokarzel
104 Greenwich Street.
Managing Editor, Salloum Mokarzel
104 Greenwich Street
Business Managers, Salloum Mokarzel
104 Greenwich Street.
2. That the owner is: (If owned by a corporation, its name and address
must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses
of stockholders owning or holding one per cent or more of total amount of
stock. If not owned by a corporation, the names and addressee of the individual owners must be given. If owned by a firm, company, or other
unincorporated concern, its name and address, as well as those of each
individual member, must be given.)
Salloum A. Mokarzel 104 Greenwich St.
3. That the known bondholders, mortgages, and other security holders
owning or holding 1 per cent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages,
or other securities are: (If there are none, so state.) None.
4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of the owners, stockholders, and security holders, if any, contain not only the list of
stockholders and security holders as they appear upon the books of the
company but also, in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears
upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation,
en; also that the said two paragraphs contain statements embracing affiant's
the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting, is givfull knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under
which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the books
of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity other
than that of a bona fide owner; and this affiant has no reason to believe
that any other person, association, or corporation has any interest direct
or indirect in the said stock, bonds, or other securities than as so stated
by him.
5. That the average number of copies of each issue of this publication
sold or distributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the six months preceding the date shown above is.
(This information is required from daily publications only.)
S. A. Mokarzel.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 1st day of April, 1929
[SEAL.]
EDNA M. HUCKER,
(My commission expires March 30, 1930)
'
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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TSW1929_05reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 03, Issue 11
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1929 May
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 3 Issue 11 of The Syrian World published May 1929. The issue begins with an article by George A. Ferris which discusses future of Syrians in America and the possibility of losing Syrian culture while assimilating into American society. The next piece is a travel journal by Ameen Rihani which details his trip to Arabia and his encounter with King Hussein of Jordan, a supposed direct descendant of Muhammed. It is followed by a poem by Kahlil Gibran titled "Out of My Deeper Heart," a discussion of faith. Next is a poem by Dr. Najib A. Katibah titled "The Sudanese Soldier," a piece reminiscent of the time that the writer himself served with the British Armed forces in the conquest of Sudan. Philip K. Hitti has a chapter excerpt from Usama. Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin is featured next with a poem called "In the Rose Season," which discusses the time of year where roses bloom, and which the poet states is also "love's season." Another poem, translated from Arabic by Labeebee A. J. Hanna, follows, titled "Man is Dead." A collection of sonnets by Thomas Asa dedicated to Gibran K. Gibran primarily follow the theme of friendship. The final article presented is written by Dr. George Knaysi, an instructor of bacteriology at Cornell University. The article is titled "Man is Potentially Immortal," and it discusses the uncertainty and curiosity that accompanies the unknown territory of life and death in a scientific sense. The issue concludes with the Reader's Forum, excerpts from the Arab press, and more on the political developments in Syria.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
Ameen Rihani
George A. Ferris
George Knaysi
Kahlil Gibran
Labeebee A.J. Hanna
Najib A. Katibah
New York
Philip Khuri Hitti
Poetry-English
Salim Alkazin
Science
Travel
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/2e8f671f1b207769d7bcf6a98045cc70.pdf
a25a958641daf805faa8aac48ed9a14c
PDF Text
Text
30'29F
VOL. IV. No. 3.
NOVEMBER, 1929.
TTTF
SYRIAN WORLD
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
I
i
i
a
OFFICIALDOM AND THE GENTLEMEN
OF THE PRESS
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
A DESERVING INSTITUTION
HILDA FOX
RIHANI—THE MAN AND HIS WORK
ELIZABETH P. MACCALLUM
ESS
A LEGEND OF THE NILE
DR. SALIM Y. ALKAZIN
I
SUCH WAS FATE! (A SHORT STORY)
LABEEBEE A. J. HANNA
jHjJ
i
THE COPY 50c
��THE
SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A.
Tublished monthly by
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies 50c
Entired as second-class matter June 257^192671uf the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. IV. No. 3.
NOVEMBER, 1929
CONTENTS
PAGE
In This Issue
3
Officialdom and the Gentlemen of the Press
5
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
A Deserving Institution
Miss
14
HILDA FOX
Riharii—The Man and His Work
ELIZABETH
P.
20
MCCALLUM
To the Mm With the Hard Eyes (Poem)
28
BARBARA YOUNG
A Legend of the Nile (Poem)
DR. SALIM
Y.
29
ALKAZIN
�.IDII
—°— —m
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
Such Was Fate! (Short Story)
LABEEBEE
A. J.
32
HANNA
Editorial Comment
Racial Consciousness
Variety
38
40
Letters to the Editor
41
Spirit of the Syrian Press
42
Political Developments in Syria
46
About Syria and Syrians
50
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
President of Lebanon Entertains Publishers
President Charles Dabbas of Lebanon
Sheikh Bishara Khouri, Premier of Lebanon
Farewell Luncheon to Lebanese Editors
Ameen Rihani in Arab Costume
The Valley of Freike
Partial View of Freike
�IN THIS ISSUE
ELIZABETH MACCALLLTM is a serious student of
foreign affairs, being on the research staff of the Foreign Policy Association. The early
struggles and achievements of
Ameen Rihani, both in the literary and the political realms,
hold a strong fascination for
her. She made a thorough
study of his life and works and
wrote an illuminating article on
the subject which was published
in the November number of
the SURVEY GRAPHIC. It is but
proper that THE SYRIAN
WORLD, to which Ameen Rihani has contributed so freely,
reproduce this authoritative appreciation of him by an American writer of standing. Miss
MacCallum, it may be recalled,
is an authority on Syrian and
Near Eastern affairs, she being
the author of the "Nationalist
Crusade in Syria." Her article
on Rihani, as well as the accompanying illustrations, are reproduced by special permission of
the author and of the SURVEYGRAPHIC. * * * SALLOUM
A. MOKARZEL writes for
this issue another chapter of the
account of his recent tour in
Svria. In this installment he
tells of his interviews with the
President and Premier of the
Republic of Lebanon, and with
the acting French High Com-
missioner. Not alone do you
get an estimate of the character
of each of these high officials,
but some pertinent information
on various governmental affairs in the country. Besides,
the writer takes you on a tour
of the newspaper and printing
establishments, and recounts
his personal experiences and
contacts with the members of
the newspaper fraternity. * * *
DR. SALIM Y. ALKAZIN
spent several years in Egypt
while a youth and became well
versed in the mystic lore of
that ancient country. He contributes to this issue a fascinating legend cast in poetic form
and having all the gripping interest of a mystery tale. The
reader can follow the moving
narrative as easily as he can an
easv-reading short story. * * *
LABEEBEE A. J. HANNA
contributes to this issue an original short story, whose scene is
laid in America and whose
theme is a phase of Syrian life.
Surely the cosmic force of love
moves all men alike, but the
new factor of immigration coming into the lives of the Syrians and causing the breaking
up of many a home makes the
plot of Miss Hanna's story possible. While she initiates you
into certain forms of Syrian
social activities in New York,
�she holds your interest until
the final denoument which reveals a tragic incident in a Syrian couple's life. * * * BARBARA YOUNG, the wellknown American poet, is a
loyal friend of the Syrians and
THE SYRIAN WORLD. She has
contributed many an original
poem before and makes of her
present contribution a further
proof of her continued interest.
* * * HILDA FOX, General
Secretary of the Lebanon Hospital for Mental Diseases,
writes on the history and needs
of this, the only institution of
its kind, in Mt. Lebanon. Syrians interested in the progress
of humanitarian endeavors in
their mother-country will find
it most profitable to acquaint
themselves with the indispensable work of this institution,
supported so far solely by
American and British philanthropy. * * * REGULAR
DEPARTMENTS are being
improved and added to constantly. Political Developments
in Syria continue to hold the
center of the starre in Near
Eastern affairs. The Arabs are
prosecuting vigorously their
claim to a place in the sun and
have so far succeeded in creating a tremendous impression.
To follow the epoch-making
events now taking place in Syria
and Palestine is to read history
in the making. These develop-
«
ments are concisely and conscientiously summarized in
every issue of THE SYRIAN
WORLD. * * * The Spirit of the
Syrian Press in this issue is as
informative and as indicative
of public opinion among the
Syrians as ever. Passions seem
to be aroused to an unusual degree over many political matters under controversy. The
comments are faithfully reproduced as they appeared, our
purpose being to give an adequate picture of what transpires
in the Syrian press. * * * Letters to the Editor in this issue
seem to concentrate on one subject. We invite our readers to
express themselves freely on
all current matters. Criticism
and suggestions for improvement are equally welcome.***
The News Department in this
issue is enlarged and contains
a wide variety of material.
Readers can add to its interest
by sending us news of all matters of public concern occurring
in their localities.
Our readers surely share with
us the satisfaction of making an
appreciable gain in overcoming
the delay in our publication
schedule. This issue appeared
only three weeks since the publication of the last. We trust to
be able to continue this gain so
as to overcome the discrepancy
with the second issue following.
�—. —
I,
.,.,
,._,.,,
...,
T1TF
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. IV. No. 3.
NOVEMBER, 1929.
Officialdom and the Gentlemen
of the Press
A Chronological Record of the Editor's Trif Abroad
By
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
III.
QF the month I spent in Syria a little over ten days were spent
in Beirut, though intermittently. I could have profitably spent
many more but for the limitation of time. For Beirut is not only
the capital of the Lebanese Republic, but the emporium of Syria,
its principal seaport and, perhaps, the chief cultural and educational center of the whole Arabic-speaking world. Its ranking
educational institutions are the American University and L'Universite de St. Joseph of the Jesuit order, while its colleges and
schools of lesser rank may be counted by the score, some under
native and others under foreign direction. Beirut, besides, does
not lack of historical or legendary importance. It was a flourishing center of commerce and learning both before and during
Roman rule, and through the stormy epoch of the Crusades it
played an important role. The Bay of St. George, where the
valiant Christian knight slew the dragon and saved the maid, is
one of the chief beach resorts of the city, while the valuable archaeological discoveries made in the city proper and vicinity, have
enriched the National Museum to the point of making it the foremost museum in the world in Phoenician relics. The invaluable
sarcophagus of King Ahiram, unearthed in Byblos in 1924 and
�,A
6
THE SYRIAN WORLD
bearing the earliest inscription ever discovered in Phoenician characters, is in the possession of the Museum of Beirut.
This is but part of what gives Beirut its claim to intrinsic historical importance, while the additional distinction of being the
seat of the French High Commissariat since the mandate, enhances its position as a political center.
Having been shown exceptional courtesies by the native government, my first act was to call on the President to pay my respects and render due thanks. President Charles Dabbas was
courteous to receive me at an early hour. He is at his desk during summer punctually at eight. When I was ushered into his
office at about nine he had cleared his desk of the morning mail
leaving only a huge pile of local and foreign papers untouched.
My companion on this occasion, as on most of my other formal
calls, was Joseph Mokarzel, publisher of Ad-Dabbour. But in
the company of President Dabbas one immediately feels the unnecessity of all formalities. My first impression of him was that
of a clear-visioned, affable diplomat, hiding under a screen of
suppleness a firm tenacity of purpose. He is eminently fitted for
his exalted post both by character and training. Being a lawyer
of note and having held high administrative posts in the native
government before the inauguration of the republican regime,
he is master of all details of administration. Perhaps he excels
in the role of conciliator and mediator, and this first impression
I had of him was later confirmed at the time he acted as host
in his official residence to a group of the leading publishers and
editors whom he invited to a luncheon and reception he was
gracious to extend to me. What I witnessed at the time, when
he handled one of the most difficult situations with infinite tact
and adroitness, convinced me of his supreme fitness for the honor
of being the first president of the first republic in the Arabic East.
President Dabbas expressed the greatest solicitude for the
welfare of Syrian and Lebanese emigrants in America. He would
like to see the bond of relationship further strengthened between
them and their mother country. Not that he would expect them
all to return, but that they should not disrupt definitely their
relations with the motherland and lose all interest in its welfare.
Now that Lebanon is entering upon a new era of progress and
expected prosperity, the President believes that Lebanese emigrants could not only contribute substantially to the acceleration
of the advance movement, but that they could profit materially
�NOVEMBER, 1929
I I
7
by the promotion of basic industrial enterprises.
The audience with the President lasted for over an hour.
He was anxious to get first-hand information on America and
I of the motherland. Prominent personalities among Lebanese
emigrants were not unknown to him. He particularly inquired
after the well-being of my brother, publisher and editor of AlI-loda of New York. "The country," volunteered the President,
"owes Mr. N. A. Mokarzel a lasting debt of gratitude for his
signal services in his long and constructive career. I trust you
will be good enough to convey to him these sentiments as expressions of the deep appreciation of his motherland. Through
him our thanks may be appropriately transmitted to that vast
number of generous emigrants who so splendidly responded to
his call to aid the motherland in its times of trial and affliction."
The President was referring to the numerous occasions when
Al-Hoda, through popular subscriptions, raised thousands of
dollars in money, clothing and foodstuffs in aid of Syrian and
Lebanese sufferers.
It may be parenthetically stated that this sentiment of appreciation and gratitude to the editor of Al-Hoda was prevalent
throughout the land. I heard it expressed in the President's office, in the Maronite Patriarch's see, in District Governors' bureaus, as well as in the public squares of the remotest and most
isolated villages. To the common people he was the ideal patriot,
fearless in his championship of the nation's liberties. He was
everywhere proudly and lovingly referred to as the "Tiger of
Lebanon."
The conversation with President Dabbas encompassed all
vital subjects from the economic, to the social and educational.
Politics, however, were only lightly considered. It was perhaps
best to exclude this topic from consideration in the highest executive office of the country when every other place in the land
seemed to teem with it. The very atmosphere of Lebanon appears to be impregnated with politics. Before I had gone through
half of my first day I had come to the conviction that no group
could be together for more than five minutes before the conversation veered to politics. There was something or other wrong
with everything and everybody, and all was wrong with the government. Alas! if only the people directed their energies to
some constructive effort, what a change could be wrought.
And this condition, I must hasten to state, does not apply
�<m«*r*
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
only to governmental circles and the people of the capital j it
was epidemic throughout the land. You could not possibly escape
it even if you "sought seclusion on the mountain top," as the
Arab adage goes. For even there the goatherd will come to you
with his complaints and grievances, and your native companions
would find excuses to revert to politics in the question of reforestation, road-building, taxation, petty graft and a score like matters.
From the President's office we stepped into that of the Premier, adjoining. Sheikh Bishara Khoury had been in office only
a few months but even then was considering to resign. Politics
in Lebanon is the most trying of games and it would seem that
the most honest and capable must of necessity devote the major
portion of his time and energy to maintaining himself in office
instead of applying himself to his duties.
One's first impression of the Premier is that of a man of extraordinary capability and energy. His clear, blue eyes have
depth and firmness. He greets you with the affability and dignity
of the born aristocrat. His every movement denotes decision.
The Premier was as solicitous for the Lebanese emigrants in
America as was the President. Our conversation ran along almost identical lines. When asked for his photograph he wrote
across it a beautiful message to the emigrants. For if the former
conception of the emigrants remaining an integral part of the
mother country is gradually giving way, it is doing so reluctantly.
All classes of the population appreciate to the full the contributions of the emigrants to the maintenance of the motherland—
their continued remittances are an immense invisible item in the
revenue of the country, while the large amount of emigrant capital invested in industrial enterprises is helping materially in its
economic progress. The Premier lauded as a most helpful move
the promotion of tourism.
From the office of the Premier we crossed the hall to that of
M. Solomiac, simply as a matter of formality, he being the liaison officer between the French High Commissariat and the Lebanese Government.
While on the subject of formal calls, I may here mention
that some of my newspaper friends advised my visiting M. Tetrau, the acting High Commissioner in the absence of M. Ponsot.
The audience was arranged through John Bey Ayoub, director
of the Bureau of the Press in the High Commissariat. To M.
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PRESIDENT OF LEBANON
Guests at the official luncheon given by President Charles D
From left to right: Shukri Baccash, Bishara Khouri, Gibran
karzel, Gabriel Khabbaz, President Dabbas (central figure
tany, Kheir Eddin El-Ahdab, Wadih Akel, Joseph Souda, Jo
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abbas of Lebanon in honor of the Editor of The Syrian World.
Twaini, Alexander Riashi, Michel Zakkour, Salloum A. Moin white), Mohammad Al-Bakir, Assad Akel, Alexander Bisseph Mokarzel.
�PRESIDENT CHARLES DABBAS OF LEBANON
From the autographed photograph given to the Editor of The Syrian World.
�_
SHEIKH BISHARA KHOURI
Premier of Lebanon
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To my
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wishes
return.
TRANSLATION OF THE PREMIER'S INSCRIPTION
ON HIS PHOTOGRAPH
friend, Mr. Salloum Mokarzel,
remembrance of his visit to the Lebanese homeland and in recognihis services to this country, coupled with greetings and sincere best
to Lebanese emigrants. May God grant them prosperity and safe
Beirut, August 21, 1929.
BISHARA KHOURI,
Premier of Lebanon.
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FAREWELL LUNCHEON
TO LEBANESE EDITORS
The sixth figure from the left is Sheikh Bishara Khouri, Premier of the Republic of Lebanon. Immediately at his right,
wearing a tarboush, is Ahmed Showky Bey, poet Laureate of Egypt. The second from the left is Sami Effendi Shawa.
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NOVEMBER, 1929
Tetrau I explained the purpose of my trip and stressed the project of encouraging tourism to Syria and Lebanon. 1 ventured the
opinion that it would be a profitable move to issue suitable literature in English for the purpose, the which could be distributed
among the American traveling public. M. Tetrau replied that
this had been done; that a few thousand descriptive pamphlets
had been printed and distributed, but how and where he could
not tell. He searched in his desk for a copy and gave it to me.
It was a diminutive thing that would compare ill with any piece
of literature a steamship company issues to advertise a single
cruise. No copies of the small edition, to his knowledge, had been
sent for distribution in America.
But in French literature the tourist trade of the country fared
better. The acting High Commissioner showed me the latest
product of French effort along this line. It was a pretentious book
by Col. Jacquot, an officer of the French army of occupation,
on the Alouite State. I had seen the book before through the
courtesy of the purser of the S. S. Providence while making the
crossing and admired its scholarly information. The High Commissioner obligingly informed me that the book was on sale at
the Jesuit Press in Beirut, where it could be bought for forty
francs, as it was privately printed to the account of the author.
I took the hint and bought a copy, which I consider well worth
the price, but I could not escape the conclusion that this was poor
propaganda for the country.
The High Commissioner, however, further obliged me with
an explanation as to the reason for the reluctant attitude of the
French toward the encouragement of tourism. In his statement
he left nothing for inference. His words were clear and indicated
a well-defined policy.
"Under prevailing conditions in the country," he said, "we
do not want to encourage tourism. Hotel facilities are not adequate and we fear that by inducing tourists to visit the country
in its present stage their reactions will be such as to bring injury
to the tourist industry in the future. Our concern at present is to
provide first-class hotels equipped with all modern conveniences.
We plan to have such hotels erected at strategic points throughout the country, in a line running from Beirut, to Tripoli, to
Aleppo and Damascus. The railroad companies are raising the
necessary capital for this project and we expect to have a number of hotels opened in the principal cities within a few years."
I was not inclined to enter into an argument with the acting
�*'?
10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
High Commissioner. I was seeking information and got it. The
stand of the French authorities on the question was clear and they
gave their reasons unequivocally for so doing. But I could not
help asking myself the reason for such a divergence of policy
between the French and the native authorities. Here was the
Lebanese Government making annual appropriations for the encouragement of tourism and the promotion of Lebanon as a summer resort, while the French expressed the fear that until the
completion of the contemplated hotels the country would be
more hurt than benefited by the tourist trade. How can the two
viewpoints be reconciled?
I not only put the question to myself but put it to others
to native political leaders who seem to have developed an uncanny
perspicaaty in delineating French motives. Here was their explanation:
"The French are in the country primarily for their own
interests. If the tourist trade is to be profitable the profit must
be theirs. It will not be theirs so long as they have no capital invested in the hotel business. They are, therefore, biding their
time in the promotion of tourism until the railroad interests,
which are French, are ready with their plans, all other excuses
notwithstanding. We have in Lebanon better equipped and
managed hotels than any in Palestine,—better even than the
government-built hotel in Latakia. But Palestine does not seem
to suffer from any harmful reaction of its tourists. The truth
of the situation is that the country's progress is being sacrificed
to French greed."
This is the pro and con of the situation. I am neither indicting nor defending. What I can frankly and unreservedly state,
however, is that I heard grumblings against this policy of the
French in every section, mostly, rather, in northern Lebanon,
which is supposed to be the bulwark of French influence in the
country.
While on the subject of officials, I could not pass a general
reference to many French officials in various parts of Syria who
entertain genuine solicitude for the welfare of the Syrian people,
and who have succeeded in establishing themselves firmly in the
love and esteem of all classes. Wherever such are found they
are fast repairing the damage done to French prestige by the
overbearance and arrogance of their predecessors. I shall relate
my pleasant experiences with these officials in due course of these
accounts.
�NOVEMBER, 1929
11
Some of my most pleasant memories of my experiences in
Beirut are those of my contacts with members of the newspaper
fraternity. The editors had been most hospitable in their reception and kind in their treatment of me. I had known everyone
by his work and came to evaluate his true character. I could expect fairness from them all at all times, but never dreamed that
they would carry their generosity to the extent they dealth to me.
Our relations were not only those of genuine cordiality but
of sincere mutual helpfulness at the same time. In their political
views they may be irreconciliably divided, as would be natural,
but on one particular point, that of admiration for the emigrants
and appreciation of their generous help to the mother country
in times of need, they are of a single mind. They sought of me
information on the conditions of the emigrants covering every
phase of life, while I was immensely enriched by their wealth of
experience on general conditions in the motherland. I am happy
over the privilege of being the medium of transmitting to my
fellow Syrians and Lebanese in America the high opinion of them
entertained by the representatives of the intelligent public opinion of their mother-country.
Learning of my interest in making a study of the progress
of the printing industry, the publishers of (Beirut gave me free
access to their printing establishments. I must confess that I had
hoped to see the industry in a more advanced state for a city
of the educational and cultural importance of Beirut. With a
little more initiative and technical knowledge, a modern press
could be established in Beirut which the city and the country at
large could well support. It would be the means for cultivating
the sense of the beautiful in the printing art which is an unfailing sign of a nation's progress. On my visits to the American
and Jesuit Universities, I was given beautifully printed year
books and other pieces of literature on the two institutions, but
the work was done in France!
Almost all the newspaper establishments of Beirut are identical in equipment. A cylinder press, and in a few cases two, of
European make fed by hand; one or more job presses; a paper
cutter and any number of old-style type cases which the Arabic
newspapers of America have discarded entirely after the advent
of the Linotype. Even the folding is still done by hand. One
would think that with the cultural and educational leadership of
the city the printing industry would be more progressive.
The two best equipped plants are those of two foreign mis-
i
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
sionary institutions: L'Imprimerie Catholique of the Jesuits and
the American Press. In the latter establishment I was pleasantly
surprised to see an automatic-feed American Kelly press and the
latest model Arabic Linotype. The manager expressed his complete satisfaction with both machines. He was particularly elated
over the advantages of the Linotype which he characterized as
a boon beyond value, enabling them, as it does, to set type not
only in various Arabic faces but in all European languages. At
the time of my visit the operator, a graduate of the American
University of Beirut, was turning out English composition of a
technical nature. He said he was in love with the machine.
Another well-equipped plant which is capable of enormous
production is that of Al-Hoda. All its equipment is of American
make comprising two Linotypes, two folding machines, one
Miehle Press, and several cylinder and pony and job presses.
The principal public occasion in which I had the good fortune
to meet the leading editors and publishers of the country as a
body was the reception and luncheon with which President Dabbas honored me at his summer residence at Aley on July 30.
Those present were: Joseph Souda, editor of Ar-Rayat and member of the Assembly; Wadih Akel, editor of Ar-Racid; Kheir
Eddin El-Ahdab, editor of Al-Ahd Al-Jadid; Alexander Bistany,
editor of Lisan Ul-Hal; Assad Akel, editor of Al-Bairaq; Mohammad Al-Bakir, editor of Al-Balagh; Gabriel Khabbaz, editor of L'Orient; Michel Zakkour, editor of Al-Marad and member of the Assembly j Alexander Riashi, editor of As-Sahafi AtTaih; Gibran Twaini, editor of Al-Ahrarj Bishara Khouri, editor
of Al-Barq; Shikri Baccash, editor of Zahle Al-Fatat and Joseph
Mokarzel, editor of Ad-Dabbour.
These editors represented not only all religious creeds but all
political alignments. The President, himself a former editor,
lived up to the highest ethics of the profession and drew no distinction. One of those invited had his paper under suspension
even then for attacks on the Premier.
But throughout the afternoon the President manipulated the
conversation so that it would steer entirely clear of politics. Lebanon weather, unlike that of America, being outside the pale of
discussion as a ready excuse, the President discussed poetry. For
ingenious diplomacy this could be termed a master stroke, because
once you mention poetry, you touch the Lebanese's tenderest spot.
They are poets all in Lebanon.
�1
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NOVEMBER, 1929
13
The other occasion was when the above editors, with a number of others, accorded me the honor of attending a farewell
luncheon given at the seaside cafe of Alphonse on August 21.
The additional guests included Prime Minister Sheikh Bishara
Khoury; Ahmad Showky Bey, the poet laureat of Egypt, styled
"Poet of the Prince and Prince of the Poets"; Sami Shawa, the
celebrated violinist; Halim Dammous the poet; Joseph Sader,
editor of Al-Hokouk; Joseph Nasr, editor of Ar-Rakib of Tripoli; John Bey Ayyoub, chief of the Press Bureau at the High
Commissariat; and John Faggaly and Toufik Mokarzel of AdDabbour.
On this latter occasion neither the discussion of politics nor
the flow of poetry could be stemmed. Halim Dammous's poem
in praise of the emigrants was expressive of the loftiest sentiments. Forced by the circumstances to act as spokesman of
the emigrants, I attempted to state our position in terms that
would permit of no misinterpretation and admit of no ambiguity:
The emigrants have definitely chosen America for their home;
they owe but one political allegiance and that is to the country
of their adoption; their return as a body is beyond all hope;
their interests and that of their children is better served by banishing forever any illusion in this respect. Under the circumstances, our brothers of the mother country should view the loss
of the emigrants as a fait accomfli.
But this does not preclude sympathy by the emigrants for
the mother-country and solicitude for its progress and welfare.
This interest should not be confined to the first generation immigrants but should be transmitted to their children. It is the assumption that knowledge of one's historical background makes
of him a more self-respecting and useful citizen; while indirectly
this appreciation by the new generation of their ancestral background will keep alive the interest in their ancestral country's
welfare. The publication of THE SYRIAN WORLD was one means
to such an end; encouraging tourism to the ancestral land another.
A newspaper man's weakness is talking shop, and I find
myself inclined to indulge perhaps at too great length in accounts of my experiences with the fine group of confreres I met
in Beirut. I must, however, overcome the weakness for the present. Cominrr accounts will deal with other topics.
i
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14
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
A Deserving Institution
By Miss HILDA FOX
General Secretary, Lebanon Hospital for Mental Diseases
r;
Editor's Note.—While in Lebanon this past summer, the editor had
frequent occasion to pass by the Lebanon Hospital for Mental Diseases,
commonly known as Al-Asfuriyeh. Limitation of time prevented an extended visit to the institution, but the trim buildings, the well-kept grounds,
and the apparently contented inmates gave indications of efficiency and benevolence in management.
The following paper by the General Secretary of Asfuriyeh, however,
supplies that information about the institution, its history, facilities and
general management which we would have liked to obtain. We are glad to
publish it not only for its information value, but also for the appeal it
contains to the human sympathy and national conscience of Syrian emigrants who should appraise the true value of such public institutions. We
trust the appeal will not go unheaded.
In her private note accompanying the article, Miss Fox makes the
following remark: "Syrians, so far, have given no funds to enlarge this
Hospital, although a very few have contributed to current expenses—it has
been done by Europeans and Americans—and yet we feel that there must
be many Syrians, whose affairs have prospered in the New World, who
would like to do something for their country's needs to whom this work
might specially appeal. But it is difficult to find them."
In a supporting letter from Mr. F. Hourani, a prominent Syrian of
Manchester, England, the writer also makes the following pertinent remarks: "For several years I have had the honor of serving on the Committee of Asfuriyeh in London, and as I know also intimately the Director
in Syria and have visited the Institution itself, I can testify from personal
knowledge that the whole organization is worthy of the sympathy and support of all thoughtful Syrians. Indeed I know of no other institution which
is served by such a devoted band of men and women and with such zeal
and efficiency. Surely the time has come for Syrians to take part in the
upkeep of such places, otherwise the question may fairly be asked 'Why
should British, American and Continental people provide such hospitals for
the use of our mentally afflicted people?"
The editor wishes also to testify to the great interest displayed by
Dr. C. Asid Corban in the maintenance and progress of Asfuriyeh. Dr.
Corban, a psychiatrist of New Zealand, is in a position to appreciate ths
needs of such institutions. Although Dr. Corban was born in New Zealand,
the call of his Lebanese blood is still strong and is accentuated in this cas?
by general humanitarian considerations.
The Syrian World wishes to declare itself in hearty sympathy with the
principle of the Syrians helping themselves whenever and to whatever extent possible. The appeal in the case of Asfuriyeh is timely and deserving.
�NOVEMBER, 1929
75
The editor would be happy to serve in an intermediary capacity between
prospective donors and the Committee.
)N the foothills of the Lebanon Mountains, about six miles
from Beirut, is to be found an institution which should have
the proud support of the whole Arabic-speaking world.
Of all of the afflictions that come to man, surely the worst
and most pitiable is that form of illness which affects the mind.
Every country has its host of sufferers, and Syria, Palestine and
Egypt are no exception. Indeed, although there are no statistics
available, the number of mentally deranged people in the Near
East seems to be increasing.
The old idea of insanity as possession by the devil dies hard,
but, thanks to the work of three pioneer Hospitals in the three
countries named—the Lebanon Hospital for Mental Diseases
(Asfuriyeh, near Beirut, Syria), the Government Hospital for
Mental Diseases near Cairo and the Jewish Mental Hospital near
Jerusalem—all founded about 30 years ago, more scientific and
more humane views have gradually spread throughout the Near
East. And now it is at last beginning to be realized that insanity
is indeed an illness, comparable with physical illness and equallv
susceptible of cure. The earlier that skilled medical care can be
given, the more likely is it that the cure will be complete and
permanent.
Of the three countries mentioned above, by far the worst
provided for now, so far as mental illness is concerned, is Syria
(see the table at the end), and therefore it is for Syria that this
special appeal is made—an appeal to increase the number of beds
at Asfuriyeh.
The Hospital has had an uphill task. Money to purchase
the land and build the necessary houses one by one all had to be
raised, and as Syria was unable to do it, the funds had to be found
in Europe and America from the charitable public. This took
many years of hard and devoted work on the part of the founder,
Theophilus Waldmeier, a Swiss missionary. His work in Abyssinia and later in Syria had impressed upon him the appalling
need for a hospital of this kind, and thanks to his efforts for these
afflicted people the hearts of many kind people in England and
other countries were touched, so that men and women formed
themselves into committees and laboured to raise the necessary
money. The land was bought in 1898 and the Hospital opened
�--
THE SYRIAN WORLD
16
in August, 1900, with 10 beds, gradually being increased to 157
beds.
And now there is urgent need for further expansion, and the
General Committee in London appeal to Syrians and all who
speak the Arabic language, the world over, to band themselves
together to provide the cost of a new house.
Present Position of the Hospital
Come and visit Asfuriyeh in spirit. It Was spring time when
the writer was there, the time of almond blossom, when the
ground is strewn with scarlet anemones and pink and white cyclamen, as many of you who read this must have seen it. The
little colony of white stone, red-roofed buildings looks most attractive and homely, set on the hillside above the sea.
The present stage is interesting. For 15 years (since 1914)
there has been no new house built at Asfuriyeh. Instead, a policy
of steady perfection of the existing buildings has been pursued,
with the result that now all the dilapidations and depradations
of the War have been made good; the houses have been fitted
with an excellent sanitary system; the laundry has been enlarged
by the addition of a large drying-room, and washing machines
are being installed for the heavier work; an ampler water-supply
will, we hope, be available this winter, owing to a new artesian
well which is being sunk; the grounds have been planted with
olive, fig and almond trees, and otherwise improved; power
houses, pumps and workshops are working efficiently. Altogether, with its solid and spotless buildings, beautiful grounds
and trees, its laboratories, pharmacy and lecture hall, the Hospital is a medical unit of whose efficiency and completeness those
who have helped to found it may well be proud. Visitors are
always struck by its well-kept appearance and scientific equipment.
Future Policy
This stage is now practically completed, and a new policy of
expansion is clearly indicated. The place is getting painfully
crowded and demands for admission continually grow. Patients
often have to be turned away for lack of room, and it is becoming impossible to take the slight or early cases which would be
the easiest to cure. As there is nowhere else for them to go, this
is a very serious thing for the country.
During the last year a new upper story has been added to
.
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NOVEMBER, 1929
17
one of the women's houses, at a cost of £900, and a row of eleven
single rooms for acute women patients is now being built, mainly
with funds from America, connecting two of the other women's
houses (cost £800). The comfort of these single rooms for some
of the more restless and noisy patients will be indescribable.
When these two additions are finished, the number of beds
should be increased from 157 to 185.
This is indeed a great thing. But it is not enough. To meet
the need, two, if not three, new pavilions of 30-35 beds each
must be built. We shall try to raise funds for one of these in
Europe this winter, but we think that the second ought to come
from the Arabic-speaking world. The cost of these houses is unusually moderate, owing to the excellent building stone available
in the adjacent ground and the fact that our Medical Director
can build without employing expensive contractors. A charming
bungalow for 30-35 patients can be provided for £3,000, complete with marble floors in the corridors, tiles in the rooms and
a red-tiled roof. The best type of house is E-shaped, and contains three dormitories and ten single rooms, besides lounge, dining rooms and bathrooms. There is ample space for new houses
without in any way spoiling the amenities of the present ones.
Moreover, once the new houses are built, it is likely that they
will be largely self-supporting, for all patients pay what they
can and for the destitute the French Government now pays a
small capitation fee.
Social Life at Asfuriyeh
We were struck by the delightful open-air life led by the
patients. The bedrooms all have large windows, and one gets
a sense of light and air everywhere, as well as of order and kindly care. There are many shady spots for rest, and a great variety
of beautiful views, down over the Beirut River, or out to the
sea beyond, or across the Damascus Road (which bounds one
side of the estate) to the-Lebanon Mountains. There are also
many pleasant walks within the grounds which cover 36 acres.
To watch the motors flying up and down the Damascus Road
and the leisurely trains of camels and donkeys is also an endless
interest.
There are no walls round Asfuriyeh, and no gate at the entrance. Such things are unnecessary as well as unkind. People
rome here and stay here because it is here that they find the best
understanding and help in their illness.
�'"
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
In a large group of people like this, there are sure to be some
who like to work and some who do not. Some lead a very busy
life, helping with the meals and the cleaning, chopping wood,
sawing, preparing the special mattresses used, sewing, ironing
and washing, gardening, helping with the pumping machines,
doing carpentry and smithy work. Perhaps three-quarters really
do definite work, and they are all encouraged to be as active as
possible, as work has a curative as well as a moral value.
There are people of every class and variety, of many religions, numerous nationalities and races, and every kind of temperament. Some are suffering from melancholia, some are feebleminded (such as an old negro man found on the streets, without
name or home, who sleeps most of the time), there are many
young people who have had shocks which have split their personalities, many men and women who are misfits in life and cannot be kept in ordinary homes, degenerates, drug and alcohol
addicts, some criminals, some obsessed by one idea, several who
believe that they are the Creator or some earthly potentate.
Some are rich and of old family; others have not a penny in
the world, nor any home. Some are silent and some are exceedingly noisy. Some alternate between the two. Many look absolutely happy in these nice surroundings.
Sad though it is to see them, one's uppermost thought is
thankfulness that Asfuriyeh exists, to care for them and help
them, and that so much devotion and skill is being lavished upon
their welfare. Many get perfectly well, and still more go out
improved. In the short time that the writer was there quite a
number of new patients arrived, some brought bound by the
military, others in the charge of friends. The first thing always
done is to loose them from their shackles.
Our A p-peal
The appeal of such a Hospital is wide and comprehensive.
It commends itself to all who feel the need to relieve human
suffering, whether Christians, Jews or Moslems; to all who wish
to promote international co-operation and good-will; to all who
love the Holy Land, as the original h«me of their faith or as
their native land; to the scientific and medical mind, for this
hospital is not only carrying out treatment on the most approved
and modern lines, but is also a centre for training and research.
Its Director (Prof. Watson Smith) is Professor of Psychiatry at
the University of Beirut, and his students (Syrians, Armenians,
Jews, Turks, Arabs, Africans, Persians, etc.) go to the Hospital
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every week for theoretical and clinical teaching and are spreading more enlightened views and treatment of mental disease
all through the neighbouring lands. The Hospital must also
specially commend itself to those who have friends suffering
from this particular form of illness.
The members of the General Committee in London therefore beg all who read this paper to join with them in helping
this voluntary, international hospital. The need is very great
and very urgent. Give now, and also remember the Hospital
later on. Contributions will be most gladly received by the General Secretary in London (Miss Hilda Fox, Lebanon Hospital
Committee, 139 Marylebone Road, London, N. W. 1.)
SOME FIGURES BEARING ON
THE PREVALENCE OF MENTAL DISEASES IN THE NEAR EAST
and the Number of Beds provided in Mental Hospitals
EGYPT
Population
13^4 million
Beds: Abbassiyeh (Government)
1,900
Khanka (Government)
1,000 2,900 beds
= 1 per 4,500 of the people
PALESTINE
Population
about 1 million
Beds: Bethlehem (Government)
Jerusalem (Jewish, voluntary
60
79
139 beds
= 1 per 6,000 of the people
SYRIA
Population
2>y2 million
Beds: Asfuriyeh (voluntary, international)
Damascus (French Government)
159
57
216 beds
= 1 per 16,300 of the people
Compare ENGLAND AND WALES
Population
38 million
Beds
141,000
= 1 in 270 of the population
(Syria is larger than England, Scotland and Wales
put together)
�ft
THE SYRIAN WORLD
20
'!'
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Rihani —The Man and
His Work
l
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By
ELIZABETH
P.
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MACCALLUM
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""THE seeker after knowledge, bending low over the tray marked
"Palestine," fingers a wealth of titles in the catalogues of our
libraries. But if these are English titles, he will find few of them
concerned primarily with the history, the traditions or the philosophy of the Arabs, who have been in occupation of Palestine
for the last thirteen centuries. Most of the titles concern Christian and Jewish traditions.
We all may have gloried in the romantic, if somewhat
bloody, progress of Joshua through the land of Canaan. But few
of us have ever read that other story, epoch-making and equally
as romantic, of how Omar of Arabia conquered the same country
in the seventh century. And yet the name of Omar is a household word throughout much of the Near East. xAgain, we know
in our own time more about the hopes and the program of organized Zionism than we do about the hopes and the program of
amateur Pan-Arabism. The Arab idealist expresses himself in
a language adequate to his immediate purpose. And that language is seldom English. A great desert of silence thus interposes itself between the American reader and the peoples of
Arab culture in the Near East.
But there are a few oases in this desert of silence which the
American may find for the seeking. The springs of one of them,
strangely enough, have gushed at the very gates of the New
World. They are the sparkling waters of information and understanding to be found in the writings of Ameen Rihani—who was
born of Arabic-speaking parents in the mountains of Lebanon
in Syria but who early tasted life in a crowded immigrant colony
in Lower Manhattan.
New Yorkers who know Washington Street, with its hawkers, its greengrocers, its sweetmeat-venders, its numerous children, its untidiness, its occasional hubble-bubbles and backgammon boards, and its constant array of handsome black mousta-
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21
chios, are not apt to associate with it the refinement of spirit
which gives birth to reflections such as Rihani has set down for
the consideration of his readers in The Book of Khalid, or in
The Path of Vision. The ordinary New Yorker thinks of Washington Street not as a training school for poets, artists or philosophers, but merely as a first foothold for new-comers to this
country, and more particularly for those from the Eastern Mediterranean, the majority of them Syrians. Yet from Washington
Street has come more than one philosopher, more than one poet.
And it was in Washington Street that this particular philosopherpoet spent one of the highly impressionable periods of his life.
The secret of this interpreter, who makes the Arab ideal intelligible to Americans, lies in the fact that both Arab and American are intelligible to him. "The West for me means ambition,"
he writes, "the East contentment: my heart is ever in the one, my
soul, in the other." He has divided his time between two continents—between New York and his home at Freike in the Lebanon, high over the rocky pass on whose walls Rameses the Second, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and Allenby inscribed their successive victories.
But there is a difference between Rihani and the majority of
those who are bound by a double allegiance to two distinct civilizations. He is not a mere commuter between the lands of his
first and second births. He has participated in establishing communication between the two. He has not only experienced the
contrasting moods of contrasting civilizations j he has expressed
them. And the shafts of his description are feathered with a
poetic reflectiveness which carries them straight to the heart of
the inquirer.
With many Arab leaders he is on terms of friendship, both
in Syria and in the Arabian peninsula. On the platforms of
capital and provincial town, in the intimate conversations of tent
and hall, from the columns of newspapers and pages of books
his message in the Arab tongue has always been the message of
those who desire above all things an opportunity for their people
to live today in a political strength devoid of fear, and of the
resort to violence which is bred of fear—an opportunity which will
make possible the blossoming anew of an ancient culture.
Unrest in the Arab world, north, south, east or west, has
been a familiar because frequently recurring phenomenon of
this first quarter of the twentieth century. From the mountains
d
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
of Morocco to the deserts of Iraq, and from the green valleys
of Yaman to the covered bazaars of Aleppo there has come from
time to time news of uprisings and riots, of bloodshed and revolt. Whatever aspects the disturbances may have assumed, whatever the precipitating factors may have been, the underlying cause
has always proved to be one and the same. The Arab would be
free. Whether it is Turk or Englishman, Frenchman or Spaniard who wields the scepter of authority, the Arab would wrest
it from him. Inheritor of a living and vivid tradition of former
supremacy, discontent weighs heavily upon him at the spectacle
of his present subordination. Like other people who remember
a past more glorious than the present, he would return to that
past. Or, to speak more accurately, he would re-create in the
present the condition of political independence enjoyed in the
past in the hope that the future may see a recrudescence of the
material and cultural wealth of bygone centuries.
The Arab, like the Jew, is convinced that there is a direct
relationship between the happiness and productivity of a people
and its enjoyment of free nationhood. He will remind you that
if the West borrowed straight from the Arabs such words as "algebra" and "alcohol" it was not just because Arabian mathematicians and Arabian physicians of the past imposed those words
on a docile Europe. It was because a free Arabia contributed
to the fund of common human knowledge hitherto undiscovered
facts and theories which the West was eager to utilize in the
realms of mathematics and medicine, as well as in the realm of
astronomy. Nor was Arabia's contribution confined to these three
branches of science. It included religion, too, and philosophy
and poetry. If in the past Europe was hospitable to the science
of Arabia, as Asia and Africa have been to its religion and poetry,
why, the Arab asks, should not the contribution of an Arabia
Rediviva be equally acceptable in the future?
Living as we do in a quarter-century which is far excellence
the quarter-century of new nationalisms, the point of view of any
nationalist is familiar to us in some degree. We understand the
nationalism of Americans, of Canadians, of Mexicans, of Nicaraguans. We have watched the growth of nationalism in Italy
since Mazzini, in Turkey since Enver, in Czechoslovakia under
Benes, in Poland under Paderewski and Pilsudski. The Jew rebuilding Zion is motivated by as profound a devotion to nationalism as the Irishman battling for the restoration of Erin. And
both are understood. Nothing, in fact, is more taken for granted
i
�'Wtmttmmmamtmmmmr
NOVEMBER, 1929
23
today than the existence among all peoples of that combination
of ambition and self-esteem which goes to make up nationalism.
But what form does nationalism take, and in what guise does
it appear to a people with whose writings and whose manner of
life we are not familiar? Rihani answers this question with particular authority with respect to the Arabs, not only because he
knows the Arabs of the mandated territories—Syria and Greater
Lebanon under French mandate, Palestine, Transjordania and
Iraq under British—but because he has also travelled extensively
through Arabia itself. These travels are recorded in two new
volumes which will stand for all time as classics, along with the
works of Niebuhr and Palgrave, Burckhardt and Doughty, in the
literature of Arabian exploration and travel.
The lands in which Rihani has journeyed are not all remote.
The Book of Khalid, containing a rare portrayal of immigrant
Jife in New York, is evidence enough of this. But whether near
or far he engages in exploration of those immediate and subtle
realities of life which so often escape the attention of even careful observers; he expresses them in language one does not easily
forget; he follows everywhere the quest for a reasonable life,
whether in the shade of Lebanon's old cedars or behind the staring windows of New York's newer skyscrapers. And it is such
an interpreter whom the American reader seeks.
For the American reader it is especially advantageous that
this interpreter should have known his West almost before he recaptured his East. Ameen Rihani came to Washington Street a
small boy, very much like any number of the black-haired, blackeyed ten-year-olds who swarm on the street of early evenings
today, or whom one may see going to confession of a Saturday
afternoon, kneeling at the altar-rail for an interminable four
minutes of devotion before swinging out, on two bare feet, into
the noise and vivacity of Washington Street. Even in those days,
old St. George's probably had banks of white paper lilies to gaze
upon, and pillars twined with green and pink crepe paper.
But there must have been at least this difference between Rihani and the lads of today—that whereas the latter are taught
to pray to St. Anne to obtain for them both a knowledge of their
sins and sorrow for them, Ameen Rihani refused to do anything
of the sort. Instead, he tells us that he shot craps around the
corner. Neither is it recorded that he prayed, as his successor
today does, for a faithful and constant observance of his state of
life. Rather, he tells us again, did he use the tainted gains of
�24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
his crap-shooting to buy books for himself—English books, books
from the second-hand dealers in the shadow of Trinity. And
with the help of these books he avoided the constant observance
of his own state of life; rather he succeeded in passing rapidly
from one state of life to another without finding that ideal state
which faithful supplication would doubtless have helped him to
achieve. He didn't like working in his father's commercial world.
He wanted to read. He didn't like keeping books. Nor beinglectured about his shortcomings. Falstaff he loved better than
all the fat men who came to talk about business, and Jean Valjean better than all the law-abiding immigrants whom the day's
routine brought to the establishment. Neither did he like to
live in a dark basement down a flight of stairs from the level of
the street. Still less did he enjoy the business of pumping water
out of the basement which was his home. But he had to continue
to do these things; for the Irishman who at that time lived in
the upper stories of the Washington Street tenement houses refused to admit Syrians to anything better than lodging below
street level. Meanwhile the city authorities were as helpless as
Canute before the high tides of winter, which annually overwhelmed all the basements of the district.
In the excess of his unhappiness the boy ran away from home
four times. At seventeen he went on the stage with a travelling
stock company, which had the misfortune to fail somewhere in
the Midwest, an unconscionable distance from home. Back he
came, though reluctantly, and worked again at columns of figures. At night he went to class until finally he was admitted to
the New York Law School.
The Law School was to have been the gate to Paradise and
freedom. But he found when he got there that it was only a
window-casement from which he looked forth on a world as barren and forlorn as the world of trade and barter he had just
tried to quit. He wasted no more time than he could help on
this second dismal prospect. He escaped.
And physical misfortune was the means of his escape. The
repeated inundations of his cellar and the constant dampness had
by this time affected his lungs. He was sent back to Syria to
recuperate.
This was only the first of a number of long visits paid to Syria
by Rihani. It proved, moreover, to be the very gateway to Paradise which he had vainly sought in the New York Law School.
For now, having learned his literary Arabic at the hands of
�—
AMEEN RIHANI IN ARAB COSTUME
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THE VALLEY OF FREIKE, VIEWED FROM RIHANI'S HOME
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Partial view of Freike showing the Rihani home with the massive arch
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NOVEMBER, 1929
25
competent teachers in the Lebanon, he began in his spare time to
translate Arabic poetry into English. Returning to New York,
he continued this work in the intervals between tspeaking engagements. Thus came to light The Luzumiyat of the Arab poetphilosopher Abu'1-Ala, a forerunner of Omar Khayam. Rihani's
literary career had begun.
His next task was a greater one. From translating poetry out
of one language into another he turned to the task of interpreting an entire civilization, both to its own children and to the people
of another hemisphere. To examine the writings which now appeared is to discover what Rihani found both of good and evil
in the culture of the Arabic-speaking world. It is to discover,
too, the concern felt by a great body of Arabs, whom he fittingly
represents, lest what is good in Arab civilization be overlaid and
smothered by the West, or lest the undesirable features of Arab
civilization grow more pronounced through the conflict between
East and West.
Endowed as he was with a strong belief in the virtue of Arab
culture, and imbued as he was with a living hope that this virtue
might some day find an unhampered medium for self-expression,
free from the inhibitions and the silences imposed upon it by the
unhappy circumstance of foreign domination, it is not surprising
to see Rihani visiting the Arabian Peninsula itself in 1922 with
a definite objective in view—an objective quite different from
that of his illustrious predecessors, Doughty, Palgrave, Burckhardt, Burton and the rest. Arabia to Rihani was not merely a
tilted tableland to explore; its kings were not peripatetic curiosities hiding behind barriers which only the intrepid might overleap and then boast of knowing for the remainder of their days.
Arabia was to him a land of living human beings, speaking the
language he had spoken in early boyhood (and which now he
used with a noted grace). It was a land with whose traditions
he was not unfamiliar, a land in which he hoped to find sources
of vitality that might be put to the service of a vigorous and useful Arab civilization rather than continue to fritter itself out
on activities devised to meet only tribal expediency. It was a
land which, unlike the mandated territories, was for the most
part free from foreign control. But it was a land where civilization and education lagged far behind the standards prevailing in
Syria. It was a land where those who hoped for intelligent participation in reviving Arab culture could find much to do as missionaries of peace and propagandists of an ideal.
�26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
When Rihani actually reached Arabia he found situations
there which affected him strongly. "The first thing that repelled
me," he said—and it must be remembered that his visit to the
Hedjaz took place before Ibn Saoud assumed control of that
country: "the first thing that repelled me when I went out of
Jeddah halfway towards the Holy City (Mecca) were the armed
Arabs. Not a herdsman, not a Bedouin in rags, but carried a
rifle. Ignorance in arms! And not a hand to control it, and not
a head to direct it to its own good. They were all out for loot,
and they cut each other's throats for it. Ignorance in arms! I
turned away from it both in anger and in sorrow.
"But in the Yaman, as we made our way from Aden slowly
up the mountains of San'a, the situation was in a sense even worse.
There we were confronted with Ignorance and Fanaticism in
arms. The Imam of the Yaman," he went on to explain, "was
making war on his neighbor, the Idrisi, because the ancestors of
the latter had come to Arabia a little later than his own, and because the Idrisi belonged to a different Moslem sect, and because
the Idrisi was grateful to the British for making him a present
of the seaport town of Hudaidah, which the Imam of the Yaman himself coveted." Indeed, traditional rivalry and traditional
enmity, traditional fanaticism and economic pressure were at the
bottom of almost all the disunity he had come to Arabia to try
to counteract. But he believed that Arabian rulers would respond
to statesmanlike proposals for the composing of Arabia's differences and that, now that the hand of Turkey had been withdrawn,
it might be possible to set up in Arabia itself a confederation of
friendly states which ultimately might include even the countries
now under mandate in the North. And so the Pan-Arab dream
of reviving the activity of an almost dormant Arab culture
through establishing an era of peace might be fulfilled.
No longer may it be said of the* nomad tribesmen of the
Arabian hills and deserts that there is not a hand to control them,
nor a mind to direct them to their own good. Ibn Saoud has controlled them j Ibn Saoud is directing them—and hitherto at any
rate his direction has been immensely to their advantage. Rihani
tells how Ibn Saoud conceived the idea of domesticating the nomads in order to keep them under control. Every tribe or section of a tribe was allotted an area of land near a water-spring,
where the sheikh moved with his people and began to build villages and to till the soil. They were ordered to sell their camels.
They fought for Ibn Saoud when there was need of fighting.
I
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NOVEMBER, 1929
27
But when there was need of peace they had to be prevented
from engaging in forays of their own as they had always been
accustomed to do in times past. Besause they were zealous adherents of the puritan Wahhabi creed, Ibn Saoud was able to
send missionaries among them, in the name of Islam, to preach
the doctrine—backed as it was by ancient though neglected tradition—that a rich believer were better than a poor believer. They
were encouraged to accumulate wealth in a way they had never
done before. Interest in forays grew less keen. Raid and counter-raid have ceased except along the extreme borders of Ibn
Saoud's dominions. And in the towns, never was such security
in the memory of living man. No one dare touch what is not his.
But Ignorance is still there.
Ibn Saoud is inaugurating a new era in the Arabian peninsula
which so many centuries have found and left unchanged. Iraq
is developing a national life of its own with prospect of being
admitted shortly to membership in the League of Nations as a
self-governing and independent country. Representative institutions have been established in the Lebanon, and among the
people of Transjordan. Syria, after a two-year rebellion, is
hoping to achieve a parliament (although just what basis of agreement it can find with the French authorities is not yet clear). In
Palestine, alone, of the Arabic-speaking territories of the Near
East, no progress seems to have been made yet toward achieving even a minimum of autonomy in national government. Here,
too, however, there are leaders among the Arabs whose goal,
like that of Rihani, is not the freedom of anarchy but the freedom of ordered government. International pressure has prevented their object from being attained hitherto; but disappointment has not stampeded them into militant obduracy. These
leaders await an opportunity to discuss the affairs of Palestine
with British and Zionist officials in the spirit of moderation. It
is to be hoped that the service they are prepared to render their
country will not be ignored by champions of repression on one
side or of violence on the other.
�28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
To the Man With the
Hard Eyes
By
BARBARA YOUNG
CHE said, "What is that in your hand,
A golden piece?
You say that I shall have a valleyful
Of golden pieces.
You say that I shall have a coach and castle,
And you will make it so
That all the lovely maidens and gay young lords
Shall come my way, and stop within for feasting}
And I shall be raimented as a princess is.
"No.
I have a copper penny in my scrip.
I have a worn brown cloak.
I know a man in a hovel on a hill.
I will go to him there.
He looks upon the world
With laughter and great sorrow in his eyes.
I like laughter and sorrow and copper pennies
and worn cloaks.
The man on the hill has words that warm me
Like fire on a cold hearth.
I will go there.
The pilgrims come along that way,
And the wandering minstrels.
We shall set out for them and us a bowl and plate}
And you may keep your valleyful of golden pieces.
I should grow very weary counting them."
^^S^^W^
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NOVEMBER, 1929
29
A Legend of the Nile
OR
AN EGYPTIAN SCARAB/EUS
By
""
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
J^AST night I woke from out a dream
For I had wandered far
Into a strange and ancient land,
Led by a silver star.
I dreamt I stood on Soudan's soil,
High, on a mountain crest;
A dusky maid with silken curls
Was leaning on my breast.
"Where yonder river wends its way
Through fertile fields below,
A desert stretched its leafless plain,
Three thousand years ago.
No trace of beauty graced the earth
Save in the Pharaoh's pride;
He built rich palaces and tombs
His honored crimes to hide.
"Green vines and cypress trees grew near
Within the garden close,
And rarest lilies rich and sweet
Were blooming with the rose.
Within the carven corridors
Where musk perfumed the air,
Fair statuary graced the walls,
With hangings rich and rare.
"Twelve mistresses had walked its halls
And shared the Pharaoh's bed;
Twelve mistresses were cast aside
And numbered with the dead.
One day a priest of Osiris
Had gained the palace walls;
" in
in
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
30
I met him in a frightened mood
Half-crouching in the halls.
"He caught my arm, 'Queen Semuta,
'Tis time for thee to fly,
For Pharaoh brings another bride,
And thou art doomed to die.
Hark! thou canst hear the marriage-guests
Already on the stair.'
He caught my fainting form and cried,
'There is no time for pray'r!'
"Down through a secret way we went
To 'void the mocking throng;
Yet in my half-unconscious state
I heard the Pharaoh's song.
I paused within the arbor's shade
And brushed aside a tear.
The good priest fanned my aching brow
And tried to soothe my fear.
"The roses hinted as we passed
With their delicious breath,
The utter loneliness before;
The gloomy wings of Death.
I thought of loved-ones far away
Beyond the barren plain;
I thought of him, of whom I loved,
But ne'er could see again.
" 'Dear child, Osiris will not leave
You to a cruel fate,
But he will lead your feeble feet
Close to the open Gate.
An alternative waits for thee
But it is cast in gloom.
One, is the desert for escape,
The other is the tomb.'
"And so I chose the desert plain
And journeyed long and far;
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NOVEMBER, 1929
My guide by day—the rising sun;
By night—the evening star.
But thirst and hunger brought me low,
Though hunger was the least,
For in my wild deliriums
I dreamt of many a feast.
"I saw rich gardens sweet with flow'rs,
And vainly did I call;
I heard the babbling of a brook,
I saw the fountain's fall.
And even in my dreams I plead,
'Osiris hear my cry;
One goblet of that sparkling rill;
Just one, before I die!'
"But mercy was not meant for me,
And so my life swept on,
Into a fairer, brighter realm—
In Paradise 'twas born.
But from my bed, a river sprang
And laughing danced along.
With snowy ripples on its breast;
Its shallows full of song.
"It grew and grew, a mighty stream
Beneath the azure skies,
And in this ancient land, it proved
A blessing in disguise.
This scaraba;us you wore, dear friend,
Was placed upon my breast,
And shows Osiris can give
The weary, peace and rest.
"It shows a bit of history
Of a once noble race,
But like a 'brand' it marks the shame
Upon its Pharaoh's face.
And could your eye decipher it,
(Though 'tis not worth the while),
You'd find half-hidden in the clay,
This legend of the Nile."
4
31
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
32
Such Was Fate !
(A SHORT STORY)
By
LABEEBEE
A. J.
HANNA
DABE ALDON carried her twenty-five years becomingly and
was at the point in her career when she was in love with life.
And everyone was in love with Babe.
Was Babe in love with Buddy Hazzar? He certainly cared
for her—enough to pay for her expensive diamond. Soon Babe
and Buddy would be married and they would go home to visit
her mother. Poor Mother! Alone for four years. How she
would be longing to see Babe! Oh, well! Soon!
Babe wondered concerning Buddy's folks, and their home in
Virginia. Would Roanoke be as lovely as they say? She knew
Buddy's father would love her, for hadn't Buddy said that her
eyes were like his father's—the same depth, the same twinkle?
Buddy rarely spoke of his mother, except to mention that she
hadn't wanted him to do a certain thing, and she hadn't wanted
him to do a certain other thing.
Nicholas Handar, too, cared for Babe, but in spite of his
secret attachment he continued shy for a long time. The closest
he had approached her up until April was to ask her to play "The
Vagabond Song" on the piano at the club rooms. She had looked
at him—and there was a song in her heart, she knew not why.
In turning over the music sheet, their fingers touched, and at
the sudden thrill each, frightened, pulled his hand away.
No opportunity presented itself. However, his feelings could
not long be hidden, and especially since he had a close friend in
George. Why, George knew the meaning of every movement
of Nicholas. — And now he was worried concerning his friend.
Nicholas Handar and George Manam, on their way to the
club rooms one evening, fell to discussing Babe—at first awkwardly, and then,—quite naturally. Nicholas was thinking of
Babe. He would see her this night. But, Babe was engaged to
Buddy.
"Come," said George, "snap out of it, Nick! You're making
us all sick! Why don't you talk to Babe? I think she likes«you "
"Well, I love her. But I just can't talk to her."
"Not talk to her! Of course you can! She loves you—and
�~*%
NOVEMBER, 1929
33
you're making yourself and your friends sick thinking of her."
"Possibly. But what of the man whom she professes to love
—to whom she is engaged? I can't stab him in the back like a
gutter snake!"
"It isn't stabbing him in the back! And whatever you did .you
wouldn't be a gutter snake. We all know that. Where's your
nerve?"
"I don't know. But she's engaged now—and I believe she's
happy. She loves him and I have no right to interfere."
The conversation was interrupted here by the appearance of
a tall, handsome young man whose most prominent feature was
a Roman nose.
"Hello, Buddy!" both boys hastened to exclaim.
"Hello, Nick! Hello, George! I didn't know you two boys
were in town—or that I'd meet you here in the subway. Coming
to the club?
"Well, thought we'd drop over," said George, nonchalantly.
"Aren't you bringing Babe?" asked Nicholas, somewhat
gloomily.
"Babe is taken care of. Eddie and his sister will bring her in.
She spent the week-end with her cousins on Seventh Street in
Brooklyn. I called up before coming to remind her to bring
some music with her. She promised."
"Will she sing?" asked Nicholas.
"Perhaps."
Buddy eyed Nicholas curiously.
At Boro Hall the three young men got out of the subway
and soon after were in the club rooms on Schermerhorn Street.
The three looked around for one person—whom they knew
would, nevertheless, have not come yet. Two young men were
busily arranging tables for bridge. A young girl and'young man
were leaning against the piano—waiting—they didn't know for
what and didn't seem to care. At a little distance away from
them was a laughing group of girls in pretty pastel shade dresses,
occasionally throwing side-long glances at the boys at the piano
—but the boys were not interested. Babe wasn't there.
Nick, George and Buddy went up into the Men's Parlor to
smoke.
Meanwhile, groups large and small arrived. Some were inclined to mingle with the rest, while here and there a few kept
to themselves. Long about eleven o'clock two young girls, one
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
in black, the other in purple, arrived, escorted by a tall, muscular
young man. The girls were smiling at everyone and no one and
seemed to draw many friendly glances.
The girl in black seemed well poised and gave one the impression of being taller than she really was; while the other seemed to shrink back a little in silent admiration of her friend.
"There's Babe," said someone, and not a few looked up. The
girl in black smiled.
"Here, Isabel," she said, "as usual we're late for bridge.
There will be dancing shortly. That, of course, suits you."
The girl in purple drew her lovely white fur piece from
about her neck and smiled as she followed Babe up the stairs.
"We won't be long, Eddie!" both girls called back over their
shoulders.
"Right into my arms, Babe!" someone said, and Babe looked
up to find Buddy smiling down at her.
She said inimitably, "Always, dear!" and both laughed for
no reason at all.
"See you later, Bud!" after both girls had been helped with
their wraps, and went into the parlor to repair their persons.
Bridge over, there was a short entertainment by the club talent. Needless to say, Babe Aldon sang—and accompanied herself. Nicholas was thrilled to find she included the "Vagabond
Song." Somehow he knew it was for him.
Then there was dancing. Babe was rushed. She was, of
course, all attention for Buddy—but she quite obviously enjoyed
her dance with Nicholas. Buddy was all smiles to his friend,
Nicholas, but Nicholas was awkward in Buddy's presence.
That night was the last for a few months that Buddy would
enjoy with his friends, for the next day he was leaving for Pennsylvania where he was representing his father's firm.
With Buddy Hazzar in Pennsylvania, George Manam suggested that Nicholas see Babe Aldon.
It was a dirty trick. Nicholas could not do it.
Two months passed.
One stormy night, towards the end of April, Nicholas called
up Babe.
"May I see you?" he asked bluntly.
"Why? Oh, is something wrong?"
"No, Babe, I just have a little time and I would like to see
you •»
�NOVEMBER, 1929
35
"Why, er
er, where are you, Nick?"
"Oh, at 51st and Broadway. I'm leaving for Boston tonight
and since the boat trip has been cancelled on account of the storm
I must go by bus. It doesn't leave until ten. May I come?"
"But, I'm way out at 119th! You won't have time!"
"Oh, yes I shall.. Say I may!"
"Well, all right, come over if you must."
Nick Handar was happy. But why? He was going to see a
girl who was engaged to somebody else. He called himself a
cad and all sorts of things. But he couldn't hold back now. There
was no harm in seeing a girl!
The Fifth Avenue bus? No, that was too slow. The subway? Certainly not when one goes to see Babe. Nothing short
of a luxurious cab! There was one just outside the Pennsylvania.
He jumped into it and was off!
The car went on swiftly for a few blocks, then stopped. Why
will they have these horrid signal towers? Can't they know he
is going to see Babe? He turned his head to one side. Crowds,
crowds, windows, displays, signs, other cars, officers, crowds,
crowds, crowds. Could they hear the song in his heart?
Oh, they were going again! After all, these traffic conditions
are a darned good thing—but why don't they go faster?
It was a long ride, a long time. He seemed to be emerging
out of a dead past when he came out of the cab and found himself ringing Babe Aldon's bell.
Soon he was in the parlor. She was there in a trim suit of
dark blue. How alert she looked! She had only been in this
country four years! Or is it that they are already far ahead of
us there?
"How do you do, Nick?" she greeted.
"All right. In a rush, I guess!"
Both laughed.
"Well," he began to explain— .
"Do sit down," she interrupted.
He chose a hard chair near the piano. He was too nervous
to sit back comfortably in an easy chair.
"You look tired," she went on.
"Oh, no, Babe! Not that."
"Well, what is it?"
"Why, nothing much. Thought I'd drop in. — You must
be very lonely since Buddy went away."
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"Why, not so frightfully." She laughed nervously. "Still,
I'm able to catch up with my studies a bit now."
What a delightful voice! Almost unbelievable that she was
really new in this country. Barely a trace of an accent—just
enough to give melody to a naturally soft voice.
"However, Babe, you'll allow me to escort you to the Junior
League affair next Saturday on my return? That is, if there is
no one else?"
"I was thinking of staying home."
"Why do you want to stay home?"
Feebly she answered, "To study."
"Not really to study? And miss a perfectly wonderful timer
Let me come for you and I'll take as good care of you as any
brother would."
Babe wasn't certain.
It was finally decided that he would call up on Saturday at
seven to find out if she had decided to go.
She went to the piano, and as she played "The Vagabond
Song" he felt the thrill which came to him when at the club
their fingers had fortuitously met.
On Saturday night the latest arrivals at the club were Nicho
las and Babe Aldon, and Isabel, Eddie and George. Not a few
looked their way and wondered.
Thus it was that at the first Nicholas and Babe were together
in a group. They were together again and again throughout the
remainder of April and through May, but more and more they
were alone, indeed.
Buddy was expected soon. Babe wondered at her lack of
enthusiasm in his return, this time.
For two weeks now, no letter had come from her mother,
but she did not seem worried at that. She was thinking too often
of Nick.
On May 23rd there came a letter from Buddy, a humorous,
happy letter. He would be back the thirty-first. She criticised
herself for not caring whether he came soon or late.
On May 27th there arrived a letter whose border was black.
Back to earth came Babe. What was the tragic news? Buddy's
father. Surely not—dead? Her own father, so her mother had
told her, had died long before she was born. She had hoped to
gain a father through marriage. Poor Buddy! He would be
rushing home to Roanoke. She must go, too. He will need her.
A hurried good-bye to Nick over the phone, He would
�NOVEMBER, 1929
37
gladly escort her. She felt it best to go alone, but promised, if
she had need, to call him.
On the train, she thought of her own father. She remembered his picture in her parlor at home with a little colored American flag in the left lapel of his coat. He had been 23. How sad
her mother had always been concerning him! How often her
mother had looked at Babe's eyes and remarked, "How like your
father's, Babe!"
At Roanoke, the body she saw in the candle-lighted parlor was
that of a man who had been tall and muscular and very handsome.
There was something vaguely familiar about him. She tried to
put that fact out of her mind. Perhaps it was just that Buddy
resembled his father somewhat. But, no, there was something
more. She could not put it out of her head.
Later, Buddy Hazzar arrived. He had had a longer distance
to come. The poor boy was shaking. She felt very close to him
somehow, and realized that in some way it was not on account of
love. There seemed a newer bond—a different bond between
them.
Babe felt an immediate dislike on the part of the mother for
her. She herself, thoroughly disliked the mother on sight! Both,
however, were civil to each other.
On the night of the funeral, when all the pictures were uncovered in the house, Babe was aghast to see the picture of a
handsome young man on the wall directly over the spot where
the body had lain. There was an American flag in the left lapel
of his coat. His eyes were like hers. It was the same picture her
mother had often stood in front at home in her own front parlor,
of the father whom her mother told her had died so long ago.
"Buddy!" exclaimed Babe. "Buddy, who is that?"
Buddy looked at the picture. Dismally, he said, "That is my
father when he was young."
"He has only just died!" exclaimed Babe, aghast. "I have
attended my own father's funeral," she murmured at the picture.
Buddy looked at Babe. For a minute he forgot his great
grief. Babe puzzled him.
That evening Babe and Buddy had a long discussion. They
sympathized with each other. They were to say nothing whatsoever to Buddy's mother.
Brother and sister could not marry.
Babe called Nick.
�e
THE SYRIAN WORLD
58
EDITORIAL COMMENT
RACIAL CONSCIOUSNESS
("\VER ten years ago, the editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD,
who was then publishing a
monthly magazine in Arabic,
ventured what was considered
at that time the radical prophecy that the Syrian mothertongue, as a spoken language,
could not survive the first Syrian generation in America. He
based his statement on the general law of evolution as manifested in the blending of the
different races of this country
into one homogenous nation.
He expanded his prophecy to
include even
the Eastern
churches in the matter of their
rituals. In support of his views
he gave what he considered
valid arguments.
At that time, although not so
far back, his supposedly radical
opinion was received with astonishment bordering on dismay
by the Arabic-speaking elements
in this country. Some even
characterized it as blasphemy
and treason. How can a publisher of an Arabic organ be so
disloyal to the cause of his
mother-tongue?
Instead of
championing its cause, could it
be possible for one in such a
position to sound its doom?
There was even at the time a
movement on foot to create
sentiment among the Syrians in
favor of establishing an Arabic
University in America, in the
hope of stemming the tide that
threatened the Arabic language
with extinction.
This view was challenged,
and a public debate arranged by
the Syrian Educational Society
of New York on the question.
The affirmative side, taken by
the editor, lost the decision.
Some of the judges even engaged in the debate before retiring to consider the evidence
and proclaimed with a good
deal of vehemence the virtues
of the Arabic tongue and the
necessity of perpetuating it.
But the last decade has
brought about a surprising adjustment to the supposedly radical view then expressed. Especially during the last four
years, discussion of the Syrians'
future in America as a racial
entity is indulged in openly and
with amazing frankness. Arabic-language newspapers themselves now make the bold assertion that their span of existence is becoming more and
more contracted.
Now it seems to be taken for
granted that Arabic, as a spoken
language, will not survive the
present generation. At the same
time, there is evident a strong
racial consciousness that is
~fc»-j
�NOVEMBER, 1929
i
growing in proportion to the
extent that the use of the language is diminishing. The intelligent element of the younger generation, those to whom
the language has the least appeal, appear to be the strongest factor in bringing about this
revival of race consciousness.
They are, to be sure, as true
and loyai Americans in spirit
as can be found. Their allegiance is not and cannot be divided. But in this matter it is
with them a question of selfrespect, of a firm belief in
themselves as good material of
American citizenship as can be
found. They are awaking to the
realization that they come of
good stock, that they have valuable contributions to make to
the culture of America, and for
that reason they resent being
classed among the inferior and
unfit.
We believe this to be the
more logical, appropriate and
enduring view. Language could
be preserved only to the extent
that it serves a cultural purpose.
Language, after all, is but a
medium of expression and understanding, and now that we
are definitely settled in America, the language of the country
should serve all our practical
purposes. It is the easier to acquire and the more utilitarian.
Knowledge of the mothertongue or any foreign language
is a cultural accomplishment.
39
But adequate appreciation
of one's genealogical descent is quite different from
the preservation of one's mother-tongue. The American nation
is drawn from many racial
roots, and for it to be more
fully moulded into
one
homogenous whole there must
be appreciation and understanding by each strain for the qualities of the others. This could
be brought about without violence to the American principle
of homogeneity. One can prove
his worth without maligning his
neighbor. Rather, it should better serve the common cause of
true Americanism that all efforts to bring about a better
understanding between the
component elements of the
American nation be encouraged
instead of suspected and misinterpreted.
But the Syrians
have
ever been a proverbially divided race. This shortcoming
is accentuated in America by the
fact that they are widely scattered and have jiot had so far
the benefit of a sufficiently
strong unifying influence. This
condition will result in many a
young Syrian being lost to himself and to his race, whereas
if he were brought to the proper appreciation of his racial heritage, he would be spurred to
do bigger and better deeds.
Pride, in its nobler sense, can
be the source of untold good.
�,.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
has those who share our belief in
been striving ever since its ap- the vitality of the mission of
pearance to awaken in the the magazine to assist us in
young Syrian generation in carrying out this mission in
America an appreciation of full.
their racial background and
cultural heritage with the single
VARIETY
purpose of strengthening their
belief in themselves in an ef- "THE position of THE SYRIAN
WORLD is singular in that
fort to bring forth the best that
it
is the only periodical in
is in them. Self-respecting citizens are the only desirable citi- English published for the Syrzens, and once this consciousness ians. As such it must cater to
of rational self-evaluation is a variety of tastes and encombrought about, concerted efforts pass all possible needs. Hence
would be exerted to dispell any our policy to make it as general
misunderstanding of the race. in its topics as compatible with
Some deplorable evidence of those needs. Literature, polithe prevalence of such misun- tics, economics, social topics and
derstanding was had only a few news of current events have
months since when the Syrians their departments. And with
were derogatorily referred to all these efforts we cannot claim
to fill every want.
on the floor of the Senate.
We have, nevertheless, some
THE SYRIAN WORLD shall
continue to serve this cause of critics, — friends who would
better understanding with the have the publication conducted
double purpose of enlightening along the highest standards
the Syrians about themselves known to the profession, exand enlightening others about cluding all but the choicest litthem. The management of the erary products. Their contenpublication only regrets that tion is that we owe it to our
these efforts towards creating a racial standing to make the pubbetter understanding are not lication a fitting indication of
sufficiently far-reaching—they our culture.
This would make of the
are limited by the circulation of
magazine
a highly specialized
the publication which is restricted almost to the Syrians them- organ, and we doubt that as
selves. This, of course, serves such it would find more supone side of the double purpose, port than the meager amount
but the other side is equally as it is now receiving. Perhaps
important and should not be such high hopes might materneglected. It is incumbent upon ialize in the future.
THE
SYRIAN
WORLD
s
.
- •:
-,:
I
�41
NOVEMBER, 1929
Letters to the Editor
customs inspector. I can't refrain
from saying (and this is complimentary in every sense) that his
publication is well-named Ad-Dabbour, (The Bee), and that his ability is equal to its title.
I' have an idea that you will put
your travels between two covers.
They should be kept together for
future enjoyment and reference.
Edna K. Saloomey.
Bridgeport Conn.
TRAVELING COMPANION
Editor, The Syrian World:
* * * I have enjoyed the September
issue of The Syrian World, notably
the first article about our voyage
on the steamer Providence. My nephew and I read it with great interest and lived over again many of
our happy experiences.
I was also interested to learn of
your experiences in Palestine. May
I ask you if you could speak to the
Men's Club of St. Andrew's Parish
on Palestine and Syria? You will
have a large attendance of very interested and receptive men, for the
most part New York business people
who would give you keen attention.
Your talk on the subject on the S.
S. Providence was much appreciated.
Rev. F. C. Todd.
South Orange, N. J.
FOREKNOWLEDGE NECESSARY
Editor, The Syrian World:
Having made the trip to Syria
last year, I have thoroughly enjoyed
your description of the first leg of
the voyage. Such accounts should be
appreciated both for their entertainment and instructive values. In any
profitable trip to Syria a foreknowledge of the historical background of
the country is essential. Such a visit
undertaken under these conditions
should prove a source of great cultural wealth to Syrian-Americans.
Ruth Shadid.
Elk City, Okla.
COUNTRY OF EXOTIC LURE
Editor, The Syrian World:
* * * I have enjoyed so much the
two issues of The Syrian World
which have come to me and have
road with great interest the account
of your journey thus far. Your description is so vivid that one sees
v/ith you the beautiful sights and
hears even the distinctive noises of
each place—or it may be enjoys the
silence of the more tranquil places.
One is imbued with a great desire
to see these self-same places which
intrigue one's interest with an exotic lure.
Isabelle Howard.
Rochester, N. Y.
A SUGGESTION
Editor, The Syrian World:
* * * I had a fine time accompanying you upon your arrival at Beirut.
I particularly enjoyed the encounter
your cousin had with the French
ACCOUNTS INSTRUCTIVE
Editor, The Syrian World:
* * * I find it easy to follow you
through your trip. You make the
picture quite clear. I refer to a map
also—it is extending my knowledge
of geography.
The entire volume is interesting
to me as well as instructive on a
country and people of which I had
been quite in the dark.
The great beauty and intensity of
the Arabic poetry as well as the
many other distinctive features of
the publication are equally appreciated.
Sally E. Skiflmgton.
New York.
I ,:.:;%aws»«w
�42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcosmic
picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever Arabic
dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking writers
who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabic-speaking
world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take no part in
the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our task will
simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and with utmost
sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed
in these editorials.
Editor.
SYRIA AND PALESTINE,
HAITI—PHILIPPINES
The Syrians are Orientals. So are
the Palestinians and the Haitians
who are African Orientals, and the
Philippinos who are Asiatic Orientals, and in the countries of all these
peoples there are now disturbances
and conflicts.
Hauran only bides her time to
make new demands and embark on
new wars.
Damascus seeths as a boiling caldron.
In the Philippines there is unrest
and unconcealed dissatisfaction.
In Haiti there are strikes and
bloody encounters.
Oriental blood is what accounts
for this all, for reasons both known
and unknown.
We wish to go on record as being
firm believers in the principle of
evolution—in rebelling against all
that is rotten in the Old. We believe that reform cannot be brought
about by mere adherence to traditions, for the simple reason that
such would shut out beneficent
development. But we believe just as
strongly that reform cannot be
brought about by anarchy, license
and communism.
It is a historical fact that the
Irish are originally Orientals because
they are mostly descendants of the
Phoenicians. But the Irish have
achieved a certain degree of independence because they sought it
through courage, knowledge and
right.
The Philippinos are not
in the same category, because they
demand independence on grounds
of fanaticism and ignorance. They
ar.d the Hauranians, the Syrians and
Palestinians, are in the same class.
But this is a subject on which we
shall not dwell at the present time,
because our principal object is to
comment on the disturbances now
taking place in Haiti, a republic of
blacks, whose people were only up
to a short time ago actual slaves
who could be bought and sold in the
market and who now are in control
and direction of the destinies of the
country.
There is no gainsaying the fact
that the United States is a nation
of charity freedom, democracy and
material and scientific wealth. For
that reason it must be taken for
granted that it has no ulterior motives of colonization or exploitation
either in Haiti or the Philippines.
Rather, her main purpose is that
her neighbors, such as the Haitians,
�43
NOVEMBER, 1929
pretend patriotism while seeking
only their selfish ends.
Orientals should remain under
liberal "Occidental mandate" until
such time that they become fit for
independence. It is axiomatic that
undeveloped children are in need of
conscientious and learned mentors.
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Dec. 10, 1929.
, be under the protection of her benevolent power. Besides, she wishes
to have law and order respected by
her neighbors for the simple reason
that they are her neighbors, and for
the added reason that she will not
permit them to disturb the peace
because of their perverted understanding of liberty and their aptitude to use their independence in
a manner that will spell injury to
the interests of other peoples. And
because the education of such peoples has not become sufficiently
ripened for the exercise of self-control and national independence, their
situation is like that of swamps
which breed disease-bearing mosquitos and are a menace to the wellbeing of mankind.
ARAB OVERTURES
TO JEWS REPORTED
It must be understood that these
people are loud in their shouting for
liberty only to use it as a weapon
to stifle the liberty of others. Or
else, unwittingly, they would work
injury to their own cause of orderly
and lasting liberty.
The Philippines realize full well
that once the United States withdraws they will become the slaves
of the Japanese.
The Hauranians and the Damascenes clamor for independence only
to smother the liberty and the independence of the Lebanese.
The Palestinians befriend their
enemies only to become their slaves
smarting under the cruel lash.
All these are facts which can be
readily proved.
This newspaper is Oriental in
everything but fanaticism and license. If, therefore, we advise the
Haitians to remain under American
mandate, the Syrians and Lebanese
under French mandate and the
Egyptians under British mandate
we should not be accused of treason,
as in that case we would be combatting the treachery of those who
-— :^:\:/:^^:.^'-.^^ .-, r:: \
^<^
.'
"Sheiks of fined villages ask Palestine refugees to return to plow.—
Promise to protect them.—While the
boycott of Jews in cities throughout
Palestine is growing stronger daily,
the Arab peasant is beginning to
show repentence."
Under this heading and lead, the
New York Times of December 18
published a wireless despatch from
its Zionist correspondent Mr. Levy
giving plain evidence of Zionist ingenuity at subtle propaganda. On
the face of it, this can be taken to
mean nothing more than an appeal
for funds in the most deceptive manner.
The Jews are the ablest people in
inventing lies and harping on imaginary occurrences in an effort to
influence public opinion. Their whole
history testifies to the truth of this
statement. But people cannot be deceived any further with these subtle
methods to which the Jews are
wont to resort. No one believes them
any longer. The above wireless dispatch is but an appeal to the Jews
of the world to bear up further and
not give in to despair, but to respond to the call of their needy coreligionists in Palestine. And because the Jews are miserly and unwilling to spend anything unless
they have
complete assurance
against loss, this correspondent
hastens to assure them that the
•
�44
Jews of Palestine are now enjoying
complete security and that the Arabs
will not molest them any further.
All financial help, therefore, coming from the Jews of the world will
be spent in the proper channels. He
also makes an ingenious appeal to
the Jews by picturing to them the
increasing force of the Arab boycott.
This is meant to arouse the Jews
to contribute further funds for the
relief of their Palestine brethren.
We wish to call the attention of
Mr. Levy to the obvious truth that
it is easier for the Jews to reach the
moon than to gain possession of an
Arab country.
Al-Bayan, N. Y., Dec. 19, 1929.
LEBANESE REPRESENTATIVE
IN FAVOR 01' umTY
There are recurrent evidences
that many Lebanese leaders have
been converted to the principle of
complete union with Syria. The latest such evidence is the statement
by Representative Michel Zakkour,
made at a political gathering held
recently in Beirut to the effect that
"all his constituents approve of the
principle of union with Syria," and
that "if we love France, it is because we want to be free men and
not slaves." This shows plainly that
the Lebanese are losing confidence
in their state of isolation from Syria.
We had been in the vanguard of
those who advocated Syrian-Arab
unity in the old country, but following the events of the last revolution which proved to us the continued existence of sinister fanaticism, we were convinced that it would
be better for Lebanon to remain
separated from Syria until such time
that religious bigotry and intolerance died out in the country.
In view of the change of policy of
Lebanese leaders, it would seem
that a readjustment of the political
situation is opportune. These may
THE SYRIAN WORLD
be taken as portents of a new spirit
of tolerance now overtaking Syrian
and Arabian countries. Under these
conditions, and in view of the manifest desire of the Lebanese to effect
unity with tneir brothers of Damascus, why not hasten this end by dissolving the Lebanese republic?
We must take the statements of
Lebanese leaders at their face value,
or they would be open to an accusation of duplicity to which they should
not stoop. Syrian political leaders
have been most frank and outspoken
in proclaiming their stand. They
have made plain their demands and
have stood by them under the most
trying situations. The Lebanese
should be credited with as much
honesty.
Syrian Eagle, N. Y., Dec. 18. 1929.
COST OF A NEW DEPARTMENT
Now that the majority of Syrians
and Lebanese in the United States
have become naturalized, forming an
integral part of the American nation and engaging in all forms of
industrial and commercial activities,
it becomes necessary for the Arabic
press of the United States to cater
to their needs from this special angle.
Syi'ian papers must not overlook
the radical change that has taken
place in the social and economic
position of the immigrants, and because many of these still do not
have an adequate knowledge of the
English language, they naturally
look upon the press of their native
language to sunply them the information their new conditions require.
Especially is this true of the economic situation. The editor of this
paper has personally ascertained
this need through personal knowledge during his frequent travels in
the interior. For that reason we
would only be too glad to devote a
page of our paper to the discussion
�NOVEMBER, 1929
45
of economic developments in the are not, therefore, free and indecountry as suggested by one of our pendent in the full sense of the term,
readers. But to create this new de- because they are helpless to prevent
partment would entail a weekly ex- the United States from meddling in
pense of thirty-five dollars as salary their internal affairs, or otherwise
for a third assistant editor, and this unable to go counter to her will.
additional outlay we find too large
Now we would ask: what differin the hard times prevailing at ence can there be between this conpresent. We find that many work- dition of the power of an unwritten
ingmen subscribing to the Syrian mandate and the prescribed mandate
papers are now out of work, with in Palestine, Syria, Iraq and other
the consequence that these papers countries placed under mandate by
are called upon for increased ex- decree of the League of Nations?
penditures while returns are dwindl'rhere may be a difference in form
ing. But if we should receive in ' ; in spirit. Because by the
0A,
creased returns through subsc*- \/o^ v* t: ight that England is charged
tions we shall be glad to inaugural s'.*^ AN le mandate over Palestine
r
further improvements.
A"?t Rnce over Syria and Lebanon,
Ash-Shaab N. Y., Dec. 9, 1929. scr^e United States exercises the
same right as regards Central American countries, even to the extent of
resorting to military occupation, alMANDATES ARE ALIKE
though she may not be charged with
No sooner had the papers an- any official mandate by a legally
nounced the start of a revolution in constituted body.
But the exercise of such power
Haiti than we heard that it had
come to an end, thanks to the mili- is most beneficial when it is intended
tary steps taken by the United to guide the weak to the point of
States. We must not, however, becoming self-sustaining and capimagine that these steps entail the able of independence. The perempmobilizat:on of all the military re- tory application of such power is
sources of the United States, be- unjust only when it is meant by the
cause all the American forces in strong to use the weak for his selfHaiti do not exceed 1200 men. But ish ends.
it is due rather to the conviction
The presence of American maof the Haitians that they cannot rines in Haiti may be interpreted
or>pose such a power as the United by the powers as military occupaStates that they hastened to give tion incompatible with the right of
their submission. They have before the Black Republic to independence.
them the example of Venezuela
But in the view of humanitarian
Santo Domingo, Nicaragua and powers, such action by the United
other Central American republics to
States is a boon to the population
realize that the United States will of that country because it brings
not tolerate any unwarranted dis- forcibly to their attention that the
turbances by its neighbors. This, in place of small nations is to keep
fact, is the application of the Mon- the peace, otherwise they would be
roe Doctrine which means nothing exposing their independence to loss
other than what we have come to
in this age when the small is at the
understand in more recent diploma- mercy of the big in every phase of
its national existence.
tic parlsvce os the rijrht of mandate.
These Central American republics
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., Dec. 10, 1929.
�-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
46
Political Developments in Syria
PALESTINE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY CONTINUES ITS INVESTIGATION — POLITICAL SIT UATION IN SYRIA UNCHANGED
— REFORM PROGRAM IN LEBANON APPROVED.
PALESTINE
Unquestionably the most important development of the month bearing on the Palestine situatiov
'he
" 4>
joint statement of the thr
of the Palestine manda.
ie,
Lloyd George, the Earl o t a 0*
and General Jan Christian I g '^'hadvocating a new and sweepj^.-vestigation into the whole operation
of the mandate.
The Balfour Declaration, it should
be borne in mind, although issued
by the Earl of Balfour, was not a
hasty step taken on that British
statesman's own initiative. It was
the result of a well-considered British policy representing the decision
of the whole cabinet. Lord Balfour,
as the Secretary for Foreign Affairs,
was only the instrument for issuing
the declaration.
Now the three men responsible
for th's political document which is
bringing to the British such unpleasant results have declared to
the world that their action has miscarried and they would advise methods of correction. Following is the
gist of their new decision embodied
in a joint statement published in
the London Times and reported to
the New York Times in a dispatch
dated December 19.
"As members of the war cabinet
which was responsible for the Balfour Declarat:on twelve years ago,
and for the policy of a national
home for the Jewish people which
it foreshadowed, we view with deep
anxiety the present situation in
•
Palestine. On the events of last
August which are now the subject
of an inquiry by a special commiss 'on we forbear comment. But it
s clear that whatever the finding
of the commission may be on the
risibility of the outbreak, the
to which Britain set her hand
at the close of the war is not proceeding satisfactorily.
"The Balfour Declaration pledged
us to a policy; the Palestine mandate
entrusted us with vital administrative duties; but causes which are still
obscure have impeded the task of
administration and consequently the
full carrying out of the policy.
"In these circumstances we would
urge on the government the appointment of an authoritative commission to investigate the whole
working of the mandate. The commission at present in Palestine was
aDpointed with linrted terms of reference to inquire into specific matters. This commission, in our view,
must, as soon as it has reported, be
supplemented by a searching inquiry
into major questions of policy and
administration. Our pledge is unequivocal, but in order to fulfill it
in the letter and spirit a considerable readjustment of the administrative machine may be desirable.
"Such a commission would be an
advertisement to the world that
Britain has not weakened in a task
to which her honor is pledged and
at the same t'me an assurance to
Jews and Arabs alike that any
proven defects in the present system
of government will be made good."
�NOVEMBER, 1929
Meantime, the commission of inquiry is proceeding with its task.
Recent developments indicate that
its methods of procedure are causing resentment by both Arabs and
Jews. As a result, th.2 Arabs are
being- further emboldened in their
accusation of the British of baing
the instruments of carrying out the
Zionist policy of making Palestine
a Jew'sh homeland, while the Jews,
according to testimony given before
the inquiry commission by Harry
Sacher member of the Palestine
Zionist Executive, "condemn the
Palest'ne government for weakness
in policy during the outbreaks, and
also for lack of sympathy toward
the Jews ever S'r.ce British occupation."
One of the princiral witnesses was
the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj
Ameen El-Husseini, who insisted on
the observance of an old Turk:'sh
prerogative which allowed the heads
of religious communit'cs to testify
in their own residences. The commission, with counsel, did not ins'st
on his appearance before it in regular court for fear of raising another issue. This action was severely
criticized by members of the English colony in Jerusalem on the
ground that it affects British prestige not only in Palestine but in the
whole East.
The Grand Muft;, in his testimony,
insisted that he not only did not
incite the outbreaks but sought to
pacify the turbu'ent element and
prevent bloodshed. He blamed Arab
unrest on the unkept promise of
England to grant them independence
as a reward for their participation
in the war. He introduced as evidence a letter from Lord Balfour to
King Hussein, dated 1918, thanking
the Arab leader for his aid to the
Allies and stating that the pledges
of independence made by Colonel
Lawrence would be fulfilled.
47
Following the Arab witnesses the
Jews among them members of the
Palestine Executive, were called by
the commission. The Chief Rabbi
of Palestine, Abraham Isaac Kook,
in contrast to the action of the
Grand Mufti, waived the right to
give his testimony at his own residence. His explanation to the commission of the reason for his action
is that he wanted "to pay due honor
to those sitting in judgment, because
in ancient days, when the Temple
existed, the Jewish priest, when
called to testify, always appeared
before the judges." The Chief Rabbi
further made an indirect attack on
the action of the Mohammedan relIigious d gnitary by quoting an old
Jewish saying that "the truth is
neither shy nor afraid."
Testimony bearing on the origin
of the August riots has been contradictory, each sde incriminating
the other. The Grand Mufti, for instance, testified that he attempted
to Check the riots and that he has
always worked for peace and order. He claimed that he was officially
thanked by the government on many
occasions for exerting his calming
influence. The cause of the outbreak,
he maintained, is the des're of the
Jews to influence the new British
Labor Cabinet to change the status
quo in their favor. This decision,
'he intimated, was reached at the
Zurich congress.
Jewish testimony, while disclaiming all guilt for the outbreaks, has
been so far mostly directed toward
proving the economic benefits of
Jewish immigration to Palestine.
Harry Sacher, a member of the
Palestine Executive, insisted that
the public revenue of the country
ultimately is dependent on Jewish
immigration and Jewish resources.
Speaking of the aim of Zionism he
declared that the "Zionists did not
seek a Jewish state, but wished a
�48
Jewish majority in a national home
under the aegis of Great Britain,"
whatever that may mean.
Sigfried Hoofien, general manager
of the Anglo-Palestine Company, asserted that the Jews have so far
brought $225,000,000 into Palestine.
He further stated, according to a
dispatch of the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, that Jewish immigration
had materially benefited the Arabs,
as much of the money brought in
by the Jews passed into the Arab
economic system through the Jews
paying for rural and urban lands,
for goods, services and rent. As an
example he said that the annual
rent bill of the Jews of Haifa to
Arab landlords reached $270,000.
The Arabic papers of Beirut report the discovery, the latter part
of November, of a supposed Jewish
plot to smuggle arms and ammunition on a large scale into Palestine.
The designs of the smugglers were
frustrated by the vigilance of the
Beirut police who arrested the ringleaders and seized great quantities
of arms in the plains of Shweifat,
on the southern coast of Lebanon.
The booty included several machine
guns and a large number of old
Turkish army rifles. Some native
Syrians were in conspiracy with the
Jews but all those arrested disclaimed ownership of the weapons
and claimed that they were in the
vicinity by chance. One of those apprehended is a Palestine Jew who
is supposed to have come to Beirut
to negotiate for the purchase of the
war material.
This incident drew a formal protest from the President of the Arab
Executive Committee of Palestine
to the British High Commissioner.
In his complaint, the Arab leader
reminds the authorities that this is
not the first time the Jews have attempted to smuggle arms and ammunition into Palestine for the ob-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
vious purpose of attacking the
Arabs. He also charges that the
Jews have well-disciplined secret
military organizations which the
authorities apparently sanction, as
they have done nothing to suppress
them.
The direct accusation that the
President of the Arab Executive
Committee makes is that this lenient
policy toward the Jews on the part
of the British authorities is what led
to the unfortunate outbreaks of last
August.
On the other hand, the Daily Mail
correspondent in Palestine accuses
the Arabs of arming themselves to
an extent heretofore unknown for a
coming struggle with Great Britain
and the Jews. Large quantities of
arms and ammunition are being
smuggled across the Transjordanian
and Syrian borders in a systematic
manner proving the existence of
well-laid plans. The correspondent
charges the British authorities with
gross neglect for not taking the necessary precaution against a recurrence of the bloody outbreaks of last
August.
SYRIA
Nothing of importance has transpired in the Syrian political situation during the last month. Unconfirmed rumors stated that She'kh
Taj Eddin, the Provisional President has resigned, giving no details.
Other rumors were to the effect that
the,, French High Commissioner had
replied to the memorandum of the
Nationalists in a conciliatory manner. About all that has an appearance of authenticity, however, is
that the High Commissioner is pursuing his well-known policy of deliberate and unhasty action. He :s
meeting with leaders and is supposed to be formulating plans for a
final proposal which is hoped to be
acceptable. The Nationalists are
�NOVEMBER, 1929
abiding their time and endeavoring
to maintain their hold in the face
of growing activities by other political factions who aim to profit by
the present political confusion.
The question of the French mandate in Syria came up for discussion
in the French Chamber of Deputies
on December 13. The advisability of
continuing this expensive experiment by France was questioned by
one of the deputies of the Left, but
the War Minister replied that the
mandate was a task entrusted to
France by the League of Nations
which made France honor-bound to
live up to the trust. A vote was
taken on the issue raised and the
government was upheld by a majority of 330 against 247. The proposal
for reducing French military appropriations for Syria by forty million
francs was also voted down by 325
against 249.
LEBANON
The much discussed reform program of Premier Eddy's cabinet was
submitted to the Legislative Assembly on November 22. It proved to
be a long document dealing with
every phase of national life and suggesting logical reforms. Its proposals
were said to have been well received
by the Assembly but on a motion
from the floor final decision was delayed for a fortnight to give the
Assembly time for more mature
consideration.
Premier Eddy makes no attempt
to conceal facts. At the outset he
admits the existence of an economic crisis which if not corrected
immediately and effectively will lead
to dire consequences. The principal
remedy he prescribes is economy in
the cost of government. Instead of
sixteen administrative districts in
the country he proposes the reduction of the number to only five, effecting thereby considerable savings
in salaries. He further proposes re-
49
organizing the educational system by
concentrating on teaching of applied subjects and the inauguration
of a form of civil service examination for teachers in an effort to
choose men of proven fitness. The
judicial department is also scheduled for a readjustment in favor of
efficiency and economy.
The additional proposal is made
for a more equitable levying of
taxes that they may be more proportionate to actual values. The savings thus made will be used for road
improvements and for the promotion of irrigation enterprises which
would enhance materially the prosperity of the country.
What may be considered the most
radical feature of the program is
the demand of the Premier for what
is tantamount to dictatorial power
for the enforcement of the reform
provisions of his program. He has
asked the Assembly for absolute
authority for a limited term that he
may put his reforms into effect by
administrative edict to insure speed.
This feature is what caused the Assembly to request the delay for giving its approval so as to have time
for mature consideration.
Following the publication of Premier Eddy's program, representatives of the State of Syria are said
to have impressed upon the High
Commissioner the inadvisability of
terminating the tobacco monopoly
which was a concession held by the
French since the old Turkish regime.
But owing to the fact that public
feeling in Lebanon was running
high against the continuation of the
monopoly, Premier Eddy later prevailed upon the High Commissioner
to consent to its cessation. Henceforth tobacco cultivation and manufacture will become an open privilege in Lebanon. This is expected to
improve materially the economic
conditions of the country.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
so
About Syria and Syrians
RIHANI S DECEMBER
SPEAKING PROGRAM
Speaking both under the auspices
of the Foreign Policy Association
and other organizations, Mr. Ameen
Rihani is making a wide circuit of
lecture engagements. The fact that
this issue of The Syrian World is
published the latter part of December makes it possible for us to list
the speaking engagements which he
has filled this month. From the first
to the fifteenth he spoke nine times
in as many different cities before
large American audiences. In Northampton, Mass., he spoke to the Mass.
Progressive Club Forum; in Amherst
at Amherst College; in BronxviHe at
Sarah Lawrence College; in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Women's City
Club; in Gambier, Ohio, at Kenyon
College; and in Cincinnati Columbus, Buffalo and Rochester for the
Foreign Policy Association.
In most of the cities he visits Mr.
Rihani is being extended popular
receptions by the Syrian communities who are anxious to do honor to
the man who is bringing so much
honor to the Syrian name. On many
occasions he is also called upon to
address special meetings of Syrians
on political and other topics.
EDITOR SPEAKS TO
SYRIAN ASSOCIATION
The American Syrian Federation
of New York, the principal Syrian
organization of the city, asked the
editor of The Syrian World to address its members on general conditions in Syria, calling for the purpose a special meeting. The audience was drawn from the leading
:.-.
-
-.
:
business element of the city who
were most interested and receptive.
Questions from the floor on economic, social, political and educational
conditions stretched the time of the
talk to an hour and a half.
CONCERT IN BOSTON
FOR SYRIAN RELIEF
(From our correspondent)
The Syrian Relief Assoc:ation of
Boston held its annual concert on
December 8 at the Municipal
Building, West End, which was attended by nearly one thousand, some
coming from Lawrence Worcester,
Brockton, Lynn and other Massachusetts cities.
President Faris S. Malouf gave
an outline of the Assoc'ation's activities and spoke of future plans.
Mr. Nassour Abraham entertained
with his witty and typical Arabic
verses. Young Peter Solomon of
Prov;dence, gave an unexpected
treat with his playing of Arab:c
songs on the violin.
Mme. Fedora Korban, styled the
Syrian Nightingale, fully justified
her reputation by the veritable
song feast she gave to an appreciative aud'ence. She has the voice of
a nightingale indeed! There is a
ring in her voice, coupled with a
charming mannerism, that held the
breath of her audience.
Mr. Isiah Seligman, famous p:anist in Europe and America, accompanied Mme. Korban. His solo offerings were exquisite, and many
wished that he had more experience
in the playing of Arabic selections.
The concert was a financial success.
�L
NOVEMBER, 1929
SYRIAN PRIESTS ATTEND
CARDINAL'S ANNIVERSARY
A correspondent of Al-Hoda in
Boston reports that on December 8
three hundred clergymen of various
ranks attended a banquet in celebration of the seventieth anniversary of Cardinal O'Conncl!, amons'
whom were four Syrian priests serving parishes in the Boston diocese.
The correspondent delights in
stating that while none of the Syrian clergymen were assigned to
speak on this occasion, the cardinal
noticed the fact and had the chairman call on Msgr. Estephan Eldowaihy. the Maronite priest of Boston,
whom he had known in Rome. Msgr.
Eldowaihy made some impromptu
remarks interspersed with expressions of good wishes in Arabic
which delighted the audience. Then
two other Syrian priests, Father
B. Bellama and Archimandrite Peter
Abouzaid, were called upon by the
chairman and their remarks were
equally well received. This, according to the deduction of the correspondent, proved to the learned audience that in the Eastern churches
there are priests who live up in every
respect to the high tradition of the
Catholic Church.
ORTHODOX BISHOP
DIES OF GRIEF
Aleph Ba (Damascus) reports the
death, early in November, of the
Orthodox Bishop Boulos Abou Adal,
of Jebail and Batroun. His death,
according to the report of the paper, was hastened by grief over the
dissension developed in the Orthodox Church of Syria over the election of a Patriarch. The dead church
dignitary had journeyed to his native city of Damascus expressly
to attend the conclave of bishops,
but had to follow the proceedings
51
through oral reports while confined
to his bed. When the meeting was
adjourned and the bishops dispersed
without reaching a conclusion, Bishop Abou Adal was so affected
that he could not survive the shock.
The dead prelate was most active
in promoting educational facilities
in his diocese. He succeeded in
founding three boarding schools
and 25 parochial schools, besides
twenty-five new churches.
SYRIAN GRANDMOTHER
TAKES UP PROFESSION
Ambition, as proved in the case
of Mrs. N. Haick, a Syrian woman
of Brooklyn, N. Y., is not confined
to youth. Although a grandmother,
this ambitious woman took up the
study of chiropractice for several
years and graduated with high honors. She now has a successful practice from among Syrians and other
nationalities.
Dr. Haick was born in Mt. Lebanon and immigrated while young to
the United States. She received her
early education at an American missionary school in her native town.
While her children needed her care
she could not engage in any professional study, an ambition which she
always cherished. She succeeded in
taking this branch of the medical
profession after she was a grandmother.
ARAB SCENE WINS FAVOR
The students resident at International House in New York gave an
entertainment on Saturday, Dec. 7,
which was participated in by most
of the national groups. The Arabicspeaking group, mostly Syrians,
staged what proved to be the most
popular piece. It represented a des-
�.
52
ert scene wherein all the characters
appeared dressed in native costumes.
The author of the play is Emile
Dumit who also played the leading
part.
The cast of characters is as follows:
Sheikh of Anezi Tribe—Tamir Shibly
The Poet—Emile Dumit
The Musician—Rafik Asha
The Scribe—Habib Kourani
The Sportsman—Raja Hourani
Religious Head—Fadel Jamali
Sword Dancer—Jamal El-Kourdaji
American Tourist and Guest of the
Tribe—Philip Du Bois.
Fortune Teller—Mrs. Lois Naylor
Star of the Tribe—Miss Rose Mokarzel
Miss Alice Mokarzel gave Oriental
piano selections.
SYRIAN EDUCATOR
ADDRESSES AMERICANS
Dr. Philip K. Hitti, the well-known
Syrian educator and scholar, spoke
to over two hundred members of
the Sorosis Club at the Commodore
Hotel in New York on December 9
on the Syrians' contributions to civilization. Dr. Hitti finds time amidst
his many duties at Princeton University to deliver frequent illuminating talks on Syria and its history, and in this he is rendering
his country and race signal services
which are highly appreciated by the
discerning.
SYRIAN WOMAN EDUCATOR
ARRIVES IN AMERICA
Miss Marie Kassab, founder of the
School Al-Ahliah in Beirut, arrived
in New York on the S. S. Berengaria in mid-December. She comes
to visit relatives and to study the
principles of the American educa-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
tional system for possible application to her own school. She will visit
some of the leading American Universities by previous invitation and
will travel across the United States
to the Pacific coast.
Although Miss Kassab's school has
been founded only thirteen years ago
it ranks high among the educational
institutions of Syria and is attracting students from all parts of the
Arabic-speaking countries.
Miss Kassab plans to remain in
the country for about six months.
STREET IN ARGENTINE
NAMED AFTER LEBANON
The city of Jonin, numbering
eighty thousand inhabitants, has
named one of its principal streets,
formerly known as that of Entre
Rios after the Republic of Lebanon,
according to a special dispatch to
the Arabic newspaper As-Salam
published in Buenos Aires.
The dispatch further states tihat
the City Council of the Argentine
city took this decision unanimously,
because of the high esteem in which
the Lebanese community of the city
is held.
SYRIAN MEMBER OF
BOSTON WELFARE COUNCIL
The Boston correspondents of tihe
Arabic papers of New York report
that Mr. Assad Mudarry, a wealthy
Syrian merchant of the Hub City,
has been appointed by the mayor a
member of the Welfare Council.
Mr. Mudarry has long been a resident of Boston and active in its
civic affairs. He is a graduate of
the American University of Beirut
and for several years took up teaching in the Orthodox High School of
Damascus. In Boston he was for
�I
NOVEMBER, 1929
several consecutive terms president
of the local branch of the Syrian
Educational Society and of the Orthodox Society of St. John.
RANKS SYRIANS HIGH
IN ANCIENT CULTURE
Archaeological finds that raise the
accepted standard of ancient Syrian art to a level hitherto unknown
were described on December 17 in a
lecture at the Metropolitan Museum
of Art by Eustache de Lorey, director and founder of the French
Institute of Islamic Art and Archaeology at Damascus, according
to the New York Times. M. de Lorey arrived recently to lecture at
the Chicago Art Institute, Princeton, Wellesley and the College Art
Association.
With the aid of lantern slides M.
de Lorey described the uncovering
by a delicate process of an area of
2,600 square feet of mosaics in gold,
mother of pearl and tinted glass
which he was satisfied were created
under the direction of Caliph Walid I of the Ommiad Dynasty, who
reigned from 705 to 716 A. D.
The mosaics were found under
the stucco on the walls of the Mosque
of Damascus. Prior to their discovery small fragments of mosaics had
been discovered about the age-worn
walls, but since the Mohammedans
were believed not to have tolerated
any decorations of this nature in
their places of worship, archaeologists had concluded that the bits
found had come to be there by accident.
M. de Lorey remained skeptical,
and, with, the assistance of a staff
of experts, removed the outer covering of stucco, revealing representations of landscapes and of fantastically shaped buildings in colors
as brilliant as when they awed the
"--
'
53
Arabian pilgrims twelve centuries
ago. He said that they wera probably a form of Byzantine mural decoration that came into vogae during the period of iconoclasm, when
religious images were forbidden.
The artistic merit of tha work he
declared to be superior to similar
mosaics found in Jerusalem. The
graceful palmette trees, undulating
acanthus vines, and other flora depicted as arising from classic urns
or along the bank of a river were
more life-like than any hitherto discovered, he said. He suggested that
the large quantities of tinted glass
tubes that went into the work were
those which, according to Arab
chronicles, were shipped to the Caliph Walid by the Byzantine Emperor.
M. de Lorey is directing a general archaeological survey of the
Islamic monuments in Syria. He has
made other discoveries in the last
two years in the cities of Damascus
and Aleppo. He became interested
in the work while first secretary of
the French Legation in Teheran.
POSTPONING ELECTION
OF ORTHODOX PATRIARCH
The conclave of the bishops of
the Syrian Orthodox Church which
met in Damascus the latter part of
November having been adjourned,
the secretary of that body issued
a formal statement in which he gave
the reasons for the action taken as
being the undue interference by the
people of Damascus to influence the
members in electing a candidate of
their choice.
Later the bishops met in one of
the monasteries of Lebanon hoping
to resume their labors in a more
quiet atmosphere. This also resulted
in failure and again the meeting
was adjourned, this time for an indefinite period.
�~1
THE SYRIAN WORLD
54
LARGE ENROLLMENT AT
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
By Bernice Griswold
I
Fourteen hundred and thirtyseven students, representing twentysix nations in Asia, Africa, Europe,
North, South and Central America
and Australia, and belonging to
nineteen different religious sects, are
enrolled this year at the American
University of Beirut, the Preparatory, Elementary and Music Schools
under the administration of the
University.
A recent statement from Beirut
on the registration says that the
students, "by mutual interest and
daily contact in classrooms, on the
campus and in the Brotherhood Society, are laying foundations of international friendships which may
be an important factor in solving
present and future problems in the
Near East."
The students come from all of the
principal cities of Egypt — from
Alexandria and Cairo to Asslout
and Suez; from all parts of Iraq —
from Busra and Baghdad to Mosul;
from Teheran. Kermanshah, Hamadan, Urumia, Tabriz, Bushire, Shiraz, Barfrouche and other cities in
Persia which have become world
famous among collectors of Persian
rugs and carpets; from Constantinople, Turkey; from all the cities
and towns in Syria and all of the
principal cities and towns in Palestine, from Nazareth to Beersheba
and G; :a; from Amman, Transjordan; tr nrincipal cities on the Island
of Cyi as and from Bahrein and
Kuweit in the Persian Gulf; from
Aden, . uthern Arabia; Addis Abeba, Abyssinia; Dar-es-Salaam, East
Africa; Khartoum and Omdurman,
Soudan; Renmark, South Australia;
Mendoza and Jujuy, Argentine; Catragena, Columbia; Quito, Ecuador;
Mexico City and Tempico, Mexico;
Boston; Washington, D. C; Waterbury, Conn.; New York City; Cleveland Ohio; Flint, Michigan; Hartford, Conn.; Philadelphia and Los
Angeles, hi the United States; from
Cebu in the Philippine Islands and
from Shanghai, China.
Bayard Dodge is president of the
American University of Beirut,
which was founded in 186G.
i
S\RIAN WOMAN LAWYER
VISITING UNITED STATES
A prominent Syrian visitor in the
United States since last summer id
Mme Sa'yba Garzouzi, one of the
pioneer women of the law profession in the East and a resident 01"
Egypt. Mme. Garzouzi was invited
to speak at the Williamstown Institute of Politics, where she acquitted herself creditably and gave a
comprehensive account of the emancipation movement of the women of
the Arabic-speaking countries. She
is now staying in New York to fill
lecture engagements. She spoke at
the Town Hall to a crowded house
early in December. The following report of her address was prepared by
one of our correspondents.
SYRIAN WOMAN LAWYER
ADDRESSES LARGE AUDIENCE
By T. H. K. Rezmie
A vivid picture of the conditions
prevailing in the Near East, especially of its womanhood, coupled
with a strongly argued appeal for
the freedom of Arabian nations,
evoked vigorous applause for Mme.
Sa'yba Garzouzi, noted Egyptian
lawyer, who addressed a large audience at the Town Hall, in New
York.
"The women of the Old East,"
said Mme. Garzouzi to the members
^ ^^ H
I
i
�T«
I
NOVEMBER, 1929
of the League for Political Education, "are rapidly advancing in education, sanitation, nation-building
and emancipation. And, strange as
may seem, their men are encouraging them in their efforts."
As examples of feminine advancement in Egypt, Mme. Garzouzi cited
the large number of professional
women, who are members of the
Egyptian Women's Union, Which a^
one of its activities takes care of
1,400 patients a day in its Dispensary.
"The recent bold and patriotic
achievement oi: the women of Palestine, who shed all their age-old
traditions and marched to the High
Commissioner's Unices demanding
freedom of their country," said Mme.
Garzouzi proudly, "is the sample o±
the way in which Syrian women
have progressed."
Mme Garzouzi declared that the
mutilation of Syria after the war
has created new obstacles in the
way of national development of the
Arab peoples, and appealed for the
liberation of the country of her birth
from "French Dictatorship."
Before the Great War, Syria was
one single state, autonomous under
the Turks. Now she has been mutilated and sliced off into four parts—
Syria, Palestine, Transjordania and
Mesopotamia—one under France
and three under English dictatorship. "The French in Syria have
killed 60 000 (?) men and women
since the end of the War—2,000
women and children in the city of
Damascus alone," she charged, and
denounced the MacDonald Draft of
the Treaty with Egypt as an instrument "which would
simply
screen the British Occupation forces
in a desert paradise costing the
Egyptian Exchequer five mil!ion
dollars and would deprive Egypt of
an appeal to the League of Nations
for twenty-five years more."
5S
She appealed for a readjustment
of the relations between the Eastern
and Western peoples, "not on the
basis of the old refrain 'East is
East and West is West,' but on the
new and higher ideal that 'God s is
the Orient and God's is the Occident.' "
SYRIA—IRAQ, AIR
PASSENGER SERVICE
Only a few years ago travel by
automobile across the Syrian deserc
to Mesopotamia was a pioneering
attempt. Now it not only has become a common practice but an improvement is planned by the introduction of regular air service.
The papers of Damascus report
that the Eastern Transport Co. has
purchased a passenger plane capable
of accommodating twelve persons
with the purpose of inaugurating a
regular air service between Syria
and Iraq. The initial flight is scheduled for the middle of Decerabi r.
SYRIAN'S INVENTION
FOR FUEL ECONOMY
The invention of Mr. Wm. M. Malouf for economy in fuel oil was
given a demonstration on Tuesday
December 17, before officials of the
Health and Police Departments of
the City of New York and newspaper representatives. The invention
consists of a cage and ball cvfnstructcd on what is claimed to V !':a heretofore unknown scientific Principle.
It is capable of revolving • t a terrific speed without gearing* or lubrication, and, by virtue of its special
construction, is capable of increasing the mileage of an automobile
49 per cent, while decreasing the
amount of fuel consumed 33 per cent.
�56
It also practically eliminates carbon
monoxide and smoke, according to
the results of the laboratory tests
published by the inventor.
According to the published prospectus, a company has already been
formed to exploit the invention which
is destined to revolutionize the automotive industry and greatly benefit humanity.
Mr. Malouf perfected his invention in collaboration with Mr. Ros;
M. Lynn. He originally immigrated
from the town of Kfarkab, in Mi.
Lebanon.
PRIME MINISTER OF
IRAQ A SUICIDE
Press dispatches of November 16
announced the death by suicide of
Abdul Muhsen Bey Sadoun, Prime
Minister of Iraq. The Syrian press
arriving with the latest mail carries
long accounts of the tragedy and the
effect it had on the people of Baghdad. Contrary to former reports, the
suicide of the Premier was not induced by financial worries. Rather,
it would seem that, out of sheer
patriotism, he wished to give the
people of Iraq an illustration of the
tragic results of indiscriminate attacks on their faithful public servants.
It would seem that in discussing
certain features of the Speech from
the Throne some Deputies misinterpreted a remark by the Premier
to mean that the country would resort to force in gaining its legitimate demands from England, instead of his more peaceful words
to the effect that unless the British
fulfilled their promises by 1932
energetic means would have to be
pursued.
Moreover, the Premier had been
for some time past showing signs
of an approaching nervous collapse
THE SYRIAN WORLD
as a result of his arduous labors. On
the day of the tragedy, he retired
to hi3 study and wrote a note to his
e'dest son, now a student at Birmingham, asking his forgiveness and importuning him to care for hi;; younger brothers. When later his wife
noticed him taking out a revolver
from a secret drawer, she suspected
his suicidal designs and flung herself at him in an effort to stop him,
but he threatened to shoot her if
she interfered or raised a cry. When
the wife could finally call for help
the Premier had already expired.
All Baghdad was closed as a sign
of national grief.King Faisal called
in person at the house of his faithi
ful friend and is said to have wept
copiously. He comforted his family
by saying that the Premier had died
a martyr in the discharge of national
duty, as a soldire would, and may
therefore be deemed a national hero.
The body was carried through \
densely packed streets on a gun
carriage, but before reaching the
cemetery a number of lawyers insisted on carrying the body the remainder of the way on their shoulders. After interment, the Bar Association of Baghdad passed resolutions asking the government to buy
the dead Premier's residence and
make of it a national shrine.
POET UNDER TRIAL
FOR APPROVING BEER
Marouf Ar-Rissafi, the ranking
poet of Iraq, was summoned to court
by order of the government following a decision of Parliament to that
effect. The charge against him is that
he published derogatory remarks
about the wife of the Prophet and
interpreted the sayings of some Ulemas of the Moslem faith to mean
that drinking of beer was permissible.
mmtmmmmmsmmsmm
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�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
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English
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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NS 0002
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
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TSW1929_11reducedWM
Title
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The Syrian World Volume 04, Issue 03
Date
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1929 November
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 4 Issue 03 of The Syrian World published November 1929. The issue begins with Salloum A. Mokarzel's continuation of his travels into Syria, where he specifically details interviews with the President and Premier of the Republic of Lebanon, and with acting French High Commissioner. Hilda Fox, General Secretary of the Lebanon Hospital for Mental Diseases, wrote about the history and needs of this institution in Mt. Lebanon. Then Elizabeth MacCallum's "On Ameen Rihani" is featured. It discusses his life and works as a frequently featured writer in The Syrian Word. The Barbara Young's poem titled "To the Man with the Hard Eyes" is included in the issue, followed by yet another poem titled "A Legend of the Nile" by Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin, a mystical poem that tells of Egypt from the perspective of Alkazin who spent much of his childhood there. Labeebe A. J. Hanna is yet again featured in this issue for her original short story titled "Such Was Fate!" a love story set in the United States focused around the life of a Syrian couple. The issue concludes with Letters to the Editor, excerpts from the Arab press, and further information on the political developments in Syria.
Subject
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Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
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English
Creator
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
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Text/pdf
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Text
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
A. Hakim
Ameen Rihani
Edward B. Karam
Kahlil Gibran
Labeebee A.J. Hanna
New York
Poetry-English
Syria
Travel
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/2d2b52a411d1bfd07bbb7a0a221c51a9.pdf
4bc5491a417ad216f411478f07ed8aa3
PDF Text
Text
mm^@B®mm
mm
VOL. IV. No. 2.
OCTOBER, 19
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIR? AND ARABIC LITERATURE
^P
LEADERSHIP FOR SYRIAN RACE PROGRESS
REV. W. A. MANSUR
CIRCULATING BOONS IN |!EDDAH
AMEEN RIHANT
A MESSIAH OF OLD
-WILLIAM CATZEFLIS
IN THE LAND OF PROMISE
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
THE SMILE OF DEATH (A SHORT STORY)
JOHN A. LA EACE
THE COPY 50c
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THE
SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL,
Published monthly by
Editor.
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies 50c.
Entered as second-class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. IV. No. 2.
OCTOBER, 1929.
CONTENTS
PAGE
In this Issue
3
Leadership for Syrian Race Progress
5
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
On a Valetudinarian (Poem)
J. D.
12
CARLYLE
Circulating Boons in Jeddah
13
AMEEN RIHANI
An Ideal
22
SuMAYEH ATTIYEH
A Messiah of Old
WILLIAM CATZEFLIS
23
�|
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
Arab Proverbs
26
In the Land of Promise
27
SALLOUM
A. MOKARZEL
Edwin (Poem)
37
LABEEBEE
A. J. HANNA
The Smile of Death
JOHN
'
38
A. LA EACE
Book Reviews
44
Spirit of the Syrian Press
4-6
Political Developments in Syria
50
About Syria and Syrians
54
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
Partial View of Beirut
Entering Beirut Harbor
Square of the Martyrs, Beirut
Lower Section of Wadi Hammana
A Motor Road in Lebanon
Pan-Arab Congress in Session
Congress of the Desert
Druzes in War Conference
�IN THIS ISSUE
REV. W. A. MANSUR
contributes one of his usual
brilliant analytical essays on the
Syrians' needs in America.
Competent leadership is undoubtedly one of the Syrians'
crying needs and it would be
gratifying to believe that they
enjoy such an advantage. The
Syrians are one of the most
divided people on earth. To
work for unity among them is,
therefore, a most praiseworthy
effort because of the difficulty
of the task. Dr. Mansur writes
optimistically and logically on
the subject. * * * AMEEN RIHANI entertains our readers
in this issue with an original
account of his experiences while
in Jeddah, the principal port of
Arabia. In his description of
circulating boons he gives a
clear account of almost everything that circulates, and the
reader is bound to share with
him the belief that all are
boons! Unless the reader cannot sufficiently contain himself
at the various manifestations of
circulating boons and volunteers
to perform for the author the
task of throwing the broken
window shutter at the volunteer
circulating muazzen. This article from the pen of our fa-
mous writer and traveler reveals him in one of his lightest and happiest moods. * * *
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
begins in this issue the account
of his experiences and observations in the motherland. It is
a chronological record faithfully descriptive of the reactions of an emigrant returning
for a visit after an absence of
thirty years, and giving a comprehensive comparison between
the past and the present. Although the present account covers only the first day, it touches
on a multitude of interesting
things. A particular kissing scene
described puts to shame anything of that nature that was
ever seen in the movies. Even
in this first installment, the
writer initiates you into some
of the most intimate aspects of
high life in Lebanon. * * *
WILLIAM CATZEFLIS is
known to our readers by his
several delightful contributions during the first year of
the magazine. He has now discovered in the writings of Voltaire what should prove of immense interest to those who
would learn of the unshaken
belief of the Jews in the promised Messiah and of the distant
�...
causes of the present Zionist
movement. The incident described came very near having
a tragic ending but for the Solomon-like resourcefulness of the
Turkish sultan who succeeded
in unmasking the pseudo-Messiah and caused him to prefer
Islam to death. Mr. Catzeflis
presents an able translation of
Voltaire's account from the
original French.*** SUMAYEH ATT1YEH ably
gives us her conception of an
ideal. Miss Attiyeh is a lecturer of note and a former contributor
to THE
SYRIAN
WORLD. * * * JOHN A. LA
FACE is one of our promising
new crop of writers whose merit
is being recognized early in his
career. He is now a senior in
the University of Cincinnati
and his short story which is
published in this issue won first
prize in last year's contest. The
ingenious plot is taken from
the Arabic and well worked
out. We are happy to introduce
him to our family of readers.**
LABEEBEE A. J. HANNA
is well known to our readers
for her versatile ability. A
teacher of English in a Boston
high school, she nevertheless
is in love with Arabic upon
which she draws at times for
interesting and entertaining
material.
Her contribution
for this issue, however, is
on a subject which is universally appreciated. * * *
MRS. EUNICE TIETJENS
contributes to English literature a new version of the Romance of Antar, the great Arab
poet-lover. A comprehensive
review of her work is given in
this issue. * * * REGULAR
DEPARTMENTS of THE
SYRIAN WORLD will be found
as interesting as usual. To the
political developments in Syria
have been added accounts of
developments
in
Palestine
which, being an Arab country,
claims the interest of Arabicspeaking peoples throughout
the world. * * * The Spirit of
the Syrian Press is being further appreciated owing to the
violent disturbances that rock
the Arabic-speaking world these
eventful days. The reactions
of those who feel the people's
pulse is well-worth knowing in
this troublesome period. * * *
The other department, About
Syria and Syrians, is always interesting as a record of the
principal happenings among
Syrians both in America and
abroad. It is a monthly journal
justly considered by our readers a fitting complement in its
informative value to the only
publication in English undertaken for the benefit of the
Svrians.
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. IV. No. 2.
OCTOBER, 1929.
Leadership for Syrian Race
Progress
By
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
t EADERSHIP is a prime necessity for Syrian-American race
progress: for enlightenment, solidarity, happiness and glory.
Before there can be a forward race movement, some one must
step out of the masses and lead. World expansion came through
the explorer, moral betterment arose with the reformer, and political liberty began in the liberator. Whether in science, education, religion, commerce, or invention the leader is the trail
blazer in human progress. Syrian leadership is the trail blazer
for the forward, upward, and progressive movement of SyrianAmericans.
The challenge of the hour is for Syrian-American leadership
that is American in spirit, unselfish in motive, prophetic in vision,
j-acrificial in undertaking, and dynamic in passion. The rise of
Syrian race consciousness, the desire for race solidarity, and the
ambition for race progress makes our period the most important,
critical, and prophetic in the history of the Syrian-American race.
The question rises as to whether adequate Syrian-American
leadership is rising to meet the challenge of our generation. The
discussion of leadership for Syrian race progress will arouse intelligent thinking, promote preparation, and consider the tasks
of Syrian-American leadership. It will usher in a period of understanding, co-operation, and endeavor for race progress. The
following considerations are meant to awaken Syrian-Americans
to the importance of Syrian-American leadership, set forth tasks
waiting them, and challenge Syrian-American youth.
�6
THE SYRIAN WORLD
I. The Importance of Syrian-American Leadership.
Syrian-Americans are beginning to realize the importance,
place, task, and power of leadership. What the shepherd is to
the sheep, the parent to the child, the teacher to the scholar, the
governor to the state, and the president to a nation, such is the
relation of the leader to a people. Right leadership will turn
chaos to harmony, doubt to faith, ignorance to knowledge.
We need Syrian-American leaders to lead the race by envisaging race hopes, teaching race history, inspiring race youth, spurring race progress, and preparing race defense.
It is said "ninety per cent, of the public is usually behind the
times} eight per cent, is abreast of them; two per cent, leads the
way »
The Literary Digest, after making the presidential poll of
1928, stated, "The law of averages is illuminating and dependable. From twenty million names addressed in our recent 'Presidential Poll', only three million returned their ballots. Every
post card was stamped with a return postage, but only 15 per
cent, made a decision. Making a decision requires a person to
think, and it is well known that only a small percenatge of persons ever do any thinking about anything. What better illustration may be had that a thinking minority decide not only elections, but what we shall eat and wear, what motor car we shall
buy, what roof we shall put on our house, etc., etc." (Issue of
Dec. 29, '28.)
Adequate leadership is the great need of Syrian-Americans.
Syrian-American leaders to initiate movements for race welfare,
give fresh impulses for high endeavor, point the way for the
masses, and exemplify in their lives the soul, ideas, and progress
of the race, is the imperative need of the Syrian-American people.
The present character of Syrian-Americans, their being scattered
throughout the nation, their ignorance of their racial heritage,
the rise of race solidarity, and the many children and youth make
Syrian-American leadership of vital importance, power and
service to race progress.
77. The Nature of Syrian-American Leadership.
Pure Americanism, individual initiative, and worthy qualifications define the nature of Syrian-American leadership.
The paramount principle of Syrian-American leadership is
pure Americanism. It must be a single American allegiance, a
�OCTOBER, 1929
7
loyal American patriotism, and a decided American outlook. Let
us be understood on this very first, most vital, and farthest reaching point that true Syrian-American leadership stands for America First. Without equivocation, mental reservation, or legal
evasion, be it religious, moral or political, or otherwise, genuine
Syrian-American leadership must be always for America First and
nothing else. While we may seek the welfare of our native land,
speed the aid of other nations, and encourage the alleviation of
other races, we do so because of sentiment, humanity and religion,
nevertheless we Syrian-Americans stand for America First in
heart, mind and life, because we made America our homeland,
we enjoy its benefits, and it is the home of our posterity. Only
leadership that is truly American is adequate to lead SyrianAmericans to enlightenment, solidarity, and progress.
Genuine leadership is a quality of the individual. President
Herbert Hoover says in American Individualism, "Leadership
is a quality of the individual." "Human leadership cannot be
replenished by selection like queen bees, by divine right of bureaucracies, but by_ the free rise of ability, character and intelligence." Bishop Charles H. Brent says in Leadership, "A leader
is one who goes before, who keeps in advance of the crowd without detaching himself from the crowd, but so influencing them
to his ideal selfhood." W. T. Powell says in Handbook for
Workers with Young People, "The difference between the leader
and the crowd is that the leader is just a little ahead in his vision,
in his thinking, in his planning, in his attitude."
Our American homeland is giving rise to the highest type of
leadership among Syrian-Americans. Individuals by sheer ability,
splendid character and high intelligence are among the elect of
mankind. Their vision, tempered with knowledge, wisdom, and
self-sacrifice, is prophetic of race enlightenment, vitality, and
progress. Their noble ideals expressing the best in the race, upholding glorious race traditions, and projecting race prosperity
are evidences of race idealism and optimism. Their personality,
showing itself in understanding, sympathy, tactfulness, and sacrificial service, is already transforming the race.
///. The Rise of Syrian-American Leadership.
Our Syrian race urge is impelling the race forward. Our
Syrian race awakening is catching the vision of race prosperity.
Our Syrian race preservation is moving us toward race co-opera-
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
tion. Our Syrian race progress is inspiring leadership for the
onward movement of the race.
The discovery of Syrian race greatness; the abundance of opportunity free from autocracy of government, religion, and ignorance ; and the growing record of splendid achievement are
giving rise to a glorious leadership.
Count Hermann Keyserling said in an illuminating article on
America and Germany, "Just as Lindbergh is more representative
of young America than anything one may read, in the same sense
men like Dr. Eckener and the great pioneers of science and enterprise, who have already won back a good deal of Germany's
world prominence in their respective fields, are more expressive
today of Germany's best spirit than any work of abstract contemplation. Germany is beginning her career over again." (The
Forum, Feb., '29.)
In the following Syrian-American leaders we have trailblazers for future Syrian generations, torch-bearers of Syrian
race enlightenment, and range-finders for Syrian race progress:
N. A. Mokarzel, journalist, defender of the Syrian race; G. K.
Gibran, poet, singer of the Syrian soul; Ameen Rihani, traveller,
adventurer of the Syrian spirit; Philip K. Hitti, historian, scholar
of the Syrian mind; and S. A. Mokarzel, editor, leader of the
Sryian awakening.
Syrian-American leadership is now in the making in SyrianAmerican youth. Their study of Syrian history, race talents, and
race achievemnets is inspiring Syrian youth. Their imagination
is being fired with ambition. Their intelligence is searching for
tasks to match their powers. Their talents are finding projects
to express the creativeness of the Syrian soul.
Individuals are already in the forefront in achievement. They
are inspiring the Syrian-American race. They are influencing the
future leadership of the race. In the development, achievement,
and progress of Syrian-American leadership lies the larger progress of the Syrian race.
IV. The Qualifications of Syrian-Amreican Leadership.
True leadership is based on individual initiative not popular
election; personal qualification not traditional authority; and
one's achievements not one's inheritance. The following seven
qualifications are among the prominent ones found in successful
leadership.
�OCTOBER, 1929
9
1. Ability. The New Standard Dictionary says, "A leader is
one who is fitted by force of ideas, or character, or by genius,
or by strength of will to arouse, incite, and direct men in conduct
and achievement." The truest leadership is based on possessed
ability. The potentialities of leadership are within his soul. His
passions are born of his dreams. His dynamic is inherent in his
will.
2. Vision. The leader is a seer, a prophet, a wise man. John
R. Mott said to Bruce Barton, "You ask me to give a working
definition of vision. I should say it is the capacity — (1) To see
what others do not see. (2) To see further than they see. (3) To
see before they see." Roosevelt said, "Nine tenths of wisdom
is being wise in time." Without men of vision people perish,
religiously, morally, intellectually, and socially. Leadership with
vision is a paramount necessity for the preservation, civilization,
and progress of the Syrian-American race.
3. Religion. The sense of the divine is vital to the noblest
leadership. "The call of a need and the call of the crowd are
both inspiring," says Bishop Brent in Leadership, "but it is not
until there is added to them, or heard through them, the call
of God that the leader is fully equipped to achieve." The sense
of the divine, the dedication of self to others, and the devotion
to higher welfare constitute the religious call to social service.
A feeling of the divine breathes into the soul the vision, power,
and service of the eternal.
A.
il
4. Character. The leader must be sterling in character, unselfish in motive, and sympathetic in attitude. "Sincerity is impossible unless it pervades the whole being;" says James Russell
Lowell, "and the pretense of it saps the very foundation of character." It is good character that gives power to our efforts, influence to our speech, and success to our undertaking. Character
determines the nature of our motives, the direction of our leadings, and the quality of our objectives.
5. Personality. J. Ramsay Macdonald says, "The true test
of the work of a leader is what he gets out of his followers, what
he enables them to give, the spirit he infuses into them." The
leader is supremely a companion, contagious with idealism, and
compelling to activity. His personality acts as a spur to worthy
ambition, his sacrificial example as a pattern, and his initiative as
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
a drawing or leading power. He radiates courage, inspires confidence, compells perseverance through tactfulness, adaptability,
and sympathy.
6. Patriotism. The leader is patriotic: loves his country,
seeks the people's welfare, and works for their betterment. The
loftiest aim of leadership is the moral elevation of mankind.
Newell Dwight Hillis says of William E. Gladstone in Great
Books as Life Teachers, "At once the child of genius, wealth
and power, this young patrician took as his clients, not the rich
and the great, but the poor and the weak." "Reviewing this illustrious life, we see that the genius of Gladstone's life was the
genius of patriotism." This is the highest Syrian-American patriotism: to arouse the people to civic American loyalty; to champion the cause of the poor and the weak; to promote the enlightenment of the people; to defend them against misunderstanding,
prejudice and injustice; to challenge them to higher standards
of living; and to proclaim the fear and love of God for righteous
living.
7. Will. "Where there is a will there is a way," is an axiom
of truth and power. A leader must believe that he is master of
his destiny and cheer his followers into the same belief," says
Bishop Brent. What man can imagine that he can perform. What
seems impossible to the masses is possible to the leader with a
will. All his knowledge, plans and objectives become possible of
fulfillment only when a leader wills them into action.
V. The Tasks of Syrian-American Leadership.
The present needs of Syrian-Americans comprise the immediate tasks of Syrian-American leadership. The call for solidarity, the defense of the race, the enlightenment regarding race
legacies, and the inspiration of Syrian-American youth are tasks
of first magnitude. The following are attempts to state major,
momentuous, and timely tasks for immediate endeavor.
First, the leading of Syrian-Americans into fullest American
citizenship. Since we made America our homeland, we owe it
the fullest loyalty. Since we enjoy America's Constitution, ideals,
and institutions, we owe it true fidelity, obedience and defense.
Since our posterity is to partake of America's heritage, we owe
it an American motive, outlook, and practice.
The paramount task of Syrian-American leadership is the
Americanization of the Syrian race in America. The preamble of
�OCTOBER, 1929
11
the Constitution of the United States gives us the golden text
of true Americanism: "We the people of the United States, in
order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote
the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America." Let us uphold the Constitution, claim equality of citizenship, and maintain a law-abiding
citizenship.
Second, the awakening of Syrian-Americans to their inheritance. It is well to remind the reader that this was a prime purpose in founding THE SYRIAN WORLD. The editor, S. A. Mokarzel, wrote, "that one of our chief objects in helping Syrian-Americans discover themselves is to breed in them a consciousness of
appreciation for their racial qualities and inheritances so that they
may comport themselves with a befitting sense of honor as citizens of this great American nation." (Vol. I. No. 1.)
Syrian-American leaders must enlighten the people regarding their race greatness. They must show them how Syria's contributions have been foremost among the civilizing influences in
the world. They must awaken the Syrian soul to its superior
race traits, its potentialities for achievement, and its illustrious
ancestry.
*
Third, the insuring of Syrian-Americans toward co-operation. "It is now evident that the Syrian people in this country
refuse to further remain in obscurity," says David Zail in answering the challenge to organize a federation of Syrian Societies.
"It is also gratifying to note that our people have awakened to
the call—the call to band themselves together3 to come to the
forej to win recognition." Fred S. Rizk says, "The young Syrian element stands, as it were, on the threshold of a new era, »
Joseph W. Ferris says, "We are sorely in need of such a body. »
(THE SYRIAN WORLD, Jan. '29.)
We must inspire the Syrian-American people for co-operation. We must organize our race sentiments. We must create
race solidarity for race preservation. We must challenge Syrian-Americans through pride in our ancestry, welfare for our
descendents, and law-abiding citizenship.
Fourth, the challenging of Syrian-Americans to win recognition. The Sage of Washington Street said to A. Hakim, "What
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
I do believe, however, is that we should never permit ourselves
to wane in the appreciation of our racial heritage. The American
nation is composed of different racial strains and to the end of
time history will record this fact and give each race credit for its
especial contributions. It should be our ambition to get our due
recognition." (THE SYRIAN WORLD, Feb. '29.) President Calvin Coolidge said to the American Legion Convention at Omaha,
Nebraska, "The bringing together of all these different national,
racial, religious, and cultural elements has made our country a
kind of composite of the rest of the world
" "Every one of
them has something characteristic and significant of great value
to cast into the common fund of our material, intellectual, and
spiritual resources."
We must acquaint Americans with our racial history. Let us
inform them about our race contributions to human progress.
Let us enlighten them about Europe's and America's debts to
Syrian religion and morals; Syrian navigation and commerce j
Syrian letters and science. Let us tell the American nation regarding Syrian race character, race progress, and race loyalty
to America.
Fifth, the teaching of Syrian'American youth to -perpetuate
Syrian race heritage. We Syrian-Americans are dreaming dreams
of glory for the future of our race. We are organizing for race
co-operation, race defense, and race preservation. We are planting, through education, literature, and achievement, for the happiness of our posterity. Let us remember that we shall realize
the dream through our children; bring organization to accomplishment through our young people; and harvest the glory
through our descendents. In the hearts of Syrian-American children let us plant the seeds of our race inheritance, race legacies,
and race glory.
ON A VALETUDINARIAN
Translated from the Arabic by J. D.
CARLYLE
So afraid is Isa, and anxious to last,
So afraid of himself is he grown,
He swears thro' two nostrils the breath goes too fast.
And he's trying to breathe thro' but one.
�OCTOBER, 1929
I
-
13
Circulating Boons in Jeddah
By
•»
•,•
AMEEN RIHANI
^BOUT four in the morning I was awakened by a voice, loud
and harsh, void of a single pleasant intonation, crying m the
street: Arise and praise Allah, the Living, the Eternal! The
volunteer circulating muazzen was passing beneath my balcony.
"Sleep no more: the dawn is at the door!" No one had delegated
the gentleman to the sleeping population, except it be the circulating orchestra of Jeddah. But of this later.
The circulating muazzen was doing a little good work on
his own account, something akin to almsgiving; but having nothing, I suppose, to give, he went around at that Muhammedan
hour waking innocents from sleep. "Allah is great! It's late,
it's late! Sleep no more! The dawn's at the door! Get up and
pray! Allah obey!" I could have thrown upon him the broken
shutter of my balcony window. But his zeal is appreciated by
a pious population.
A tall figure in a white robe, passing through the city streets
at that grey, moon-veiled hour, would have awakened a different
feeling in me, had he a redeeming virtue in his voice. But to
perform a sacred duty in a raucous, barbarous yawp were ungodly even to the Prophet. I tried to sleep again, forgetting and
forgiving; and again, not long after, I was awakened by a voice
crying, Hali'eeeh! (milk)! No, there isn't a good voice in all
Jeddah.
' m *
I
1
_ The milkman in London cries, Voo-hoo', curt and sharp, in
imitation, I was told, of the cow. Which is bad enough. But in
Jeddah the long drawn metallic iii-eeeeb is infernal T Give me
Beyrouth and Damascus to wake up in: for there the human
voice is an improvement on the herd's, sometimes even on the
song birds. The milkman there is poetic withal. Pure as the
dawn! Eye of the fawn! And not a word about milk. It's indeed a joy to rise to such poetry and music. But in Jeddah, as
in London, the milkman is a vulgarian, a boor. Hah'eeeb! It
sounded like Hurry up! Luckily for him he hurried in passing;
and I tried again to sleep.
But someone always does murder sleep in Jeddah. For
�T)
14
.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
while I was still half awake, I heard a whirring noise outside,
not very near, like that of an airplane; and then, a knock at my
door, followed by a voice, that of the Foreign Secretary Sheikh
Fouad: "Get up, get up quick." He almost tore the mosquito
netting in pulling me out of bed.—"Hurry up, come out and see
—see our airplanes." The Hijaz Government had four in those
days, and one of them, of a certainty, was circling over the Palace, serenading His Hashemite Majesty with the lute of the
Western world, the motor, and fusillading the citadel of sleep.
The only defense now was to abandon the citadel and gird me
for the day.
It was a raw morning, the wind having executed a volte-face
during the night, which is not unusual on the Hijaz coast where
rarely more than two winds blow, succeeding each other with
equal violence. The aziab or south wind is the harbinger of the
simoom, which sucks the humidity out of the atmosphere. Otherwise, it is not conducive of any piety. I could never get into
the mood of a pilgrim on an aziab day. But the north wind,
which often comes at its heel, is worse in its immediate effect,
because the necessary change of clothes is not always possible.
One has to go like the Bedv. in but a single garment to combat the aziab*s burning blast; and then, without warning, comes
this blustering monster, blowing like mad, chilling the very sands
which yesterday were too hot for the bare feet of even a camelherd. The north wind is also exasperating, because the sun,
which often comes with it, is as helpless against its winter flow
as Ceasar's dust. All that morning it blowed outside, and I shivered within. There was no argument against the north wind's
staff of attorneys, ranting through every window. Because of the
lattice screens, the lower half, they would not be ruled out by
the upper half, the blinds.
There was nothing to do therefore but to wrap me in an aba
and sit tight, listening to Sheikh Fouad chanting poetry. He always sat cross-legged, even though on a little rush bottom chair,
and swung his torso to and fro as if he were riding a camel, the
while he droned and moaned his rhymes. It was a fitting accompaniment to the north wind, evoking all the dreariness of the
desert waste. And what a memory! He carried an anthology in
his head. Any incident of the least significance in the daily life
of man and beast, he could illustrate with line from the ancient
poets. But he was particularly fond of intoning in an ineffably
mournful manner his own accents. Hear his lachrymose Muse:
omi
\ I !•
�OCTOBER, 1929
15
"Myself in tears to sorrow I resign,
For tears are of the clemency divine."
I \
But when he opened his anthology, which I preferred, he
became alternately amorous and war-like. I would shut my eyes
and imagine myself in midwinter shivering around a half-heated
fire in Mt. Lebanon or near a wheezing radiator in a Paris hotel,
while a strange voice from the past of Arabia was droning rhymes
of battle or plaintively intoning of love and separation.
"In far Iraq is Leila sick, 't is said;
I wish I were the doctor near her bed."
"The night, and the steed, and the desert me ken,—
And the sword, and the lance, and the parchment, and pen."
I would then close my ears and open my eyes. Blow on,
drone on, my friends. Through the lattice screen, I beheld the
sun in all its Arab ecstasy dancing on the lagoon, and on the
sands, and on the shimmering breast of the hills beyond. A
bright summer day! In sooth, sayeth the Eye. But Gooseflesh
knows better.
Above the two irrepressible voices, however, rose strange
music-like sounds, the strangest of all the circulating abominations of that day. I forgot the north wind and the poet as I
opened one of the blinds and saw what stood in the street below.
It was the hurdy-gurdy of Jeddah without the hurdy-gurdy;—
only the human portion of it,—the most fantastic, the most comically constructed instrument of ambulating music I had ever seen.
The man was a Takruri black, a roly-poly of spotted and cracked
flesh, bare-headed, bare-footed, bare-breasted, with a pate like
a pumpkin, big bulging eyes, and teeth as white as snow in the
sun. He wore a few white and blue rags put together and tied
up by a piece of rope around his waist. From this rope hung little
round bells; and around his legs was a contrivance of brass tubes,
tied with straps, containing pebbles. He carried a broken sword
m one hand and a stick with an only string attached to it in the
other. This was his lute, to which he applied the sword. The
result was atrocious. But when he accompanied it with a dance,
swinging his hips to achieve a round tStcty it became excruciatingly, diabolically funny. After the performance he sang the
praise of the Prophet in accents that sounded like scratches of
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
potchers on brass ; and holding his hand up for the coin, he
smiled radiantly whether it was given or not. More than hurdygurdy, indeed; it was the Takruri circulating band of Jeddah
that stopped beneath my window that day. And it went on, a
circulating boon!
But dreading more of circulating boons, which fall upon you,
if you are stationary, with a crushing weight, I decided, in order
to reduce the effect, to circulate myself. I had a letter of introduction from a booklover in Cairo to a booklover in Jeddah,
which I had to deliver because it was more than a letter of introduction. It opened, after the peace and blessing of Allah, with
these words: "Forget not, O beloved one, the white doves of
Mecea, which thou didst promise many moons ago to send us,
that Cairo too might hear them praise Allah and the Prophet."
He further urged the matter upon me by saying: "Prowl in
the house of Sheikh Muhammad, and loiter in his garden, and
steal if necessary. The white doves of Mecca are a sacred treasure, a psecious possession."
I went out, therefore, with a manifold purpose, seeking
among other things, the booklover and the white doves. Jeddah
did not seem new to me. I felt that I had been there before, not
with Burton or Bruckhardt, however, but with one who had preceded them by about a thousand years. Ibn Jubair of Granada,
who made the pilgrimage to Mecca when Saladin, the mighty
and good, was on the throne, is a chronicler of accuracy and
courage. His book is still considered the best of its kind; for his
description of the Kaaba, the Mosque, and the Holy Places, as
well as the ceremonies of the Hajj, which remain till this day the
same, is graphic and vivid and accurate. His style is lucid and
flowing; and his freedom of opinion is admirable.
The Andalusian Arabs did not tolerate anything that shackled
the mind and spirit. They had the courage of their convictions—
they were protestants. Like the pilgrims that crossed the Atlantic eight centuries later, they also had fled from the tyranny
of princes and kings. If therefore the Jeddah of those days was
a den of thieves who preyed upon the pilgrims, and if the highroad to Mecca was held by bands of the Bedu who took from the
pious multitudes what the Jeddah thieves had overlooked, Ibn
Jubair said so in plain Arabic and protested to high heaven against
the rank irreligion that nested in the Holy Places of Al-Islam.
I do not know how much irreligion is still nesting in the
dark and cobwebbed corners of Mecca and Al-Medinah; but the
�« ^^
PARTIAL VIEW OF BEIRUT
Looking north across the Bay of St. George to the Lebanon range, with snow-capped Sannin in the background.
�ENTERING BEIRUT HARBOR
Syrian World Photo
This photograph was taken as the steamer was passing through the
single opening between the two sea walls enclosing the port of Beirut.
SQUARE OF THE MARTYRS, BEIRUT
The East side of the principal square of the capital of Lebanon. The
Maronite Cathedral of St. Gteorge showing in the background.
'
�LOWER SECTION OF WADI HAMMANA
Syrian World Photo
The broad stretch of this enchanting valley, dotted with thriving villages, is one of the beauty spots
of the Lebanons.
�A MOTOR ROAD IN LEBANON
Almost every town in Lebanon can now be reached by adequate roads which are being continually improved.
•
**"
*
r
1
�r-
—-
OCTOBER, 1929
-
•-**
'""""
17
den of thieves and the Bedu bandits were not in evidence. The
pilgrimage, in those happy days of Hussein the First, Sherif and
King, was comparatively safe. But the Jeddah of Ibn Jubair,
with this exception, had not changed. The same five-story houses
with their attractively walled roofs for summer nights; the same
narrow winding streets, which in places enable the housewives
through their balconies in opposite buildings, to borrow things
from each other or to pull each other's hair; the same woodsheds
in the markets and bazars to shut out the fierce Arabian sun; the
same squares and camels and shaqdoufs (litters) for the transportation of the pilgrims; (1) the same hodge-podge of humanity which Al-Islam brings together from every corner of the
earth; the same bare-footed, half-naked Arabs carrying their
only heritage of power and grandeur—a sword; the same winds
that beat Jeddah one day on the right cheek and one day on the
left, the sword notwithstanding; the same fruits and vegetables
that Wadi Fatemah yields to a frugal population; the same
watermelons whose delicious quality raised Ibn Jubair to poetic
heights of descriptions—they are all still here.
Even the balconies seem to have gone through a thousand
years of wind and rain and sun. They are mostly of teak unpainted wood, become drab, and of varying degrees of crudeness
and artistic finish;—from the simple window with a sort of fence
in lattice, in front of its lower half, for the privacy and seclusion
of the harem, to the most elaborate designs, artistically conceived
and executed, with beautiful carvings in the stalactites of the balconies, such as one sees in the mosques of Cairo. Between the two
are many crude and exquisite examples of the individuality of the
Oriental that revels in detail. The temperament of the people
and their soul are revealed in this phase of their architecture. On
the surface, there is equality in chaos;—rich and poor alike bedraggled by time;—a plain balcony almost falling and a beautiful ancient one with a patch in it of last year's timber, both
rubbing elbows on the same conglomerate, ramshackle block;
but behind them all are degrees of condition. While they all
conform to a certain tradition, everybody does so in his own way,
and according to his means.
There are-but a few things in the Jeddah of today which Ibn
Jubair did not see; as the condenser, for instance, which takes
the salt out of the sea water for the sake of the Europeans and a
(1) They now make the pilgrimage in automobiles.
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
few of the sophisticated modern Arabs. Also the tables and chairs
in the cafes—and the flies! Yes, there are stivy dens in Jeddah,
where a beduin might rattle his sword for a drink of uncondensed
water, where a city tramp might doze over a narghilah, and
where Takruri blacks, the porters of the town, are seen stretching their weary limbs and listening to the homtnal gossip of the
day.
Through a street thus adorned, which Ibn Jubair would have
called The Street of the Flies, I made my way seeking the booklover, the Sheikh Muhammad. And I met them all, the friends
of Ibn Jubair:—the beduin in a rag and the saiyed in a silk coftan; and the Muslems from Ind and Iran; and the Faithful from
Java and Turkestan; and the camels of the morning caravan; and
the white donkeys that ran, upsetting the tray and pan of the
grocer and confectionery man; and the naked Takruri carrying
an oil can, full of water for the bath of my lady Juman or the
cook of mylord Othman; and the fierce-looking chieftain of the
clan; and the dandy of Jeddah "sporting" a fan; and the moonstruck lover, sorrowful and wan—O, thou Ibn Jubair, they are
all still here. And among them is one whom I do not think thou
hast seen. He too is thin and wan, and wears a silk coftan; but
he carries a book! instead of a fan.
My friend the booklover, I said to myself, and I raised my
hand to my head and made salaam. He stopped and smiled and
did likewise.
"Thou art the Sheikh Muhammad, the booklover of Jeddah," I asked.
"I am a booklover, praise be to Allah," he replied, "but I
have not the honor and good fortune of being the Sheikh Muhammad."
A camel just then brushed by and snorted at us. He took
the hint and moved from the centre of the street, taking me by
the arm.
"Thou art a scholar," I pursued, in a bold American manner.
"I read in the books," he confessed modestly, "and try to
learn something of the secret of life and death. And thou, art
thou of the land of the Arabs?"
"I have not the honor and good fortune," I said, as we walked together to the house of Sheikh Muhammad. "I come from
a country where they make books for the delectation of the young
girl, and where people have ceased to worry about the secret of
fife and death,"
t
'i
t
�tAmm
OCTOBER, 1929
19
"And what do they worry about, I pray thee."
"Their latest worry is that which has been prohibited thirteen
hundred years ago by the Prophet, the Peace of Allah upon him."
"And what is that?"
I was glad we had reached the house of Sheikh Muhammad,
for I was not travelling in the interest of Prohibition.
The reverend Sheikh, a portly and dignified gentleman in
a huge white turban, a blue silk caftan and a black jubbah, laid
down the narghilah tube as my kind young guide entered and
came to meet us at the door. He led us into a room which was
apparently his library, and up to a carpeted diwan, between six
beautifully carved cases of teak wood with glass doors, full of
books. The binding is modest and uniform—a black cloth with
the title on the back in gold. The narghilah of the Sheikh Muhammad and his rugs are more imposing to the travelling eye.
He ordered a smoke for me as he opened the letter I had presented.
But while he read, his face gleamed and gloomed, his brows
met alternately and separated, and I could see, as he folded the
epistle, a tear in his eye. He kissed the envelope and placed it
in his bosom. "The Sheikh Hasan," he said, "is the highest example of nobility and worth among men. But I invoke the forgiveness of Allah—either he misunderstood or I misexpressed
about the doves. Life of the Prophet! their case is a marvel,—
a miracle they are of the creation of the Most High. They are
always singing his praise. 'Allah is great, Allah is great!' they
always sing. But they are not from Mecca. The name of honor
was given to them by one of the Grand Sherifs who was fond
of titles. They are from Al-Yaman, and I have written to have
a few of them transported to the beloved Sheikh Hasan in
Cairo."
A black slave brought in a narghilah, the like of which I had
not seen before. The water vessel is of beautifully designed brass
set on a tripod, with a stem, more than two feet high, of carved
wood on which rests a fancy bowl, veiled in silver chains and
beads hanging from its rim, containing the tobacco which they
call )arak (1) and the burning coals. The tube, made of rich
material and covered for protection with linen, is about ten feet
(1) The jarak, a word imported from India, is Persian tobacco cured, that
is soaked in a decoction of honey or molasses and musk and ambergris
and some spices—plug tobacco?
*
�HnH
20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
long. Here be the pink of luxury in the East. The narghilah
was followed with unsweetened coffee flavored of cardamon,
and then green tea, and then sweetened hot milk served in wine
glasses, and then soda water of different colors, the black slaves
continuing to come and go till I had risen to take my leave.
Meanwhile, there were visitors, a few of whom accepted the
invitation to the diwan, while the others, in a modern practical
manner, remained standing. And they asked of the Sheikh Muhammad astounding questions.
"Did you receive the book of the English Lady who disgrrced the English Court and Nobility? (Meaning the Memoirs of Margot Asquith which had been recently translated
into Arabic.)
.
,.
.
"Is it true that the men of science of America have discovered
that the rays of the sun are crooked?"
"Give me, of your kindness, the name of the Historian who
opened his historv of the world with the biography of the devil.
"I pray thee, O Sheikh Muhammad, have you in your wonderful library the book of the English philosopher who spoke
the truth about the Prophet, the peace of Allah upon him, and
praised Al-Islam?"
The beningant Sheikh Muhammad, the living encyclopedia
of Teddah, would answer in his habitual calm each question,
taking cut a book now and then to refresh his memory or confirm
his opinion, and allowing the inquirers, the thirsters for knowledge, to take the books home if they desired. A few of them
did so; a few others brought with them the books they had taken
previously.
"Does the learned Sheikh," I asked, "lend out his books?"
"Not to everybody, O esteemed one, but to those only who
prove to us that they have a thirst for knowledge."
"What is the proof that mylord the Sheikh exacts?"
"Thev come to his diwan and participate in the discussions,
which reveal, of a certainty, the quality of their minds. I am
proud of every one to whom Allah in His bounty has enabled
me to lend a book. And they all take good care of the books
they borrow. Look, for instance, at this one; it has been out for
ihe tenth time, and it is still new."
The book he showed me was Carlyle's Hero and Hero Worship, an excellent Arabic translation, by the way, in which most
of the idiomatic humor of "Thammis" is faithfully reproduced
in Arabic dress. The Hero as Prophet which he has chosen to
i.t
�——
OCTOBER, 1929
21,
complete his cycle and add another string to his peculiarly conceived and strangely constructed spiritual Harp, is not having
the right effect among Muhammedans. It humors the ignorance
of the many and confirms the learned few in their perversity.
Had Caryle had access to Ibn Jubair, or had he taken the trouble
to acquaint himself with the present state of Al-Islam, he would
have added to the Hero as Prophet a chapter on the quackery
of mechanical religion.
Even the most learned Sheikh Muhammad admired unreservedly the book, accepted it as Cospel, or rather Koranic,
truth. He was curious to know more about this philosopher of
the English; and to my story of a visit to the house in Chayne
Walk, Chelsea, they all listened with wrapt attention. The
double wall in the attic amused them. "Had he come to live
here amongst us," said one, "we would have invoked the great
Allah to silence even the simoom for his sake."
"Did he lend out his books," asked the Sheikh Muhammad,
combing with his fingers his trimmed white beard.
I spoke of our public libraries in reply. "We also have what
we call circulating libraries, which lend out books for a period
of time to the young girl and the young man who thirst for
knowledge—and for thrills."
While one of those present was asking what I meant by
thrills—it is perturbing, the thrill—not good for the soul—my
host was repeating to himself: The young girl, too!
He asked for more detail about the circulating library system, intending, I suppose, to improve his own.
"The circulating library is an excellent name," said one of
the guests.
"By Allah!" exclaimed another, who dropped his narghilah
tube in excitement, " we shall call it the circulating library of
Jeddah."
"Yea, O most worthy Sheikh Muhammad," said the third,
who moved his turban back and forth to air his shaven skull,
"henceforth, it shall thus be called. We thank thee, O honorable one, for this noble idea."
When I got up to go, my host recalled that I had come to
him recommended by his worthy and beloved friend the Sheikh
Hasan of Cairo, and he asked me to be his guest during my stay
in Jeddah. He also placed his library at my disposal.
"Here is the Index. Please take it with you and glance over
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
22
it. There may be a book among this small collection of the slave
of your virtue which you may desire to read."
I asked if he had one on Al-Yaman, and he pointed to a few
in the Index.
He was very pleased, for the sake of his friend in Cairo and
the white doves of Mecca, to know that I was going to that part
of Arabia.
"I will give you a letter to my friend there to deliver to you
the doves. You will be charmed with their singing."
An Ideal
By
SUMAYEH ATTIYEH
To forget the mistakes of the past and work for greater
achievements today.
To be too big for worry, too noble for anger and too strong
for fear.
To be so firm that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and success to everyone you meet.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you
are about your own.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that
you have no time to criticize others.
To be cheerful under seeming obstacles and to have a smile
for everyone you meet.
To think well of yourself and proclaim this fact to the world,
not in loud words, but in great deeds.
To see the golden truth in all religions and to realize that
the world is your home and all its people are your brothers and
sisters.
To live day by day making each day a worthy chapter of
your life.
1
�—
I"
OCTOBER, 1929
Ok
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23
A Messiah of Old
By
WILLIAM CATZEFLIS
^ITH Zionism arrayed against the nationalism of the Arabs,
and the conflicting claims of Syrians and Jews creating for
Great Britain, as the mandatory power in Palestine, a rather embarrassing position, the Jewish question has of late claimed the
interest of the whole civilized world.
Readers of THE SYRIAN WORLD may be interested, in this
connection, to read about an occurrence of the last half of the
17th century, which is indicative of the mentality of the people
in those days, a mentality of which traces can i till be found
among many races and creeds even in this so-called enlightened
century.
Voltaire, one of the greatest thinkers and writers of the
world, reports the occurrence referred to in his "Essai sur les
Moeurs et l'Esprit des Nations", tome 11th, chap. CXCI of his
works. We give it herein for what it is worth, and will let that
great master relate it in his own, inimitable way.
During the war with Candie, (1666), there happened in
Turkey, an event which attracted the attention of both Europe
and Asia. A rumor had been spread, based on idle conjecture,
that the year 1666 was destined to witness a great revolution
on earth. The mystic number: 666, which is found in the Apocalypse, was the source of that opinion. Never was the expectation of the Anti-Christ more universal. The Jews, on their side,
claimed that their Messiah was to come that same year.
A Jew of Smyrna, named Sabatei-Sevi, a man of culture
and the son of a rich broker for English factories, took advantage
of this general trend of thought, and declared himself the Messiah. He was eloquent, of attractive appearance, affecting great
modesty, preaching justice, speaking as an oracle, and declaring
that the end of times was at hand. He travelled first in Greece
and Italy and while in Livourne eloped with a girl of his race,
whom he took with him to Jerusalem, where he began preaching
to his brethren.
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
There is a constant tradition among the Jews that their Shilo,
their Messiah, their avenger and king, can come only with Elie.
They are persuaded that they have an Eliah, who will reappear
at the rebirth of the earth. That Eliah, whom we call Ely or
Elie, was thought by many "savants" to mean the sun, from the
Greek derivation of the word, and also because Elie having been
carried from earth in a chariot of flame, drawn by four winged
horses, has a great deal of resemblance with the chariot of the
sun and the four horses invented by the poets. But without further pursuing these researches, and without examining whether
the books of the Jews were written after Alexander, that is to
say after the Jews began to know something about Greek mythology in Alexandria, suffice it to say that the Jews have been
awaiting the return of Eliah from time immemorial. Even today, (in Voltaire's time), when these people circumsize a boy,
they place an armchair in the room for Eliah, in case he chose
to honor them with his presence.
Elie is to bring the Sabbath, the Messiah, and the universal
upheaval. That idea pre\'ailed also among the Christians. Almost all fanatics expect their Elie. In 1724 the police magistrate
of Paris had two men arrested and incarcerated in an asylum,
because they were fighting to determine who, of the two, was
the genuine Elie. It was, therefore, absolutely necessary that
Sabatei-Sevi be announced to his brethren by an Elie, lest his
mission should be doubted and ignored by his people.
He found a rabbi, named Nathan, who thought there was
enough gain for him in playing this second part. Thereupon,
Sabatei declared to the people in Asia Minor and Syria that Nathan was Elie, and Nathan assured them that Sabatei was the
Messiah, the Silo, the One awaited by the chosen people.
Between the two of them, they did great work in Jerusalem,
where they reformed the synagogues. Nathan interpreted the
prophets and convinced the people clearly that, by the end of
the year, the Sultan would be dethroned, and Jerusalem would
then become the mistress of the world. All the Syrian Jews were
convinced of that truth, and the synagogues echoed with their
chants: "Arise, arise Jerusalem, in thy strength and thy glory;
there shall be no uncircumsized nor impure in thy midst." Every
Jew made ready to lodge one or more persons of the lost ten
tribes, and their hopes and faith were so great that they neglected
their business and all prepared for the trip to Jerusalem.
Nathan selected twelve men, in Damascus, to preside over
�-*+.
OCTOBER, 1929
25
the twelve tribes. Sabatei-Sevi went back to Smyrna, to show
himself to his brethren, and Nathan wrote to him: "King of
kings, lord of lords, when shall we be worthy of standing in the
shade of thy donkey? I prostrate myself to be trodden by the
soles of thy feet."
Sabatei, in Smyrna, deposed several doctors of the law who
had refused to recognize him, and replaced them by others.
Frightened, one of his bitterest enemies, named Samuel Pennia,
was suddenly converted, and publicly acknowledged him for the
son of God.
One day, Sabatei had occasion to visit the Cadi of Smyrna,
with many of his followers. Several of these swore they saw a
column of flames between him and the Cadi. This, and other
''miracles" of the sort, sealed his mission in the eyes of his people.
Jews from all over were now bringing their gold and jewels and
depositing them at his feet.
The Pasha of Smyrna was about to have him arrested, when
he fled to Constantinople with the most zealous of his followers.
But the Grand Vizier, Ahmad Cuprogli, who was about to go to
the siege of Candie, had him arrested and put in jail. All the
Jews who wanted to could see him, for a money consideration,
as is the custom in Turkey. They went there in numbers to kneel
at his feet and kiss his chains. He blessed them and preached to
them, and never did he complain. But the Jews of Constantinople, believing that the advent of the Messiah abolished all
obligations, refused to pay their debts. The English merchants
of Galata betook themselves to Sabatei, and told him that as
he was the King of the Jews, he must order his subjects to pay
their debts. Whereupon he wrote the following:
"To you who await the salvation of Israel, etc.,
satisfy
your legitimate debts. If you refuse to do so, you shall not enter
with us in our joy and our empire."
The debts were paid.
The prison of Sabatei was always full of worshipers. But the
Jews had begun to make a whole lot of noise in Constantinople.
The people were then dissatisfied with the rule of Mahommed
IV, and it was feared this tumult might endanger the peace.
It would seem that a government as severe as the Turkish government would have put him to death, but they simply transferred him to the Castle of the Dardanelles. The Jews then
clamored that it was not within the power of man to put him
to death.
�" " W"
26
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I. II ,
THE SYRIAN WORLD
His reputation having spread to all the European countries,
he began receiving deputations of Jews from Poland, Germany,
Livourne, Venice and Amsterdam, who paid very dearly for the
privilege of kissing his feet. It was probably this which saved
his life.
The talk about him and his miracles was so great that the
Sultan Mahommed had the curiosity of seeing and interrogating him They took the "King of the Jews" to the Seraglio,
lne Sultan asked him, in Turkish, if he were the Messiah. Sabatei replied modestly that he was. But as his Turkish was bad,
the Sultan said to him, "You speak badly for a Messiah, who
should have the gift of languages. Tell me, do you perform
miracles?" — "Sometimes," replied Sabatei. "We'll," said the
Sultan, "take off his clothes. He shall serve as a target for the
arrows of my archers. If he proves invulnerable, we shall recognize him as the Messiah."
Sabatei fell to his knees, and weeping, confessed that that
was a miracle beyond his power. They then proposed to him
either to be impaled or else to become a Moslem, and to go publicly to the Mosque. He did not hesitate, and became a Mahommedan on the spot. Then he began a new sort of a prediction,
to the effect that his mission had been from the beginning intent
upon substituting the Moslem religion for the Judaic, in accordance with ancient prophecies.
It can easily be seen what was the discomfiture and the
shame of his adherents. That event added greatly to the contusion and unhappiness of the world's Jewry.
Arab Proverbs
If you should do a good deed conceal it, but if a good deed be
done to you proclaim it.
Trust not in him who cannot restrain his tongue.
To have to keep company with the ignorant is one of the worst
punishments.
Experience is the beginning of knowledge.
Every container must reach the filling point, except the container
of knowledge which increases in capacity the more you add
�'
OCTOBER, 1929
27
In the Land of Promise
A Chronological Record of the Editor's Trip Abroad
By SAI.LOUM A. MOKARZEL
II.
QUNDAY, July 21, broke bright and clear amidst a riot of
colors. The placid surface of the sea revealed the beautiful
transparency of the inimitable Mediterranean blue. A few clouds
with silver linings and gold rims tinted by the rising sun floated
gently with the breeze. That was all that could be seen in an
otherwise perfectly clear sky. We were now in Syrian waters
and all our expectations of ideal atmospheric conditions were
coming true.
All on board were astir with unusual activity. Beirut was
the last port of call of the "Providence" before making her home
port of Marseille, and all the remaining passengers expected to
land at the Syrian city. True there were about a hundred odd
Syrians returning for a visit to their motherland, and the excitement among them would be but natural. But there was also about
an equal number of tourists, mostly American, who were coming
to visit Syria and the Holy Land, and the excitement among them
was no less tense. We had been eighteen days at sea, and although
sailing conditions were ideal, we all were anxious to reach our
destination. The novelty of the sea voyage had just about reached the waning point.
Along about noon someone sighted land and all passengers
crowded on the port side of the ship to view the welcome sight.
But it was not the land of our ultimate destination. What we
saw looming on the clear horizon were the mountains of Cyprus,
situated along the northwest coast of Syria. All were happy, nevertheless, in the realization that we had actually come in sight of
the first outpost on the last leg of our journey.
Cyprus looks but a tiny speck on the map, but to us its ragged
coastline seemed interminable. Our anxiety to reach port was
running foul of our reason and we were seeing things in exaggerated forms.
After a while we began to lose interest in the mountains of
Cyprus. They appeared inhospitable in their nakedness. They
were beginning to work an unfavorable impression on our
�28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
minds lest the other mountains we were to see, those of Lebanon,
prove to be of the same nature.
But there were those who kept scanning the horizon persistently and with the utmost anxiety. They scrutinized every cloud
in the sky in the hope that it would be a land outline. And
strangely enough, those most anxious were not Syrians or Lebanese, but Americans.
Around three o'clock I felt a sudden grip and thug at my arm
pulling me toward the railing, and an excited voice exclaiming,
"Look, look! It is the peak of Sannin!"
The speaker was Dr. Wm. A. West of the American University of Beirut who, to use his expression, was returning "home"
with his wife and mother. One could see by the expression of his
face that the strongest emotions of happiness and expectation were
surging within him.
I strained my sight to distinguish the form he was pointing
out. Wasn't there a possibility that it was a cloud bank? I was so
excited myself that I felt the need of double assurance.
But the Professor was absolutely positive. "I am too familiar
with Lebanon to be deceived. See that high peak directly ahead?
That is Sannin as it looks from the northwest. And that dense
white patch along the side of the faint outline of the peak? That
is the perpetual snow characteristic of the Lebanon. Perhaps you
have been away too long to be able to identify it as I can."
I admitted that I had been away for almost thirty years, and
asked how Jong he had been absent from "home."
"Only two years," he replied, "and I consider them a lost
portion of my life, such is my love for the Lebanon." Dr. West
was born in Beirut.
Soon the shape of the mountain began to take more definite
form. The summits emerged plainly from the haze and the valleys became discernible. Then the beauty of Lebanon began to
unfold itself gradually before our admiring eyes. It was unlike
anything we had seen, except, perhaps, some parts of the Italian
coastline. The mountain was not at all deforested as we had been
led to believe by some descriptions. Where it was not thickly
wooded it was planted to mulberry or olive groves or symmetrically terraced for vineyards. The whole range was dotted with
what appeared to be prosperous looking villages of fine white
stone houses covered with red-tile roofs. The panorama, as we
approached, was fascinating. The dark green of the forests was
broken with the vivid white and red colors of the dwellings in
�OCTOBER, 1929
29
such pleasing contrast that the landscape appeared like a huge
canvas fresh from the brush of a master artist.
The pilot in his red tarboush gave us the first intimate indication that we were in Oriental waters. Now we began to distinguish human forms on the quay, and the returning Syrian and
Lebanese emigrants were straining themselves to recognize some
relative or friend. The slow progress of the big steamer into
the inner harbor seemed to be interminable.
We had no sooner anchored than a swarm of boatmen and
welcomers boarded the ship. Among the first arrivals was Ameen
Hitti, Beirut member of the New York firm of A. K. Hitti &
Co., followed by his men with the name of the firm in bold letters on cap and right arm. Boatmen of all other steamship
or travel agencies appeared in the same manner, a regulation put
into effect since the French occupation. Only those who are acquainted with conditions at the port of Beirut during the Turkish
regime can appreciate the necessity of such precautions. I shall
have occasion to refer to these conditions later.
The scenes on board when relatives met one another after a
long separation caused one's heart to melt with sympathy. Here
was an aged father still in native costume and displaying all the
simplicity in speech and manners characteristic of the mountaineers of Lebanon, weeping with joy in the arms of a returning son.
Brother met brother and husband wife in the same ecstasy of delight. But for the shouts of the boatmen and the excited inquiries
of some anxiously expectant relatives one could have heard nothing but sobs and the resounding smacks of kisses.
And of all the kisses I have seen enacted or heard described
there was none to compare with what I saw on this occasion. I
particularly noticed a young man who apparently was greeting
his brother spring at him with the agility of a panther and overwhelm him with kisses. They were kisses so warm and fa^t that
the recipient seemed helpless under the onslaught. And they
were not staged or affected kisses. On the contrary, they were
kisses that plainly displayed an exuberance of joy uncontrolled.
This particular kisser, though untrained in the art, could outkiss
any professional of Hollywood. He began by holding his brother-—for such we must consider him—in a vise-like grip of his
powerful arms and began kissing him on the neck and shoulder.
Then he held him at arms' length and looked him straight in the
eyes for a minute, his face beaming with delight, and resumed
his fervid kisses in such manner that every inch of the brother's
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
face was fully covered. For he kissed him first on one cheek and
then on the other repeatedly and swiftly, shifting to the forehead and descending systematically to the eyes, the cheeks, the
lips and the chin.
He was hungry for his brother and fairly devoured him.
Because, seemingly not content with what he had had, he began
another onslaught, but in this instance with more moderation.
He again gazed into his eyes for a second, and with the utmost
deliberation, kissed him this time on the tip of the nose. But this
was not the climax of the performance. Some finishing touches
had been left out and he proceeded to execute them. With still
another gaze into his brother's eyes and as if tasting of a choice
bit of sweets at the conclusion of a meal, he handled fondly the
pointed tip of his brother's mustach and gave it the parting kiss.
For warmth of affection and exuberance of joy I had never
seen a scene to equal this in unaffected manifestation. It was characteristic of the East and was well worth coming all this distance
to witness.
In the welcoming party were representatives of all classes and
sections of Syria and Lebanon. Some had come from as far north
as Aleppo and as far east as Damascus, while from Zahle and
other nearby localities of Lebanon there were welcomers by the
score.
The formalities of visaing the passports over, there was a
scramble to land. All around the steamer were rows upon rows
of rowboats manned by sailors in native costume. The picturesqueness of the scene is one that holds great appeal to one witnessing it for the first time and without knowledge of the traditional ruthiessness of Beirut boatmen. But to him who has had
previous dealings with them, the very mention of their name
strikes terror in his heart. We had been informed that they were
made to behave after the coming of the French. Now it was our
opportunity to verify the truth of the statement.
It fell to my lot to experience this change of conduct on the
part of the Beirut boatmen in person. The opportunity came unexpected!}' and proved to be a complete and adequate test.
A Syrian passenger came to me as I was ready to disembark
and asked for assistance in landing. He said a certain boatman
had taken his baggage without his consent in an effort to induce
him to take his boat. He stated that he was one of Hitti's passengers and wanted me to advise him on what to do. He appeared unduly excited, and after appeasing him I called the
�OCTOBER, 1929
i
31
matter to the attention of Amee'n Hitti who immediately detailed one of his men to claim from the unauthorized boatman the
baggage of the passenger. I thought the matter was settled and
betook to my boat.
Before I had settled in my place I heard a commotion and
turned to find that the Hitti boatman was wrangling with the
other boatman over the right of the transportation of the passenger and his baggage. I was in the Hitti boat and that of the
other boatman was immediatelely alongside. The action that
followed was very swift. Words led to blows and there was a
grapple. The footing of the two contenders, each in his boat,
was not sure and they were soon rolling over the sides of the
swaying craft. Now one would be on top and then the other.
The edges of the two boats nearly touched water and there was
fear that they would capsize. There were shouts to me from
deck to jump to one of the other boats nearby.
In former days such a dispute would have inevitably lead to
tragic consequences. Even now there were threats by each of
drowning the other. At one time the head of one was pushed
perilously near the water.
But while the struggle was going on other forces were put
into motion which worked methodically and swiftly. The Maritime Police officer stationed at the head of the ladder had noticed
the scuffle and whistled for the Police launch. In but a few minutes it reached the scene and the officer in charge sternly commanded the two fighting men to stop. And they immediately
stopped. Not a shot was fired nor a stick wielded nor a knife
drawn. It was simply the stern voice of authority which this
heretofore lawless element has learned to obey to the relief of the
traveling public.
I later learned that the offending boatman was sentenced to
jail for ten days. I was further informed that such incidents have
become the rare exception at the port of Beirut, while formerly
they were the common rule.
Upon landing at the Customs House the first official I encountered was a native woman. I was later to be delightfully
surprised in learning that the women of Syria were rapidly effecting their economic emancipation by seeking employment in
independent and gainful pursuits.
The customs officials were most courteous. We were advised
that the government of Lebanon had issued explicit orders to
waive the regular formalities in connection with the landing of
�as
32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
the tourists traveling under the auspices of the firm of Hitti and
as a mark of encouragement and appreciation. For this the editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD, who was a
personal witness to the considerate treatment accorded the Syrian
tourists on this occasion, can express the grateful appreciation of
all passengers concerned for this action of the Lebanese government.
But even before leaving the Customs House I was made witness to a peculiar incident which I later discovered was typically
indicative of the trend of thought among the people of the country. The people resent what they believe is the overbearing attitude of the French in the exercise of their duty. Some French
officers are accused of not being civil in their treatment of the
natives although they may be within their incontested rights.
This particular incident came about through the efforts of my
cousin and companion, Joseph Mokarzel, publisher of Ad-Dabbour, a popular weekly of Beirut, to gain permission for a simple
peasant to enter the Customs House to greet his father who was
returning from America. The French officer stationed at the
door dismissed the request with an attitude of impatience which
hurt the impetuous publisher. What followed seems almost incredible. The publisher flew immediately into a rage and threatened to "dump" the French officer into the sea. "This is outcountry and not yours," he shouted at him. "You allow privileges
to some and refuse them to others. This is a condition we will
not tolerate and you shall soon find this out to your regret."
A crowd of several hundred men soon collected and pressed
around the two men. There were shouts of encouragement to
the dynamic little publisher to keep up his tirade. Right or wrong,
it was apparent that the sympathy of the crowd was with their
countryman.
The incident was brought to a close by my representation to
the officer of the facts of the situation which made him rescind
his earlier refusal. Obviously, the unpleasant incident could have
been avoided had he granted the permission in the first place.
Otherwise, if he considered himself in the right, he should hive
adhered to his first decision regardless of the consequences.
"What made you display such temper so quickly?" I asked
of my cousin immediately after we had left the confines of the
Customs House.
"The French in Syria have adopted such a vacillating policy
that they can be rightly accused of having no policy at all," he
THE SYRIAN WORLD
�OCTOBER, 1929
.
S3
replied. "What I said to the Customs officer is true. Favors are
granted some and denied others. The French in Syria cede only
to force. When they find the people submissive they abuse them.
The attitude of some French officials is so arrogant that it is wellnigh becoming unbearable."
That night I did not sleep in Beirut. It was Sunday and the
city was almost deserted. It is so convenient for the inhabitants
of the capital city of Lebanon and the greatest seaport of Syria,
to seek relief from the torrid heat of midsummer. In within
fifteen minutes to an hour they can reach any altitude to their
liking, even up to an elevation of eight or nine thousand feet.
One of the distinctions of Lebanon, for instance, is that its winter and summer capitals are only twenty minutes apart by automobile. Beirut, the winter capital, is semi-tropical in its climate.
Even an occasional snow flurry causes the greatest surprise. One
of the familiar expressions in description of the severity of a
winter is that "it snowed on the coast." Yet Aley, the summer
capital, can be seen crowning a hill directly above Beirut at an
elevation of 2,540 feet, while the summit of Sannin clothed in
its perpetual mantle of snow and rising to almost 10,000 feet,
looks surprisingly near. This being the topography of the country, urbanites of even moderate means can indulge in the weekend exodus to the cool regions of the mountain.
My cousin and companion was in sympathy with my plans
to profit of every moment for study and observation and he
helped materially carry them out. We therefore decided to
spend the night at Saufar, the reputed resort of the elite of the
country and the rendez-vous of the fashionable and sporting
element. I was anxious to see the interior of a gambling casino,
inasmuch as I had never been in one before.
It was then dusk and the hills of Lebanon began to scintillate
with their myriad electric lights. Villages could be distinguished
by the density of their illumination and resembled so many great
Milky Ways in the shadowy expanse of the landscape, while on
account of their elevation, they almost merged with the heavens
and their lights seemed to form a part of the galaxy of stars.
Sporadic lights appeared here and there to indicate isolated habitations or newly established resorts. This new condition in Lebanon was a revelation. The mountain could never be seen in
such a brilliant mantle of light before except on the day commemorating the discovery of the Cross. The Lebanese hold this
day in great reverence and celebrate it by extensive illumination
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
using for that purpose primitive but effective methods. This
consisted principally in soaking ash piles with kerosene and setting fire to them. These fires would be located on the fringes of
church roofs and other buildings and would give the effect of
the whole mountain being ablaze.
Except for this phenomenon, there was little for us to see
of the natural beauty of Lebanon by night. But the expectation
of being soon at Saufar, and of spending our first night in Lebanon in the reputed center of the greatest social activities in the
country, was sufficient compensation. We lost no time in hiring
an automobile to convey us thither.
Saufar is situated at an altitude of four thousand feet and
we reached it in half an hour. The road leading to it is the main
highway between Beirut and Damascus and owing to recent improvements, has become one of the finest motor roads in all Syria.
The dry mountain air as we climbed higher and higher was exhilarating.
We stopped at the Hotel Royal, conducted by Wadih Mokarzel, where we had an excellent dinner. But although this
hotel is almost directly opposite the Grand Casino, there seemed
to be little activity for such a fashionable center.
It was a distinct advantage to have for companion and guide
such a man as the pubJisher of Ad-Dabbour, who seemed to know
everything and everybody, and to be known by everybody as
well. With him it was never a matter of guess work. He could
place his finger on the cause and point out the effect with absolute
certainty. He had served his apprenticeship in the newspaper profession abroad and combined to this acquired knowledge the native talent of the Oriental. I wish to state that I am indebted to
him for a good deal of the information I possess, some of which,
however, I shall not feel at liberty to use, out of respect for the
ethics of the profession.
He conducted me to the Grand Casino and led me through
the spacious gardens to the grand entrance. Then he led me
through the grand lobby to the grand ballroom. And all the
while I was promising myself the sight of the grand activities that
were to be seen within. But alas! the wheel of fortune had turned against me on this occasion. We did not encounter a single'soul
in the bar except a' solitary bar-tender dressed in immaculate
white and doing his best to look cheerful. Then we passed through
the heavy velvet curtains into the equally grand casino proper.
All around were all sorts of devices for games of chance, but the
�OCTOBER, 1929
35
tables and the devices were deserted. Strange, indeed, that the
most popular resort of its kind in the country should present such
a desolate appearance on a Sunday!
But we were not to be disappointed altogether. At the far
end of the room was a group of players whom we approached
leisurely and stopped to watch. There were about a dozen men
and four women absorbed in the study of their cards. We could not
possibly disturb them, so intent were they on their tasks. Not
one as much as raised his head or batted an eyelid. The stakes
must have been large.
We watched for about ten minutes. Not a sound was to be
heard except the call of the stakeholder. Nay, I must correct
myself. There was the lady addict to the arghile who held the
stem tightly between her teeth and caused a continuous gurgling
in the bottle. All others were smoking cigarettes.
We could not very well engage in conversation while the
atmosphere was so tense for fear of distracting the players. But
once we had satisfied our curiosity my companion and I retired
to a far corner where we could safely engage in a whisper.
"Who are the ladies and gentlemen?" I inquired, anxious to
learn something about their standing in the community. Being
a stranger to the country, I could not tell whether the participants
were professionals or casual players. But my companion, knowing
everything and everybody, as I have stated, was in a position to
know.
"This group represents the elite of our society," was the reply. Two of the ladies are members of one of our wealthiest
families whose summer villas are located nearby. The man at
the head of the table is an ex-minister who is also a scion of another wealthy family. The rest are drawn from other walks of life
but all ranking high in the social ladder."
"But why the deadness of the atmosphere? Is this the extent of the activities in the foremost summer resort of the mountain at the height of the season?" I again asked.
The question was apparently beyond the publisher's ability to
answer promptly and satisfactorily. But he was resourceful and
would not admit defeat. He sought the manager of the Casino.
Mr. Najjar is a corpulent individual who must have been
extremely jovial by nature, but now appeared visibly worried.
He clapped for a waiter and ordered coffee, then sat to give us a
dissertation on what is basically wrong with the economic conditions of the country.
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
What I heard from this hotel manager was the first note of
dissatisfaction that later re-echoed in my ears wherever I went in
the country. Everything was wrong because of the government.
The government was held to blame for the rise in the price of
flour as well as for the unpopularity of gambling resorts. It would
seem to the visitor that but for the equable climate of the country-,
the government would be blamed even for the change in the
weather. The people expected the government to take the initiative in every move. This state of mind plainly indicated the
utter dependence of the people. It is the continuation of a condition of paternalism and feudalism from which the country has
not yet succeeded in shaking itself free. Its manifestations encompass the whole range of national life from the educational to
the social and economic. The people seem not to have developed
either the courage or the strength to stand on their own feet.
The first night spent in Lebanon fully proved the widely proclaimed virtues of this mountain as a health resort. I retired late
and rose early fully refreshed after but a few hours' sleep. The
early morning walk up the motor road to where we could view
the beautiful panorama of Wadi Hammana, immortalized by
Lamartine, made us doubly enjoy the generous breakfast served
in the open-air dining room of the hotel. A week's vacation in
the bracing air and soothing quiet of this resort would have been
ideal, but the call to duty was too urgent. We must be back in
the city that very morning, my companion to prepare copy for
his paper and I to meet and greet a host of friends whom I knew
by name but had never seen. We managed to leave before the
congestion, for they have their rush hours in Lebanon, too.
The descent down the slopes of Lebanon along a road running now through the heart of a dense grove of pines or a wellcultivated vineyard, now through the main street of a bustling
little village, and all the while in full view of the sea and of the
city of Beirut, left no regrets except that it was accomplished too
quickly for the fuller enjoyment of the beautiful scenery. Beirut,
resplendent in a robe of dazzling white, hedged about by the
green groves of the rich coastal plain, facing the immense expanse of the blue Mediterranean, its myriad windows reflecting
the rays of the rising sun as it emerged from behind Sannin,
presented the appearance of a huge diamond in a gorgeous setting. Between this captivating view of the city and the ever
changing beauty of the mountains around, one felt the time pass
all too quickly. We soon found ousselvcs by the tombs of the
�OCTOBER, 1929
37,
Pashas at Al-Hazimyeh, marking the boundary of the city limits.
Then it was a swift drive over the broad and level road to Sahat
Al-Burg, now rechristened Place des Canons, which faces the
Small Saraya, administrative building of the native government,
in contradistinction to the Grand Saraya, seat of the French High
Commissariat.
At last we were in the metropolis of Lebanon, the emporium
of Syria, the cultural center of that part of the East and the capital of the first republic to rise in the Arabic-speaking world. There
we were to come in contact with the political forces that are guiding the destinies of the country, to study the courses of the social,
economic and cultural life of the people, and to see whatever remained of the distinctive Eastern characteristics in a city that is
coming faster than any other under Western influences. This
I set myself to do from the very first day.
Edwin
By
LABEEBEE
A. J.
HANNA
The rose bloomed for a day
And withered
And fell;
My cheek bloomed as the rose
And grew pale
And wan.
Our love bloomed like the rose
And withered
And died—
And remnants remaining
Grow ashen
And dried.
Tenderly put the ash
In an urn,
And save—
And decorate and lable
As any
Grave.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
38
The Smile of Death
A SHORT STORY
By
JOHN
A.
LA EACE
IDLENESS does breed mischief. Men who are busily engaged
in the problems of life and existence have no time to ask needless and unfathomable questions for mere curiosity. But a vain
and idle man—particularly a monarch—invariably will subject
his advisers to deep and intricate inquiries in order to gloat over
the prospective torture he will inflict upon them in event he is
not satisfied with their answers.
Sultan Omar was such a vain and idle monarch. The magnificent throne he sat upon did not even tempt an admiring look
from his haughty eyes. Beautiful mother-of-pearl from the
Persian Gulf inlaid in precious wood from the cedar forest of
Mt. Lebanon; golden tigers clawing at each other savagely—the
work of some Persian artist;—rubies and sapphires in attendance
on a large moon-glowing diamond—drew the always admiring
and covetous eyes of the court attaches, but no recognizance
from the ruler.
On this particular day, something seemed to be troubling his
otherwise peaceful mind. He glanced about the walls of the
throne room in an absent-minded manner. His eyes roamed nervously over the beautiful tapestries that fairly shouted for attention without outwardly acknowledging them until they rested
upon one in particular—one which was the object of interesting
comment by the ministers and of sacred awe by the Moslems.
It depicted the Prophet sitting on a heavenly throne with a look
of wisdom in his eyes, glancing down upon Islam represented
by a row of bowed caliphs at his feet. His left hand was extended
as a token of peace, but his right rested on a brilliant scimitar.
He was clothed in the sacred garments of the highest caliph,
which enveloped him in a profusion of linen and silks. The sultan's eyes, now alert, were fixed on a remarkable adornment
which hung in a secluded cove to the right of the holy tapestry.
It was a likeness of one of Sultan Omar's distant sires,—AliPasha the Dreaded. It was this Sultan Pasha who subjugated
the outlying tribes which roamed the expanses of the Syrian
i -wo- -
i
i
i
t
I
t
a
c
\
F
t
v
s
n
o
Si
d
w
t!
�OCTOBER, 1929
29
Desert—the fierce Bedouins and the war-like Kurds, bringing
them into the folds of the empire. He was an immense individ
uai, standing, as he was in the painting, six feet six inches of brutality, his fierce countenance scowling even in the picture, with
huge moustaches fairly bristling against his cheeks. His large
cat-grey eyes shot forward like lances thrust from the sturdy
arm of a Spartan, and his luxurious, disheveled hair added to the
fierceness of his appearance. On his left cheek was a long jagged
scar which, tradition tells us, was received in a savage encounter
with a tiger, which he brutally strangled to death. Tradition
continues to relate now he was merciless beyond belief It was
he, also, who crushed his eldest son to death in a terrible embrace,
because the latter ret used—rather prudently, one should thinkto pursue a wounded tiger unarmed!
,Ic was no^ed by the more observant, that although the sultan s eyes would roam somewhat absently about the chamber they
always turned to the likeness of his savage forefather, and that
his eyes would suddenly illuminate when they met the features of
Aii-.Fasha. lhe boldest among his courtiers would even venture
beyond this in telling of certain instances when his. dreaded majesty would peer intently into Ali-Pasha's features, his eves would
flash lividly and his face would assume a pallid, rigid appearance
which was alarming to those who knew him.
It was common gossip about the court that the sultan did not
inherit the physical brutality of his forebearers, but that he was
blood-thirsty and treacherous beyond common acceptance And
herein lies our story.
One particular day, when Sultan Omar sat thus captivated
by Aii-Pasha, his features suddenly relaxed into a hideous smile,
a smile tnat quickly transformed his suave countenance into that
of a snarling, yapping, blood-thirsty beast; the peaceful room
was immediately turned into the sometimes roaring, sometimes
pacific, dark, treacherous jungles of deepest Africa. Omar was
tne silent brutal cobra, and his quaking panic-stricken attendants
were the hares and yea! even the gazelles of the jungles which
succumbed to the fangs of the demon. Yet, as that smile slowly
melted away, the lingering expressions suggested the cunning
of the fox, and forecast, as those who associated with him knew
some ugly finesse, which would terminate in the bloodv, hackine
death in which he delighted. Such was the smile of death and
woe unto the unfortunate one who would fit into the plans of
the demon and fall into the clutches of that deception I
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
Motioning from his royal seat, the sultan of thetwokiruV
pheres and the ruler of the two seas, (as his title goes) the lust
for blood deeply possessing him, summoned before him his
vSier Al-RaJa^ and addressed him thus: "Slave, I£D 4km
thee ilitil an hour before the hour of prayer to solve the following problem which has been puzzling me constantly. It, at the
end of this period, you have not sufficiently enlightened me, by
Allah I will forfeit thy head!"
,
Poor Rassan's heart sank. The smile of death was directed
toward him! He turned his head momentarily, and tried to
imagine some cruel question his lord could inflict upon him He
hufdered violently when he considered the fate of his predecessors (the viziers were always the target for the cunning and the
cruelty of the sultan inasmuch as they were supposed to be exceptionally enlightened, and therefore, the sultan always liked to
match his wits with theirs, with their life at stake). So far, no
vizier had emerged victorious from this battle of wits!
"I am ready, your Highness, to enlighten you with any matters, as much as Allah permits, that might disturb your most
"^"AtleTdl" Omar fairly leaped as he said, "Who is God? in
what direction is His face turned? and What is He always doing?" The startled and despairing look of the frightened vizier
was' in marked contrast to the confident countenance of the ruler
who felt like the cat which toys with the mouse, enjoying its suffering before mercifully putting it to death.
"Can Your Most Dreaded Highness allow your unworthy
slave an extension of the allotted time to enable me to see my
family?" Al-Rassan was heard to plead pitifully.
"Emphatically no!" roared the sultan, "and furthermore,
vou are not allowed to leave the palace."
Slowly and wearily, the vizier dragged his well-nigh useless body to an ante-chamber, where he sank at the foot of an
image of Mohammed which was on the wall. "Oh Allah and
Mohammed," Al-Rassan cried, "What have I done to deserve
such a cruel fate? Who am I, to be able to divulge the affairs
of heaven? Oh my favorite wife Zura, and my precious son
Achmed, soon you will be thrown upon the harsh treatment of
an unsympathetic world! If only I could save you from such a
disaster'" and he bowed his head in sorrow.
"Perhaps you can, my son," a voice suddenly spoke above
him, "Allah may have decreed that 1 be sent to help you.
�—
OCTOBER, 1929
41
The vizier was startled, and in his troubled frame of mind,
imagined that the likeness of Mohammed had vanished from
the wall. He turned suddenly about him in fear, but saw nothing.
"Look not with thine eyes, my son, for I am without the
perception of human vision, but human ears can hear me, so hearken to my advice and I will deliver thee from the clutches of
yon monster."
"By Allah, what a heavenly voice," thought Rassan, but acquiesced and listened to its instructions.
"Do exactly as I bid thee, and no earthly being can harm
thee," it concluded and suddenly ceased.
"I am thy servant and thy slave, whosoever thou may be,"
answered Al-Rassan passionately, and sank again with reverence
to his knees.
When he arose, his mind was clearer, and he was strengthened
by the unknown voice. Glancing at the wall again, he noticed,
somewhat perplexed, that Mohammed's likeness once more was
upon it. As he stood there, still confused by the trend of events
about him, and dazed by the apparent deception of his eyes, a
bell suddenly echoed musically from the throne room, and with
a start, Rassan realized his presence was demanded there.
"Allah is with me!" he whispered fervently, as he parted
the gorgeous tapestries that hid him from the presence of those
in the court chamber and entered into the hushed atmosphere
within.
Mohammed's successor seemed in a jovial mood as his vizier
appeared before him and glanced about the room in a conceited
manner, as if saying to his attendants: "no one could match wits
with Sultan Omar!"
Al-Rassan, on the other hand, appeared as composed as a
martyr, and drew the unconcealed admiration of all those about
him.
"Wretch, are you prepared to enlighten me?" demanded the
sultan of his vizier.
"I will satisfy your curiosity, Most Exalted One, if you will
only agree to do my bidding!" answered the unemotional councillor. "What is the first part of your question?" he continued.
"Who is God?" quietly said the sultan, a broad smile creeping across his face, and his eyes glowing in anticipation.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
"Will Your Highness count from one to ten?" asked AlRassan.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten," hurriedly counted the sultan.
"Now count down from ten," interposed the vizier.
More cautiously, the sultan descended: "Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five, four, three, two, one,.;. " Here he paused uncertainly, and looked up inquiringly at Al-Rassan.
"Will Your Majesty not continue?" besought the latter.
"
zero," faltered the monarch.
"And still further," urged the vizier.
"Impossible, you fool!" bellowed the sultan.
"Then beyond the realm of human accomplishment lies God
and His power," reverently replied Al-Rassan.
A murmur of mingled surprise and approval rippled through
the audience; the monarch, undaunted, emitted a short ejaculation, but the stoical face of the vizier betrayed no emotions.
"Now, where is His face turned?" demanded Omar, as domineering as ever.
"Will Your Majesty order a lighted candle be placed on
that table?" a^ked Al-Rassan. No sooner was this asked than
done by many eager hands, and then:
"In what particular direction is the light o£ this candle shed?"
shot Rassan at the king. Omar broke into a boisterous laugh at
this seemingly absurd question, and his mirth became so uncontrollable that it threatened to burst his jugular vein, which was
becoming dangerously prominent. His flushed face to an uniformed onlooker might imply a genuine sense of humor or good
nature, but those who knew and understood his ways realized
what a terribly false impression this was, and, as if accentuating
this idea, they unconsciously backed away from the author of the
outburst. Wiping his brow leisurely with a silken handkerchief
which he always concealed in his sash, the sultan condescended
to answer the inquiry if Rassan would repeat it, "for," he said,
a
"the
pig may be seeking to ensnare me in a trick question."
Rassan repeated his question and the skeptical king was convinced that it was ethical enough.
"Well," drawled Omar, "in all directions, of course," and
gazed presumptuously about the faces in the court room.
"Then the face of God is turned in all directions," reverently
replied Al-Rassan, as unmoved as ever.
\m
�43
OCTOBER, 1929
Omar plainly became uneasy, and a scowl of displeasure swept
across his face; he realized that in Al-Rassan he had met a worthy
wit. The assembly was murmuring loudly, and slowly edged
toward the throne, as the incoming tide surges upon the sandy
shores, becoming louder and louder as it bursts with a roar on
the beach.
Undismayed, the stubborn sultan clung tenaciously to a mask
of indifference which gave him a calm and unruffled appearance,
and the courtiers milling about him stopped abruptly in thentracks at this remarkable exhibition of self-control. Glancing up
at the painting of Ali-Pasha, Omar muttered to himself, "I will
triumph yet!"
"Tell me what is He always doing ?" he asked the vizier
haughtily, still hoping to stave off defeat and disgrace.
"Will Your Excellency allow me, your most respectful slave,
to wear the clothes of state, and gird the sacred scimitar and sit
in your stead on the throne?" Al-Rassan said in a half-mocking
voice which was losing all pretence to submissiveness.
Omar was openly baffled at this sudden turn of events, and
became suspicious of the true motives of the vizier. He remembered, however, his promise to do the other's bidding; therefore,
he allowed Al-Rassan to change robes with him, and to gird the
emblem of authority.
"Now," the vizier began, but was interrupted by the outburst
of the spell-bound assembly, which had suddenly come to life,
like an unheralded storm on the south seas, and madly roared
about the throne. Al-Rassan cleared his throat, faced the cowering sultan and began anew:
"I have demonstrated what God is always doing; humbling
the despotic and conceited mighty, and elevating the weak and
oppressed."
*
*
*
*
The spell of the smile of death was broken forever, and
when the hour for prayer was announced, all the people of the
land turned toward Mecca, the holy city, and thanked Allah the
Almighty and His favorite Mohammed for their deliverance.
�44
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Book Reviews
AN ARAB WARRIOR-LOVER
The Romance of Antar. By Eunice Tietjens, New York, CowardMcCann. 219pp. $2.50.
Antarah, commonly called Antar, is a historical character.
He was one of the great Arab poets whose merits were recognized by the hanging of one of his epic poems on the walls of
Al-Kaaba, in Mecca, in pre-Islamic days. There used to be held
each year in Mecca in those times a national literary contest, as
it were, to determine the relative worth of the nation's contemporary poets, and only those poems judged by acclamation as
superior in merit were accorded the honor of being hung in AlKaaba. The literary fair was called Suq Akaz, and the poems
which in all the history of Arabia deserved the honor of being
chosen to be hung up in the holy place of Arabia were called AlMuallaqat, or the suspended ones. Antarah's poem is one of
these immortal seven.
There is no gainsaying the fact that Antarah was a great
poet, lover and warrior. His beloved, Abla, still lives in song
to the present day. Arab story-tellers still recount the exploits
of Antarah as one of the great heroes of the race. There has
sprung up among a certain class of Arabs what would be equivalent to Antarah Societies, certain enthusiasts coming together
to hear recalled over and over again the great exploits of the
hero as told in his poetry and added to by legend and the weaving fancy of the fertile Oriental imagination down the ages.
But Antarah, although known to the Western scholarly world
for over a century, was not a popular character. He was treated
more like a classical figure appraised more for his literary qualities than for his war deeds. Perhaps that the Story of Antar,
as it exists in Arabic, is too long and contains too much of vaunting verse to have served as popular material. Arab story-tellers
consider Antar's poetry an integral part of the story itself and
tell it in the fullness of its detail. The late Chukri Ganem's
French dramatization of the story in operatic form, served only
to have it produced for a season at the Odeon.
But now that Mrs. Tietjens has undertaken to retell the
story of Antar, there is ground for hope that the Arab hero
will receive his due share of popularity. Mrs. Tietjens has
�OCTOBER, 1929
45
succeeded in epitomizing the story and casting it in such romantic form, in spite of its brevity, as to meet contemporary
reading requirements. She has capably shaped the plot so as to
hold the attention of the reader from beginning to end. Even
what appears to be the post climax, the chapter telling of the
hero's death, does not detract from the interest of the legend.
The story of Antar is familiar to all natives of the Arabic
language. It is one of the chief sources of inspiration of Arab
pride. Born in slavery, Antar's ambition is to rise to the rank
of an Arab freeman. In this he is inspired by his great love for
his cousin Abla. All his great courage and superhuman strength
he directs to the attainment of this end. He is put to many
trials, from which he emerges victor, but his great quality is his
fidelity to his one and single love. He contemptuously spurns
the temptations of ease and luxury in the royal courts of AlMunzer, the Arab, and of Chosroe, the Persian, and elects to
return to his desert encampment to be near his beloved. Not
even slave girls of great beauty and accomplishments tempt
him, other than to make gifts of them to Abla. He finally
achieves his great desire and lives in happiness with his wife
for ten years, until an enemy whom he had blinded takes revenge by shooting him from ambush with a poisoned arrow.
The author of this popular version of the Romance of Antar may not be an Arabic scholar, and had to follow the translations of the legend as they exist in European languages. For
that reason those conversant with Arabic can readily excuse the
faults of transliteration of some Arabic names. Munzar, for
instance, could have been more properly spelled Munzir, or
Munzer. Milik does not faithfully reproduce the Arab sound
of Malek. This would appear essential in view of the fact that
innumerable references to Abla occur in Antar's poetry as the
Daughter of Malek, and a proper rendition of the original
sound would seem necessary, especially that this modern retelling of the Romance of Antar holds great promise of becoming
the popular book that it deserves to be.
On the whole, we believe Mrs. Tietjens efforts, even from
the critical viewpoint of one who has read the story in the
original Arabic, is admirable. She has brought into the recasting of it the art of a master in faithfulness to the main theme
and the recording of essential details. Her book is one that every
lover of Arabic lore should welcome for the sheer delight one
gets in reading it.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
46
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcosmic
picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever Arabic
dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking writers
who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabic-speaking
world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take no part in
the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our task will
simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and with utmost
sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed
in these editorials.
Editor.
THE RIGHT OF THE
JEWS TO PALESTINE
For the Moslems, Christians and
Pagans in the East to persecute the
Jews is a shameful injustice. The
Jews, it is true, are not above reproach. Not every one of them is
a saint, nor are they, without exception, honest and exemplary of conduct. But what can be rightly said
of the Jews is that no other nation
of their size, beset as it is with
persecution and tribulations and
condemned to dispersal, has produced
as many and as illustrious men of
genius and talent in all branches
of science, philanthropy and the
arts.
Only ignorance, bigotry, laziness
and the selfish designs of the leaders are arrayed now in opposition
to the Jews because the latter have
succeeded in their work of reclamation and are laying plans for the
economic progress and prosperity of
the country. Honest, right-thinking
men cannot bear malice against a
people who are capable of doing
such constructive work. Only the
indolent and the wicked can harbor
such motives.
Civilization has an incontestable
right which cannot be overruled by
any right of possession. Otherwise
cannibals would be, even to our present day, the masters of vast territories, and nomads would be roaming
about with no respect for law and
order.
The Jews originally occupied the
Land of Promise by force, and after
them came the Westerners and then
the Arabs. It is by no other right
that the British now occupy the
country, and to us Easterners there
is a lesson in present conditions.
It is to our benefit to learn from
the people of the West their respect
for the law and their belief in firmness of policy, until such time that
we become fit for independence and
the Westerners w^ll then retrace
their steps and leave us to our
destiny. As conditions now stand,
they have complete right to require
that their neighbors be on a level
with them and conform to their
standards. This is in keeping with
our accepted axiom that city ordinances require inhabitants not to
disturb others cr trespass upon the
commonly prescribed rules of decency.
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Nov. 22, 1929.
�OCTOBER, 1929
ZIONISM EXPIRING
The wise among the Zionists are
now coming to believe that they
cannot expect peace in their promised national home in Palestine by
dependence on the English or the
use of force. Lord Balfour promised
them peace and security in the
Holy Land and they thought his
promise was sufficient in itself. Now
that they have discovered that they
cannot expect peace based upon unreasonable demands they have turned about face and decided to make
peace with the Arabs.
The Zionist id? a is now in the
throes of death. It has come to
this end because it does not deserve
to live. Its doom is due to the fact
that it ;s not based on a just cause,
condemning, as it does, one people
to replace it by another. If, therefore, the wise among the Zionists
are now seeking to "come to an understanding with the Arabs it is
because they have no other alternative open to them if they wish
at all to make of Palestine a sacred
home for themselves just as it is
now for the Moslems and the Christians.
As-Sayeh, N. Y., Nov. 23, 1929.
PAN-ARAB UNION
Recent dispatches from Palestine
indicate complete co-operation between Christians and Moslems in
national matters. Such developments are bound to bring joy to the
hearts of all those who wish the
prosperity and welfare of Arabicspeaking countries. This is particularly pleasing because of the fact
that those who now proclaim the
necessity of union and co-operation
are the same elements who previously declared that the Arab movement is primarily a Moslem'one.
47
Now that they have corrected their
stand and begun to see the futility
of their former views there is ground
for hope that the pan-Arab union
will be much advanced.
One pf the immediate results of
this change of policy is that the
Lebanese have declared themselves
heartily in support of the stand of
the Arabs of Palestine in spite of
the well-known policy of the Lebanese in upholding the French mandate and the administrative separation of Lebanon and Syria.
What has been the trouble is that
religious mistrust stood all along
in the way of consummating an
Arab union. But now that the Moslems are beginning to show signs of
toleration the Lebanese declare
themselves in hearty support of the
aspirations of their brother Arabs.
We may expect the realization of
the Arab union immediately there is
established true equality between
Christian and Moslem in the Near
East and there is absolute trust of
each faction in the other.
Syrian Eagle, N. Y., Nov. 8, 1929.
JEWISH NATIONAL HOME
The most recent statistics ind-'cate
that the total number of the Jews
in New York has reached 1,835,030
and that by next year their number
is expected to increase to over two
millions. This is approximately more
than one-third of the inhabitants
of the American metropolis.
Is it not cause for wonder that
ever since Lord Balfour made his
famous declaration the Jews are
straining every effort to usurp Palestine from the hands of its legitimate owners in order to establish
for themselves a homeland in that
country while their logical homeland
is here in the city of New York?
Can they not perceive that in this
�48
city they wield a power that is by
no means negligible and that they
here enjoy complete security of life,
property and trade?
The total number of the Jews in
Palestine does not exceed one hundred and fifty thousand, including
both the Arab Jews and those others
whom Zionist designs have inveigled into the country there to be the
adversaries of its people and the
disciples of aggression against the
right of every man in the possession
of his lawful property.
While the number of the Jews in
Palestine does not exceed one-fourth,
what right have they to claim a
right to the ownership of the whole
country, while in New York they
are almost a full third and they
here hesitate to exercise the privilege of ownership, although they are
here the most industrious, prosperous and respected element?
The wise among the Jews should
hold in check the ambitions of the
unruly element which seeks to establish a national homeland in Palestine which can never materialize,
and in the establishment of which
both their money and their lives
will be sacrificed in a vain effort to
accomplish the mad designs of their
leaders
As-Sayeh, N. Y., Nov. 14, 1929.
SYRIAN SOCIETIES IN AMERICA
Whosoever ponders the future of
Syrian immigrants in America realizes the imperative necessity of
combining all their societies and
clubs so that they may have an organized body to promote their interests and properly represent them.
Many societies have sprung in our
midst during the past which were
of local benefit and perhaps served
to do more harm than good. They
THE SYRIAN WORLD
did not have the proper objectives
in view and their failure was a foregone conclusion.
But the one organization that is
bound to bring genuine benefit to
the Syrian immigrants is that which
interests itself in the Syrians' affairs in this country instead of
abroad.
We must keep in view the obvious
truth that we have adopted this
country as our permanent home and
have acquired its citizenship. Consequently we have lost all political
rights or claims in either Palestine,
Lebanon or Syria. It behooves us,
therefore, to occupy ourselves with
the immediate interests that affect
our standing and welfare in this
country instead of living in the past.
What we urgently need is to work
for a Syrian-American federation of
all our clubs and societies to direct
our national affairs, while each individual organization retains freedom of action in all its local matters. This has been the procedure
of all other ethnic groups in America and it is time we follow in their
footsteps.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., Nov. 6, 1929.
TOURISM IN LEBANON
The program of the Eddy Cabinet
discloses an earnest desire to encourage tourism and summering in
Lebanon. In its tentative budget it
has included a considerable sum to
be spent abroad for this purpose.
There is no gainsaying the statement that this policy is one of the
most constructive moves for the improvement of economic conditions in
Lebanon. But up to the present it
remains in the formative stage. And
there is the danger that what has
been practiced in the past will be
followed in this case also. A department would be set up to which would
1
�wmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmammammmmmmamMmxmMmtmmmmmam*
PAN-ARAB CONGRESS IN SESSION
Photo Al-Lataif
Delegates from all the Arab countries attended the congress held in
Jerusalem on October 27, 1929, to protest British policy and Zionist
designs in Palestine.
CONGRESS OF THE DESERT
Photo Al-Lataif
Nationalist leaders of Syria and Palestine who met at Wadi Sirhan
at the call of Sultan Pasha Atrash, who is indicated by figure (1) in
the center directly in front of tent pole.
�DRUZES IN WAR CONFERENCE
A typical scene at the Druze Headquarters during their revolt against the French in Syria in 1925-27.
�OCTOBER, 1929
be appointed a head receiving a large
salary, and under whom there would
be an army of petty officials, and
the matter would rest at that.
What is required of the government is to devise the means at the
same time it seeks the end. So far
all patrons of Lebanon's summer
resorts have been drawn from neighboring countries — Egypt, Palestine
and Iraq. While it is a known fact
that Americans, owing to their
enormous wealth, have become the
greatest tourists and travelers in
the world. To profit, therefore,
from the American tourist trade, the
Lebanese government should undertake an active propaganda in America to acquaint the American public
with the advantages of Lebanon's
climate, the greatness of the ruins
of Baalbek and Palmyra, the beauty
of the famous Cedars of Lebanon
and similar distinctive and exclusive
features.
Let the Lebanese government not
be deceived into the belief that the
French consuls can be depended upon
to undertake this necessary mission.
These officials know nothing of Lebanon and the Lebanese, or of Syria
and the Syrians, other that Syria
and Lebanon are under French
mandate.
The Lebanese government could
very well afford to curtail in some
of its unnecessary expenses to furnish funds for the promotion of this
vital matter.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., Nov. 18, 1929.
CHANGING ARABIC
CHARACTERS
The Arabic press of Egypt has
given serious consideration to the
preposition of a Dutch scholar on
the adviBability of substituting the
Latin for the Arabic characters. We
cannot conceive of any valid reason
49
for such a change, inasmuch as
Arabic characters have long stood
the test of all requirements. Unless
there is a hidden design on the part
of Europeans to bring about a severance of the ties which bind the Moslems of all nationalities with their
sacred Book, Al-Qoran. If this be
the purpose then the proposition is
doomed to abject failure, because
the Moslems are too wise to be deceived by the subtle devices designed
to estrange them from their religion.
Es-Saada, Morocco, Sept. 28, 1929.
JEWISH LOGIC!
The Rev. Rabbi Stephen Wise of
New York accused the Christians of
being the instigators of the spirit
of dissension between Arabs and
Jews in Palestine, and went so far
as to say that if he were a Christian he would teach these troublemakers something of the true spirit
of Christianity which they seem to
lack.
Undoubtedly the Rev. Wise has in
mind the admonition of Christ to
His followers not to return injury
for injury. But why should he not
leave questions of religion aside
and confine himself to the single
question: By what right does an
alien people muster its forces
throughout the world to attack another people in their own land in an
attempt to take it away from them
under no other pretext than the
promise of an English statesman?
Or, if we were to put the question
in another form, we would say to
Rabbi Wise: Why should one people
be permitted to invade Palestine
with the might of England, and the
people of Palestine themselves be
prevented from defending their own
country by the combined power of
their Moslem and Christian elements ?
As-Sayeh, N. Y., Nov. 2, 1929.
�—
50
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Political Developments in Syria
Arab congress in Palestine protests Zionist aggression — French High
Commissioner Ponsot returns but is reticent on his plans —
New Lebanese cabinet still deliberating reform program.
Recent events in Palestine have
had the effect of rallying the Arabs
to the defense of their threatened
rights and of promoting a spirit of
unity between Moslems and Christians as never before. A call to a
pan-Arab congress to protest Zionist aggression was issued by the
Central Executive Committee and
the meeting held October 27. It was
attended by almost one thousand
delegates and prominent visitors
from the different Arabic-speaking
countries. At the conclusion of the
congress a Moslem imam and a
Christian priest embraced each other
publicly as a token of lasting amity
and union between the followers of
the two religions in defense of their
common cause.
The following are some of the
momentous decisions reached by the
congress:
1—Al Buraq, (the Wailing Wall)
is incontestable Moslem property,
being an integral part of the Mosque
Al-Aqsa, and cannot be subject to
controversy as to its ownership.
Moslems and Christians are of one
accord as to its status whether nationally or politically. Permission
for the Jews to visit it, providing
such is devoid of all ritual, paraphernalia or sound, is only an act
of toleration by the Moslems, and
whatever transgresses on the mode
of observance of this visit is plain
violation of the rights of the Arabs,
whether such violation be on the
psrt of the government or of the
Jews.
2—All sale of land to the Jews
is to be strictly prohibited: a boycott
of Jewish merchants is to be put
into effect, otherwise those of the
Arabs patronizing the Jews will
themselves be boycotted. Only the
purchase of land from the Jews is
sanctioned.
3—Inasmuch as the authorities
have shown themselves partial to
the Jews, the Arabs will adopt a
policy of passive resistance by the
non payment of taxes. A special
committee was appointed to further
study the causes of Arab grievances
for submission to the next session
of the congress.
4—The British High Commissioner in Palestine, Sir Chancellor, having displayed unmistaken partiality
towards the Jews by accusing the
Arabs of aggression and barbarism,
the congress strongly condemns this
unjust attitude on the part of the
High Commissioner and declares
the lack of confidence of the Arab
nation in him.
Other resolutions condemn unrestricted immigration, the retention
by the government of Mr. Bentwitch,
the public prosecutor, in spite of his
bias against the Arabs and his avowed pro-Zionist leanings; the use of
force in dealing with the Arab demonstrators in Damascus, and corporal
punishment of Arab pupils in the
schools of Nablus.
Recent developments in the Palestine situation indicate a change in
sentiment which bids fair to ag-
�OCTOBER, 1929
11
gravate the split in Zionist ranks
concerning the ultimate goal of
Zionism. It is a well-known fact
that Jewish settlement in Palestine
had been going on long before the
Balfour declaration, and no protest
to the movement was evinced on
the part of the Arabs. The appearance on the stage of aggressive
Zionism, and its striving to establish in the country a national home
for the Jews with a distinct political
status, aroused the Arabs to the
appreciation of the danger of the
situation especially when the Jews
began to flow into the country backed by almost unlimited funds. But
since the conflict of interest between
Arab and Jew began to manifest
itself in serious disturbances which
at times developed into bloody encounters, a certain element among
the Jews began to perceive the futility of the Zionist policy as it now
stands and to advocate a peaceful
understanding with the Arabs with
a view to establishing only a cultural center for the Jews in their
historic homeland. The most influential protagonist of this policy
among the Jews is Dr. Judah L.
Magnes, Chancellor of the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem, who was
reported in recent dispatches to
have declared himself in favor of
the establishment of a parliament
in Palestine as a solution of the
Arab-Jewish problem. He further
elaborated on his views by advocating the declaration of Palestine as
an international holy land, which
would entail the renunciation by the
Jews of all idea of political domination and the restricting of their
ambitions to the creation of a cultural center in the country. This
proposition, if finally adopted, would
serve as a basis for a permanent
understanding between Arabs and
Jews as the Arabs offer no objection
to the establishment of a Jewish
51
cultural center in Palestine providing the Zionists renounce their political designs.
As would be expected, the militant
Zionists in America and Europe
were loud in their denunciation of
the heretical proposals of Dr. Magnes, but it is plainly noticeable that
discussion of this saner course of
action in Zionist policy is being conducted with more frequency in Jewish organs while previously it was
an almost unanimous cry of revenge
and punishment against the Arabs.
The recent outbreaks in Palestine,
while rousing the Jews to great indignation at first, have served to
bring to the Jews a keener appreciation of the gravity of the situation of their brothers now struggling
against great odds to maintain themselves in a country overwhelmingly
Arab and hostile to their aspirations.
Sporadic assaults against the
Jews continue to take place in Palestine, but the authorities now seem
to have the situation well in hand
and to be conducting their investigation in an atmosphere of order.
The events of Palestine had their
repercussion in all the neighboring
Arabic-speaking countries. In Damascus there were great popular
demonstrations in which police interfered and were accused of having
assaulted the native editors taking
part in the march. This caused the
publishers of all the Damascus papers to suspend publication for a
day as an act of protest.
There were demonstrations also
in Beirut and the other principal
cities of Syria. Beirut newspapers
for Nov. 2, the anniversary of the
Balfour Declaration, carried a uniform protest in bold type expressing
the disapproval of the Arab nation
in all parts of the world of the Balfour Declaration and declaring that
this day would be observed every
�52
THE SYRIAN WORLD
year as a day of mourning so long Commissioner. When the latter exas the declaration remains unre- pressed surprise, mingled with admiration, according to some press
pealed.
Special action, however, was taken reports, at their action, their leader
by the Syrian Nationalists in the declared that "Not only are we
form of a memorandum presented ready to discard the veil, but to take
to the consuls of the foreign powers up arms and shed the last drop of
in Beirut for transmission to their our blood in defense of our country."
A delegation representing the
governments and to the League of
Nations. After explaining that the women demonstrators later waited
Balfour Declaration is at variance upon the foreign consuls to express
with the promise of Great Britain their grievances. They were said to
to the Arabs to create Syria an in- have been well received by the
dependent State of which Palestine American consul who is reported in
would be an integral part, and stat- the Arabic press as saying: "The
people who displays such patriotism
ing that the Jews are an alien race
constituting but a small minority in and whose women take such a decisive stand in defense of their rights
the country, the petitioners make
is unquestionably fit to take its place
the following demand:
"For the reasons advanced, the in the sun and to be granted its independence."
Syrian people demand that an end
The representative of the Arab
be put to direct English administration in Palestine at the earliest King Ibn Saoud in London was reopportunity and that the country be ported to have upheld the rights of
turned over to its own people that the Jews in Palestine, and when the
they may set up a parliamentary Syro-Palestinian Executive Commitgovernment in which Arabs and tee called this matter to the attenJews would be represented propor- tion of His Majesty he officially retionately. To this end we would ask plied that his stand cannot diverge
an immediate cessation of all ar- from the "traditional policy of Isbitrary methods designed to carry lam as regards other religions
out a promise which is impossible which preceded it" and that he
of fulfillment so long as Moslems shall continue in the future as he
and Christians throughout the world had in the past to share with the
are determined to oppose such an Arabs of Palestine their ambitions
unjust policy to the bitter end with and aspirations.
all means at the command of the
INCREASE IN POLITICAL
> Arab race."
ACTIVITY IN SYRIA
The signers of the memorandum,
all members of the Constituent AsM. Henri Ponsot, French High
sembly from Damascus, are Zaki
Commissioner
in Syria, arrived in
Khateeb, Said Gazzi, Faiz Khoury,
Beirut on the 25th of October travAhmad Lahham and Lutfi Hajjar.
eling overland by way of Egypt
Concurrent with the convocation
of the Arab congress, the women and Palestine. While in Jerusalem
of Palestine took the unprecedented he had a long conference with the
course of holding a public demon- British High Commissioner Sir John
Chancellor. His arrival in Beirut
stration of protest against the Balwas
unheralded and unostentatious,
four Declaration, wherein they apand he immediately went into conpeared unveiled, and in such condition waited upon the British High ference with M. Tetrau, who WM
�WBHHritonHBHMVH
MMpBHnnpMM
OCTOBER, 1929
acting High Commissioner during
his absence.
M. Ponsot's aversion to public
statements is well-known. Ever since
his return he has refused to give
any statement to the press or to
make any public declaration. But a
French journalist of Egypt reports
having interviewed him during his
stop at Alexandria and elicited
from him the information that
France holds no objection to the
establishment of a monarchy in
Syria if that be the wish of the
population. The High Commissioner
is also reported to have guardedly
stated that he has reached a complete agreement with the Foreign
Office on the future policy of France
in Syria and that he is now in a
position to offer all the assistance
needed for the progress of the country whether financially or technically.
Some observers are inclined to deduce
from the attitude of M. Ponsot that
he is now in a position to inaugurate
a more liberal policy in respect to
the Syrian question and that the
solution, according to his reported
statement, "is nearer than many are
inclined to think."
The Syrian Nationalists bestirred
themselves to greater activity following the return of M. Ponsot and
their leaders held several conferences both in Damascus and Beirut.
Their deliberations resulted in the
preparation of a memorandum which
they presented to M. Ponsot on November 1st and which may be summarized as follows:
"While welcoming your return
we wish to call your attention to
the fact that we have acted on you.suggestion embodied in a letter to
the President of the Constituent Assembly and that we have suffered
the suspension of the Assembly
three times in the hope of reaching
an amicable agreement with the
French Government. Our amicable
S3
intentions are proven by our baring
maintained a quiet atmosphere for
the orderly conduct of the negotiations leading to an understanding.
This understanding, we wish to affirm, can be reached only on the
basis of recognizing Syria's sovereignty and independence and the establishment of treaty relations
similar to those pursued in the case
of Iraq."
SITUATION IN LEBANON
Although the program of Prime
Minister Emile Eddy has not yet
been published, it is understood to
recommend drastic methods of administrative economy by the abolishment of over four hundred offices said to be created for sinecures
and constituting a drain on the resources of the government. Already
a loud cry has been raised against
such action and the Prime Minister
may be compelled to alter his stand.
Lissan-Ul-Hal, one of the most influential papers in Beirut, affirms
that 66 per cent, of the government
revenue is now being spent in salaries, leaving only 34 per cent, for
all other public needs. The complaint of the objectors is that throwing four hundred government employees out of employment at once
will serve to aggravate the economic
difficulties of the country.
CONGRESS OF THE DESERT
On September 26 Sultan Pasha
Atrash, leader of the Druze revolt
of 1925-27, issued a call to all Syrian parties and political bodies to a
conference to be held at his desert
exile in Wadi Sirhan on October 25,
for the purpose of dscussing the
present political situation in Syria
and Palestine. The conference was
well attended and passed the following resolutions:
�—
I.I
i
in
.1 .1,1.,.
mi.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
54
1 .Disapproval of the present administrative division of Syria.
2—Adherence to the original national demands.
3—Protest against present conditions in Palestine and condemnation of Zionist propaganda in favor of a Jewish homeland.
4—A call for understanding and cooperative action among the
various Syrian political bodies.
6—A protest against the policy of
M. Ponsot, French High Commissioner in Syria, especially
his dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.
6—A call for funds of which a part
is to be used for propaganda
and publicity and the balance
devoted to succor the needy
among the refugees and exiles.
7—Expression of thanks to former
contributors.
!
About Syria and Syrians
RIHANI IN DEMAND
AS PUBLIC SPEAKER
The gifted Syrian author and
speaker, Ameen Rihani, is no
stranger to the United States. He
was well known in American literary circles long before he chose to
return to his native town of Freike,
in historic Lebanon, to lead the life
that best suited h's creative literary
proclivities. Now that he is visiting the United States he is being
hailed as an apostle of better understanding between East and West,
and his profound knowledge of Near
Eastern affairs gained during his
extensive travels in Arab countries
as well as his intimate contacts with
rulers and political and cultural
leaders, is being drawn upon for the
enlightenment of the American public. He has already spoken extensively under the auspices of the
Foreign Policy Association which
has arranged for him a program
that will eventually take him to all
parts of the country.
On November 20 Mr. Rihani spoke
at the Cosmopolitan Club in New
York on the countries under mandate in the Near East. He had just
returned from a lecture tour which
took him to Boston, Hartford,
Springfield, Philadelphia, Elmira,
Chicago and other points west.
While in Chicago he spoke at the
University of Chicago and at a meeting of the Council of Foreign Relations. His audiences on all occasions were drawn from the highest
intellectual classes.
One of Mr. Rihani's principal
subjects is the attitude of the Arabs
towards the Zionist question. He has
written extensively on this topic in
the Nation, Current History and
other publications.
I
LEBANESE GOVERNMENT
TO HELP EMIGRANTS
The Lebanese press reports that
the government is in receipt of information to the effect that there
are now in America eight thousand
Lebanese emigrants in distress and
anxious to return to their native
land. The government had previously appropriated about four thousand
dollars for the return of those of
its nationals unable to earn a living abroad, which sum it is now
willing to spend to repatriate those
i
�OCTOBER, 1929
wanting to return and to make further appropriations if necessary.
Three thousand of these Lebanese
are said to be in Brazil, and two
thousand in Argentina, while the
rest are in various other countries.
Commenting on this news, AlHoda of New York, reiterates its
disapproval of the action of the
Lebanese government remarking
that if there be any Lebanese unable
to earn a living in America he would
be so indolent as not to be worth
the expense for his repatriation.
TRAGEDY IN SYRIAN
NEWSPAPER OFFICE
The Syrian newspaper Ar-Raid,
of Sao Paolo, Brazil, had been publishing scurrilous inuendos which a
Syrian merchant of that city, Toufik Khoury, born in Beirut, fancied
were directed at him.
On the afternoon of October 28
Khoury visited the office of Ar-Raid
demanding an explanation, and during an altercation with the editor,
Najeeb Constantine, was shot by the
latter three times and instantly
killed.
Constantine made his escape during the confusion and so far has
not been apprehended.
Al-Hoda of New York states that
this is the fourth murder committed
by Constantine, who is also wanted
in the United States for a murderous assault on one of his countrymen.
SYRIAN WOMEN HOLD
ANNUAL CONVENTIONS
Ever since 1924, the Federation of
Syrian Women's Societies composed
of twenty-nine units, has been meeting in annual conventions to determine the Syrian woman's role in
influencing national life.
55
The Syrian press reports that the
Federation has issued a call for the
1930 convention in which it has
mapped out an ambitious program
composed of three main divisions,
namely: emigration, the family and
economics.
One of the interesting recommendations under the first title is
to combat emigration tendencies by
the promotion of a spirit of selfrespect and love for productive labor
together with the encouragement of
home industries and the fostering
of the spirit of co-operation and
collective action.
la the economic field, one of the
principal recommendations is for
the Syrian people to depend less on
emigrant remittances, otherwise
funds from America, because of the
harmful effects this dependence is
having on the attitude of the people
towards productive work and selfsupport. This admission, on the face
of it, indicates an earnest determination on the part of the Syrian people,
as represented by the attitude of its
women, to bravely face actualities
and work out their own destiny independently. '
SYRIAN WORLD EDITOR
SPEAKS ON HIS TRIP
Following his return from his trip
to Syria, the editor of The Syrian
World is being repeatedly called
upon to give talks on his experiences and observations abroad to
both American and Syrian audiences.
The latter part of November was
particularly crowded with speaking
engagements. On the afternoon of
Saturday, the 23rd, he spoke to a
large group of the Professional
Women's Mission Club of Peddie
Memorial Church of Newark and
their friends at the hall of the Bowling Green Neighborhood Associa-
�56
tion. The meeting waB under the
auspices of the Rev. Clarence V.
Howell, founder of the Reconciliation Trips movement, and Mrs. S.
Willard Coleman of Newark.
That same evening the editor
spoke under the auspices of the
Lebanon League of Progress of New
York to a large Syrian and Lebanese
audience at the Brooklyn Academy
of Music.
Sunday evening, November 24, he
addressed an audience of over five
hundred Syrian and Lebanese in
Paterson, N. J., meeting under the
auspices of the Lebanese Society of
that city. Mr. N. A. Mokarzel, editor of Al-Hoda, acted as chairman.
Monday, the 25th, an interview
with Miss Teresa Nagel broadcast
over station WPCH was designed
to give general information about
Syria, its historical interest, the
sU.tus of its women and other subjects of interest to the American
public.
LEBANON LEAGUE OF N. Y.
GIVES ENTERTAINMENT
The Lebanon League of Progress
of New York gave a musicale and
entertainment at the Brooklyn
Academy of Music on November 23
which drew a large attendance both
from the city and nearby towns.
Mr. N. Hatem presided. The principal speakers were S. A. Mokarzel
who gave an account of his observations in Syria and A. Rustum who
delivered an original poem composed
for the occasion.
Zaki Murad, a noted Egyptian
singer, gave several selections. He
was assisted by his brother Meyer
Murad and a native orchestra composed of Fethalla Abyad, Zaki Baz,
Sami Rumieh and Mike Hamaway.
Mrs. Fedora Corban sang the Indian
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Bells from Lakmee and The Garden
of Your Heart. Mrs. Julia Asia gave
several classical Arabic songs to
oud accompaniment by her uncle,
Bishara Hallal. Miss Rasheede Baabdati performed an Oriental danse.
PROPOSED STATUE OF
JOSEPH BEY KARAM
Joseph Bey Karam, the foremost
Lebanese patriot of the nineteenth
century, was a native of Ehden, in
northern Lebanon. He died in exile
in Italy but his body was brought
back to his native town where it
now reposes in the principal church.
His memory is invoked in Lebanon
as an inspiration to patriotism.
Natives of Ehden in the United
States have formed a committee to
collect funds for the erection of a
statue to Joseph Bey Karam. Already a sum of over $4,500 has been
realized. Al-Hoda, the influential
Lebanese paper of New York, is supporting the movement.
MOSLEM MOSQUE IN
THE UNITED STATES
According to an announcement in
Al-Bayan, an Arabic paper published in New York, the Moslem colony
of Ross N. D., is planning the erection of a mosque in their town on
which build:ng operations will start
this coming spring. A committee
has been formed to prosecute the
work and an appeal issued for the
collection of funds from all the Arab
settlements in the United States.
Al-Bayan strongly supports the
project and calls on its readers to
contribute generously towards its
realization, promising to publish a
full list of the names of the contributors and the amounts of their
contributions.
�57
OCTOBER, 1929
STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, CIRCULATION
of The Syrian World, published monthly at New York, N. Y., Oct. 1st, 1929.
STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK.
Before me, a Notary Public, in and for the state and county aforesaid,
personally appeared Salloum A. Mokarzel, who, having been duly sworn
according to law, deposes and says that 'he is the publisher of The Syrian
World, and that the following is, to the best of his knowledge and belief,
a true statement of the ownership, management (and if a daily paper, the
circulation), etc., of the aforesaid publication for the date shown in the
above caption, required by the Act of August 24, 1921, embodied in section
411, Postal Laws and Regulations, printed on the reverse of this form, to wit:
1. That the names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing
editor, and business managers are:
Name of—
Post office address—
Publisher, Salloum A. Mokarzel,
104 Greenwich Street.
Editor, Salloum A. Mokarzel,
104 Greenwich Street.
Managing Editor, Salloum A. Mokarzel,
104 Greenwich Street.
Business Managers, Salloum A. Mokarzel,
104 Greenwich Street.
2. That the owner is: (If owned by a corporation, its name and address
must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses
of stockholders owning or holding one per cent, or more of total amount of
stock. If not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of the individual owners must be given. If owned by a firm, company or other unincorporated concern, its name and address, as well as those of each individual
member, mhst be given.)
Salloum A. Mokarzel,
104 Greeswich Street.
3. That the known bondholders, mortgagee, and other security holders owning or holding 1 per cent, or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities are: (If there are none, so state.) None.
4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of the owners, stockholders, security holders, if any, contain not only the list of
stockholders and security holders as they appear upon the books of the
company but also, in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears
upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation,
the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting is
given; also that the said two paragraphs contain statements embracing affiant's full knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the
books of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity
other than that of a bona fide owner; and this affiant has no reason to believe that any other person, association, or corporation has any interest
direct or indirect in the said stock, bonds, or other securities than as so
stated by him.
5. That the average number of copies of each issue of this publication
sold or distributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the six months preceding the date shown above is.
(This information is required from daily publications only.)
S. A. Mokarzel.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 14th day of October, 1929.
[SEAL]
EDNA M. HUCKER,
(My commission expires March 30, 1930.)
I
�A VALUABLE GIFT
TO SUBSCRIBERS OF THE SYRIAN WORLD
We wish to double the number of our subscribers before
Christmas.
THE SYRIAN WORLD will be better than it has ever been before, and we would like to see it more generally circulated among
the Syrians of America. Our regular subscribers who have loyally
stood by us and encouraged us in our efforts during the past three
years need no inducement. But to those who have not yet had occasion to be acquainted with the publication, and to those who are
willing to co-operate in enlarging its circulation, we make the
following liberal introductory offer:
Every -paid subscriber making a gift of a subscription, or frocuring a new direct subscription, will receive free any one of the
books listed below. For every additional subscription he receives
an additional book.
Think of the opportunity of securing free one or more of
these fine books by two of our foremost authors. Think of the
timeliness of making gift subscriptions of THE SYRIAN WORLD to
your fn
during the Qhristmas season and securingfor vourself a free fine gift besides. Especially that the gifts are books
that all Syrians should be proud to possess.
BOOKS GIVEN SYRIAN WORLD SUBSCRIBERS
The books we are offering as prizes are the following:
The Syrians in America — By Dr. Philip K. Hitti.
The Path of Vision, A book of Prose — By Ameen Rihani.
A Chant of Mystics and Other Poems, A book of Selected Poetry,
By Ameen Rihani.
Here is a wide range of subjects for your selection—History,
Essays and Poetry. And each or all are yours for only the little
effort of procuring a new subscriber.
Besides, you have the satisfaction of helping propagate an
organ published for you and your cause.
Won't you show your interest?
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
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Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
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1926-1935
Relation
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<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
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English
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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NS 0002
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
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Identifier
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TSW1929_10reducedWM
Title
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The Syrian World Volume 04, Issue 02
Date
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1929 October
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 4 Issue 02 of The Syrian World published October 1929. The issue begins with Rev. W. A. Mansur's essays on the Syrians' needs in the United States. Ameen Rihani recounts his experiences while in Jeddah, giving a clear account of circulating boons. This is followed by the account of Salloum A. Mokarzel's experiences and observations in Lebanon after spending 30 years of his life away from his homeland. William Catzeflis is featured next for his discussion on the Zionist movement in relation to the Voltaire’s writings. This is followed by a poem by Sumayeh Attiyeh titled "An Ideal." John A. La Eace then presents his short story titled "The Smile of Death," an original reworking of an Arabic classic. Labeebee A. J. Hanna is featured yet again in this issue for her poem titled "Edwin." The issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press and more on the political developments in Syria.
Subject
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Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
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English
Creator
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
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Text
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
Ameen Rihani
Labeebee A.J. Hanna
New York
Poetry-English
Reverend W.A. Mansur
Saudi Arabia
Travel
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/63ffce430152067ce818024332683023.pdf
ffba7148af6cb7b29c383e692199a963
PDF Text
Text
SEPTEV
VOL. IV. NO. l.(
THE
4
I
SYRIAN WORI
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH D
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITE
4
i
ON THE WAY TO SYRIA
THE EDITOR
THROUGH PALESTINE DURI
RECENT UPRISING
MANDATES IN THE NI
AMEEN RIHANI
ISAF (A SHORT SI
LABEEBEE A. J. H
)LITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
ABOUT SYRIA AND S
THE COPY
��T!-?S NFW YCF.t
C LIBRARY
9577A
THE
ASTOR, LENOX AND
T1LDEN FOUNDATIONS
R
1930
L
SYRIAN WOKEB
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104
GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK,
By subscription $5.00 a year.
N. Y.
Single copies 50c.
Entered as second-class matter, June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March
3, 1879.
VOL. IV. NO. 1.
SEPTEMBER, 1929.
CONTENTS
PAGE
On the Way to Syria
3
THE EDITOR
Fire — A Riddle
Translated from the Arabic by J. D.
Mandates in the Near East
16
CARLYLE
17
AMEEN RIHANI
Arab Proverbs
23
Thwarted (Poem)
24
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
Isaf (A Short Story)
LABEEBEE
25
A. J. HANNA
�__————-——
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
Success (Poem)
29
THOMAS ASA
Beyond (Poem)
29
ALICE MCGEORGE
Through Palestine During the Recent Uprising
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
30
Books and Authors
4-0
Editorial Comment
Grateful Acknowledgment
The Editor's Itinerary Abroad
43
44
Spirit of the Syrian Press
46
Political Developments in Syria
49
About Syria and Syrians
51
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
Syrians Dancing the Dabke
Reception in Honor of King Fuad I
DATES OF PUBLICATION
Due to unforeseen conditions resulting from the
editor's extended absence abroad, publication of the
September number of THE SYRIAN WORLD was delayed until the end of October. An attempt will be made,
however, to issue future numbers at less than a month's
interval in the hope of coming up to our regular schedule before the first of the year.
�Mfc.
THE
SYRIAN WORL
VOL. IV. No. 1.
SEPTEMBER, 1929.
On the Way to Syria
A CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF THE EDITOR'S
TRIP ABROAD
By THE EDITOR
Note—Syria being our ultimate destination and the country in which
we are chiefly interested, a description of the first leg of our voyage up to
our arrival must necessarily be brief, serving only as an introduction to
the more lengthy accounts that are to come.
s. A. M.
I
QUR eventful voyage began on July 2nd. The term eventful
is^ used here advisedly in the sense that the voyage was replete
with interesting events, especially to one who had not taken a trip
abroad in thirty years and whose knowledge had been confined to
book information based on the observations of others. The prospects, therefore, of going out into the big, broad world; of feeling anew the sensation attending an ocean voyage; of visiting
countries strange yet familiar, having a hoary history yet just
being reborn again to new conditions and to a new life; of visiting ancestral lands which have been hallowed by the most glowing accounts of recorded history; of seeing the remains of a once
astonishing civilization which have withstood the ravages of centuries and which still bewilder and perplex modern man at the
contemplation of the work of his distant ancestor for his vastness
of conception and his masterly execution; all these prospects
keyed one's expectations to the highest pitch and created a happy
disposition to appreciate the many surprisingly delightful treats
that were to come.
�•mmmmmim
4
THE SYRIAN WORtD
Most of the passengers being American tourists or returning
emigrants, and all under the entrancing spell of the same expectations, the atmosphere on board the S. S. Providence of the Fabre
Line was a particularly buoyant and happy one. Farewells were
taken not amid tears but with radiant smiles. The milling throng
on board and on the dock was in holiday spirits. It was rather
a disappointment on the p'art of the stay-at-homes at not being
able to join those departing. Not even when the shrill siren of
the big steamer gave its first warning blast was there a tear shed;
not even when it cast off its moorings and began to move slowly
away from the dock. The waving of hands and handkerchiefs
was almost one of glee. Why not when the season for travel
was so propitious and the trip so promising?
The morning of the next day we were in Boston. It is one
thing to travel to the Hub City by land and another to approach
it by water. Its sight is most impressive. One can detect in it
even some imposing skyscrapers, which proves that its commercial aspirations, as well as its intellectual achievements, run high.
It supplied us with a substantial quota of our passenger list, who
proved, as the voyage proceeded, to be very human and sociable.
The young college girls from Boston and vicinity were not exactly a terror, but they did not suffer from lack of life. They
could execute the latest step in dancing, and they could talk any
professor to a standstill on any subject. They represented the
modern American girl in her happiest form, and they were fit
ambassadors of modern American feminine culture abroad.
But that was not all. We had on board as many types as we
had classes, if not more. The cosmopolitan nature of our passenger list was surprising. For we had a Catholic bishop and
several priests; Protestant ministers of all denominations; professors, teachers, high school principals, and mere worldly laymen and laywomen. The ensemble was a gorgeous affair which
amalgamated easily in spite of the differences in sex, social position and creed. I saw Protestant ministers attend regularly Catholic mass, and many Catholic laymen regularly attend Protestant
services. Priests and ministers even came together and talked
politics and religion, and, thanks to the presence of a Jewish
Rabbi and his talented wife who made no secret of her zeal for
the Zionist cause, the relative merits of Moses and Jesus were
not infrequently given a public trial. The lady, however, could
not understand why anybody but the Jews should have a right
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SEPTEMBER, 1929
1
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of claim to Palestine, holding that not only was it promised to
them by God, but that they were its first settlers, whose claim
to possession should be valid even after the lapse of two thousand years. She was gently reminded that the Jews came into
possession of the country as invaders and conquerors, and that
prior to their occupation the country was densely settled by other
races. The Bible was extensively quoted to prove this fact, but
only on the admonition of her learned husband that "Yes, dear,
our forefathers originally came into the country as invaders and
conquerors," would she own that Palestine, at various times, belonged to other races.
This, of course, was a mere incident and served but to add
to the various interesting aspects of the voyage. The congeniality and goodfellowship of the passengers was evident always
and everywhere. Even what later proved to be a most humorous
incident when a septuagenarian Jewish patriarch mistook the
reflection of the stairs in the wall mirror for a continuation of
the steps and plunged headlong down the whole flight of ten
steps, then rolled down from the lower landing over another
four steps, only occasioned heartfelt pity. The venerable patriarch was on his way to the land of his ancestors in the hope of
being near when time came to be gathered to them and before the
sounding of the last trumpet, but while on board it occurred to
him to make an inspection of all the quarters of the curious floating thing which was carrying him towards his destiny. Acting
on this impulse, he awaited the opportunity when most of the passengers were at lunch and climbed the steep stairs from the third
class quarters until he reached deck A, where he sauntered around
for a while and then entered the smoking room. He saw that
the hall was long and did not bother to count his steps, and while
admiring the beautiful decorations about he suddenly took the
dangerous plunge and found himself moaning and groaning at
the lower landing.
This account would not be written in such vein but for the
happy ending of the incident. The patriarch was but a mere skeleton of skin and bones and was easily carried up to a comfortable
chair in the smoking room. There he began a systematic series
of physical examinations, testing first the right arm, then the
leftj raising one leg at a time, and bending, kicking and twisting itj then feeling his ribs one by one to see if they were all
sound, and finally taking a deep breath to insure that his heart
�!
—
THE SYRIAN WORLD
and lungs were functioning properly. During all these tests the
circle of worried passengers which had formed about him were
breathless in their anticipation, but their fears were dispelled
when, after his exhaustive tests, the venerable patriarch beamed
with joy and executed a sprightly dance. He then began to tell
volubly of his plans j how after a lifetime of labor and economy
in America he had acquired possession of two small buildings,
somewhere in Chicago or vicinity} and how he expected to derive
from these buildings a steady income of six dollars a week on
which he was assured he could live comfortably in Jerusalem.
When he was affectionately told that he must have led a most
worthy life for God to have spared him until he reached Jerusalem where he would be buried in the ancestral land of his people, instead of dying at sea and being thrown to the fish, he
seemed to more fully appreciate the gravity of the danger to
which he had been exposed and thanked God anew for his safety.
As the voyage progressed the passengers indulged in all forms
of diversions. The most fascinating, perhaps, was the dabke
dance performed by the Syrians. Being on the way back to their
homeland, they loved to evoke memories of their earlier associations in life, and the dabke was the one form of folk dance which
aroused m them the tenderest spiritual emotions. And they were
not long in finding the necessary requisites. An old man who,
perhaps, had not acquired much of his new surroundings other
than some American money and an American garb, produced a
reed flute. A circle soon formed which proved that these returning immigrants had lost neither their love for their folk songs
and dances nor the rhythm of their motion. It was not long before a crowd collected to watch and admire them. The flute
player obligingly posed for photographs in the kneeling position he assumes during the height of the performance and was
slightly disappointed when he discovered he could not be given
a copy immediately.
Then it was the turn of the Jews to claim a right to the ship
and to public attention, and they took it with determination No
sooner had the Syrians started their dance than they began
giving exhibitions of their own. Both the Syrians and Jews being Semitic their dances, like many of their other characteristics,
must have had a common origin. Certainly the dabke and the
hora were performed in much the same manner. The dancers in both instances formed into a circle, holding hands, with a
t
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�SEPTEMBER, 1929
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leader to cheer and inspire. Their steps were well measured,
although they covered very little distance. It became evident
as the dance progressed that the vocal accompaniment was a necessary requisite. The dancers raised their steps higher and
stamped harder as they became more and more enthused by the
words of the song. In one main feature, however, the Syrian
and Jewish dances differ, and that is in the tone and volume of
the singing. In the dabke the leader alone sings the verses while
the circle of dancers repeat the chorus, while in the hora all
verses are sung in unison. On one particular occasion two performances of the Syrian and Jewish dances were staged at one
time, the Jews following close on the formation of the Syrian
circle, and the amount of noise the Jews created soon drowned
the softer strains of the Syrian song.
This was by no means the only form of entertainment. There
was dancing and music and moving pictures and games of many
descriptions. A Syrian first-class passenger won the championship in shufHeboard. He was of a most genial disposition and
consented to being awarded a medal. For lack of the necessary
facilities and material for casting an appropriate medal of metal
one of cardboard had to be devised. A resourceful Wall Street*
broker conceived the happy idea, and his pretty and willing wife
proceeded to put it into execution. With consummate artistic
skill she carved the medal in the shape of a huge star, and with
deft and dainty fingers executed the colored designs and knotted
the ribbons. The presentation address was delivered in the main
dining hall by the ranking Protestant minister on board, who
showed in so doing no mean ability to rise to the appropriateness
of the occasion, while genial Captain Vidal pinned the medal
on the breast of the worthy champion.
Far be it from us to claim for Syrians what does not rightly
belong to them, but in the interest of record we find it necessary
to further state that a Syrian also was almost unanimously acknowledged the finest specimen on board of masculine pulchritude. Athletic of build, affable of disposition and generous with
his money, of which, it may be said, he had aplenty, his popularity soon became evident. His intellectual equipment added
to his personal charm, and, naturally, he was a favorite with the
ladies. At the masquerade ball given before the ship reached
Lisbon, he dressed as an Arab sheikh, winding a curtain for a
turban, using a silk bathrobe for dress, and a red scarf borrowed
�y
*
THE SYRIAN WORLD
from a lady for a sash. He proved the center of attraction.
Captain Vidal proved a most capable, popular and resourceful commander. He appreciated the cosmopolitan nature of his
passengers and provided them with diversions to suit their tastes.
There being on board a goodly representation of the intellectual
class: college professors, high-school principals, teachers, ministers and students, he arranged for them a program of highly
instructive lectures, for which he drew on both the ship's talent
and on the passenger list. It was the intention to give a series
of comprehensive talks on the countries we were to touch upon.
While the Portuguese and Italian ship's physician spoke on their
respective countries, a Jewish rabbi spoke on Palestine and the
editor of The Syrian World on Syria and Lebanon. The various lectures gave rise later to many interesting group and individual discussions.
Thus passed the first leg of our journey. The passage from
New York to the Azores occupied eight days. The ocean had
lost its terrors or had exceptionally favored the "Providence"
and its holiday company. The only ripple on the surface of the
water was that caused by the prow of the ship or the sportive
jumps and dives of the numerous schools of purpoises. A
whale once appeared to give a little variety. The skies were
beautifully clear and it was a delight to watch the perfect sunsets. Not onpe did it rain or even threaten to. Travel in summer
by the southern Atlantic route is certainly a source of continuous pleasure.
Under the conditions, sight of land caused but slight excitement. The seafarer's joy at the first sight of land is but an
expression of relief from the monotonous or dangerous sea journey. But the sea had given us cause neither for fear nor ennui j
rather, the steady riding of the ship and the many entertainments provided and the pleasant personal relations formed
prompted a desire for an extension of the voyage.
The island of St. Michel gradually loomed bigger as we
approached until we could distinguish Ponta Delgada. The
little city was fascinating in its picturesqueness—a pile of multicolored houses some of which rose directly from the sea, giving
the impression that they once formed a part of the fortifications.
On an eminence stood a church which, we were told, dates back
to the earlier days of the discovery of the Azores in 1432.
While the ship was unloading freight we had an opportunity
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�SEPTEMBER, 1929
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9
to go ashore. Almost all of us made a bee line to the post office
to mail letters and cards. We had been away from home too
short a time to neglect the duty of writing, and while at sea,
there had been left a few spare moments in which to do it.
This done, we dispersed in small parties and went sight-seeing. Our own party consisted of five, none of whom could speak
a word of Portuguese, and the driver could understand not a
word of English or any other language we knew. But we had
a merry time of it, especially when we attempted to instruct the
driver to take us out into the country. With us was a Hebrew
scholar who could also speak German, and besides our common
knowledge of English, we had command of French, Arabic and
some faltering Spanish. But do what we could, we failed to
make ourselves understood. We quoted many terms, some in
earnest and others in jest, giving them Spanish terminations:
country, terra, camfagna, environs, suburbs, hors de ville, and
some other tefms which caused us, at least, no end of amusement. Still the driver kept on taking us up one narrow street
and down another until the whole thing became monotonous and
we motioned him back in the direction of the ship.
Our drive through the city was not, however, devoid of
incident. Occupying the center of the back seat in the open car
was our handsome Syrian sheikh, and he very soon became the
center of attraction. Pretty senoritas, or whatever they call
them in Portuguese, who peeped out of their windows or over
their high garden walls, began to pelt us with a variety of flowers. Lilies, roses and daisies the size of saucers soon filled the car.
Some of them even threw kisses and immediately disappeared
behind their shutters. The generous disposition of the people
took such proportions that we entertained fears they might even
pelt us with some of the big, luscious pineapples for which their
island is famous.
The streets of Ponta Delgada are narrow and uninviting.
The people we found untidy, due, perhaps, to the fact that we
were making a fresh comparison with America. Everywhere
there were urchins who held out their hands and begged for
money. At every turn and every alley you encountered them,
with but the single word on their lips, "money." We could not
possibly begin by giving one for fear of collecting a whole army
of beggars about us.
But in this dismal setting there was a sudden flash of mod-
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
ernity. From a dilapidated house in one of the narrow streets
emerged a beautiful young woman dressed in the height of fashion. She appeared as if she had just stepped from the pages of
the latest edition of a fashion magazine. How do they manage
it, these women of a lonely and forsaken island almost out of
touch with civilization? But the ingenuity and vanity of women
is one thing we should not question.
On the way back to the wharf, we encountered another returning party who had met with an experience similar to ours
with a dumb driver, and who suggested that we repair to a cafe
close by. Why not, when we were Americans on a spree and
there was still an hour to spare? So to the little cafe we repaired
and began to sample the different wines. Certainly they were
tasty and effective. An elderly gentleman in dapper clothes who
spoke English volunteered his advice as a connoisseur in wines.
He had been in dry Boston and was now back in his native land
just to enjoy its fine vintage. He insisted on treating, as did
every one of us in good, old American fashion, and by the time
the ship's whistle gave its warning blast we all felt as though
we could float back on our own spirits!
Once on board, I sought the ship's Portuguese physician and
asKed enlightenment on the Portuguese term for country. The
memory of our dismal failure still haunted me. I may never
have a chance to use it again, but I was incurably curious.
The doctor obligingly explained that the Portuguese term
for countryside was "pays," just as it is in French; but why we
had not thought of it is one of those ironies of fate which cannot
be explained.
One thing led to another. I had read in literature on the
Azores that the name in Portuguese meant falcon. The word
not only m its sound but in its meaning, is Arabic. I expounded
my theory on the philology of the name to the doctor and he
explained that owing to the long occupation of Portugal bv the
Arabs the Portuguese language contained many wordc of Arabic
ongn. This condition existed long before the discovery of the
Azores when the Arabic words in Portuguese, by reason of common use, became integral. Upon the discovery of the islands
tftey were found to abound with the falcon, and they were named
after rhe bird.
The word Azores is spelled in Portuguese Acores. In Arabic the name for falcon is As-Saqr. «A1" being the article in
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�SEPTEMBER, 1929
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Arabic, the letter "1" is omitted whenever the article occurs befoie so-called sun or "Shams" letters. The "Sad" is one such
letter and it occurs at the beginning of the Arabic name for falcon "Saqr." Furthermore, the difference in sound between the
"s" and the "c" corresponds exactly to that between the letters
"seen" and "sad" in Arabic, which is further proof of the Arabic
origin of the word. The "s" at the end is the common plural
sign.
It is not the claim that the islands have any connection with
Arabic influence, but that the name has.
Another short sail under ideal weather conditions brought
us to the beautiful port of Lisbon, on the river Tejo. The panorama of the city, to use the term frequently employed in the
official English guidebook, is "explendid." If the reader is in
doubt as to the meaning of the word, he may consult his dictionary, but we took it to mean splendid, which in fact the panoramic view was. The numerous hills which projected gently
amidst and around it were crowned either with castle or with
old forts, and pleasantly broke up the vastness of the city which
claims a population of a million. The tower of Belem stands
majestic and beautiful in her white robe at the harbor entrance.
Our ultimate objective being Syria and Lebanon, and having
in mind the analogous historical background of old Phoenicia and
Portgual in maritime exploits, we were strongly inclined to make
comparisons. We were surprised to discover, for instance, that
the present area of Portgual is much less than that of the Republic of Grand Lebanon, being only 154 kilometers at its greatest length (Melgaco-Faro) and 75 kilometers at its greatest
width (Espozende-Mirando do douro). The population is approximately 6,100,000.
Lebanon, which is but a part of Syria, is about 280 by something over 100 kilometers. It is the land of the Phoenicians
whose maritime exploits rival if they do not exceed those of the
Portuguese. The present population of the whole country does
not exceed 700,000.
In Lisbon we spent a day, and it was a crowded one. One of
the principal sights of the city, by common agreement among
those who had made an earlier visit, was the suburb of Cintra,
the once summer resort of Portuguese royalty. So to Cintra
we went driving through some fine squares and avenues of the
city, principally that of the Avenue of the Republic. The sur-
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
rounding country is most picturesque, abounding in sweet-smelling pine groves. The people of the countryside seem to have
lost none of their romantic characteristics, and many peasants
were encountered along the road who were dressed in their
multi-colored costumes and were either driving primitive carts
or leading oxen. We were told that bulls in Portgual were not
permitted on the highways unless led, otherwise they had to be
driven along a parallel pathway. There had been too many
accidents by bulls charging into passing automobiles.
Cintra is a magnificent resort. Long before reaching it one
observes two huge and almost monumental chimneys, conical in
shape and rising to a great height, issuing from a group of buildings which was once the Dowager Queen's palace. We later
discovered that they were but great ducts designed to absorb the
fumes of the enormous kitchen.
The Queen's Palace fades into insignificance when one later
comes in view of the barbaric grandeur of Pena Castle. This
is reached by a steep winding road through dense forests or
walled gardens, where the grandees of the court built themselves
beautiful villas surrounding Castle Mill. The Castle itself is a
mass of incongruities, but greatly impressive in sections. The
entrance is a winding, vaulted passageway of great height, leading to a spacious court. The walls of the old building rise directly from the edge of a perpendicular cliff, and when one
slowly and nervously makes his way to the top of the great dome,
a superb view is afforded of both land and sea. The King who
chose this spot used it as an observation post when watching for
his incoming fleet.
The sights of Lisbon are varied and interestnig. After visiting Cintra and Pena we yet had time to visit Jeronimous, that
cluster of beautiful buildings which once were a monastery, now
turned into orphanage and museum. The inner court of the
main building, where played at the time of our visit several hundred young boys, is a marvel of detail of execution. Not two of
the columns are alike and many there are which are entwined
in formation and fashioned from a single stone. The symbols
were mostly of a nautical nature, intended to carry out the general scheme of Portuguese maritime enterprise. Several rooms
were set apart as a national pantheon, in which reposed the remains of Vasco de Gama, the great navigator, and other Portuguese patriots, poets and historians.
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Some of the passengers had chosen to tarry in the city and
take a dip in the surf, the heat being rather uncomfortable. But
although others had travelled far afield, all were able to regain
the steamer on schedule. The breeze, immediately the steamer
weighed anchor, was a welcome relief. That night we doubly
appreciated the benefits of being at sea.
Our next step was at Naples. The approach to the harbor
is a sight never to be forgotten. Close on both sides rose beautiful land robed in delicate green, bathed in golden sunshine,
wafting a scented, cool breeze—a veritable delight to the senses.
Then rose into sight, imposing and ominous, the famous Vesuvius. It looked from the distance so close to the great city by
the sea that one wondered how the latter could escape its wrath
when in eruption. By unanimous decision a visit to Pompeii,
the famous victim of the great volcano, was first choice with all
onboard.
Our landing at Naples was effected speedily and smoothly.
The Italian government has abolished certain passport regulations, and the simple formalities attending the disembarkation
of transients enabled us a substantial saving in time. Once on
land we broke up into convenient small parties to make the trip
by automobile to Pompeii.
Along the wharf had gathered a large group of urchins who
milled and fought and gesticulated in traditional Italian form
offering their services to the passengers. Most of them spoke
English, and when one of them was asked if he had learned the
language in America, he explained that he had never been away
from Naples, and that he picked up his knowledge along the
waterfront through contact with sailors and tourists. He said
he was fourteen but looked eight, and he flavored his English
with delectable American slang. He was also a good judge of
American money values, and a small tip in payment for the
information he had given drew a sneer.
On the way to Pompeii we went through a section of old
Naples, past beautiful churches and quaint little courts and open
markets and ever so many statues of saints reposing either on
individual altars or in niches in the walls of private buildings.
On that particular day, July 16th, there were preparations for
celebrating the feast day of one of the local patron saints, and
they were being undertaken in conformity with all known Italian traditions of this nature. The square was bedecked with
�14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
bunting and strung with thousands of colored electric lights.
The facade of the church was almost fully draped in cloth of
vivid colors, and the streets opening on the square were a beehive of activity.
We emerged into a wide street leading out of the city. The
dust raised by passing carts and automobiles and flocks of sheep
and goats was blinding. Our guide must have been a bacteriologist or a specialist in hygiene, for he took great pains to allay
our fears, assuring us that the dust of Naples was "clean dust,"
and that we need have no concern over its effect.
We were not so much concerned over its possibilities of contagion, as over its dirty inconveniences.
We soon reached the fine new toll road which, to our relief,
had been opened only a week since between Naples and Pompeii.
Automobiles were tearing down the road at the rate of sixty and
seventy kilometers, not to take into account the pace of the frequent spurts when the hot blood of Italian drivers seemed to be
transmitted to their motors. At times we thought we would not
mind either foregoing the visit to Pompeii or missing our ship.
But we landed safely at a new, clean hotel at the entrance
of the Pompeii enclosure, where we were asked to have an early
lunch to conserve our time for the tour of the dead city. During that brief half-hour we must have heard all the strains of
classical and popular music, opening and ending with O Solo Mio.
Of course, the hat was passed around.
Pompeii is an impressive and instructive sight. From it one
can gain a clear insight as to the mode of life of the ancient
Romans. Some of the dwellings have been retrieved almost intact, with their lead piping, mural paintings and mosaic work in
almost perfect state of preservation. In one such house they
now grow flowers in the inner court as it must have been two
thousand years ago. If the city were only roofed it would again
become inhabitable.
Pompeii has no great temples or other public buildings of outstanding architectural or artistic distinction. Its importance lies
in the fact that it is a city buried whole and recovered whole
after so many centuries. The Pompeii museum is of great archseologic and historical interest.
Our next port of call was Palermo, the really city beautiful.
Its clean streets, well dressed shops and magnificent public buildings are a delight to the eye. The old Saracen Palace of dis-
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SEPTEMBER, 1929
15
tinctive Moorish architecture remains one of the wonders of the
city. But we were advised to see first the beautiful cathedral of
Monreale, and it was excellent advice. The church is situated
at about an hour's drive from the city, on a ledge in the mountain reached by a fine road, amidst beautiful fields and gardens.
For a work of mosaic we were told it stood first in its class in the
world, and it looked the part. Almost every inch of ceiling,
floor, columns and walls is covered with the beautiful work in
masterly execution and extremely fine design. The colors seem,
as bright now as when first set, and the hour we spert there
admiring this wonder of delicate and skillful workmanship was
most profitable.
The legend bearing on the erection of this church is that a
certain Saxon king of Sicily buried somewhere vast treasures without leaving any record as to their whereabouts. His son, who succeeded him, had an apparition by the Virgin directing him to dig
for the treasures under a certain tree. When he dismissed the
vision as a dream, the Virgin again appeared to him and his resultant search for the cache met with success. Out of gratitude
to the Virgin for her favor he devoted the whole of the vast sum
he had unearthed to the erection of a basilica to her on the spot
of the discovery. The building he started took two-hundred
years to complete, but it proved well worth the pains.
We passed through the straits of Messina by night, and the
illuminated coastline, the sharp silhouetting of the rugged mountain skyline against the clear ephemerical sky of southern Italy,
was a feast to the senses.
Early in the morning of July 19th, we reached Pireaus, in
Greece, where we encountered the first landing inconvenience.
The Greek authorities insisted on retaining our passports, for
which they gave us numbered chips similar to hat checks. The
passports were thrown pell-mell in a heap in the disorderly little
cage, and when we came to reclaim them later, we were at the
mercy of the leisurely convenience of the two not over-anxious
clerks.
But we were fully repaid for all the discomforts attending
the delay at the landing office and the long drive to Athens
through extremely barren and uninteresting country by the glorious ruins of the Acropolis. We could see them from the distance crowning the high hill dominating the city which lay spread
at its feet. On that historic hill was so much to be seen and ad-
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
mired that we deferred the drive through the city itself until
such time that we felt satisfied with the principal visit in our itinerary. And the decision taken proved to be a wise one, for there
was room for study and admiration in that group of magnificent
ruins to engage one not for a day but for weeks. To attempt a
search for adequate adjectives in description of the great ruins
would be a sheer waste of effort. There they stand, majestic
and overwhelming in their grandeur, as an ever living testimony
to the glory that was Greece. One is no sooner through wondering at the magnificent and imposing scheme of the sacred hill
than he is confronted by the wonder of the propylaea, or entrance
buildings, and the many individual temples that form the Acropolis. What great skill, and effort, and unlimited wealth was
expended over long stretches of time to create this masterpiece
of the architect, the builder and the sculptor. Even the changes
wrought in the original scheme by the transformation of the
buildings from their original purpose, first into Christian, then
into Moslem places of worship, could not materially detract from
the original beauty and imposing grandeur of conception and execution.
Our departure from Piraeus was delayed for several hours
owing to the interlocking of anchors in the open harbor. We
finally cut the chains and left the anchors behind. We had to
make Beirut Sunday the 21st. according to schedule, which we
did, although a little late.
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FIRE — A RIDDLE
(Translated from the Arabic by J. D.
CARLYLE)
The loftiest cedars I can eat,
Yet neither paunch nor mouth have I,
I storm whene'er you give me meat,
Whene'er you give me drink, I die.
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�SYRIAN?
ANCI NG THE DABKE
A group of Syrians returning on a visit to the motherland performing the native
dance of Dabke on board the « Providence" of the Fabre Ltne.
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Mandates in the Near East
First Decade of European Supervision Over Iraq, Syria and
Palestine Reviewed by the Author of "Maker of Modern Arabia"
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AMEEN RIHANI
HTHE Near East for the last ten years has been a school for
mandate and parliamentary government. Both the mandatory authorities and the nationalists are still going through their
schooling—and paying for it. They paid dearly at the beginning,
because everyone started with the assumption that the hornbook
spelled nothing but force. Hence the revolutions in Syria and
in Iraq. Hence, too, the growing discontent in Palestine and
Transjordania. But along with this is a growing desire to master the art of diplomacy. The subject before the class is now:
Bargaining in its relation to the rights of nations.
A survey of the most important events that led up to the present position must be very brief. When the planks of the bridge
of Bagdad, to begin at the beginning, were groaning under the
artillery and the tanks of the British army, the people of the city
were reading the proclamation of General Maude, which promised them in the name of the Allies, liberation from Turkish rule
and peace and prosperity under a self-determined rule. Those
who could read praised Allah for the army of liberation. But
those who could not read, principally the tribes, who are more
numerous than the urban population, were much like the planks
of the bridge of Bagdad. And had the planks an imagination,
like the tribesmen, the more would have been their groaning.
True, the Turks had gone; their 4001 years of misrule, of
tyranny and corruption, of bureaucratic and military blackguardism had come to an end. Moreover, the conquering army of the
West, in the twentieth century, unlike the hordes of Central
Asia in the fifteenth, did not write with fire and sword the first
page of its history of Iraq. It was in the inception an army of
liberation; having had its fill of war, it sincerely desired peace.
But the tribes cared little for peace, and they were not in need
of liberation. Under the rule of the Turks, so long as they
said, "The Sultan of Stamboul is our Sultan, billah!" and so
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
long as they left his Bagdad Government in peace, they were
free to do as they pleased.
The tribes do not like a strong government, because it prevents them from raiding and it makes them contribute to its revenues. It is a double curse in their eyes, and what they fear
most is taxation. Indeed, taxation was the monster that stalked
around the camps when the bridge of Bagdad was sagging and
groaning under the heavy-footed army of the British, and in less
than a year that imaginary monster became a reality. His name
was Collector of Taxes. How he first fared among the tribes
need not be dwelt upon. Suffice it to say that he never traveled without a bodyguard, which were often reinforced by a
detachment of the British soldiery. This contact between the
armed Britisher and the tribesman did not make for peace. A
mutual tolerance soon developed into an attitude of be-advisedand-beware on both sides.
There were other elements of discontentment in the country,
as, for instance, the Shi'a population, and when the tribes and the
Shi'a joined forces in 1920 a revolution was declared. It was
the first attempt to force the British out of Iraq. But the revolution would not have lasted almost a year and would not have
caused the British a staggering loss in men and money had it
not been for the tribes; and because of the tribes,who joined it
only to get rid of the tax collector, it served no national purpose.
Minor revolutions broke out in the north among the Kurds
before Faisal was made King of Iraq in September, 1921. A
year later, on King Faisal's anniversary, an abortive attempt was
made to free Iraq from British control. But the nationalists
did not altogether fail. They succeeded in getting a treaty for
twenty-five years with the British Government, and in the negotiations which followed several clauses in the treaty were modified to satisfy their nationalist aspirations.
Three times in five years that treaty was revised, and there
remain now only three questions in dispute. Diplomatic and
consular representation of Iraq in foreign countries, outside of
a single representative in London, the British Government will
not admit; a nationalist army raised by conscription it will not
encourage; and the admission of Iraq into the League of Nations
has been postponed from year to year.
The Nationalists have also another grievance arising from
what they consider a technical error in the placing of the mili-
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SEPTEMBER, 1929
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tary forces of Iraq, which include the native army, under one
single command, that of the Royal Air Force. It might be said
that, outside the extremists, whose scowl.is either temperamental
or professional, the officers of the native army are the most discontented.
But neither the militarists nor the politicians nor the leaders
of nationalism give a correct expression of the principal tendencies of a nation. Nor are political events always indicative and
conclusive. The question, after all, is this: What are the signs
of development and progress, if any, in the life of the people
of Iraq? The most important enterprise, which is destined to
revolutionize Iraq—that is the vast irrigation scheme of Sir William Willocks—is yet in abeyance, and the exploitation of the oil
fields of Mosul has not yet had any effect upon the economic life
of the country.
Otherwise, there are a few signs of progress. The tribes are
beginning to have some respect for government, they no longer
shoot the tax collector, and when the raiding lust is on them
they go down south toward Nejd or they cross the border to the
Syrian desert. The Shi'a of Nejaf and Karbala, who in the past,
under the Sunni Turks, were humbled in the dust, and who have
been pampered by the British, are now a free and vital and very
active element of the State, which they would destroy. They
are opposed to the British, to the Nationalists and to King Faisal himself; and at heart they recognize only one authority,
that which emanates from the Persian Shi'a throne at Teheran.
A constitutional government, with a parliament and a cabinet, has opened the doors of opportunity to men of talent who
in the past could only aspire to a place in the servants' hall of
a privileged bureaucrat. The automobile lines between Bagdad
and Damascus, between Teheran, in fact, and the Mediterranean coast, have increased the importance of Iraq as a centre
of trade and transportation.
But the most promising and the most wholesome sign of
development and progress in the life of the people of Iraq is a
sign I have seen in the main street of Bagdad. It is a billboard,
which shares the place of honor with the latest announcements
at the doors of the cinemas. I have seen it in different wordings
written also on the walls and stuck on the lamp posts: "Education Is Life; Ignorance is Death." "Thou Shalt Seek Knowledge from the Cradle to the Grave." "Ignorance Is Servi-
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
tudej Knowledge Is Freedom and Power." "Said the Prophet:
'Seek Thou Knowledge, and Though it be in China'."
Who was responsible for these signs? Who pays to advertise education? Neither the government nor the mandatory
power. A Society of Culture in Bagdad, composed of young
intellectuals, conceived the idea, and what they spent in advertising quickly showed amazing results. But the government
schools were not sufficient to meet the demand for education.
Illiteracy in Iraq was overwhelming, but men were fired with the
passion to learn, at least, to read and write.
The Society of Culture conceived another idea—the logical
outcome of the first. It established a chain of elementary night
schools-^-the first one opened in 1922. In a year from that time,
with the help of a few Arab philanthropists, among them King
Faisal, it had established night schools in the principal cities of
Iraq, and its teachers were teaching hygiene, as well as the
A B C's to 30,000 young and old, from the age of 10 to the
age of 50, and instilling in them a national spirit. In addition
to this movement of combating illiteracy and raising patriotism
above all the sectarian passions, there are today more than 200
Iraq students at the American University of Beirut, and many
graduates are acquiring the technical sciences in the universities
of England and America. Whatever happens politically in Iraq,
therefore, the spread of education will continue and it will chasten and perpetuate its national spirit.
In Syria and Mount Lebanon the situation does not jusitfy
an optimistic point of view. But I must say, before I set down
anything against the French, that the problems they have inherited from the Turks are unmatched in all the junk shops of
world politics and religions.
There are in Syria and Mount Lebanon four principal religions and a dozen different sects, which the Turks tended with
political care, humoring and browbeating them alternately, but
always keeping them apart and playing them against each other.
The result is that every sect became a political party, which has
its own platform, its own ideas of self-government or no government, its own truckling politicians, and its own religious leader,
who is a cross between a Turkish pasha and a Tammany boss.
Moreover, there is among this multitude of politico-religious
sects four minorities, each with its own litany of woes, its own
fundamental curse of non-cooperation and its own scheme of
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salvation. No form of government other than a benevolent despotism can bring these four minorities together and, redressing
their grievances as far as is humanly possible, mold them gradually into a decent element of the State.
These minorities are the Maronites of Mount Lebanon, who
are noted for their eloquence and Francomaniaj the Druses of
Hauran, who are famous for their bravery and warlike achievements} the Alawites in the north, who are the most submissive,
and the Shi'a in the south, who are the most fanatical. They
are all, in fact, more or less fanatical, and only a benevolent despotism, as I have said, can force upon them a spirit of tolerance
and national solidarity.
How did France deal with these minorities? The answer
is plain when I say that the French Mandatory Government is
neither a benevolent despotism nor a despotism pure and simple. It has been, on the whole, for the past ten years a government of makeshift and negation. In ten years France has sent
six High Commissioners to Syria, each of whom had a temper
and policy of his own. Gouraud the Good, Weygand the Grim,
Vindenberg the Gentle, Sarrail the Mad, Jouvenel the Loquacious, and Ponsot the Silent—here is a colorful array of the
Statesmen of Despair. For every one of these gentlemen came
to Syria with one administrative program and went back with
another.
General Gouraud, who was called Pere Gouraud because of
his subservience to the Jesuits, divided the country into six independent States to please the minorities, especially the Maronites,
and returned to Paris when the insurgent bands were still operating in the north of Syria. General Weygand, the ablest administer of them all, was sacrificed to party politics at home. He
only had time to pacify the northern border, and when he was
recalled, the Druses were polishing their rifles and filling their
cartridge belts. General Vindenberg was a gentle tourist who
was not given- time enough to see the whole country.
General Sarrail antagonized everybody, from the Jesuits to
the Druses, who had already shouldered their rifles. He precipitated the revolution of 1925 and lost his position. M. de
Jouvenel came to repair the work of General Sarrail, but his
flow of oratory impeded, I think, his progress. He was able to
establish, however, merely by fiat, the little republic of Mount
Lebanon.
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The revolution was finally subdued and M. Ponsot came to
inaugurate an era of peace. For more than a year he applied
himself to the study of the intricate situation from every angle,
without making a single public utterance. When at last he spoke,
he proved himself to be the most liberal of administrators. Syria
received the right to elect a constituent assembly for the purpose
of drafting a constitution and establishing a government. The
elections were most orderly and, with one or two exceptions,
free from governmental interference.
But the Natoinalists, emboldened by their triumph, drafted
a constitution that conflicted in a few articles with the mandate.
M. Ponsot went to Paris to get his government's consent to a
solution that would harmonize the two documents, returned to
Damascus with a proposition that was not wholly satisfactory
to the Nationalists, and again went to Paris for another conference, leaving the situation as obscure as ever.
In Palestine there is no shilly-shallying and no obscurity.
There is a triple government with three official languages and
three official temperaments. It is a Panus with three instead of
two faces, and they all look to the East and the West with hope
everlasting. The first is furrowed by age and suffering; the
second is bronzed by the desert sun of pride; the third is slightly
pale, with a serentiy amazingly sustained. The first reflects a
racial and religious dream; the second is a symbol of national
superiority that will not be stifled; the third is expressive of
resolution and power. The Zionist, the Arab and their British
overlord—will they continue to go on as they have for the last
ten years, or will one of them in the end have to drop out?
But in the following picture of life in Palestine, with its
historical and political implications, the reader may at least see
how the wind blows. It has always been the custom of Christians, in ancient as in modern times, to make a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem during Holy Week, and in the days of Saladin, who
wrested from the Crusaders the greater part of Jerusalem, they
came in thousands and were a menace to the Moslem population.
Saladin, who would not be guilty of intolerance, placed no restrictions upon the pilgrimages, but, to protect the city and maintain peace, without betraying any suspicion or apprehension of
the Christians, he conceived the idea of balancing the power of
one multitude by another.
Accordingly, he instituted the fete of Nabi Musa, whose
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SEPTEMBER, 1929
23
shrine is preserved till this day—it is half way between the Holy
City and Jericho—and appointed Easter Sunday for its celebration. The Moslems, therefore, flocked in thousands to Jerusalem during Holy Week, ostensibly for this purpose, and were
thus ready to repel any surprise attack by the Christians.
The fete of Nabi Musa is still celebrated, and its political
purpose, which was of no significance and therefore forgotten in
the days of the Turks, is now being revived by the Arabs.
Two years ago I was in Jerusalem when three holidays were
being celebrated in the same week by Christians, Moslems and
Jews. Easter and Nabi Musa and the Passover brought to Jerusalem a universal boon—the whole city was plunged in a sea of
jubilation. But the parade of the Moslems, which continued
for six hours to flow through Bab'ul-Khalil and down the narrow streets to the Aksa Dome, was the most imposing and the
most significant. In it was revived the Nabi Musa purpose of
Saladin's days, and it was neither hidden nor implied. It was
written on the banners and echoed in the slogans and expressed
in the mottoes that distinguished the delegations from every city
in Palestine. Political songs were sung by the different delegations as the procession moved; political speeches were made by
the delegation leaders every time the procession paused in its
march j and the burden of every song and every speech was the
Balfour Declaration. I read on one of the banners "The Arab
and the Native Jew are Brothers," but the prevailing slogans
were: "Down with Zionism!" "Down with the British!" It
was otherwise a peaceful parade, but in it were all the elements
of the present uprising in Palestine.
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ARAB PROVERBS
He who envies others is beginning by bringing injury to him-
t
self.
ill
One must be in the last stages of need to have to ask help
cf a knave.
Only a fool takes poison depending on the antidote.
How can a fool appreciate the delicious taste of wisdom?
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
24
Thzvarted
\\
(Suggested by an Old Arabic Poem)
By
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
No more will roses feel her tender hand,
Or nestle in her hair, or 'gainst her heart;
Nor will the lily range her virgin band
To greet my love each morn, for now, apartThrough her sire's tyranny,
Her mother's jealousy—
She lives, from herb or flower,
Or shady, fragrant bower,—
Since once I said, "O rose, take her my love!"
No more the breeze, twin sister of the morn,
May kiss her cheek or frolic with her hair 5
Nor will the eve's breath, with spices borne
From drowsy groves, embrace her beauty rare;
For through this tyranny,
This strange, strange jealousy,
She may not greet the dawning,
Nor bid farewell to evening,
Since once I said, "O breeze, take her my love!"
Then said I to my Phantom-self, "When o'er
Her couch you hover, O, beware! Beware
Lest when you tap at her heart's secret door,
Or touch her lips, you stir the brooding air
And awake this tyranny,
This strange, strange jealousy,—
Then rest will be denied her,
Lest even in her slumber
A willing ear she turn unto my love!"
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SEPTEMBER, 1929
ISAF
f.4 5/?or; S/ory based on an Arabic legend)
By
LABEEBEE
A. J.
HANNA
"ISAF, Isaf, let us friendly be:
If once in the year the moon is dark, will there no longer)
moon be?"
"Ya Bint Amar, your tooth has decayed
Since two years the shame has been too true.
I am Isaf, I am a camel for strength:
The wildest horse has been my drudge and you know.
If the flies gather on my food, never again is it mine.
If the dog licks from the bowl of the wolf, the wolf no longer
finds pleasure in the bowl.
If two have sat on the one silver saddle—is it not a shame that
their faith be marred?
I shed my raiment, ya Bint Amar, and stand alone."
i
'
DABE was in the kitchen in her uncle's.home in Dedham. Uncle
John was on the porch singing attabah. She ran out to him.
"What a lovely song!" exclaimed Babe. "My dad sang bewt
attabah and I love them!"
"This has a fine story attached to it," answered John.
Babe thought a moment, then said, "They all seem to have,
and they're so unusual!"
"Yes, they often have an interesting meaning to those who
really understand them. This story concerns an unfaithful wife.
Would you like to hear it?"
"Why, of course!"
'
Little Nimry, the daughter of John, heard, and so did Aunt
Najibi and a house guest, Isabel. All assembled on the porch to
hear the story of John.
Little Nimry begged her father to sing again, though she did
not understand.' All listened attentively as he repeated the song
and when he had finished there was silence for a moment.
"We are very anxious to hear the story," said Isabel, who
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made herself pleasant under all circumstances and took every
opportunity to smile and show her one dimple on the left cheek.
"Yes, papa," cried Nimry. "Hurry! Hurry!" This, though
she really could not understand her father's stories but was enthralled by the beauty of the sound of Arabic and the enthusiasm
of her father in all things Arabic. "Do you know this story, mamma."—and she went to her mother and put her arms about her
shoulders.
"I know it, yes, dear," said Najibi, sitting as a queen, although
in her kitchen apron, "but your father can give it proper emphasis." Her quiet dignity lent a certain charm to any and all
gatherings.
Nimry dropped her arms and went to sit beside her father.
Thereafter, her eyes never left his face and she gave the appearance of a wonder-child who understood all these difficult
words and expressions of the pure Arabic.
John began:
"The daughter of Amar had been faithless to her husband
and he, on learning of this unfaithfulness, placed a sword between them at night. His wife, noting his unusual procedure,
enquired its meaning.
"Isaf answered, 'You are my sister to me.'
"This unexpected answer quieted Bint Amar, but set her on
her guard.
"The next morning Isaf prepared his horses and person and
said, T am going to visit your folks.'
"She answered, 'I shall be your companion.'
" 'Come then, prepare yourself,' he said.
" 'Well, then,' said the wife, 'by the voice, you will not speak.'
" 'By the voice I shall not tell, wallah.'
Isabel here interrupted, and enquired, "What do you mean
'by the voice'."
Babe answered, "It is a promise that he will not tell of her
unfaithfulness: that no word of his will betray their condition."
"Ah!" agreed Nimry, though she did not understand.
John went on:
"The horses were ready and they went on their way.
"They were just two miles within Amar's home. Amar the
woman's^ father, standing with his wife at his door, saw a cloud
of dust in the distance. Soon he could make out the forms of
those coming.
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" 'Ya hraimah,'' he called his wife, 'your daughter has sinned.'
" 'How can you tell,'
" 'Note their position as they come. She is not on his right
hand. When they arrive take her to your chamber and speak to
her.'
"On the arrival of the two, the mother with her daughter
sought the chamber for privacy, and there the daughter confessed
her duplicity without any ado, though she knew in her father's
house such a confession meant certain death.
Najibi here said quietly, "She might have lied."
"Of course," said Isabel, "and saved herself."
"The Arab has no fear," said Babe. "She probably realized
she deserved death. I think I'd feel the same way."
"Well, she confessed," said John, and continued:
"While the mother and daughter were speaking, the father
and Isaf discussed the weather and horses, and then, —
" 'Why is your grass so high.' asked Isaf. 'This might be a
fine pasture for your sheep.
"We are troubled,' said Amar, 'by a fierce wolf. He lives not
far from here and preys upon our cattle. No one dares face him.
He destroys our men.'
" 'I shall face him,' said Isaf. 'Give me three days. If I do
not return then, consider me destroyed.'
"He would not change his mind.
" 'If you are determined, very well,' said Amar reluctantly.
"So next morning, Isaf shed himself of all but the necessary
raiment and, taking only one revolver and a knife, set out on foot
in the direction of the wolf's lair.
"That evening he found the wolf sleeping.
"Isaf thought, 'I can easily shoot him but I shall not take advantage. I, too, am tired, and shall sleep.' So he lay down beside
the wild animal.
Isabel here interrupted, "Has he no fear."
"Oh," said John, "this is the famous Isaf—a wolf in strength
himself. He feared no one and nothing."
"In the morning the wolf awoke, and saw the man beside
him—sleeping peacefully.
" 'This can be no ordinary man who dares to lie down beside
me,' thought the wolf. 'I shall not harm him.'
"In time the man awoke and each stared and noted the
strength and power of the other.
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" 'Why do you come here?" asked the wolf. 'Others came
and found death here.'
" % too, am a wolf and were it not for that I should not seek
you to play with you,' answered the man.
" 'What will you play?' asked the wolf.
" 'Let us box.'
"They boxed, but neither won.
"Then they wrestled and again were equal in strength. And
they awaited the third day.
" 'What will you play now?' asked the wolf.
" 'This time it is to the death in earnest,' said the man. 'Let
us dash at each other and one of us shall be killed.'
" 'As you say,' agreed the wolf.
"Both walked in opposite directions and stood looking at each
other. As though at the firing of a gun they ran toward each
other at the identical moment. As they came together, the man
clenched his powerful fist and shot it out full at the abdomen of
the wolf and felled him.
"Isaf cut the wolf's head off and, putting it under his own
head as a pillow, lay down and slept.
"Meanwhile, the third day having arrived, Amar, with a
party of men set out to find Isaf, and located him sleeping on
the head of the wolf.
"Thereafter, the sheep were free to use the pasture and men
no longer feared
"On arriving at his father-in-law's house, Isaf made preparations to return home.
" 'The stranger longs for his own folks,' he said to Amar.
'Where is my wife?'
" 'She has four sisters, said Amar, 'and she has gone to visit
each one for a week. She will return in a month.'
"Then Amar sent one of his servants to procure a certain
bundle. When this came, he gave it to Isaf, saying, 'Before you
have gone many miles you will be thirsty. Open this bag, which
contains a watermelon, and quench your thirst.'
"Isaf thanked him and after many salaams, departed.
"As Amar foresaw, Isaf became thirsty.
"Ah!' said he, "I am thirsty. Surely that watermelon would
be pleasant now.'
"He tore the wrappings open—to find—the head of his wife."
"But, father," said Nimry, "how can a wolf talk?"
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"I don't know," said John. "That's the story. I am not making it up out of my own head."
Then, at Babe's urgent request, John sang attabah again and
explained the meanings of the pure Arabic expressions.
Success
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By
THOMAS ASA
A magic word that casts its potent spell,
O'er all the breathing things above the beast,—
Without exclusion of the greatest or the least;
And transforms the light into a ling'ring hell,
Of blinding discontent where peace should dwell.
And like the*eager hand that seeks the hidden East,
No star to clear the maze before desire has ceased;—
To merge the hopes of years amid the mournful knell,
That sounds the moulding of a morbid end,
Of dead desires and broken threads of dreams,
That bridged the chasm of approaching years,
And viewed with joy the forms that life may send.
But this has changed, the madness of success now seems
To be, not gold, but dross and endless fears.
Beyond
By
ALICE MCGEORGE
Blue, illimitable, star-decked skies,
Eagerly searching, the soul of me sighs;
Vainly, with wisdom of ages, it tries;
Seeking what mystery yonder lies.
Hoping to learn, before it dies,
What life is like beyond those skies.
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Through Palestine During the
Recent Uprising
(Reprinted, with some additions, from
"The Commonweal" New York.)
By SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
^/HEN the Prophet Mohammed witnessed the beauty of
Damascus from a distance, he refused to enter the city for
fear of jeopardizing his chances of entering the Jannat. In some
respects I had a similar experience in the case of Jerusalem, except that I was near the city and anxious to enter it but could not.
In my travels in Syria I had counted on making my visit to Jerusalem the supreme goal of my excursions. Proceeding southward
through beautiful Lebanon, I had consistently resisted the pressure of friends to tarry longer with them and was making rapidly iov the northern border of Palestine. A night at hospitable
Jedaidat Marjioun was all I would permit myself, so anxious
was I to conserve my time for a more prolonged stay in the Holy
City.
Everything in the beginning seemed to go in my favor.
Thanks to the representations of my last two companions, Nairn
Farha, a prominent native of Jedaidat recently returned from the
United States, and Joseph Mokarzel, an influential newspaper
publisher of Beirut, the border inspection both at the Lebanese
post of departure and the Palestinian post of entry at al-Mutellat
was cuickly dispatched. A moment later our car was tearing
the road at reckless speed over the steep hills of northern Palestine and later through the fertile plains of Al-Houle. Our first
halt was at the military post of al-Ja'oune where a thorough
search of the car was made and our identity ascertained. Only
a few minutes were spent in giving one of the civil officials
information about his uncles in New York. The father of this
official, upon being informed of my presence, hastened to further
cueston me about his brothers. He was a Protestant minister
stationed at Haifa and he extended me a sincere invitation to
visit his city for a stay of a few days. But the desire to go to
Jerusalem was all-compelling and we were soon on our way to
�SEPTEMBER, 1929
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the Holy City. I had little anticipated having to go to Haifa
the very next day, uninvited.
At al-Ja'oune I observed a splendidly built young native officer in trim khaki uniform circling around the automobile. The
formalities of inspection having been dispensed with, the movements of this officer puzzled me. He seemed to have something *
to say which he was holding back. Being anxious to leave, I
asked him what he wanted and in all politeness he begged for a
"Jift" to Tiberias. To this I readily consented and the officer,
with only a whip and a small bundle of clothes, lightly stepped
into the vacant back seat and we were soon on our way to Tiberias.
It was well that we had this native officer for companion.
He proved to be not only a versatile entertainer but a purveyor
of many bits of unique and delightful information. To the inquiry of my driver as to the safety of the road, he having learned
of a recent hold-up in the section which we were traversing, the
officer replied that the highwaymen had been apprehended and
dealt with summarily. He attributed this quick success to the
ability of the native police who, he said, were drawn from the
rural districts because of their better knowledge of the_ topography of the country which gives them an advantage in discovering the hiding places of criminals.
Our officer companion was evidently one of those talented
native constables whom he had so eloquently praised. MoslemJewish riots having taken place in Jerusalem and other cities of
Palestine, he was being transferred from the comparatively quiet
sections of the border to more exposed interior localities. His
name was Ta'ih Nemr, meaning the Roaming Tiger, and he was
living up to it. We picked him up at al-Ja'ouni and dropped
him oS at Tiberias. The next day we met him at Haifa.
Roaming Tiger explained to us many points of interest which
neither I nor my Syrian driver had known. We were then approaching the sea of Galilea which lies about six hundred feet
below sea level in a deep hollow surrounded by high hills. The
natural scenery at sunset was wondrous. The bleak hills took
on a rich reddish tinge which was accentuated by the gathering
darkness on the water. Th«re was something severe and awesome about the panorama, especiallv when viewed in the light
of its historic associations. And the Sea of Galilea is no peaceful little body of water. The Tiger explained that in times of
storm it is capable of raising waves that wash the roadway which
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skirts it even at places twenty or thirty feet high. In this my
Syrian driver concurred as he frequently conducted tourists in
Palestine in winter.
Why Lake Tiberias holds its fury in leash is because it is
appeased by the exaction of two human victims annually, according to the explanation of Tiger. The origin of this legend the
native police officer could not explain, but he was positive in his
assertion that the minimum number of the lake's annual victims
was two, although in some years it requires more. Our informer was also uncertain as to the sex or age of the victims and
to what extent the natives believed in the legend.
The night of August 23 was spent in a comfortable hotel
in Tiberias conducted by a German. Although it had accommodations for a hundred or more people, the guests on that day
did not exceed four: a resident German archaeologist, a missionary
and his wife from the American Colony in Jerusalem visiting
for a day, and I. At Tiberias I inquired about hotel accommodations in Jerusalem and was given the impression that
travel was possible inasmuch as the disturbances of the previous
week had been suppressed and the authorities had the situation
well in hand. On this assurance we planned to cover the distance
of a hundred and seventy-five kilometers from Tiberias to Jerusalem in five hours at the most.
So early on the morning of Saturday, the 24th, we hastened
to leave Tiberias after but a brief visit to its famous thermal
baths and the old quarter of the town. We were rapidly gaining
the top of the hill of Hatteen which was the scene of the decisive
battle between Moslems and Crusaders which ended forever the
occupation of the Holy Land by Christian Europe. Less than
an hour later we had reached Kafar Canna, the same Cana of
the Gospels where Christ transformed the water into wine. Our
next halt was at Nazareth, which, quite in contrast with the other
cities of Palestine we had seen, presented a most invitingly clean
appearance. It is situated on a gently sloping hill at a short distance from the vast and fertile plain known as Marj Ibn Amer
where now flourish many Zionist colonies, principal among which
is Balfouriat, named after Lord Balfour in recognition for his
having given Palestine to the Jews as a national homeland.
It was Saturday and Balfouriat was peaceful and quiet. On
the main highway skirting the town was a gang of Arab workmen breaking stones. We stopped to question an isolated one as
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to general conditions in that section. "The Jews have taken
possession of the land and driven us out. We have naught to do
but break stones," he complained.
My knowledge of Arabic gained for me the confidence of
this workman as well as of others whom we met later. It was
Undoubtedly due to it that I was saved from possible grave danger. I engaged the workman in conversation in the hope of
getting the true reaction of the peasant element to the developments attending the Zionist occupation.
"But why did you sell our land to the Jews? Couldn't you
have retained it and worked it in the same manner as they are
now doing so profitably?"
There was a look of deep anguish in the man's eyes as he
grasped the meaning of my question. This was his explanation:
"It was not we who sold to the Jews. It was the landowners. The whole of the Marj plain was owned by Sursuq of
Beirut who was tempted by the high price offered, and sold, and
drove us out of employment. For countless generations we had
been tenants working the land for the benefit of the masters. We
could not, or did not think of saving. What could we earn to
invest in the price of land when the whole plain was held as a.
single unit and would not be parceled out in small lots? Under
these conditions, and inasmuch as we had been in occupation of
the land for countless generations, we felt ourselves secure in
our possession of it. When the sale was consummated to the
Jews we were reduced to the necessity of breaking stones on the
roadway as the only remaining alternative."
From my conversation with this native Palestinian Arab, I
gathered that feeling ran as high against the landowners as
against the Jews. The concern of the Arabs is how to earn a
living in the traditional manner obtaining in their country from
time immemorial. The land problem in all of Syria appears to
be the same. I came across the same conditions in northern Syria
and in Houran and the Druze Mountain. It is due to this condition of insecurity that the immense Syrian plains present the appearance of desert wastes, especially after harvest time. Not a
single tree or shrub is to be seen for miles. The peasants would
not waste their efforts planting trees which took time to give
fruit and which they felt they had to plant for the benefit of
others.
From the outskirts of Balfouriat we pushed along rapidly
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to Al-Afoule. On the way we were stopped by an automobile
coming; from the opposite direction. The driver was a native
but the occupants appeared to be American or English missionaries: a serious-miened, middle-aged gentleman riding with two
boys in the back seat and a spectacled lady sharing the front seat
with the driver. The driver offered his advice for "the generous
face of Allah." It was unsafe to proceed any farther, he said.
They had been stepped before reaching Janin and made to return.
AU roads leading to Jerusalem were barred as the disturbances
in the city had been renewed. Large numbers of Arabs were
fl ' ' ig to the city from neighboring towns and were intent on
dealing- decisivelv with the unreasonable ambitions of the Jews.
safe
oad s were unsafe
The military were helc
I could divine by the tone of this voluntary adviser that he
was • greatly fearful for his charges. Being a native, he was in
con-. /-t. f.ton to tee! better the pulse of the country. There appeared to be no doubt that feeling among the Arabs was running high as never before. They had even left the picking
of their sumsum crops in the most critical satge to take part in
the demonstrations.
At this point my own driver began to falter. True, he was
wearing a tarboush, which was in itself assurance of safety.
But I was wearing a hat which constituted an element of danger.
He begged to turn, but I refused. He explained that although
he was a Moslem he v,rns a shiite whom the sunnite Moslems
hated even more than they did the Jews. He was apprehensive
Jesl !
identity might be discovered which would prove dangerous for both him and me. Would I not please consider the
msness of the situation and decide to turn back?
I was able to prevail uoon him only when I explained that
I ran a double danger compared to him. Furthermore, the next
military rest at Al-Afoule was quite near and we would get
authentic information there.
At Al-Afoule there was gathered around the military post
a large number of Tews from the neighboring colony of Balfouriat. They immediateJv swarmed around our car seemingly
to get information. The ofHcer in charge was insistent upon preventinsi us from proceeding any farther. He had strict orders,
he said, not to let anyone pass no matter what his representations.
Up to this time I had seen no real indications of any disturbance and could not conceive of any reason for retracing our
�SEPTEMBER, 1929
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course. Representing myself as an American citizen going to
Jerusalem on urgent business, I protested that the general orders upon which the officer was acting did not apply to me and
insisted upon seeing: someone of higher authority. This argument had its effect and we were allowed to proceed to Janin,
lying some twenty-five kilometers further south on the road which
lends to Jerusalem.
©n the way we encountered but two peasants directly on the
road close to a native village. We stopped ostensiblv to inquire
the distance to Janin but actually to Ret some possible further
information about conditions. The older of the two peasants
looked at us suspiciously and blurted out the information that
the inhabitants of this particular village were all Moslems. Upon
being questioned further he assumed a belligerent attitude and
we derided to push on. I was fearful that further such incidents
would affect the morale of my driver who was none too willing
to continue.
At last we reached Janin. It was but ten in the morning and
considering that it was harvest time and that the day was not a
day of rest, Friday being the Moslem sabbath, there were what
seemed to us surprisingly large crowds in the square of the
mosoue at the entrance to the town. We saw several soldiers
md policemen but passed them bv. I had instructed my driver
to keep on until stopped, and it was not long before we were.
We had not proceeded a hundred and fifty feet beyond the
mosque when a crowd motioned frantically to us and ordered
us to turn back and report to the authorities. Some were waving
s'icfcs and showed bv their gestures and general demeanor that
they did not approve of the liberty we were taking.
My driver did not need any argument. I must admit that
T rjjgQ feU ?orr!e concern as it was plain from the action of the
crowd that they were not friendly. I hastened to soeak to them
in Arabic, explaining mv haste for proceeding on the way to Jerusalem, and representing myself as an American citizen compelled
to report to the American consul. There was unmistaken determination on the part of the crowd, however, that I see the authorities first. They seemed to have their suspicions about my
motives.
So back we went to report- to the authorities. I was directed
to the office of the Chief of Police and left to climb the unguarded stone stairs on the outside of the building alone. But
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
the Chief of Police was not to be found. Only the window was
open but the door was locked.
Upon descending to where the
crowd remained watching me and reporting the situation, a young
fellow volunteered to come up with me again, but when he found
that that wanted official was really not there he consented to lead
me to the office of the governor of the district who immediately
ordered me ushered in upon the presentation of my card.
"We have read about you in the Syrian newspapers," he said,
"and we are glad to have you come to Palestine, but regret that
you are coming under such unfavorable conditions. We have
strict orders not to allow anyone to go to Jerusalem. The roads
are dangerous and the authorities are in no condition to guarantee anyone's safety. I would be only too willing to give you
an escort if I could but spare a single soldier."
Twice during my stay at the Governor's office he was called
on the telephone apparently from headquarters in Jerusalem.
"Our district is now comparatively quiet," was the gist of his
replies. "The crowds that gathered from neighboring towns
were induced to return to their homes today. They are now engaged in the gathering of their sumsum crops. Yes, sir. I am
sure we now have the situation well in hand. My forces are
inadequate but I anticipate no further trouble. Yes, sir. The
roads are all guarded and the distance between here and Afoule
is under regular patrol. Yes, sir, your orders shall be strictly
carried out."
Urjon learning that the governor was of the Husseini family,
I asked him if he was related to Haj Ameen Husseini, the grand
mufti of Jerusalem and leader of the Arab movement in Palestine. He replied that he was his first cousin. I then produced
a letter of introduction which I carried from America to the
Mufti from one of his personal friends and represented that I
had urgent business with him. But the governor was unrelenting. "Not that we do not wish to let you pass, but we simply
think the roads are not sufficiently safe for us to take such risks."
Still I would not give up. I said that once in Palestine I had
to report to the American consul in Jerusalem and would take
upon myself the risk of reaching him. If I should encounter any
interference on the way, I felt sure I could explain the situation
to the satisfaction of the Moslem population.
The Governor gave me the reason for not entertaining even
such, an argument: "You will not be given an opportunity to ex-
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plain. The mob will not listen to reason and even were I to give
you a letter of recommendation there is the grave danger that
you will not have a chance to produce it."
We were then interrupted by the entry of an American missionary, he whom I had seen the previous night at the hotel in
Tiberias and whom I was told was stationed at the American
Colony in Jerusalem. He also wanted permission to proceed
to his home in Jerusalem, but upon being told of the dangers
attending the trip, he-immediately decided to return to Nazareth.
The action of this American resident of Palestine irreparably
damaged my chances, as the Governor was now in a better position to logically refuse my request. We then shifted the conversation to general topics, at which the governor seemed visibly
relieved. We discussed the merits of the Zionist ambitions for
settling Palestine as a national home.
I could see that the
Governor, being a government official, held views compatible
with his office. "The country belongs to its conquerors," he said.
"The Jews first took possession of it by right of conquest. The
Arabs can lay to it no better claim. The country now needs cooperation for its full development, and it is regrettable that the
spirit of strife should be so rampant as to retard the progress of
Palestine materially."
Upon leaving the governor's office, I found that a large crowd
had collected by my automobile, but it was plain that they were in
a friendly mood. My chauffeur had proved a most able press agent.
Being a native and wearing a tarboush, he was asked about my
identity and my business and he explained to them in words to
which fear lent added eloquence that I was a friendly Christian
travelling about the country to study conditions; that I was a prominent Syrian publisher in America and that I had been honored
and feasted everywhere I went in Syria and Lebanon and even
extended exceptional official courtesies by the authorities. Consequently it was a different crowd around my automobile when I
emerged from the governor's office. They courteously opened
a way to let me pass and some of them bestowed upon me approving smiles.
When I reached the car the driver was in earnest conversation
with a dapper young man in a silk Gombaz and a new tarboush
who sported a whip as his only weapon. I overheard him admonish the driver not to consent to drive me to Jerusalem if he
were offered a hundred pounds. "Not even for a thousand,"
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
replied the driver, who now appeared overjoyed at his safety
and in his feeling of assurance that his argument against proceeding would prevail.
Then the dapper young man began to deal some of his advice
to me. "We would loath to see any harm befall you," he said
"We have been informed about you and would wish to show you
all hospitality. But if you are safe here you may not be so elsewhere. Now if you will take my advice you will discard your
hat as it may cause you to be mistaken for an enemy. No, you
will not be given a chance to explain your identity and your motives in the present mood of the population."
Therein was the secret of the danger to which I had been
exposed. Everyone wearing a hat was taken for a Jew and set
upon. A flimsy pretext, indeed, but one sufficiently valid to cause
tragic results. I later learned that a young Christian in Jerusalem,
because of his wearing a hat, was attacked by a mob and badly
beaten. While prostrated on the ground one of the mob was
about to plunge a knife into him when he was recognized by a
native Moslem and spared. My authority for this story is a
trustworthy Christian whom I met at Haifa and who had escaped
from Jerusalem that very day.
I finally decided it was impossible to continue to Jerusalem
and that I would take my chances getting to Haifa in my hat.
On the way derisive calls of "Jew, Jew" were hurled at us by boys
and workmen on the road, but our car was speeding at too fast
a pace to permit of any other interference.
We entered Haifa shortly after noon. I proceeded directly
to Cook's office both for some information and some Palestinian
cash. At Cook's they looked worried over the situation; they had
not received mail from Jerusalem for three days, and telephonic
communications were interrupted.
Up to that time there had been no disturbances at Haifa.
During the afternoon conditions in the city appeared to be normal, but towards evening large crowds began to collect in groups
in the principal streets. And they were not promenading. An
educated Palestinian Christian with whom I was sitting on the
veranda of our hotel told me that many among the crowd were
peasants from neighboring villages who had come to take part
in a proposed demonstration. But that night the authorities ordered all theatres and public places closed. In the morning we
learned that in the Jewish colony of Mt. Carmel, the mountain
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suburb of Haifa, one Jew had been killed and three had been
wounded.
Travel from Haifa was possible only by train, and inasmuch
as reaching Jerusalem was out of the question I decdied to leave
the next day for Egypt. At the station I was surprised to see a native soldier approach me with a familiar greeting. He was our
friend of yesterday, Taih Nemr,—or the Roaming Tiger, whom
we had met at the military station of Al-Ja'oune and taken to
Tiberias. The authorities had been anticipating trouble at Haifa
and ordered every man they could spare from outlying districts
to the scene of possible disturbances.
At the junction of Ludd, many refugees boarded the train
seeking safety in Egypt. A certain German Jew from Jaffa was
outspoken in his commendation of the English. "At a mass meeting of the Jews in Jerusalem yesterday," he told me, "a telegraphic petition to the League of Nations begged that the mandate over Palestine be given either to the United States or to
Italy." At my expression of surprise over the choice of the Jews
for an Italian mandate, he said his people would be safer with
any power than with England. "England," he explained, "is
the instigator of all these troubles. She is now performing in
Palestine the role she played in India. She is inciting one faction against another to weaken both sides and strengthen her hold
on the country. England never wished the Jews well."
At Gaza our train stopped to take on water. Engaged at
the same task was a troop train headed in the opposite direction.
It bore the first military contingent sent from Egypt to Palestine.
"Australians?" I asked a tommy who was peering curiously
out of the window.
"No, from South Wales," he replied.
"You will soon quiet them," I remarked, by way of encouragement.
"They may quiet us, for all we know," was his laconic reply.
We had not proceeded far when we met another train loaded with artillery and ammunition. At Al-Cantara, the ferry town
on the Suez Canal, we were informed that the British were draining Egypt of all available men to reinforce their ridiculously
small force garrisoned in Palestine.
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Books and Authors
DR. HITTI'S TRANSLATION OF USAMA
An Arab Syrian Gentleman and Warrior of the Crusades.—Translated from the Arabic by Dr. Philip K. Hitti. New York,
Columbia University Press. 265pp. $4.50.
Works of scholarship are generally considered dull and uninteresting except to a restricted number of scholars. The scholar,
in the preparation of his work, has in view the amount of his
contribution to knowledge by his efforts and cares only for the
opinion of the learned few. Hence the unpopularity with the
general reading public of works of this character.
Happily, this condition does not apply to the latest work of
Dr. Philip K. Hitti which was published in September of this
year by the Columbia University Press of New York, being a
translation into English of Usamah Ibn-Munqidh's Kitab AlPtibar in Arabic. The subject matter of the book is most entertaining and the fact that it is a scholarly work does not in the
least detract from its bid for popularity.
Usamah, according to the definition of Dr. Hitti, was a hunter, a gentleman, a poet and a man of letters. His life was an
epitome of Arab civilization as it flourished during the early crusading period on Syrian soil. He was a flower of the Arab-Syrian
chivalry which found its full bloom later in his patron and friend,
the great Saladin.
Usamah, in his memoirs, proves to be all that Dr. Hitti claims
for him. He is a keen observer and a most entertaining raconteur.
He flavors his accounts with witticism of the most delectable nature, viewed even in the light of modern times. Readers of THE
SYRIAN WORLD will recall some of his chapters published in advance of the publication of the book.
Dr. Hitti based his translation on the original copy of Usamah
in the Locurial Library of Madrid. This manuscript, judged by
the specimen pages reproduced in the book, is written in the
Arabic characters of Al-Maghreb and is further rendered difficult
by the fact that only rarely do the characters bear any diacritical
marks or dots. The astuteness of Dr. Hitti's scholarship could
have been put to no severer test than that of deciphering such an
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�SEPTEMBER, 1929
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41
enigmatic document. But the results achieved fully justify the
labors undergone.
The book is divided into three sections j the first dealing with
wars, travels and other experiences; the second with rare anecdotes, and the third with the author's hunting experiences.
The erudite introduction of Dr. Hitti is a most enlightening
treatise on conditions obtaining in Syria during the life of the
Arab author. The study of this period should be of the greatest interest not only to scholars but to all students of history in
that it represents the critical times in which the greatest struggle
between Crusaders and Saracens took place for the mastery of
the Holy Land.
THE LANGUAGE OF CHRIST
The Language of Christ in America, Rev. Peter F. Sfeir, Buffalo, N. Y. 32 pp. 50c.
The main object of the author in the preparation of this
work is to prove that the liturgical language of the Maronites
is the original language used by Christ himself. The Maronites
constitute a large proportion of the Syrians in the United States,
and to shed light on the old language which they still use for
their religious services is a genuine service not only to the descendants of the Maronites themselves but to the American public at large. The author further lends value to his work by epitomizing the history of the Maronites and recording the testimonials of noted travelers concerning them. The conclusion is
an analytical description of the order of the Maronite Mass.
Father Sfeir is well qualified for such work. He was formerly a professor at St. Joseph's University in Beirut and is now
assistant rector of the church of St. John Maron in Buffalo, N.
Y. It is to be hoped that in future editions some of the flagrant
typographical mistakes will be eliminated.
<-
A STUDY OF THE TUBERCULAR GERM
A paper dealing with "The Cytology and Microchemistry of
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis" and prepared by George Knaysi,
of the Department of Dairy Industry of Cornell University, was
�42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
published in the Journal of Infectuous Diseases for July, 1929,
and reprinted separately.
It is not the purpose here to review such a highly scientific and
technical work. But an acknowledgment of such a paper should
be of interest to our readers in that the author is a Syrian and an
able and indefatiguable student of bacteriology who has already
achieved for himself a name in that branch of science. We shall
be further proud to hear of his success in discovering a cure for
tuberculosis, upon which we understand he is now working as the
ultimate end of his researches.
A MYSTERY SOLVED!
The Origins of the Druze People and Religion, by Dr. Philip
K. Hitti. Columbia University Press, New York. 88 pp.
What may rightly be classed among the most valuable contributions to the cause of knowledge on the mysterious people
known as Druzes and their religion is Dr. Philip K. Hitti's latest
book on the subject published by the Columbia University Press.
Dr. Hitti is eminently fitted for the task and has acquitted himself well in his undertaking of it. As Prof. Richard Gotheil of
Columbia University appropriately states in his foreword to the
book, "Professor Hitti is probably better fitted to make this attempt than is any other scholar. Born in the Lebanon Mountains, Arabic is his native tongue. As a boy, and as a young man,
he associated with the Druzes. He has had, and still has access
to their literature. It is likely that he knows more about them
than they do about themselves."
The book is an erudite and comprehensive study of the origin
of the Druzes, their theology and folklore. Two photostatic
reproductions of pages of their sacred books are taken from manuscripts in the Garrett collection deposited in the library of
Princeton University.
The book has not yet been placed on the market, and the
above is written after a cursory perusal of an advance copy. We
shall have more to say about this important work of Dr. Hitti
later.
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�SEPTEMBER, 1929
43
EDITORIAL COMMENT
public acclaim. In the face of
such unexpected honors, the
editor can account for the spon"THE editor's trip to Syria and taneity and warmth of these
other countries of the East demonstrations only in the light
was a most enjoyable one to of the following reasons:
himself. Let us further hope
First: For being a member
that by the new contacts estab- of the Arabic-language newslished, the experience gained paper fraternity in America
and the first-hand information with which he has been congathered, it will also be a profit- nected in various capacities for
able one to the readers of THE the past thirty years. ConseSYRIAN WORLD.
quently, in honoring him as
Not only in the nature of the such, the honors were really inrecognition given, but also in tended for, and logically dethe profusion of unexpected served by, all his colleagues in
honors displayed, there were America.
marks of the most genuine corSecond: For being a reprediality in the reception. This sentative of that class of Syrian
also resulted in the placing at emigrants who, despite their
the disposal of the editor of ex- loyalty to their adopted countraordinary facilities for the try, retain a love for their mothstudy of all sorts of problems er country and an appreciation
and conditions. He was receiv- of its traditions that prompt
ed by the heads of all the gov- them to proclaim publicly their
ernments of the Syrian States, convictions along that line and
and was extended extraordinary
make no secret of their pride
honors in the form of official
in their ancestry.
banquets by the President and
Third: For having actively
the Prime Minister of the Lebsponsored
the movement to enanese Republic. The reception
by the press of all political courage tourism in Syria, with
shades was also uniformly a view to cultivate an appreciation of its natural and historical
cordial.
The statement was made that excellences.
For this last mentioned reano returning emigrant was ever
son
due credit should be given
given such official recognition or
his arrival hailed with such to Mr. A. K. Hitti whose keen
GRATEFUL
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
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vision and sincere love for the
welfare of his mother country
made the launching of this
movement possible.
It can be plainly seen, therefore, that a combination of circumstances placed the editor of
THE SYRIAN WORLD in a situation where he had to be the
recipient of honors which he
believes are due others. Under
the conditions, and with heartfelt appreciation for all testimonials of recognition and affection, both official and private, shown him during his visit to the mother country, he
feels confident that in the expression of his personal gratitude, he is also interpreting the
feelings of his fellow immigrants for all the marks of
love and esteem shown by; our
countrymen abroad.
Naturally, a brief acknowledgment of this character must
of necessity be general. In the
detailed account of his travels
which the editor will prepare
for serial publication, a full
description of places, events
and personalities will be given.
This also will have to be viewed
in the light of recording facts
in relation to their intended objectives, with a view to demonstrating the high esteem in
which our fellow countrymen
of the motherland hold their
brother emigrants in general,
as otherwise it would be im-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
pardonable presumption! on our
part to lay a personal claim to
all honors shown.
THE EDITOR'S
ITINERARY ABROAD
WHILE in Syria, the editor
made Beirut his main headquarters, and the starting point
for the special trips to all other
parts of the country. Zahle,
however, proved to be an irresistible magnet which attracted him on many occasions, and
because of the fact that it is
centrally located, there was always the temptation to take
the drive of less than two hours
over a fine asphalted road leading through mountains and
valleys of bewitching scenery.
Longer trips were taken to
North
Lebanon,
passing
through historic Byblos by the
river Adonis to Batroun, then
to Bcharri and the immortal
Cedars. The stop at Ehden was
utilized to pay homage to the
remains of Joseph Bey Karam,
the most famous Lebanese
patriot and leader of modern
times. Ad-Diman, the summer
seat of the Maronite Patriarch,
situated on a hill overlooking
Wadi Kadisha, or the sacred
valley, was one of the principal
stopping points in this section.
Tripoli and its famous cru-
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44
vision and sincere love for the
welfare of his mother countrymade the launching of this
movement possible.
It can be plainly seen, therefore, that a combination of circumstances placed the editor of
THE SYRIAN WORLD in a situation where he had to be the
recipient of honors which he
believes are due others. Under
the conditions, and with heartfelt appreciation for all testimonials of recognition and affection, both official and private, shown him during his visit to the mother country, he
feels confident that in the expression of his personal gratitude, he is also interpreting the
feelings of his fellow immigrants for all the marks of
love and esteem shown by our
countrymen abroad.
Naturally, a brief acknowledgment of this character must
of necessity be general. In the
detailed account of his travels
which the editor will prepare
for serial publication, a full
description of places, events
and personalities will be given.
This also will have to be viewed
in the light of recording facts
in relation to their intended objectives, with a view to demonstrating the high esteem in
which our fellow countrymen
of the motherland hold their
brother emigrants in general,
as otherwise it would be im-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
pardonable presumption: on our
part to lay a personal claim to
all honors shown.
THE EDITOR'S
ITINERARY ABROAD
Y^HILE in Syria, the editor
made Beirut his main headquarters, and the starting point
for the special trips to all other
parts of the country. Zahle,
however, proved to be an irresistible magnet which attracted him on many occasions, and
because of the fact that it is
centrally located, there was always the temptation to take
the drive of less than two hours
over a fine asphalted road leading through mountains and
valleys of bewitching scenery.
Longer trips were taken to
North
Lebanon,
passi
through historic Byblos by the
river Adonis to Batroun, then
to Bcharri and the immortal
Cedars. The stop at Ehden was
utilized to pay homage to the
remains of Joseph Bey Karam,
the most famous Lebanese
patriot and leader of modern
times. Ad-Diman, the summer
seat of the Maronite Patriarch,
situated on a hill overlooking
Wadi Kadisha, or the sacred
valley, was one of the principal
stopping points in this section.
Tripoli and its famous cru-
l
�t
SEPTEMBER, 1929
saders' citadel were conveniently reached from this point in
Lebanon, and ja drive over a
fine new highway along the
coast took us through to Latakia, capital of the Alouite State.
Aleppo, in the north of Syria,
was reached by a fine new road
which runs over a range of picturesque mountains and crosses
the Orontes into the vast plains
of that region. Thence the way
led southward again through
Hama and Horns to Baalbeck
and its famous ruins.
Farther inland Damascus
and its famous Ghouta were
visited as well as Houran and
the Druze Mountain, scene of
the last revolution in Syria.
On the return journey the
party had the exciting experience of being lost in the desert
for several anxious hours.
Southern Lebanon also had
its distinctive attractions. Crossing the Bakaa plain to Mashgara, the steep twin mountains
of Al-Towmat were crossed to
Jezzine, whence the way led to
Al-Mukhtara and the palace of
Sitt Nazira Jenblatt, then to
Beit Eddin and its famous palace of Emir Bashir Chehab.
A visit to this section is reminiscent of the old feuds and
struggles for supremacy among
the different clans in Lebanon.
Another trip along the southern coast of Lebanon led
through Shweifat and Damur
45
to the old Phoenician city of
Sidon. Then again up the
mountain to Jedaidat Marjioun
and Hasbaya and across the
Palestine border.
In Palestine the editor met
with many experiences of
which the account published in
this issue covers only a small
part.
And finally it was the home
stretch through Egypt, France
and England.
It may be readily seen from
the extent of the distance covered and the countries visited
that a comprehensive account
of the whole tour cannot be
encompassed by a few articles,
but will have to be spread over
an extensive series.
This
prompts us to ask of those interested in reading about particular sections and conditions
to grant us their indulgence for
the publication of a chronological account.
Besides the written (account,
our readers may expect to see
reproduced in coming issues of
THE SYRIAN WORLD a large
variety of special photographs
of persons and places taken on
the trip. That this number of
the magazine is not profusely
illustrated is because our stock
of photographs covers particularly those countries which were
the principal objective of our
voyage.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
46
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcosmic
picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever Arabic
dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking writers
who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabic-speaking
world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take no part in
the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our task will
simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and with utmost
sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed
in these editorials.
Editor.
LEBANON NOT FOR
EXPERIMENTATION
Lebanese emigrants are elated at
seeing the efforts of the home press
centered now on the discussion of
the most vital matter confronting
the country, namely, the question of
Lebanon's independence. It is high
time that the term "independence"
for Lebanon be defined so that it
may be understood in the meaning
which true patriots conceive and not
in the manner sought by opportunists, political brokers and jellybone
proteges of special interests.
There are evidences that a certain faction of Lebanese profiteers
is in conspiracy with a certain
French faction of like motives for
depriving Lebanon of its prerogatives
of independence. In the face of
such a condition, the Lebanese emigrants are ready to again take up
the fight in the interest of their
mother country. To this end the
Lebanon League of Progress of New
York has called a meeting in which
a resolution was passed to petition
the French government for the
proper safeguarding of the rights
of Lebanon.
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Oct. 22, 1929.
THE CRIME OF THE ARABS!
Truly the Arabs have sinned
against the Zionists, because the
latter only came to Palestine to
substitute civilization for barbarism, and to help its people emerge
from the dismal darkness in Which
they were plodding aimlessly. Naturally, also, they came to enrich the
people of the country and to live
with them only as brothers!
The Zionists have used their
tainted money, gained by monopoly
and usury, to subsidize the European and American press in an effort to influence world opinion.
But the Arab cause, despite the
funds spent by the Zionists for
propaganda, has not been lacking
of support. There were papers
which refused to sell their honor
for Zionist gold and which placed
truth above personal interests.
Foremost among these papers is
the Daily Mail whose publisher may
rightly claim the undying gratitude
of the Palestinian Arabs for his
fearless support of their cause in
the face of organized Zionist propaganda.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y., Oct. 21, '29.
�SEPTEMBER, 1929
OMENS OF ARAB UNITY
[
The Arabs have shown in the Palestine crisis a fine spirit of unity
which augurs well for the future of
the Arabs in general. For this reason we believe the people of Palestine will sooner or later come into
their rights no matter what the obstacles in their way.
The Arabs are now conscious that
what they lacked is this spirit of
national co-operation which was obstructed in the past by religious differences and sectarian considerations.
That they have now outgrown these
impediments is evidenced by the fact
that Moslems, Christians and Druzes
are now working side by side for
the success of the universal Arab
cause.
We hail this new and healthy spirit among the Arabs and pray for
its continuation. In which case there
would be no further excuse for anyone to insist on the division of
Arabic-speaking countries, especially
Syria, on the ground of incompatibility arising from religious differences. The protagonists of this
principle held that successful unity
could be achieved only on the condition of the eradication of religious
intolerance. Now we see that such a
condition has come to exist, and for
that reason there remains no further excuse for holding out against
unity.
The Syrian Eagle, N. Y., Oct. 15, '29.
CRYING NEED OF SYRIANS
The Syrians in the United States
are facing a serious condition which
if not corrected will lead to deplorable results. They are still, unfortunately, susceptible to the old influences of discord which for long
47
have torn them into numerous factions and prevented their cohesion
as a race. These influences, we are
'rained to admit, emanate from
New York, and, what is worse, they
are the result of the petty newspaper policies which should not aft the course of our life.
Who can deny that we in this
country are more in need of concentrating our attention on our immediate social and economic interests than wasting our time and efforts on old country politics or religious differences which cannot result
in any benefit to us. On the contrary, we can only bring harm upon
ourselves by such diversion of attention because of the resultant disruption in our ranks and the destruction of our chances for creating
a solid, compact racial unit in this
country.
By concentrating our efforts on
promoting our racial welfare in this
country we know that we are striving towards a known and worthy
goal, whereas if we interest ourselves in the polities of the mother
country we do not know the cause
of whom we serve, while the subject
of our interest might be ridiculing
us in secret.
In view of this condition we find
ourselves in absolute need of disregarding these petty differences and
old feuds for the sake of uniting
together in strong racial ties. Especially that we are now in a country which has become our home
whether we so admit or not. And
by binding together and fostering
this spirit of racial unity we will be
i7i a position to present a better
front and not only benefit ourselves
but a^o the coming generations to
whom we would transmit a wholesome spirit of race solidarity.
As-Sayeh, N. Y., Oct. 19. 1929.
�II
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
48
LIFE OF ARABIC
NEWSPAPERS LIMITED
Readers of Arabic newspapers in America have the choice of
two alternatives, either to discontinue or pay. By following either
course they would be bringing relief to themselves and to newspaper
publishers. Unless they are intent
upon torturing the publishers for a
crime of which they are not guilty,
a policy to which we cannot think
they would stoop. For when was
public service considered a crime
which merits punishment?
We do not deny that the days of
Arabic newspapers in this country
are numbered. For this there are
many reasons to which we have alluded on several previous occasions.
But it is unkind of the readers to
bring sorrow and disappointment to
the newspapers in the closing days of
their lives. Rather, it behooves them
to let the newspapers die in peace and
in the feeling of satisfaction that
they have exhausted every effort in
the service of their people and country.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., Oct. 23, 1929.
FAILURE OF RELIGIOUS
BIGOTRY
We must reiterate our oft repeated
statement that we do not approve of
everything Jewish. The Jews evince
many characteristics which are objectionable, whether in politics, in
business or in social customs. But
we hold that it is cowardice to persecute the weak, especially if he is
of proven worthiness. And the Jew
is worthy in more than one way.
He proves it by his industry, his
learning, his experience and his beneficial example. The neighbors of
the Jew are stimulated by his ex-
ample to more productive effort, and
this alone should outweigh all his
other faults and shortcomings. The
Arabs, to be sure, are sorely in need
of emulating the Jew in his good
qualities.
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Oct. 16, 1929.
KINGS AND PRINCES!
Syrian papers seem to attach
much importance to the rumor that
Fiance has now decided on the
policy of creating Syria a kingdom
and Lebanon a principality. In this
it is following in the footsteps of
England which has sponsored monarchies in all its spheres of influence
in the East. Egypt, Iraq, Al-Hijaz,
and Transjordania have all been
given this form of government.
But why the importation of Emir
Adel Ibn Iyad for the proposed Syrian throne ? Surely there are in Syria
many men who by their descent and
their training are better fitted for
the post.
Then, too, why impose on Syria this
archaic form of government when
she is striving to follow in the footstops of the West in modern administrative methods?"
Undoubtedly, France seeks by this
move to use the king as a puppet
so that her word will be supreme in
the future management of the affairs
of the country.
But as to Lebanon, it is hardly
conceivable that this little country
which has long been trained in the
art of representative government
should be thrown back to autocracy.
What Lebanon needs is not a change
of government but a change of personnel in the government and the
abolition of the excesses which are
causing the country extreme economic retrogression.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y., Oct. 18, '29.
�RECEPTION IN HONOR OF KING FUAD I
Guests at the reception given by the Egyptia n Consul in New York at the Hotel Ambassador Oct. 9 in celebration of the anniversar y of the accession of His Majesty King Fuad
I of Egypt.
�llJ.„^.
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�SEPTEMBER, 1929
49
f /
Political Developments in Syria
#1
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Rumors persist that there will be
a change in the form of government
in Syria in the near future. The
source of these rumors is Paris and
there are many among the Syrians
who seem to place much credence
in them. The continued absence of
the High Commissioner in Europe,
dividing his time between Geneva
and Paris in an effort to arrive at
some sort of solution of the Syrian
political tangle, is taken by many
as an added proof of some bold
move by France which might not be
far from establishing a monarchy.
The name of the Tunisian Prince
Adel Ibn lyad is frequently connected with the proposed throne in some
reports, while in others France is
said to favor Ahmed Namy Bey,
the damad, who was at one time
president of the Syrian State and
claims a large following among the
Syrians.
Rumor would also have it that
once France proclaims Syria a
monarchy and installs the man of
her choice on the throne, she will
immediately conclude a treaty with
Syria and give it then, and only
then, the right to draft a new constitution. Under these conditions
there would be no further fear that
the constitution could go counter to
the treaty obligations.
In an effort to create the proper
psychology for this change, Sheik
Tajeddin, provisional president of
the Syrian State, is said to be exhausting every effort to come to an
understanding with the Syrian Nationalists who had disowned him after his supposed defection from their
ranks in support of the policy of
the French. President Tajeddin is
known to have had a long conference with Riad'h Bey Sulh, one of
the accredited Syrian representatives
in Europe while the latter was in
Aley, the summer capital of Mt.
Lebanon. This meeting of the two
leaders of opposing groups in Syrian politics gave rise to all sorts of
rumors, but the prevailing interpretation seems to be the one just advanced relative to the intention of
Sheikh Tajeddin.
Following these developments,
Hashem Bey Atasi, leader of the
Nationalists and president of the
Constituent Assembly, was reported
by a native paper to have tendered
his resignation from the leadership
of the party in protest against what
he termed the inconsistency of some
of the Nationalist leaders. Atasi
Bey later denied he had ever made
any disparaging remark against any
of his party or threatened to resign,
but the reporter responsible for the
story was as strongly insistent that
he had done so.
Other reasons advanced for the
reluctance of France to permit any
discussion as to the form of the
Syrian Constitution at the present
time are ascribed to the prevailing
disturbances in Palestine. France is
said to have secured the consent of
the League of Nations to this delay
on the ground that to engage on
such a delicate matter under prevailing conditions of upheaval would
revert to the injury of the cause of
al) European powers among Eastern nations. England is said to have
fully sanctioned this move.
Meanwhile, everything is waiting
upon the return of the High Commissioner who is expected back in
5C9577A
�50
Beirut on Oct. 23. M. Ponsot, quite
characteristically, is keeping silent
on his plans. The latitude he had
given the Nationalists during the
elections to the Constituent Assembly and later during the deliberations as to the form of the constitution represented the maximum he
could give at the time. What new
arrangements he has been able to
come to with the home government
concerning the solution of the Syrian problem during his long stay in
Paris this summer no one knows.
But what seems to be felt is that
France will take some definite action in the matter without further
delay.
DEVELOPMENTS IN LEBANON
Ministerial crises have been taking place in Lebanon at the rate of
one every three months. The cabinet of Bishara Bey Khoury lasted
during the summer recess of the
Representative Assembly only because no action could be taken on
its tender of resignation. The Prime
Minister, conceded to be one of the
ablest lawyers and administrators
in the country, felt compelled to resign only because he could not reconcile between the widely divergent
demands of the many political factions. He was appointed on a program of economy because of the
widespread dissatisfaction over the
present 'high rate of taxation. In
his efforts to effect some economy,
he reduced the ministerial posts
from five to three, but in that he
met with the objection that he was
not dealing fairly with all the religious denominations who have a right
to representation in the cabinet.
Upon the return of M. Emil Eddy
from Paris the latter part of September, the President invited him
•to form a cabinet with a wide lat-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
itude of power. M. Eddy reverted
to the old formation of a cabinet of
five in the hope of satisfying the
different factions. He is said to have
been offered the post while he was
still in Paris, and he profited of the
occasion to discuss the matter with
the High Commissioner and the
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and was promised a free hand in
dealing with the situation.
The formation of the Cabinet, as
announced on Oct. 12, is as follows:
Nejib Bey Abou Sawan, Minister
of Justice.
Moussa Bey Nammour, Minister
of Finance.
Hussein Bey Ahdab, Minister of
Public Works.
Said Ahmed Husseini, Minister of
Agriculture.
The Prime Minister reserved for
himself three portfolios, that of the
Interior, Public Health and Public
Charities.
The economic situation in Lebanon
is causing much eoncern. By a new
arrangement for the distribution of
customs receipts the republic's portion was reduced from the original
47 per cent, to 42 per cent. The
French company holding the tobacco
monopoly has received an extension
of time over the limit of its concession. There is everywhere dissatisfaction over the impediments that
the French are accused of placing
in the way of native enterprise.
«fl
JEBEL DRUZE
The resignation of Col. Clement
Grandcour, military Governor of the
Druze Mountain, was reported in
the Syrian papers of Oct. 8. He
plans to return to France. His successor is Col. Moran.
Jebel Druze remains under direct
French administration since the revolution of 1925-1927.
!
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SEPTEMBER, 1929
51
About Syria and Syrians
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENTS
OF PALESTINE DISTURBANCES
-1
The disturbances in Palestine have
had their repercussion in all parts
of the world. Organized propaganda
has helped to exaggerate the events
and to place the blame wholly on
one side or the other.
The reasons for the recent occurrences may be said to be both local
and foreign. The last convention of
the Zionists in which it was decided to create a central agency to
vigorously prosecute anew the cause
of Zionism was the foreign cause,
while the local and immediate cause
was the clash over the claims to
Al-Buraq or the Wailing Wall.
Wednesday, August 14, was the
anniversary of the destruction of
the Temple of Solomon and about
ten thousand Jews nocked to Jerusalem to commemorate the event.
On Friday, the 16th, the Moslems
gathered in large numbers in the
Mosque of Omar and held public
demonstrations of protests against
what they claimed was the increasing aggressive designs of the Jews.
On Saturday, the 17th, while some
young Jews were playing football
in a field outside Jerusalem, the ball
fell repeatedly in a tomato patch
owned by Moslems and some plants
were trampled upon: "This led to a
fight between the football players
and the owners of the field which
resulted in nine Moslems and seven
Jews being wounded. The police arrested fourteen Arabs and ten Jews.
One of the wounded Jews died later
in the hospital and his coreligionists staged for his funeral a large
procession which they insisted should
pass through the principal streets
of Jerusalem against the orders of
the police. This time the fight was
between the Jews and the British
military.
A week later, Friday, August 23,
the riots were renewed on a much
larger scale and spread from Jerusalem to many other cities and
towns in Palestine. Reports at the
time represented the occurrences as
a massacre of Jews by Arabs, but
later authenticated statistics showed
that the casualties on both sides
were about equal.
The Syrians in the United States
sympathizing with the Arab cause
sent a delegation to Washington
headed by Ameen Rihani to lay the
case of Palestine before Secretary
of State Stimson. They also held a
national convention in New York
on September 23 at which three organized bodies were represented,
namely, the New Syria Party,
claiming fifty branches throughout the country; the Syrian Pales-,
tinian League and the Moslem Young
Men's Society.
The convention passed resolutions
to fight both Zionist ambitions in
Palestine and Zionist propaganda
abroad, and to help the people of
Palestine to achieve their national
aspirations in establishing a native
government in the country on the
basis of popular representation.
During the three sessions of the
convention Messrs. Salim Towtah of
New York, Ferris Maloof of Boston,
and William Catzeflis of New York,
alternated as chairmen.
Among the speakers at the various
sessions were Dr. Fouad Shatara,
of Brooklyn, Professor R. C. Hana-
�52
way, of Wagner College, Ameen
Rihani, author, E. D. Mady, publisher of As-Sameer; Joseph M.
Khoury, editor of Ash-Shaab; Rajah
Hourany, a Syrian student at Columbia, and Ameen Bey Hamadi, a
political Syrian envoy.
EXTENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS
IN WASHINGTON STREET
Washington Street, the heart of
the so-called old Syrian Quarter in
New York, is being gradually transformed from a district of old tenements to one of first class modern
apartments and hotels. It must be
a matter of but a short time when
the section will be known as the
Syrian Quarter no more.
Between the Battery and Morris
St., a forty-story building is rising
to serve as the future home of the
Downtown Athletic Club. This organization draws its membership
from the financial district.
Further to the north, between
Morris and Rector Sts., the Battery
Tower, an apartment hotel of the
first order, is now under construction. The architects' plans call for
an arcade on the street level extending from Washington St. to West
St., while the first seven floors will
be devoted to offices and all other
floors to living quarters. The hotel
will accommodate both permanent
residents and transients.
The north-east corner of Washington and Rector Sts. will soon be
in the hands of wreckers. An office
building will rise on the site and
present tenants have been notified
to vacate by the first of the year.
Other improvements include the
renovation of the facade of the
building of Al-Hoda, the principal
Syrian newspaper in the United
THE SYRIAN WORLD
States, located at 55 Washington
St., and that of St. Joseph's Maronite
church adjoining it. More elaborate
improvements are planned for the
Greek Melchite church at 103 Washington St. along designs prepared
by Harvey Kassab, a Syrian architect of the city.
Notwithstanding all the construction work going on, Rector St. continues to draw shoppers for linens
and fine embroideries from all parts
of the city by reason of the large
number of Syrian shops dealing in
these articles in this locality.
CASE OF SYRIAN
MURDERED IN FLORIDA
The Syrians throughout the United
States were aroused over the murder, on May 16, 1929, of Nicholas
Romey, styled Romeo, and his wife,
in Lake City, Fla. The couple were
reported at the time to have met
their death at the hands of the police
following an altercation over the
display of vegetables on the sidewalk in front of the Syrian's store.
The woman was shot and killed outright while the husband was wounded and taken to jail, and later spirited away by a mob and killed on a
lonely road.
It was the imputation, at the time,
that if the police had not themselves
perpetrated the act, at least it was
done with their connivance.
Following the publication of the
details of the double tragedy in
Syrian newspapers, a committee of
Syrians was formed in Jacksonville,
Fla., to investigate the circumstances
of the murder and take necessary action to bring those guilty to justice.
The Jacksonville committee, after
having conducted a preliminary investigation, decided that it could not
proceed further with the case for
�SEPTEMBER, 1929
lack of sufficient public support. The
funds it had raised were returned
to the contributors.
A relative of the dead couple, who
is the guardian of their minor children and who has moved with them
from Florida to Birmingham, Ala.,
is now attempting to form another
committee to take up interest in the
case. He has published an open letter of appeal in the Arabic press of
New York suggesting the appointment of Dr. H. Elkhoury general
agent to collect funds for the prosecution of the case. The suggestion was well received by the Arabic
papers but no further action on the
matter has been reported.
RECENT AMENDMENTS TO
NATURALIZATION LAW
By Joseph W. Ferris
"pHE Naturalization Law is a mat* ter of general interest and the
difficulty in understanding the provisions because of the technical
language used will excuse their restatement in the following form:
The Amendments went into effect
July 1st, 1929.
1st. The fee for the issuance of
a declaration of intentions (first papers) has been increased from $1 to
$5.
The fee for filing a petition for
naturalization has been increased
from $4 to $10.
In all cases where a certificate of
arrival is required, a charge in the
form of a fee of $5.00 is made for
the issuance of this certificate,
whether it is issued for a declaration or a petition.
Where the certificate of arrival
is obtained, prior to the filing of the
declaration of intention it can be
used as the basis for filing a peti-
53
tion for naturalization at such time
as the declarant is in a position to
complete his naturalization.
2nd. All aliens arriving before
June 3rd, 1911, who cannot definitely
prove the exact time and manner
of arrival or aliens who came to
this country without the payment of
a head tax before July 3rd, 1921,
are now able to have their legal
residence established by payment of
a $20. fee.
Applications should be made to
the nearest Immigration office to establish residence.
Establishing a legal residence is
an absolute prerequisite of final naturalization or citizenship.
3rd. A residence of one year in
the State immediately preceding
filing of a petition for naturalization was repealed and a six months
residence in the county has been
substituted in its place.
4th. No declaration of intention
(first paper) on and after July 1st
can be made regardless of the date
of arrival of the applicant in this
country until a certificate has been
furnished showing his arrival in the
United States for permanent residence.
Previously this procedure was
practiced only in cases of those
aliens arriving after June 3rd, 1921,
by regulation of the Department of
Naturalization.
5th. It is necessary to submit
with the application for declaration
of intention or petition for naturalization two full face photographs of
the applicant, two and one half
inches by two and one half inches.
These photographs should be unmounted, printed on thin paper, with
a light background, clearly showing
a full front view of the features of
the applicant, without a hat, and
must be taken within thirty days of
the date they are furnished.
�' —"" "•"-
"--
—-
54
Full length portraits, snapshot*
or group pictures will not be accepted.
The applicant must sign each
copy of the photograph in such a
way as not to obscure the features.
6th. Copies of a lost, destroyed
or mutilated declaration of intention or certificate of naturalization
can now be issued only by the Commissioner of Naturalization. The
fee for this is $10.
7th. The recent amendments also
include a new feature of the law.
It provides for the issuance of certificate of derivative citizenship.
A married woman claiming citizenship through her husband, or any
child over the age of 21, claiming
citizenship through a parent, may
upon the payment of $15.00 ($5.00 for
the issuance of certificate of arrival
and $10.00 for the issuance of certificate of derivative citizenship)
make application for one of these
certificates and after furnishing said
evidence or proof that the citizenship was so derived, a certificate will
be issued.
8th. Prior to July 1st of this year,
depositions necessary to prove residence outside of the State in which
a petition was filed were taken by
a notary public for a fee fixed by
the notary. Now all depositions will
be taken by naturalization examiners without charge.
ANOTHER SYRIAN
ADMITTED TO BAR
Mr. George J. Mandour, son of
Mr. J. A. Mandour, founder of the
Lebanon National Bank, was admitted to the bar in New York
State and has taken up offices at 80
Maiden Lane, New York City.
—
THE SYRIAN WORLD
LEBANON LEAGUE TO
HOLD ENTERTAINMENT
According to an announcement in
Al-Hoda, the Lebanon League of
Progress of New York will give an
entertainment at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on November 23 for
which a varied program has been
arranged.
S. A. Mokarzel, editor of The
Syrian World, who has returned recently from a visit to Syria, will
speak in Arabic on his experiences
and observations. He is expected to
give a comprehensive analysis of
conditions in general from the point
of view of an impartial observer.
Mr. Zaki Murad, a visiting singer
from Egypt, together with Mme. Fedora Kurban and Mrs. Julia Asia,
will co-operate in giving an extensive musical program.
RECEPTION IN HONOR
OF EGYPTIAN KING
His Excellency Anis Azer Bey,
Royal Egyptian consul in New York,
gave a reception at the Hotel Ambassador on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 9, on the occasion
of the anniversary of the accession
of His Majesty King Fuad I of
Egypt.
The reception was attended by
over two hundred guests representing the diplomatic, social and business world of the city.
Mme. Fedora Kurban, the talented
Syrian singer, styled the Syrian
nightingale, gave several operatic
selections which were well received
by the critical audience.
The Syrian newspaper editors of
New York were invited to the reception. Among those present were
N. A. Mokarzel, editor of Al-Hoda;
/
�J. - —I
..,
SEPTEMBER, 1929
Ameen Rihani, Syrian author and
lecturer, and S. A. Mokarzel, editor
of The Syrian World.
RADIO TALKS BY
SYRIAN WORLD EDITOR
'.
Twice during the month of October, on the 9th and the 23rd, the
editor of The Syrian World gave
short radio talks over station WPCH
in New York City on the subject of
his recent trip to Syria. The talks
were in the form of interviews with
Miss Theresa Nagel.
On both occasions the interview
was made to cover such subjects as
the historic importance of the country, its principal cities, its present
form of government and the social
conditions of its inhabitants. A
statement on the number and general status of the Syrians in the
United States was also brought out in
the radio interview.
t
«
SYRIAN PRIVATE
BANK SUCCESSFUL
A report of the condition of D. J.
Faour & Bros., private Syrian Bankers in New York, as of September
27, 1929, published in the Journal
of Commerce of October 5, gives
the total resources of this institution as $1,381,740.15.
A comparative statement issued
by the bank covering the last ten
years shows that its resources have
increased almost 100 per cent, during this period, being in 1919 only
slightly over $600,000. Their statement for this year shows that the
public securities alone they own is
much above the whole amount of
their combined resources a decade
ago.
55
LARGE ENROLLMENT
AT THE A. U. B.
Albert W. Staub, American Director of the six American Colleges in
the Near East, recently stated that
in spite of the disturbances in Palestine, enrollment at the American
University of Beirut is larger than
ever before and that more Palestinian students have enrolled than in
previous years.
Mr. Staub said that 233 Palestinians are studying at the University
this year whereas only 215 were enrolled last year and that there has
been a corresponding increase in
the number of students from other
countries of the Middle East including Egypt, Persia, Iraq and
Trans jordania.
The total enrollment in the University including the practice teaching school is 1,371. An Institute of
Music, opened this fall as a new
school in the University, has an enrollment of forty-two students. The
Institute of Music is really the outgrowth of a series of concerts given
at the University to cultivate an interest and understanding of classical
European music.
TWO SYRIAN ENGINEERS
Messrs. Aziz Tabet and Sadek Baroody, both of Beirut, have graduated this year from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with
honors, the first in the textile option of engineering and the second
in civil engineering. Both young
engineers are expected to leave in
the near future for Syria to engage
at their chosen profession. It is expected that their services will be
much in demand in the present stage
of development in that country.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
56
INDUSTRIAL EXPOSITION
IN DAMASCUS
As a means of demonstrating the
extent of progress of native industries, an exposition was held in Damascus during the first two weeks
of September which is said to have
proved a great success. Exhibitors
flocked to it from Beirut, Aleppo,
Horns, Hama and other cities known
for their special industries. The attendance was comparatively large,
averaging about ten thousand a day.
It is claimed by the sponsors of the
exposition that it had the effect of
stimulating appreciably consumption
of home products and manufactures.
The principal exhibits, representing the relative importance of home
products, may be classified as follows:
Textiles—comprising wool, cotton
and silk manufactures. This branch
of Syrian industry is expanding so
as to take in the manufacture of
materials for all contemporary needs,
from dresses and underwear to
broadcloth and heavy tapestries.
Tanning—this industry has so far
advanced in its methods that the
raw material, a native product, is
turned into finished form through all
the modern processes known to the
industry.
Furniture—Aside from the wellknown native makes, this industry
is now producing articles for all
modern requirements. Some factories in Damascus and Beirut are
known to be equipped for the production of complete sets for all home requirements designed to meet the
most exacting tastes.
Brass Ware—comprising the famous manufactures of Damascus in
this line with notable modern improvements.
The sponsors of the industrial exposition plan to make it an annual
event, in the hope of not only promoting home industry but of creating a better market for its products.
To that end they are now fostering
the creation of a permanent central
body representing the principal
chambers of commerce of the country to work collectively for the common cause.
COMPANY TO EXPLOIT
THE DEAD SEA
A $2,000,000 company to exploit
the vast chemical resources of the
Dead Sea was formally registered
in London Oct. 31 under the name
of Palestine Potash, Ltd., according
to a special dispatch to the New
York Times.
Actual work will be begun immediately at the confluence of the
River Jordan and the Dead Sea,
Where elaborate drying plants have
been erected and 400 workers engaged.
The Earl of Lytton, former Viceroy of India, will be chairman of
the new company, which intends to
increase its capitalization as business warrants. Shares already have
been subscribed by the British and
American directors, but additional
capital will be offered to the public
in accordance with the terms of the
concession.
Among the American directors
are Felix Warburg and Bernard
Flexner of New York.
Although the start necessarily will
be slow, the company is bound by its
concession to produce at least 50,000 tons of potassium chloride annually after the tenth year. The
work will be carried out by means
of huge drying tanks built on the
hills on each side of the Jordan's
mouth.
./
�SEPTEMBER, 1929
57
A VALUABLE GIFT
TO SUBSCRIBERS OF THE SYRIAN WORLD
We wish to double the number of our subscribers before
Christmas.
THE SYRIAN WORLD will be better than it has ever been before, and we would like to see it more generally circulated among
the Syrians of America. Our regular subscribers who have loyally
stood by us and encouraged us in our efforts during the past three
years need no inducement. But to those who have not yet had occasion to be acquainted with the publication, and to those who are
willing to co-operate in enlarging its circulation, we make the
following liberal introductory offer:
Every -paid subscriber making a gift of a subscription, or procuring a new direct subscription, will receive free any one of the
books listed below. For every additional subscription he receives
an additional book.
»
'
Think of the opportunity of securing free one or more of
these fine books by two of our foremost authors. Think of the
timeliness of making gift subscriptions of THE SYRIAN WORLD to
your friends durng the Christmas season and securing for yourself a free fine gift besides. Especially that the gifts are books
that all Syrians should be proud to possess.
BOOKS GIVEN SYRIAN WORLD SUBSCRIBERS
The books we are offering as prizes are the following:
The Syrians in America — By Dr. Philip K. Hitti.
The Path of Vision, A book of Prose — By Ameen Rihani.
A Chant of Mystics and Other Poems, A book of Selected Poetry,
By Ameen Rihani.
Here is a wide range of subjects for your selection—History,
Essays and Poetry. And each or all are yours for only the little
effort of procuring a new subscriber.
Besides, you have the satisfaction of helping propagate an
organ published for you and your cause.
Won't you show your interest?
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
TWO NEW BOOKS
By Dr. PHILIP K. HITTI
(Not only for the scholar but for everybody)
THE ORIGINS
PEOPLE AND
EXTRACTS
SACRED
OF THE DRUZE
RELIGION WITH
FROM THEIR
WRITINGS
This is the first scholarly attempt
to determine the basic dogmas and
tenets of belief of a unique, secret
Oriental sect, and to trace them
back, through Mohammedan channels, into Jewish, Christian and other
sources. After a brief presentation
of the racial and historical background of the Druze people—from
the time they figured first in the
period of the Crusades down to their
recent armed uprising against the
French mandate in Syria—, their
theology with its deification of alHakim and his Five Ministers, and
its emphasis on Prophetic Succession is outlined. This is followed by
a discussion of their esoteric and
mystical interpretation of the Koran,
the Cult of the Calf, their belief in
transmigration of souls, predestination, dissimulation and the seven
moral precepts of Hamza'h. The Appendix includes six extracts from
their sacred writings most of which
have never appeared before in any
European language. Even in Arabic,
the originals are almost inaccessible.
Price $2.00
AN ARAB-SYRIAN GENTLEMAN
AND WARRIOR IN THE PERIOD
OF THE CRUSADES
Usamah was a warrior, a hunter,
a gentleman and a poet who sojourned in the courts of the Fatimite
caliph in Cairo, of Saladin in Damascus and of Zanki in al-Mawsil.
His Memoirs, of which only one copy
is preserved in the Escurial Spain,
constitute an invaluable contribution to our knowledge of Arab-Syrian culture in itself and in its relation to Western thought and practice.
Usamah gives us a first-hand description of some of the battles in
which he took part in the defence
of his castle, Shayzar, against the
Fianks and native enemies. He then
devotes a section to rare anecdotes,
more delectable than which can be
found nowhere in Arabic Literature.
In their simplicity of narrative, dignity and wealth of contents and general human interest, these Memoirs
stand unexcelled in the literature of
the Crusades. They acquaint us
with the Syrian methods of warfare,
hawking and medication and usher
us into the intimacies of Moslem
court life as well as private home
life.
Price $4.50
Other works by the same author
THE SYRIANS IN AMERICA
$1.25 postpaid.
ON SALE AT THE OFFICE OF THE SYRIAN WORLD
I
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
TSW1929_09reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 04, Issue 01
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1929 September
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 4 Issue 01 of The Syrian World published September 1929. The issue begins with a chronological report of editor Salloum Mokarzel's trip abroad. This travel journal details the journey to Syria. Following it is a riddle translated from Arabic by J.D. Carlyle titled "Fire." Ameen Rihani has an article next that discusses mandates in the Near East, specifically a review of the First Decade of European Supervision over Iraq, Syria, and Palestine. Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin continues the issue with a poem titled "Thwarted," which seems to discuss the loss of his beloved. Following it is a short story titled "Isaf" by Labeebee A. J. Hanna, based on an Arabic legend. Both Thomas Asa and Alice McGeorge have poems featured in the issue, followed by an account of the Palestine Riots by Salloum Mokarzel. The Palestine Riots were a major event concerning the dispute between Arabs and Jews over access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press and more on the political developments in Syria.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
Alice McGeorge
Ameen Rihani
Iraq
Jerusalem
Labeebee A.J. Hanna
New York
Palestine
Poetry-English
Salim Alkazin
Syria
Thomas Asa
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/a27c489e68056d624ea2342aed8919a9.pdf
41e935eda93c2a7200f1873d95424ec4
PDF Text
Text
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VOL. IV. No. 8.
I
APRIL, 1930.
THTi
SYRIAN WORLD
A
MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
ill
111
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1
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1
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AN INTERVIEW WITH EL-ATASSI
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
IMAGINARY SPEECH TO THE SENATE
REV. W. A. MANSUR
THE RETURN HOME (SHORT STORY)
I
LOUIS MARON
iff
FROM BEIRUT TO THE PALESTINE BORDER
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
IS
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
m
THE COPY 50c
1
I
��THE
SYRIAN WORLD
Tublished monthly by
SALLOUM
A.
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copiea 50c
Entered as second-class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. IV. No. 8.
APRIL, 1930.
CONTENTS
PAGE
An Interview with El-Atassi
SALLOUM
7
A.
MOKARZEL
Helpfulness
13
KAHLIL
GIBRAN
Imaginary Speech to the Senate
REV.
W. A.
14MANSUR
Despair (Poem)
22
NAJLA SABE
Wayfarers of the Lowly Road (Poem)
PAUL DEAB
I'S
�mmm H5
CONTENTS (Continued)
The Return Home (Short Story)
Louis
24
MARON
Beethoven (Poem)
27
THOMAS ASA
From Beirut to the Palestine Border
SALLOUM
A.
28
MOKARZEL
The Syrian Laborer (Poem)
38
JONARD EGIS
Book Reviews:—
Another Notable Book by Rihani
A Useful Book
A Book on Religion
English and Arabic Manual — Revised EnglishArabic Dictionary
39
40
41
42
Editorial Comments:—
Asfuriyeh a Criterion
43
Potential Field
45
Readers* Forum
46
Political Developments in Syria
49
About Syria and Syrians
53
LAST CALL
TO THE
GREAT SYRIAN WORLD CONTEST
FOR A
FREE TRIP TO SYRIA
: :
�IN THIS ISSUE
REV. W. A. MANSUR has in defense of my people. I send
ever in his writings the element it with my prayers that my
of inspiration. No doubt our blessed Master and Saviour
readers are glad that he writes may bless it to those who read
so frequently on the different it." * * * The account of the
phases of the transitional period editor's interview with Hashem
we are now going through in Bey El-Atassi, Syrian NationAmerica. It is a period frought alist leader, should prove timewith the gravest consequences ly and enlightening at the presif not dealt with in the proper ent critical stage of Syria's remanner. Rev. Mansur is con- lations with France. * * * The
tributing considerably towards editor's travel article in this isthe creation of that proper con- sue covers his journey from
sciousness that will materially Beirut to the Palestine border,
enhance the Syrians' evaluation passing through sections of
of their sterling racial qualities. Shouf to Sidon and Jedaidat
This in turn will react to a sa- Marjioun. The latter is a modtisfactory adjustment of the el Lebanese town abounding
transition problem. In his pres- in matters of interest. * * *
ent contribution he has a Syrian The short story in this issue is
character deliver an imaginary written by a college student
speech to the United States who conceals his or her identity
Senate apropos of some deroga- behind a nom de plume. Pertory remarks made against the haps the author will be inSyrians in that body. We have duced to reveal himself or herno doubt that our readers will self upon ascertaining the pubshare with the learned clergy- lic's appreciation of the touchman the spirit that prompted ing story. * * * Our poetical
him to write it. In truth, it is contributions in this issue are
more real than imaginary. And not only numerous but of exas proof of the intense degree tremely high quality, and all
of his sincerity we quote the by Syrian-American talent.
following from his covering Many of the poets are already
letter: "Nothing that I have
known to our readers, the only
written have I cared more to
present to the readers of THE new one being Jonard Egis,
which is a nom de plume.
SYRIAN WORLD than this speech
�Great Syrian
For a FREE TRIP to
The editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD having made a trip to Syria in
the summer of 1929, which he is now describing in a series of articles in
the magazine came to realize not only the great educational and cultural
advantages of such a trip, but its unrivalled possibilities for pleasure and
recreate. In our enthusiasm for the benefits of such tours, we decided to
offer one as a prize to our readers. This is on a par with the most liberal
offers made by the b,ggest American publications, whose readers are hundreds of thousands and even millions. Needless to say that this is unpreTHEinSYRIANt0WO°mAnabiC J<TaHsm' whether * America or abroad.
THE SYRIAN WORLD, m making the great prize offer in spite of
the heavy sacrifice involved, considers that in so doing it is promoting the
cause of sympathetic understanding of the motherland. This is in keeping
W!th the main object behind the publication of the magazine. Whether tne
winner be a boy or girl, American or Syrian, the purpose would have been
served by the actual contacts established with the great scenic beauties
and places of immense historical interest in our country of origin
The proposition is unprecedented, the advantages great the condi
tions most liberal. It is surely the opportunity of a lifetime for the ambitious.
"
e
ITINERARY OF TRIP
i
66
HP
ffered by THE SYRIAN
i
WORLD takes the same route
f ., ^ I"
J°
followed by the editor in his recent trip to Syria. Passage will be Cabin
class on the luxurious steamer Providence, of the Fabre Line, sailing from
New York July 2nd. Stops on route and shore excursions will be made at
Ponta Delgada, Azores Islands; Lisbon, Portugal; Naples, Italy; Palermo
Sicily, and Piraeus and Athens, Greece.
In Syria and Lebanon, the winner may remain as long as he desires
and return on any of the Fabre Line steamers to New York also Cabin
Class.
Sailing from New York will be under the direction and full assistance
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The Beirut Branch of the same firm will render the winner all necessary service and advice free. The editor, thanks to the contacts contracted
on his last trip, will also give the winner letters of introduction and recommendation to many influential friends who would render all necessary
courtesies. The winner, representing THE SYRIAN WORLD whose services
are fully recognized in the motherland, will be assured of the most friendly
reception by the authorities and the public.
�World Contest
SYRIA and RETURN
SYRIAN WORLD OFFER
The prize offered by THE SYRIAN WORLD to the winner in the contest is free passage, Cabin Class, both ways from New York to Beirut and
return, together with a liberal cash allowance for the shore excursions
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try to win?
CONDITIONS OF CONTEST
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awarded the individual securing the largest number of New subscribers to the magazine at the regular price of subscription.
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3. Every contestant, other than the winner, securing more than one hundred new subscriptions, will be awarded a special cash premium of
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June 15.
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in the United States and Canada.
�IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
ON THE SUBJECT OF THE
SYRIAN WORLD CONTEST
OWING to the appreciation by the public of our liberal offer
Won/ rl^ !? ^ Syrla aS ? firSt Prize in the cur^nt Syrian
World Contest and m compliance with numerous requests to
this effect, we have decided to extend our offer as follows
l~While the minimum number of subscriptions required to win
P rCmainS at ne hundre
SLT
°
d, any contestant, besides the winner, procuring one hundred subscriptions has
the option of receiving either the cash prize or a one-wayy
free trip to Syria.
2—If a contestant should procure two hundred, he receives a
rree round trip.
3—For all subscriptions above two hundred the winner, as well
as any other contestant, receives a cash premium of one
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1
011 8 arC e
enter the
^^fhe
, any Vindividual
Tnfd<°member.
the !^
pnze to
co test a
»
"d award
5-Contestants working for the limited prizes of either a oneway trip or a round trip may withdraw once their goal is
reached and sail on any Fabre Line steamer, cabin class,
before the date set for the close of the Contest.
Registered contestants to date are the following:
ttj. Hashem, Poughkeepsie, Mrs. J. Rafful, Toledo, Ohio
N. Y.
Ed. Hershewe, Fort Dodge,
H. Abood, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Iowa.
Mrs. R. Hamrah, Naugatuck,
Conn.
S. Kallil, Detroit, Mich.
N. Sayed, Georgetown, S. C.
F. A. Coriaty, Manchester,
E. George, E. Liverpool, Ohio
N. H.
ONE MORE MONTH
IN
BWwB^ilvi^fiL'iW.'^.'twii'w.'Mii.i.ii*^
WHICH
TO
WIN.
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
APRIL, 1930.
VOL. IV. No. 8.
An InterviewjgWith El-Atassi
i
Syrian Nationalist Leader and President of the Constituent
Assembly Discusses the Political Situation.
By
I
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
"THAT the frequent changes of French High Commissioners
in Syria is but a part of French policy to wear down Syrian
resistance by dilatory tactics is the belief of Hashem Bey ElAtassi, President of the Syrian Constituent Assembly, and foremost Nationalist leader, as expressed to the writer in a private
interview while in Damascus last summer. He holds that High
Commissioner Ponsot, however, is the most sympathetic and the
best qualified of all the High Commissioners France has so far
sent to Syria. The Nationalists believe that if ever a satisfactory
solution is to be reached in the Syrian problem it will be through
him. That such a solution has not yet been reached indicates
the degree of the Syrian Nationalists' insistence on their sovereign rights as against France's interpretation of her mandatory
authority. They are not unwilling to concede to France its special
position, but only to such a degree as will be compatible with
their sovereignty.
In the light of the latest dispatches from Syria, the problem
seems no nearer an acceptable solution now than it was last summer. Hashem Bey El-Atassi had a long interview with High
Commissioner Ponsot in Beyrouth on April 11, later issuing a
statement announcing the failure of the negotiations. This climax came as a distinct shock to the high expectations of the Syrians who had called a special meeting of the Constituent Assembly on April 4 to formulate the minimum demands they would
'
HHRBHHBHHHHHHHMa
�8
THE SYRIAN WORLD
accept for presentation to the High Commissioner. Substantially, therefore, the Syrian situation has not undergone the
slightest change since the High Commissioner dissolved the Constituent Assembly in August of 1928, and the declarations of the
Syrian Nationalist leader would hold true at this late date as
when they were first given the writer last summer.
My interview with Hashem Bey El-Atassi took place on
August 12, 1929, at the house of one of the most militant Nationalist leaders, Falchry Bey Baroody. It was on the anniversary
of the declaration of Syrian independence and about forty of the
foremost Syrian Nationalists of Damascus had gathered at the
Baroody mansion ostensibly to attend as a body the betrothal
ceremony of the son of a certain minister of the Provisional Government. El-Atassi drew me to a corner of the spacious hall of
the men's quarters, and to the tune of the running fountain, a
prime feature in all Damascene palaces, poured out in an eloquent
flow of words the account of the Syrian Nationalists' struggles
and aspirations. He was speaking with the knowledge and the
authority of one who occupied the most responsible state offices
both during the reign of King Feisal and after. When the first
People's Assembly, which declared the independence of Syria
before the French occupation, was called he was elected President
and later became Prime Minister during the short reign of King
Feisal, and was finally elected President of the Constituent Assembly which formulated the Syrian Constitution found objectionable by High Commissioner Ponsot. He reviewed not only
the events associated with these turbulent times but touched on
the preliminaries leading to them, including the unsuccessful efforts of the United States at adjusting the Syrian political situation. On this point he spoke in unequivocal terms:
"At the conclusion of the World war, Syria looked to America with the fondest expectations. The world was then being reborn to new conditions and every nation was given to understand
that it would be free to shape its own destiny on the principal of
self-determination. During the war we had suffered much and
hoped that the intervention of America would be the panacea of
oppressed peoples. America was idealistic, disinterested and rich.
Being strong, she was in a position to enforce her will in demanding for the weak their just rights. We had even hoped that Amer-
V
�"^ ~-'^<*w*Trtf*#Mt
APRIL, 1930
ica would guide
us, on our rebirth
to national life,
along the Ipaihs
of self-government, and we so
expressed 'o u r selves to the
King-Crane Commission at the
time it visited
Syria. But America failed us and
left us to drift
alone on an uncharted
course
subject to European greed.
The .disappointment was most
severe. But this
much I can say
with the same degree of truthfulness and sincerity: we harbor no
bitterness against
America in spite
of all our suffering 'which we attribute to this
Hashem Bey El-Atassi,
failure on her President of the Syrian Constituent Assembly.
part. If she has
withheld
her
active political support, we are still hopeful of her continued
interest and moral support. We are firm in our belief that she
is the most unselfish and disinterested among the great Powers.
One could not mistake the ring of sincerity in the voice of
El-Atassi. As he spoke an expression of deep feeling crept over
his features. It was evident that the review he was making of
the recent political history of Syria stirred the very depths of his
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
soul. The bhthing of the roseate hopes which the Syrians had
cherished in America's interest was cause for the deepest sorrow.
The veteran leader soon regained his composure, and to the
question as to the extent of help expected from Syrian immigrants
in America, he replied that this help could be only moral and
financial. The sympathy of Syrians abroad gives the active workers in the field strength and courage to prosecute the national
cause to a successful finish, while financial aid is the sinews of all
political campaigns. The emigrants' past assistance is fully appreciated, and the hope was expressed that this display of interest would be continued without abatement or interruption.
The conversation then shifted to the subject of the present
political situation in the country. Hashem Bey El-Atassi does
not believe, in spite of the continual setbacks attending the course
of negotiations, that the situation has reached an impasse. "The
Syrian people are dependent on the righteousness of their cause
and determined to hold negotiations only with France in the
firm belief that she will act in the end on her reputed sense of
justice. All hope of English aid and fair play has been abandoned.
England, like Turkey, only used the Syrians as pawns in the
political game without regard for their own welfare. The Syrians concede that France is in occupation of the country by the
same right that would be claimed by any other Power, although
the illegality of any such claim is beyond question. But since
Prance is in actual occupation, the Syrians would be satisfied with
her mandate if it could be applied in a manner compatible with
Syrian sovereignty and dignity as a nation, a condition on which
the Nationalists insist."
Here the Syrian leader surveyed the evolution of political
events in the country from the time of the termination of the
war up to the dissolution by High Commissioner Ponsot of the
Constituent Assembly. He related how the British and Arab
forces occupied the country upon its evacuation by the Turks and
how Emir Feisal, then commander in chief of the Arab army
was entrusted with the task of government. Transjordania at
that time, was comprised within Syria as well as the four districts
of Baalbeck, Hasbaya, Rashaya, and Beka which were later annexed to Lebanon. The Syrian Government was still a military one
the Syrians declaring a monarchy and raising to its throne King
Feisal only after the failure of the American Commission to take
decisive action. Hashem Bey El-Atassi was the president of the
�V*
V ¥
VJ
I
|
|— fm» | . l_L u O 7* P-
W
-l» «w
^
3
Al-Marje, the principal square in Damascus, massec
I with French -whippets during the Syrian revolution. *,
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Congress which declared Syrian independence and became later
the first and only Prime Minister during the six months' reign
of King Feisal.
"That short period of complete and actual Syrian independence," he said, "shall ever remain a golden dream which we shall
continue striving to again translate into actuality."
The British forces had evacuated the country and the Syrians were in full control. Only Lebanon was under actual French
occupation, and in order to bring this latter country into the Syrian fold the proposition was advanced by the Syrian Government
to form a Syrian federation, "chiefly to permit Lebanon to retain
its status of independence." But then the political tempest broke
out and General Gouraud sent his famous ultimatum containing
the five conditions to wit: Acceptance of the French mandate;
disbanding of the national army; acceptance of the paper issue
of the Syrian-Lebanese bank as legal currency; surrender by
Syria to France of all railroads and appointment of a commission
to determine the terms of the application of the mandate.
What followed this famous ultimatum is history. King Feisal claims to have answered it upon receipt, agreeing to all conditions, while General Gouraud insists that the answer was received
only after the elapse of the time limit and when he had already
ordered the mobilization of the army. Then came the battle of
Maisaloom and the entry of the French into Damascus for the
first time after the great war.
Hashem Bey El-Atassi here supplied some extremely important details which have not so far appeared in print. King Feisal, according to his account, was not in Damascus at the time
the French entered the Syrian capital as commonly believed. On
the contrary, he was at the town of Kaswa which is beyond the
confines of Al-Ghouta and on the borders of Hawran. He immediately returned to Damascus upon receiving the news that the
French were in occupation of the city, but no sooner had he arrived than the French themselves told him to leave. This would
absolve King Feisal of any accusation of cowardice in having fled
the city upon the approach of the French.
Here Hashem Bey El-Atassi recalled the frequent changes
of High Commissioners and consequently of policies: How De
Jouvenel had permitted the convocation of a Constituent Assembly with the tacit understanding that it would eleci. a native government on the basis of entering into treaty negotiations with the
r
�13
APRIL, 1930
mandatory power. But De Jouvenel departed, never to return,
and his successor, Ponsot, not only sanctioned his action but promised to give the people of Syria a free hand in choosing their
own form of government. The elections to the Constituent Assembly resulted in an overwhelming victory for the Nationalists,
and they decided on a republican form of government for which
they naturally laid down a constitution. Here was the stumbling
bloc to the orderly progress of Syrian efforts towards achieving
national life. The High Commissioner objected to six articles
which he held to be incompatible with the right of France as the
mandatory power, while the Nationalists, in the words of Hashem Bey El-Atassi, as expressed to the writer, maintain that the
Constitution will cease to be a constitution at all of a free and
sovereign nation if shorn of these articles."
It is now over a vear and a half since the High Commissioner
dissolved the Syrian Constituent Assembly owing to these objectionable articles, and during all this time, in spite of frequent and
earnest efforts on the part of both parties, no middle ground
seems to have been reached. Such is the political situation in
Syria today, and the faith of the veteran Syrian leader, Hashem
Bey El-Atassi, remains unshaken that if ever a solution is to be
reached it shall be through High Commissioner Ponsot and on
the strength of the Syrians' belief in their inherent fight and
in France's sense of equity and justice.
Helpfulness
By KAHLIL GIBRAN
We are all climbing toward the summit of our hearts' desire.
Should the other climber steal your sack and your purse and wax
fat on the one and heavy on the other, you should pity him;
The climbing will be harder for his flesh, and the burden
will make his way longer.
And should you in your leanness see his flesh putting upward,
help him a step; it will add to your swiftness.
*
*
*
*
*
You cannot judge any man beyond your knowledge of him,
and how small is your knowledge.
�rf
14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Imaginary Speech to the Senate
By REV. W. A. MANSUR
/. The Greatness of the Loyal Syrian-American Citizens.
SENATORS, all history praises the venerable Syrian race because of its prominent place in history, its contributions to
avilization, and its potentialities for future world service. Europe
America and the world are its debtors. Cultures and governments
inherit vital impulses from this race. The world itself could no
progress, could not attain happiness, and could not achieve freedom were it not for the legacies of the Syrian race
q
nt I
iTC °nuy °ne authority to impress upon you the debt
of the world to the Syrian race and its native land. Edward
Gibbon says in The History and the Decline of the Fall of the
Roman EmPre, "Yet Phoenicia and Palestine will forever Ive
in the memory of mankind; since America, as well as Europe
has receded letters from the one and religion from the otW»
to hum-^nr 06 ^l ^ the m°St imP°rt^t contributions
to human progress. Their ancestors, the Phoenicians, gave us
the alphabetj the art of navigation and transmarine commerce
Their forbears of pre-Chrirstian times gave us the highTsTcon
ceptions of man regarding religion, morals and sociefy Thdr
Christian forefathers began the missionary impulse that Chris
lamzed the world Their mediaeval fathers car'ried the dvilit
mg influence to the nations, races, and languages of Europe and
The Syrian race survived world conquerors, repeated miera
tions, alien cultures and race struggles. Their country, sSd
be ween Africa Europe and Asia, was made a settlement ground
for the quarrels of surrounding nations. There Alexander the
Macedonian, Pompey the Roman, Tamerlane the Tartar, Nap0_
!rvenbahtet,eFsrenChman' & ^^ the *«&* * W*Xmn TV ^S"^"1,6^3"8 h^'e proven themselves perhaps the
most law-abiding, hberty-loving and industrious-livingof he
races in America. During the World War they contributed
�e
APRIL, 1930
racially, perhaps the highest percentage to the army and navy;
they enthusiastically supported the nation's financial drives, and
they faithfully upheld American patriotism. For Syrian-Americans believe in America's constitutional government, rule by the
vote of the majority, separation of church and state, law-obedience, free speech, press, and assembly, and readiness for the
nation's defense.
II. The Attack upon America's Constitutional Patriotism.
Recently, Senators, you heard the illustrious Syrian race
slandered to your faces; you saw the glorious Syrian race crucified before your eyes and felt the innocent Syrian race stabbed
at your feet. But, sirs, these talented people, these progressive
citizens, and these high-grade, liberty-loving, law-abiding, loyalminded, industrious-living, and God-fearing Americans are slandered, crucified and stabbed for no other reason than race prejudice.
• • i
t m
But, Senators, America's constitutional patriotism, principles
and future are being attacked, undermined and destroyed by the
slander, disgrace and hatred of American citizens. The assault
is upon the charters of independence and freedom, the ideals
and hopes, the welfare and future of the nation. The charge is
against millions of children and youth, millions of weak and
helpless, and millions of law-abiding, loyal-hearted and industrious-living citizens.
What think you of him who tramples under his feet the principles of the Constitution? What think you of him who flings to
flames the flag that stands for our liberties? What think you of
him who betrays the rights of the peoples of our nation? Sirs,
trust him not who arrays race against race in America. Trust
him not who spurrs America's races to alliances with outside
races. Trust him not who promotes the division of America on
the basis of race, color, or creed. Trust him not who plants seeds
of discord in the body, soul, and spirit of America. I care not
what his power or pelf, his name or claim, his race or place, he
who divides our nation into hostile races based on race prejudice,
discrimination, and hatred betrays the nation's soul, leads you
astray, and plants seeds of decay in the nation.
Let us beware of a narrow patriotism, the ruin of nations; a
divided nation, the bane of governments; and race prejudice,
the destroyer of good-will. Let us learn a lesson from history.
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
H. G. Wells says in The Outline of History, "She (Rome)
understood the value of allies; she could assimilate; abroad as
at home she could in those days at least "give and take" with a
certain fairness and sanity. There lay the peculiar power of Rome.
By that it was she succeeded where Athens, for example, had
conspicuously failed. The Athenian democracy suffered much
from that narrowness of "patriotism", which is the ruin of all
nations. Athens was disliked and envied by her own empire because she dominated it in a spirit of civic egotism; her disasters
were not felt and shared as disasters by her subject-cities. The
shrewder, nobler Roman senators of the great years of Rome,
before the first Punic war overstrained her moral strength and
began her degeneration, were not only willing in the last resort
to share their privilege with the mass of their own people, but
eager to incororate their sturdiest antagonists upon terms of
equality with themselves."
When I behold the declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the oath of citizenship, my
mind becomes clear as to the true nature of American patriotism.
It is upon Constitutional patriotism that we should continue to
build America. Upon the following principles rest the harmony,
prosperity and defense of America: That all men are created
equal, that they arc endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That we stand for a perfect union, the
establishment of justice, and the guarantee of domestic tranquillity. That we uphold the provision for the common defense,
the promotion of the general welfare, and the securing of the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. That we believe, preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Senators, he who slanders any race within our nation violates
the spirit of the Constitution, lays a precedent for the insult of
other races, and prepares the way for national discord. He who
counsels you thus would delude you, betraying the trust of our
American forefathers, and leading to the dissolution of the Republic. I counsel you to abide by the Constitutional guarantees
as m so doing you stand by the soul of the Republic, you uphold
the spirit of the Union and you promote harmony among the
races in America.
*
�APRIL, 1930
17
III. The Solution of America's Immigration Problem.
What is the occasion for the disgrace, disparagement, and
contumely of other races: It is the immigration problem. Is it
not possible for men of honor, intelligence, wisdom, and humanity to study, discuss, and solve this perplexing problem without
contemptuous reproach, insolent temper, and disgraceful vituperation:
Prejudice, racial, religious or national, is usually mothered
by ignorance, born in conceit, cradled in isolation, and reared in
ill-will. Prejudice blights the mind, atrophies the sympathies
and impoverishes the life. Shall prejudiced men who have belated minds, are ignorant of other world values, and lack the
principle of good-will, be permitted to lead the nation astray?
Prejudiced men are incapable of thinking upon and solving America's immigration problem in a clear, sympathetic and just manner.
Thinking men are agreed that America's welfare demands
restrictive immigration. We are convinced that we muts safeguard America's principles, institutions and future; that overwhelming numbers cannot change their attitude, customs, and
culture quickly enough; that we cannot provide adequate means
for the Americanization of incoming multitudes. We are convinced that the incoming peoples would supplant the rights, opportunities, and future that rightly belong to Americans and
their children. We are convinced that it is difficult for some races
to be amalgamated, transformed and Americanized to produce
harmony with American ideals.
For patriotic, economic, and cultural reasons, restrictive immigration is necessary. As President-elect, Herbert Hoover was
right in saying, "The restriction upon immigration is a boon not
only to those of my hearers who were born on American soil, but
to those who have come from the old countries, for every one
would suffer equally by the lowering of our wages and standards of living."
Sirs, I propose a solution of the immigration problem on
more American, equitable, just and honorable basis. Without
insult to any race, without discrimination against any people, and
without nullification of human rights. My proposition is simple:
First, let the number of races and their population be ascertained.
Second, find the percentage of each race and nationality in penitentiary and jail, in orphanage and poor-farm, in illiteracy and
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
poverty. Third, secure facts about the health, education, patriotism of the rising generations. Fourth, let the immigration quota
be set on the basis of American loyalty, law-obedience, and industrious living. Let it be remembered that the public schools will
help solve the immigration, education and Americanization problems. Restrictive immigration will give guidance in selecting
incoming people, accelerate the Americanization process, and protect America's nationalism. The Constitutional guarantees will
maintain pure Americanism, provide adequate defense and uphold
national harmony.
IV. The Decision of Syrian-Americans to Uphold the Honor
of Their Race.
It seems the Senator who slandered my race knew that we
Syrian-Americans, being few in number, could not be heard above
the crowd. The Senator who villified my race must have known
that we Syrian-Americans were not racially organized and could
not speak powerfully for ourselves. The Senator who insulted
my race must have realized the Syrian race in the world was
small numerically, unrepresented by ambassadors, and unaMe to
resort to arms. Did the Senator lack the milk of human kindness: Was he ignorant of Syrian race history? Was he filled
with race bigotry that he inaugurated race persecution? Is race
organization necessary in America as insurance against race slander by the Senator?
Sirs, what man of you who nursed from his mother's breast
whose blood would not boil with indignation at the slander of
his mother and her kind? What man of you with human feelings
would not be fired with resistance at the insult of his person and
race? WThat man of you with paternal instincts for his child
would not fight at the disgrace of his child and family?
Sirs, shall we Syrian-Americans submit like dumb, driven
cattle to this ignominy and disgrace? Shall we keep silent lest
we offend you by our self-defense? Shall we cower like brute
beasts before greater numbers of other races? Sooner will our
tongues be torn by their roots, our eyes gouged out of their
sockets, and our hearts plucked from our breasts ere we consent
to such cowardly proposals. Sirs, we shall not submit, we shall
not keep silent, we shall not cower; rather, we shall resist, fight
and press our righteous cause before heaven.
But Senators, this is not the question of one race, but of all
1
..ijffBiii !_
>
» »K.£V.
I rif _
�APRIL, 1930
.
t-
races, civilizations and nations. The slandering senator has made
the American immigration problem the occasion for the world
race question.
Again let us be guided by the lessons of history. Yesterday
the cohorts of Persia, Babylon, Nineveh and Egypt overran
the Near East. Yesterday the armies of Hannibal, Alexander,
and Caesar galloped over the earth. Yesterday the Ottomans,
Spain, and Portugal swayed their powers over mankind. Today
they are all lying in the dark past, their powers destroyed, and
their civilizations a memory.
Seventy-five years ago Japan would have been considered
among the backward and inferior races. One hundred years ago
Russia, Prussia and Austria were not even mentioned at the Holy
Alliance. One hundred and twenty-five years ago China, Japan,
Belgium, Australia, and South Africa had not appeared on the
world horizon. One hundred and fifty years ago the United
States did not exist.
He would be a rash, unreasonable, and presumptuous man
who, in the light of history, would venture to draw permanent
lines for all times separating the backward from the forward
people, the inferior from the superior races, and the uncivilized
from the civilized nations. There is no basis of scientific facts,
divine revelations, or historical deductions that any race, nation,
or people is forever to be the superior of earth. For the backward, inferior and uncivilized race, nation, or people of yesterday may tomorrow supplant the forward, superior, and civilized
races, nations, and peoples of today. Thus, in the light of history,
there is nothing to be gained from race arrogance, national exploitation and military dominance.
As for the Syrian race it is among the most intelligent of
the races, among the most talented people of mankind, and
among the most progressive of immigrant races in America.
Chas. W. Eliot, president of Harvard University, said, "Millions of European and Near-Eastern people have crossed the
Atlantic and taken the serious risk of attempting to secure a foothold in fresh and free America, because they hoped to escape
from economic pressure and chronic poverty. * * * The early
comers took the risks of the wilderness, the Indians, the untried
climate, and the unknown diseases. The late comers have dared
the perils of congested cities, of novel industries and of insecure
employment. Hence, by heredity, the white Americans of today
)
\
::.;-
.
.-... *
'
�20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
—of whatever race or stock—have a fair chance to be by nature
independent, bold, and enterprising." George Adam Smith
quotes Hogarth's statement, "There is no more enterprising, no
keener intellect in the Near East than the Syrian of the Fringe
—the inhabitants of the Lebanon and the Syrian littoral." Talcott Williams says of the Syrians in America, "No more intellectual immigration has come to us in the past forty years."
The modern renaissance of the Syrian race is already bringing forward a world Syrian race, world Syrian influence, and
world Syrian commerce. Therefore, as Syrian-Americans, because of our race inheritance, race legacies, and race progress
we boldly stand for the honor of our race, and resist the slander
hurled at us in the senate chamber.
I . The Demand of Syrian-Americans for Their Rights as American Citizens.
We Syrian-American citizens demand what are our rights as
Americans. First, on the basis of the Constitutional guarantees.
Second, on the ground of having made the supreme sacrifice during the World War. Third, on the foundation of being Godfearing, liberty-loving, law-abiding, and industrious-living people.
We ask for no special privileges, we desire no exceptional favors,
and we want no rights but what belong to all Americans.
It is what a man is through choice, growth and achievement
that counts and not what he is by accident of birth, place and
circumstance. That is the true basis of American citizenship,
ideals and institutions. That is what lies back of America's character, prosperity and progress. That is the real ground of America's spirit, development and future. That is the foundation of
America's doctrine of equality. .
We Syrian-Americans are proud of our ancestors because we
would emulate them. We are proud of the achievements of our
forefathers because we desire to achieve like them. We are proud
of our fathers because we would imitate their progressive spirit.
As for pride of race, in itself it is a delusion, for no man chose
his race. As' for pride of place, in itself it is a fiction, for no man
picked his birthplace. As for pride of color, in itself it.is a superstition, for no man selected his color.
I demand what rightfully belong to Syrian American citizens
on the basis of American citizenship. Chas. W. Eliot groups the
Syrian Christian immigrants in America with the highest types
�—"
—
21
APRIL, 1930
of America's pioneers. "The English Pilgrims and Puritans, the
French Huguenots, the Scotch Covenanters, the Moravians, the
Quakers, the Russian jews and the Syrian Chnstians all fled
from religious hostilities or restrictions, and meant to secure, or
expected to find, in the New World freedom to worship God
each in his own way. They found that liberty, and ultimately
established in the United States a regime of absolute religious
toleration " We Syrian-Americans are Americans in heart, have
made America a permanent homeland, and have an American
outlook. Let us Americans repudiate race superiority, for it is
at the expense of other races; let us do away with race prejudice,
for it is due to lack of appreciation of other races; let us do away
with race discrimination, for it is founded on the discount ot
equal opportunities to other races.
On the basis of America's doctrine of equal liberty to American citizens we Syrian-Americans claim equal respect for our
race on the ground of equality with other races in America, as
well as equality of citizenship, equality of opportunity and
equality before the law.
VI. The Assurance of Victory Is Trough a Firm Trust in God.
Senators, the assurance of victory for the honor of the Syrian
race is a firm trust in God. Since our trust is in God our faith
is well founded. We are confident of final triumph because ot
the righteousness of our cause. But let it be remembered that
we did not choose this race controversy, we did not provoke this
race strife, we did not bring on us this race struggle.
Shall Senators rally to the side of race good-will, national
harmony, and human brotherhood, or to the side of race prejudice,
national sectionalism, and human strife?
Will you sing the hymn of race hatred of the slandering
Senator and betray, like Judas Iscariot, the Gospel of Christian
brotherhood for the glittering things of earth; will you apostatize, like Julian the Apostate, from the truth that would make
mankind free to uphold a dying superstition; and will you bargain, like Benedict Arnold, the republic of free men for the
sordid reward of the enemy of human progress?
I believe God has given the standard to which we should
rally It is my belief that God is the Creator, preserver and
governor of the universe; that He is the Father of all races
alike- that the Golden Rule is the guide for race relationships;
inmiffismim .
... --..
,: ? .
sessssMsssis - v;-5v-"«;».>v.->.
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
and that we ought to be brethren. It is my sentiment that we
uphold pure Americanism, equal citizenship, and industrious living. In the name of God, in the spirit of America's founders,
and for the sake of posterity let there be no race arrogance, race
division, or race hatred among us, rather let there be one race,
an American race; one flag, an American flag; one allegiance, an
American allegiance that shall transcend race, color, creed and
birthplace in a common American patriotism.
I predict the outcome of the race problem in America. The
day is here, and it is coming to the whole world, that no more
shall any one, group, or race be slandered, hindered or judged
on the basis of race prejudice.
With my eyes lifted to the God of mankind, my hand saluting the flag of our country, and with a prayer in my heart imploring Divine blessing, let us judge patriotism on the guarantees of
the Constitution, men on the basis of character, races on the
ground of humanity, and issues on the foundation of justice.
It is upon the Constitution, character, humanity and justice that
I claim equal respect for the glorious Syrian race among the
races of mankind.
Despair
By
NAJLA SABE
I wandered by the sea last night
To watch the foamy waves,
But more to hear their dismal groans
Resounding in the caves.
I heard them tell their tales of woe
In melancholy tones,
And heard their answer to my prayers
In mournful, fitful moans.
*
*
*
Oh Sea! If thou, a soulless thing,
Hast felt the pang of Life
How much more I, who live and love,
Must shoulder in the strife'
,,
�^
23
APRIL, 1930
Wayfarers of the Lowly Road
By
PAUL DEAB
EWER searching, our eyes seek a star,
That most precious jewel in the diadem
Which night does wear. And from afar
Our lowly road seems to wind on endlessly,
For we may not rest now and then
To hear the matins of birds, and lovingly
To touch the crimson of a rose,
Whose fragrance tells us its presence is so near.
We would forget that mortal woes
Shall be our fate. We would have not e'en one fear—
If in willows' shade we might lie,
And glimpse through swaying branches the magic sight
Of moods that fill the golden sky
As it dons the star-flecked sapphire veils of night.
Life sent for our journey the hours,
But gave us not one to spare for happy things;
Not one for music or flowers.
As though imbedded in our mind, ever rings
The cry that these hours are soon gone;
And the omnipresent fear there be no bread.
By a thousand fears are we torn.
Onward, we are into Eternity led,
Very weary. Yet shall we smile
For having rejoiced to feel the ecstasy
Of kind hands leading us awhile,
Of friendships made on this road of Destiny.
�'
---•-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
24
The Return Home
(A SHORT STORY)
By Louis
MARON
MAJIB was leaning on the railing of the upper deck at the stern
of the ship. He was watching the unending, foamy path
trailing behind them in the water. He could still see dimly the
harbor of Beirut, in the distance, and a little nearer, the American University, his Alma Mater. His young, handsome face lit
up as he fondly thought of the beautiful site of the college, of
his evening walks around the campus, and of the magnificent
view of the waters and harbor as seen from the college. Nothing had so inspired him as the lovely sunsets on the Mediterranean waters. He used to stay for hours at a time watching
their colorful, slow progress, in enraptured silence. How he was
going to miss these! Yet, they had told him of many more wonderful things in America. Perhaps they have beautiful sunsets
there, too. His brain was a whirl of past and future events. He
thought of his friends and how they had envied him when he
told them that he was going to America to continue studying.
He wondered if the college in New York was as nice as his in
Beirut. His eyes kindled as he thought of New York! In a few
weeks he would be there and see for himself all that was claimed
for it. New York had always seemed to him a realm of opportunity and adventure; yet today, as he thought of it," he felt
uneasy. His reveries seemed to have a flaw in them, a, worldly
element which was constantly interrupting them and troubling
him. And then he thought of his mother—sad and lonely, looking at him with pleading, tearful eyes. Yes, that was why his
happiness was not complete. He covered his face with his hands.
He was ashamed at the thought of leaving his mother without
a word of parting. What would she do when she found out that
he had gone—gone to a country which she knew so little about?
He trembled! How would she bear it? He made a resolution,
then, to pray each night for her welfare and health. Najib loved
the fulfillment of his ambitions and had allowed this passing
love to conquer his everlasting, sincere love for his mother. But
�25
APRIL, 1930
lie would repay her! Yes, he would write to her always—comforting letters. He would earn much money in New York—New
York, the city of fortune, teeming with good American dollars.
Yes and he would send her many of them, and perhaps then
she would be happv. The thought of acquiring money easily and
quickly braced him. He straightened his strong, lithe body.
Again he gazed at the rippling foam of the waters. He was surprised to rind that Night had suddenly taken possession of the
world during his reveries. And he was glad. He loved Night;
it helped him to dream such lovely things. The sight now from
his position on the deck was much more beautiful than before.
The moon was directly above the path of foam and was decorating it daintily with sparkling dots of silver. It was a perfect orb,
with a soft, mellow halo about it. Fluffy, black clouds covered
it now and then. Najib felt like a child and delighted in catching sight of it as it emerged from behind its temporary hiding
place, beaming and radiant with light. He stayed there for a
long while, discovering new sights and visions to refresh his sensitive, weary mind.
*
*
Three years have passed and Najib is still in New York. He
is now taking only one course at college, devoting most of the
day to his work. He has had a hard time promoting a business
enterprise of his own and even now he is having trouble trying
to keep things going smoothly. Just a little time remains to
himself and this he generously gives to his blond American
friend He liked her ever since he met her at an affair given by
one of his friends. She always seems to him so pleasant and
cheerful He likes the way she pronounces his name and admires
even more the way she talks in her inimitable, babyish way.
His letters to his mother have dwindled to an average ot
about one every four months. She is writing him faithfully,
pleading with him to come back. She enquires constantly about
his health and well-being. He knows in advance what each of
her forthcoming letters will contain. Yet he likes to receive and
read them He can picture his mother so vividly wnen reading
her letters He wants to write to her more often, but his time
is not his own. No, his time belongs to his business. His career
needs all his attention now. When he becomes successful he will
make up for everything. His mother must realize this. Doesn t
�26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
she want him to become rich? For then he could send for her
his IitH " "IT f ,Ve *?&***"• He *nUes as he thinks of
his little, o d-fash.oned mother. What would she think of New
\ork and ,ts dazzlmg, breath-taking activities? He ho es she
will bke his American friend. Yes, she will have to if she is to
live with him. But, now, he must forget about the future and
concentrate on his business. Plenty of time for these other things!
*
*
*
*
nt
is now more
ful
\yeHe
£ hhas
f Sdiscovered
Fd ^ Najib
ful, IutnT
but not much.
that his dreams of successacauir-
NfwTorrevJntit "" "^ ^ ^ * "* ^ *
Najib is changed. Success and riches do not lure him on to
work as they used to. He has no more the blond, babyish^frienS
With the sweet sm.le. He has no more the pitiful letters from
m
h, ag.„g
th
H
]S done now_]onesome and de
nde°n
He s,t at his desk and gazes blankly at the world. What ails
him? l<or months he searches for the cause of his despondency
It dawns upon him suddenly that he is homesick-homesick for
everything—his mother, and Lebanon with its beautiful hills and
plains. But most of all his mother. He longs to see her againYnSl rVKSt g°A baCk- ?°thing n°W entices hi to «tay in New
York. O her, deeper things lure him. But he'll come back to
New York! Oh, yes! For when he is well again, he will pick
up he stray threads of his business and ambitions and everyth
g
y
g
will be as he wishes it to be.
Again he is on the ship, standing on the spot where he had
stood seven long years ago. He is thinking of the mother whom
he has not seen for so many years! Is she changed? Will she
greet him the way he had imagined she would? He dopes'so
and is confident of it.
* l
He has reached his little town in Lebanon radiant with the
thought of seeing his mother again. Najla, his childhood friend,
tells him about her. Najib,s stunned! He cannot believe it He
is dazed and seems oblivious to everything. Not until he has" seen
the little rooms of his home, does he realize it all. He cries bitCOnSC
IA
U L
flce tortures hi - Why hadn't he communiCr
And
his h
dreams
fututTf
°/KtenerL
"F and
°P£S and
o£ hears
their
future
life ,together:
Shattered
lost!
He constantly
the soft, consoling voice of Najla—his mother's faithful com-
PMHHBMIHHMHMHBHI
'
�"
27
APRIL, 1930
panion. But not even that will fill the vacuum in his heart. He
needs no comfort. He wants to fight it out alone with himself.
Many months pass and Najib is still living in the same state
of misery and loneliness. One day he finds himself gazing fondly at Najla, who is now keeping house for him as she had for his
mother. Najla is pretty! Was she always like that? He never
noticed it before. How quietly she went about her duty! Everything she does or says now seems perfect to him. Her presence
makes him happier now. He wants her to be near him all the
time. Najla is conscious of the sudden change in Najib. She
blushes when their hands accidently touch. Najib wonders. Does
she feel the same way about him as he does about her? He determines to find out! Would she ? He is relieved when she reassures him. Najib is happy. He hasn't felt so in such a long time
that now it seems almost unreal. Najla is happy, too. Happy
to be with him, and happy because they are going to America.
On the day that they are to leave the little town of^ thenchildhood, Najla brings out a large oil painting of Najib's
mother. Najib reverently kisses it and prepares it for its long
journey home with them.
Beethoven
By
THOMAS ASA
Oh, immortal master of divine intent!
Though you now rest in silence and repose,
And thy knowing heart and eyes did close
Upon the world you knew, with full content,
Your deathless voice has chained this firmament jMade it forget its earthly cares and woes,
Dispelled the menace of life's hidden floes—
A messenger of love by Heaven sent.
The wings of time shall bear the joyful praise
Of creatures of the earth, with lips released
By thy vicarious touch of Godly flame j
That shall guide the soul through fruitful ways,A light to ages yet to come—till all has ceased}
Your genius has not left the world the same.
u
�28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
From Beirut to the Palestine
Border
A CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF THE
EDITOR'S TRIP ABROAD
By
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
VII
RISING directly behind Beirut, and forming a sort of backdrop
to the level plain which serves as stage to the capital city, is
the district of Ash-Shouf, one of the most beautiful and populous sections of the Lebanon range. Aleih, the summer capital
of the Lebanese Republic, is in this district, and although situated
at an elevation of 2500 feet, the distance from the capital proper
is but twenty minutes by automobile. Along the same latitude
towards the south are a number of important towns but a few
miles apart. If all places of interest in Lebanon were to be seen,
these could not be missed.
Aleih is the gateway to this section in that it lies directly on
the Beirut-Damascus highway. It offers much of the cosmopolitan aspect} its cafes and shops and bustling traffic and general
activity immediately betray its official character. But as one travels further south, away from the main highway, he comes more
and more into the Lebanese atmosphere, although of a decidedly
refined and modern character. The comparative proximity to
the city and the increasing means of easy transportation have converted the towns of this district into virtual suburbs. I was told
that since the war regular commutation to Beirut has been maintained during all seasons.
Aside from considerations of general interest, I had definite
personal reasons for visiting this section. Souk-El-Gharb is the
hometown of my friend and schoolmate, Nasib Kalaf, and
the summer residence of the great Arab scholar, Jabr Dumit,
whose golden jubilee as teacher of Arabic in the American University of Beirut was celebrated only a year before. We were
friends through correspondence, and in paying my respects to
mm
I
�mamm
APRIL, 1930
29
him I was voicing the admiration of his thousands of Syrian and
Lebanese admirers throughout America. Alas that he should
have passed away before the close of the year!
From there the road led to Shamlan. This is a town I would
not have failed to visit even if it were not so easy to reach. It is
the hometown of our celebrated scholar Dr. Philip K. Hitti as
well as that of our well-beloved compatriot Ibrahim K. Hitti.
Who knows that this little hamlet will not some day house a
national shrine?
And only a few miles further south was Abeih, hometown
of one of our shining literary lights in America, Dr. Salim\ .
Alkazin. I could tell by the first glance at his venerable mother,
sitting serenely on the stoop of her home facing the massive old
church, whence had come her son's rich spiritual heritage. Ihen
there must be something inspirational in the natural topography ot
the town. It nestles snuggly on a bluff overlooking a succession
of gently deploying valleys which terminate in the vast stretches
of the coastal plain to the south of Beirut. The plain here appears
like an immense checkerboard with its yellow patches of desert
and green squares of sown. It merges harmoniously into the
limpid blue of the placid Mediterranean.
This circumscribed tour of the district was accomplished in
a single afternoon. That night I spent in the city to permit ot
my early continuation the next morning on the last eg ot my
travels through Lebanon. At that season they were busily engaged
in widening the road from Beirut to Sidon and covering it with
asphalt. General traffic was permitted only at certain intervals
during the day, and the authorities were most strict in showing
no favoritism. Hence the necessity of an early departure.
The morning of August 21 found us speeding south in the
direction of the Palestine border. Soon we came to the famous
olive grove of Shwaifat, said to be the third largest in the world.
Then we passed the wireless station at Khalda, which is in daily
communication with the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Ad-Damour,
with its vast mulberry groves and numerous silk filatures, was
the next town of importance on the way. At that time of the
year, however, its river had almost dried up leaving the broad
beach in a not altogether hospitable appearance of deso ation and
nakedness. Tradition tells us, nevertheless, that it was hospitab e
enough to Jonah when he was cast ashore by the inhospitable
whale after his three days' incarceration.
�1
30
^
THE SYRIAN WORLD
While passing through a small town below Ad-Damour, our
chauffeur, who in this instance was a Metwali native of the section, brought his car to a sudden stop and complained of being
hit by a pebble. Blood was trickling from a wound in his forehead just above the left eye. He had been more observant than
we and said that two small boys about a hundred feet away were
engaged at the pastime of pelting passersby with stones, and he
would remonstrate with their parents who were the keepers of
a nearby inn. At first we thought we would not interfere, but
soon we heard piercing shrieks and screams from the direction
of the inn. Fearing the little incident might develop into a serious affair between the chauffeur and the lads' parents we decided
to investigate. Think of our surprise when, upon our arrival, we
discovered the father belaboring the youngsters mercilessly with
a mulberry twig. He was profuse in his apologies to us and to
the chauffeur. "The boys are of an irresponsible age," he remarked, "but they must learn to welcome and protect strangers
instead of molesting them." This was in strict keeping with the
universally observed Lebanese tradition.
We reached the city of Sidon shortly before noon. My cousin, Joseph Mokarzel, would not rest until he found his local
agent. And he was right in his insistance, for the agent proved
to be a neat young chap having ready access to all quarters and
all places of historical interest in the city. The car could not
travel in the narrow, tortuous streets of the old town, so he led
the way on foot to the waterfront. Going through this once
famous Phoenician seaport one did not have to draw much on his
imagination to reconstruct its hoary civilization and the conditions under which its inhabitants of old lived and worked. The
guide led us to places the ordinary tourist could hardly hope to
see—through the old Moslem and Christian quarters, past rows
of small doorways opening on inner courts that left much to be
desired from the sanitary viewpoint. Every block seemed to be
a fort in itself, built in heavy masonry with narrow and dingy
passages giving the aspect of catacombs, and the denizens flitting
about noiselessly like phantoms. The guide explained that he
was leading to the old Crusaders' fort, of which only an isolated
tower and a block house remained. But the objective did not
prove as interesting as the sites encountered en route. At one
time we actually had to stoop to pass under a stone arch supporting tower-like dwellings. He made the amazing statement that
i
�The plain of Saida, ancient Phoenician city, viewed from the piazza of a palace crowning
one of the neighboring hills.
o*
�b;
V:
General view of the Crusaders'* Castle protecting the harbor and
city of Saida. Its only value at present is that of
a relic of antiquity.
» <,m.... « m
I .1.1 ill I MJXjf WgSWgB
•oBpp
si
it
�*
APRIL, 1930
33
that passageway was actually not only a public thoroughfare, but
one of the main traffic arteries of the old quarter of the city.
Perhaps the most imposing sight in Sidon is the sea fort. It
is reached over a causeway that has fallen in ruins in places and
is covered by planks. Within this causeway was buijt an acqueduct to supply the fort with potable water during sieges.
The lone guardian of the fort opened the dilapidated wooden
door to let us into the enclosure. Alice Mokarzel, an Egyptianborn niece of Joseph Mokarzel, displayed not only bravery but
sure-footedness in negotiating the risky passages of the fortifications We went as far as the extreme tower, at the base of which
can still be observed, in a good stage of preservation, the ominous
looking sea gate. What desperate hand-to-hand encounters must
have taken place throughout the centuries in the narrow passages
leading up from the landing within this tower!
The guardian called our attention to the walls of the fort
facing the sea in which were still embedded the solid cannon balls
used before the invention of explosive shells. He also pointed
-' out the ruins of what was once the chapel during the occupation
Tof the Crusaders.
,
.. ,
The mental picture of days gone by, with all their bloody
and desperate struggles, evoked by the sight of these historic
ruins, was rudely shattered when we repaired to what was described to us as the cleanest restaurant in town. There we discovered that this was made possible through the enterprise of a
former Syrian emigrant in America, one who had seen service
on Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn and who was now doing a thriving
business by providing his patrons with clean napkins and decent
service.
We could have continued from Sidon to the other famous
Phoenician city, Tyre. But I chose to visit Jedaidat Merjioun
and enter Palestine from the inland route. The road led to the
Khardaly Bridge, where the French army made its last desperate
stand against the Druze rebels in 1925 and effectively stemmed
their tide. Above this bridge, on the crest of a steep hill whose
bare sides rise almost perpendicularly from the depth of the
valley, is the famous Crusaders fort of Shakif, its black walls
silhouetted menacingly against the azure skies. One could hardly
imagine a more imposing and awe-inspiring sight.
Before reaching Jedaidat we stopped at a melon-grower's
hut to sample the watermelons for which this section is noted.
�I
—IIW
MMMn
34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
A section of the old. sea fortification of Sidon, now partly used as
dwellings, as viewed from the causeway leading to the Crusaders'
Castle.
They proved to be of a small variety, only a little larger in some
cases than ordinary oranges. They are sold by weight and the
virtues ascribed to them were surprising. "Place the melon in
the shade for three minutes and it becomes as cold as ice," asserted the vender. We acted on his advice but were not convinced.
The natural flavor of the melon, however, was all that was
claimed for it.
That evening I was the guest of Ceasar Rashid, brother of
mv good friend in America Mubadda Rashid of Chautauqua.
About twenty prominent citizens attended the dinner, and their
geniality, hospitality and culture were in keeping with the standard of their compatriots in America. The host requested George
Samra, then on a visit from New York, to act as toastmaster.
The speakers included Dr. Mujalli Jabara, George Nada, George
Shadid, Dr. Michel Jabara, N. Farha, Alfred Samra and the
editor of Al-Nahdat, one of the two local papers.
In responding, it was but natural to tell the homefolks of the
wonderful success their townsmen had achieved in America. The
immigrants of Jedaidat are a credit to the Syrians in every field
of endeavor.
It was most gratifying to learn of the extent of progressiveness among the inhabitants of Jedaidat. Here is a town that is
MM
I
�\\
APRIL, 1930
35
A general view of Jedaidat, taken from the highest hill of the
town which is to be soon converted to a reservoir through the
enterfrise of Jedaidat immigrants in America.
one-hundred per cent, literate. Education is paramount in the
mind of every citizen so that out of a population of two thousand,
the twelve hundred minors of school age all attend school. In
this respect it may be held out as the ideal town of Lebanon.
Another virtue of the citizens of Jedaidat is their civic pride
and patriotic solidarity. While entering the town I noticed a
beautiful cemetery, surrounded by a neat stone wall above which
could be seen stately cypresses and numerous elaborate tombstones. Inquiry revealed that all denominations, Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants, had subordinated denominational differences to the creation of this civic enterprise.
Jedaidat supports two weekly newspapers, both well edited
and of good typographical appearance. They not only serve the
local community, but furnish the connecting link between the
town and its emigrant sons abroad.
_
Ceasar Rashid accompanied me on a visit to the Melchite
cathedral where we met the Rt. Rev. Clement Sayegh who had
just returned from a visit to South America. The bishop was
occupying temporary quarters while his residence was being rebuilt after it had been destroyed by the Druzes during their
occupation of Jedaidat in their last revolution. The church building during those eventful times was used as a stable, and the
I
�:^*y BaasMSM ': aaiBw
56
THE SYRIAN WORLD
mf!e*w;-
i
77;,* Old-Country conception of kaif—a picnicking party at the
headwaters of the Hasbani river on an improvised island-cafe.
Running water is music to Lebanese ears.
sacred vessels carried away. Bullet marks were still visible in
the dome and other parts of the church.
N. Farha treated me to a pleasant surprise. He led me up
the highest hill in Jedaidat commanding a superb view of the
countryside for miles around. "On this spot," he said, "we plan
to build a reservoir which not only will supply Jedaidat with
drinking water to be distributed in the homes, but also furnish
ample water for irrigation purposes. Water is plentiful in yonder river below, and the hydroelectric power we will generate
will serve both to supply the town with light and power and
serve to pump the water to the reservoir. Then this arid land
will be transformed into radiant gardens. We could ship the
produce to nearby and distant markets and can the remainder
according to American methods for home and foreign markets.
This will become possible when power is made available. Building of home industry is the salvation of the country."
Farha was a successful business man in the United States.
He returned to Lebanon early in 1929 to devote himself to the
promotion of this project in which he is being morally and financially supported by his fellow immigrants of Jedaidat in America. He has already secured the franchise from the Lebanese
government.
�APRIL, 1930
37
Part of the party at the Hasbani river during the editor's visit to
Jedaidat. Mr. Farha is the bare-headed man with glass in center.
Mrs. Farha is mixing the ingredients for the Kibbe.
With such initiative and enterprise, Jedaidat could be transformed into a garden spot.
The following morning we breakfasted at the modern home
of the Samras. The revolution had visited this, as well as many
other homes in Jedaidat, with either complete or partial destruction, and all are being rebuilt or repaired principally with funds
from America. Nejib Samra went back home for a visit a few
years ago, and his brother George undertook the same pilgrimage
last year, and each contributed to make the parental home a
model of modern comfort.
One is actually overwhelmed by the wholehearted hospitality
of the people of Jedaidat. I was anxious to cross early into Palestine, only a few miles distant, but they insisted on treating me
to a real picnic at the headwaters of the Hasbani River. Farha
was host on this occasion and the lambs slaughtered and the Kibbe
pounded and the Arac provided were sufficient to provision an
army. And we were in fact a small army and lived up to the
most accepted army traditions in this respect.
There must have been in Jedaidat at the time more than a
score who were returning from the United States alone for a
visit to the homeland. One of these was bent on roughing it to
the limit When the party broke up in the late afternoon he
despisingiy spurned the offer to ride back to town in an automo-
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
38
bile. Shouldering his gun and rolling up his pants almost to
the knee, he hit the road alone with the assertion that he would
reach town before dark.
Close by Jedaidat is the town of Hasbaya which was the scene
of a bloody massacre during the uprising of 1860 and to which
we paid a short visit. Midway between Jedaidat and Hasbaya is
Kawkaba, whose inhabitants covered themselves with glory by
their valiant defense of their homes during the recent revolution. From time immemorial the history of that part of Syria
seems to be a continuous record of bloody feuds. I crossed the
border into Palestine that afternoon only to encounter another
bloody outbreak with the memorable Arab-Jewish riots of
August 23.
The Syrian Laborer
By
JONARD EGIS
"THE factory whistles shriek: it's five o'clock.
The mother lays her child in bed and goes
To heat the supper
"Liz, be sure to rock
The baby if he cries." Fair Lizbeth throws
Her doll aside and runs to baby's bed,
To look into his laughing eyes and say
That baby has the prettiest little head
In all the world. It seems, at end of day,
Her brother feels that father will arrive;
For now he smiles and waves his clenched fist
To show the world he's happy he's alive.
The mother looks outside: a treacherous mist
Pervades the streets
and father has not worn
His coat
She worries
In the hall she hears
His step
At last
the father's come. Man born
To work is he: a giant with no fears
—Except that one, of God. No school had he
In youth to aid him in his later life;
No books of science and philosophy;
Yet see what Life has granted him: a wife
Who loves, is faithful; children satisfied;
A place called Home to which he returns at night:
A happy, God-bless'd man, who spaces wide
Can face and shout that all on Earth is right.
it
�APRIL, 1930
39
Book Reviews
ANOTHER NOTABLE BOOK BY RIHANI
Around the Coasts of Arabia, by Ameen Rihani, New York,
Houghton Mifflin Company, 364 pp. $6.00.
ANY book by Ameen Rihani on Arabia is bound to be hailed as
a distinct contribution to Arabian lore. His former book entitled Maker of Modern Arabia, or Ibn Saoud, His Country and
His People, was considered the most notable addition in modern
times to the sum total of our knowledge on Arabia. And if it is
so considered with almost common consent it must rank among
the most notable contributions of all times, because Arabia remains today as in all times past the country of inscrutable mystery of whose forbidden interior only the most daring had ever
had a glimpse.
Not so, however, with our celebrated author and traveler
Rihani. He had access to every spot in Arabia with the exception
of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. And even these he
could have seen if he but wished to profess Islam, but this he
would not do not through any religious scruples, but simply because he would not buy a privilege on any condition. He is so
broad on matters religious that he could not conscientiously be
bound to any one creed.
Rihani's accounts of his Arabian experiences and adventures
lose nothing, however, through this seeming deficiency. Of the
two Moslem holy cities Mecca is by far the most important, and
Mecca is forbidden to all but Moslems, which puts it beyond
the immediate interest of travelers, while descriptions of it so
far published by Moslems and others have deprived it of a good
deal of its element of mystery. All other parts of Arabia, however, are lands of potentialities, yet only very little was known
about them. Never before, we believe, was such a comprehensive
account given of these parts of the world as in Rihani's recent
work.
.
,.,- j
Rihani is one of the very few contemporaries qualified to
speak authoritatively on modern Arabia. His travels in that
country were conducted under the most auspicious circumstances.y
T,rw-~i**"**-
�ammamm
40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
making it possible for him to learn and observe what the casual
traveler could never hope to know. He was the guest of the Arab
potentates wherever he went, inasmuch as his professed object
was to bring about a federation of Arab states. Arabic, besides,
being his native language, he was able to gather all his information first-hand.
While in his former work Rihani dealt with Ibn Saoud's
kingdom, in his other book just published he deals with all the
countries along the Arabian coasts. The book is in five parts, the
first dealing with the author's experiences while with King Husein in the Hijaz, the second while with the Adrisi, the third is
on the subject of Kuwait, the fourth about Bahrain and the fifth
about Aden and the Protectorates.
The book abounds with interesting information and anecdote.
Rihani in it is at his best and the reader finds himself fascinated
by the charm of description and the wealth of material. One
almost lives with the author those memorable days he spent with
each potentate, so vivid and gripping the style.
To our readers this, as well as other books by Rihani, should
have a special appeal. The author is one of us, and to share with
his host of admirers throughout the English-speaking world
their admiration of him is the least that could be expected of us
We should have his works not alone as a gesture of appreciation
but as a distinctive mark of culture in our homes and pride in
our men of outstanding achievement.
A USEFUL BOOK
The Syrian-American Directory Almanac for 1930, Arida and
Andria, New York, $2.50.
By the publication of this book, Nasib Arida and Sabri Andria have rendered the Syrian community a genuine service
which fills a Jong-felt want. The arrangement of the work is
comprehensive. It is divided into two main parts, the first being
in Arabic and containing much useful information serving as a
source of ready reference on Syrian history, political divisions of
the country and a historical sketch of Syrian immigration to
the United States, while the other section contains a business and
residential directory of Manhattan and Brooklyn in both Arabic
m
——
a
t
r
\
�I
APRIL, 1930
41
IF.
and English. This should prove invaluable for business purposes
whether for Syrian or American concerns wishing to circularize
the Syrians. The publishers promise to issue the directory annually, with additions that will gradually cover all parts of the
United States and perhaps, in time, Canada and Mexico.
With the appearance of Arida and Andria's publication, announcement was made of similar projects to.be undertaken locally
for the city of Detroit and the State of California. Naturally,
when the Syrian-American Directory is complete, as we hope it
will be in time, the other local directories will become unnecessary.
A Syrian-American Business Directory for all the United
States was published over twenty years ago by S. A. Mokarzel
and H. Otosh. It was discontinued after the first year for lack
of sufficient public support. Now, after the lapse of almost a
quarter of a century, we trust that the Syrian community will
appreciate the benefits of such a useful public enterprise sufficiently to lend it their support so that it may not prove as shortlived as its predecessor.
A BOOK ON RELIGION
The Pearl of Revelation, by Rev. Emmanuel Elkouri Hanna,
published by the author, 88 Washington St., New York City.
Rev. Emmanuel Elkouri Hanna is a Syrian Catholic missionary priest in America known among his friends for his original theories as to the High Priest Melkizadek. In the foreword
to his book he makes plain the fact that one of his principal objects in its publication is to "show who was Melkizadek and to
prove that he was a true man, a true priest and a true king having
a real father and mother." Other objects of the book are "to
prove that the sacrifices of the Old Law were real symbols of
our Divine Sacrifice, which is the Manna from Heaven; and that
the institution of the Holy Eucharist is Divine."
Church authorities and theologians are better judges of the
merits of such a work, and their approval is apparent from the
fact that it is published by the authority of His Eminence Cardinal Hayes of New York. The dedication is to the Rt. Rev. Joseph
Schrembs, bishop of Cleveland, Ohio.
�MM
42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ENGLISH AND ARABIC MANUAL
MB k a
G
eya by Ur A J ArbeeJ
~ N.^ Z
\y\~
ti
k
- - ^
M. Dwb, N. Y., 670 pp. $6.00.
Publisked by
The second edition of this useful book was published by N.
M . Diab, editor of the Mirror of the West, who bought the pub^
n
rl
^Jrpmtht estate of the author, the late Dr. Arbeely
I he second edition is printed from the original plates of the firk
and is in every respect similar to it.
I 7 ?A cArbeely was one of the first Syrian immigrants to the
United States Having had his English education in the mother!
land and following it up to a great deal of advantage in Amer-
MSST*qualified for such a difficult work as appears
Mainly, the object of the book is to serve as a self-instructor
m English to readers of Arabic. The lessons are simplified by
the= transliteration of the exercises and the giving of the pronunciation in both languages. In this respect it is one of the most
useful books to be had in its class.
An added advantage of the work is the appendix consisting
of forty pages intended to help English-speaking persons learn
the Arabic language. The same simple and effective method is
here lollowed as in the other part of the book dealing with the
teaching of English to Arabic-speaking persons
REVISED ENGLISH-ARABIC DICTIONARY
Ellas' Modem Dictionary, by Elias A. Elias, Ettas' Modern
Press, Cairo, Egypt.
Mr Elias' Dictionary is by no means the only one of its
nature, but it surely ranks among the best. In its revised form
appearing late in 1929, many corrections and additions have been
introduced making the work more serviceable and dependable
whether for the student or the scholar. The hundreds of illustrations occurring in it give it a decided advantage.
Other recent publications by this publishing concern include
Arabic translations of The Socialistic Movement, by Ramsay
MacDonald; A Monk's Romance, by Alexis Bouvier, and other
novels and works on sociology by English and French authors
�APRIL, 1930
43
EDITORIAL COMMENT
lished in a former issue a short
report by Miss Hilda Fox on
the Lebanon Hospital for
pOR Dr. Corban's enthusiasm
Mental diseases. We now wish
over the Lebanon Hospital to announce that we have refor Mental Diseases, otherwise ceived from Miss Fox a numknown as Asfuriyeh, there is a ber of copies of the latest report
plausible reason. He is a spec- on this institution for free disialist in mental diseases and is tribution. Anyone interested
in a position to appreciate the may write us for a copy and it
great need of such institutions. will be cheerfully sent him.
Mentally deranged persons are
We are again referring to
no longer considered, in this
advanced age, as being pos- this hospital apropos of the
sessed by the devil and shackled publication of Dr. Corban's
and confined to dungeons. communication on the subject.
Medical science, combined with We cannot too highly comhumanitarian treatment, has mend the active .interest which
restored many an unfortunate this New Zealand-born Lebto a normal condition of health. anese physician has taken in the
Neglect in the initial stages of promotion of this project. It
mental, as well as of other dis- would be most gratifying to
eases and physical irregulari- see some Syrian or Lebanese
ties, is bound to aggravate the physician in all other countries
patient's conditions and perhaps follow his lead. Such work falls
lead to an incurable state, naturally within the province
whereas scientific care, applied of medical men and they
in time, might prove the means should take the initiative in
promoting it. A physician apof a complete cure.
In our age of high-tension preciates more than any other
living, mental derangements the importance of mental hyand nervous breakdowns are giene and the necessity of such
more prevalent than in former humanitarian enterprises, and a
times. Hence the necessity of committee of physicians, if
greater attention and care, and formed for the purpose, should
the urgency of providing suit- find little difficulty in interestable means for the proper treat- ing our men of wealth in the
cause.
ment of mental ills.
Dr. Corban has taken the
THE SYRIAN WORLD pub-
ASFURIYEH
A CRITERION
�44
initiative in New Zealand. He
has succeeded in interesting the
local press and raising considerable funds. He has set the
goal for his campaign at $15,000.
A further and most important consideration is that we
cannot depend forever in the
upkeep of our educational and
humanitarian institutions on
foreign charity. All claim to
national pride and all assertion
of the right for independence
fail of their own weight when
we make no concrete move to
take care of our own public institutions.
Independence in
educational and charitable enterprises should even be more
important to us than economic
independence. The latter will
follow as a natural result of the
former. We cannot hope to develop a national consciousness
when our educational and charitable destinies are controlled
and directed by foreigners.
So far practically all institutions of higher education in
Syria have been established and
are still directed by foreigners,
principally missionary interests.
The same statement, with perhaps a few exceptions of recent
origin, applies to charitable enterprises. This condition of continued dependence on foreigners spells ill for the country's
future.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
But with the present awakening of national consciousness
this condition should not be
suffered to continue much
longer. Already we are extended the invitation to share in the
management, and ultimately to
assume complete control, of
many such institutions. We
would naturally retain for the
founders the gratitude due
their benevolent initiative, but
aside from that, control and
direction should be in our
hands. The American University of Beirut is one of the institutions coming under this
class—the last campaign to
raise funds from among its
alumni and their friends was
launched on this understanding. It was a clear invitation
to the natives to share in the
support and management of
the institution with the avowed
purpose of ultimately assuming
full control. Other institutions
may be expected to adopt the
same policy.
Our fate is in our own hands,
and it would behoove us to
ponder the result of our continued dependence on foreign
charity, and to seriously consider the effect of such dependence on our national character,
for then we might be prompted
to accelerate the movement for
educational and economic independence which we believe is
bound to come eventually.
�APRIL, 1930
POTENTIAL FIELD
45
would still have ten or fifteen
thousand Syrian-Americans of
a comparatively high standard
of education. Are these not sufficient as potential readers?
A correspondent from South
Africa writes that his greatest
regret is that he cannot compete in THE SYRIAN WORLD
What would seem to be the
contest for a free trip to Syria. greatest obstacle in reaching
This would indicate that the this large number of Syrians is
idea of a free trip finds favor that they are too widely scatwith lovers of travel, especially tered. But, on the other hand,
when travel is to the homeland that should be all the more
of one's ancestors. Here in reason why they should be
America we have had unstinted reached. Protracted isolation
praise of the idea. It is agreed will in time result in complete
that the prize is valuable, the loss of one's racial identity.
terms liberal and the object This would be unfortunate for
most worthy. But why no con- what it would mean in the futestant has so far approached ture. Knowledge and appreciathe goal we are at a loss to un- tion of one's ancestral backderstand, except that entrants ground is a decided asset in the
in the contest are unwilling or cosmopolitan nature of the
unable to give the work suf- American nation, and a symficient time and effort. Other- pathetic understanding of one's
wise the goal should be easy of racial cutlure would mean a
attainment. The excuse of distinct addition to American
hard times is not sufficient to culture now in process of forstand in the way of securing a mation.
hundred subscriptions.
Syrians in America can contribute
largely along this line.
Out of a total of 250,000
Syrians in the United States, It would be a sad commentary
100,000 at least are American- on our racial pride if we canborn. All these must have at- not be aroused to an adequate
tended school, and no less than appreciation of our singular
fifty per cent, must have grad- racial heritage.
We are only too anxious to
uated from high school. Pubhave
someone win the prize.
lication of THE SYRIAN WORLD
was undertaken primarily for But it is only reasonable that
this element. They should all in order to win one should
be potential readers. Even if show results commensurate
we were to concede a drastic with the value of the prize
reduction in this estimate we offered.
i
�46
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Readers' Forum
SYRIAN SPECIALIST SUPPORTS
ASFURIYEH HOSPITAL PROJECT
Dr. Corban of New Zealand has
Faith that Syrians will not Be
Satisfied with Erection
of One Ward.
Editor The Syrian World
I was very glad indeed to see
commendable and honourable mention of the Lebanon Mental Hospital in your November issue. Unlike yourself, I have not yet had
the good fortune to pass by on the
Beirut-Damascus road and view in
reality what you bear witness to as
"the trim buildings, the well-kept
grounds, and the apparently contented inmates giving indications of
efficiency and benevolence in management." At the moment I cannot
think of any more worthy object
for interested Syrians to spend
their money on in their old
home'and, unless indeed it be
the direct relief of any of their own
relatives in necessitous circumstances. At heart the average Syrian is a supporter of good causes,
and often a builder of worthy structures. Before men had enough medical knowledge to take practical interest in cooperative healing, they
inclined more to the attractions of
religious belief, and sacred edifices
formed a common vehicle for expressing themselves. Then came general hospitals. Finally the most
highly specialized of all, dealing
with the mind—mental hospitals.
Religion, physical healing, mental
healing—a serial of progress in
three chapters. In all these the Arab
mind has played a significant role.
Dr. Withington in his book "Medical History from the Earliest
Times," states that "in an age when
no Christian monarch, with the rare
exceptions of Charlemagne and Alfred the Great, troubled himself in
the slightest about the education of
his subjects or the progress of science and literature, we find Caliph
after Caliph, and Vizier after Vizier
establishing schools and libraries
for the public benefit, and filling
their courts with pihysicians and
philosophers. Their remarkable generosity to the former would alone
entitle them to the gratitude of the
profession, and even had the Arabs
themselves made no scientific discoveries, they would at least deserve
the praise of having encouraged
others to do so."
Nearer home, we have the testimony of Usamah and others to show
that the older Arab physicians had
an intelligent conception of the
treatment of mental disorder. Are
we sufficiently honouring their skill
and wisdom by exercising in the
present generation more than a
passing interest in their achievements? A tendency of the present
age is to take the big things of
the past for granted while hurrying on to ultra modern stunts. With
what exuberance does the modern
Syrian scatter a few thousand dollars in a big to-do to express delight on some such occasion, say,
as a memorable air-journey by a
Carranza? When those in high
places pass by in the land, the Syrian is ready to meet and to fete.
\
f,'
�1"
APRIL, 1930
Of course open-heartedness can be
and is expressed in many channels.
One will build a neat new church
in his old native village; another
will be benevolent to a charity in
his new Western home. Being specially interested in mental hygiene I
perhaps run some risk of being
labelled biased, or of seeing the
world along one main path. As the
business man roughly classifies humanity for his purpose into those
who buy and those who sell, so I
suppose the doctor cleaves a line
between those who are sick and
those who are well; the psychiatrist
likewise into the more or less sane
and the more or less insane. The absence of any sharp-demarcated
boundary should make all thinking
folk attempt to visualize the aspect
from either side. Miss Hilda Fox's
article and your endorsement are
very timely and deserving of the
consideration of all Syrians Who
realize the necessity of dissimulating indifference to past heritages
from the illustrious Arabs, and the
urgency of present day claims to exercise the benevolent instinct in a
thoroughly sound channel. Only Miss
Fox was far too modest in suggesting the donation of one mere ward—
a good half dozen would better meet
the case. At our hospital here (Tokanui Mental Hospital, Kihikihi, N.
Z.) we have this week opened modern wards for over a hundred patients, and the extensions are contemplated to make provision for at
least a thousand. In addition, there
is also being erected a very fine new
nurses' home to house over sixty.
At the very least, a hospital like
Asfuriyeh wants its accommodation
douK • d almost right away. A hospital run on such amazingly sound
and proper lines should be as speedily as possible built up to a minimum
of five hundred beds. It would then
47
be in a position to make its facilities and amenities properly known,
and it could easily be filled within
a short time with all manner of
mental patients. This amplifying of
accommodations on the; very modern
system of detached wards (houses
or villas) allows both the proper
classification of patients according
to type, and the provision of more
homelike and curative features
without the evils of overcrowding.
Housing of staff is also most important—nurses deserve all the consideration that can be given to make
their work more efficient and pleasant to themselves and their charges.
The great object of a mental hospital is not much to harbour nervous
wrecks (the old idea, hence the term
asylum) as to cater to individuals
in the early stages of mental disorder and speedily return them to
their former useful spheres in a condition of normalcy. Mental hospitals
in the Near East are frightfully inadequate in accommodation when
measured by Western standards.
Whatever the French may have done
in Syria for the improvement and
betterment of its inhabitants, the
handling of the problem of mental
hygiene has not been one of their
strong points. The more the pity,
since it was a great Frenchman,
Philippe Pinel, who over a century
ago did much to bring the treatment of insanity into the high place
it now occupies. Contemporary with
him was the great English Quaker,
William Luke, who in 1792 established at York the long famous Retreat, a hospital in close sympathy
with that at Asfuriyeh.
Where others may have failed,
then, the Syrians the world over
now have upon them the duty of
focussing their attention and interest upon problems which are gaining
in importance and which merit con-
�48
THE SYRIAN WORLD
certed effort and action. I feel that "Western Civilization."
the greatest difficulty with the SyrDr. Bishara observed that Mozart
ians in the past has been insufficient and Beethoven were among the first
acquaintance with the problems con- great musicians who intuitively refronting them at home and abroad. cognized the inherent beauty and
For that reason alone they should dignity of Arabic musical themes.
support any magazine like The Syr- No nationalistic school of music has
ian World which coordinates thought
been able to escape the subtle fasciand action, and expounds and feanation of oriental melody. The Rustures those problems touching upon
sian school, which is preeminently
the welfare of the race. Therefore
oriental in tendency, is prominently
in view of the publicity which has
now been given to the Lebanon Hos- represented by the composer Rimpital in your pages, it would be dis- sky-Korsakov, who employs oriental
appointing if the assistance were themes in his "Scheherazade" symlimited to a single ward especially phonic suite. The Norwegian school
when there are probably patriotic is represented by Grieg with his
individuals who would be glad to "Peer Gynt" suite; the French school
personally donate a ward privately, contributed "Samson et Dalila" by
Saint-Saens, and the Spanish and
if only the claims are made suffiItalian
schools are likewise repreciently clear to them. I have nosented.
where else heard of such a good
In the classical works of Beethoward being able to be erected and
ven,
specifically where the minor
furnished for the very small sum of
signatures
are employed, we are
£'3000. But one feels that the Syrians abroad will miss no occasion frequently arrested by measures in
of showing that they will not let which Arabic themes are almost
such opportunities pass by without exclusively developed. In the hands
acquitting themselves honourably.
of this great genius the simple meloC. Assid Corban, M. B., Ch. B. dies of Syria and Arabia assume,
Kihikihi, New Zealand,
with their new harmonic embellishments, forms of entrancingly original euphony, making them equal if
ARABIC THEMES IN
not superior to other musical sysWESTERN MUSIC
tems. And it is in the spirit of admiration and gratitude that I feel,
Mozart and Beethoven recognized
and the Syrian world in general
their inherent beauty and dignity.
should feel, for the service rendered
by this great master, in whom no raEditor, The Syrian World:
The very interesting article con- cial prejudice existed, and who recogtributed by Dr. K. A. Bishara to a nized inherent beauty and worth
former issue of "The Syrian World" regardless of the source, that I have
impressed me as being decidedly inscribed the slight but sincere apopportune during the present period preciation which is enclosed.
Thomas Asa.
of racial agitation. The article furW.
Brownsville,
Pa.
ther emphasizes the incalculable influence the Arabic-speaking world
has had in the formation of what
is ambiguously designated the
Editor's Note—A poem by Mr.
Asa on Beethoven is published elsewhere in this issue.
h
(
1
�APRIL, 1930
49
Political Developments in Syria
PALESTINE
,
<
England has taken a definite
stand against the principal demand
of the Palestine Arabs looking
towards the establishment of representative government, for the prosecution of which they had sent a
delegation to London. The refusal
of England is based on the claim
that such a proposal is incompatible
with the requirements of the mandate. The mandate, on the other
hand, is an instrument entrusted to
England by the League of Nations,
and to act contrary to its provisions
would be a breach of trust. This
England will not undertake to do.
Lord Passfield, the Colonial Secretary, according to a dispatch to
the New York Times from London
under date of May 14, gave the
Grand Mufti and his colleagues of
the Palestine-Arab delegation a
sweeping rebuff, reaffirming the
fidelity of the MacDonald government to the Palestine mandate.
The Arab delegation had arrived
in London shortly before the publication of the Shaw commission's report. Among other things, the delegation urged the immediate creation of a Palestine Parliament in
which Arabs and Jews would be represented in proportion to their present population. This demand Great
Britain refuses to concede, as indicated by the following official statement of the Colonial office:
"The conversations which have
taken place in London between
members of the Government and the
Palestine Arab delegation are now
at an end. The delegation has expressed its views on a number of
subjects, particularly land, immi-
gration and the grant of a constitution. His Majesty's Government
has taken note of its view on these
subjects.
"It was pointed out to the delegation that the sweeping constitutional changes demanded by them
were wholly unacceptable since they
would have rendered it impossible
for His Majesty's Government to
carry out its obligations under the
terms of the mandate. It was made
clear that no proposals could be
considered which were incompatible
with the requirements of the mandate."
The Arab delegation made no attempt to conceal its bitterness at
this turn of events. It immediately
retaliated by the publication of the
following statement:
"We have decided to leave for
home with the-: impression that the
Palestine Arab case will not be
justly solved by the British Government, with which the Zionists have
such great influence as to hinder it
from doing justice or from removing injustices in our case. We are
convinced tJhat every Arab in Palestine prefers to die in defense of
his natural rights and existence
than to submit to the oppression inflicted by any measure of coercion.
As the Arab and Moslem worlds
are our co-partners in Palestine, it
is our duty to make them acquainted with the dangerous situation
threatening, the very existence of
their holy country and brother inhabitants."
The general impression in London is that the Palestine situation
is now worse than it ever was before. It is plain from the statement
�50
THE SYRIAN WORLD
of the Arab delegation that they The Alshura, an Arabic newspaper
count on the support of their broth- in Cairo, which is the Palestine Arab
er Moslems in India whom England Nationalist's organ, has telegraphed
is endeavoring to play against the to London demanding the Arab poHindu followers of Mahatma Gan- litical delegation to return as a sign
dhi, in the present civil disobeof protest, while other Arab organs
dience movement. What success such declare the delegation ought to retactics will 'have is a matter of con- turn and devote itse'f to internal
jecture. It is plain however, that
activity which has been neglected in
neither the Arabs nor the Jews are the past few years, saying:
satisfied, the former because of the
"It is impossible to solve the Arab
denial of their demands and the
latter because of the nature of the problem in London as long as it remains unsolved in Jerusalem."
Shaw report.
New life seems to have been inThat Palestine is facing a new
jected
in the Palestine Arab cause
era of political disturbance owing
to the recent developments may be in America with the arrival in New
inferred from a dispatch to * the York, the latter part of April, of a
New York Times from its Jerusalem new Palestine-Arab delegation comcorrespondent dated April 10 which posed of Emir Adel Arslan and Issa
states that Mahatma Gandhi's cam- Bandak, editor of Sawt Ash-Shaab
(Voice of the People). Emir Arslan,
paign in India is having a considerhead of the delegation, is a brother
able effect upon the political conof
Emir Shakib who came to Amersciousness of the Near East. In Palica
on a similar mission in 1927.
estine, the correspondent further
He
took active part in the Dru/.e
reports, a new Arab political party
revolt
against the French in Syria
• ailed Isteqlal, (meaning independand
chose
voluntary exile with Sulence) intends to imitate Gandhi's
tan
Pasha
Atrash in the Arabian
methods to some extent and is ordesert.
ganizing ;i procession of youths in
In a public- statement which the
cities, towns and villages throughdelegation
gave to the Arabic press,
out Palestine similar to Gandhi's
inarch in India.
they declared that they represented
The Isteqlalists aim thus to re- the Central Arab Relief Committee
vive the movement against Arabs of Jerusalem which is the financial
selling their lands to Jews. The branch of the Central Arab Execuyouths will be called the "Arab tive Committee, and that their misDefense Army," and the party's sion was two-fold: first to collect
newspaper the Meraat Elsharq, has relief funds, and the second to lay
already appealed to Arab youths before the Palestine Arabs of Amerurging participation in the week- ica authentic information on conditions in the motherland in the hope
long march.
of enlisting their interest in the reAral, feeling in Palestine is greathabilitation of the country and inly aroused over Prime Minister
ducing theni to invest in its agriMad >ona Id's statement in the House
cultural development. Purchase of
of Commons that Britain does not
land by the Arabs, they insist, will
intend to relinquish her mandate or
not only result in considerable finabrogate the Balfour Declaration.
ancial profit to investors but will
•
3
�APRIL, 1930
51
27, 1927, and their resolve to extend
the hand of conciliation to the
French on an honorable basis.
Later elections were held to the
SYRIA
Constituent Assembly in which the
The official view of the Syrian Nationalists emerged victors and
Nationalist Party is that the polit- made a sincere attempt to interpret
ical situation in the country is the will of the nation in formulatgrowing more alarming. The nation ing the draft of the constitution.
is being driven to desperation by the Great was their surprise when they
continued inaction of the French were called upon to eliminate the six
authorities in finding a suitable principal clauses which the French
solution to the present difficulties claimed to be objectionable. Then
and the protracted silence of the followed the suspension of the AsHigh Commissioner is interpreted sembly for a period of three months
as bearing ominous portent. Never- and the growing gravity of the sittheless, the Syrian official stand is uation attending this troublesome
period was such as to tax the nathat of patient waiting.
The above conclusion is deduced tion's utmost patience. This proved
from the statement published in the conclusively, however, the nation's
aptitude to weather political crises
form of an open letter to the Syrian
nation by Hashem Bey El-Atassi, inasmuch as they retained their
leader of the Syrian Nationalist self-control in spite of the increasdevelopments.
Party and President of the Con- ingly aggravating
stituent Assembly, reporting the "We have repeatedly appealed to
result of his conversation with High the nation to be patient and it conCommissioner Ponsot upon the tinually showed admirable response,
latter's return from France. The but we now entertain the gravest
meeting took place in Beirut on fear that its patience will soon be
April 11 and El-Atassi's statement exhausted as a result of repeated
was published on the 15th. Through- disappointments."
out the document there runs a feelThe statement further points out
ing of deep disappointment and bit- that the Syrian nation adhered to
terness but hope is nevertheless its policy of peaceful cooperation
manifested in the ultimate success in spite of repeated adjournments
of the cause through the tradi- of the Assembly, hoping the French
will in the end act on their protional liberalism of France.
The Syrian leader prefaces his fessed good faith. This continued
statement by an account of the trials until Jan. 11, 1929, when the High
the
long
under which the country labored Commissioner offered
during the first eight years of awaited solution which proved only
French occupation, and in which a means for the annulment of the
there were continued efforts to reach whole constitution in that it suga proper solution of the political gested deferring action on the six
problem that would safeguard to objectionable clauses until after the
the nation its self-respect. The enactment of treaty relations bepacific intentions of the Syrians tween France and Syria. Still the
were demonstrated by the meeting Syrians showed patience and M.
of their leaders at Beirut on October Ponsot again sailed for France and
also have considerable effect on the
Arab cause politically.
:
[
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
the Syrians awaited his return with
high hopes. But weeks and months
passed without his undertaking a
move for the solution of the problem. Meanwhile the Executive Bureau of the Constituent Assembly
continued functioning within the
rights invested in it by the Assembly, and by this authority addressed
the High Commissioner suggesting
a conference. This took place in Beirut on April 11, and although it lasted over an hour all that could be
drawn out of the High Commissioner was the indefinite promise
of "undertaking soon a definite
solution of the problem based on the
same liberal attitude characterizing
his former policy."
At this point El-Atassi appeals
to the nation for further patience
and for the maintenance of the
spirit of solidarity which alone is
a guarantee of ultimate success.
"The history of nations is replete
with object lessons. No weakness
can overcome a nation unless that
nation becomes divided upon itself.
The greatest crisis in the life of any
nation is when it gives itself up to
internal quarrels and dissensions
and thereby lays itself open to the
designs of the foreigner. I would
exhort you to maintain your united
front as this is your best guarantee
of retelling the aggressor. This in
your hands is the most effective
weapon against force. For a solid
union I appeal to you, as well as forrising above personal rancor which
might stand in the way of such
union. The ground of your country
soaked with the blood of your martyrs cries loud to you to be solidly
united."
The French High Commissariat
maintained its habitual silence in
the face of these developments and
the only unconfirmed rumor ap-
mmm*
pearing in the press is that M. Ponsot is still studying the problem.
M. Ponsot paid a visit to Damascus
after his conference with the Syrian Nationalist leader but met there
only French officials. A current report is that he plans another visit
to Paris soon for a further conference with the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.
There is now in Syria a growing
tendency for joining the proposed
Arab federation under the leadership of King Ibn Saoud. Political
observers claim to see in this orientation of Syrian public opinion a
triumph of English diplomacy into
the hands of which the French are
playing unwittingly. England is now
at peace with the Arab elements and
if Syria were to be drawn into an
Arab federation France would find
herself facing a new problem which
would make her position in the
East extremely untenable.
LEBANON
The cabinet of August Pasha
Adib, formed March 25, submitted
its program to the Legislative Assembly on April 5 and was accorded
a vote of confidence. The same reform plans laid down by the Eddy
cabinet were adhered to with the exception of
those
objectionable
clauses which caused the latter's
downfall, especially those touching
on education. A new and serious
development in Lebanon is the advocacy by the Moslem element of a
change in the relations between
Lebanon and France to take the
form now existing between Iraq and
England. This movement is expected to meet with little success, but
it will tend to demonstrate to the
mandatory power the disastrous effects of its continued policy of
temporization.
-
�APRIL, 1930
5$
About Syria and Syrians
conceal the fact of his Syrian extraction. His affiliation with the
American-Syrian Federation and his
By the unanimous vote of the 54 sustained interest in all Syrian
members of the Republican Assem- public activities speak eloquently
bly District Committee of Brook- for his pride in his racial descent.
It is men such as he Who through
lyn present George C. Dagher was
elected executive member of the sheer personal ability and merit
gain the respect of the American
First Assembly District at a meetpublic
both for themselves and for
ing held on May 7, according to the
report of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle their race.
ond other metropolitan newspapers
Mr Dagher was elected to succeed
the late leader D. Harry Ralston
SYRIAN WOMAN LAWYER
who died April 4.
RECEIVES APPOINTMENT
The New York papers give long
Miss Emily Ferris, the only Syraccounts of the political and military careers of Mr. Dagher who has ian woman lawyer in New York,
been a resident of the district and was appointed Deputy Attorney
active in politics for twenty-five General for the State of New York
years and who saw service during to take office on May 1. She is to
be in charge of incompetency prothe war in an artillery regiment
The New York Syrian papers hail ceedings.
Miss Ferris has attained rapid
the election of Mr. Dagher to this
important post of leadership as success in her chosen career. Having
marking the first important success gained admission to the bar in Nebof a Syrian in national politics. The raska her native State, in 1926, she
American-Syrian
Federation
of moved to New York the following
year and in the same year was adBrooklyn, of which Mr. Dagher is
mitted
to the bar in the latter state.
a director, plans a dinner in his
She
is
a sister of the well-known
honor to be given at the Elks Club
Syrian New York lawyer Joseph W.
early in June.
Mr. Dagher is an example of the Ferris.
best type of Syrian-Americans. He
has served his country by enlistment during the war and is most SYRIAN PRINCESS
LECTURES ON SYRIA
active in serving it in politics in
times of peace. During his long
Emira Najla Bellamah of Montpolitical career his character has
real, Canada, has been giving a
been above reproach, and it was
series of lectures on Syria at the
through his sterling qualities that invitation of the Oriental Club of
he was elevated to the post of lead- McGill University of Montreal.
ership of his important district
Emira Bellamah come to America
without contest.
only a few years ago to join her
Mr. Dagher makes no attempt to
SYRIAN ELECTED
REPUBLICAN LEADER
�54
brother who is engaged in business
in Montreal. She knew very little of
English, although she had been engaged for a consideroble time in
editorial work in the mother country.
Her rapid mastery of the language
denotes the degree of her intelligence and application. The gifted
princess is to be congratulated on
her splendid efforts in bringing
obout a better knowledge of her
mother country to the people of
Canada.
SILVER JUBILEE OF
A MAKONITE PRIEST
Over one hundred and fifty guests
met at the Hotel Statler in Boston
on Sunday, April 27, to celebrate
the twenty-fifth anniversary of the
ordination of Chor-Bishop Stephen
El-Douaihy to
the
priesthood.
Among the celebrants were delegations from many distant cities.
Elias F. Shamon, President of the
Jubilee Association, was toastmaster. Speakers included Miss Labeebee A. J. Hanna, "An appreciation
of Monsignor Douaihy" followed by
a poem, "Planted in Lebanon"; ExCongressman Joseph A. Conry, former Ambassador to Russia; Rev.
Michael Saab; District Attorney
William J. Foley; Monsignor Abouzaid; Mrs. Mary Ahwaji; George
Faour; Mirshed Abdo; Joseph Reesha and Josepn J. Sarofeen.
Mgr. Douaihy was presented with
a gold purse which he immediately
pledged for the erection of a new
church and school.
In the course of his speech the
Hon. S. A. Conry said: "You should
not bend your knee to any. Your
race is as good as any of the others.
The teachings of your people have
been granted by parents who de-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
serve t'he greatest amount of respect. Developing fiction can not
equal the work of your country."
"The best sailors, from Tyre," he
continued, "had accomplishments
which have never been surpassed
The courage and bravery of the men
and the beauty of the women have
been unequaled by secular or religious history.
"The Irish have the greatest affection for you. We are related. The
Irish came from there originally—
the Phoenicians for old Erin. From
them the Irish descended.
"On behalf of His Honor Mayor
Curley, I re-welcome you here for a
strong building of the commonwealth."
District Attorney Foley said, "I
can honestly and sincerely say that
your people have given me less
trouble than any other people, and
I am proud of you."
NEW MILLION-DOLLAR
BANK IN SYRIA
The Arabic press of Beirut an^
nounces definitely the success of Mr.
Paul Knabenshu, former American
consul in Beirut and American consul in Jerusalem, in the organization of a Syrian-American bank with
a capitalization of $1,000,000.
Mr. Knabenshu had conceived the
idea of the bank when he was still
in Beirut, but owing to his transfer
was unable to complete the details.
The capital stock of the bank is
divided into twenty thousand shares
of $50.00 each, fifty per cent, of
which is reserved for American subscribers, forty for Syrians and Lebanese and ten for French.
The Syrian-Lebanese quota was
over-subscribed immediately
the
shares were offered.
!
�J
APRIL, 1930
Syrian papers further announce
that Mr. Knabenshu has sailed for
the United States to raise the necessaiy American quota. Mr. .). P.
Morgan is said to have consented
to act as chairman of the Board of
Directors.
RIHAN1 FETE I)
BY COUNTRYMEN
A correspondent in Los Angeles
writes that while in that city on
his Western lecture tour, our noted
author and traveler Ameen Rihani
was extended a banquet by the Syrian and Lebanese community at
the Hotel Roosevelt at which over
150 were present.
George A. Fuleihan of Hollywood
was master of ceremonies and introduced the speakers who included
Charles Andrews, P. A. Be Hennesy,
M. K. Doumani, Dr. A. S. Abdel
Nur, Charles Cressaty, S. K. Karam,
Miss Helen Gastine and Miss Margaret Andrews.
55
Readers of The Syrian World can
lend their co-operation to the cause
of better understanding between
the Syrians and other races by in
ducing their friends to tune in on
the coming talk of the editor which
is designed to show the Syrians in
their proper light.
SYRIAN JUNIOR LEAGUE
GIVES DINNER-DANCE
The Syrian Junior League of New
York gave a dinner-dance o.i the
roof garden of the Hotel St. George
in Brooklyn on May 10 which was
attended by 350 guests.
The Brooklyn department store at
Fredrick Loeser conducted the fashion parade held in conjunction with
the affair.
Miss Adele Macsoud, President of
the League, made a statement on
the organization's activities. The
speakers of the evening were William Catzeflis and Assad Milkie.
SYRIAN SOCIETY HOLDS
ELECTION ^AND DANCE
COMING RADIO TALK
P»Y S. W. EDITOR
The editor of The Syrian World
will speak over station WPCH in
New York City, at 4 P. M., on Sunday, June 8, on the subject of Syrians in New York City and the
United States. The program will be
under the auspices of the Young
Men's Christian Association and the
Reconciliation Trips.
Although this will be the second
time the editor will broadcast under
the auspices of the above named organizations, he has already given
many radio talks on Syria and the
Syrians since his return last year
from Syria.
The Syrian Young Men's Society
of Los Angeles, Cal., held its annual
meeting for the election of officers
for the season 1930-31, the successful ticket being as follows: Leon Saliba, President; Leo Saad, VicePresident; Samuel Mamey, Secretary; Elias Baker, Treasurer.
Previous to the induction of the
new regime, the society gave a
dance on April 30 at the Diana Studio Ballroom which was attended by
about five hundred of the best element of the Syrian community. Albert Dager acted as master of ceremonies for the evening and introduced both the retiring ond incoming officers.
�56
LEBANESE SCIENTIST
AIDED IN WORK
We are glad to copy from "Science," the official organ of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, the following
announcement appearing in its issue of April 25:
"The Committee on Scientific Research of the American Medical Association has made an appropriation
of $500 to the department of bacteriology of the School of Medicine
and Dentistry of the University of
Rochester at Rochester, N. Y., for
research on chemotherapy in tuberculosis. The grant is to aid the
work of Dr. George Knaysi, of the
New York State College of Agriculture, who has been granted leave
of absence by Cornell University
and will conduct his experiments at
the University of Rochester."
Dr. Knaysi plans a visit to Syria
this summer and will sail early in
June.
SYRIAN GIRL WINS
POPULARITY CONTEST
I
The Elk City Daily News of Elk
City, Oklahoma, announces in its issue of April 5 that Miss Vaughncille
Joseph and her co-worker, Miss Bessie Shadid, have won the beauty and
popularity contest conducted by the
leading mercantile establishments of
Elk City. The winners will accompany the Beauty Queens of fifteen
other cities of Oklohoma on an
eighteen-day tour of the Western
part of the United States. The whole
party is to consist of thirty-two
women who will travel in a private
pullman car.
Bessie is the daughter of Dr. and
Mrs. M. Shadid of Elk City. Miss
Joseph is a music teacher and a
THE SYRIAN WORLD
studio director of the radio broadcasting station KGMP. Both young
ladies are eighteen years of age
and graduates of high school.
SYRIAN BOY WINS
ORATORICAL CONTEST
The Lake Charles American-Press
of April 11 publishes on its first
page a picture of Edward L. Shaheen with the announcement that
he had won the State oratorical contest of Louisiana and was to go to
Kansas City to enter the zone contest to be held sometime in May.
Edward is a Syrian boy of nineteen who 'has been in this country
not over ten years and whose academic career has been one of extraordinary success. He is the son of
Louis Shaheen Baaclini of Bzebdin,
Lebanon.
SIX BROTHERS
IN ONE SCHOOL
The American University of Beirut is perhaps the only educational
institution in the world that can
claim the distinction of having six
brothers attending its classes at the
same time. They are the sons of Dr.
Dawud Suleiman Bulus who graduated from the University in 1905.
The boys range in age from six to
sixteen, and accommodations for all
are provided in the university.
Dr. Bulus has held many important medical posts in the Near East
and was a captain in the medical
corps of the Egyptian army. He is
now chief of the Haifa Hospital.
The delay attending the publication of this issue permits reporting
news for a part of May.
�I
APRIL, 1930
SOUND PICTURES AROUSE
INTEREST IN SYRIA
By Vice Consul D. F. MrGnnigal,
Beirut.
(From Commerce Reports)
The first talking pictures to be
shown in Syria were exhibited on
February 12, 1930, at a theater in
Beirut. The American sound system
was used. The program consisted of
an animated cartoon, a one-reel comedy, a news reel and an American
feature picture starring a famous
French actor. All were talking films
and all were in English with the
exception of a few songs and monologues in French.
The program aroused the enthusiasm of the local public and there
seemed to be little objection to the
fact that the dialogue was in English. The theater, which seats about
700, doubled its prices, increased the
number of its weekly performances
from 11 to 21, and extended the
showing of the program from 1 to
2 weeks. The average weekly receipts of the theater when showing
silent pictures is understood to have
been about $375, whereas the gross
receipts for the first week of the
talking picture is said to have been
$3,307 and $1,575 the second week.
The cost of the program for the two
weeks is reported to have been
about $1,000.
Other theater owners have been
impressed by the success of the
talking-film exhibition and are considering the installation of sound
equipment.
The local censorship law provides
for the showing of all pictures at
the French High Commission but
as the official projection hall is not
equipped to handle sound pictures,
the Beirut exhibitors arranged to
have the censors come to their thea-
$7
tor for the required examination.
Although no new official rulings
have been announced, it is understood by the exhibitors that a sound
picture found unsuitable will be rejected as a whole and no attempt
will be made to modify it in any
way, because of the technical difficulties involved.
It is too early to predict the effect
of the introduction of sound pictures into Syria on the market for
silent pictures, but it would appear
that the demand for silent pictures
will continue active for some time
to come.
SYRIA INVADED BY LOCUSTS
In spite of all efforts to check
their advance, the locusts are making considerable headway in their
invasion of Syria and Lebanon. The
latest reports indicate that swarms
of the pests have appeared in the
vicinity of Beirut. In the district of
Damascus they have invaded the
Ghouta, after having overrun the
plains of Hauran and Jebel Druze.
Further north they have reached
the outskirts of Aleppo.
The governments of all mandated
countries are taking the most energetic measures to destroy the eggs
before 'hatching in an effort to save
the crops.
REVIVING A DEAD
SYRIAN
CITY
The Syrian government is actively engaged in rebuilding the famous
city of Palmyra, once the capital of
Queen Zenobia who for a time successfully challenged the authority
of Rome. Already 100 lots have
been awarded settlers and 45 houses
built. The highway leading to Damascus is being paved and the debris of the old native houses removed from within the enclosure of
the Great Temple.
�58
THE SYRIAN WORLD
STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, CIRCULATION
of The Syrian World, published monthly at New York, N. Y., Apr. 1st,1930
STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK.
Before me, a Notary Public, in and for the state and county aforesaid,
personally appeared Salloum A. Mokarzel, who, having been duly sworn
according to law, deposes and says that he is the publisher of The Syrian
World, and that the following is, to the best of his knowledge and belief,
a true statement of the ownership, management (and if a da.ly paper, the
circulation), etc., of the aforesaid publication for the date shown in the
above caption, required by the Act of August .24, 1921, embodied in section
411, Postal Laws and Regulations, printed on the reverse of th s form, to wit:
1. That the names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing
editor, and business managers are:
Name of—
Post office address—
Publisher, Salloum A. Mokarzel,
104 Greenwich Street.
Editor, Salioum A. Mokarzel,
104 Greenwich Street.
Managing Editor, Salloum A. Mokarzel
104 Greenwich Street.
Business Managers, Salloum A. Mokarzel,
104 Greenw.ch Street.
2. That the owner is: (If owned by a corporation, its name and address
must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses
of stockholders owning or holding one per cent, or more of total amount of
stock. If not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of the individual owners must be given. If owned by a firm, company or other unincorporated concern, its name and address, as well as those of each individual
member, mhst be given.)
Salloum A. Mokarzel,
104 Greenwich Street.
3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 per cent, or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other secur.ties are: (If there are none, so state.) None.
4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of the owners, stockholders, security holders, if any, contain not only the list of
stockholders and security holders as they appear upon the books of the
company but also, in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears
upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation,
the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting is
given; also that the said two paragraphs contain statements embracing affiant's full knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the
books of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity
other than that of a bona fide owner; and this affiant has no reason to believe that any other person, association, or corporation has any interest
direct or indirect in the said stock, bonds or other securities than as so
stated by him.
5. That the average number of copies of each issue of this publication
sold or distributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the six months preceding the date shown above is.
(This information is required from daily publications only.)
S. A. Mokarzel.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 11th day of April, 1930.
[SEAL]
EDNA M. HUCKER,
(My commission expires March 30, 1932.)
�
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Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
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English
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
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NS 0002
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
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Identifier
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TSW1930_04reducedWM
Title
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The Syrian World Volume 04, Issue 08
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930 April
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 4 Issue 08 of The Syrian World published April 1930. The issue opens with an interview conducted by Salloum Mokarzel with El-Atassi, a Syrian Nationalist Leader and President of the Constituent assembly. This is followed by a quote by Kahlil Gibran titled "Helpfulness." The most important article in this issue is Rev. W. A. Mansur's writing about the transitional period occurring in America
in his story he has a Syrian character deliver an imaginary speech to the United States Senate, apropos of some derogatory remarks made against Syrians in America. This is followed by two poems, one by Najla Sabe and the other by Paul Deab. Louis Maron then presents one of his short stories titled "The Return Home," which recounts the story of a boy named Najib and his journey back and forth between Lebanon and the United States over several years. Salloum Mokarzel, the editor, then presents another portion of his journey through Lebanon, covering his travels from Beirut to the Palestine border. The last work in the issue is a poem by Jonard Egis (using a nom de plume) titled "The Syrian Laborer." The issue closes with the Reader's Forum, excerpts from the Arab press, and more on political developments in Syria.
Subject
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Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
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English
Creator
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
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Text/pdf
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Text
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1930s
El-Atassi
Immigration
Kahlil Gibran
Lebanon
Najla Sabe
New York
Palestine
Paul Deab
Poetry-English
Reverend W.A. Mansur
Travel
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/d99bb6615d2b34c33c935625e5570a0f.pdf
01b1f456b17ac20a383248d63638c76d
PDF Text
Text
DECEMBER, 1930
VOL. V. No. IV.
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
A
MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
H
l
Hi?
M
WHAT EVERY SYRIAN BOY AND GIRL OUGHT
TO KNOW
REV. W. A. MANSUR
I
p
1
ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION OF SYRIA
PROCEEDS .SLOWLY
LOVE AND WAR IN THE DESERT
THE TWO SEAS
PHARES BEHANNESEY
§%2
ALI ZAIBAQ (QUICKSILVER)
(A SERIAL)
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
§
��THE
SYRIAN WORLD
Tublished monthly except July and August
by
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104 Greenwich St., New York. N. Y.
Ey subscription $5.00 a year.
Singia Copies 50c
Entered as second class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New York,
N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. V.
No. IV.
DECEMBER, 1930
CONTENTS
PAGE
What Every Syrian Boy and Girl Ought to Know ........
REV.
W. A.
7
MANSUR
Song ..
13
G. K. GlBRAN
Economic Reconstruction of Syria Proceeds Slowly
14
D. F. MCGONIGAL
Vice Consul, Beirut
The End and the Beginning (Poem)
20
AMEEN RIHANI
The Two Seas
21
PHARES BEHANNESFV
11
�CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
In the Garden of Love (Poem)
DR. SALIM
Y.
26
ALKAZIN
Love and War in the Desert
27
On His Friends (Poem)
34
J. D. C-ARLYLE
Alt Zaibaq (Serial)
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
35
and
The Gardener (Poem)
THADDEUS
S.
DAYTON
41
THOMAS ASA
Editorial Comment:—Racial Considerations
43
Syrian Societies
45
Readers' Forum
45
Political Developments in Syria
4g
About Syria and Syrians
51
�BEL
IN THIS ISSUE
GE !
5
1
^O more timely subject
could be chosen for discussion than that which forms the
topic of Rev. W. A. Mansur's
article in this issue. We feel
confident that readers will find
as much pleasure in reading it
as the author experienced in
writing it. And judging by the
letter of the Rev. Mansur accompanying the article, this was
one that swelled his heart with
more joy than any he has heretofore written. When readers
would have finished with it
they will concur in our opinion
that it supplies the essence of
the educational program which
the Syrian-American generation
should follow. We would be
inclined to counsel every Syrian boy and girl to read it not
only once, but repeatedly at
regular intervals, so as to keep
alive in their memory the fundamental requirements of their
racial education. The article,
besides, will be found replete
with historical information and
copious quotations which seem
always new and enlightening.
An appraisal of Rev. Mansur's
contributions is published in the
Readers' Forum of this issue,
and we believe that his present
article will raise much higher
the appreciation of this patriotic
clergyman's efforts by the
grateful Syrian-American generation to whom he has become
such a wise and benevolent
mentor.
J^ story with a real thrill is
that of War and Love in
the JDesert which, contrary to
expectations, is not translated
from a book, nor does it deal
with a happening of long ago,
but is most modern and is being
treated sensationally by the
contemporary press of Syria.
The story revolves upon the
love of an impetuous young
sheikh for a beautiful maiden
of another tribe which culminates in his kidnaping her.
Then the desert is set aflame
with the spirit of war. Murders
are committed and reprisals
planned, and thousands of warriors assemble to confer on
strategy and methods of revenge. Those who relish a burning love story staged in the
burning sands of the desert by
a genuine sheikh lover will
find this story after their own
heart.
�I gTILL more thrilling and replete with the fantastic creaI tions of a most fertile Oriental
. imagination is the present installment of the serial Ali Zai, baq. Our hero in his present
exploit goes out to seek the AllSeeing Eye in the Enchanted
Isle. You will be thrilled by
"his extravagant adventures in
encountering the ever-playing
swords that reduce great stones
to powder. And you will be
more thrilled when you follow
the hero on his return journey,
expecting to meet the king,
and, incidentally, his beautiful
daughter, only to find the city
besieged by a great army of
Blacks. Follow Ali Zaibaq in
his adventures and you will be
fully compensated.
RUT not all the material of
this issue is of this nature.
The article on the economic conditions in Syria, based on consular reports, will prove most
instructive. The general information it contains on the resources of the country and the
efforts of the government is
most comprehensive.
'THOSE who ponder the peculiar social order in America
will appreciate the editorial entitled Racial Considerations.
There are facts continually
challenging our attention which
we just as persistently overlook
or ignore. The case in point
here cited should give Syrians
in America ample food for
thought.
THE department About Syria
and Syrians is always interesting. It may prove extremely
so now to those interested in
the future of this publication.
The report of the dinner held
in New York to discuss the Syrian World Corporation gives
an idea of what our leading
men think about our racial heritage and the means of preserving it.
There is also in this issue a
liberal amount of poetry by
such outstanding names as Rihani, Gibran, Alkazin and Asa.
Political developments in
Syria are, as usual, treated concisely and comprehensively.
Palestine, Syria proper and
Lebanon are undergoing remarkable changes which are
here faithfullv recorded.
�-
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. V.
No. IV.
DECEMBER, 1930
What Every Syrian Boy and Girl
Ought to Know
TIMELY ADVICE TO THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN
GENERATION
By
IB
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
""pHE idea of this publication," said S. A. Mokarzel, founder
of THE SYRIAN WORLD, "was conceived in the spirit of
service to the Syrian-American generation." He stated that,
one of our chief objects in helping Syrian-Americans discover themselves is to breed in them a consciousness of appreciation for their racial qualities and inheritances so that they may
comport themselves with a befitting sense of honor as citizens of
this great American nation.1' (Syrian World, Vol. L No. 1, Tulv,
1926.) .
.
When Syrian boys and girls know that their ancestors are
among the greatest people, of all times they will become proud
of their race. When Syrian boys and girls understand that their
forefathers gave to humanity the greatest legacies of all ages
they will appreciate the splendor of their fame. When Syrian
boys and girls realize that they are descendants of a most illustrious race, that they possess superior talents, and that they are
destined to become foremost among the peoples of the earth
they will become enlightened as to their place in the world.
Now is the time for Syrian boys and girls to become intelligently informed about their race history, race ancestry, race talent, and race heritage. Now is the hour for Syrian boys and girls
to become enlightened about the glorious place of the native
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
land of their race and its relation to the races, nations, and peoples of the earth. Now is the period for Syrian boys and girls
to awaken to the appreciation of their race history, their superior
race talents, and their potentialities for race progress to a foremost place among the races, nations, and empires of the earth.
Therefore in order to Awaken Syrian boys and girls to an intelligent understanding of Syrian race history, to arouse them to
appreciation of Syrian race inheritance, and to spur them to high
achievement through race appreciation, race pride, race solidarity,
and race progress, I thought it good to write of some elementary
things every Syrian boy and girl ought to know.
/. Every Syrian Boy and Girl Ought to Know the Importance
of the Geography of Syria.
Of vital significance to the right understanding of the Syrian
race, its character, its history, and its future is the knowledge of
Syria's geographical location, its topographical condition, and its
relation to the rest of the countries, races, and nations of the earth.
"Syria, the name given generally to the land lying between
the eastermost shore of the Levantine Gulf and a natural inland
boundary formed in part by the Middle Euphrates and in part
by the western edge of the Hamad, or desert steppe. The northern limit is the Tauric system of mountains, and the southern
limit the edge of the Sinaitic desert. This long strip extends,
therefore, for about 400 m. between 38' and 31' N. lat. with
a mean breadth of about 150 m." (Encyclopaedia Brittanica,
article, SYRIA.)
The physical geography of Syria is one of the most important
keys to the right understanding of Syria, Syrians, their character,
their history, their problems, their religions, and their world view.
Syria's location on the map will reveal its relation to neighbouring
nations, races, and cultures. It will show Syria's relation to ancient
world empires: Egypt, Babylonia, Nineveh, Assyria, Macedonia,
Greece, and Rome and others.
Syria has been called a battle-ground, a market-place, and an
international highway between empires, races, and cultures. Syria
has been called a hub, a bridge, a link between Asia, Europe and
Africa. Syria has been called the mother of religion, the cradle
oi civilization, and the promoter of commerce.
Already Syria is becoming the center of world interest. With
the awakening of the Syrian race, with the entrance of the Syrian
�'DECEMBER, 1930
Rev. W. A. Mansur
Minister of the First Methodist Church of Winside, Nebraska,
nation into modern civilization, and with the rise of surrounding
nations into the family of modern nations, Syria will again become
the center, the hub, the bridge, and the highway of world activities.
Every Syrian boy and girl ought to know the geography of
Syria, its reJation to other countries, races, and cultures, and its
effect on the Syrian race: its character, its religion, its problems,
its culture.
//. Every Syrian Boy and Girl Ought to Know the Origin of
the Syrian Race.
The modern Syrian race is Caucasian of race, Semitic in stock,
and white in color. The racial stock of the Syrian race is of Semitic origin. Being centrally located, Syria became the meeting place
�8
THE SYRIAN WORLD
of races, nations, and cultures. Into Syria came, repeatedly, various racial admixtures. This explains the highly mixed character
of the Syrian nation, the Syrian race, and the Syrian culture This
explains the presence of a variety of people in modern Syria
Ihis explains the presence of numerous religions in modern
Yn
C
«Tu
?kl oS the natUre of the Problems of modern Syria.
The modern Syrians," says Philip K. Hitti in "The Syrians
m America " "are the remnant of the ancient Phoenician-Canaanite tribes who entered Syria about 2500 B. C, the Aramean-IsraeledC ifS arnved about} S00 B. C, and the Arabs who drift
ed, and still drift in, from the desert and gradually pass from a
nomadic to an agricultural state.
"With this Semitic stock as a substratum the Syrians are a highly
Wh m s0me ri htl
cZt *"£
f y tr^e their origin back to the
j° ,
Greek settlers and colonists of the Selucida, period, others to the
Prankish and other European Crusaders, still others to Kurdish
and .Persian invaders and immigrants."
The Syrian race has survived many recurring invasions: military, racial, and religious. The language of the invaders and con-
e ASE
6 kngU age f
"
° ^
W:
** ^
Aram
^
^,-Af' f^°karze1' leader of the Syrian-American awakening,
said. In the same manner that the Americans are a highly mixed
nation because^tney are drawn from many racial strains, so are
the Syrians Drawing an analogy, we may safely state that the
Tynans, ethnologically, are the Americans of the Old World "
(Syrian World, Editorial, May, 1930.)
The Syrian-Americans are progressive in spirit, possess religl°Z T'i mSlght'r P[°m0te mUtUal Welfare> ^-abiding and
abide by the vote of the majority, highly intellectual, adaptable,
industrious, home-loving, and country defending citizens
III Every Syrian Boy and Girl Ought to Know the Syrian Race
Legacies to the World.
"YefpW Gibb0'^T in ^History of the Roman Empire,
^et Phoenicia and Palestine will forever live in the memory of
Wdl aS Euro e h
H SmCe ^"T?'
P > ^ received leTters
irom the one and religion from the other."
George Adam Smith says in Syria and the Holy Land, "Syria
chiefly, because it includes Phoenicia and Palestine, has been of
greater significance to mankind, spiritually and materially, than
1* .„,
H:
�•TiTiirTiirfirTiiiiiMBiiimii[>iifMiiilwn
"DECEMBER, 1930
,.
0
any other single country in the world."
«v W'lliam A* Masson says i" A History of the Art of Writing
\ et these two Semitic nations, the Phoenicians and the Israelites!
have influenced more profoundly the western civilization and the
culture and refinement of Europe than all the civilizations that
have preceded them."
• ^7 S£iaa h°y and gIrl OUSht t0 klww ^at Syria, because
it includes Ihoemcia and Palestine, is the greatest benefactor of
the nations, races and countries of the earth. Every continent
every race, and every civilization is for all time indebted to the
Syrian race and its native-land. While Greece gave her culture,
Kome her Jaw, Syria is eternally giving the world the Syrian
Gospel: the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man, and
the Kingdom of Universal Peace.
Every Syrian boy and girl ought to know that Svria is great
m the annals of mankind, spiritually, morally, and materially
Uur ancestors, the Phoenicians, gave mankind the alphabet, the
art or navigation, and trans-marine commerce. Our forefathers
of the pre-Christian era, produced the highest ideas in religion!
morals, philosophy, and society. Our forbears, of Christian times
initiated the spirit that Christianized mankind. Our medieval
fathers carried civilizing influences to Europe, Asia, and Africa
Every Syrian boy and girl ought to know that they are the
custodians of the legacies of the Syrian race, that they are the car- '
ners of the blood strains of the great peoples of the past, that
they are destined to become one of the greatest people in modern
times.
IV. Every Syrian Boy and Girl Ought, to Know the Reasons for
Syrian Emigration.
We Syrians emigrated to escape the deadlock which dominated
our beloved motherland in search for religious, political, and economic freedom in the world. With the breakdown of military
autocracy economic exploitation, and intolerable ignorance the
m de
°
7Lmn went everywhere in pursuit of religious freedom,
political liberty, and economic independence. We have found
freedom from overpowering religious intolerance, we have found
liberty from oppression by autocratic control, we have found independence from enslavement bv economic exploitation
N. A. Mokarzel, with true insight, says, "The only influence
in the East that should be reckoned with is that of the clergy
.-.
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The whole political structure seems to be still raised on religious
foundations." He says further that "..... the real influence governing the peoples in all walks of life is paramountly religious."
(Syrian World, May, 1930, in editorial, Al-Hoda, Feb 28
1930.)
'
S. A. Mokarzel, with true observation, says, "Religion seems
to be in that country the axis upon which revolves all human activities and with which is inalienably involved the whole social
fabric, from the family, to the clan, to the whole nation." (Syrian World, May, 1927, The Religious Problem in the East.)'
Every Syrian boy and girl ought to know that the backgrounds
of the political, economic, and cultural life of the Syrian people
are different religious philosophies of life. They ought to know
that from such religious backgrounds developed the deadlock
which in turn brought on the causes which eventuated in the Syrian emigration to the ends of the earth.
With the understanding of the background of the thought,
feeling, and life of the Syrian people we shall understand better
the causes of their emigration. Philip K. Hitti, with true historical accuracy, says, "The primary impulse for Syrian emigration can be faced back, in the main, to economic causes, yet it
cannot be wholly explained on that ground. The movement is
the resultant of a combination of political and religious forces as
well."
We Syrian-Americans have found religious freedom, political liberty, and economic independence in our American homeland.
Syrian boys and girls, descendants of the foremost race emigration, race expansion, and race progress in modern times, guard
well the spiritual heritage entrusted to thy keeping for the glory
of God, home, and posterity!
V. Every Syrian Boy and Girl Ought to Know the Patriotic
Loyalty of the Syrian Race to America,
S A. Mokarzel, leader of the Syrian awakening, says, "During all the time they have been in America, the Syrians have
proven themselves most law-abiding and loyal to the institutions
of the country." (Syrian World, Radio Address, The Syrians in
America, May, 1930.)
«* ?' JS G,-bran SayS 'n "T° Y°UnS Americ*ns of Syrian Origin,"
And I believe that it is in you to be good citizens." (Syrian
m
SB
.:
�__
i1
'DECEMBER, 1930
11
World, July, 1926.)
Talcott Williams says of the Syrians in America, "None more
swiftly feels the American spirit
". (Syrian World, Tune,
1930.)
' J
'
We Syrian-Americans became Americans first in our hearts.
We have chosen to make America a permanent homeland. We
have decided to uphold America's Constitution, laws, and institutions. We have proven our American loyalty by an honorable
record of upright citizenship.
We Syrian-Americans stand for America first and nothing
else. Let it be remembered that we still hold in loving memory
the native land of our race, that we will maintain the identity of
our race, that we shall preserve the traditions of our famous' ancestors. We want to be clearly understood, without equivocation
or mental reservation, that we give first place to our American
homeland, that we uphold single allegiance to our country, and
that we will always be ready for America's defense against all
enemies. We Syrian-Americans urge our posterity to abide by
the Constitution, to acquiesce in the vote of the majority, to stand
for religious freedom, free speech, free press, loyal citizenship,
and for the nation's defense.
Every Syrian boy and girl ought to know that loyalty to
America is fundamental to the honor of the Syrian name, the
prosperity of our posterity, and the progress of the Syrian race
everywhere.
VI. Every Syrian Boy and Girl Ought to Know the Progress of
the Syrian Race in America.
Every Syrian boy and girl ought to know of the splendor of
the Syrian race progress in America: materially, religiously, morally, patriotically, and culturally. S. A. Mokarzel says with
pride in an article on the History of the Syrians in New York,
"The Syrian community in New York may well be taken as an
example of all other communities, although in some respects it
enjoys certain distinctions which cannot be claimed by all others.
In general, however, what is said of the Syrians of New York
applies equally to all sister communities." (Syrian World Nov
1927.)
We Syrian-Americans, sons and daughters of the famous
Phasnicians, are now duplicating achievement and glory similar
to that which was enjoyed by our illustrious ancestors. Arthur
— .n .
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Brisbane commenting on the Phoenicians, who are Semites, says,
lime has wiped out the empires of Alexander and of Rome.
And on the other side of the Atlantic, crossed by Semitic ships
so Jong ago, Semitic trading genius rules in a mw world There
is more organized Semitic trade between Fourteenth and FiftvNinth streets m New York than there ever was in all Phoenicia
and Carthage." (Jan. 6, 1930.)
Every Syrian boy and girl ought to know that intelligent
understanding of our race progress will create self-appreciation
of our racial inheritance, arouse race pride, and inspire the mind
and heart toward high ambition, noble living, and glorious
achievement. Probably no race in America can boast the miraculous prosperity that has been achieved within the lifetime of the
Syrian pioneers in America.
Our Syrian race progress may be exemplified by N A Mokarzel, the Journalist; Antonius Bishallany, the Pioneer: G K
Ubran, the Poet; Ameen Rihani, the Traveller; Philip K Hitti
the Historian; and S. A. Mokarzel, the Leader. Many others
are rising to prominence through splendid achievement.
In the fields of business, industry, and commerce; in religion
morals, and citizenship; in journalism, literature, and scholarship; in leadership philanthropy, and progress, the Syrians in
America are second to none in their rise and achievement to a
ioremost place among the races in America.
VII. Every Syrian Boy and Girl Ought to Know the Challenges
of the Hour to Syrian-American Youth.
Every Syrian boy and girl ought to know they are being challenged to great achievement because they are the custodians of
the Syrian race heritage, because they are the founders of the
Syrian race in America, and because they are the ancestors of the
glorious Syrian race posterity.
We pioneers of the Syrian race in America bequeath it as
our last will and testament to our posterity to uphold the honor
of our Syrian name in America. We urge you to maintain our
bynan race identity among the races in America. We challenge
you to law-abiding citizenship; to constant industrious living- to
continued mental, moral, and religious enlightenment; and to
preserve mental, religious, and political freedom.
Talcott Williams says of the Syrians in America, "No more
intellectual immigration has come to us in the past forty years
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DECEMBER, 1930
13
None more swiftly feels the American spirit, or retains more
tenaciously the spirit of Syria and the Syrians." (Syrian World,
June, 1930, or, Hitti's The Syrians in America.)
Every Syrian boy and girl ought to know that the blood of
our ancestors calls upon them to maintain the splendor of their
name by high achievement. Every Syrian boy and girl ought to
know that the illustrious legacies of our forefathers challenge
them to uphold the glory of their fame by great progress. Every
Syrian boy and girl ought to know that we Syrian-American pioneers urge them to glorify the honorable foundation for Syrian
race greatness laid down by the Syrian pioneer fathers in America.
We Syrian-American pioneers in America believe Syrian youth
will ever honor the Syrian name by their race awakening, race
achievement, and race progress. We are confident because of our
reliance upon their race heritage. We are certain because of our
faith in their race pride. We are sure because we have laid a
glorious foundation for Syrian race enlightenment, race achievement, and race progress in America.
Song
Bv G. K. Gi BRAN
A great singer is he who sings our silences.
How can you sing when your mouth is filled with food?
How shall your hand be raised in blessing if it is filled with
gold?
They say the nightingale pierces his bosom with a thorn when
he sings his love song.
So do we all. How else should we sing?
The song that lies silent in the heart of a mother sings upon
the lips of her child.
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Economic Reconstruction in Syria
Proceeds Slowly
Public Works Program Expands—Crop Returns Improve, But
Prices Lower—Credit Stringency Continues.
Based on Reports From Vice Consul D. F.
and Official Sources.
MCGONIGAL,
(From Commerce Reports, Oct. 13, 1930.)
Beirut,
-
RECENT developments in Syria point to a gradual expansion
of the public-works program, with a view to expediting the
economic reconstruction of the country. Activity has been particularly evident in port improvements, road extension and repairs, and exploitation of the water-power resources. While funds
for this work have been limited by the adverse economic situation, the growing need of these projects has brought about a
moderate increase in allotments from Government revenues. The
plans were aided somewhat by the less unsatisfactory economic
conditions in 1929, when crop returns were considerably larger
than in the preceding year, though prices were lower and industry
was more active. Domestic trade continued to suffer from the
impaired purchasing power of the population as a result of the
poor crop returns in 1927 and 1928, and this was reflected in the
difficulties of many importers and the continued credit stringency.
Budget revenues have been fairly satisfactory, with a small surplus indicated. Increased imports in 1929 resulted in a larger
adverse trade balance, and trade with the United States expanded.
Agricultural Production Larger.
After two years of poor yields, returns for 1929 showed
bumper crops for the country's leading products. The benefits
from these favorable returns were, however, considerably reduced
by a sharp decline in the world prices. The fruit crop was excellent, with the orange output about twice the normal returns, or
approximately 40,000 metric tons. Orange exports were favo'red
by the opening of the Russian market. Grape production was
H
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'DECEMBER, 1930
15
larger, but marketing was difficult because of smaller domestic
demand. The olive output was larger, but this crop also was
affected by diminished demand from both local and foreign
sources. Activity in the licorice-root trade was restricted by the
imposition of a heavy tax.
Cocoon production totaled 3,500 metric tons, as compared
with 3,350 metric tons in 1928. The development of cocoon culture continued during the year, with free distribution of mulberry
trees by the Government. Further progress was made in the
culture of cotton, production in the State of Syria amounting to
2,466 metric tons in 1929 as against 570 metric tons in 1928. In
the Alaouites the cotton crop totaled 710 metric tons, as against
half that amount the year before.
Government nurseries and agricultural experiment stations
were active during 1929j in the Alaouites, 250,000 trees, mostly
orange and pistachio, were distributed.
The number of sheep in the State of Syria increased from
1,934,000 in 1928 to 2,239,000 in 1929, with similar increases
in other regions, due to favorable weather. As a result, the wool
clip was reported to be excellent.
Industry Active.
Industry, which is relatively small in Syria, was fairly active
during 1929, textile manufacturing showing the principal gain.
Modernization of industry in general continued, with the establishment of many workshops and small manufacturing plants in
Damascus and Aleppo. These included principal tanneries and
plants for the manufacture of textiles. A cement factory near
Tripoli, nearly completed at the close of 1929, is expected to
produce about 50,000 tons in the first year of operation.
With a view to stimulating the creation of new industries and
encouraging development of existing ones, the Prime Minister of
the State of Syria on June 7, 1929, issued a decree authorizing
the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce to form an industrial
bank with a capital of 500,000 Syrian pounds ($392,000), part
of which will be furnished by the State Bank. A commission was
appointed to study this project.
Credit Situation Unimproved.
Owing to numerous bankruptcies in 1929 there was no change
in the credit situation, extreme caution prevailing. While bankruptcies were due in part to domestic trade conditions and to over
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Entrance to fort of Beirut where extensive facilities are being
created as fart of the public-works program.
extensions of credit by certain foreign exporters, they were also
attributable in part to the ease with which "judicial liquidations"
were arranged, thereby enabling settlement of debts at a fraction
of their value. Action by the authorities in the latter part of
1929, however, soon put an end to this practice, which had tended
to undermine legitimate business operations.
Budget Surplus Indicated.
?!
Preliminary data on budget operations in the mandated territory for the year 1929 indicate a small increase in revenues and
a slight decline in expenditures, as compared with 1928, the surplus amounting to 3,794,200 Syrian paper pounds as against 3,462,000 Syrian paper pounds for 1928 (the Syrian paper pound
equals 20 French francs, or $0,784). Revenues are estimated at
21,905,200 and expenditures at 18,111,000 Syrian paper pounds-,
the respective figures for 1928 were 21,639,000 and 18,177,000.
The decrease in expenditures is attributed to the failure to utilize
total funds allotted for public works. In the State of Syria revenues totaled 12,748,210 Syrian pounds (1,1,950,000 in 1928),
and expenditures 10,567,190 Syrian pounds (9,950,000). Budget estimates for 1930 anticipate a decline in both receipts and
expenditures from 1929.
Syrian Exchange Stable.
The Syrian-Lebanese paper pound continued stable during
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DECEMBER, 1930
17
1929, averaging $0,784, or practically unchanged from 1928.
The Turkish gold pound, which with silver still continues to serve
largely as a currency of commerce in the interior, was slightly
lower at $4.34, par being $4.40. The value of Turkish silver currency, however, slumped sharply toward the end of 1929, in sympathy with the drop in the world price of silver.
The policy of encouraging the use of Syrian instead of Turkish currency was continued during 1929 in the form of lower rediscount rates for the former. Official rediscount rates written in
Syrian paper currency averaged from 6 to 61/. per cent, and bills
written in Turkish currency from $y2 to 9 per cent. Private
rates, however, were much higher.
Small Increase in Note Circulation—New Silver Coinage.
Notes in circulation on December 31, 1929, totaled 8,730,000
Syrian-Lebanese pounds, according to the Banque de Syrie et du
Grand Libanj this compares with 8,610,000 pounds at the close
of 1928. The volume of Turkish currency in circulation in the
interior was unofficially estimated to be almost equal to the Syrian
currency, although efforts are being made to replace it with Syrian currency.
The issuance of silver coins to the nominal value of 10, 25
and 50 Syrian piasters C100 Syrian piasters equal 1 Syrian pound)
was authorized by the French High Commissioner by decree of
April 16, 1929. The maximum amount to be issued was fixed at
1,500,000 Syrian pounds, or about 50 piasters per inhabitant.
This money was expected to be put into circulation in 1930. The
decree provided further that one-third of the profit resulting
from the issue should be placed in the reserve fund and used for
currency stabilization, and the remaining two-thirds given to the
Agricultural Bank.
Ottoman Public Debt Agreement.
An agreement was signed at Paris on January 19, 1929, between the representatives of the bondholders of the Ottoman
Public Debt and the States under French mandate, under the
terms of which the Syrian States paid during 1929 the equivalent
of 1,364,910 Syrian pounds (approximately $1,070,000) in
pounds sterling. The annuities, 244,000 Turkish gold pounds
($1,073,600) until 1935, reach 415,000 Turkish gold pounds
($1,826,000) at the highest, and then gradually decrease until
�Iri'ltti lift i i ,h;
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18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
the year 2017, when the payments will end. The customs receipts
are pledged as security for payment.
Under this agreement the Syrian States' share of the capital
of the old Ottoman Debt amounts to 10,870,000 Turkish gold
pounds ($47,938,000), or 8.41 per cent, of the total.
Transport Extension gradual—Shipping Increases Slightly.
I
I I
The year witnessed a normal amount of repair, improvement,
and extension of existing roads. A regular bus service was inaugurated in October, 1929, between Beirut, Tripoli, Latakia, and
Aleppo, and work was begun on the only interurban electric railway in the mandated territory, to run from Damascus to Douma,
12 kilometers (iy2 miles) northeast of Damascus; this line will
carry freight as well as passengers.
The volume of traffic over the transdesert route between Damascus and Baghdad was well maintained during 1929, despite
the increasing competition from airplane service and the railroad
to Nissibine, which connects with Mosul and Kerkuk (Iraq) byauto service.
Airplane service between Beirut and Marseille (France) was
started in June, 1929, with weekly trips maintained throughout
the year. This line is part of the proposed route from France to
French Indo-China.
Preliminary data on shipping for 1929 indicate a small increase over 1928 in the total number and tonnage of vessels calling, at Syrian ports. For Beirut, however, the principal port, a
small decline was recorded.
Part Improvements.
Developments during the year indicate a definite program
for expansion of port facilities. New customs warehouses at Beirut, having a floor space of 7,000 square meters, were completed
during the year, and an area comprising about 30,000 square meters of the bay was filled in; the latter area is now available for
loading and unloading operations, as well as for warehouses.
Work was begun in October on the deepening and improvement
of Latakia harbor. When this is completed in about two or three
years, ships of average tonnage will be able to enter the harbor.
With a view to supplying northern Syria and southern Turkey
with gasoline, construction of storage tanks was begun in the port
of: Alexandretta. Proposed construction of a port" for airplanesat Tripoli was also announced early this year.
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'DECEMBER, 1930
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Adverse Trade Balance Larger.
Syria's foreign trade position in 1929 was less favorable than
in the preceding year, owing to an increase of 10.4 per cent, in
the total value of imports and but little change in the value of
exports. Consequently, the adverse trade balance totaled $37,187,000, as compared with $30,802,000 in 1928.
Among the imports the principal increases occurred in cotton
and cotton goods, wool and woolen goods, vehicles, animal products, oil, machines and tools, rubber, and chemicals. Some of
these, to a certain extent, reflect the increasing needs for reconstruction and development work. Declines occurred chiefly in
purchases of cereal and cereal products, fuel oils, and silk goods.
The continued heavy imports of cereals in the early months of
1929 were necessitated by the failure of the crop in 1928.
Exports and reexports, exclusive of precious metals, compare
favorably with 1928, despite the lower price obtained, as the large
increase in volume over 1928 indicates.
Wider Exploitation of Water Resources.
Important progress was made in developing the water resources of the country during 1929. A hydroelectric plant on the
Kadisha River, which will supply electric current to the city of
Tripoli and environs, was completed; work was begun on a dam
and hydroelectric plant on the River Orontes, to supply the cities
of Horns and Hama, and a similar project was begun in the last
quarter of 1929 at Nahr el Safa. The latter station will supply
power to Beirut, the villages of Deir el Kamar, Damour,- Aley,
Souk el Gharb, and Bhamdoun, as well as the radio station at
Khalde and the D. H. P. Railway shops and the military airplane
shops at Rayak. In addition, studies are also scheduled for electric-power projects on the Euphrates, Khabour, and Yarmouk
Rivers.
Radio Service Extended. A direct radio service between Beirut and New York was inaugurated on September-3, 1929. Formerly messages were relayed
via the French station, Sainte Assise. In October, 1929, radio
communication between Aleppo and Deir ezZof was'established.
France Chief Source of Imports:
-••;
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Imports in 1929 came chiefly from France, which furnished
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
13.9 per cent. (14.8 in 1928) of the total. It was followed by
the United States with 11.8 per cent. (9.8); England, 10.9 per
cent. (10); Italy, 8.4 per cent. (8.7); and Turkey, 6.7 per cent.
(7.5).
Exports and reexports went principally to the United States,
which took 17.5 per cent. (15.1 in 1928) of the total. Palestine
was next, with 16.9 per cent. (15.04); Egypt, 14.5 per cent.
(19.2); France, 12.9 per cent. (17.5); and Italy, 6.9 per cent.
(5).
Trade with United States Increases.
' Imports from the Unites States in 1929 totaled 8,586,150
Syrian-Lebanese paper pounds ($6,723,000), or 11.8 per cent, of
total, as compared with 6,466,370 Syrian-Lebanese paper pounds
($5,063,000), or 9.8 per cent, in 1928. Automobiles and accessories, cereals, and various machines and agricultural implements,
show the principal increases; declines occurred in purchases of
petroleum products, textiles, and leather.
Exports and reexports to the United States in 1929 amounted
to 4,472,240 Syrian-Lebanese paper pounds ($3,502,000), or
17.5 per cent, of total, as compared with 4,022,340 Syrian-Lebanese paper pounds ($3,149,000), or 15.01 per cent., in the preceding year. Exports declared to the United States through the
American consulate at Beirut were valued at $5,032,770, as against
$4,349,300 in the preceding year. Shipments of wool, goatskins,
nuts, camel hair, and rugs increased in value over the previous
year; the principal declines were noted in foodstuffs, licorice root,
and sheep casings.
The End and the Beginning
By
AMEEN RIHANI
The deed is done, O Kings: the blood is shed:
The sword is broken:—broken, too, the Cross.
But she, the mother eternal of the dead,
Though sorrow-laden, smiles at the loss.
You go down grimed with the blood and smoke of wars;
Your armies scattered and your banners furled;
She comes down covered with the dust of stars,
And gives her life again to build the world.
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21
The Two Seas
By
PHARES ANTON BEHANNESEY
(The following is the text of an address given by Mr. Be Hannesey
at the Lions Club of Hollywood, Calif., of which he was President in
1927. Enthusiastic admirers of Mr. Be Hannesey had thousands of copies of the address printed and handsomely bound for discriminate distribution. We are glad of the opportunity to give it further publicity.)
• ,
JN the very heart of my native land there Jie two bodies of
water that are remarkable for their physical features, past history and present aspect. The name of the one is the Sea of
Death, that of the other the Sea of Galilee. These two inland
lakes are only a few miles apart, and yet the character of the
one is as far above the other as the heavens are above the earth.
Both receive into their bosoms the same sweet waters of the
Jordan, as well as those of other mountain streams, and yet the
water of the one is intensely bitter, salty and poisonous; no life
can exist in its fatal depths, while that of the other is fresh and
wholesome, sweet to the lips of man and beast. It is especially
famous for the countless variety of fish which therein abound.
The country surrounding the Sea of Salt is as dead and barren as the Sea itself, and nourishes but two kinds of trees, and
both of those are worthless. The one is that out of which was
composed the Crown of Thorns for Him who died on Calvary;
the other has fruit resembling golden apples, which, when you
offer to taste them, crumple to ashes on your lips.
The region adjoining the Sea of Galilee is wonderful for its
surpassing fertility. Almost the year around it is a perfect paradise of beauty. Not only oranges, lemons, laurels and magnificent oleanders flourish there in profusion, but the entire country
is embellished with luxuriant wild flowers and crested with the
clinging fingers of a thousand vines; and as one inhales here the
sweet air of blossoms, and hears the chorus of the nightingales
as they chant their heavenly music, he realizes that his youthful
dreams have been fulfilled; at last Galilee with its beautiful Rose
of Sharon is all he fancied in childhood.
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The Sea of Galilee on which border hills and -plains of enchanting beauty, in marked contrast to the scenery of the Dead Sea.
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To him who may chance to visit these two unlike seas the contrast is wonderful beyond description. It is a never-to-be-forgotten moment when he looks for the first time upon the shining
waters of the Dead Sea as they extend before him to the very
horizon. Strange and memorable scene! High mountains tower
above them to the east and west and seem to rise from the gloomy
shores heavenward in their robes of purity as some celestial visitors might withdraw from the dark, evil passions of mankind.
To the south extends a long, narrow belt of sand and ashes.
From the north iiows slowly the mighty Jordan, desirous apparently to prolong its luxuriant meanderings in the silent valley,
reluctant to pour its sweet and sacred waters into the accursed
bosom of a sea doomed to inactivity. Not a cloud breaks the blue
serene of heaven and not a breath stirs the air. Scarcely a ripple
relieves the glassy surface of the lake. The silence is most oppressive. Oh, for the voice of a bird, the hum of an insect to
break in upon the overwhelming monotony! Oh, for a screen of
leafy boughs to shelter from the glow of the sun and the glare
of the sand!
What an impressive evidence there exists along this barren
strand of the conflict between the forces of life and death! Here
and there are scattered trunks and branches of trees—venerable
patriarchs of the forest—rent by violent floods from their ancient
dwelling places near the sacred river Jordan, dashed into the Sea
of Salt; then, after being steeped in brine, flung upon the dreary
beach to petrify into mute memorials of the past. Dead, yet they
live. Voiceless, yet they speak, and with a voice in comparison
with which the mighty roars of Niagara are but a whisper.
But why should one linger amid such gloom: Let him but
behold the Sea of Galilee and he is at once enraptured. On every
side the scenery is charming. Glorious indeed are the glimpses
which he gains of the Galilean shore, to which history, poetry
and legend give undying interest. Blue beneath the Syrian sun,
flecked with light shadows of the passing clouds; or dark and
wrathful beneath the storm, this Sea is a constant source of pleasure and fascination. Paths of ideal beauty wind about its snores,
sun-sheltered by the trees, rendered cool and fragrant by the
breezes from those calm waters upon which the Man of Galilee
walked and, in His majesty, spoke peace to the angry winds,
hushing the surging waves to silence beneath His feet.
Anticipate what you will, you never can be disappointed in
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
the Sea of Galilee. In the words of the Queen of Sheba the
astonished traveler exclaims, "The half has not been told!" Nor
does familiarity with its glorious and charming scenes lessen their
effect, for, according to that immortal poet, "A thing of beauty
is a joy forever." Whatever else may be forgotten in this crowded life of ours, such a vision of this glorious Sea will linger like
an inspiration with him who has stood on its shore, until memory
shall have lost its power, until his eyes shall have closed upon the
finite to behold the Infinite.
In remote ages the Sea of Death was as beautiful as the Sea
of Galilee; its scenery as charming. That was the time when the
fated cities of the plains flourished in its vicinity till their crimes
drew down from above the consuming fire and they were withered from off the face of the earth. When we consider that once
the contrast between these two seas was almost imperceptible, the
first thought that comes to the mind is, "Why such a contrast
today?" It is a well-known fact that every inland lake must
sooner or later become salty, bitter and poisonous if it has no
outlet; and this is precisely the cause of the existing condition
of the Sea of Death. Situated as it is, in such a low crater-like
basin, fourteen hundred feet below the sea-level, it receives
great volumes of water from every direction, giving nothing out
except what is forced by evaporation. Thus it becomes still more
bitter, salty and poisonous. It is even seven times more salty
than the ocean, while the Sea of Galilee becomes sweeter and
more beautiful as the countless ages sweep into fathomless eternity, for underlying its action is the fundamental law of the universe of God, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
These two seas, so near and yet so unlike, represent two types
of human life; the one governed by selfishness—the other, by
love. How low must be the impulses of him who absorbs the
resources of others to gratify his own selfish desires. If he were
not living on such a low plane, fourteen hundred feet below the
level of the Heart of Humanity, he surely would be conscious
of that sacred power, so lofty and sublime, implanted in every
human breast, which, if not perverted into selfishness, would fling
outwardly upon society and even upon the brute world. As the
Sea of Death receives great volumes of water and never becomes
full, so is that nature that absorbs, always having a sufficiency
but never enough. The time at last comes when there is not even
a sufficiency and it is the means of its own destruction. As the
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'DECEMBER, 1930
25
Sea of Galilee pours out its sweet and sacred waters forever, and
never becomes empty, so is the human soul made infinite in power
to love and serve; the higher mortal ought to mourn that he has
thus far Jived having helped so few with this godlike thing—the
lingering image of the Great Creator.
A Syrian of the tenth century, feeling the littleness of himself, once said, "A bird could fly across the whole heavens, and
why can't I enter into wider realms of truth?" Our age would
reply, "There is nought to hinder. Let him fly everywhere and
see the extent of the human-divine kingdom." No bird can race
in the great blue sky against a noble soul. In a single hour America's love and sympathy fell, like a shower of manna, upon the
earthquake victims of Japan.
Though we climb fame's proudest height,
Though we sit on hills afar,
^ Where the thrones of triumph are;
Though all deepest mysteries be opened to our sight,
If we win not by that power
For the world a richer dower,
If this great humanity share not in our gain,
We have lived our life in vain.
Though our lot be calm and bright;
Though upon our brows we wear
Youth and grace, and beauty rare,
And the hours go swiftly, singing in their flight;
If we let no glory down
Any darkened life to crown—
If our grace and gladness have no ministry for pain,
We have lived our life in vain.
But the life of men and women in this sort of work is not
thus to be spent; their souls are not dumb, but eloquent. There
is no value in education unless we can act out the wisdom of the
school. There is no merit in culture if sleep and stupor can fill
its place.
It cannot be that an era so powerful, a country so vast and
marvelous as this, asks only for the common pursuits that bring
us daily bread for the table or shelter from the storm. There
must be something more than this, and today, more than ever,
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�THE SYRIAN WORLD
26
there is a flag of progress and service waving over every hill and
tower. Happy are we if we can see this divine banner, if our
ear can from the noises of this world separate the whisper that
asks us to be soldiers of mankind. As such, in our highest form,
we must be in ceaseless action, with an Americanism simple in
creed but rich in activity; and, like the Americanism of Abraham
Lincoln, let it all be incarnated in life; like the red in the rose,
let Americanism be in us 3 let it be our color, our very form of
being. We may find times for patience with radical theories of
government, but let us be as impatient of their wrong application
as a good musician is impatient with discord; and all of this will
soon form into a river, the streams whereof will make more and
more glad the whole of humanity and our God.
/// The Garden of Love
By
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
HE cypress swayed with ecstasy,
T.The
roses flushed with anger,
When on her lips I pressed my lips,
And on her heart my finger.
Beside the violet bed, beneath the jasmine vine
There dreamed the rivulet, the daisies seemed to pine.
But not a word we spake,
For fear the spell to brake—
Our hearts were speaking—
But from her eyes I deeply quaffed the ancient wine.
With magic reeking.
/
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27
Love and War in the Desert
An Actual Love Drama Among the Bedouins and its Sequel
THE eternal forces of love and hatred, of injury and revenge,
as intense and relentless as the heat of the desert sun, still
exercise their sway among the Bedouin Arabs as in the remotest
times of the past. Just as the mode of life of these sons of Ishmael
has not changed for countless centuries, so have their characteristics, born of the hard life of their inhospitable surroundings,
remained immutable. Even to our day and in the face of the
great strides the world has made in science, invention and methods of transportation, we read of raids and feuds and wars of
retaliation such as we are wont to find in the lore of the remotest
ages.
The Syrian press has of late been full of sensational details
of the rising of the bedouin tribes of the northern Syrian desert
to what threatens to develop into a general war—war as fierce
and relentless as only the Arabs in their inad desire for revenge
can wage. Already several casualties have occurred which served
to fan the fire of passion into greater flame. An emir was murdered in cold blood in defiance of the laws of hospitality which
has been held unbroken among the Arabs of the desert from
time immemorial, and the indignation aroused by this action has
swept the land as a great conflagration. Immediately the scattered sections of the tribe of the murdered chief rallied from
all parts of the desert bent on retaliation, and those of the enemy
tribe did likewise for self-defense. Only the timely intervention of French armed forces comprising tanks, airplanes and
artillery prevented a general clash. But the French admit that
they have a serious problem on their hands in dealing with these
untamed sons of the open sandy wastes who are still dominated
by their age-old traditions and refuse to be appeased unless revenge is had in their own way. In this case the injured tribe
would be satisfied only if a man of equal rank from the attacking
tribe is offered as a propitiatory sacrifice, and to no other solution
would they consent, even if they were to kill hundreds and thousands of common enemy men. Revenge among the nomads of
the desert is a sacred tradition considered most essential for pur-
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
poses of self-respect. It is to them an assertion of power that
serves as warning to enemies that their attacks and depradations
will not be permitted to go unpunished. This has been the law
of the desert from time immemorial and no civilizing influence
can eradicate from the breast of the bedouin this deeply-rooted
tradition so long as he adheres to his roving instincts and is apparently far from the reach of organized agencies of the law.
As would be expected, the cause of strife was a woman.
Sabha, the belle of the Hudaidi tribe, and reputed the most
beautiful among the women of the desert, was desperately
sought by rival chiefs. An emir of her own tribe was a suitor,
as well as a young emir of the powerful tribe of the Mawalis,
Nawaf El-Ahmad by name.
Emir Nawaf had at first followed the prescribed tribal tradition governing such cases among the Arabs and asked the hand
of Sabha of her elder brother, to whom he paid the sum of £150
in gold as dowry. But it later developed that the brother acted
without sufficient authority since the father of the girl was still
alive and his consent had to be had in preference. Furthermore,
the accepted custom among the tribes is that no union with
another tribe is to be consummated unless the permission of the
ranking chief is first sought and granted, and remonstrances by
the latter engendered fear in the heart of the young emir that
he would be denied possession of his beloved.
Acting in the impatience of youth, emir Nawaf set out one
night to execute a bold plan. His consuming love for the bedouin
maiden would brook no interference and it mattered not to him
if he plunged the whole population of the desert in bloody strife.
Accompanied by his young brother and another brave of his tribe,
he surprised the girl while asleep and proceeded to carry her
away in the most approved romantic style. But her father, awakened oy the commotion, raised the alarm among his townsfolk
who hastily armed themselves and rode out in pursuit. The posse
overtook the kidnappers in the outskirts of the village and engaged them in battle. The sheik-lover placed the girl in charge
of his companion and with his brother held the pursuers in check,
but owing to the latter's superior numbers they were gradually
closing in upon him. The guardian of the girl was quick to perceive the danger of the situation and hastened to the assistance (
of his companions. It was then that the girl seized the oppor- i
tunity of this momentary relaxation of the vigil and made aj
"
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�DECEMBER, 1930
29
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30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
dash for liberty. But her strength was not'equal to the task and
she fell exhausted in the line of fire. A member of the posse
made a desperate effort to rescue her but was felled by a wellaimed bullet. Another braved the danger in the same effort and
met the same fate. Then the father boldly dashed to save his
daughter, but instead of shooting him from a distance the embattled Romeo engaged him in a hand-to-hand tussle and finally
laid him helpless on the field with a dagger in his side.
None of the pursuers now dared brave the fire of the kidnappers, who carried the girl and rode swiftly away on their fleet
Arabian horses and were swallowed by the night.
The posse carried its dead and wounded back to the village
and sent news of the attack to members of the tribe in the locality. Soon the news spread all over the desert with amazing rapidity and there was great indignation over the manner in which the
deed was committed. The sympathy of the bedouins was all
on the sides of the girl's father and his tribe of Hudaidis.
But something soon occurred which caused a most serious
change in the situation and reversed the sentiment in favor of
the Mawalis, the tribe to which belongs the young emir-lover
who was responsible for the kidnapping. It came about in the
following manner.
Emir Abdur Razzak, ranking chief of the Mawalis, had hastened from the city of Hama to the scene of the disturbances in
an effort to bring about peace since emir Nawaf, the kidnapper,
was one of his relatives. He had reached the district of Marrah,
about midway between Hama and Aleppo, which is considered
within the territory of the Hudaidis. He pitched his camp and
awaited the opportunity to enter into negotiations with the Hudaidis on the assumption that the kidnapping incident was but a
trivial matter which could be easily smoothed over. But he had
reckoned ill with the temper of the emir of the Hudaidi tribe
who was a suitor to Sabha and had been promised her hand in marriage by the father. No sooner did the emir of the Hudaidis,
Naif, learn of the presence of emir Abdur Razzak within his territory than he rode at the head of fifty of his men bent on revenge. At their approach Abdur Razzak came out of his tent
unarmed and made them a sign of peace. He expressed regret
at the action of the rash youth who caused this unpleasantness to
arise between the two friendly tribes and promised to use his
authority and influence to make redress. But the Hudaidis had
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French desert police in Syria standing guard over a group of Arabs.
I
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
murder in their hearts and would entertain no such course, and
to the blunt auestion of the Mawali emir as to what they finally
wanted the Hudaidi emir replied: "We will be satisfied only
with your life." Saying which he levelled his rifle and sent a
bullet through the heart of the Mawali chief. He was about to
kill more but his followers restrained him and induced him to
return with them to their camp.
Now the women of the murdered emir whom he was bringing with him from his city residence were witnesses to the crime
and the cry they raised was echoed throughout the desert with
such force and speed that within less than twenty-four hours
tens of thousands of armed bedouins of the Mawali tribe and
their adherents had responded to the call of danger. The scenes
which followed were considered sinister forebodings of coming
events, and the French authorities prepared for eventualities.
The funeral of the murdered emir was described as one which
the desert has not witnessed for many a generation. Thousands
of horsemen swore that they would not dismount until they had
taken revenge and rode in the funeral procession fully armed.
Their women, who were ever in Arab history the sustainers of
the spirit of the men in war, gave vent to the most pitiable wailings and lamentations. Their praise of the beauty, the generosity,
the hospitality and the youth of the murdered emir incited the
men to greater frenzy. Their spirit of anger and impatience
seemed to be transmitted to their fiery steeds which strained at
their reins as if anxious to plunge into action.
Marching in the cortege with their slow, measured gait, were
hundreds of camels draped in black silk and lending a strange
and sombre aspect to the procession. Riding on their humps were
more wailing women who at times stood at full length and made
wild gesticulations while emitting piercing shrieks. All this had
the effect of arousing the already enraged tribesmen to the highest pitch of frenzy.
The body of the murdered chief was carried on the shoulders
of some of his men. Behind them walked his afflicted sister
dressed in a manner calculated to further arouse the anger and
steel the determination of the tribesmen. She had donned her
brother's garb, even to the riding boots and the head dress, consisting of koufia and ighal. She had girded herself with his
cartridge belt and slung his rifle across her back. On her left
swung his long curved sword and on her right hung his short
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DECEMBER, 1930
33
ornamented dagger. "The dogs did not give you a chance to
fight, but I shall show them how terrible will be our revenge,"
she shouted once and again, and her spirit ran like fire through
the immense throng.
Word had reached the Hudaidis of the war preparations of
the Mawalis and they engaged in similar preparations. But word
also had reached the French military authorities of the threatening danger and they were no less prompt in taking action. Soon a
squadron of airplanes were hovering over the district and the
armored cars and the several batteries of artillery which followed
arrived in time to wedge themselves between the two tribes arrayed for battle and prevent an actual clash.
Col. Bonnot, French military commander of the Northern
Syrian district, offered to act as mediator and strained every
effort to convince the warring tribesmen of the futility of engaging in continued strife. The chiefs promised to use all their influence to hold their followers in check. But the Mawalis were
most frank in stating their position. "We do not wish to drench
the desert with blood," they said, "but our sense of self-respect
will not permit us to let the murder of our emir go unavenged."
"But emir Nawaf, when he carried away the girl Sabha, killed
two of the Hudaidis and wounded the girl's father," pleaded the
French officer.
"Even so the scale is in favor of the Hudaidis," replied the
Mawali emirs. "We may kill thousatids of them and not feel
fully avenged. We will rest only when we have spilled the
blood of their emir or one of his sons, for then there would be
an equality in rank, and they would have more respect in the
future for the great reach of our arms."
No words could carry a plainer meaning of the intent of the
Mawali bedouins. It is said that they are not as strong numerically as their enemies the Hudaidis, but they have a reputation
throughout the desert of being the fiercest and most desperate
warriors. And their passion for revenge may smoulder but will
never die.
Under the conditions the French authorities are taking no
chances. They are keeping a strong armed force in strategic positions and are prepared for all eventualities. To let the fierce
bedouins follow their natural bent would soak the whole desert
with blood.
Nor would the fighting be confined to the desert but there is
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
every danger of it spreading to the border cities which the bedouins are known to frequent. About the end of October, when
news reached Aleppo of the tragedy which was enacted in the
desert resulting in the murder of Emir Abdur Razzak, Emir
Abd Ibn Ibrahim Pasha of the Mawalis was in conference at
the Intelligence Bureau of the French military authorities, and
upon learning the news he left in great anger bent on proceeding immediately for the desert to engage in the war. At the
entrance of the building he met an emir of the Hudaidis, the
tribe which had committed the murder, and without parley or
explanation he drew his pistol to kill him. But another emir of
an impartial tribe who happened on the scene stepped between
them -and prevented another tragedy.
Meanwhile, young emir Nawaf who had plunged the desert
into this condition of turmoil and unrest because of his uncontrollable love for a maiden of another tribe, still remains at large
in the desert. News at one time reached Aleppo that a posse had
overtaken him near the banks of the Euphrates, preparing to
plunge still further into the trackless desert. But he gave his
pursuers battle and escaped with his prize. The same determination that prompted him to resort to kidnapping has not forsaken
h'm in still defying the machinery of law and braving the wrath
of the whole Arab society through his mad love for the girl he
set his heart on possessing.
On His Friends
Translated from the Arabic by J. D.
CARLYLE
With conscious pride I view the band
Of faithful friends that round me stand,
With pride exult that I alone
Can join these scatter'd jems in one:—
For they're a wreath of pearls and I
The silken cord on which they lie.
'Tis mine their inmost souls to see,
Unlock'd is every heart to me,
To me they cling, on me they rest,
And I've a place in every breast:—
For they're a wreath of pearls, and I
The silken cord on which they lie.
�DECEMBER, 1930
35
ALI ZAIBAQ
(Quicksilver)
THE UNPARALLELED ADVENTURES OE THE
CHIEF OF POLICE OF THE CALIPH HAROUN
AL-RASHID, OF THE CITY OF BAGDAD.
Translated front the original Arabic by
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
and
CHAPTER
THADDEUS
S.
DAYTON
IV
THE ISLE OF ENCHANTMENT
QUICKSILVER tarried seven days while preparing for his
^ iourney, and on the eiehth he rode forth on a camel and proceeded in the direction of the Island of Enchantment. But Hassan said to him as he departed:
"O my lord and companion, I desire to go with you and
serve you in whatever you undertake, and I entreat you to give
me permission to do so."
But Quicksilver answered him that it was impossible, and
that in order to realize the accomplishment of his quest and the
task that was imposed upon him he must proceed alone. Thereupon he bade him farewell, and pursued his journey.
For six days he continued with but little rest and finally
reached the shore of a sea where he found a village in which he
spent the night.
On the morrow Quicksilver gave the man who had sheltered
him ten pieces of gold and asked him to provide a boat so that he
might reach the Island of Enchantment. The fisherman was overjoyed at the munificence of the payment and made haste to
comply.
Thereupon they embarked and rowed a long distance through
the sea until they reached the island. There Quicksilver left
the boat in the keeping of his companion while he proceeded to
explore the place.
In the center of the island he perceived two opposing swords
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
which played swiftly in the air, up and down, without striking
each other. At sight of these he stood transfixed with wonder
at their diabolical, never-ceasing movement.
Finally he lifted from the earth a huge stone which he cast
between the swords, and they instantly reduced it to powder.
Thereupon he retired a little distance to a secluded spot and
stood pondering upon his predicament, not knowing which way
to turn or how he should go about it to make the swords pause
in their incessant motion.
While thus engrossed with his thoughts sleep overcame him
and he saw in a dream a celestial being who addressed him saying:
"Arise, Quicksilver, and toss at the ever-playing swords the
branch of the palm tree which you brought from Egypt."
Quicksilver awakened from his slumber, took the branch of
the palm tree and threw it between the ever-moving swords.
It came to pass exactly as had been foretold in his dream;
their action immediately ceased. At the same moment the heaving sea became calm and the island shook with the tremors of an
earthquake, after which the swords disappeared completely and
there came into view a great dome whose only entrance was a
brazen door upon which was inscribed in letters of gold the following legend:
"Oh thou, who enterest this place, pass without fear, and
take thy booty, the magic box of the All Seeing Eye, and depart."
No sooner did Quicksilver read this inscription and comprehend its meaning than he advanced and set his hand against
the brazen door whose ponderous weight immediately yielded
to his touch. He entered and found within a vast circular chamber beneath the dome enormous quantities of gold and jewels
which shone with a radiance that dazzled his eyes. In the midst
of all this treasure, resting on a pedestal beneath the center of
the dome, was the magic box of the All-Seeing Eye, at sight of
which his reason almost fled from him. Recovering himself
quickly, for he dared not delay an instant, he advanced and lifted
the enchanted box upon his shoulders and bore it swiftlv out of
the place without pausing to gather up any of the vast riches that
lay heaped within. But no sooner had he passed across the threshold than the brazen door closed with a thunderous crash and an
awful voice that resounded to the heavens cried:
n
9HIBH
�»..
DECEMBER, 1930
.. . -..
37
"To the end of time! To the end of time!"
Quicksilver looked back in fear and was amazed to perceive
behind him Hassan who had emerged from the portal by a hair's
breadth before the closing of the door. Upon perceiving his
companion Quicksilver was seized with rage and demanded what
had brought him to the Enchanted Island, to which Hassan replied:
"O my lord, may your wrath be appeased. When you left
me in the Enchanted City I followed your footsteps taking care
not to let my presence be known to you, and I continued to pursue you until you reached this place. I followed closely when you
entered and as you lifted upon your shoulders the magic box I
hastily gathered these precious stones which I brought forth with
me. I had no thought but to render to you whatever aid might
be within my power, for to you I owe my life."
Quicksilver, whose anger had how cooled, marvelled at Hassan's words and took the jewels saying:
"Verily, I entered this great treasure house and came away
without thinking of gathering any of the vast stores of jewels
that lay about me. I will take these gems as an offering for the
shrine in Egypt."
Thereupon both men made their way to the shore of the
island and crossed to the mainland where they mounted their
camels and pursued their journey for nights and days until they
came within sight of the Enchanted City. There they were surprised to see about the walls a vast armed camp and to hear a
deafening noise which filled the air and rose to the skies. It was
then night and Quicksilver, who was at a loss to discover the
reason for the presence of such a great army before the city,
said to Hassan:
"Wait for me here a little while until I can ascertain what
peoples these are that have come here in such war-like array."
So saying he dismounted from his camel and made his way
on foot without detection until he reached the outskirts of the
encampment. There he discovered that the multitude was a
mighty army of Blacks and it became clear to him at once that
the King of the Blacks and the Soudanese had come all the way
from his own country to avenge the death of his emissaries who
had been destroyed and to take by force the daughter of the
King of the Enchanted City.
Quicksilver being as wise as he was brave, saw that his un-
�38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
aided strength could not prevail against such a great host. He
therefore retraced his steps to where Hassan awaited him. His
companion counselled him to evade the besieging army and to
make a detour about the Enchanted City with the hope of finding some place to enter it.
"Such is not my plan," responded Quicksilver, "my intention
is to capture the King of the Blacks by artifice and to bring him
forth from his camp to this place, after which the rest will be
comparatively easy."
Thus saying he ordered his companion and friend to make a
fire over which he placed a pot into which he poured water dissolving therein a powder such as spies use to disguise themselves
in time of war. After letting the water and the powder boil for
a necessary time he took the liquid which had now become of an
inky blackness and bathed himself with it, straightway becoming
as though he had been born a black slave.
Then in order to more successfully achieve his purpose he
bound his left arm in a sling and proceeded towards the encampment of the army of the Blacks. There he mingled with the
soldiers, lifting his voice in a plaintive cry, and perfectly imitating their vernacular, he said:
"O sons of my maternal uncles, I am now under the wing of
your protection. May curses fall like torrential rain on the heads
of the Whites!"
Perceiving him in the pitiable condition which he had assumed, the Blacks gathered around him in great numbers demanding the cause of his outcry.
"To none other than the Whites do I owe my grievous condition," answered Quicksilver. "It is they who have covered me
with wounds and from them I have received this broken arm.
But my story is long to tell. Take me therefore to our most
powerful and gracious King so that I may inform him of all
that has befallen."
The Blacks, unsuspicious of his identity, conducted him to
the royal tent within which Quicksilver immediately perceived
the King, seated in the center surrounded by his officers and aides
with drawn swords, his countenancec resembling a tower of anger.
Immediately Quicksilver raised a great cry of lamentation
which attracted the attention of the King who ordered the supposedly wounded soldier to be brought before him. Whereupon
Quicksilver, after saluting the King, said:
�'DECEMBER, 1930.
39
"Know, O my Lord, that this night, in company with some
of the sons of my uncle, I bethought myself of approaching the
gates of the city with the hope of discovering something of importance relative to the enemy. When we neared one of the
gates we were surprised to find it was open and immediately
rushed in, but a great number of soldiers sprang at us from an
ambush and there ensued a battle in which our small company
fought valiantly but was finally overcome. All my companions
were killed and I alone succeeded in escaping, as though by magic.
Thereupon I hastened to inform your Majesy of this affair and
of the treachery of our enemies."
Upon hearing this the king became terribly enraged, his
eyes seemed to start from their sockets and he swore by the fire
that he worshiped that he would put the inhabitants of the Enchanted City to the sword.
To Quicksilver, as a reward for his services, the King promised a beautiful white maiden as soon as he was able to effect
the capture of the Enchanted City.
After expressing his gratitude, Quicksilver withdrew from
the royal tent and mingled with the King's body-guard outside
feigning that he was cold. These took compassion on him, gave
him clothing and asked him to spend the night with them, as he
appeared weak from his wounds.
Quicksilver wished for no better opportunity for carrying
out his designs, and remained awake until he was assured that
all the guards were plunged in heavy slumber. Then he took
from his bag some antidote for benj which he placed in his nostrils, and taking a bowl of metal he filled it with a mixture of
benj and dried herbs which he lit, causing it to smoke so furiously
that soon the tent became filled with the poisonous fumes,
straightway stupefying all of the King's body-guards. Thereupon he proceeded stealthily to the royal tent " u">e he repeated
the same stratagem so that the King also completely lost all consciousness.
That night being dark and the whole army asleep, Quicksilver bound the King with heavy cords and wrapped him as
a carpet. Then Quicksilver lifted the King upon his shoulders
and succeeded in getting clear of the camp and reaching the spot
where he had left Hassan, whom he acquainted with what he
had done. They then hastened to the great gates of the Enchanted City where the guards on the high walls greeted them
�40
?HE SYRIAN WORLD
SiSZSd ^^that the^w- *-*> **
"Withhold your hands! We are friends of your Kin*! T
am Quicksilver whom I hope you have not yet &Z£fl
Upon heanng this the guards informed the King who straight
way came to meet Quicksilver, accompanied by £?v£fa^ ancfa1
the d-gnitanes of his court. The King ordered that rones should
be let down from the top of the wall so that Quicksilverand his
companion might be hoisted up.
^suver ana his
Now Quicksilver was still black with the dve nf k« Aed trnform^8 Tt^
eXCeedi
:
"^ ^ Q"ick0 utlS!
alter delivering me from them. I have been sick 55. «
*
being captured and delivered over to the erne" fate thf h K
awaiting me, but now my heart is filled with :
and I feel that my safe y a'Sthe ate^S Y ^J°«reOln,
y f Ur bn8d m 1S once
more assured by your presence
° °
°
deserSrnt^s^'thl Se^t^ -» a
rated of the amazing adventures oQuicklver in the
he rv"^
C,ty of
Enchantment. All these 1 shall rem,,„,,
"
.
Unt
will be well worth Z hearing » °
"""'i^, and they
*'
(»o be continued)
./
�DECEMBER, 1930
41
The Gardener
By
THOMAS ASA
UN-ARRESTED qualms a day beset me,
Ephemeral visions of an unknown shoreChaotic hopes and fears that would decree
1 he truth of pages from forbidden lore—
But divine revealment was not to be
For swiftly closed again the unseen 'door.
Then I started from my chair in great confusion,
And in thoughtless haste I left the chambered gloomBu uppermost, my mind had touched the grave Illusion,
Wherein reposed the secret of eternal doom :Oh why had Fate so stirred the hoarded fusion
And transformed my soul into a darkened tomb!
And then unheeding of the darkened sky
And like a madman thru the hiding night,
I fled as from pursuit the damning Lie —
Punitive Hand that dawns with guarded LightUnbroken Watch that keeps the fearful Eve—
1 he destinies of Life in Godly sight.
Along a winding path, with unseeing eyes
I T?.nLy t,houghts in blinding, searing haze:
And high above, with ill-portent, the hov'ring skies—
But none of this I saw in fevered mental craze
While, over humble fields which fall and rise'
Simple peasant folk would stare in great amaze.
My strength had gone from soul's exertion
So perforce I stopped to gaze in doubt
On an unmarked grave in rank desertion
That lay half-hidden amidst a leafy rout
What had led me here but His assertion,
To best my probing mind with soul devout
11
�42
?HE SYRIAN WORLD
Silent-voiced and vision fastened to the mound,—
And then I heard the summer shower break,
And cool the fevered brow and still the sound
That my madly struggling thoughts would make—
What form from which new faith to found,
And in what wise the sentient lesion wake?
I
And, in grateful pension of the cooling rain,
Stood in rigid silence with uncovered head,
With my mind once more, in common, sane,
And pondered whereat my tortured soul had led}
The restless doubt, in past long years inane,
Has come to light as from the secret Dead.
And then anon the summer shower ceased,
And from the dampened foliage rose
A scented vapor, from the earth released,
As with reluctance from the grave it goes.
But what ghostly sight is that from out the East?
As from the sodden earth the vapor rose.
The ghostly mass took form before my faltering sight,
And nearer drew it to the crumbling grave}
And then on the nonce a ray of super-light
Flashed at its base, as though the way to pave}
And back I stepped in preternatural fright—
To stop, for from without a Hand doth wave!
And, like a graven image, stood I there
To see the ghostly sight a human born,
In hallowed robes of snow-white blinding glare
Then to bend o'er the wasted grave, and shorn
Soon lies the alien weed, and blossoms fair—
And bloom,—my questioning Faith in like reborn!
:..-..
�DECEMBER, 1930
43
EDITORIAL COMMENT
RACIAL
CONSIDERATIONS
I
AMERICA has not as yet
passed the stage of racial
considerations.
Evidences of
this condition continue to assert
themselves in various ways despite claims to the contrary. The
condition seems to be one that
not only cannot be ignored but
is given tacit approval and even
taken advantage of on various
occasions. This by no means
should be construed as division
in the American nation, but
rather a natural attempt by each
ethnic group to assert itself and
vindicate its moral rights in the
face of similar policies on the
part of other groups. The situation would seem to justify
the conclusion that just as much
as the Americaii government is
one of parties so is it one of
racial groups.
One can hardly think of the
government of New York City,
for instance, without associating
it with Tammany and the Irish,
nor of some Mid-Western
States without affiliating them
with the German element. The
senatorship of a certain State
has even become the heritage
of a particular family controlling the votes of a racial element. No secret was made of
this fact in the last general elections.
But these remarks are not
prompted by happenings of
long ago. Something more recent and of equally strong significance has been enacted on
the stage of New York politics
which again brings racial considerations to the limelight.
And there was no mincing of
words about it. The discussion
was freely indulged in not only
in the public press but in the
courts. The very expression
"racial considerations" is borrowed from the official records.
This came about through the
investigation into the appointment of ex-Magistrate George
F. Ewald to the bench in 1927.
Supreme Court Justice McCook, presiding at the trial, is
thus reported by the N. Y. Sun
of Nov. 26, 1930, to have reviewed the case in his charge to
the jury.
"Justice McCook said that
in the spring of 1927, Mayor
Walker was considering a vacancy about to occur on the
magistrates' bench. Magistrate
Oberwager, a German-American, was to be retired, and the
Mayor might have had it in
mind to choose a GermanAmerican to be his successor. In
any event, the Mayor received
�44
THE SYRIAN WORLD
letters recommending Ewald principles were against the infrom the Steuben Society (Ger- terest of America we would unman organization) and from hesitatingly disapprove of it.
Victor A. Ridder, the publisher Not alone that, but we would
of the Staats-Zeitung (German be the first to combat it and use
newspaper)."
every means to stamp it out.
"According to the prosecu- Our loyalty should be to our
tion," he continued, "Ewald adopted country whole and unknew he must get Healey's divided. THE SYRIAN WORLD
backing if he were to be ap- has always stood for the prinpointed a magistrate, while the ciple of Americanism unflinchdefense contended that Ridder, ingly and without equivocation.
the German-American Steuben And other than this course it
Society and racial considerations will never follow—other than
were the only factors involved this policy it will never enterin Mayor Walker's choice."
tain.
So racial considerations still
But it is not here a question
are very much in evidence in of loyalty. It is a question of
America. Racial organizations group interest signs of which
deal out their recommendations we observe all about us at all
for political favors and political times and in various ways. The
favors are granted on racial inescapable conclusion is' that
considerations. We say this what is permitted to others
neither in a spirit of approval could not within reason be denor of criticism, but as a mere nied us.
statement of facts.
If, therefore, we advocate
Our only reason for stressing race consciousness and race
the point is to bring the subject solidarity it is for the service
closer home to Syrian-Ameri- of ourselves as an integral
cans. Syrians are late comers to group in America and for the
America and should for that service of America through our
reason be the more race con- united effort. We would claim
scious. They may be so indi- our rights as we discharge our
vidually but they certainly fail obligations. We would mainto show any traces of such con- tain ourselves in the standing
sciousness collectively in any or- due every self-respecting group
ganized form. It would seem, or community.
under the circumstances, that
Leaving aside political conthey are wanting in the practice siderations we urge first the deof an accepted American tradi- velopment of that which is best
tion.
in our racial heritage for perIf coming together on racial petuation as our contribution to
�^DECEMBER, 1930
America. Let us admit that we
cannot make an impression as a
political force, but there is no
end to our potential contributions along more constructive
and enduring lines. To secure
these benefits we must first develop that consciousness of
power which alone is the incentive to achievement. The development of this consciousness
depends largely on a proper
estimation of our inherent racial
qualities which our younger
generation fails to appreciate
through inadequate methods
of enlightenment. Our efforts,
therefore, should be directed
towards self-enlightenment as
a means of proper self-appraisal. An interest in racial organizations sponsoring cultural
programs, as well as in other
mediums for the spread of
proper knowledge bearing on
our history and past achievements, should not fail to bringabout their desired results.
SYRIAN SICIETIES
yHE growing movement for
united,
organized
action
among the Syrians of America,
so much in evidence of late, is
a most welcome one. It is a sign
of reawakening that holds great
portents. It is an unfailing indication that the Syrians are
coming to a realization of their
latent powers and are striving
to develop them.
In this issue of THE SYRIAN
45
several new Syrian societies are reported organized in
widely scattered parts of the
country. What is more significant is that they are invariably
the result of the efforts of the
younger generation.
Syrian
young men and young women
are coming together on a new
basis of understanding and racial
consciousness. They have come
to appreciate their especial situation and to vision their opportunities. Untold benefit could
come from this movement if the
various organized units were
brought together under a national federation along the line
once suggested by this publication. Perhaps it has been for
the best to have held the consummation of the movement in
abeyance after once having
aroused widespread interest in
it. Its resumption in the future
might prove of immensely
greater benefit owing to the
larger possibilities offered. WTe
shall await the opportune time
to again take up the task of
forming the federation.
In the meantime, we cannot
urge too strongly the necessity
of forming a Syrian-American
society wherever the size of
the community warrants. This
will not only bring about close
cooperation among members of
the particular community, but
will pave the way for the larger
possibility of national solidarity.
WORLD
�46
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Readers' Forum
SYRIAN-AMERICAN LEADERS
Contributions of Rev. W. Mansur
Hailed as Inspirational.
Editor's Note—The writer of the
following letter, a prominent physician of Flint Mich., is a typical
Syrian-American of open mind who
bases appraisal of service purely on
merit. We publish his letter not so
much for its laudatory references to
The Syrian World as for its expressions of appreciation for the very
valuable contributions of our many
collaborators. We especially welcome
his suggestion of publishing biographical sketches of our pioneers
and leaders in various fields of endeavor and trust to be able to take
up the task in the not distant future.
Editor The Syrian World
As you well know, I have been a
constant reader of The Syrian World
ever since its infancy. I can honestly
say that I have read every article
ever published in The Syrian World;
I have presented it at least to one
friend and introduced and praised it
to many others. I ask neither praise
nor reward for doing so, because I
do not care for praise, and because
the growth and the flourishing of
The Syrian World is my greatest
reward. May it grow, may it flourish, and may it endure as a guiding
star to our Syrian-American people.
I hope you will live long enough to
guide its footsteps.
My reason for this correspondence
is to tell you how much I enjoy The
HHHMMBfe
Syrian World and how mueh I benefit by it. My second reason is to
compliment Rev. W. A. Mansur on
his article viz:—"Great SyrianAmericans of Our Times." I think it
is a most timely article. I want Rev
Mansur to know that I join him in
paying tribute to the great SyrianAmericans in general and to those
whom he wrote about in particular.
I would also ask him to give us an
epitomized biography of those great
men whom he wrote about in the
October issue of this year, because
there are many Syrians who do not
know much about these great men.
I myself had the good fortune of
reading Al-Hoda daily and therefore
I have known quite a bit about N.
A. Mokarzel. He is a man I admire
but I was never as yet lucky enough
to meet him personally. I have had
the good fortune to read the articles
of the other men, and to meet Mr.
Ameen Rihani in Detroit last year
and Dr. Ph. K. Hitti in Chicago a
f
ew years ago while I was studying
nedicine. I also had the good fortune of reading every article that
Rev. W. A. Mansur wrote for The
Syrian World. I hope some day to
meet Rev. Mansur or at least to read
about his life and works in The Syrian World. His articles have always
been inspiring to me. I also believe
his articles were inspiring to many
others. The more he writes and tells
us about these great men, the more
we progress, because we begin to
imitate and copy after him and after
such great men.
I wish you would please accept a
great deal of my tribute to yourself
and to The Syrian World, for you
have been a great mediator, and a
�'DECEMBER, /9Jtf
47
great influence in bringing an appreciation of culture, information
and education to our people. You are
in my estimation just as much a
pioneer in this field as N. A. Mokarzel in his. That is a great influence indeed.
Jos. A. Macksoud M. D
Flint, Mich.
PROUD OF ORIGIN
Editor, The Syrian World
• • Since we have been reading The
Syrian World we have gained so
much valuable information about
our country of origin that we now
feel proud of proclaiming our Syrian descent. It is only now that we
can appreciate the value of this publication in English which is the only
means of enlightening us on the
"st history of the mother country
of our parents and the wonderful
achievements of our forbears. To
praise the pioneering spirit which
made possible this invaluable means
of public service is but to express
the natural gratitude of those who
are deriving such concrete benefits
rom it.
I
Syrian-American Modern Society
Oklahoma City, Okla.
\N OPINION FROM EGYPT
Editor, The Syrian World
I began receiving The Syrian
Uor d with the September issue and
nave enjoyed reading it exceedingly
as it gave me a wider conception
of the activities of the Syrians in
America. The publication fills a
long-felt need in the Syrian world.
To the Syrians in America it is invaluable as it helps to keep them in
touch with the mother country and
acquaints them with the literature,
culture and traditions of their fore-
fathers. To non-American Syrians,
on the other hand, it should be of
great benefit in giving them a new
notion of the industrial and cultural
activities of their fellow countrymen
in the New World.
I feel confident that in the very
near future The Syrian World will
have a far-reaching influence, drawing nearer and binding together the
Syrians all over the world, and
thereby achieving that which it has
set forth to accomplish.
Before closing I would like to
draw your attention to a small error occurring on page 16 of the
September issue where College Hall
of the American University of Beirut is erroneous'y named West Hall.
Albert A. Mirshak.
Cairo, Egypt.
A SUGGESTION
Editor, The Syrian World
* It is my hope that you will
in due time publish your travel articles which have been appearing in
the pages of The Syrian World in
book form. I have been enjoying
them immensely, and would like to
see them in book form and made
possible in that manner to the public.
Rev. W. A. Mansur.
Winside, Neb.
A CORRECTION
Editor, The Syrian World
You make mention of Tartus as
the birthplace of St. Paul, while his
birthplace is the city of Tarsus, in
Asia Minor.
One of your contributors mentions
that inscriptions at Nahr El-Kalb
commemorate, among others, a Napo'eonic invasion while Napoleon
never reached so far north in Syria.
A Reader.
New Kensington, Pa.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
Political Developments in Syria
PALESTINE QUESTION
STILL UNSETTLED
The Palestine Question cannot be
expected to be settled by the simple
issuance of a British White Paper,
although the British declaration of
policy may be said to have materially altered the situation existing
up till then in Palestine. It has had
the effect of causing a reversal of
sentiment in the two opposing camps
in a wholly unexpected manner.
Where the complaints and the howling came heretofore almost exclusively from the Arab side, the expression of grievances now has apparently been monopolized by the
Jews. Judging by the moderated
tone of the Arab press, and the official pronouncement of Arab leaders, one cannot escape the conviction
that the Arabs are now disposed to
cooperate with the British in all
matters short of a definite renunciation of their basic national rights.
Press dispatches from Jerusalem
of November 19 report that the
Arabs are believed ready to cooperate with the legislative council,
though an Arab opposition leader is
reported by the New York Times
correspondent to have said that as
long as the mandate and the Balfour
Declaration remain the White Paper
must be considered incompatible
with Arab aspirations. "Though the
Arabs will accept the White Paper,"
he is further reported to have said,
"they will continue to struggle for
obtaining full independence and a
United States of Arab countries."
Although this statement unmistakably indicates a policy of conciliation and cooperation on the part
of the Arabs despite the expression
mBKBHHmmXHmmt'
of adherence to the larger national
demands, a truer indication of the
present Arab feeling may be had
through the declaration of the Arab
paper Falastine, in its English edition of November 22 commenting on
a statement by the Jewish leader
Dr. Bergmann. "The Arabs are neither averse to an understanding,
honorable and just to both peoples,"
it remarks "nor do they undervalue
the gain from cooperation, but they
cannot bind themselves to statements
which are falsified by actual practice. * * * An honest Zionism may
prove the salvation of both peoples.
As it is, it has ceased to respond
to the spiritual call. Rachel mating
with Israel could not leave behind
the gods of Laban, and Zionism
mating with Palestine has brought
with it the gods of Europe. It came
to find its soul; losing the way it
has set up as the high priest of
Baal."
But it would seem farthest from
the intention of the Jews to relinquish the fight for a Zionist Palestine conforming with their original
conception. Press dispatches from
Jerusalem of November 19 inform
us that the National Council of
Palestine Jews, which is the supreme body of Palestine Jewry, issued on that date a statement denouncing the British government and
expressing its determination to forever continue to struggle. On this
point the statement reads: "Palestine Jews call on Jewry the world
over to fight against the repeated
attacks of his Majesty's government. No abuse from any government will break the eternal bond of
Palestine and the Jewish people.
Our rebuilding and the regeneration
IMMMMM
�"DECEMBER, 1930
of our country will proceed."
Meanwhile conferences continue in
London between the British government and representatives of the Jewish Agency on the government's policy in Palestine. Lord Passfield, Colonial Secretary, defended the government's Palestine policy in the
House of Lords on December 3,
stating that the government would
not prohibit the purchase of land in
Palestine or prevent the exclusive
employment of Jewish labor on land
held as the inalienable property of
the Jewish people. This is taken by
the Jewish Telegraphic Agency to
mean a marked retreat by the British government from its recently announced Palestine policy.
The next Zionist Congress will be
held in February, probably at Carlsbad, and it will serve as an indicator
of the fate of Zionist leadership,
which is to be discussed at the congress as a result of Dr. Chaim Weizmann's resignation.
49
achieved perhaps no man can bring
it about better than the present High
Commissioner. Although slow in
reaching a solution he is conceded
honest intentions and conscientious
efforts in devising a plan that would
at once meet the reasonable demands of the Syrian Nationalists
and be compatible with the dignity
and alleged rights of France. But
despite all efforts no solution has so
far been reached and the country is
anxiously awaiting the return of the
High Commissonier in the hope that
by now he must have exhausted his
studies and formulated the longawaited solution. Surely his unusually long stay in Paris cannot be
barren of some concrete results.
The return of M. Ponsot, according to reports of the Syrian press,
was definitely set for November 25.
As a part of his political program,
he is said to be contemplating a
stop-over of several days in Egypt
for conferences with Dr. ShahbanMAJOR CHANGES EXPECTED dar and other exiled Syrian leaders.
IN SYRIA AND LEBANON He is also reported to have engaged
several prominent economic advisPalestine figures more prominently ers to assist in the rehabilitation of
than other sections of Syria in cur- the country.
rent news because of its Jewish asAccording to what seems to be
sociations and the greater activities authentic reports M. Ponsot's first
of the Jewish news agencies. For efforts will be directed to economic
news about Syria and Lebanon we reform. Large projects are contemare therefore reduced to dependence plated which are expected to greatly
on the native press which accounts enhance the economic prospects of
for the fact that this particular the country. Included in his program
news is comparatively late.
are important irrigation enterprises
Aside from the economic depres- and putting into immediate operasion, which perhaps is as acute in tion the general economic council.
Syria as anywhere in the world, the
The political question, important
uncertainty of the political situation as it may seem, only comes second
continues to be the absorbing topic in order in the High Commissioner's
of the country. After almost eleven program. Surely it is not proposed
years of mandate the people are to delay unduly an attempted solustill struggling to define their poli- tion of this question, but owing to
tical status and reach a proper unthe delicacy of the situation and bederstanding with the mandatory cause matters have dragged so long,
power. If such a result is to be no hasty action is contemplated, a
�50
policy seemingly consistent with M.
Ponsot's method of procedure. The
latest date given by any observer
for holding elections however, is
summer of the coming year when
it is hoped the country would have
had the opportunity of digesting the
I Ian which the High Commissioner
proposes to lay before it.
Granting Syria a fuller measure
of self-government seems to be
taken for granted, as well as a proposal to substitute the present form
of mandatory administration by a
treaty agreement. But to elect a de
jure government capable of negotiating the contemplated treaty is
what may prove the stumbling block
in the successful carrying out of the
I logram. The present Syrian government is described as resorting to
frantic efforts to perpetuate itself
in authority and for that reason
us'ng all its prestige and the advantJRC3 of its position to influence the
coming poiuar elections. But the
important Nationalist bloc cannot be
l?ft out of the reckoning, and if they
should decide to take part in the
elections their former success at
the rolls may be repeated and they
would be in control of the Assembly. The Nationalist principle of
first asserting national sovereignty
is well known, and it is for the purpose of averting such complications
that the High Commissioner is said
to be abiding his time before calling
the elections.
Credit is given M. Ponsot for having influenced the decision of French
and American interests in Mosul
petroleum to favor Tripoli as the
terminus of the pipe line which it
is proposed to lay across the desert
to the sea. England had steadfastly
stood for the port of Haifa in consideration of the fact that it is
within British mandated territory,
and in view of the uncompromising
British attitude the other interests
THE SYRIAN WORLD
involved decided to act independently of England. This decision is
bound to bring incalculable benefit
to Syria as a whole and to the cities
of Tripoli and Horns in particular.
Tripoli might develop into the first
seaport of Syria and already Beirut
is showing no little uneasiness over
the future. As to Horns, being situated inland directly east of Tripoli,
it will become the emporium of the
plain owing to its advantageous
location.
Negotiations for this new development have progressed far beyond
the initial stage, the press of Beirut
reporting that early in November a
r3r.resentative of the Iraq Petroleum
Company arrived in Beirut and held
several lengthy conferences with
the President of the republic, following which the President called
a meeting of the cabinet and laid before it the results of the negotiations.
If reports of the native press may
be taken as a criterion, the population of Damascus is overwhelmingly
Nationalists in its sympathies and
ever ready to do the bidding of the
leaders despite all efforts of the
government to stifle the popular enthusiasm. One of the most popular
and effective weapons employed is
that of passive resistance as expressed in the cessation of all business activities in the city to the accompaniment of peaceful demonstrations.
Early in November Damascus shut
down in protest against an attack
on the popular Nationalist leader
Fakhry Bey Baroody by several men
supposed to be henchmen of the
president. Had it not been for the
issuance of a timely statement by
Baroody enjoining the populace from
resort to violence there would have
been every likelihood of clashes with
the military.
�"DECEMBER, 1930
51
About Syria and Syrian:
SYRIAN WORLD
CORPORATION LAUNCHED
.
.
and civic pride to get behind it." He
went on to explain the terms of the
incorporation, stating that the 1000
Prominent Leaders Endorse Publi- shares of capital stock, at $25.00 par
cation and Pledge to it Moral and
value, bear 7 per cent, interest and
Financial Support.
are all offered for sale to the public
To every holder of a unit of four
shares
of preferred, however, goes
The Syrian community of New
one share of common stock in the
^ork expressed its unqualified approval of The Syrian World as a form of a bonus. It is not necessary,
he further explained, to sell all of
racial organ and pledged itself to
the
preferred stock to effect the
its liberal support, both morally and
financially, at a dinner held at the transfer of the publication to the
hheik Restaurant on December 8. public, but what was immediately
intended was to raise a sum of $5,000
The attendance was representative
to effect the reorganization and make
of the best professional and business
possible the carrying out of the
elements. The Board of Directors of
the Syrian World Corporation, liv- program of enlargement. In laying
these plans before the public he asking up to their promise of restricted those present to give free expresing the meeting to a conference on
sion to their opinions and called on
the future of the publication, refrainDr. Philip K. Hitti for a few words.
ed from any attempt to sell stock
Dr. Hitti, the foremost Syrian
but it was evident that the reaction
educator
in the United States, who
of all those present was most favorhad
come
especially from Princeton
able to the new move of having the
to
attend
the conference, prefaced
public share in the financial responbis
remarks
with a historical outsibilities—and assured benefits—of
line
of
Syrian
immigration to Amerthe corporate enterprise.
ica.
Although
some Syrians may
In opening the discussion Mr
have
reached
the
United States in
George A. Ferris dean of Syrian
the
middle
of
the
nineteenth cenlawyers in New York, who presided
tury,
the
immigration
movement en
Rave a brief sketch of The Syrian
masse started only in the early
W orld, its mission and its possibilities. Having himself drawn the ar- eighties. That, he explained, may be
ticles of incorporation he explained termed the pioneer stage, the stage
of economic dependence, when the
that the publication had an estabSyrians
bent all their energies on
lished good-will value and has been
establishing
themselves and insurconducted for nearly five years on
ing
a
means
of
earning a living for
the personal initiative and effort of
themselves
and
their
children. Then
the founder. Now that it has proven
came
the
second
stage,
that of ecoits merit "I and some others felt
and feel that the continuation of nomic independence, which he dethis magazine is so important to us fined as being that period of affluall that it is a matter of civic duty ence between the beginning of the
World War and the present year
�___
THE SYRIAN WORLD
52
Proceeding to the description of
what 'he termed the third stage he
outlined what he believed was the
duty of the Syrians as a racial
group in this country.
Syrians' Duty Defined.
"Beginning with the year 1930, we
are facing a new stage in our development as a people in this country," declared Dr. Hitti. "We have
come to the point where we have to
share in the intellectual, educational and spiritual life of the country. There are, of course, various
ways in which this can be done, but
I believe that The Syrian World, and
what The Syrian World can be with
your fuller cooperation and interest, will be one of the finest means
by which we can usher in this new
stage. We want to educate the American people further about our history. We want our children and coming generations to take part in this
higher life that we are being ushered into. The Syrian World is one
of the most potent mediums by
which this can be accomplished."
No less emphatic was the endorsement of the eminent author, lecturer and traveler, Ameen Rihani. He
not only visioned in The Syrian
World an inestimable medium for
the perpetuation of what is best in
our racial heritage, but expressed
the confidence that it could be made
into a tremendous financial success.
This opinion he ventured on the
strength of his observations during
his extended travels throughout the
country and his personal contact
with the young generation Syrians
everywhere.
Rihani Stresses Cultural
Heritage.
The following are extracts from
Mr. Rihani's address:
"We all agree that culture is a
good thing, and that the spirit of
culture is essential to the welfare
of civilized peoples. But my remarks
this evening shall be on a feature of
foreign culture in this country. The
people of the Old World, whether
from Europe or Asia, who have immigrated in the past, and are still
immigrating to this country, have
not come here without any capital
at all. They may be poor, they may
be ignorant, they may be truly devoid of resources, but they have
come here with a capital. They have
come here with racial heritage and
culture. This is fundamentally human. It may have some things in it
that are obsolete, but in essence, I
say, it is a vital thing. It is vital
and vitalizing, it humanates and
mellows the character of an individual or of a people. That is true of
every foreign group that has come
to this country. We Syrians, although we are the youngest of the
foreign groups, have a culture that
is very ancient, a culture that is of
real significance morally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. This
culture I maintain, is independent
of education. For a Syrian may be
illiterate, and yet be well bred. That
is to say, thoughtful of the feelings
of others, courteous in his ways and
manners, generous in his dealings,
and on the whole, mellow and not
selfish. You take for instance, a Syrian peasant who may be illiterate,
and a longshoreman who reads his
newspapers on his way to work.
Which of the two would you prefer
to sit with to dinner? Which of the
two has a deeper insight to life, has
more common sense, has more generosity, more courtesy and more
thought for the feelings of others,
who has more endurance in the face
of adversity? That is what I call
racial culture and heritage. The foreign groups of this country strive
�"DECEMBER, 1930
i
.
-;
to show the best there is in their
racial heritage and make of it a
vital addition to American life, and
we Syrians should be in the first
rank in this matter, because we are
not a very important foreign group
numerically. In other words, I do
not think there can be more than
one sound opinion on the subject—
the best of our heritage we should
stick to, and at the same time we
should do our best to secure the best
of what America can offer us. But
how can we stick to the best that is
our heritage outside of our mother
land, if we do not keep ourselves and
our children in touch with the historical past and present of our
mother land ? That is the word that
was left for me to say. It brings me
down to the subject of this night's
meeting.
"I found during my travels last
year that the new generation does
not read Arabic, although very much
interested in their people's affairs.
This is one of the reasons why I
have repeatedly recommended The
Syrian World. When Mr. Mokarzel
wrote to me about it the news gave
me a thrill. Here, I said, is a man
like Columbus. He just saw the thing,
it was a simple thing open to plenty,
but he was the first to get it. I
wrote him and said this was going
to fill a great gap in the life of the
Syrians of America, and I now feel
that The Syrian World is necessary
to our life here, necessary for the
enhancing of our standing, necessary for our prestige, and I am going
to add another word, and this also
I say with conviction: the magazine
can be made a commercial success.
Now I say this not as an amateur,
although I have no knowledge of
commerce, but as a practical observer. During my travels last year
through the United States, I came
in contact with Syrians everywhere.
53
1 spoke to them about Syria, and 1
found them so eager to know about
Syria. They all felt that they were
being deprived of something. So, I
say, there is a desire, and this magazine can be made a commercial success if the merchants get behind it.
The cultural importance of it, I
have tried to impress upon you. The
practical side of the subject has been
placed before you by our Chairman,
and I think it is up to you gentlemen to give us your practical suggestions of how to promote and make
good this magazine and bring the
benefits of it to a greater number
of Syrians in America."
Other Prominent Speakers.
The audience being drawn from
the best elements of the Syrian community, the chairman called on some
others for their opinions. N. A. Mokarzel, dean of Syrian editors in
New York and publisher of AlHoda, spoke in Arabic. Having his
fingers on the pulse of the Syrian
people in America, his opinion was
eagerly looked to in the present
situation entailing the support of
an English publication. But he was
unhesitating in his advocacy of the
necessity of The Syrian World, adding that the public's backing of such
a worthy enterprise was a true test
of the Syrians' fitness for cooperative action in all phases of national
life.
Other speakers were Dr. Salim Y.
Alkazin, well known to readers of
The Syrian World, Henry Hadad,
manufacturer, Peter S. George, lawyer, and Alexander Maloof, composer.
John Trabulsi manufacturer, and
A. K. Hitti, steamship agent, both
members of the Board of Directors
of the Syrian World Corporation,
announced that they had each secured one thousand dollars in subscrip-
�54
tion to stock from their respective
friends.
The spirit of the gathering was
one of high hopes for the success of
the new corporation, auguring not
only the future stabilization of the
publication but its greater enhancement as a cultural and unifying
racial organ.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
SYRIAN LADY ENDOWS
CHAIR OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Through the munificence of a Syrian lady who prefers to withhold her
name from the public, the American
University of Beirut has been endowed with a chair for archaeological
research, according to an announcement by the Alumni Monthly, organ
of the American University.
So much pains has been taken to
AMERICAN PROFESSOR
DIES IN BEIRUT shield the identity of the donor that
not even her country of residence is
Alfred E. Day, professor emeritus given, other than to state that she
of natural sciences at the American is a Syrian. This at once gives rise
University of Beirut, with which he to many conjectures, with opinion
had been associated for forty years, favoring the assumption that the
died in Beirut on December 5 after donor is from the United States.
a long illness, according to a cable However, out of deference for the
dispatch from President Bayard donor's motives, it would seem best
Dodge of the University received by for the public to be satisfied with
the Near East Colleges Association the knowledge that a genuine movein New York.
ment of scientific giving is already
Professor Day was born in Jack- te king shape among the Syrians.
sonville, 111., June 11, 1867, and at
In making the announcement the
the age of 22 was appointed to the General Secretary of the Alumni Asfaculty of the American University sociation of the American University
of Beirut, where he first held the characterized the Syrian lady as
chair of natural sciences, then that being of "princely generosity. . . does
of botany and geology. He con- not crave for fame or publicity, but
tributed many articles to magazines is only gratified to know that her
on these subjects. In 1924 he was a money will serve science and will
member of a scientific expedition bring untold good to her people and
that sought new material on the to the other peoples of this part of
"vexed subjects of the Cities of the the world. Like many other patriotic
Plain" Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, persons in this land she has for a
Zebolim and Zoar. Professor Day's long time felt that some of the edulast book "Geology of Mount Leb- cated young men of Syria and the
anon" has just been published.
Near East should be trained to do
Readers of The Syrian World will original
archaeological
research
recall Professor Day's article on the work in their own countries."
Geology of Syria and Palestine pubAmplifying on the purpose underlished in our issue of June, 1927. He lying the gift, the Alumni Monthly
declares himself of the opinion that describes the richness of the field
the country is not sufficiently rich for research in Syria and the benein mineral resources, but "if the fits bound to accrue from a fuller
higher parts of Lebanon, which are knowledge by Syrians of their anunsuitable for cultivation, are ever cestry. "These historic lands," it
covered with forests, they will be states "were for centuries in the
the greatest asset of the country." past the centres of education, civil-
�DECEMBER, 1930
ization and culture. Invasions, wars
and time left traces of their work
in demo ishing or concealing under
Mother Earth the marks and evidences of past civilizations. Historians, archaeologists from Europe and
America, either singly or in groups,
and expeditions representing governmenti and institutions of learning
aa\e for many years been spending
time and money in excavating old
towns and cities and in digging out
and bringing to light the rich treasures of the civilizations of the past,
and in studying in the ancient ruins
the arts and the customs of the past
as they are depicted by these ruins."
Already Dr. Harald Ingholt of
Denmark has been engaged for the
(hair created by the Syrian lady's
endowment. He will assume his duties in 1931, devoting the first semester to teaching at the University and the second to excavations
he has already started in the neighborhood of Hama.
We heartily subscribe to the sentiment expressed by the Alumni
Monthly in its concluding paragraph:
"All honor to this gentle and cultured philanthropist who has raised
high the name of the Syrian woman
and has set up such a noble example
for other rich men and women of
the East to emulate."
RIHANI LECTURES ON
ARABS' CONTRIBUTIONS
An audience that filled the main
hall of the American-Syrian Federation building in Brooklyn heard Mr,
Ameen Rihani, author and lecturer,
discuss the Arabs' contribution to
civilization on the evening of December 2.
The speaker traced the progress of
Arab civilization from the time of
the nourishing of the Arab empire
i' (
55
in Al-Yaman many centuries before
the Christian era down to the time
of the Arabs' long occupation of
Spain and their close contact with
Europe. The Abbaside era in Baghdad Mr. Rihani characterized as the
golden age of Arab culture, when
not only the caliph Al-Ma'moun encouraged learning but himself engaged in debates and wrote treatises on controversial questions. To
the Arabs the lecturer attributed
most of the credit for the preservation of Hellenic culture and its transmission to Europe. He also gave
comprehensive sketches of original
works by many Arabs whose names
are familiar to all Western scholars
such as Avicenna, Avirroes and
others.
Mr. Rihani's lecture was given as
the first of a series in an educational program which the AmericanSyrian Federation has planned for
this season.
SYRIAN ARTISTS
ENTERTAIN CELEBRITIES
The New History Society of New
York on December 7 entertained the
celebrated Hindu poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore at the
Ritz-Carlton. Mr. Louis Styvesant
Chandler, leader of the Bahai movement in the city and president of the
society, arranged to have address the
gathering several speakers of international reputation. We are pleased
to state that the musical entertainment was supplied by two Syrian
artists, Mrs. Fedora Kurban, the
singer and Mr. Alexander Maloof
the composer. Mr. Maloof made a
special composition for the occasion
of which he presented the original
copy to the distinguished guest.
The same society held a reception
December 14 in honor of the famous
German scientist Professor Einstein.
�Hi
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Also on this occasion our gifted
musician Mr. Maloof was engaged to
furnish the musical program.
POLITICAL APPOINTMENT
John Mansur Shadrawy, born m
Hadath Jebbe, Mt. Lebanon, and for
the last few years a resident of Boston, whither he came from Vermont,
has been appointed by Governor
Frank G. Allen of Massachusetts
assistant examiner of the Insurance
Department of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts.
Mr. Shadrawy is the first Syrian
appointed to a political post of consequence in the city and it is hoped
that by his conscientious devotion to
duty and native ability he will
achieve a rapid rise in the political
life of the city and state.
SYRIAN BOY ORATOR
The University of Oklahoma had
a special Armistice Day program
broadcast over its own station
WNAD on November 11. Those taking part in the program had each
won either a state or a national
contest, according to the Daily Oklahoman. Their subjects dealt with
government and world peace.
Among the speakers was the Syrian boy Louis Dakil of Jededat MarjAyoun, who had competed in many
oratorical contests and won many
honors and prizes, being at one time
state oratorical champion. At present he is a student at the University
of Oklahoma.
TWO SYRIAN GIRLS
HEARD ON RADIO
On November 30 Miss Louise Yazbeck, the gifted Syrian music teach-
er of Shreveport, La., gave an
Oriental music program over station
KWKH of that city. We are pleased
to learn that Miss Yazbeck's musical
talents are meeting with such public
recognition that she is frequently
called upon to take part and at times
take full charge of musical functions
in her city.
While visiting Shreveport in September, Miss Ruth Shadid of Elk
city, Okla., was extended the courtesy of the same station to make a
radio address and send her greetings
to her home town, an opportunity
of which the Syrian young lady
availed herself to the best advantage
for extolling her race.
NEW SYRIAN SOCIETY
IN SOUTH CAROLINA
A promising Syrian organization
has recently been formed in Columbia, S. C, under the name of
the Syrian-American Society. It is
modeled along the lines of other associations of that nature in that it
stands for the promotion of Americanism without losing sight of the
rich cultural heritage of our race.
Officers elected for the first year
were: S. A. Sabbagha, president; E.
S. Mack, vice-president; S. Koosa,
secretary, and N. J. Marsha, treasurer. The Board of Executives consists of George Alexander, Norman
Khoury and N. J. Marsha.
The Syrian World has every reason to believe that this society will
be particularly successful in its efforts to promote the ends for which
it was established. One of the initial
efforts of its president was to urge
every member to become a constant
reader of The Syrian World considering that it is our only publication in English striving to con-
f\
j
�"DECEMBER, 1930
serve the best in our native culture.
The response to his appeal was most
gratifying, resulting in over fifty
per cent, of the members becoming
subscribers. When an organization of
Syrian-Americans is capable of displaying such a spirit there could be
left no room to doubt that success
will crown its every endeavor.
SYRIAN YOUNG WOMEN
FORM ORGANIZATION
'
57
tribution to thIS country. Naturally,
when a large group is brought together by a single purpose the mere
tact of their meeting under such
auspicious conditions will bring untold benefits to them individually and
collectively in the form of social entertainment and otherwise.
l,,AM"ArZTC?Ub WaS first su-ggested
by Miss Juha M. Rais, a teacher in
the public schools of Globe, who was
elected President. Other
officers
elected were Sam Kiamy, Vice Pres
ident; Alex. Zude, Secretary; GeneMeve Kiami, Corresponding Secretary; Anis Nader, Treasurer.
The Club is non-sectarian and has
already held several social and educational functions. The enrollment is
so far about thirty members of both
sexes.
A group of young women in Oklahoma City, Okla., have formed the
Syrian-American Modern Society and
immediately engaged in many public
activities. Their objects are charitable, social and patriotic. They plan
to hold evening classes for the teaching of Arabic as a cultural asset, and
have already started a Who's Who
contest for popularity and Civic usefulness. On Dec. 20 they will give a SYRIAN-AMERICAN CLUB,
TUCSON, ARIZONA
play entitled The Birth of Christ
whose proceeds will go to charity.
A Syrian-American Club has been
The following officers were elected: formed in Tucson, Arizona, through
Mary Bashara. President; Eva Kou- the efforts of some patriotic Syrri, Vice President; Camella Eddie, ians who realize the value of orSecretary; Rosa Farris, Assistant ganization for constructive effort
Secretary; Lillie Nayphe, Treasurer, Th,s club represents the new trend
and Louise Rahill, Assistant Treas- ot thought among the younger genurer.
eration and is non-sectarian and dedicated to the purpose of promoting
a better understanding between Syrians and Americans. Its object also
AL-ARZ CLUB, GLOBE, ARIZ.
includes social and political activiA correspondent of Globe, Arizona, ties.
The officers elected were Faris F
writes that the younger generation
of Syrians and Lebanese in the Ganim president; William E. Jacob
Globe-Miami district have formed a vice-president; E. M. Courey, secsocial club to which they have given retary; Taft Jacobs, treasurer; John
the name of Al-Arz Club. They were Mabarak, sergent-at-arms, and Edmoved primarly by cultural consi- ward Aboud, councillor.
derations and plan to devote their
energies to the cultivation of those
The Lebanese government has apnative characteristics which they
propriated $400,000 for repairing the
consider to be their richest racial
ruins of Baalbek and building a road
heritage and their most valuable conbetween Baalbek and the Cedars
�-
58
THE SYRIAN WORLD
PAN-ARABIAN PICTURE
CORPORATION, LTD.
Authorized Capital Stock
40,000 SHAKES COMMON
$5 PAR VALUE
Main Office:
")12 Union Bank Building
Los Angeles, California.
This is a purely Arabian organization, the first and only corporation of its kind in the world dea'ing in ths moving and talking picture
industry in Arabic. It comprises the three elements necessarily associated with the film industry namely, production, distribution and
exhibition.
This is the age of amus2ment and our people, whose enterprises
and adventures are proverbial, must have their due share in this
flourishing industry. It is the intention of this company not only to
furnish the entertainment but to insure also for our people the organizing credit and profit.
We will make talking pictures of an Oriental character which will
acquaint our people in the American continent and in the East with
our historical deeds and cultural attainments. This we will perform
directly and through various theatrical groups.
We will also produce pictures of various phases of Syrian life in
the different cities and countries and present them to our countrymen
in other parts of the world and at 'home together with pictures of
famous men and great events in both the East and foreign lands and
wherever Arabic-speaking peoples may be, so thr.t they may be informed of each others leaders and affairs.
We intend to train the talented ones of our race in music, singing,
acting etc., in order to have our own professionals and thus provide
t'hem with employment.
Will you help us to attain that goal? Be a stockholder and gain
the privilege and credit in making this corporation a success.
You will not be risking anything. Your money is amply protected
by the laws of the state of California which guarantee you that only
10 per cent, of what you pay for the stock will go toward the preliminary expenditure if the-company does not raise the necessary capital for the work. Otherwise your investment will be very profitable.
The general sales agent, Edward Gillett, will travel throughout
the United States in the interest of the corporation. Application for
subscription to stock may also be made to the corporation's headquarters in Los Angeles or to any of the Syrian papers, or to the corporation's representative in New York State, Mr. A. G. Milkie, 160
Greenwich St.. New York City.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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TSW1930_12reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 05, Issue 04
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930 December
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 5 Issue 04 of The Syrian World published December 1930. The issue begins with an article by Rev. W. A. Mansur that features his thoughts on the educational program that the Syrian-American generation follows. Mansur imbues his writing with patriotism. This is followed by yet another piece by G.K. Gibran titled "Song"
there is an article with a slightly different tone discussing the economic reconstruction of Syria. In D.F. McGonigal's article "The Vice Consul of Beirut" speaks on the resources of the country and the efforts of the government in a comprehensive manner. Falling back into the more lyrical and fictional literary contributions in this issue there is a poem by the well-known Ameen Rihani, as well as an address given by Phares Anton BeHannesey at the Lions Club of Hollywood, CA. Before the two primary fictional inclusions in this issue, there is also a poem by Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin titled "In the Garden of Love." Hailed as the most thrilling contribution is "Love and War in the Desert," a modern story that revolves around the love of a young sheikh for a maiden of another tribe, which culminates with her kidnaping at his request. This narrative is further followed by the next installment of "Ali Zaibaq." The last work in the issue is a poem by Thomas Asa titled "The Gardener." The issue concludes with the Reader's Forum, an update on the political developments in Syria, and a number of excerpts from the Arab press that specifically touch on Syria and Syrians.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1930s
Beirut
California
Education
Kahlil Gibran
New York
Phares Anton BeHannesey
Poetry-English
Reverend W.A. Mansur
Salim Alkazin
Thomas Asa
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/f9f1fd66a443fca13af9c7892a8911ba.pdf
0eb2ee819b9e6d3012e78ffa27eb34f4
PDF Text
Text
VOL. IV. No. 6.
FEBRUARY, 1930
|
THE
3
I
SYRIAN WORLD
A
MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
j5
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AR-RAZI AND HIS MILLENIAL CELEBRATION
DR. F. I. SHATARA
II
1
A DISCIPLE IN NOMADISM AND WISDOM
AMEEN RIHANI
THE OLD CRIMINAL
RAJAH F. HOWRANI
1
FROM THE DOG RIVER TO THE CEDARS
SALLOUM A. MOKAKZEL
MAGGIE AND JOE (A SHORT STORY)
LABEEBEE A. J. HANNA
THE COPY 50c
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�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
Tublished monthly by
SALLOUM
A.
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies 50c.
Entered as second-class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
FEBRUARY, 1930
VOL. IV. No. 6.
CONTENTS
PAGE
A r-Razi and His Millenial Celebration
DR.
F. I.
7
SHATARA
While Mortal (Poem)
13
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
A Disci-pie in Nomadism and Wisdom
14
AMEEN RIHANI
Song of a Homesick Man (Poem)
21
NAT LA SABE
The Old Criminal
RAJA
;
F.
HOWRANI
Tears (Poem)
29
R. A.
I—w_-
22
NICHOLSON
�urn inn wini,
i
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
From the Dog River to the Cedars
SALLOUM
A.
30
MOKARZEL
CO
Maggie and Joe (Short Story)
LABEEBEE
A. J.
39
HANNA
To My Father (Poem)
LABEEBEE
S
44
A. J.
HANNA
t!
Editorial Comment
45..
Spirit of the Syrian Press
47
Political Developments in Syria
51
About Syria and Syrians
54
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ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
General View of the Dog River
Showeir and its Heights
The Dog River Park
The Solitary House at the Dog River
A General View of Beit Shabah
The Hub of Ehden
The Spring of St. Sarquis
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�IN THIS ISSUE
)
V
DR. FUAD SHATARA should prove most helpful to
contributes to this issue an ap- those who would be initiated
preciation of the eminent Arab into the intimate life of the
physician Ar-Razi apropos of country, or those contemplating
the proposition to celebrate his a future visit to that interesting
millenial anniversary. It is re- land. * * * LABEEBEE A. J.
freshing to learn through the HANNA contributes an origbiography of Ar-Razi of the inal short story that deals with
substantial contributions of the a phase of Syrian life in AmerArabs to medical science even ica and is quite original in its
as far as a thousand years back, treatment. Her additional conAnd the account is by no means tribution of a poem will be
scientifically dull—on the con- found of extremely tender aptrary, it is of a happy, facile peal. * * * RAJA F. HOWRAstyle and abounds with anec- NI translates from the Arabic
dotes. *** AMEEN RIHANI a treatise entitled "The Old
gives us another delightful Criminal" by the foremost
chapter of his eventful travels Arabic woman writer, Mary Ziand describes in his present con- adah. The theme is based on a
tribution some of his rare ex- radical method of reasoning and
periences in Jeddah. The read- affords much material for
er is here introduced to a novel thought. Mr. Howrani is at
Prayer Club, the like of which present a student at Columbia
is possible only in Arabia. The University. * * * DR. SALIM
author further gives a most en- ALKAZIN gives various reatertaining account of a conver- sons for enjoying being mortal
sation he had with the Arab in a charming poem.* * * NAJKing, in which His Majesty LA SABE, a new contributor of
cites many heretofore unknown Brooklyn, echoes the song of a
reasons for 'Allah's especial fa- homesick man in the delicate
vors to Arabia. *** THE EDI- feeling of a young girl. * * *
TOR takes us on another leg of Other departments will be
his travels in Lebanon. In this found unusually interesting.
installment he covers the disJOIN
tance from the Dog River to
THE GREAT
the Cedars and describes many
SYRIAN WORLD
interesting places on the way.
CONTEST
This series of travel articles
�mg/m
Great Syrian
For a FREE TRIP to
I
I
\
The editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD having made a trip to Syria in j
the summer of 1929, which he is now describing in a series of articles in
the magazine, came to realize not only the great educational and cultural
advantages of such a trip, but its unrivalled possibilities for pleasure and
recreation. In our enthusiasm for the benefits of such tours, we decided to '
offer one as a prize to our readers. This is on a par with the most liberal
offers made by the biggest American publications, whose readers are hun^
drede of thousands and even millions. Needless to say that this is unprecedented in the history of Arabic journalism, whether in America or abroad.^
THE SYRIAN WORLD, in making the great prize offer in spite of
the heavy sacrifice involved, considers that in so doing it is promoting the
cause of sympathetic understanding of the motherland. This is in keeping
with the main object behind the publication of the magazine. Whether the
winner be a boy or girl, American or Syrian, the purpose would have beerit
served by the actual contacts established with the great scenic beauties}
and places of immense historical interest in our country of origin.
The proposition is unprecedented, the advantages great, the conditions most liberal. It is surely the opportunity of a lifetime for the ambitious.
ITINERARY OF TRIP
The free trip offered by THE SYRIAN WORLD takes the same route
followed by the editor in his recent trip to Syria. Passage will be Cabin
class on the luxurious steamer Providence, of the Fabre Line, sailing from
New York July 2nd. Stops on route and shore excursions will be made at
Ponta Delgada, Azores Islands; Lisbon, Portugal; Naples, Italy; Palermo,
Sicily, and Piraeus and Athens, Greece.
In Syria and Lebanon the winner may remain as long as he desires
and return on any of the Fabre Line steamers to New York, also Cabin
Class.
.
Sailing from New York will be under the direction and full assistance
of the firm of A. K. Hitti & Co., the well-known steamship ticket agentsl
The Beirut Branch of the same firm will render the winner all neces^
sary service and advice free. The editor, thanks to the contacts contracted'
on his last trip, will also give the winner letters of introduction and recommendation to many influential friends who would render all necessary
courtesies. The winner, representing THE SYRIAN WORLD whose services
are fully recognized in the motherland, will be assured of the most friendly
reception by the authorities and the public.
\
�World Contest
SYRIA and RETURN
\
SYRIAN WOULD OFFER
The prize offered by THE SYRIAN WORLD to the winner in the contest is free passage, Cabin Class, both ways from New York to Beirut and
return, together with a liberal cash allowance for the shore excursions
above mentioned on the outward passage. Is this not a worthy prize to
try to win?
\
CONDITIONS OF CONTEST
/ 1. THE SYRIAN WORLD prize of a Free Trip to Syria and return will be
awarded the individual securing the largest number of New subscribers to the magazine at the regular price of subscription.
2. Considering the great value of the prize offered, the minimum number
required to win the award must be not less than one hundred.
/'
/
1 8. Every contestant, other than the winner, securing more than one hundred new subscriptions, will be awarded a special cash premium of
">
$1.50 for every subscription. Those securing less than one hundred will
be given $.100 for every subscription. In the event of two or more contestants tying for the Grand Prize, all will receive identical prizes.
4. The contest closes June 10, 1930. Letters post-marked later than this
date will not be counted. Announcement of the awards will be made
June 15.
5. Every subscription must be a new subscription, and must be accompanied by a remittance of the full price of $5.00.
V
»
<
6. Gift subscriptions will be counted as direct subscriptions. For instance,
if a contestant succeeds in inducing a friend to make gifts of a year's
subscription to each of five individuals, he will be given credit for
five individual subscriptions. Multiple subscriptions to the same person
will not be counted by the number of years; as, for instance, a single
individual subscribing for two years will not be given credit for two
subscriptions.
7. Those wishing to enter the contest must write to register, in which case
they will be furnished with special blanks and helpful literature.
8. The contest is open to all friends of THE SYRIAN WORLD anywhere
in the United States and Canada.
\
�IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
ON THE SUBJECT OF THE
SYRIAN WORLD CONTEST
*
QWING to the appreciation by the public of our liberal offer
of a free trip to Syria as a first prize in the current Syrian
World Contest, and in compliance with numerous requests to
this effect, we have decided to extend our offer as follows:
1—While the minimum number of subscriptions required to win
the Free Trip remains at one hundred, any contestant, besides the winner, procuring one hundred subscriptions has
the option of receiving either the cash prize or a one-way
free trip to Syria.
2 If a contestant should procure two hundred, he receives a
free round trip.
3—For all subscriptions above two hundred the winner, as well
as any other contestant, receives a cash premium of one
dollar for each subscription in excess of two hundred.
4
Organizations are permitted to enter the contest and award
the prize to any individual member.
5—Contestants working for the limited prizes of either a oneway trip or a round trip may withdraw once their goal is
reached and sail on any Fabre Line steamer, cabin class,
before the date set for the close of the Contest.
Registered contestants to date are the following:
H J. Hashem, Poughkeepsie, Mrs. J. Rafful, Toledo, Ohio
Mrs. V. Z. Shehab, Brooklyn,
N. Y.
N. Y.
R. Hajjar, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Ed. Hershewe, Fort Dodge,
H. Abood, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Iowa.
Mrs. R. Hamrah, Naugatuck,
S. Kallil, Detroit, Mich.
Conn.
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N. Sayed, Georgetown, S. C.
N. H.
E. George, E. Liverpool, Ohio
THREE MORE MONTHS
IN WHICH TO WIN.
)
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
FEBRUARY, 1930
VOL. IV. No. 6.
Ar-Razi and His Millenial
Celebration
I
By
DR.
F. I.
SHATARA
AL MUKTATAF, one of the leading Arabic magazines published in Egypt, has arbitrarily set January 30, 1930, as a date
for celebrating the passing of one thousand years since the death
of the famous Arab physician Ar-Razi, and has called upon the
Egyptian Medical Society, the Arab Academy of Damascus, and
other scientific and medical organizations throughout the Arabicspeaking world to consecrate that date in memoriam of Ar-Razi,
and to send in scientific contributions describing his life and works.
In the December issue of the same magazine is published a splendid lecture on Ar-Razi delivered before the Arab Academy of
Damascus last October by Dr. Joseph Faraj Hiraiz.
In view of this, the Editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD has accorded me the honor of asking me to review the life and accomplishments of this famous physician. I do this gladly but with
the understanding that I am unable to contribute anything original to what has already been written, and with the hope that his
life may be another reminder to the Syrians in America of their
rich heritage, and a stimulus to them to emulate his by contributing their share to the upbuilding of culture, learning and civilization of the land of their adoption.
Abu Bakr Mohammad ibn Zakariyya was born at Ray, near
Taharan in Persia, so that he, like many of the scholars of his
day, was an Arab culturally though not racially. The surname
Ar-Razi or Rhazes is derived from the name of his birthplace.
He was probably the greatest and most original of all the Moslem physicians and one of the most prolific as an author. He
stands in sharp contrast with Avicenna, for Avicenna was a better
�«=*****
8
_.
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
philosopher than physician, while Ar-Razi was a better physician
than philosopher. (Browne).
There is some uncertainty about the date of his birth and it
can only be guessed at by computing from the date of his death,
which is somewhat less uncertain, occurring probably in the year
923 A. D.
Ar-Razi spent most of his life in Persia and was first interested in music, finance and other pursuits and did not take up
medicine until the age of 40. His interest in medicine was aroused
by visits to the Adudi Hospital in Bagdad, and conversations with
an old druggist who informed him that the first herb medicinally
used was accidentally discovered along a river bank by a descendant of Aesculapius who had suffered from inflammation of
his arms. On a subsequent visit to the Hospital, he beheld a fetal
monster with one head and two faces, and this aroused his curiosity and interest in medicine.
One of his principal teachers in medicine was Ali ibn Rabban
of Tabbaristan, whose father Rabban was either a Christian or
a Jew, probably the latter. Ali, according to Al-Qifty, embraced
Islam after he entered the service of the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil.
He is the author of Firdaws-ul-Hikmat—the "Paradise of Wisdom", a treatise on medicine and philosophy which was probably
used as a text by Ar-Razi.
Shortly after completing his medical studies his ability was
recognized and his fame spread rapidly. He was made physician
in chief to the hospital at Ray, where large clinics were held by
him and his pupils, and his pupils' pupils. Every patient who
reported to the clinic was first examined by the latter, and if the
case proved too difficult for them it was passed on to the Master's immediate pupils, and finally, if necessary, to the Master
himself.
Subsesuently Ar-Razi became physician in chief to the Adudi
Hospital in Bagdad, which received the name of the great Adudu'd-Dawla. Here exists some confusion, for this ruler's reign
extended from 949 to 982 A. D., long after the probable date
of Ar-Razi's death. Ibn Abi Usaybia states that when Ar-Razi
was asked to select the most suitable site for the Bagdad Hospital
he caused pieces of meat to be hung in different quarters of the
city, and selected the section where they showed the least signs
of decomposition. Another writer, Kamal-ud-Din Abi-Turab,
states that in selecting the physician in chief to the Bagdad Hos-
h
�-
FEBRUARY, 1930
pital, Adudu'd-Dawla resorted to a process of elimination and
had a list prepared of about one hundred of the most famous
physicians. Out of this list he selected fifty according to ability
and skill, and out of the fifty he picked fifteen, and then three,
and out of these chose Ar-Razi.
It is agreed by all biographers that Ar-Razi's code of medical ethics was of the highest standard. Thus Ali Ibn Ridwan, an
Egyptian, states that the most befitting description of his standard of ethics is that contained in the Hippocratic Code, namely
"that the physician shall be more interested in curing disease than
in obtaining reward; in treating the poor more than in treating
the rich; and that he should diligently pursue learning and devote
himself to the benefit of others."
Ibn Abi Usaybia, in describing Ar-Razi, says:—"He was intelligent, kindly to the sick, diligent in curing their ailments,
persistent in his search into the mysteries of medicine and other
sciences, and spent most of his spare time in reading and having
a friend read to him the writings of Hippocrates, Galen and
others."
The Editor of the Fihrist states:—"He was the man of his
day and age, who possessed the knowledge of the ancients,
especially in medicine. He traveled about the country and was
very friendly with Al-Mansur, in whose honor he wrote his
book Al-Mansuri."
He was described by a native of Ray as "an old man with a
large drooping head, who sat among his pupils to whom patients
reported, and never interrupted unless the case was too difficult
for them. He was generous, virtuous and sympathetic."
He became blind toward the end of his life from a cataract
and refused to undergo an operation on the ground that he desired to see no more of a world with which he was disgusted and
disillusioned. (Browne). As contributing causes to his blindness
it is stated by some that he was hit on the head by a patron to
whom he dedicated one of his works on alchemy when he refused
to put his theories into practice by the actual production of gold.
Others ascribe his blindness to the excessive eating of beans of
which he was very fond. For this there is no medical justification.
There is less uncertainty about Ar-Razi's writings than about
other phases of his life. The Fihrist enumerates 113 major and
28 minor works by him, besides two poems. Browne states that
of his many monographs the most celebrated is his well-known
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10
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
treatise on small-pox and measles first published in the Arabic
original with a Latin translation by Channing (London, 1766).
Of this a Latin translation had already appeared in Venice in
1565 and an English version by Greenhill was published by the
Sydenham Society in 1848. This tract was formerly known as
"de Peste" or "de Pestilentia" and, as Neuberger says, "on every
hand and with justice, it is regarded as an ornament to the medical
literature of the Arabs."
Other monographs of Ar-Razi were on stone in the bladder
and kidney, on gout and rheumatism, and on colic. He gave a
description of spina ventosa, spina bifida, hernia and its treatment, and other surgical topics, borrowing largely from Hippocrates, Aetios and Paulos of Aegina. For cancer he advised
against excision unless the disease was limited, in which case the
entire mass affected should be removed. For bites of rabid animals he prescribed the cautery.
He added several chemical preparations to the category of
official medicines. Among these were orpiment, blue and green
vitriol and borax. (Wilder).
He wrote an entertaining work on the success of charlatans
and quacks in securing a popularity often denied to the competent and properly qualified physician.
Of his major works on medicine, the best known are the Jami
or compendium, the Kan or sufficient, the Lesser and Greater
Madkhal or introduction, the Muluki or royal, the Fakhir or
splendid, the Mansuri or Liber Almansoris, dedicated to AlMansur, one of the kings of Khorasan, and the Hawi or Continens. Unfortunately, the Hawi has never been published in the
original and what exist are translations of some of its volumes,
three of which are in the British Museum, three in the Bodleian,
four or five in the Escorial and others at Munich and Petrograd.
The Fihrist enumerates 12 volumes while the Latin translations
contain 25. On account of its enormous size, and the mass of details it contained, The Hawi appalled the most industrious copyists and was beyond the reach of all save the most wealthy bibliophiles, so that Ali Abbas tells us that in his day he only knew of
two complete copies.
There are many accounts and various valuable observations
by Ar-Razi depicting his skill in the art of medicine. The following case reported in Kitabul Faraj ba'da Shedda (book of
relief after distress) is typical.—A young man of Bagdad came
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FEBRUARY, 1930
K
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11
to him seeking relief for vomiting blood. After careful examination no cause for this malady could be determined and the patient
was in despair, believing that where Rhazes failed no one could
succeed. Rhazes, touched alike by his faith and his distress, proceeded to question him carefully and found that he had drunk
water drawn from a stagnant pool, whereupon he said to the
patient:—"When I come to-morrow I will treat you and not
leave you until you are cured on condition that you order your
servants to obey me in all that I command them concerning you."
The patient consented to this. On the following day Ar-Razi
returned with a large quantity of moss (tuhlub) which he ordered
the patient to swallow. The patient obeyed until he was unable
to take any more, whereupon Ar-Razi ordered the servants to
hold him flat on his back and force more and more of the weed
down his throat. This induced severe vomiting, and on examining the vomitus a leech was found. This had attached itself to
the patient's stomach and sucked his blood until it transferred
itself to its usual and more congenial medium—the water weed,
and thus the patient was cured. Numerous case reports similar
to the preceding could be cited. These show the unusual skill,
intuition, and power of observation of Ar-Razi.
The following are a few of the edicts he announced:—"Treatment of disease according to book instructions is dangerous unless
controlled and supplemented by the judgment and opinion of the
skilled physician."
"The physician should foster in his patient the belief in ultimate recovery even where the physician is in doubt as to the outcome, for the vital processes of the body are greatly influenced
by the status of the patient's mind."
"Stick to one physician in whom you have confidence. The
possibility of his error is negligible. In changing from one physician to another you are likely to suffer by the mistakes of all."
"If the physician is able to treat by natural means instead of
drugs he is pursuing the right course."
"The physician should be of moderate circumstances neither
too wealthy and tempted to attend to material pursuits, nor too
poor and obliged to be distracted from his scientific endeavors."
An Evaluation of Ar-Razi:
No medical Hall of Fame would be complete that did not
dedicate a liberal space to a statue or some other concrete way
of commemorating Ar-Razi. If it were possible to resurrect all
'-4BHHMPMMBHH
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
the dead Masters of Medicine from the time of Hippocrates up
to the present day and assemble them on a stage for the present
generation to view, Ar-Razi should be, and rightly belongs, in
the front ranks. If we possessed a yardstick for medical achievements and a scale to weigh ability, the achievements and ability
of Ar-Razi would hardly be outweighed or outmeasured by, any
of the greatest physicians in history
And what is the secret
of his greatness: Was it because of his unusual skill, his high
code of ethics, and the wisdom of his edicts? Was it because he
was one of the most prolific writers or was it because "he walked
with kings and yet did not lose the common touch" and thus won
the respect and admiration of the highest and the lowliest of his
day and age? While he possessed all these unusual qualifications,
any one of which alone entitles a man to distinction among his
fellow men, the secret of his greatness lay elsewhere. It lay in
his ability to use his five senses to better advantage than any
other physician of his day and age or any other day and age. He
resolved every medical problem to simple fundamentals and then
found and applied a simple remedy. He was not awed, or dazzled. His insight was clear, his observation keen, and his reasoning precise. He went right to the heart of a problem and did
not permit incidentals to befog his vision or detract his attention.
When Adudu'd-Dawla asked him to select a site for the hospital
in Bagdad, he knew that the driest section of the city would be
the healthiest. He did not possess, as we do now, an instrument
of precision to measure the degree of humidity, but did not permit this handicap to thwart his efforts, and therefore contrived a
simple but efficient method of hanging pieces of meat and watching for putrefaction.
When the young man who vomited blood was brought before
him he diagnosed the condition with startling accuracy and applied the remedy with equally startling efficiency. No X Rays,
stomach tubes, blood tests or any of the numerous modern diagnotic aids were available to him. If that young man were to
present himself to-day before a group of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of modern times, it is doubtful if after a
very exhaustive study they could arrive at the diagnosis as quickly
and as accurately as did Ar-Razi alone and unaided, and if they
did succeed in making the diagnosis it is doubtful if they could
prescribe such a simple and efficient remedy.
Modern scientific discoveries and inventions have been a great
Fl
bo
(i
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�^5.:
13
FEBRUARY, 1930
boon to humanity, but they have had the tendency of benumbing
and rendering dull the greatest gifts that a physician has—his
five senses.
It is a matter for pleasant speculation to conceive of a physician possessing all the native ability of Ar-Razi combined with
all the modern scientific methods of diagnosing and treating disease. History as yet has not produced such a physician. He is
a superman.
While Mortal
By
X
LP
V
V
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
To Fortune's smile I will respond
With rapture and with pleasure;
And when her brow is overcast,
With pain I fill my measure,
For still I am a mortal.
And in the silver throat of song,
I find the secret thrilling}
But in the gloomy house of death,
I am a mourner willing,
For still 1 am a mortal.
In Beauty's castle I submit
To signs of magic power,
And either laud the golden fruit,
Or sing the crimson flower,
Just like a humble mortal.
To drug the passions of my soul,
Or still its silent voice,
Or drive it like a thrall in chains
Will never be my choice.
Nor will it lead me at its will,—
But governed by concern,
Like friends, the mutual goblet fill,
And each will quaff in turn
Till I no more am mortal.
�in mi WWII
nniiiiniwiB
THE SYRIAN WORLD
14
A Disciple in Nomadism
and Wisdom
By
AMEEN RIHANI
THERE is no need in ordinary hospitality for a liaison officer
between the host and his guest. You may ask for what you
want, you may refuse what is offered, you may even have an
especial desire, without any messengers, between you and your
host, except good taste and common sense. But royal hospitality
is different. The first rule is that you must not refuse anything
offered you or conferred upon you.
The kings of Arabia, despite what is attributed to them of
clannishness and coarse taste, are, in this respect, like all other
kings. They never surprise a guest, lest he become confused in
speech or conduct. Therefore, in addition to the servants, they
appoint a special person as companion to the favored one,—a
sort of liaison officer between him and Majesty,—whose business,
like a lightning rod, is to absorb desires and spontaneities, and
conduct them in mild form from one end to another.
My friend Constantine Yanni was this lightning rod; and
on the third day after my arrival on Arabian soil, he came to me
with a flow of speech which flashed with titles and decorations.
This would have been annihilating had it fallen upon me direct
from the lips of Majesty. But I reminded Constantine of the
hermit of Freike and of twenty years the said hermit spent in
America, a pitifully democratic country, without even a reminiscence of any title or decoration. And then, impressing the matter
strongly: "I am at thy mercy, O Constantine. Be quick to intercept the boon before it falls." Whereupon he said: "What about
presents?"—"Of presents I will accept anything that comes."
On the following day one of the black slaves of the Palace
came carrying upon his two hands, from His Majesty the King,
a bundle wrapt in cloth of silk, on top of which was a Meccan
dagger in a scabbard of filigreed gold; and in the bundle was a
kiswah—a suit of Arab garments—and a piece of the cUftaiii- of
the Kaaba, on which In the name of the Most Merciful God is
elaborately designed in what looks like a bas-relief in gold. My
Y3
�FEBRUARY, 1930
15
friend Constantine's mission was a great success. He must have
said to His Majesty: This Rihani is a hermit, and sacred things
are more worthy of him than a title. Of a truth, the Kaaba curtain-piece is the most sacred and precious thing that ever comes
out of the Holy City, and is seldom presented to a Christian.
I was as happy too in my change of clothes. I put on the
white cotton smock with the long tapering sleeves, embroidered
in red around the collar and down the opening on the breast;
girded myself with the Meccan dagger, judmiyah (V); slipped
my bare feet into sandals; covered my head with a richly wrought
Indian sumadah and an ighal of gold thread, and went straightway to thank His Majesty. He opened his arms, when he saw
me in this guise, and exclaimed: "O, my dear one, O, my own
eye!" embracing me, pressing me to his heart. Needless to say
that I too was moved, so much so, that I felt something forming
in my eye; and I hastened to where I usually kept my handkerchief, but not finding even a pocket in my new garment, I dried
my tear with the end of my sleeve. His Majesty laughed and
said: "Verily thou art now of the Bedu."
We then sat down to a political discussion, which did not
last long. For the French Consul and some Jeddah worthies came
in to say salaam, and His Majesty, changing the subject, spoke
to us, for the benefit of the new beduin, methinks, about the Bedu
and their unwritten law of protection and hospitality.
***"Three have the right to khewvcah (brotherhood) and
protection; the temporary guest (2), the moving tent (3), and
the rafiq, or traveller's companion. When a temporary guest
comes into a town or a dirah, the first house or tent he passes by
claims him, having the first right to offer him hospitality—I say,
O my dear one, the first right. If the traveller goes to the next
door neighbor, the people in the first house consider it an offense
and ask the neighbor to give back the guest.—'He passed first
by our door, billah! and are we not Arabs, and have we not, of
the bounty of Allah, the wherewithal to receive a guest?' If they
f-
/
(1) A dagger is called in Al-Hijaz qudmiyah, a front-piece, because it is
worn in front. The q in Al-Hijaz and in Najd is pronounced j—judmiyah. In Al-Yaman it is called jambiyah, a side-piece, because it is
worn on the side.
(2) A passing traveller.
(S) He who enters the dirah seeking its protection, sets up his tonb or
booth of hair in its pasture land. By the tent or tonb is meant the
nomad himself, even though he has none.
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
do not make this protest, at least, they are looked upon with disdain. Some of them will even insist upon their right, clutching
at the guest and forcing him back to save their honor
He who
entertains a passing traveller, O brilliant one, has to offer him
protection for twelve hours after his departure, even if he has
to travel with him, or send someone to accompany him the distance of a day's travel
To ask for assistance of kinsmen against
a foe, has its limits. The right ceases beyond the fifth degree;
—that is, I have the right to ask my cousins only from the fifth
down—I say, from the fifth only
No, there is no difference
in this respect between Arabs and ashraf (sherifs=descendants
of the Prophet). But in case of a murder premeditated, the life
of a sherif is entitled to a double diah, that is two lives."
In adjudication all Arab rulers continue to observe certain
customs of the Bedu, because the Koranic law is not always accepted in the desert. Of the traditions of the Bedu, for instance, is
that any Arab can be and has to be judge, when he is called upon.
But when the difference is between two tribes, the case is heard
in the private majlis of the King.
His Majesty, relating of the trial, said: "Each party selects
twelve men to prove his case, the plaintiff selecting his from the
tribe of his opponent, and vice versa. Of the twelve men four affirm, four inform, and four adjudicate. The first four, O thou brilliant one, state the case; the second prove or disprove it; the third,
decide it. Says the affirmer: The case is thus and thus. Says the
informer. I saw or I heard thus and thus. Says the adjucator:
The decision is thus and thus."
\\
'
/
%
How approximately come the Bedu in their litigations to the
judicial system of civilized nations. They are even more certain
of discovering the truth and achieving the highest justice. For
do not the plaintiff and the defendant choose their men, that is
their lawyers and witnesses and judges, each from the tribe of
his opponent? And do not the adjudicators or judges resemble
the jury in Europe?
When I mentioned this to His Majesty, he said: "Allah,
praised be he, did not signal out the Europeans for all the human { v[
virtues. We Arabs have a few. And thou, O my dear brilliant
one, art better informed of this. Not everything that comes from
Europe is free from fault or flaw—is perfect. The Europeans
may still be ignorant of certain things, the knowledge of which
we possess and can impart. Take medicine, for example, ThoU
I')
i
�GENERAL VIEW OF THE DOG RIVER
Let. ponls du fleuve du Chien
of which has been rebuilt or repaired by Seleucids, RoA panoramic
view showing the three bridges, the upper
P
mans and Arabs since as far back as 250 B. C
�HHHM&.-.
THE SOLITARY HOUSE AT THE DOG RIVER
to
This is a sort of a wayside inn that an enterprising returned emigrant built
at the farthest settled point on the Dog River towards the source.
THE DOG RIVER PARK
The clearing on the southern bank of the Dog River makes an ideal setting
for Kaif connoisseurs.
�SHOWEIR AND ITS HEIGHTS
<
This is one of the principal summer resorts in Lebanon. The town proper
is spread on the mountain side while the new development on the heights
appears in the left background.
A GENERAL VIEW OF BEIT SHABAB
This town was once the foremost industrial center in Lebanon and is situated at an elevation overlooking the canyon dividing Al-Kateh and Kisrawan.
�THE HUB OF EHDEN
FEB
hast!
May
pain;
from
The public square of Ehden, North Lebanon, as it appeared teeming with
humanity on the Sunday afternoon of The Syrian World editor's visit.
THE SPRING OF ST. SARQUIS
A partial view of the cafes clustered around the spring which is given the
name of 'the patron saint of Ehden. Standing under the branches of the
big tree to the extreme left, is Representative Kabalan Frangei, who was
our host.
tur«
wor
bou
�FEBRUARY, 19 SO
17
hast seen, O dear one, the best doctors; but they did not cure thee.
May Allah, through the medium of our doctor, rid thee of thy
pains. Thou wilt then say to them, "Recovery has come to me
from the vicinity of Mecca, from Allah and his Prophet."
\
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u
He then said: "It may be hallucination, O dear one—I say,
hallucination—imagination. Animals are also subject to it like
human beings. I will cite an example among camels. When a
certain one refuses for physical or temperamental reasons to
suckle her foal, we take him to another. But she too, for even
a better reason, withholds her milk. She will not suckle a strangfer. Now, what does the Arab do, the Arab of short-wit? He is
not always short-witted, O brilliant one. He blindfolds the beast
and then gags her, thus driving the wind inward and causing her
stomach to swell. Whereupon, with a sharp knife he performs a
slight operation, makes a few incisions in her genitals, deep
enough to be felt—I say, deep enough to be felt. The foal is
then brought near her and the bandages are removed. Instinctively, she turns her head to the region of pain, smells blood, sees
the foal, and is duped. She yields her udder with motherly tenderness. No, the Arabs are not slow-witted, O my dear one.
I They are also as quick with their eye and hand. Hast thou seen
khc boy that comes to the lagoon every day about sunset carrying
ia basket and a stick in his hand? I watch him often with amusement from this window."
|
I had indeed seen that boy the day before from closer vantage, from the opposite side of the lagoon, when he was knee-deep
in the water, prying about, peering through it. At small intervals he would stop, strike something at the bottom with his stick,
place his foot quickly upon it, and stoop to pick it up. He had
caught something, which he placed in his basket. Slowly wading
through the clear blue water, slowly with his keen eyes penetrating to the bottom, and every time the stick went down, some' thing was brought up. Not once did he miss, so trained was his
hand, so quick his stroke, so keen his eye. He was catching crabs.
His Majesty was so pleased that, like himself, I had also
observed this object of wonder. And he went on, from one subject to another, holding forth on the strange and interesting features of a country which he knew as good as the Holy Book.
***"No, Allah hath not deprived us of all the virtues, O
worthy one, nor hath he deprived us of all the fruits of his
bounty. There is a wadi near At-Taief, wadi Liyah by name in
�I—— —,
—
18
———
ii
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
which the pomegranate grows. Big pomegranates, some as big
as the head of a man, and with seeds that have very little of the
hard matter in them—full of the sweet juice. Excellent remedy
for the lungs. Some of the fastidious take it like a sherbet
squeezed into a glass. But a pomegranate should be eaten, not
drunk; for half its taste is in the pleasure of exerting the teeth
upon it. Our young men have pomegranate competitions, in
which a prize is given to him who eats the whole fruit first and
without dropping a single seed on the ground
Yes, yes; it is\
a competition. Young men everywhere, methinks, will have their
games
We have also a plant that grows in the late summer;
it has a white flower, on which the bees feed; and they produce
a honey unsurpassable in the whole world. I say so upon the
assurance of a distinguished traveller, the Khedive Abbas. For
when he came here a-pilgrimaging, he ate of our honey and
added to the two Testimonies (1), saying: 'And I testify that the
honey of Al-Hijaz is the best honey in the world.' As for our
pomegranates of wadi Liyah—'From wadi Liyah,' the hawkers
cry. 'Good for hediyah* (present)!—When I sent some to the
Sultan Abd'ul-Hamid, he exclaimed on beholding them: 'Praised \
be Allah and Peace upon his Prophet! These fruits are not only
the best of their kind in the world, but they come from the best
spot in the world.' Of a truth, O my son, we have a few good
things, and we are therewith content. Our pomegranates and \,
our honey, here be a proof that Allah, praised be he, hath not
forgotten us Arabs, the Arabs of Al-Hijaz."
That they might be forgotten one day is not morally conceivable since they have in Jeddah a form of piety and wisdom
the like of which I have not seen anywhere else in Arabia. It is
a club of seven members only, all sages;—a small circle of light,
without a line of darkness to define it;—a unique institution.
The founder is the Mayor of Jeddah, who is one of those
Oriental sages that are rare in the public life of Europe and America. He is a simple soul with an ingenious mind, who realizes
that even in India, where he spent many years, civilization has
a few things that Jeddah might well envy. But he will not concede that man in a desert waste can not order the world to him. '
\ v.'
He defines civilization as man's right relation between God and
Nature, and finds the right means to such, an end in a prayer
<v
(1) The two Testimonies of the Muslem are: I testify that there is no God
but Allah and that Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah.
wmmmmm
�—
FEBRUARY, 1930
19
rug and a hand-ball. He is the organizer and the moving spirit
of the Prayer Club of Jeddah.
i \
But it is more than a Prayer Club, for it combines its exercises so they include the body and the mind as well as the soul.
It might be better called the Koran-Athletic Club. Even then
the name is not inclusive. A triangle of practical wisdom, balancing the three purposes of life, without anything to hold it
together;—a unique conception;—a Club without a club house,
without a president, without by-laws, without dues. There is but
an understanding, an article of faith, and a pledge to attend the
daily meetings. The understanding is based on the article of
faith, which is the Mayor's definition of civilization, and the
article of faith is made a living principle at least an hour each day.
Bring your prayer rug and meet us on the sand outside the
city at sundown. There, on an elevation, beyond the citadel, I
joined these good people one day, and in spite of a deficiency,
an irregularity rather, in my Triangle, they took me into their
blessed circle. But I was beaten by their elder in throwing the
ball, and by their cadet in a poetic tilt. The meeting was always
started by standing in a line facing Mecca to say the sunset prayer;
and the member who led in prayers as imam would be the first
afterward to dctff his jubbah and start the ball game. They use
a cannon ball about the size of what we use in bowling, which
they hold in both hands, swinging it in a half-circle between the
legs and above the head, preliminary to the throw. He who
throws farthest scores. After the games, a few movements in
callisthenics are executed, and then the discussion, the intellectual
exercise, to complete the Triangle.
Having taken you, O worthy one, to the Club, allow me now
to introduce the members. Here is Hajji Zainal, the octogenarian who beat me at throwing the ball. He is brother to the Mayor
Abdullah Zainal, and is fond of quoting from the Persian poets,
Hafez and Sa'di and Jalal'ud-Din Roumi. The Zainals are of
Persian origin, and Hajji Zainal quotes in the original which
his brother translates. Here is one of his favorite quatrains from
Jalal'ud-Din Roumi the Sufi poet:
"When first my lips cajoled the flute, it moaned
i\.nd told the secret of the world's ill:—
It said: When I was severed from Love's Tree
I wrept, and all the world is weeping still."
�—
20
1
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Collector of Customs, Sheikh Muhammad Tawil, is the
Beau Brummel of Jeddah. His jubbah, which he changes every
day, tells of a variety in his wardrobe that ranges from striped
cashmere to flowered silk. Under the jubbah is a waistcoat equally
radiant in design;—one of light green material, with green buttons of a lighter shade, I particularly remember;—and under
the waistcoat is a robe of pongee silk or of barred Damascus weave,
which comes down to a little above the ankle upon which peeps
the famous linen pantaloons, whose lace or open work graces a (
pair of patent leather pumps. His turban alone is like that of his
fellows,—a regular Hijaz turban, which is a bonnet of green
and red and yellow cloth woven together in mosaic fashion, and
around which is wound, not too heavy, a white sash. But this
Arab Beau Brummel is also a man of business, the most practical
and the most energetic member of the Hijaz Government. He
collects and he pays out with a conscience and an accuracy unexcelled in Arabia, except it be by the Parsis of Aden.
The Ghabel brothers, Sulaiman and Abd'ul-Qader, most sincerely flatter the Honorable Collector, but they do not always
succeed in imitating him. The lace upon their linen underwear
is always more evident, however, and their perfume announces
them before they approach. All Arabs love perfume; but the
Ghabel brothers are artists in the composition of essences. I have
always imagined East and West flowing from their robes, without any particular spice or flower intruding itself, without even
noticing in the swooning effusion a waft from a Paris bottle. But
they are nontheless extremely pious. If they pay five pounds
gold for a bottle of French perfume, they pay their homage
five times a day to Allah and the Prophet. Sheikh Sulaiman seems
to think that it is necessary to train oneself in mortal ease preliminary to an immortality of it.
But Sheikh Naser of Najd, who thirty years ago shook the
sand of the Nufoud from his sandals, remains a Wahhabi both
stern and serene. He yields not to the luxuries of the people
of Al-Hijaz, but he frowns not upon them. He has learned tolerance in his travels, and is a true Brother, disdaining not to pray,
as a Wahhabi of South Najd, with Muslems of other sects.
Opposite to Sheikh Naser in belief is the Persian Mulla Husein of Shiraz, he who is a master in mechanics and a disciple
of Jalal-ud-Din Roumi. He supplies the lux lights to Jeddah,
repairs its sewing machines, and airs his Sufism in the bazaars. But
,
I
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/
�FEBRUARY, 1930
I
21,
the Prayer Club is non-sectarian. Bring your prayer rug and meet
us on the sands. If you have a new book of verse, bring it also
with you. But Mulla Husein carries his book in his head; and
it is a rare joy to hear him intone in opulent Persian accents the
couplets of our Master Jalal'ud-Din.
I
"I am a piece of wood,
Cut from the Tree of Love,
And made into a flute:—
The flute forevermore pines for the grove."
±41
\ <•
Although I was but a passing traveller, a moving guest, I
too feel that I am a piece of wood cut from that blessed tree—
the tree of the Prayer Club of Jeddah—and made into a flute
And the flute forevermore pines for the grove.
Sang of a Homesick Man
.
By
NAJLA SABE
My heart's in the hills,
The Lebanon hills.
Where I first learned that beauty dwells;
And bliss sublime
In the sunniest clime
The peace of the world foretells.
How I love the pine
And cedar trees
That shadow the Lebanon plains;
And Mount Sannin
In her immaculate sheen
As a monarch of beauty, she reigns.
My eyes are dim
And my hair is gray,
Yet my joy has banished my ills,
For they promised, you see,
They'd bury me
With my heart on the Lebanon hills.
�as
22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Old Criminal
A PORTRAYAL OF LIFE THROUGH ITS
TRAGIC ELEMENT
By MARY ZIADAH
Translated from the Arabic by RAJA F. HOWRANI
Translator's Note—The following article is a translation, more or less
free, from an Arabic Monthly Review, Al-Muktataf, (February, 1928) under the title "Al-Mojrim-ul-Kadeem", The Old Criminal. The author of the
Arabic text, Mary Ziadah (pen name, Mey) is the leading woman-literarywriter in the Arabic-speaking world, and her style is among the best of
modern Arabic literature. Mey, however, is not original in this literary
piece. She has adapted it from a play written by a Gei-man poet—a certain.
Reinhardt?
This play, or better tragi-drama, centers around a historic figure, the
Ephesian Herostratus, who lived around the middle of the 4th century B. C.
The following account of Herostratus is given in Smith's "Dictionary of
Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology."
"Herostratus, an Ephesian, set fire to the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, which had been begun by Chersiphron, and completed by Demetrius
and Paeonius. It was burnt on the same night that Alexander the Great
was born, B. C. 356> whereupon it was remarked by Hegesias the Magnesian, that the conflagration was not to be wondered at, since the Goddess
was absent from Ephesus, and attending on the delivery of Olympias: an
observation, says Plutarch, frigid enough to have put out the fire. The
stroke of Genius in question, however, is ascribed by Cicero, whose taste
it does not seem to have shocked, to Timaeus of Tauromenium. Herostratus
was put to torture for his deed, and confessed that he had fired the temple
to immortalize himself. The Ephesians passed a decree condemning his
name to oblivion, but Theopompus embalmed him in his history, like a fly
in amber."
In the present article Herostratus is justified in his deed. The article
itself, I take it, is an artistic expression, every part of which when analyzed, admirably coincides with the theory of Aesthetic appertaining to literature (prose) as Art and especially to that tragic element which is the
solution for the problem of evil in Aesthetics. In spite of its so-called pathetic element—and pathos indeed is essential in a tragedy—this picture
of human destiny affords us the proper purgation of emotions not only
through pity and fear but also through admiration for the hero as portrayed
by the artist.
The writer is sensibly aware of the difficulty of the task which he has
undertaken. He duly confesses that the Arabic text at certain culminations
la immeasurably superior to what he can put into English. Every language
has its own 'genius' and translation becomes a hazardous matter to that
I*
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�FEBRUARY, 1930
23
genius. This is especially true in this case because of the very limited
knowledge the writer has of the philosophy of Art whether in Arabic or
any other language.
DOETS sometimes show mercy. It was Reinhardt whose heart
was touched by compassion, and who composed a dramatic
tragedy around this historical episode, whose hero was the un| lucky, ill-fated Herostratus.
Around the middle of the fourth century B. C, Greece was
at the zenith of her glory. Nay, even more—by virtue of her
attainments she creates in us that sense of greatness itself which
perturbs our souls whenever Greece and her glorious history are
recalled. If it be true that such an effort is produced in us after
so many centuries, how much more true in the Greeks themselves,
and it was they who made live their greatness and created it day
after day in the exuberance of pride and the love of competition
and excelling.
Apropos of this, history records Themistooles' reputed statement, "The wreath which crowns Miltiades drives sleep from
me," which is an indication of their competitive spirit.
Every unfolding of their supremacy they immortalized in
the form of a brilliant poem, and objectified through an artistic
medium. It was by this means that men learned to become heroes,
and heroes aspired to become gods.
Moreover, the land with its beautiful location and its clear
azure-blue sky shone with a radiance greater and brighter than
that of the sun—namely the radiance of life and exquisite beauty
created at the hands of the Greeks. But Athens among the Greeks
was the pinnacle of greatness and the climax of posterity, for it
was Athens of the Genius, of the Parthenon, of Wisdom, of Democracy, with Pericles at its summit.
And there, across the sea in Ephesus, arose another man, Herostratus by name, destined to perform the role of despair along
with happiness and defeat along with victory.
Instead of seeing in that criminal a crazy fool, the German
poet created in him another aspect of defeated greatness. Through
a person immortal in his defeat and despair he brings to us emotions indigenous to the human heart. For who of us has not, at
least once in his life, tasted the bitterness of defeat and the fruitlessness of hard work? "In this ultimate sense, most of human
life is tragic." (Parker). The poet sensed that remote crime, and
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
24
extracted from it the essence of life. Herein lies the greatness >
of the artist: his ability to see through the walks of the soul and
probe into the innermost of consciousness disclosing what others,
can not see. He then falls back to his special tools by the aid of I. L
which he shows us, through his own eyes, the secrets of life. We
then stamp our immediate approval interfused with a little astonishment, and with him we are moved to comprehend what he
has sensed. Indeed, Browning has sung the fame of such an artist
in
Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise
From outward things, what'er you may believe.
There is an inmost center in us all,
Where truth abides in fullness; and around,
Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in,
This perfect, clear perception—which is truth.
A baffling and perverting carnal mesh
Binds it, and makes all error; and to KNOW
Rather consists in opening out a way
Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape,
Than in effecting entry for a light
Supposed to be without.
—Browning, Robert, Paracelsus. L 726-37. \
Or Parker when he wrote: "The artist will try to reveal the j
hidden unities that so delight the mind to discover. He will aim \
to penetrate beneath the surface of experience observed by comman perception to its more obscure logic underneath. In this way
he will go beyond what the mere mechanism of imitation requires"... Or again, "Out of the infinite fullness of nature and
of life, the artist selects those elements that have a unique significance for him.
Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory,
Odors, when sweet violets sicken;
Live within the sense they quicken;
Rose leaves, when the rose is dead;
Are heaped for the beloved's bed;
And so thy thoughts when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.
Observe how, out of the countless things which he knows,
the poet has chosen those which he feels akin to his faith in the
immortality of love."
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�FEBRUARY, 1930
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Herostratus in this tragi-drama possesses a poignant, artistic,
temperament, true in its aspiration and pain, nevertheless one
with its irregularities—perhaps weaknesses. Surely he deserves
compassion and mercy, for he is a hero in his reactions and aspirations; meagre in his work and production, he aspires to chisel the
magnificent statues and to create masterpieces of beauty, but succeeds only in being an insignificant apprentice who accomplishes
mediocre monuments and small idols of worship. How could
he endure this humiliation and feeling of impotency while he is
living in the shadow of the great temple Artemis?
George Moore in "Confessions of a Young Man" says: "How
terrible are the languors and yearning of impotency! how wearing! what an aching void they leave in the heart! And all this
I suffered until the burden of unachieved desire grew intolerable."
It was Paeonius who erected that riddle in marble, the temple
of Ephesus, the center of admiration and envy of both the Greek
and the Barbaric worlds. Foreigners, Athenians, Spartans and
multitudes of pilgrims nocked from every direction to that temple
for religious worships and aesthetic enjoyment. But he, Herostratus, while looking at the walls and high friezes of the temple,
is reminded of the immortal genius, of the old artist who has
embodied the last work of undying fame. As he recalls all this,
Herostratus becomes increasingly aware of his impotency.
Around the temple throbs the rich and varied life of the
people. Here is the day destined to dedicate Artemis. The people
raise their voices high unto heaven, unto their gods. Ships embark multitudes of worshipers. Processions of priests, Greek notables, and young men and women leave the temple with music
and songs—an exaltation of life that envisages the Greek world
in its fervor and happy religion and in its devotion to real beauty.
Amidst this exaltation Herostratus alone stands disappointed,
and weeping, waives the consolation of his beloved mother who
creeps out of her mean dwelling in a vain attempt to heal his
drooping spirit. Thus he answers her: "Remember! it was none
but you who, once, led me to this temple and with burning zeal
uttered in my ears: 'My son! let the love of fame envelop you.
Be a model of your father who shed his blood in the pursuit of
greatness and glory. Let your impelling motive be world-widefame'. I then knelt down before the altar of the temple and my
tender lips whispered fervently the prayer: 'Grant me fame, Ye
great gods'".
�*t m
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26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
His mother disappeared like a 'drunkard staggering toward
home', leaving her son in a state of mental destitution.
Then came Agasias, dealer of the statues of Artemis, rebuking him and calling him to resume his 'mean, unpleasant' task. He
heard him not, nor did he hear the voice of the Ionian maiden,
the pretty Cilisea, the descendant of Paeonius. For, although he
had reciprocated her love, his hunger for perfection made him J
cruel and fierce and locked his heart to every tender and sweet \,
sentiment. While young Cilisea, the incarnation of youth, who
knew nothing of life save love and its paths, who comprehended
not the significance of perseverance and sorrow, and whose main
concern was a "friendly dwelling with life itself," turned to him
and said: "Listen, Herostratus! but we are guilty if we succumb
to sorrow and grief in our bright moment. Let us avail ourselves
of the most in life while at the prime of youth and envy not
even the builder of the temple himself. He has passed away to
his destination, but we are the children of this life."
"No! No!" answered Herostratus, "We do not belong to
this life! nor are we living! because we did not excel. Life is
but victory and conquest, or it is death, yea more bitter than
death. The children of life are Phidias the ideal sculptor, Homer
the peet, and a host of outstanding 'men of genius'. They are
and will continue to be living, enjoying a beauty of godly youth
which does not wither, notwithstanding the wind that scatters
their ashes into the four corners of the earth. We might just as
well have been unborn—I wish we were."
Herostratus, the criminal, fully realizes the worth of the
Message that great men leave to posterity. Those who, owing
to their imaginative power, have created a disingenuous, complete
world, have realized it through their art, thus enriching the wealth
of the world by their creations which became a part of the real
world—be they philosophers, politicians, leaders, artists, or poets.
In fact, were it not for their intuition, decades and centuries would
have passed and the world have been less rich, less noble, and
less beautiful; nations, like animals, would have fallen into an
abyss of utter insignificance.
It is this message, which is the guarantee for the compensation of the genius and his radiancy, that Herostratus' tragedy lies.
He is the man who fully comprehended the significance of
that Message, yet failed. He had aspirations, but lacked technical skill—his art would not obey him.
i'
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FEBRUARY, 1930
I*>
[•
i
27
Now his chance lies before him. The City of Ephesus determined to replace the old wooden statue of Artemis by a marble
one with which to decorate the temple. Herostratus, because
he was a citizen and because he was a sculptor, was intrusted
with this task.
Like an electric shock, genius and intuition challenge Herostratus, "Blessed be Ye Artemis," he cried, "Ye who responded
to the prayer of the child who was reared at your feet—now is
the time that people should know him as a creator." He confined himself to his room, closing his eyes to Cilisea and to any
talk of love. He burned his midnight oil in imagination, working persistently and untediously, now measuring and then remeasuring, trying and erring, carving, building and destroying,
and rebuilding anew; disappointment turns out to be his product.
He could picture and visualize a great image, but alas! the hand
would not obey the inventive mind.
His people grew impatient with him. They announced a
competition between their Herostratus and the celebrated Athenian, Praxiteles. The latter arrived on board an Athenian ship,
and was greeted by multitudes of people who flocked to meet
him: processions of priests, elders, and young men, led by the
pretty Ionian maidens who were playing their guitars, singing
their songs of merriment and welcome, and posing their beauty—
and beauty is intensified before those who appreciate it—to the
new artist who might pass for a conqueror.
While proceeding toward the majestic temple, Praxiteles
appeared to be the carrier of Athens' greatness and its Genius.
There was hardly a measure of comparison between Herostratus
and his rival. The latter loved life sympathetically, free from
sorrow—life to him meant the enjoyment of the passing moment.
Work for him was play. He would neither give heed to, nor
would he crave for unsubstantial and hypothetical immortal
glory. Through his character (nature) he spanned the chasm
which lay between Herostratus and beloved Cilisea, and soon,
with her, a mutual understanding was reached of problems of
life and ecstasy of love.
Herostratus, the unsuspecting, became an enemy to life
through his art which disobeyed him, while Praxiteles, the happy
conqueror, created his goddesses from the very girls whom he
saw. To him girls and goddesses were one, and in the charming
looks of the former, divinity and humanity were combined, and
art and life became one.
�I ,.... I... * —
28
.BWIIUMLTWH....
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Beauty is the bridge which connects earth with heaven. In
Athens, inspired by an Athenian maiden, Praxiteles craved his
Aphrodite, and in Ephesus his Artemis shall be inspired by an
Ephesian beauty. Around him gathered the Ionian girls singing
and dancing, and among them he caught sight of Cilisea. Soon
his eyes glistened with inspiration; isn't this Artemis declaring
herself to the Artist? Her beautiful, yet fading, youth, and her
looks over-laden with love, Praxiteles shall reap and immortalize
in the beautiful marble. How wouldn't Cilisea love the Athenian
and be inclined toward him after her long experience of bitter
loneliness and misery? But how wouldn't the tragedy flame
in the soul of Herostratus, the defeated, both as a man and as
an artist?
For a second time, he was experiencing a new defeat. The
Athenian sculptor, having completed his admirable work which
emphasizes the Praxitelian conception, the human-divine conception, objectifying the beauty and the grace of the body of
Cilisea, exposed it to the onlookers, among them Herostratus,
who became an inculcation of fruitless effort. There he stood
lamenting the love of which he did not avail himself, and the
glory which passed from his hands. The demon of jealousy and
hatred overwhelmed him as he thought of that stranger who
robbed him of everything 'lightly'. Looking at the magnificent
statue, he felt the unrealization of his dreams and the futility
of his aspirations—yea, more than that, he felt an inferiority in
his personality. In view of all this, and under the stress of emotional disturbance, he picked up the chisel of his rival which lay
beside the statue, and went back home; and with one stroke he
smashed the incomplete statues and cut down the disobedient
marble, in which he tried his Art, and his luck, and his aspirations. And, coming out of his home, he caught sight of Cilisea
weeping for her lover who, having completed his monumental
work, was ready for departure to Athens, where a new glory
awaited him, and the Athenian maidens invited him for a new
love. Thus he addressed her: "With this chisel I have smashed
my statues and models; my failure is complete and to my rival is
due all the laurel crowns of victory. Come now to me, Cilisea,
you girl of the moment! Grant me the joy of the fleeting 'happy
festival of life', for which I cared not hitherto. Will you remain
true to him! he who left you without sorrow—unhesitatingly?"
"But I love him," answered Cilisea, "and I shall remain true
to him."
i.
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FEBRUARY, 1930
"Ye beautiful world!" cried Herostratus, "Are you created
to be in your entirety subservient to this man? Wouldn't you
grant me the crumbs which fall from his table, not even the withering flower that falls from his laurel crown? Do the gods so
unjustly distribute their gifts? And I, the fool, trust in their
justice and mercy?" Despair overwhelmed him and the tragedy
was inevitable. Fire and smoke pierced through the darkness
which enveloped the earth. The great temple was burning and
in front of it Herostratus was standing dishevelled, with eyes
fixed, holding a torch in his hand and crying like a madman in
,' the phantasy of his delirium.
He was incapable of creating anything, but he destroyed
/ everything. No temple, no statues, no columns, nor any immortal
remains do we have after this day.
Would they imprison him and condemn him to death, and
his name to oblivion? Yea! death is far better than life which
deceived him. If fate has thus decreed to him, he has demolished everything else: Cilisea, under the afflication of love (to
Praxiteles) threw herself into the sea; the temple is gone forever—in vain did Praxiteles come and useless was his art, and
his love, and his inspiration.
Similarly, the spirit of evil, of jealousy, of hatred, and of
repugnance had corrupted the enigmatic ancient world. But Herostratus is justified—as the German poet sees him—by his great
pain and sacrifice in loss and suffering.
It is but an Imitation of life—a true one representing defeated humanity and its subdued, though struggling, Genius.
"It is a picture of human destiny with all its significance," as
Aristotle expresses it.
I
Tears
Translated from the Arabic of Al-Khansa
by R. A.
py .
lin
?»
i
NICHOLSON
Tears, ere thy death, for many a one I shed,
But thine are all my tears since thou art dead.
To comforters I lend my ear apart,
While pain sits ever closer to my heart.
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
From the Dog River to the
Cedars
A CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF THE
EDITOR'S TRIP ABROAD
v
V
By
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
I EBANON claims many places of historical interest. The ruins
of its famous cities of old are among the wonders of the world.
They dot the coast of what was formerly old Phoenicia all the
way from Tyre and Sidon in the south to Byblos and Tripoli in
the north; while the majestic ruins of Baalbeck are reminiscent
of the glory that was once the great city of the central plain.
But all these are dead relics, representing a glory that has
passed and a civilization that exists only in memory. The pulse
of life does not throb in them, nor do they possess any inherent
virility that could defy time and insure their continuity. They
were destroyed when the civilization which they represented
came to its end. They existed so long as the race which reared
them was able to defend and preserve them. They were a flare
which illumined the horizon and diffused the light of culture
and knowledge while they lasted, but when they were consumed,
only the cinders remained, mute evidence that man's mightiest
physical achievements are subject to his own fate, that mortal
cannot build anything eternal, that only that which is native to
the soil, and is an integral part of mother nature, can lay claim
to any degree of perpetuity.
But there is in Lebanon two living witnesses to its hoary
civilization and ancient glory that have withstood the ravages of
time and defied and challenged the actions of elements. They
are records imperishable. They are an integral part of the history of man's progress on the road of culture and his ascent to
the heights of human power and achievement. Their virility is
inherent, making them self-perpetuating. In his reckoning of
his future by the study of his past, man will find these two living
memorials conspicuous milestones on his road toward progress.
Such is their quality that not only will they retain their distinc-
K
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�FEBRUARY, 1930
\
31
tion, but grow in comparative importance as man realizes his
primitive beginnings for the proper evaluation of his gradual
advance toward his ultimate ends.
The living rocks at the mouth of the Dog River, and the
seemingly everlasting Cedars of Lebanon, are the two silent, yet
unimpeachable witnesses of this march of human progress since
earliest recorded history. The two huge piles of rocks forming
the gorge through which the waters of the river Lycos flow into
the Mediterranean are forbidding in their bareness, inhospitable
in their aspect, awing in their approach. But engraved in their
flanks are evidences of the greatest articulate expressions of man's
power,—and vanity. They bear inscriptions in hieroglyphics, in
cuneiforms, in Roman alphabetical characters, in Arabic, in English and in French. They tell the story of the great exploits of
world conquerors in pictures as well as in words. Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Arab and European have all left their mark
of passage on this immutable rock. Why was it that throughout
succeeding centuries the great of the world passed through this
place, and took pride in recording their deeds on its barren rocks,
for the edification and admiration of posterity? Can it be any
reason other than that this place is the pivot of the world, the
imperishable tome of history, the observation place of all generations to come? What an honor for a country to boast of being
the perpetual repository of such an historical treasure?
A little further north, in the same small, serrated territory,
are other living witnesses to a hoary age and to the steady march
of human progress. They are not as mute as the rocks, because
they have the faculty of growth, and for that reason are more
eloquent. Their virility was the subject of lyrical praise both
in the Bible and in pagan literature. Their hardihood is proverbial, and their quality of inherent youth is held forth as a
symbol. We need but mention the Cedars of Lebanon to evoke
admiration for a thing that is at once old and young, whose roots
are imbedded deep in the earth and branches reaching high toward
the heavens; trees that are as old as man's earliest recorded history; that have furnished beams for the Temple of Solomon
| as well as for the temples of pagan gods; that have served to
build the great navies of the Phoenicians and of the Egyptians;
that have stood at their vantage point, overlooking the sea and
the plain, reviewing the passage of some of the mightiest armies
and navies ever marshalled throughout history marching to
certain destruction, while they, the great Cedars, defied time and
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
the elements. These are the Cedars reverently called by the
natives of Lebanon the "Cedars of the Lord," because they proclaim His glory and His mark of eternity, and both through
pride and as a good augury have been chosen the emblem of
the young republic of Lebanon.
It is the privilege of the tourist to visit these two great, natural monuments of Lebanon in a single day, while at intermediate
points en route many other places of immense historical interest
may be passed.
We spent the night of August 2nd at Dhour or Heights of
Showeir, one of the principal summer resorts of Lebanon, situated
at an elevation of 1200 meters and at about an hour's drive
from Beirut. The resort may be said to be the growth of ten
years, during which the lonely, pine-covered hills were almost
magically transformed into a bustling little city where one would
scarcely find accommodations in its score of hotels, especially during week-ends, without advance reservations. Its attractions are
many and varied, chief among which is its dry climate, and the
bracing air of its pine forests which exhilarate intoxicating fragrance. At night it is a scintillating cluster of a myriad of lights,
pulsating with the strangeness of a highly cosmopolitan life, to
which the Egyptian not only contributes his presence and all
his natural gaity, but adds to that his musical and entertaining
talent. At the time of our visit two famous Egyptian singers
were giving recitals, coincident with the appearance of a theatrical company. Nor was the purely native touch lacking, for in
one of the principal open-air cafes hundreds of devotees of the
fine art of improvised poetry in the Arabic vernacular had gathered to hear one of the leading exponents in the country of this
rapidly waning art.
We made the rounds of all the principal hotels in quest of
accommodations, but without success. A courteous hotel-keeper,
a former emigrant who had returned to invest his acquired fortune in home industries, offered us his family quarters for the
night, but the offer was declined. Instead, we chose to put up
in a hastily arranged room on the ground floor opening on the
gardens, which corresponds to attic accommodations in America.
I suggested that we seek some secluded spot to spend the
evening; a place of quiet and repose where we would have thej
companionship of the pines, and the entertainment of the scintil-
�I
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FEBRUARY, 1930
33
lating stars of the clear Lebanon nights. It would be well to
evade for a time the Broadway atmosphere of this lively Lebanon resort, especially that our time was limited, and we were
touching on the high spots of the country with little opportunity
for sharing the many natural advantages it affords the true vacationist.
A companion suggested a drive through the "Bois," so named
after the famous Bois de Bologne of Paris. And it proved an
enchanting place: miles of pine forests so thick in places that
they completely hid the sky, while here and there they permitted of some apertures for the shiny stars to peep through on the
roadway.
We had driven up from Beirut that afternoon, and in the
sweltering heat of the city we had failed to provide for the
change of altitude. How we wished then to be in a closed car,
or to have some sort of warm covering!
We finally halted at a cafe deep in the woods. Everything
was still and peaceful. Only a few small parties were in the
clearing among the pines engaged in quietly sipping their arak
and nibbling at their maza. The gentle murmur of running
water was all that could be heard. But seeing us approach, and
realizing we were strangers, the obliging proprietor hastened to
treat us to some lively music, and he began to play one screeching
American jazz record after another!
In the morning we had a fuller opportunity to appreciate
the unique advantage of location which gained for this resort
its deserved popularity. It is situated on a central ridge of the
Lebanon range, commanding at once a superb view of both land
and sea. Sannin stands at close proximity, and the picturesque
valleys to the East form a kaleidoscopic panorama of endless
variety. While to the West a succession of hills and valleys,
dotted with thriving villages, gently slope down to the vast expanse of the sea. Crowning the crests of most of the hills in this
section are massive churches or monasteries which project their
bulk forcibly into the landscape.
1
f
The fortnight I had spent in Lebanon so far had been confined to Beirut and its immediate vicinity. But now was to begin
my extensive trips to the outlying sections of Lebanon and Syria.
Our itinerary called for covering the stretch from the Dog River
to the Cedars in a single day. The Dog River is mid-way on the
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Lebanon littoral being only eight miles from Beirut, and although
we did not carry out our program to the letter, we can truthfully
claim that we covered half the length of Lebanon in a single
afternoon.
The descent from the Heights of Showeir was begun early
on August 2nd through beautiful Bikfaya, to the once foremost
industrial town of the countrv, Beit Shabab. In times past the town
was an important center of pottery and textile manufacturing
and brass and iron foundries; the bell-casting industry is a monopoly of the NafFah family. Not so prosperous are its industries
at present, however. It is maintained, as many other towns in
Syria and Lebanon, by emigrants' remittances.
We breakfasted at the house of Ibrahim Rahhal Mokarzel,
the mukhtar, or mayor of Beit Shabab, who, although in his
early fifties, has retired from the active management of his
extensive business interests in South Africa, which he has left
to his sons, and has chosen to spend the rest of his days in the congenial surroundings of his homeland. He built himself a large
modern house on the highest crest in the town and surrounded
it with extensive vineyards and fruit orchards. The large court
commands a magnificent view of the countryside, and it was in
this court that the board was spread for breakfast. Life in Lebanon is almost totally in the open air during the summer.
Milhem, the son of Ibrahim, was then on his bi-annual visit
to the parental home. He was young and adventurous, and waxed
enthusiastic about joining us on the trip to the Cedars. When his
father could not dissuade him from his hasty decision, he decided
to come along too. And it was well that he did, for he proved a
vernacular poet of no mean talent, offering us no end of entertainment by his copious improvisations.
Being, furthermore, the mayor of his town, he had the privilege of carrying weapons, and he brought along his double-barreled hunting rifle. A quail or a rabbit might prove a delicious
addition to a meal, and he would use the privilege of his office
to our benefit. On the way he stopped for some cartridges, but
when, later in the day, he spotted a quarry and wanted to load,
he discovered that the storekeeper had given him cartridges of
a wrong calibre! For the three days that we were together, his
honor, the mayor, every time he looked at the gun which he
was toting as useless extra weight, forgot the dignity of his
office sufficiently to curse the idiotic storekeeper in some of the
most original expressions I ever heard.
?
/
�FEBRUARY, 1930
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We took hasty leave of the Hayeck family in Beit Shabab,
and made swiftly for the neighboring town of Freike, there to
bid farewell to the family of the distinguished author Ameen
Rihani, now in the United States. Half an hour later we had
reached Antilyas by the sea, whence we turned northward in the
direction of Nahr El-Kalb, or the Dog Rfver.
Except to passing tourists, the great historical importance of
the inscriptions at the Dog River gorge seem to be little appreciated. The most modern of the inscriptions, that which is commemorative of French occupation, is the most legible and conspicuous. With some effort one can locate the Assyrian inscription which remains in a remarkable condition of preservation
-'
considering that it dates back to almost three thousand years.
But the rest of the great record of the marsh of human history
seems to be in a deplorable state of neglect. This spot should be
second in importance, if not equal to, the ruins of Baalbeck among
Lebanon's historical shrines, and one would think that the government would show its appreciation of the singular honor of
being the custodian of such invaluable relics, by taking some
action to protect them and make them more accessible to tourists
of limited time.
As it is, a modern road has been built about half a mile
through the gorge to a little clearing used for a popular cafe.
It fails even to reach the old Roman bridge, only a short distance
further inland (1).
It almost borders on the profane to speak in the same breath
of these sacred relics of the ages and of the modern trivialities
that are now made their close associates. Nahr El-Kalb is now
visited for the attraction it has been lent by an enterprising and
yet romantic Lebanese emigrant who has chosen to be an amateur
botanist and naturalist, and who is an addict of the sport.
Sab4 Rouhana, a former resident of Drumright, Okla., is
the proprietor of the so-called casino at Nahr El-Kalb. He returned to Lebanon after the war and was attracted to this historic place for its sport possibilities. He built himself a house
on leased land, and when not catering to picnickers he indulges
in the chase. He was proud in showing me his menagerie of a
/
(1) An article by Dr. Philip K. Hitti in description of the Dog River and
its inscriptions and strategic importance during the ages was published in a former issue of The Syrian World, a few copies of which
are still available.
�"-
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36
——
THE SYRIAN WORLD
corend, a hyena, a fox, a deer and a wolf. He even has a young
eagle in a cage, perhaps, like the Greek philosopher of old, to
ascertain personally his longevity. Whenever he cannot engage
in the hunt he finds diversion in fishing. We were his guests
until 3:30 that afternoon and we discovered that he had retained
a good deal of his American business acumen, for he charged us
Oklahoma prices.
The drive north along the seashore towns of Lebanon is
fascinating. At times the waves almost lap the road which runs
along the even level of the beach; at others the road is hewn
in the rock and almost perches over the breaking waves. Before
we reached the outskirts of Tripoli we came to the rock of Mesailaha, through which the road winds in sharp curves until it
reaches what formerly was an unnegotiable pass. Now they have
carved a tunnel through the high rock, overlooking the sea, and
the thrills of the passage are the delight of the adventurous.
We did not stop long at Jebail, ancient Byblos. But we tarried sufficiently to contemplate with reverence the abundant
waters of Nahr Ibrahim, to which the ancients gave the name of
Adonis. What memories the name invokes! For here were laid
the scenes of the most famous love episode in history—the tragic
love of Venus and Adonis. To the present day the waters of
the river turn red in the spring flood, because of the red earth
formation of the neighboring hills, and mythology ascribes the
phenomenon to the desire of the gods to commemorate annually
the flow of blood of Adonis when gored by the wild boar.
Futher north is the town of Batroun, known in times past for
its sponge fisheries. We stopped there to take some refreshments.
We were treated to the experience of having a drink of running
water—from a stationary barrel. Before dusk we reached the
outskirts of Tripoli, but instead of continuing to the city we
took the road leading to the mountain. We had an oppottunity
to admire the beautiful plain of Al-Koura, a duplicate in miniature of Al-Bika' plain, resplendent in its dark-green of olive
groves. Then began the steep ascent of the mountain in the
gathering dusk. We could feel the labors of the engine negotiating the steep climb. But night was merciful in having spread its
cloak over the countryside while we made the ascent. We reached
the town of Al-Hadath where we spent the night, and when we
rose in the morning to view the scene of the previous night's
climb, we thanked both the night and the able chauffeur in the
person of our courageous cousin, Milhem ibn Ibrahim.
)
I
i
�FEBRUARY, 1930
S
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The morning of August 3rd found us again on the march on
the way to the Cedars. But we could not pass by Al-Diman without a halt. Fo Al-Diman is the summer residence of His Beatitude the Maronite Patriarch, the spiritual ruler, as well as the
political leader, of the Maronites. We were detained as his
guests for lunch, and only permitted to proceed after considerable
entreaties.
From the vantage point of Al-Diman we could behold the
imposing panorama of Wadi Kadisha, or the Sacred Valley.
From an elevation of seven hundred meters we saw as small
specks clinging to the sides of the valley, the old monasteries
that served for many centuries as the seats of the Maronite
Patriarchs, when they and their adherents stood in constant fear
of persecution and sought for refuge the most inaccessible spots
in the rugged mountain.
We were maintaining a furiously fast pace, as no sooner were
we permitted to leave the precincts of Al-Diman, in the early
afternoon of August 3rd, than we tore along the road leading to
the Cedars. We passed through Hasroun, birthplace of the most
famous of Oriental scholars, Assemani, who was at one time the
Librarian of the Vatican; thence to Bcharri, home of our famous
contemporary author, Kahlil Gibran, author of "The Prophet,"
the literary masterpiece which has been translated into more than
twenty languages; thence to the Cedars, our ultimate goal, where
we spent the night of Saturday and the forenoon of Sunday,
meeting experiences that make one live the life of a thousand
years or more back. Truly, after one's experience in traveling to
the Cedars, and beholding their majesty, one cannot fail to exclaim that they are Lebanon's crowning glory (1).
Sunday noon found us again at Bcharri, there to meet Archbishop Antoun Arida and the Board of Directors of the Nahr
Kadisha hydroelectric project, the enterprise which spells the
indomitable native spirit of enterprise and initiative, and then to
partake of the bounteous hospitality of the mayor, Sheikh Najib
Daher.
That afternoon found us in the neighboring town of Ehden,
famous as the birthplace of the Lebanese hero, Joseph Bey Karam, and as the town of the free and the home of the brave of
Lebanon. We waived formalities to first pay homage to the re(1) The visit to the Cedars of Lebanon will be described independently in
a eoming issue.
\
�—
38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
mains of the great patriot and hero, reposing in state in the principal church. To one familiar with the history of Lebanon in
the nineteenth century, the sight of the body of Joseph Bey Karam, lying as if in restful sleep after the lapse of more than
seventy years, cannot fail but inspire admiration for the great
leader whose patriotism, piety and courage upheld the Lebanese
tradition of sacrifice to the extreme in the cause of liberty.
Our entry into Ehden was by the southern route known as
Dawaleeb; otherwise the wheels. They are a succession of cafes
terraced one above the other and all thronged with merrymakers.
The roads also were congested for a mile or more from where we
first entered the precincts of the town until we reached the public
square. And the square, as well as its cafes, was also congested. Where do all these multitudes come from?
In the square we were received by the newly-elected representative of the Northern District, Kabalan Bey Frangie. He
insisted that we be his guests at the spring of Nahr Sarquis. There
prohibition is not in force, and the few hours we spent at the
cool, refreshing spring left no room for doubt as to the hospitality
of the people and their leader.
The abundant spring which takes its name from the neighboring monastery of St. Sarquis, gushes from the heart of a rock.
Last year, when Rev. Simon Akle, who was at one time a prior
of the monastery and is now in America, visited his home town,
he contributed several thousand dollars towards the creation of
a public park by the spring. The improvement was already noticeable.
| • -i u jfj
That night our whole party, composed of Ibrahim, Milhem
and Joseph Mokarzel, John Trabulsi of New York and myself,
were guests of Sheikh Joseph Estephan, member of the Representative Assembly, who had been in the United States the year
previous. His home town, Kfar Sghab, is midway between Ehden
and Bcharri, and he had anticipated our coming. This should be
sufficient explanation for the elaborate preparations. The two
cakes which the hostess had prepared could have aroused the
envy of the most expert New York chef. On the chocolate
coating, in beautiful Arabic script, were the words: "Long live
the Lebanese Emigrants" and "Long live the Mokarzels."
It was with a great effort that we were able to get leave of
our hosts to depart the next morning, crossing country by the
most roundabout ways, to reach the city of Tripoli and regain
our way to the northern cities of Tartus, Latakia and Aleppo.
FE<
J
thrc
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she
Ma
best
to
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�FEBRUARY, 1930
39
Maggie and Joe
A SHORT STORY
By
s.
re
ic >
i-
LABEEBEE
A. J.
HANNA
"Y^HERE did I hit her with the snowball?" asked the boy—
confidentially.
The girl looked at him, took his arm, and dragged him
through the snow and around the corner.
"It was some blow! Eh, sis?"
"Well, Joe," said the girl, hesitatingly, "you hit her on the
neck and the snow must have gone down inside her clothes."
"Serves her right. What do you think she'll do now, Maggie r
"Gosh, I don't know! She'll tell her mother."
"Yeh, girls always tell their mothers everything."
Maggie wasn't sure but what girls ought to tell their mothers everything, but kept still. She had her reasons for not wishing to appear dogmatic at this moment.
"Let's hurry on to the library! We must get that book! Poor
Aggie. You had no reason for hitting her that way!"
"Well, I did it just for fun!" and to the boy (and every boy)
this was final in any argument.
Maggie had no desire for an argument, but couldn't refrain
from exclaiming, "You're always having fun hurting someone!"
"Yeh!" and he turned to leave her.
"Oh!" and she caught his coat, "you're all right, only, you
must be careful. You're perfectly all right, but I don't want
you to get into trouble."
"What kind of trouble? Good grief! You girls!" and he
turned quickly.
"All right. It's all right. Only, come with me!" and Maggie
held on to Joe's coat for dear life. He didn't dare to leave her
for fear his coat would tear—and then! Why the dickens didn't
she hold his hand? He could easily wriggle away then. But
Maggie knew his strength and her weakness. She knew she could
best hold him by his coat with her left hand. She knew, as others
to their sorrow, that those fingers were strong from constant
practise on the violin, and she held him!
"Are you gonna let me go?"
�-=1*
40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"No!"
"Well, I won't go, if you don't!"
"If I let you go, will you come?"
"All right."
They went on Down Brookline Street to the doors of the
library. Her left hand was ready in case he changed hs mind
J.m stopped Maggie looked at him menacingly
"Don't forget!" she warned.
"Oh, all right!"
taxi
6 11
b k
y
bspecial
renn^'in
' school
f*7°°*
°° ^ >'0U'J1 ^ PreP^ed for your
report
tomorrow."
Peciai
"But you said you'd help'"
miJ
'qf^f/T,? f ShTall~h' remembe^ self-reliance!"
Ir you don't help, I won't do it'"
That night, Maggie and Joe worked together. Toe was so
pleased with his oratorical attempt, as practised on hisristeTth*
wo
TEN YEARS LATER.
gaj
Margaret (she no longer allowed the name Masael
hSH
g
her hand on Joe's. It was growingg dark but he
hm
JI
2
made no attem t
to put on the light.
'
P
"Don't say that again, Joe'"
bUt
3 hUm di ger
Pd Slam her
said"tte!"
" "'"
" '
^Remember, Joe, she's your wife I"
W
<&* » she
ing hKS °',e mMher- She h- - b—s bring"Do you love Mae?"
"No."
She knew he lied.
"Even so, you must go back to her.
no woT'"11
y0U1 Hfe!
"
And liSten t0 h£r knocki
"g because I have
bbeMd e
Margaret arose and walked to the window
c?jtz
ca
sh
SI l
i 5
* - * -Ma £**£ S
w
;
»1
�___»^—
RLD
FEBRUARY, 1930
wrme**
'
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41
"Joe!" she exclaimed suddenly.
He lifted his head.
"What is it?"
"Have you still your driving license?"
"Yes."
"Is it true that any one having a car may join an independent
taxi company, providing he paints it with the colors and stripes?"
"That's right!"
"Well, look here! Wouldn't my car make a good taxi?"
"It's too old."
"I've had it two years, but it's only gone fifteen thousand
miles! And I've taken good care of it."
"Perhaps. Well, what do you want to do?"
"I'll turn it into a cab and you can be my chauffeur!"
"That means I must get a chauffeur's license. I'm broke."
"I'll get it for you."
"All right. If you'll give me the car. Too much trouble
working for someone else."
"I won't give it to you, but I'll sell it. You can have a mortgage on the car."
"I don't care. You'll never get the money either way."
"How well I know it!"
He laughed.
"Well, you know, sis, if ever I can, you'll get your money.
Whether I sign or not, my word is just the same."
"Yes, I know—just as bad."
He laughed again.
She turned away from the window and sat down.
"You know, sis, there's a lot of expense to turn a car into a
cab. Paint job. Meter. Partition. Special license. Membership."
"How much all together?"
"Over seven hundred dollars."
"Good grief! That's terrible! You know I haven't been
;
working long."
"Well, it's up to you. I'm not forcing you!"
"All right. Only don't tell Uncle Abe. You know nobody
approves of my helping you."
"They're dumb!"
"Well, back to your wife you go!"
She gave him her car, and nobody knew.
�40
FE
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"No!"
"Well, I won't go, if you don't!"
"If I let you go, will you come?"
"All right."
They went on. Down Brookline Street to the doors of the
library. Her left hand was ready in case he changed his mind.
Jim stopped. Maggie looked at him menacingly.
"Don't forget!" she warned.
"Oh, all right!"
"We'll get your book and you'll be prepared for your special
report in school tomorrow."
"But you said you'd help!"
"Yes, of course I shall—but, remember, self-reliance!"
"If you don't help, I won't do it!"
That night, Maggie and Joe worked together. Joe was so
pleased with his oratorical attempt, as practised on his sister, that
he waxed enthusiastic, and the next day received a high compliment from his teacher.
taxi
miJ
wo
gal
TEN YEARS LATER.
Margaret (she no longer allowed the name Maggie) laid
her hand on Joe's. It was growing dark, but she made no attempt
to put on the light.
"Don't say that again, Joe!"
"My, but it was a hum dinger! I'd slam her again if she
said that!"
"Remember, Joe, she's your wife!"
"Yes, but I have only one mother. She has no business bringing her into our affairs!"
"Do you love Mae?"
"No."
She knew he lied.
"Even so, you must go back to her.
"Not on your life! And listen to her knocking because I have
no work!"
"Of course, it was wrong of you to marry so early in life,
but after all she's your wife and you've got to stick together."
Margaret arose and walked to the window. She looked out,
and at the curb beheld the car in which she had just brought her
brother home.
W
cal
sh
/
;
W(
ap
�FEBRUARY, 1930
ft
)\
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41
"Joe!" she exclaimed suddenly.
He lifted his head.
"What is it?"
"Have you still your driving license?"
"Yes."
"Is it true that any one having a car may join an independent
taxi company, providing he paints it with the colors and stripes?"
"That's right!"
"Well, look here! Wouldn't my car make a good taxi?"
"It's too old."
"I've had it two years, but it's only gone fifteen thousand
miles! And I've taken good care of it."
"Perhaps. Well, what do you want to do?"
"I'll turn it into a cab and you can be my chauffeur!"
"That means I must get a chauffeur's license. I'm broke."
"I'll get it for you."
"All right. If you'll give me the car. Too much trouble
working for someone else."
"I won't give it to you, but I'll sell it. You can have a mortgage on the car."
"I don't care. You'll never get the money either way."
"How well I know it!"
He laughed.
"Well, you know, sis, if ever I can, you'll get your money.
Whether I sign or not, my word is just the same."
"Yes, I know—just as bad."
He laughed again.
She turned away from the window and sat down.
"You know, sis, there's a lot of expense to turn a car into a
cab. Paint job. Meter. Partition. Special license. Membership."
"How much all together?"
"Over seven hundred dollars."
"Good grief! That's terrible! You know I haven't been
working long."
"Well, it's up to you. I'm not forcing you!"
"All right. Only don't tell Uncle Abe. You know nobody
approves of my helping you."
"They're dumb!"
"Well, back to your wife you go!"
She gave him her car, and nobody knew.
�*2
THE SYRIAN WORLD
TWENTY YEARS LATER.
"Say, ma, Aunt Maggie is coming in!" A young girl turned
away from the window into an untidy sitting room.
"Who did you say?" answered the older woman, stout yet
pinched looking.
"Aunt Margaret!*' and the girl laughed in derision.
"Well, Joe isn't home yet!" and the woman continued with
her cooking.
v
"Did papa want her for something?"
"Well! Guess she wants some more help, trying to keep us
broke!"
"Where's John?"
"Out, goodness knows where—just like his father!"
The door bell rang. Bertha ran to let her aunt in.
"Why, Aunt Maggie!"
"How are you, Bertha?" answered the woman frowning at
the "Maggie." "Is your mother in? I see. And where's Joe?"
"Oh, he isn't home yet. Mother says you must excuse the
appearance of the sitting room."
"That's all right."
"Mother says you'd better not ask for money for you always
keep us broke."
"Keeping you broke: Is that so? Where is your mother?"
"You just sit down. She'll be right in."
"How's your brother John?"
"Out."
"I should have liked to see him. I don't often get a chance
to come here—and you people never think to visit me."
"We're always busy."
When the mother finally came in it was to make one long
continuous excuse for keeping her sister-in-law waiting. Then
she went on to tell how hard times were and how badly in need
of money they were. After that she began to admire her visitor's
clothes and to inquire the price of each article. There had been
a time when Margaret had pleased herself to hurt the other by
telling the exact price of articles. Now, however, she had become
more careful and said little concerning expense. She had learned
to direct the talk into other channels, for envy did not please her
any longer—nor ever had to any great extent.
The young girl sat in the corner of the room, listening to all
that passed—and certainly agreed to all her mother said and did
�FEBRUARY, 1930
'(
j:
43
—and disapproved of her aunt.
It was some time after that Joe came in. He threw his hat
on the hatrack and saying, "Hello, Maggie!" dashed into the
kitchen.
fj j
When he came back, he sat down and stretched out his long
legs lazily.
"Oh," he said to his wife, "there's something burning in the
kitchen!"
She rushed in.
"You go in, Bertha, and help her." The girl went.
Margaret sat silent, looking straight at Joe. Her brother!
She didn't belong here, no matter the blood.
"Joe," she finally said, "I need money."
"I was just gonna ask you for some. John needs a new tire
on his roadster. He's got some snappy car!"
"How's your cab company going?"
"Oh, I've got about seven cabs—all going now, but the expense is terrible. I've got so many bills to pay."
"You usually have. Well, what am I to do? I've been giving you money for years."
"What can I do? Times are tough, you know."
"They usually are," she said, drily.
"Say, why don't you get a husband? Don't you think it's
about time?"
"Get a husband? For what?"
"Then you won't have any more worries and you'll have all
the money you want."
"That is an idea—and just like you. But, as I have always
said to you, I can't marry for money, and besides, I have had no
time to think of marriage with so many family aifairs occupying
my mind. On top of that, I'm too old now."
"No," but he looked at her. Margaret was old. True, her
hair hadn't turned nor had her face become wrinkled over much
. —but her eyes, when she looked at you, how old they were!
Of course, they had always been old eyes, but they were extremely
so now, especially since they didn't seem to laugh at you any
more. Queer how time had changed his sister. Was this the little
Maggie who had rushed him along to do his homework when he
was still at school? Was this the pretty Margaret who had given
up so much that he might be with his wife always? And she had
never complained. He would call her Margaret to please her.
�rtl
44
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"Margaret," he began. She looked up, surprised. "Why have
you done so much for me? I didn't deserve t."
"You are my brother," she said simply.
"My God!" he exclaimed. He hid his head in the palms of
his hands.
"Joe, for goodness' sake, don't!" She arose and came to
him, and placed her hands on his head.
"I didn't deserve it! I didn't deserve it! How can I ever
repay you!" he repeated over and over.
"You can't. I'll go on like this."
"You're alone and we've never given you a thought. Oh,
my God!"
Joe's wife appeared suddenly. "Come in, Joe," she called.
"How long do we have to wait for you?"
Margaret tightened her coat about her. She had kept it on.
She drew herself up to her greatest height, but her sister-in-law
ignored her. She knew she was dismissed.
Joe rose and quickly followed his wife.
Margaret let herself out, to walk home alone.
To My Father
(February 12, 1880—July 17, 1923)
By LABEEBEE A. J. HANNA
Nothing but the sky
So large, so firm, so fine —
And trees with tiny leaves, so new,
Open spaces —
And my thoughts turned to you.
Nothing but the sea
So green, so blue, so deep —
The waves, each movement ever new,
And the sand dunes —
And my thoughts turned to you.
Nothing but black walls
So hot, so firm, so sure,
My soul that tires and is through
And agony
And my thoughts turned to you.
I
/
�D
45
FEBRUARY, 1930
/e
EDITORIAL COMMENT
lo
jr
QO FAR the contest for a free
trip to Syria has produced
more enthusiasm than actual
results. There has been an addition this month to the number
of registered contestants, but
none has so far attained results
anywhere approaching the minimum goal. The fact, however,
that the contestants are enthused holds forth good promise. It is to be hoped that before
the date set for the closing of
the contest the leaders would
have far exceeded the mark.
We wish to again call attention to the important concession that gift subscriptions are
credited as direct subscriptions.
* Uur
Our recor
records show that scores of
M j sympathii
izers with the cause of
/ THE S^
SYRIAN WORLD have
made gift subscriptions ranging
from five up to twenty. This
fact indicates a commendable
disposition to help circulate the
magazine because of its patent
service to the Syrian cause.
Undoubtedly there are many
more who could be brought to
share this disposition, and a few
such would help swell the list
of any contestant materially.
Why not try for them? There
are any number of wealthy Syrians and Lebanese throughout
the United States who, once the
1
fact is made plain to them,
would welcome the opportunity
to make such a valuable gift, at
low cost, to their American and
Syrian
friends.
Contestants
should find it comparatively
easy to arouse the racial pride
of their wealthy friends to the
extent of availing themselves
of such a suggestion.
It is our ambition to ultimately have THE SYRIAN WORLD
reach every Syrian home in
America and the Free Trip
Contest we have inaugurated is
but one means to that end. No
doubt the prize is large and
seemingly out of proportion
with the limited means of a
small publication, but this only
goes to show the extent of our
determination.
And let it again be said that
in the publication of THE SYRIAN WORLD we are not simply
striving to exploit a popular
need. In truth, although such
a publication seems to be a need
indeed, we are struggling
against almost insuperable odds
for its bare maintenance. It is
rather our conviction that the
service is indispensable in its
ultimate benefits of arousing
among our race a consciousness
for the best that is in them,
that we are hoping for a grad-
�46
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ual awakening to the appreciation of the true value of the
publication. And on the strength
of that hope we shall continue
to strive, to the end that THE
SYRIAN WORLD and its benefit
will in time be adequately appreciated.
READERS of THE SYRIAN
WORLD will notice that our
material covers a broad latitude and is designed to give
the widest possible variety of
reading consistent with the nature of the magazine. History,
travel, literature, poetry, fiction, politics and general news
are to be found in almost every
number. Our contributors comprise practically every known
writer of standing in the United
States, and we are happy to
state that we are discovering a
good deal of new talent, some
of whom show distinct promise.We believe we are justified
in the pursuance of such a policy, inasmuch as THE SYRIAN
WORLD is the only publication
of its nature extant, and as
such it has to cater to all manner
of needs and tastes. As often
stated, it is in a class by itself,
creating its own standard, and
can by no valid reason be held
up to comparison with the general run of English periodicals.
These enjoy an extensive field
which permits of a high degree
of specialization.
s
As matters now stand, THE
even with its
cosmopolitan nature and its
general appeal, has good reason to complain of its limited
circulation.
SYRIAN WORLD,
would, nevertheless, welW]Ecome
our readers' opinions
r
on the general policies of THE
SYRIAN WORLD. Not that we
invite commendation and approval only, rather, we would
be most anxious for constructive
suggestions and advice on methods of betterment and improvement. We wish our readers to
fully and frankly give us the
benefit of their reactions, and
every practical suggestion making for improvement in the
magazine will be cheerfully
acted upon.
^HILE on the subject of
readers and their reactions,
may we not also invite their
appraisal of our various material? We would be gratified to
learn that they appreciate and
approve of this article or department, or condemn the other. Perhaps they might have
a little more information to add
to some particular subject under
discussion, which would be welcome for publication. Whether
the opinion be in praise or in
criticism, we feel confident that
all our contributors would welcome an expression of opinion
on the part of the readers.
/
A,
9
!
'•I
�FEBRUARY, 1930
47
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcosmic
picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever Arabic
dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking writers
who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabic-speaking
world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take no part in
the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our task will
simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and with utmost
sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed
in these editorials.
Editor.
RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE
IN THE EAST
Tho misinformed on true conditions among Eastern peoples and in
Eastern countries take it for granted
that public opinion, as represented
by the press, is the controlling power,
in the shaping of Eastern affairs.
This is an illusion which should be
corrected. The only influence in the
East that should be reckoned with
is that of the clergy. The whole
political structure seems to be still
raised on religious foundations.
Taking the Arabic-speaking countries, we find that the governments
of King Ibn Saoud, of Imam Yahya,
of King Faisal of Iraq, are all based
on religious influence and governed
along religious considerations. Even
the Constitution which the Syrians
had drafted for a republican form of
government in their country was
impregnated with the religious
spirit. While in Lebanon itself, and
in Egypt which is noted for its
modernism, and in Turkey which is
apparently adapting itself by a revolutionary process to Western
methods, the real influence governing the peoples in all walks of life
is paramountly religious.
For this reason we cannot escape
the conclusion that all our ills and
misfortunes, whether in the mother
country or abroad, can be traced to
religious beginnings and to the
harmful influence of the clergy. We
would even state unequivocally that
political and social leaderships
are but nominal figures which bow
in impotence to the great prestige
of religious influence.
Al-Hoda, N. Y.. Feb. 28, 1930.
CLOSING SCHOOLS IN LEBANON
The reform and economy program
of Premier Eddy of Lebanon seems
to be overreaching itself. The need
for a dictator in Lebanon should not
extend to the point where the most
vital department of government,
that of education, would be demoralized in the interest of false economy.
The judicial department could stand
a good deal of retrenchment, but to
curtail expenditures on education is
an unpardonable crime.
What Premier Eddy has done so
far indicates that he is pruning the
small twigs and sparing the big
branches. Only those whose salaries
are insignificant have so far fallen
�,
48
under the knife, while those drawing fat salaries seem to be safe
from molestation.
What can the result of such false
economy in the closing of native
schools mean other than that our
children will now have to flock to
foreign
educational
institutions
where, to say the least, they could
not have an equal opportunity to
learn the rudiments of true citizenship. They will learn to respect the
foreigner and despise the native
and become on that account willing
tools in the hands of the colonizers.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb N.Y.,Feb. 18, 1930
PALESTINIANS FOREIGNERS
IN THEIR COUNTRY
The status of Palestinian citizenship came up for discussion lately
in the British Parliament and drew
from the under secretary of the colonies the explanation that the regulations in force apply equally to
Jews and Arabs without discrimination. "Any Palestinian who has not
forsaken his Turkish citizenship,"
explained the British official, "will be
permitted to return to Palestine if he
is sound of mind and body. A twoyears' residence will entitle the applicant to citizenship."
How strange are the workings of
English policy in Palestine. A foreign element of various nationalities
and tongues are permitted to enter
the country without restrictions,
while the original inhabitants of the
country are denied the right of
entry except under hard and almost
prohibitive conditions!
Such is the policy that the reputed
"British Justice" is pursuing in
Palestine to fedeem a pledge made
by Lord Balfour during the war, a
policy Which recks with injustice
in that it places a race of strangers
THE SYRIAN WORLD
on a par with the original people of
the land.
The net result of these regulations
is that the Palestinian Arab may return to his homeland if he has retained his Turkish citizenship, subject to medical examination, while
if he has become a naturalized
American he is confronted with all
manner of restrictions. But the Jew,
the wanderer who supposedly owes
political allegiance to any number
of countries, may enter Palestine
and have the right to settle in it
without the slightest restriction if
he but passes the physical examination !
It would be in order to extend to
Great Britain condolences over the
passing of what was known as
"British Justice". But it is well to
recall a famous Arab maxim which
warns that: "No tyrant but will
reap at some time the just reward
of his injustice."
Al-Bayan N. Y., Jan. 30, 1930.
FRANCE AND LEBANON
A rumor gained circulation that
the Ehdenites of North Lebanon
opened negotiations with the inhabitants of Deir El-Kamar, of South
Lebanon, with the object of the two
factions joining hands in demanding
for the country direct administration under a French governor.
The rumor proved to be false. It
was discredited by the Ehdenites
both at home and abroad. If it had
any foundation of truth the Ehdenites of the United States would have
known of it because one of the
characteristics of these Lebanese is
that they will undertake no public
action before a general consultation
among themselves, whether they be
at home or abroad. Some of their
prominent leaders in America have
f
;
/
�FEBRUARY, 1930
assured us that the rumor was a
pure fabrication. We have reason to
believe that some trafickers in patriotism engineered the rumor for
possible later benefits to themselves.
We cannot too often state that
while Lebanon loves France it will
not renounce its independence. If
France will agree to be Lebanon's
aegis and defender, without exploiting it to the personal benefit of the
profiteering among its colonizers,
then she will be the queen of Lebanese hearts and Lebanon will be
to her a more impregnable stronghold than Gibraltar. This should be
sufficient to eliminate any greed on
the part of France and any fear on
the part of Lebanon. But if the
profiteering among the French and
Lebanese should combine to pervert
this policy of amity then the two
nations are bound to lose, and the
Lebanese in that case would be the
more to blame.
We want France as a friend and
not as a domineering mistress. We
want her in that capacity for our
own honor as well as for hers. For
this reason we find no recourse but
to declare a moral war for the purging of our relations with France
from any influence that might corrupt these lofty motives.
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Feb. 27, 1930.
FAISAL AND ZIONISM
/
In support of their contention of
having a right to Palestine, the Jews
produced a ten-year-old document in
the form of a letter written in 1919
by Emir Faisal, now King of Iraq,
to Prof. Frankfurter in which he
approves of the Jewish aspirations
for the creation of a national home
in Palestine and states that the
Arabs harbor no ill-feeling towards
th» Jwwi in the latter'* prosecution
49
of this claim, "because the leaders
among the Arabs are in complete
sympathy with Zionism."
This document was produced by
the Jews as evidence in support of
their case before the Shaw commission of inquiry and was reproduced
textually by the Boston Transcript.
As would be natural, there arose
a heated controversy among the
Arabs as to the authenticity and the
propriety of the said document.
There were some who claimed that
at the time of its writing Zionism
had not reached its present acute
stage, while others defended Faisal
on the ground that his hands were
forced by political motives which he
could not well disregard.
We are of the opinion that both
contentions are wrong. It seems to
be the object of both factions to
defend Emir Faisal, overlooking the
all-important consideration that the
missive itself is of no inherent value
and cannot be entered as material
evidence. When Faisal wrote the letter he was not representing the
country in any logical form, while
on the other hand Palestine cannot
be considered an article of barter
which the Emir could trade for some
personal benefit to please the
Zionists or conform to the dictates
of whatever diplomatic considerations prevailed at that time.
On the date of the letter, Emir
Faisal was in Paris negotiating for
an Arab throne which he could occupy and for the sake of which he
was willing to make many concessions, the least of which would be
the approval of Zionist claims.
Even if Faisal, who is now King
of Iraq, were to approve the Jews'
claim to Palestine, of what weight
would be his opinion when he is but
a stranger who can claim no legal
right to represent Palestine when
the country does not authorize him
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
50
the Lebanese constitution in such
to act in such a capacity?
It would seem to us that whether manner that it became a mockery.
Faisal be the author of the afore- He deprived the Assembly of all
mentioned letter or not, or whether power and saw to it that the powers
or not he wrote it under political vested in the High Commissioner, of
pressure, none of these considera- whom he was the personal repretions could be seriously considered sentative, were well guarded. In view
because the life of a nation cannot of these facts, we feel justified in
be bartered by the mere letter of a the belief that the regrets expressed
stranger, nor can it be affected by at the departure of this French ofthe wrecklessness of a political ficial were not genuinely sincere.
schemer who exhausted every means We also would add our expressions
at his command to achieve his poli- of elation in view of the announcement that the gentleman is not to
tical ambitions.
As-Sayeh, N. Y., Feb. 20, 1930. return.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N.Y.,Feb. 15, 1930.
A GLAD FAREWELL
The Syrian press reports that on
the occasion of the departure of M.
Solomiac for France, the President
of Lebanon, as well as the Premier
and many ministers and representatives bade him farewell on board
his ship and showed otherwise many
marks of esteem to the departing
French official.
The importance of the event is that
M. Solomiac was the "power behind
the throne" in the Lebanese government. He had held his office as special representative of the High Commissioner for four years during
which he performed his duties with
the utmost consciousness. He was
the bugaboo of the Representative
Assembly and took great pains in
safeguarding French influence and
French interests. Whenever covert
diplomatic suggestions failed to
have the proper effect he resorted
to overt acts of intimidation to make
the representatives think his way.
He often rose in the Assembly and
attempted to silence the resolute
and courageous members who opposed foreign interests in their defense of native interests.
M. Solomiac also helped frame
THE LESSER OF THE TWO EVILS
The two principal towns of Lebanon, Ehden in the north and Dair
El-Kamar in the south, are reported
to have entered into negotiations
on the advisability of asking for
direct French administration over
the country by the appointment of
a French governor who would supercede the present republican form
of government which has given rise
to many misgivings. This is said to
have been brought to a climax by
the application of the Eddy program which has wrought havoc in
the administrative regulation of the
country, depriving some of the principal centres of distinctive privileges
which they formerly enjoyed.
It is an incontestable fact that the
Lebanese have been driven to desperation by the successive administrative changes which have taken
place in their country since the
French occupation. The republic has
been more of a preparatory school
than a going concern. And while all
these changes were taking place the
high officials were fattening on their
salaries while the rest of the people
were in dire distress.
/
�FEBRUARY, 1930
Due to these disturbed conditions
many opinions have been advanced
for administrative changes in the
country. There were those Who advocated direct French administration, while others favored a dominion status or some sort of a condition which would place Lebanon on
the same basis as outright French
colonies. Still others clamored for
complete independence along the
same terms that our brother Syrians are demanding for their own
country.
Under present circumstances we
are of the opinion that the Lebanese
Republic should remain in its present form because it is the form of
government most suitable to the
needs of the country. The Lebanese
should seek neither a principality,
nor a monarchy, nor any other form
51
of government that savors of absolutism. Many other nations have
experimented with all sorts of government theories and discovered that
the republican principle is the best.
It is well for Lebanon to profit by
the experience of other nations.
We are not inclined to offer any
apology for present conditions in
Lebanon. The situation is of the
gravest whether from the political
or economic standpoint. But what
we would say is that when one is
confronted with two evils he chooses
the lesser one. Under the present
circumstances, the wiser course is
to let matters take their course under
the direction of the Eddy cabinet
until such time that we can see concrete results, otherwise the situation
will adjust itself at the proper time.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., Feb. 19, 1930.
Political Developments in Syria
/
PALESTINE
Peace seems to have returned to
Palestine—peace in the sense that
no further riots have been reported
and that the activities of both the
Arabs and the Jews are confined to
propaganda and political manoeuvres. In the battle of words the
Arabs appear to be having the
upper hand in that the public opinion
of the world is being won over to
their favor, a fact admitted by the
Jews themselves.
The most concrete result of the
post-riot period is that a noticeable
change is observed in the attitude
of world Jewry towards Zionism.
The stand of Dr. Magnes, President
of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has had the effect of dimming a good deal of the enthusiasm
characterizing the earlier stages of
the Zionist movement. Now the Jews
seem to be realizing that the Arab
element can be aroused to popular
action and that once such a condition prevails it becomes difficult to
deny a whole people an inherent
right.
It had been the hope of the Zionists to gradually populate Palestine
with their coreligionists, depending
for the success of this plan on Great
Britain's direct administration of the
country and the interpretation of the
Balfour declaration in a manner
favorable to their designs. Meanwhile their policy called for opposition to any form of representative
government because of the overwhelming Arab majority. Arab demands are naturally the direct op-
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
52
posite of any such plan.
Mufti of Jerusalem and reports that
At present both sides are anxiously when he asked him what Balfour had
awaiting the report of the Shaw in mind during the war when he
commission of inquiry which is ex- made promises to both Jews and
pected to be made public in the near Arabs, the Mufti replied: "He had
future. Recent dispatches from Lon- England in mind."
The proposal that an Arab commisdon stated that forecasts of the report suggest that it will be favorable sion go to London to further defend
to the Arabs. The Commission, it is the case of Palestine Arabs has not
further understood, will not confine yet been carried out.
its report to the causes of the riots
SYRIA
of last August but will deal extensively with the whole Palestinian
Conferences are still reported to
situation, offering many suggestions.
be taking place between High ComAccording to one account, the Commissioner Ponsot and his lieutenants
mission "considers the time not yet
ostensibly for the purpose of seeking
ripe for the Zionists to take control
a solution to the Syrian problem.
in Palestine." Furthermore, accordNot a word, however, has come auing to the same source, one of the
thoritatively from the High Commisrecommendations of the Commissioner as to his future plans. A
sion is likely to be that a wider inParis newspaper definitely announces
terpretation should be made of the
that M. Ponsot will soon return to
Balfour declaration on the establishFrance for further consideration of
ment of a national home for the
the Syrian question with the Foreign
Jews, and some consider that the
Office and perhaps for attending tb*
report may raise the whole question
coming session of the Mandates
of the future of the British mandate
Commission of the League of Nain Palestine.
tions.
In an article appearing in The
The latest rumor to gain circulaNew York Times, Emil Ludwig, the tion on a possible solution to tha
eminent German author who is mak- Syrian question is that High Coming a tour of the Near East, ex- missioner Ponsot has offered the
presses the belief that a parliament Nationalists what are supposed to be
in Palestine is inevitable and re- the maximum terms that France can
marks that "only by mutual under- give, which are reported by the
standing can the Arabs and the Damascus paper Al-Qabas to include
Jews live together in the country, the following concessions:
which both races possess by virtue
1—The Constituent Assembly, as
of tradition and by virtue of prom- at present constituted, to be given
ises given in recognition of their the status of a Representative Asconduct during the World War." No sembly with full powers to elect a
prudent Zionist, he continues, speaks permanent government which would
any longer of the Jewish State of enter into negotiations with the
Palestine, but all speak of a home French tending to the conclusion
in Palestine.
of a treaty.
The established right of the Jews
2—The State of the Alouites will
to Palestine which Mr. Ludwig seems be permitted to join the proposed
to concede to them is the very thing Syrian Republic on condition that
the Arabs deny.
the former retain a form of fiscal
Mr. Ludwig interviewed the Grand
~ ^
„ -.*•-**£*
autonomy similar to that now en-
/
�53
FEBRUARY, 1930
i
joyed by the districts of Alexahdretta and Antioch.
3—The city of Tripoli will be made
a free port to serve as a maritime
outlet for Syria, or perhaps it may
be definitely annexed to the State of
Syria.
4—France will waive its reservations concerning the six objectionable articles occurring in the first
draft of the Syrian constitution.
While this offer seems to be most
liberal on the face of it, there seems
to be special conditions which
Franee demands in the making of
the Treaty which the Nationalists
hesitate to concede. On the other
hand, the High Commissioner is said
to have warned the Nationalists
that in case his last offer is not
accepted he is ready to proclaim
Syria a monarchy and raise to the
throne the sherif Ali Haidar Pasha,
one of the lineal descendants of the
Prophet.
Meanwhile, sheikh Tajeddin remains in control and is apparently
as distant as ever from the Nationalist bloc. A great cry has been
raised against his application of the
strictest censorship to the press and
his causing the imprisonment of an
opposition editor and the fleeing of
several others from the country to
escape persecution.
The Paris correspondent of the
Beirut newspaper Al-Ahwal reported that Jaberi and Arslan, who
claim representation of the Syrian
nation in Europe, have entered into
an agreement with Italy for transferring to it the mandate over Syria
on condition that it place ex-Khedive
\
Abbas Helmi of Egypt on the Syrian
throne. The report was vehemently
denied by Emir Shakib Arslan, one
of the two concerned.
Rumors that Sultan Pasha Atrash,
leader of the Druze revolt, had been
warned by the government of Trans-
jordania to leave the country by the
end of winter, and that he intended
to seek refuge in Persia or sail for
Europe, have been authoritatively
denied. The self-exiled leader announces that he intends to remain
in Wadi Sirhan within the boundaries
of Nejd falling under the jurisdiction of King Ibn Saoud.
LEBANON
The Lebanese Cabinet is still engrossed in the task of enforcing the
economy program which Premier
Eddy insisted should be carried out
before he accepted administrative
responsibility. The pruning of sinecures is proceeding steadily and
material economies have been effected.
Naturally, objections are being
raised by the sufferers and their
sympathizers, but the Premier seems
to be enjoying the support and the
confidence of an overwhelming majority of the people. Where the application of the program caused the
the greatest objection was when it
cut deeply into the appropriations
for public schools. The Moslems being the largest beneficiaries under
the eld system, their losses were
naturally the most felt and they
were not unfailing in rising to protest. They claimed that discrimination was being applied owing to
religious considerations, but the
Premier refuted this accusation by
the citation of statistics and the
enumeration of flagrant cases where
teachers drawing pay for several
years were in some cases illiterates
and in others constant absentees.
What appeared for a time as a
serious move on the part of the
Ehdenites to voice their protest on
present conditions in Lebanon was
their reported negotiations with the
inhabitants of Dair El-Kamar tend-
�mat
THE SYRIAN WORLD
54
ing to the taking of action to demand
direct French administration in the
country. Bishop Augustine Bistani,
to whom the Dairanians submitted
the matter, counseled patience before
deciding on such a drastic step. The
Ehdenites later denied that they had
authorized any such move. The significance of the matter is that Ehden
and Dair El-Kamar are respectively
the most important Maronite towns
in north and in south Lebanon.
A committee of prominent citizens
, of Tripoli sent telegraphic protests
to the Lebanese Government and to
the High Commissioner on the Eddy
policy of curtailing educational facilities, accusing the Premier of improper motives and of desire to
kill the native language in an effort
to raise a generation of Lebanese
knowing only French. Legal action
was brought by the Premier against
the signers of the petition and when
they refused to appear in court by
reason of the Ramadan fast, they
were tried in their absence and sentenced to a short jail term.
About Syria and Syrians
PASSING OF BUSTANI,
GREAT ARABIC SCHOLAR
Sheikh Abdullah Bustani, concededly the greatest Arabic scholar of
the age, passed away in Beirut on
February 16 at the age of seventysix. His body was taken to Dair ElKamar for interment, while the
funeral services, held in the city of
Beirut, were attended with such
pomp and marks of reverence on the
part of the clergy, the government
and all classes of the people that
newspaper reports agree that no
other funeral of recent times approached it in ostentation.
The deceased scholar was famous
throughout
the
Arabic-speaking
world for his mastery of the language and for his gifts as a poet.
His works comprise numerous plays
in both poetry and prose. But his
greatest contribution to the language
is Al-Bustan, the new Arabic dictionary which has revolutionized the
method of word classification. It i3
published in two volumes by the
American Press of Beirut.
Perhaps the outstanding distinction of Sheikh Abdullah is his halfcentury of teaching advanced Arabic
in various colleges of Beirut, principally the Maronite College. Some
of his pupils are among the foremost Arabic scholars of the day.
The Syrian-Lebanese community
of New York is planning a memorial
meeting for the deceased scholar to
be held early in April. A committee
has been elected of which N. A. Mokarzel, editor of Al-Hoda, is chairman, Sheikh Abbas Shakra, secretary, and A. K. Hitti, treasurer.
The loss of Sheikh Abdullah Bustani is more keenly felt because it follows so closely on the death of Prof.
Jabr Dumit, who died on January 20,
and who held the chair of Arabic
literature in the American University
of Beirut for over half a century.
LEBANON NAT'L BANK
ELECTS VICE-PRESIDENT
William Catzeflis of New York
City has been elected a Vice-Pres-
1/
�FEBRUARY, 1930
ident of the Lebanon National Bank
of New York.
Mr. Catzeflis was general manager of the firm of Mallouk Brothers of New York for a period of 12
years. He is a college graduate and
thoroughly conversant with the English, French and Arabic languages.
His long business career and wide
popularity eminently fit him for his
new post.
55
city's prominent Syrian lawyers.
The entertainment was preceded by
short exercises in which the present
incumbent of the Presidency, Said
J. Akel, lauded the services of his
predecessor and his untiring activity in the intei^est of the organization. Mr. Ferris followed by a short
speech in which he outlined the purposes of the Federation and stressed
the intention of creating of the
splendid building of the Federation
a civic centre for the Syrian community at large.
PALESTINIAN WOMEN
THANK RIHANI
The women of Palestine broke
traditions to the extent of holding
public demonstrations and engaging
in many other activities in support
of the Arab cause which were unprecedented among women of the East,
especially Moslems. They also called
a convention for the public discussion of means to further their ends
and gave by their display of aggressiveness and determination great
courage to the workers for the Arab
cause.
The Syrian World has learned that
one of the first acts of this first
congress of Palestinian women was
to send a cable of thanks and appreciation to our eminent author and
lecturer, Ameen Rihani, for his effective defense of the cause of Palestine Arabs in America, reports of
which caused great rejoicing among
the Arabs of Palestine.
AS-SAYEH RESUMES
PUBLICATION
As-Sayeh, formerly one of New
York's Arabic dailies, which had
suspended publication temporarily,
has resumed publication as a weekly
magazine. The announced purpose
of this change is to reinvest the publication with its distinctive literary
character which it had largely disregarded while appearing as a daily.
As-Sayeh is the organ of Ar-Rabitah, the literary society of which
our famous author Kahlil Gibran is
president, and which counts among
its members such known literary
figures as Mischa Naimy, Nasib Arida, William Catzeflis, Nadra Haddad,
Richard Ayyoub and others.
POPULATION OF LEBANON:
FEDERATION HONORS
FORMER PRESIDENT
The American Syrian Federation
of New York held an entertainment
and dance on the evening of February 22 in honor of its former president Joseph W. Ferris, one of the
The census Bureau of the Lebanese
Republic announces that at the end
of 1929, the registered population
of the country was 840,650. These
figures comprise only Lebanese citizens and do not include foreign residents.
�56
THE SYRIAN WORLD
NEW FIND CONFIRMS
ORIGIN OF ALPHABET
CRISIS IN ELECTION OF
ORTHODOX PATRIARCH
Fourteen Sinaitic inscriptions on
stones dating from about 2000 B.
C, which are expected to establish
conclusively that Egyptian hieroglyphs furnished the basis for the
Phoenician alphabet, the ancestor of
our modern scripts, have just been
discovered on and near the plateau
of Serabit-el Khaden, in the Sinai
desert, by an expedition sponsored
jointly by Harvard University and
the Catholic University of America,
according to a dispatch to The New
York Times from Sinai dated March
13. The discoveries were made near
the site of the ancient turquoise
mines in Wadi-el-Maghara and in
the ruins of the Egyptian Temple of
Hathor, goddess of love and beauty,
on the plateau itself, which were first
explored by Sir Flinders in 1904 and
1905.
Among the Egyptian hieroglyphs
then photographed by the English
scholar were certain crudely executed
inscriptions which, although resembling hieroglyphs, defied translation
as Egyptian. It was not until 1918
that two English Egyptologists,
Professors Peete and Gardiner, announced these mysterious inscriptions were not Egyptian at all but
an adaptation of the picture-writing
of the Pharaohs into arbitrary signs
forming consonants of the Semitic
tongue.
On this basis Professor Gethe, a
German scholar, deciphered the majority of the inscriptions and illustrated their kinship with various
late Semitic alphabets. Thereupon
another German Egyptologist, Professor Grimme of Munster, made
the sensational announcement that
the names of Moses and the Egyptian Princess who rescued him from
the Nile appeared in the Petrie documents.
Ever since the death of the Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox
Church, well over a year ago, futile
attempts have been made to choose
his successor. Several conclaves
have been convened but they invariably resulted in failure, at times
accompanied by physical violence
owing to the interference of laymen
in the deliberations of the clergy.
The latest news to reach the
United States from Syria indicates
that a convention of laymen was held
in Beirut at which it was decided to
call on the bishops to elect a Patriarch within a fortnight from Jan.
29, otherwise the laymen's convention will bring the matter formally
to the attention of the mandatory
power and to that of the native governments of the Syrian States, and
will further disclaim all representative authority of the bishops in
church matters.
This decision was precipitated by
a call issued by the Patriarch of
Constantinople to an ecumenical
congress to be held in Saloniki,
which is said to be the first of its
sweeping nature to be convened since
the division of the Eastern and Western Churches.
..
FAMOUS ORIENTALIST
DIES MOHAMMEDAN
The Syrian press reports the death
in Paris (date not given), at the
age of 68, of the famous French
Orientalist Etien Dene who had embraced Islam and performed the pilgrimage to Mecca. He was especially
noted for his paintings of North
African scenes.
His funeral took place at the
Mosque of Paris and was attended
by the Minister of Marine and many
I
in
�57
FEBRUARY, 1930
French officials and notables, as well
.B by many Moslem sultans of North
African countries visiting in Paris.
His body is to be sent to Algeria
for burial in a special grave lie had
prepared before his death.
LITERACY IN SYRIA
AND LEBANON
According to official figures made
public by the French Commissariat,
illiteracy in the different states of
Syria and Lebanon is as follows:
Country
LOCUSTS IN PALESTINE
A special cable dispatch to The
New York Times from Beershaba
dated February 27 states that Arabs
and Jews have drowned their differences and joined hands in fighting
He dread locust invasion which has
ppeared in the Jordan Valley. The
J
alestine Administration has appropriated $250,000 to combat the
menace and already more than 3000
men have been enrolled to carry on
the fight. The latest scientific devices
known are to be employed to check
the invasion, including flame throwers and poison.
In olden times the natives attempti to check locust invasions by beat.\g drums.
\
AUTOMOBILES IN SYRIA
According to the latest census,
automobiles in Syria at the close of
the year 1929 were as follows:
Lebanon
3,670
Syria
4,150
Alouite State ... 795
Jebel Druze
275
Some Lebanese newspapers complain that the number of automobiles
in Lebanon far exceeds the needs of
the country, inasmuch as its population is only eight hundred thousand souls. They remark that lack
of gainful occupations has driven
large numbers to exploit the automobile traffic.
Percentage of
Illiterates.
Lebanon
40 per cent.
Syria
77 per cent.
Jebel Druze
93 per cent.
Alouite State
85 per cent.
These figures include the whole
population of both sexes and all
classes and ages.
LEBANESE HIGHLY RESPECTED
IN URUGUAY REPUBLIC
The Arabic press of South America reports that the Lebanese colony
of Montevideo, Uruguay, has presented the government of that country with a portrait of General Otiva,
the liberator of Uruguay, woven in
threads of silver and gold and true
in every detail to nature. The woven
portrait, equalling in artistry the
finest European tapestries, was executed by native artists of Zouk in
Mt. Lebanon. The presentation was
made on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the independence of the Uruguayan Republic.
PEACE AMONG ARABS
Through the good offices of Great
Britain, King Faisal of Iraq and
King Ibn Saoud of Arabia met on
board a British sloop on February
24 and signed a treaty of peace and
amity. The countries of both kings
are contiguous on Syria and peace
among them should affect stabilization of conditions on Syria's
frontiers.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
58
I
<***>«f,'**-*r-r*r<^
t
THE LEBANON NATIONAL BANK
3 19 FIFTH AVENUE,
COR. 32ND STREET
Legal Depository of
The United States — New York State — New York City
Member of
The Federal Reserve Bank — New York State Bankers
Association — American Bankers Association
*
*
4-^% INTEREST
We are pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has decided to raise the rate of interest on savings
accounts from 4% to 4J4%, computed every three
months, which raises the rate considerably above 4}4%
per annum.
On check accounts, interest will be paid at the rate of
2 ) for daily balances below $5,000, and 3% for daily
balances of $5,U00 and over.
l
The Lebanon National Bank inaugurates the return
of control to its original founders by this liberal policy
of sharing profits with its depositors. Out-of-Town accounts are solicited on the same basis. We shall be glad
to correspond with anyone, anywhere, interested in availing himself of our facilities and liberal terms.
BANKING BY MAIL is a conception of good business.
You can begin at once to enjoy the facilities of
our "Banking by Mail" department.
THE LEBANON NATIONAL BANK
"THE BANK OF FRIENDLY CO-OPERATION"
319
Corner
New York City
FIFTH AVE.,
32ND ST.,
» >>»>»»»»>>>>>>>>»>», »>>>>>>>>>»>>>>>>
>>>>»>»»
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
TSW1930_02reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 04, Issue 06
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930 February
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 4 Issue 06 of The Syrian World published February 1930. Dr. Fuad Shatara opens the issue with an appreciative account of Arab physician Ar-Razi. This article highlights the achievements of Arabs in medicine. Following a short poem about mortality by Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin, Ameen Rihani further details his travels through Arabia. This time Rihani covers his rare experiences while in Jeddah, and a particularly interesting conversation had with King Hussein. Najla Sabe's song, Raja F. Howrani's translated treatise "The Old Criminal," and R. A. Nicholson's poem "Tears" proceed another portion of Salloum Mokarzel's travels in Lebanon. In this issue he covers the distance from the Dog River to the Cedars. Finally Labeebee A. J. Hanna contributes an original short story that discusses a phase of Syrian life in America, followed by one of her poems titled "To My Father." This issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press and more on political developments in Syria.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1930s
Ameen Rihani
Fuad Shatara
Labeebee A.J. Hanna
Lebanon
Medical
Music
Najla Sabe
New York
Poetry-English
R. A. Nicholson
Raja F. Howrani
Rivers
Salim Alkazin
Saudi Arabia
Travel
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/af33fc06699bf8fe5c3cd4474b402a3f.pdf
d6c7a1f91dbeedb2b9657f09a6fea0e1
PDF Text
Text
VOL. IV. No. 5.
SYRIAN WORLD
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
I
ft
m
MODERN SYRIANS' CONTRIBUTIONS
TO CIVILIZATION
REV-. W. A. MANSUR
I
m
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
I
grig
THE AHLEYAH SCHOOL OF BEIRUT
m
THE CHANGING EAST
AMEEN RJHANI
THE STRANGE CASE OF HASSAN AND HUSNA
(AN ARABIAN NIGHTS* STORY)
THE WAGER-A SHORT STORY
I
m
Ml
AREF EL-KHOURY
m
THE COPY 50c
wBssr
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��^^^__^________
SYRIAN WORLD
Tublished monthly by
SALLOUM
A.
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies 50c.
Entered as second-class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. IV. No. 5.
JANUARY, 19 JO
CONTENTS
PAGE
Modern Syrian'' Contributions to Civilization
REV.
W. A.
7
MANSUR
From the Arabic
14
The Changing East
15
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
Advice to a Lover (Poem)
LABEEBEE
27
A. J.
HANNA
The Master-Builder (Poem)
DR. SALIM
Y.
28
ALKAZIX
The Tzvo Learned Men
KAHLIL GIBRAN
29
�HHHHK
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
The Last Leaf (Poem)
30
MISCHA NAIMY
The Ahleyah School of Beirut
31
AMEEN RIHANI
The Strange Case of Hassan and Husna
33
(AN ARABIAN NIGHTS' STORY)
Arab Wisdom
38
The Wager (Short Story)
39
AREF EL-KHOURY
The Greatest of These Is Charity (Poem)
41
ALICE MCGEORGE
Editorial Comment
Beauty Contests
On the Nature of Cursing
42
43
Spirit of the Syrian Press
45
Political Developments in Syria
49
About Syria and Syrians
53
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
A Minister of Lebanon at Home
A View in North Lebanon
An Enchanting Scene in North Lebanon
Miss Lebanon in International Beauty Contest
A Flourishing Native School
Physical Training for Syrian Girls
�IN THIS ISSUE
1
REV. W. A. MANSUR contributes a splendid appraisal of
the Syrians' Contributions to
Civilization. This patriotic minister's writings have been uniformly inspirational, and we
feel sure that those anxious to
learn things of value of their
ancestral background will feel
grateful to him for the wealth
of material he takes so much
pains to provide for them. We
urge a careful reading of his
current article.*** SALLOUM
A. MOKARZEL discusses in
this issue some of the changes
now taking place in the East,
with partiuular emphasis on the
fundamental orientation in the
character of the people. He tells
of the birth of a new spirit of
co-operation which is showing
unusual manifestations, especially in the economic field. The
great hydroelectric project of
Nahr Kadisha, wholly native in
conception, execution, capital
and management, is here described at length, together with
detailed accounts of special interviews with Archbishop Antoun Arida and the prominent
leaders connected with the undertaking. The account of the
obstructive tactics of inimical
"foreign interests", and how the
natives succeeded in overcoming
them with grim determination,
is worth reading.*** AMEEN
RIHANI writes a vivid account
of the inception and growth of
the Ahleyah School in Beirut.
Miss Marie Kassab, the founder, is now in New York in the
interest of the institution.***
DR. SALIM Y. ALKAZIN
has another beautiful poetical
contribution which carries a fine
moral, as usual.***AREF ELKHOURY, an aspiring young
Syrian writer of Welch, W. Va.,
has an original short story
whose scene is laid in Damascus
and whose characters are a Syrian-American boy and girl. It
boldly emphasizes the spirit of
American daring.*** OTHER
CONTRIBUTORS include:—
Kahiil Gibran, Miss Labeebee
A. J. Hanna, Mischa Naimy
and Alice McGeorge. The department of political developments in Syria for this month is
particularly interesting, as well
as that of the Spirit of the Syrian Press. The reaction of the
Arabic-speaking elements to
European diplomacy is gaged
here as it can be nowhere else.
JOIN
THE GREAT
SYRIAN WORLD
CONTEST
NOW
J
�Great Syrian
For a FREE TRIP to
i
k.
The editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD having made a trip to Syria in
the summer of 1929, -which he is now describing in a series of articles in
the magazine, came to realize not only the great educational and cultural
advantages of such a trip, but its unrivr.lled possibilities for pleasure and
recreation. In our enthusiasm for the benefits of such tours, we decided to
offer one as a prize to our readers. This is on a par with the most liberal
offers made by the biggest American publications, whose readers are hundreds of thousands and even millions. Needless to say that this is unprecedented in the history of Arabic journalism, whether in America or abroad.
THE SYRIAN WORLD, in making the great prize offer in spite of
the heavy sacrifice involved, considers that in so doing it is promoting the
cause of sympathetic understanding of the motherland. This is in keeping
with the main object behind the publicati >n of the magazine. Whether the
winner be a boy or girl, American or Syrian, the purpose would have been
served by the actual contacts established with the great scenic beauties
and places of immense histork:il interest in our country of origin.
The proposition is unprecedented, the advantages great, Lhe conditions most liberal. It is surely the opportunity of a lifetime for the ambitious.
t<
rc
a!
t!
2.
3.
ITINERARY OF TRIP
4.
The free trip offered by THE SYRIAN WORLD takes the same route
fol'owed by :
or in his recent trip to Syria. Fassage will be Cabin
class on the luxurious steamer Providence, of the Fabre Line, sailing from
New York July 2nd. Stops on route and shore excursions will be made at
Ponta Delgada, Azores Islands; Lisbon, Portugal; Naples, Italy; Palermo,
Sicily, and Piraeus and Athens, Greece.
In Syria and Lebanon the winner may remain as long as he desires
and return on any of the Fabre Line steamers to New York, a>so Cabin
Class.
Sailing from New York will be under the direction and full assistance
of the firm of A. K. Hitti & Co., the well-known steamship ticket agents.
The Beirut Branch of the same firm will render the winner all necessary service and advice free. The editor, thanks to the contacts contracted
on his last trip, will also give the winner letters of introduction and recommendation to many influential friends who would render all necessary
courtesies. The winner, representing THE SYRIAN WORLD whose services
are fully recognized in the motherland, will be assured of the most friendly
reception by the authorities and the public.
6.
f,
/
I
I
�World Contest
SYRIA and RETURN
SYRIAN WORLD OFFER
The prize offered by THE SYRIAN WORLD to the winner in the contest is free passage, Cabin Class, both ways from New York to Beirut and
return, together with a liberal cash allowance for the shore excursions
Jove mentioned on the outward passage. Is this not a worthy prize to
try to win?
CONDITIONS OF CONTEST
1. THE SYRIAN WORLD prize of a Free Trip to Syria and return will be
awarded the individual securing the largest number of New subscribers to the magazine at the regular price of subscription.
2. Considering the great value of the prize offered, the minimum number
required to win the award must be not less than one hundred.
3. Every contestant, other than the winner, securing more than one huntt, T* sllbscriJ,ti0RS> wil1 be awarded a special cash premium of
$1.50 for every subscription. Those securing less than one hundred will
be given S.liO for every subscription. In the event of two or more contestants tying for the Grand Prize, all will receive identical prizes.
4. The contest closes June 10, 1930. Letters post-marked later than this
date mil .:ot bs counted. Announcement of the awards will be made
June lo.
5. Every subscription must be a new subscription, and must be accompanied by a remittance of the full price of $5.00.
6. Gift subscriptions will be counted as direct subscriptions. For instance
if a contestant succeeds in inducing a friend to make gifts of a year's'
subsection to each of five individuals, he will be given credit for
five individual subscriptions. Multiple subscriptions to the same person
will not be counted by the number of years; as, for instance, a single
individual subscribing for two years will not be given credit for two
subscriptions.
7. Those wishing to enter the contest must write to register, in which case
they will be furnished with special blanks and helpful literature.
8. The contest is open to all friends of THE SYRIAN WORLD anywhere
in the United States and Canada.
�IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
ON THE SUBJECT OF THE
SYRIAN WORLD CONTEST
fYWING to the appreciation by the public of our liberal offer
of a free trip to Syria as a first prize in the current Syrian
World Contest, and in compliance with numerous requests to
this effect, we have decided to extend our offer as follows:
1—While the minimum number of subscriptions required to win
the Free Trip remains at one hundred, any contestant, besides the winner, procuring one hundred subscriptions has
the option of receiving either the cash prize or a one-way
free trip to Syria.
2—If a contestant should procure two hundred, he receives a
free round trip.
3—For all subscriptions above two hundred the winner, as well
as any other contestant, receives a cash premium of one
dollar for each subscription in excess of two hundred.
4—Organizations are permitted to enter the contest and award
the prize to any individual member.
5—Contestants working for the limited prizes of either a oneway trip or a round trip may withdraw once their goal is
reached and sail on any Fabre Line steamer, cabin class,
before the date set for the close of the Contest.
Registered contestants to date are the following:
Mr. H. John Hashem
63 Thompson St., Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
Miss Evelyn Assmar
181 - 79th St., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Mr. Richard Hajjar
180 Warren St., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Mr. Hafey Abood
179 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Mrs. Rose A. Hamrah
56 Scott St., Naugatuck, Conn.
FOUR MORE MONTHS
IN
WHICH
TO
WIN.
�VOL. IV. No. 5.
JANUARY, 1930.
Modern Syrians' Contributions
to Civilization
By
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
1*HE MODERN Syrians, descendents of the famous Phoenicians, are now making significant contributions to civilization.
The rise of the Syrian race through the renaissance of the Syrian spirit, the emigration of the Syrian people, and the progress
of Syrian talent marks a new era in the progress of civilization.
The modern Syrians' contributions to civilization are based on
prosperity, commerce, welfare, progress, and not on military conquest, colonial exploitation, or racial aggression.
The world needs enlightenment regarding the origin, history, character, talent and progress of the Syrian race. Tames
Bryce says in The Holy Roman Empire: "During the Middle
Ages, Western statesmen and churchmen, Western thinkers and
writers, took little note of the Eastern Empire which stubbornly
held its ground at Constantinople down to A. D. 1453." "Even
in later times the part played by the people and rulers of New
Rome was inadequately appreciated, and it is only in our own
days that history has begun to atone for this long neglect." We
must inform the world regarding Syrian race history, Syrian race
talent, and Syrian race contributions to mankind.
Through knowledge about the awakening of the modern Syrian race we shall plant intelligent information, arouse sympathetic understanding, and win cordial appreciation. "Fundamental in every search for entrance into the mind of a race other
than our own," says Bishop Francis John McConnell in Human
Needs and World Christianity, "is straight-forward justice."
I i
�8
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Bishop J. H. Oldham says in Christianity and the Race Problem^
"In order that the different peoples may enrich the life of the
world by the contribution which each is best fitted to make, each
must have freedom to develop a distinctive life of its own."
When president, Calvin Coolidge said, "All peoples have points
of excellence and are justly entitled to the honorable consideration of other nations." The present awakening of the Syrian race
is bringing to the forefront an illustrious race whose native land,
contributions to humanity, and racial talents are again to bless
mankind. The world will soon acknowledge the "straight-forward justice," recognize with appreciation the "distinctive life,"
and grant with regard "honorable consideration" a prominent
place to the Syrian race and its benevolent influences on civilization.
The following modern Syrians' contributions to civilization
are meant to indicate the trend of the modern Syrian race, the
legacies it is making to human welfare, and the vindication of
the race's awakening, vitality, leadership, civilization and progress.
/.
The Modern Syrians Are Contributing Leadership for the
Arabic-Speaking World.
"Syria and Syrians," says Talcott Williams in an introduction
to The Syrians in America, "constitute the first land and the first
people in Southwestern Asia who have entered into modern civilization."
Remember that for centuries Syria was under military suppression, autocratic control, and devastated condition. The expression of racial talent was hindered, the exchange of learning
was stopped, and intercourse with the outside world prohibited.
Three impulses helped bring the Syrian renaissance: the Napoleonic invasion, European interest, and contact with the outside
world.
"The twentieth century found the Syrians," says Philip K.
Hitti in THE SYRIAN WORLD, "the teacher and literary leader
of the Arabic-speaking world." (July, 1926.) In a masterful
article on "Syrian Leadership in Arabic Affairs" he says, "Not
only have the Syrians in recent times supplied a large part of the
leadership throughout the Arabic world in progress, in commerce,
in education and in literature but in nationalistic movements,
too." (Aug., 1927.)
The character of the modern Syrian leadership will deter-
i
�mine largely the nature of the rising civilization in Arabic-speaking lands. The modern Syrian is moulding the thought life, inspiring emulation of modern democracy, and awakening the talents of Arabic-speaking races and nations.
77.
The Modern Syrians Are Giving Original Religious and
Moral Impulses for World Welfare.
The leadership of mankind is already recognizing the superior religious and moral capacities of the Syrian race for world
civilization. "The destiny of the Near and Middle East will go
far to determine the trend of the new world's life," says Basil
Mathews in The Riddle of Nearer Asia. "For those lands between the Aegean and the Nile on the one hand, and the Caucasus and mountain buttresses of Persia on the other, are strategically a pivot on which world issues swing, while immeasurable
possibilities lie undeveloped in their human and material resources, and, above all, in their spiritual capacities."
The modern Syrian is awake to his religious, moral and racial
inheritance. He recognizes his native talents. He realizes the contributions his ancestors made to humanity. He feels the urge to
intellectual, cultural and humanitarian achievement.
The world is again to be led by the religious and moral enthusiasm of Syrian prophets. The truth will be heard through
silver-tongued Syrian heralds. Righteous dealing will be advocated by golden-mouthed Syrian statesmen. Human brotherhood
will be preached by divinely-inspired Syrian missionaries.
7/7.
The Modem Syrians Are Promoting True Inter-Racial
Idealism Toward Sympathetic Appreciation, Human Brotherhood, and World Civilization.
"As for the Asiatics," says Tyler Dennett in A Better World,
"they have, from the dawn of history, been the great creative
religious folk. They have given religion to the world: Judaism,
Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Mohammedanism. A Roman
or an Anglo-Saxon may be the organizer, but it takes an Oriental
to write a psalm or to make a prophecy.—When Christianity is
restored to the Orient from which it came it uncovers energies
and vitalities such as were characteristic of the Apostolic days."
The world is in great need of the Syrian gospel of inter-racial
appreciation, brotherhood and civilization. The world suffers
from race prejudice, color discrimination, and national aggression.
�y
-10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The modern Syrian is promoting the true gospel of interracial equality. Equality of the races, equality of the rights, and
equality of privilege will be preached to mankind. Equality of
human worth without regard to race, color, creed, time, clime or
place will be heralded to human minds, hearts, and life everywhere. The modern Syrian will blast the Syrian evangel of interracial brotherhood to humanity: from Syrian hearts the equal
love of God will be preached, from Syrian minds the universal
truth of God will be proclaimed, and from Syrian tongues the
even righteousness of God will be heralded for human brotherhood to every race, nation and tongue. The modern Syrian hearts,
minds and tongues are already promoting the new order of human
brotherhood. The world everywhere awaits with expectation the
regenerating power of the Syrian Gospel of inter-racial brotherhood!
IV.
The Modern Syrians Are Disseminating the Principles of
Freedom: Intellectual, Religious and Political.
S. A. Mokarzel, editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD, in writing
of the Syrian community in New York as an example of the Syrians in America, says, "It has helped plant the love of America
in the hearts of millions of people speaking the common Arabic
language, and it has proven its gratitude and loyalty to its adopted
country by responding in vastly more than its proportionate quota
to the appeal of the government either for financial aid or for
man power in times of national crisis." (Syrian World, Nov.,
1927.)
What is here said of the Syrians in America applies equally
to Syrians in every country in the world. Modern Syrians are
carrying to the ends of the earth the ideals of intellectual enlightenment, political liberty, and religious freedom. Wherever
the Arabic language is spoken Syrian leadership is broadcasting
the principles of democracy. Wherever Syrians dwell there is
founded a radiating center for modern human freedom.
The modern Syrian will act as mediator between the old and
the new civilization, between the old and the new generation,
between the ideas of Arabic-speaking millions of the meaning
of liberty, its proper uses and its benefits upon mankind. He will
give personal testimony to the uplifting influence of religious,
intellectual, and political freedom as evidenced in his adoption,
prosperity, and progress in the lands of liberty.
%»fti
�JANUARY, 1930
V.
The Modern Syrians Are Carrying Forward the Means of
Civilization: High Standards, Beneficial Commerce, Progressive Living.
Like his famous ancestors, the modern Syrian is an advance
agent of civilization. George Adam Smith says in Syria and the
Holy Land, "Hebrew and Greek writers acclaim the wealth of
Phoenician industries and the size and the range of Phoenician
ships. Long before the Christian era these galleys had passed
the Straits of Gibraltar as far at least as the Canaries and Sicilies;
and had sailed down the Red Sea and along the coast of Africa."
The modern Syrian is disseminating modern trade, commerce
and high standards of living. S. A. Mokarzel says in THE SYRIAN WORLD, "He is in Paris, London, Manchester, Berlin, New
York, Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires, Shanghai, Yokahama, Manila,
Sydney and every leading commercial center that you may think
of. And he is there a trader, a purveyor to the needs of the public, an. agent for the cause of civilization! But let us not stop
at that. Let us delve deeper into the interior of the five continents and we will find the Syrian there—in the jungles of Brazil,
in the wilds of Africa, in the wastes of North America—a trader,
a merchant, a practitioner of the art of peaceful penetration, an
advocate of higher standards of life through the art of trade
and commerce." (Issue of Aug., 1926.)
J. Ray Johnson, editor of The Interpreter, organ of the Foreign Language Information Service in New York, says, "The
modern Syrian merchants advanced into almost all the maritime
cities of Europe and carried their trade across the seas to South
Africa, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, South America, Mexico, Canada and the United States." (The Syrian World,
June, 1928.)
The modern Syrians, descendents of the illustrious Phoenicians whose civilizing influences forwarded the progress of mankind, are rising to claim similar fame by contributing to the progress of humanity. They are becoming the merchant princes of
modern times. They are forwarding friendship, mutual-welfare,
and civilized life wherever they dwell. They are the exchangers
of merchandise, culture and high standards. They examplify in
their lives industrious living, patriotic loyalty, law-obedience and
love of liberty.
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
VI.
The Modern Syrians Exemplify Loyal Citizenship to Their
New Homelands: Patriotism, Loyalty, Gratitude, Service.
The modern Syrians are, perhaps, par excellence the most
loyal citizens in their new homelands.
Let it be remembered that love of our new homeland is compatible with love of our motherland. We modern Syrians will
stand for our race virtues, proclaim our love for the motherland
of our race, uphold the splendor of the Syrian race legacies to
humanity, and claim for our race a rightful place among the
races of earth. We modern Syrians believe in our new homelands, are loyal to their laws, and work for their welfare. The
true Syrian-American believes in America First} the Syrian-Argentinian in Argentine First} the Syrian-Brazilian in Brazil First}
the Syrian-Australian in Australia First.
A. Hakim, "The Sage of Washington Street," expressed the
true sentiment of the Syrian-Americans toward their new homeland. He says, "
that we are in America to stay} that we
owe it our allegiance whole and undivided, and that whatever
assistance we render the motherland is prompted by humanitarian, sentimental considerations only." (Syrian World, Oct., 1928.)
The modern Syrians are vindicating their pure patriotism,
loyal citizenship, and sincere gratitude to their new homelands.
Capt. Emilio Carranza, the Mexican air hero, said at a reception
held in his honor by the American Syrian Federation of New
York, "The cost of my plane was raised by popular subscription.
The Mexicans and all other racial groups contributed two-thirds
while the Syrians of Mexico alone contributed the other third."
The Syrian Bolivians decided to show their gratitude with a
full-sized statue of General Bolivar, the Father of Bolivian liberty, as their snare of the centennial celebration of the Independence of Bolivia. The Syrian merchants of Sao-Paolo, representing the Syrian community in Brazil, decided to show their
loyalty by presenting President Washington Luis, with a golden
tray with a message of loyalty engraved thereon. The SyrianArgentinians responded generously toward the purchase, from
the French Government, of the house in which Gen. San Martin,
the Argentine Liberator, died. The Syrian-Americans are, as
shown by their record during the World War, perhaps the most
loyal, patriotic and devoted among the races in America, and
"unexcelled—even by the Americans themselves."
n
�JANUARY, 1930
VII.
13
The Modern Syrians Represent the Most Benevolent Kind
of^ Emigration: Enter-prising Trade, Mutual Welfare,
Righteous Dealing, Loyal Citizenship.
The modern Syrian immigrants represent the most benevolent
type of race emigration in the modern world. They represent
a peaceful emigration which carries with it enterprising trade,
mutual-welfare, and cultural influence. They are following in
the footsteps of their ancient ancestors the Phoenicians. H. G.
Wells says in The Outline of History, "The great trading cities
of the Phoenicians are the most striking of the early manifestations of the peculiar and characteristic gift of the Semitic peoples
to mankind, trade and exchange."
The writer of Tyre: Its Rise, Glory, and Desolation says of
the colonies of ancient Phoenicia, "These colonies were not obtained by conquest, or, as in the case of many other nations, by
the forcible removal of the original inhabitants, and the settlements of others from time to time by bold navigators, and which
were considered to present opportunities for originating and
maintaining commerce."
The modern Syrians are dependent upon peaceful, prosperous and friendly intercourse for their welfare as well as that
of the people among whom they live. Other races, nations, and
peoples may make progress through exploitation of the material
resources of others, military domination, and numerical superiority. The modern Syrian immigration is free from aspiration
for establishing colonies advantageous to a particular religion,
free from ambition for founding centers for selfish exploitation
of other lands, and free from desire for political domination of
other countries.
Through the modern Syrian immigrants every race, nation,
and people are enriched by their wholesome influences. The Syrian communities in their new homelands are prophetic of the rise
of prosperity, peace, and progress to their respective communities, countries, and nations. Syrian communities everywhere are
centers of beneficial trade, mutual welfare, and progressive citizenship.
The modern Syrians' contributions to civilization are bound,
in their cumulative effect, to draw the intelligent attention of
mankind, awaken sympathetic appreciation of the race's civilizing
influence upon humanity, and command a high position of leadership among the races, nations, and peoples of earth.
A
�14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The knowledge of these contributions will enlarge the vision
of growing Syrian youth, appreciation will spur the rising Syrian leadership to greater achievements, and propagation will
arouse Syrian race consciousness, Syrian race solidarity, and Syrian race pride.
From the Arabic
TRUE GREATNESS
Meeting one of the retinue of the Vizier Ibn Al-Ameed, AlAsjadi asked him: "How find you our lord the Vizier?" and the
man replied: "He is a branch whose sap has dried, and he has
become so adamant that no charitable impulse finds its way into
his heart. Instead, his position seems to breed in him extreme
suspicion." "But," insisted Al-Asjadi, "see you not the pomp
of the court, and the imposing palace, and the luxurious furnishings, and the great fame that goes with power?"
And the man replied: "Power does not necessarily imply magnanimity, nor good fortune signify glory. If you were to have
proof of a man's true greatness, note the number of his visitors
and the seekers after his munificence; and how they leave his
court, if in a thankful and appreciative mood,—and what is the
nature of their comment after they leave, whether their praise is
prompted by fear or by a spirit of earnestness. Truly, such are
the signs of popular leadership and inherent magnanimity of
character and well-deserved glory."
THE THREE VICES
The three most detestable of cardinal vices are the following:
Pride that leads to inertia, miserliness that is impossible of eradication, and vanity that insists on displaying itself under all circumstances.
TRUE FRIENDSHIP
Your true friend is he who hastens to your aid when you fall;
who spares not criticism when you err; who is pleased to see you
clothed in virtue, and is grieved to see you fall in the esteem of
men. But he is not your friend who shows unconcern in your
fate, and it is immaterial to him whether you go astray or find
your way.
fir
�JANUARY, 1930
15
The Changing East
By
f'
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
yHE EAST, after all, does change. That part of it which I
visited the past summer is undergoing a rapid, almost phenomenal transformation. People of the East do not seem to be
any more given up to that passiveness which springs from their
belief in kismet. True, one still comes across the petty merchants
squatting in their stalls smoking their water-pipes and waiting
for the favor of Allah—and a customer; but there is also noticeable abroad in the land a spirit of strong initiative, even to the
point of aggressiveness. And the change is not confined to the
physical appearance of the country; it is permeating the character of the people and effecting a radical change in their lives
and traditional viewpoints. Changing economic conditions are
responsible for this transformation, and although the peoples
of the East are still novices at the task, they are showing marked
progress in their earnest efforts to adopt from the West its methods of organization and its principles of cooperative, collective
action in economic pursuits.
When I landed at Beirut, the city was hardly recognizable to
me after an absence of thirty years. I actually had to search for
those scenes and places which are typical of the East, and found
only a faint vestige of them to have remained. Almost gone
were the narrow, covered bazaars and their Oriental picturesqueness. Work of demolition was going on everywhere and new,
well-paved, broad streets, flanked by buildings of pleasing uniformity, were rising everywhere. I was told that a native architect, who, although having studied in Europe, had retained his
appreciation for the charm of Eastern architectural designs, was
responsible for the happy blending of Eastern and Western effects which characterize the new Beirut. The colonnade arrangement over the broad sidewalks predominates, and serves as a
protection from both sun and rain. Those who recall the Rue de
Rivoli in Paris can draw from it a picture of the modern streets
of the Syrian city.
Women circulated freely in the streets. Those of the Mos-
2
—
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
lems who had discarded the habara and the veil, were dressed in
the latest fashion creations much like their Christian sisters. I
was told that the newest Parisian styles reach Beirut almost at
the same time, if not before, they reach New York.
I was expecting to encounter everywhere the sherbet venders
or sweets peddlers with trays balanced on their heads tinkling
their cups and saucers and singing the praises of their refreshments and wares in their peculiar and inimitable way, as they
were wont to do in times of old. Instead, I saw many sellers of
ices pushing about wheeled carts, while the peddlers of sweets
had, instead of the exposed tray, closed boxes with glass tops as
a protection against dust and flies. The change was brought about
as a result of a vigorous, systematic public health campaign waged
by Dr. Ayoub Thabet at the time he was Minister of the Interior
in the government of Lebanon. Dr. Thabet had his education in
the United States.
The policemen of Beirut give an indication of the general
transition from old conditions. They are dressed in trim navy
blue uniforms with holster belt. Those who are on traffic duty
carry a short, white club. But the most conspicuous thing about
them is their helmet. The Oriental, especially a Moslem, clings
to his headgear as his most revered sartorial tradition. He may
change into Western garb, but he must never forgo his turban
or tarboush. I saw the policemen of Egypt keeping their posts
under the torrid heat of a tropical sun with no head protection
other than the close-fitting, unbrimmed, tarboush. Such being
the attitude towards the tarboush, the change to the helmet must
be considered as of a revolutionary character. And so it is, and
the way it was brought about is even more startling considering
the prejudices of the East.
The man responsible for the change from the tarboush to
the helmet was Dr. Thabet also. I visited him at his summer
camp near his native town of Bhamdoun, in Lebanon. He was
leading the life of a semi-recluse, and although he was out of
office he was not out of the reckoning in politics. He belong:, to
a religious minority in a republic which still adheres in its form
of representation to sectarian traditions, but his admirers and followers among all denominational factions are legion in consideration of sheer merit and ability. I discussed with him the different
phases of the transition movement now taking place and inquired
particularly about the circumstances attending some of the revo-
�mmtm^-
A MINISTER OF LEBANON AT HOME
This intimate snapshot of Dr. Ayoub Thabet was taken of him at his summer camp near his native town of Bhamdoun in Mt. Lebanon during The
Syrian World editor's visit to him last summer. Dr. Thabet is responsible
for many notable reforms while Minister of the Interior. (See article "The
Changing East.")
A VIEW IN NORTH LEBANON
The steep mountain from which gushes the abundant water of Nahr Kadisha above Bcharri, now harnessed for generating electricity. Along the
side of the mountain runs the narrow canal described in article "The Changing East."
�AN ENCHANTING SCENE IN NORTH LEBANON
The whole district of North Lebanon is dotted with thriving villages. This view was taken from a point
overlooking the town of Hasroun.
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�JANUARY, 1930
n
lutionary changes he had inaugurated. Here is how he explained
"The East is not unreasonable," he said. "What it needs is
men of intelligent, unselfish leadership whose motives are above
suspicion and who have the courage to act on their convictions
Unce a step in the proper direction is taken and the reform n^
into effect, objection will cease. But the curse of our country has
been the policy of temporizing. Our public opinion has not yet
reached the stage of coalescence. Our public affairs are still governed by the personal influence of factional or religious leaders
whose main concern is to preserve their traditional prestige.
Our great bugaboo is our sentimental consideration for tradition especially when it affects our brother Moslems. I have
proved by my ordinance inaugurating the change from the tarthan red
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COnsiderations are more
imaginary
"What I did was to act on my authority as Minister of Public
Health peremptorily and without submitting the matter to public
discussion. I had secretly ordered bought all available helmets
in the city and issued them one summer morning to the police
men as a complement of their regular outfit. The Moslem members of the force welcomed the change with even more alacrity
than did the Christians. The general public, although at first surprised, soon came to realize the benefits of the change and heartily
approved of ,t. Not even from the ulemas did we encounter any
objection."
To one who was born and raised in Syria, the modernization
processes now rapidly working in the country are amazing. In
Beirut I saw a furniture factory employing several hundred men
run on Western industrial principles and employing modern machinery, even to the individual motor for every unit. In Damas
cus, supposedly the stronghold of conservatism, modernization in
industry is just as evident. The Syrians are awakening to the
realization that the exigencies of modern economic life cannot
be met with antiquated methods, and they are fast adopting thnew processes which enable them to successfully compete with
foreign industries.
u?neB°f fi£ ^r°min1e,nt leaders of ^e Syrian Nationalists,
Pakhry Bey Baroody, illustrated to me the progress of Syrian
industry by pointing out that every article of clothing he was
wearing, from the fine broadcloth suit to the underwear socks
IT
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
and shoes, were of native manufacture. The Syrians have even
developed a match manufacturing industry. They now have about
three hundred young men in Europe and America receiving technical education in different lines. They are not, as it seems, inalienably bound to tradition.
Breaking down the barriers of tradition, especially as it affects
the status of women in Syria, is most obvious in Beirut. The first
customs official I met upon landing at that port on July 21st was
a native woman. Later, upon visiting the Saraya to pay my respects to Mr. Chas. Dabbas, President of the Lebanese Republic,
I discovered that the head of the Information Bureau also was a
native woman who had at one time been a resident of the United
States. I was interested in discovering the extent to which the
women of the East had progressed in their movement for emancipation and asked that lady for information on that point. She
told me that in the government service alone there were no less
than two hundred young women, while in the city of Beirut much
over five hundred native women were employed at various gainful occupations. I was not surprised, therefore, when later in
passing through one of the principal streets, I came across a large
sign in Arabic and French reading: "Girls' Business School—
Courses in Typewriting and Stenography."
What further caused me much pleasant surprise was the discovery in Beirut of several Arabic Linotype machines imported
from America. They had been in operation for several years and
were satisfactorily manned by native operators.
But the greatest transformation I was able to observe was
in the psychology of the people. A deep appreciation of the necessity of collectivism seems to be gradually dawning upon them.
Where in the past every undertaking was the result of personal
initiative and individual management we now find the people of
Syria seriously attempting collective action. This disposition is
being demonstrated both in political and economic undertakings.
In the political field, we have as proof of this phenomenon the
solidarity of the Nationalist Party in Syria which has held together in the Constituent Assembly in face of the most trying
conditions. While in Lebanon it has actually given birth to the
first republican form of government to be established among
Arabic-speaking peoples. Trials there are, of course, as would
be natural in any first experiment, but the attempt itself attests
the existence of an awakening which disproves the contention that
the East never changes.
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�JANUARY, 1930
/p
What I would advance, however, as the most cogent proof
of the new order that is invading that portion of the East which
is closer to the West and coming into more intimate contact with
Koropean and American influences, is what the Lebanese term
the great corporate enterprise for the generation of hydroelectric power ,n Northern Lebanon. This undertaking is onehundred per cent, native in conception, execution, control and
operation. It has been watched for the last fifteen years bv natives and foreigners alike as a test of native initiative and fitness tor group action. I was fortunate in having been in that
part of the country when it was first put in operation and the
historic town of Bcharri lighted by electricity through the enterprise and determination of its own citizens.
THE HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT
OF NAHR KADISHA
It was Saturday, August 3, when I decided to visit the famous
Lectors ol Lebanon which are reverentially called by the people
of the country the "Cedars of the Lord." I had until then hard
very little of the hydroelectric project of Nahr Kadisha, or the
Sacred River, which was being developed in Bcharri, the highest
point of habitation in Lebanon on the way to the Cedars, and
nestling snuggly on a ledge of the mountain at an altitude of
1230 meters Certainly at the time, my interest in the town was
confined to the fact that it was the birthplace of my friend and
countryman Kahlil Gibran, author of "The Prophet," and consjdenng die limitation of time, I thought that an hour at most
would be all that I could reasonably tarry at the place
We reached Bcharri at four o'clock in the afternoon, and
stopped at the principal square by the church to take some refreshments. The cafes on all sides were crowded and the shops
doing a bustling business. WTe took our places around a running
fountain in the basin of which floated many watermelons and
baskets of grapes and other fruit to be cooled.
When my companion, Joseph Mokarzel, insisted on having
our presence announced to a certain Father Tanius Jahjah of
whom he had spoken in the highest terms of praise, I immediately realized that such a course irretrievably defeated my
purpose of staying only a short time in the town, knowing the
open hospitality of all the people of that locality.
V
. » <
�20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The priest presently came and joined the circle which had
formed about us. He was a man of about fifty, tall and slender,
his steady gait showing poise and determination, and his keen
eye and high forehead denoting unmistakable signs of intelligence and latent energy. He was, however, sincerely modest,
for when my cousin introduced him as the father of the hydroelectric project of Nahr Kadisha, he blushed like a child. Attempts to draw from him an account of the trials and sufferings
attending the earlier stages of the promotion of the project were
futile. My cousin whispered to me that we could get that account
later from other sources. Besides, in going over the ^rrain which
lay on our way to the Cedars, we would be in a better position
to understand the enormity of the task.
That same afternoon, despite the importunities of the good
folk of Bcharri, we resumed our journey to the Cedars over the
new motor road, opened to traffic only two weeks before. The
road left much to be desired, but the Minister of Public Works,
Hussein Bey El-Ahdab, who had made an inspection only the
preceding day, promised to provide the essentials of safety before
the coming season. What it needs most is a stone parapet to
give nervous motorists a feeling of security in negotiating the
steep sides of the mountain which rises to almost three thousand feet. In all this distance not a tree is to be seen, nor even
a small terrace such as are common in other parts of Lebanon
to break the smoothness of the even slope. It is indeed bad travel
for those who suffer from a weak heart or unsteady nerves. But
the panorama of Lebanon from the eminence is most beautiful to
him who entertains no fear.
From the side of this mountain, directly below the famous
Cedars of Lebanon, gushes forth from a cleft in the rock the
abundant spring which waters the successive valleys until ft
reaches the city of Tripoli by the sea, and is known as Nahr
Kadisha, which is now harnessed for generating electricity.
Due to the lateness of the hour and the dangers of the road,
we decided to defer inspection of this master feat of engineering
till the following day. So next morning, on the way down, we
stopped at the reservoir by the road, built on a direct line a thousand feet above the power station. The guard, a lad of not more
than twenty in native garb, was standing unconcernedly on the
edge of the precipice. He told us that to get to the grottoes we
must follow the concrete-covered canal of only two feet width
skirting the mountain to a distance of a mile. We must balance
/,
�-
JANUARY, 1930
2/
ourselves well, he admonished, because the over-hanging rocks
were very low in places.
vi
t
)
s
«, !u° 7* thJhree «>mpanions we filed singly along the narrow
walk. As the guard had predicted, we almost had to crouch to
the ground in places to negotiate the passage. In other places, the
canal was carried through completely covered tunnels where seeping water made walking extremely slippery. But for the most
part it formed just an open, unprotected footpath in the side of
the smooth, pyramid-shaped mountain. The grottoes were never
reached from this side of the mountain before, but only by a
trail runnmg through the other and more accessible side of the
valley.
In covering the whole distance of a mile we never thought of
looking behind once. We glanced to the side; we looked directly
ahead; we watched every step we made, but the one coming behind had to be satisfied with the oral assurance of the one ahead
It was as if one were balancing himself on a tight rope.
Imagine our surprise, therefore, when upon reaching the
broad clearing at the entrance to the grottoes and looking about,
we beheld two sturdy men trailing us and of whom we had not
heard a sound. They proved to be workmen who had once been
employedI in the cutting of the canal in the side of the mountain.
lhey had attended early mass that Sunday morning and had
come on a picnic to the scene of their former labors, where we
thought the angels would fear to tread.
"You must have had a trying time completing this difficult
work, I a ked one of the men. He laughed and proceeded to
explain.
"For five years," he said, "we worked incessantly hewing
the side of the mountain. At first we had to be let down by ropes
until we could cut for ourselves a foothold. We labored from
dawn to nightfall and slept at our places. Some of us did not
return to our homes for weeks at a time and had food lowered
to us in baskets. But Father Jahjah is a saint for whose sake
we are willing to risk anything. He and the engineer used to be
lowered down by a rope, too."
The laborer, in his simple words, had given the most eloquent
description of the character of the father of the project of Nahr
Kadishah. Here was a dynamic leader of the community, a priest
who sensed the needs of his people and led them by word and
example to constructive efforts. He realized the intense respect of
the people of that section of Lebanon for their clergy and directed
�».' I
22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
it to the improvement of their crying economic needs. I had been
told while at the Cedars that the fine modern hotel built there
even before the opening of the motor road was also made possible through the initiative of a Maronite priest of Bcharri. But
that is not all that can be told of the efforts of the Maronite
clergy along that line. A greater surprise was in store for me
upon my return to Bcharri that memorable Sunday of August 4.
At the northern entrance to the town, on a sharp bend in the
road of descent, we were stopped by Father Jahjah who had been
awaiting our return since early morning:
"It's an insult to pass through our town without giving us
an opportunity to break bread with you," he said, "Besides, our
Archbishop Antoun Arida is visiting us today and upon being
informed of your presence he expressed the wish to meet you."
Meeting the Archbishop I could not refuse, and I was led by
Father Jahjah to the modern home of that dignitary's sister
where he was staying.
I found the outer court full of people, while the spacious
reception hall within was packed to the door. Rising voices reaching the outside betrayed a heated discussion, and when I was
led to where the Archbishop was seated in the extreme center the
tumult was immediately hushed. The Archbishop led me to an
adjoining room for a private conversation.
From him I learned that this was a general meeting of the
stockholders of the Kadisha Hydroelectric Power Co., called to
discuss two important questions, viz: raising of the capital stock
from £75,000 to £100,000 and consideration of the proposition
to consolidate the Kadisha Company with a similar project known
as the Nahr Abu Ali Co., now controlled by the sheikhs Estephan, also of the North Lebanon district. The latter project was
organized to furnish power, while the former was chartered only
to furnish light. The market for both companies was the district
of North Lebanon and the city of Tripoli. So those fostering
the spirit of corporate enterprises in that Eastern land of traditional individual initiative proved still further the degree of
their progress along those lines by sponsoring the movement
for the merger of the two companies.
"This is our first attempt at corporate action, and we must
carry it on to success," they argued. "All the resources of our
country are being developed by foreign capital and management
because of our lack of co-operative effort. This being our first
attempt at a collective undertaking, we cannot under any circum-
�JANUARY, 1930
23
stances suffer it to fail. A merger will be positive insurance against
failure because of the economy in management and the substitution of co-operation for competition. We owe this not only to our
interest as stockholders but to our sense of self-respect and patriotism. Our failure in this will spell the doom of every future
collective enterprise undertaken independently by the natives. We
are under moral obligation to push on in the only logical course
open to us, which lies in a combination of the capital and management of both enterprises."
This argument carried the day for the proponents of the
merger. Archbishop Arida, who was the moving spirit in the
initial enterprise, was continued as honorary president of the
amalgamated companies.
The multiplying signs of this new spirit of co-operative enterprise were a revelation to me. I was more surprised to learn
that the pioneers in these new realms of Western principles were
members of the clergy. It was gratifying to witness that the
. efforts of these enlightened clerics, who have been from time
immemorial both the religious advisers and the political leaders
of this solidly Maronite section of Lebanon, were now directed
towards promoting the economic welfare of their people. To
me this was cogent proof of the contention that the crying need
of the East is intelligent, enlightened and unselfish leadership.
"How did you succeed in raising the necessary capital for
this project?" I inquired of the Archbishop. His answer was
much broader than my restricted question.
"You will realize," he said, "that if any co-operative effort
were to succeed in our section of the world its success is more
likely in the district of Northern Lebanon than anywhere else.
And we want to prove that such success is possible. The country
is ours and we should have first claim to the right of exploiting
its resources which are, at best, very meager. Foreigners should
step in only in case of our failure to carry out the work properly,
and this we are not willing to concede. We are a homogenous
people in these parts of Lebanon. We have held together for
centuries past in defense of our right to life and freedom of worship. Now we want to prove the same solidarity in the face of
economic danger. Our people are now awakening to the necessity of working together for constructive effort instead of mere
defense. We are determined to prove both our initiative and
our fitness.
"The Kadisha enterprise is 100 per cent, native in control
" — umnmmmm
�24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
and operation. The concessionnaire is Father Jahjah, one of my
priests. The engineer is Albert Naccash, one of our countrymen.
The capital was raised wholly by subscription from native sources.
Foreign interests did their utmost to impede our efforts, both
before the grant of the concession and after, but we would not
go down in ignominous defeat. It was our hope that those responsible for the shaping of our destinies would b« helpful to us
in our constructive efforts instead of placing all forms of hindrances in our way. But our hopes were an illusion. We now
have come to realize that they only want to exploit us for their
own benefit."
Archbishop Arida could not be induced to go into more explicit details of this "foreign interference." He would only
reiterate that it was evident in every enterprise that the natives
undertook. He mentioned another new project of his for the
manufacture of cement on the same lines that he had organized
the hydroelectric undertaking, and asserted that before being
granted the concession he was subjected to the most determined
interference. The supposed reasons for this policy on the part
of "foreign interest" I was to get later from other sources.
In the meantime, I listened to the Archbishop's account of
how he was able to raise capital for the Kadisha project.
"America has had a telling influence in the shaping of our
destinies," he resumed. "We owe her not only a large part of
our working capital but the credit for bolstering up our spirit of
initiative as well. And think not that I am complimenting America because of her being the land of your adoption. The people
of this very town, Bcharri, were the first Syrians to migrate to
America, and their enterprise has resulted not only in benefit to
themselves but to their home town also. We were able to draw
on the citizens of Bcharri abroad for a considerable amount of
our capital, and we feel confident that we can draw on them for
a good deal more once they realize that they can profitably invest
in their homeland. We are also hoping that they would return
to further benefit the country by their wealth of commercial and
industrial experience. Some of them have already done so. You
must have noticed, while coming up the mountain at the parting
of the road near Tripoli, the large, modern factory building on
the coast. Well, that represents not only American capital but
American industrial methods also. The owners are emigrants
from this section who returned to study manufacturing possibilities here and concluded that they were justified in establish-
�JANUARY, 1930
25
ing a textile mill utilizing the products of the land in silk, cotton
and wool. Their modern methods brought them success and they
will be enabled to effect further economies, and consequently
earn more profits, when we supply them with cheap electric
power."
I felt that the Archbishop spoke with good economic sense,
and being unwilling to further keep him away from his stockholders' meeting, I took leave to join the engineer of the Kadisha Company who was to conduct me on a tour of inspection
through the plant, situated on the outskirts of the town.
The plant consists of a huge stone building with two generators and a control room in the rear. The water descends through
a 600-meter pipe having a perpendicular fall of 275 meters. In
the so-called dry season, the power generating capacity is 1200
H. P., while in the abundant or flood season, comprising eight
months of the year, the capacity is on a basis of 3600 H. P. With
the consolidation of the Kadisha and Abu Ali companies the total
capacity will rise to 10,000 H. P. This is more than ample for
the light and power needs of the section.
Mr. Naccash, the engineer, was bitter against the French and
outspoken in his condemnation of their tactics of opposition to
native enterprise. I learned from him that which the Archbishop
had alluded to only guardedly. While I am not accepting his explanation of conditions as being true in toto, I can conscientiously
state that the grumbling against the petty, obstructive tactics of
the French were evident in all parts of Lebanon and Syria, particularly in the district of North Lebanon which is considered
the bulwark of French influence in the country.
Here is the gist of the complaint, whose warp is politics
and woof is economics.
"French interests have heavy investments in Syria and Lebanon, and for that reason wish the continuation of the occupation. There is in France, on the other hand, a strong faction
opposing this policy because of its strain on the national budget.
To create, therefore, as strong a sentiment as possible for the
policy of occupation, French officials are working assiduously and
systematically to increase the investment of French capital in the
country, and to that end, they place every hindrance in the way
of native projects in order to make way for the employment of
French capital. In such eventuality there would be justification
for the continuation of French occupation, and the swarms of
French officials now finding lucrative employment in Syria would
i
�»>:>.^.gi—loiiai
26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
feel secure in their jobs. Besides, Syria's strategic value to France
would be safeguarded by the increase of invested capital."
Apart from the difficulties placed in the way of native projects
in North Lebanon, the accusers of the French charge that this
studied policy of impediment on their part is also the real cause
for the continued delay in beginning work on the truly gigantic
project of deflecting the course of the Orontes river in the interior of Syria. This scheme was proposed several years ago and
had been hailed as the greatest step for the economic rehabilitation of the country. The Orontes is the largest river of Syria
and was once navigable for a considerable distance. Hence the
importance of the ancient city of Antioch, once the rival of Rome.
The English, previous to the opening of the Suez Canal, had
seriously considered opening a water route to India by widening
the Orontes and connecting it by eanal with the Euphrates. It
can be reasonably deduced, therefore, that a river of such size
can be employed to irrigate immense areas whose productivity is
curtailed by lack of water. This is made impracticable at present
owing to the great depth of the valley through which the river
flows almost the whole length of its course. Water for drinking
purposes and for partial irrigation is drawn in many places by
water-wheels, which are most numerous in the city of Hama.
While if a dam were built near the source of the Orontes, and
its course deflected so that it may run in irrigation canals in the
vast plains which are now arid, immense wealth would accrue
to the country from the development of its greatest latent resources, namely agriculture.
The reason for the delay in carrying out this irrigation scheme,
as it was explained to me in the course of my discussion of the
economic problems of the country with many leading men, was
that the French had not an irrigation engineer big enough to
qualify for the job, and rather than entrust the task to the English, who have many competent specialists in this line, they preferred to hold it in abeyance regardless of the country's welfare.
Whether these accusations be true or not, they represent, nevertheless, the current native opinion of the economic policy of
the French in the territory under mandate. The French are
openly charged with a systematic attempt to stifle all native initiative in the economic field.
But the success of the hydroelectric project of North Lebanon, not to mention numerous lesser enterprises being undertaken in all sections of the country, proves that the Syrians are
1
�JANUARY, 1930
27
determined to shape their own destinies in the way of economic
rehabilitation. Furthermore, they are marchalling for the task
the strength that comes from collective effort. Such evidences
of co-operative action were never before so evident in the East.
It is the sign of a revolutionary change in the character of the
people which is pregnant with immeasurable possibilities.
Advice to a Lover
By LABEEBEE A. J. HANNA
Keep heaping coal on the fire
Or else it will go out:
The fire of love needs fuel,
Or else it will go out!
Keep nearest to your loved one,
If you would have her love youj
Take a walk in the moonlight,—
Gaze at stars above you.
Keep thinking of your loved one,
And she will think of you.
Even if you go away:
Just write a line or two.
Keep heaping coal on the fire
Or else it will go out:
The fire of love needs fuel,
If it must not go out!
(/
i
�.
2€
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Master-Builder
By
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
^H, Master-Builder, sayest thou the task is done,
And wouldst have the king survey the house thou hast built for
him and his posterity?
Wouldst have him mount its roof, and from that dizzy height
observe and speak his praises and thanks?
Wouldst have him view his city at his feet, a crowned queen,
stately, fair and rich;
The plains beyond—a page in nature's Diwan, illumed with gold
and emerald;
The river, crowded with a thousand sail, washing the feet of
yonder cloud-beturbaned mount?
Be it so, Master-Builder!
Tis as my heart would have it—praise be unto Allah!
My gratitude to thee, Master-Builder,
For hath not thy hand also engraved my name on nature's page
in terms gigantic,
So, when king and builder are no more
And time unfolds the future's breast,
Wrhen in the streets the fall of stranger's feet resound,
And in their dusty crevices strangers' voices stir the echoes
They may see and read my name?
Dost envy me?
Nay, Master-Builder, begrudge me not this!
I have watched thee at thy work—
I've seen the daughters of thy imagining spring to life,
And watched thy hand unveil their charms and robe them in
splendour:
And as higher and more spacious grew the noble pile,
As halls spread out their wings and towers their heads reared high,
As angle emphasized a curve and arch to pillar added grace,
As massiveness seemed to enhance the charms of slenderness,
As strength with beauty vied,
Master-Builder, I envied thee.
I
�n
JANUARY, 1930
29
But what of thy boast in market-place,
Of a keystone for destruction thou hast arranged,
Which, once displaced, reduces all this wondrous work to ruin.
Is it true, Master-Builder?
Hast thou no other loves than for reward,
Seest nought in a child but service for his sire?
Nay, Master-Builder, but thou hast erred!
He who builds should ne'er of ruin think except to guard
against it,
And, a Builder once, to die while still one 'twere better!
Thy reward?
To save thee from thyself, Master-Builder.
The king hath spoken.
The Two Learned Men
By
KAHLIL GIBRAN
Once there lived in the ancient city of Afkar two learned
men who hated and belittled each other's learning. For one of
them denied the existence of the gods and the other was a believer.
One day the two met in the market-place, and amidst their
followers they began to dispute and to argue about the existence
or the non-existence of the gods. And after hours of contention
they parted.
That evening the unbeliever went to the temple and prostrated himself before the altar and prayed the gods to forgive his
wayward past.
And the same hour the other learned man, he who had upheld the gods, burned his sacred books. For he had become an
unbeliever.
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Last Leaf
V
By MISCHA NAIMV
QN a lonely bough
- Of a lonely tree
Sits a lonely leaf
Lost in reverie. .
While the sky is but one heaving,
Grim, unending cloud j
And the wind is deftly weaving
For the earth a shroud.
Neighbors, friends and mates
Left her long ago.
None came back to tell
Of the world below.
Nightingales no longer flutter
Gaily round her bed.
Only ravens come to utter
Dirges o'er her head.
Dry is now the breast
Whence she sucked the sap;
Frozen now and cold
Is her mother's lap.
Yet she neither joys, nor sorrows,
But serenely sways,
Knowing that all her to-morrows
Are but yesterdays.
For upon her face,
Shrivelled though and wet,—
As within her heart,—
All the seasons met.
�JANUARY, 19 SO
31
The Ahleyah School of Beirut
u
}
i
By
AMEEN RIHANI
of the mysteries of life is that calamities are not without
0 NE
compensations; and of the compensations of the calamity of
Syria during the World War is one which continues in its benefits to grow and spread. It started like a candle lighting a little
circle of education and developed in ten years to a torch of enlightenment in a nation.
And this is due to a Syrian woman is whose heart God kindled
the fire of true patriotism—the patriotism that combines the love
of country with the love of humanity—and endowed her with
an inexhaustible energy and an undying faith.
Marie Kassab, a peerless daughter of Syria, carries high the
lighted torch and goes forth bravely in the interest of knowledge
and education.
When darkness came upon Syria during the War, the foreign
schools in the country were closed, and Marie Kassab realized
the opportunity, saw the compensation in the calamity.—The day
has come when we must cease to be the beneficiaries of foreign
education.
She took the burden—a divine calling—upon herself and
started to teach a few small boys and girls in her own home.
The few very soon increased and the class became a regular
school, which she called the Ahleyah, or National School.
But a school can not exist without a house. The native teacher
appealed to the Turkish authorities at that time and succeeded
after some difficulties in realizing her desire. The Ahleyah School
occupied the house of the English Schools for Girls in Beirut.
It was not, however, in the manner of British occupation. For
the English Principal returned after the War to reopen the
School, and Marie Kassab had to give up the house. Were it not
for her indomitable purpose, her energy and faith, she might
have also given up the struggle.
The English lady said to the Syrian: Now that we have reopened our School there is no longer any need for yours, and
you should transfer your pupils to ours.
The Syrian lady replied: No, Madame. The war has
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
taught us and tried us, and we should depend upon ourselves
for the education of our boys and girls.
And she went out to look for another house for her school.
The second house was also an English property—the property of
a Scotch Mission—and when she rented it from the agent, she
hoped that she could hold it forever.
Marie Kassab, therefore, summoned all her resolution and
faith in the will to purchase the house. Her School was becoming very popular and she saw no reason why this popularity cannot be materialized. With text book and tackle she went forth.
—Blessed are the benefactors who opened their purses to her.
"Miss Kassab's School," says Dr. Bayard Dodge, President
of the American University of Beirut, "is the best example that
I know of what the people of this country can do to help themseivse."
Marie Kassab purchased the house, which soon became too
small for her rapidly growing school. So, she added an extension to it, thereby adding to her financial worries. But she did
not despair. Difficulties doubled her energy and sharpened her
resolution.
She came to Egypt, where the Syrians and Lebanese responded to her appeal; and a month later, returning to Beirut, she
bought the building and the property around it, which are now
the legal and permanent estate of the Ahleyah School.
And the work goes on in its development and progress. But
so many are the applicants—even from Egypt and Palestine and
Iraq many girls seek this national fountain in Beirut—that a new
worry has come upon Marie Kassab. She is reluctant to refuse
and she is reluctant to accept; for in the first instance she would
be denying the benefits of education to hundreds of young girls,
and in the second she would be crowding her school and rendering it less efficient.
But geniuses do not readily surrender to difficulties. A new
thought sometimes suffices for a new victory. Marie Kassab
crossed one sea—she came from Beirut to Cairo—and her school
acquired the ownership of one building. Now she crosses two
seas—she comes from Beirut to the United States—that the one
building might become two or three.
�A FLOURISHING NATIVE SCHOOL
A partial view of the campus of the Ahleyah School for Girls in Beirut,
showing students in trim uniform during recreation period.
PHYSICAL TRAINING FOR SYRIAN GIRLS
Exercises at the Ahleyah School for Girls in Beirut conducted by a competent instructor along modern methods.
I 7U
��JANUARY, 1930
33
The Strange Case of Hassan
and Husna
t
!
AN ARABIAN NIGHTS' STORY
(Translated from the Arabic Original.)
["HERE once lived in Baghdad a comely youth by the name of
Hassan who owned a slave-girl the like of whom there was
to be found none other in all the world. Her name was Husna,
and not only was she surpassingly beautiful, but she was gifted
with an exceedingly dulcet voice and had mastered the art of
music to such a point that hardly could it be imagined within
the gift of mortals. And her master was of such appreciative
soul that he prized her possession beyond all other perishable
things. He devoted himself exclusively to her and could not
bear parting with her for the shortest length of time. And although at the time he came into possession of her he was exceedingly rich, he neglected all his affairs and spent lavishly on her
maintenance, so that soon he was reduced to a dire condition of
want. When he awoke to the realization of his state the day
turned into night in his eyes and he gave himself into weeping
and lamenting over his unhappy lot.
During his affluence he could count his friends bv the score,
but once his plight became known he was evaded and shunned,
and all the help he could expect of his pseudo-friends was that
of oral advice. Claiming not to have the means to assist him
financially, they counseled him to sell his slave-girl as the only
way out of his difficulties, but he preferred death to parting with
her. Still he could not let her starve, even though he himself
was willing to undergo the direst privations, because his love for
her was too great to let her suffer. He reasoned that it would
not be love, but selfishness of the basest sort, to have the one he
held so dearly suffer for his sake, and as the result of his own
foolish prodigality. And when he came to her with tears in his
eyes and informed her of the advice of his friends, he found
her not unwilling to approve of this solution. "Because," she
said, "you can never bear having me sing for the entertainment
of strangers as a means of profit, due to your intense jealousy;
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
whereas if I were to be offered for sale, none but a rich man
could afford to buy me because of my accomplishments, and the
price is bound to be large, and it will insure your comfort to
such extent that I would feel sufficiently compensated for the
anguish of your loss."
Realizing there was no other solution to his predicament, he
finally consented to the sale, and took her to the public slave market, where she was heatedly bid for by many anxious aspirants
to her possession. In the end she fell to the lot of a rich Hashimite of Al-Basra, who paid for her the high sum of one thousand five hundred dinars.
Although he had received for his slave-girl a fabulous price,
Hassan was disconsolate over her loss. He could not return to
his own residence because of the many associations in it which
reminded him of her. And in his distracted condition he wandered about the streets until the time of the evening prayer,
when he happened to be in the neighborhood of a mosque, which
he entered in the hope of finding some spiritual consolation. He
was exhausted by his sorrow and and long wanderings, and
placing the bag of money on the ground, he rested his head on
it and soon fell asleep.
It was early morning when he awoke, only to find that a
stranger had snatched the bag from under his head and was about
to make away with it. He attempted to follow him, but discovered that his feet had been tied, and before he could undo the
knot the stranger had made his get-away and disappeared in the
tortuous alleys of the great city.
This proved the last straw in the load of his misfortunes,
and in his despair he attempted to do away with himself. Bent
on carrying out this resolve, he directed his steps toward the
Tigris where he hesitated but for a minute to bind a kerchief
around his eyes, and then plunged into the water.
But fate had written that he should be saved. Some passers-by
had seen him fall into the water and hastened to his rescue, not
doubting that he had fallen by accident. But he protested that
he wanted to die and recounted to them the whole story of his
misfortunes, whereupon some pitied and some blamed. An old
man, however, took him aside and began to scold him for his
lack of trust in the justice of Allah ; "Thou art not the first to
lose his fortune. And dost thou not realize that thy condition
is the creation of thine own folly? Why, then, despair: Thou
wouldst not only lose thy life and possible future worldly pleas-
�/
JANUARY, 1930
35
ures, but thou wouldst also gain for thyself the eternal tortures
of Gehennam by such a rash deed."
This had the effect of bringing him to his senses, and he
promised the kindly old man not to make any further attempts
at self-destruction. But return to his house and the scene of his
former joy and affluence he could not, and he resolved upon
migrating to another city, far away from anything that could
remind him of his former condition. And he again sought the
river bank and borrowed from a compassionate friend the pitiable
sum of fifty dirhams aand awaited a ship that would sail for
Wasit, midway between Baghdad and Al-Basra.
Now it happened that a ship was about ready to sail for his
destination and he sought the captain and asked him for passage.
He was told that the ship was privately owned and not in the
passenger traffic, but if he would pay a certain sum and disguise
himself as a sailor, he would be permitted to go aboard.
Hassan was so desperate as to be willing to go to any extreme,
and he readily consented to buy a sailor's garb and pay the sum
required. But how great was his astonishment when he discovered that the owner of the ship was none other than the buyer of
his beloved Husna. He then thanked Allah for His great mercy
in having spared his life.
Presently a feast was spread and a curtain raised behind
which the slave-girl was placed and asked to sing. But she was
in the most dejected mood, and only after the most earnest solicitations could she be induced to take up her oud and sing a
refrain. And this song was of the most plaintive nature, so that
she had no sooner finished than she fell in a swoon and could
be revived only with difficulty. Seeing which, Hassan was so
overcome with emotion that he himself fell to the deck in a faint,
and no sooner was he brought to his senses than the owner of the
ship asked of his captain, "How could you permit a demented
man among the crew? Throw him overboard." This had the
effect of sobering Hassan so that he comported himself thereafter
with more restraint, until the ship sailed far away from Baghdad
and was being carried by the stream swiftly towards Al-Basra.
Towards evening, the merry company had feastad and drunk
and so reveled at the exotic strains of Husna's music and the
enchantment of her voice, that they decided to land on an inviting spot on the shore where they could roll merrily on the grass
and have the open spaces of the country as a stage for their
hilarity. They were away for several hours, during which time
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Hassan seized on the opportunity to arrange the strings of the
oud in a manner known only to himself and to Husna, and he
then repaired to the sailors' quarters.
When, upon their return, they again asked Husna to sing
and she took up the oud and felt its strings, she uttered a strange
cry and swore that her former master was even then with them,
as only he could have arranged the oud in the manner in which
she found it.. And her new master then said: "If what you say
be true, we shall only be too happy to have him as a boon companion, for then you will be in a better mood to give us the best
of your art, and we shall be exceedingly glad."
The master then asked his captain if he had taken any stranger
on board, and before the latter could reply Hassan made his
presence known, and the master said to him: "Know, my son,
that I am a man to whom Allah has been most generous. He
has given me not only material wealth but the spirit of contentment. And I swear to thee that I have not known Husna, nor
have I bought her as a concubine. Now if thou wilt only consent to let her entertain me and my friends by her song, from
behind a curtain, we shall feel amply satisfied, and I shall give
her back unto thee and join thee with her in marriage and thou
wilt be relieved of all want."
Hassan was overjoyed at this turn of fortune, so was Husna
who now began to pour out her melodies with such emotion that
the whole company was transported with ecstasy, while Hassan
urged her on all the more by suggesting new songs and airs
which she rendered in the most perfect manner.
Thus the first night was spent, in a steady ship gliding softly
over the smooth waters of the Tigris, with the low-hanging
moon casting its silvery reflections over sail and sea and lending
an air of sweet mystery to the enchanted scene. A cool breeze
inflated the sails and carried the ship in a steady motion, and the
soft swish of the water only added to the beauty of the music.
Hassan had all this, together with his meeting again with his
beloved Husna, to induce him to indulge in drink, so that towards
morning he had almost lost possession of his senses and felt as
one living in another world.
As a matter of fact, the whole company was in a similar
state, and being bent on making more merry in every manner
conceivable, whether there was reason for their actions or not,
they decided on making another landing, and this time Hassan
also went along.
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�JANUARY, 1930
37
Now it so happened that Hassan detached himself from his
companions, and being heavily under the influence of liquor, he
laid himself on the cool grass and fell asleep. When he awoke
his friends had departed and there was no trace left of either
them or their ship.
Hassan was desolate. He cursed his luck and foreswore drink.
For what greater misery could befall him coming after such good
fortune? He had sought death and found life, and no sooner
had he felt his grip tighten on it than it slipped from his hands.
But now Hassan saw in life a ray of hope. Husna was not
lost to him forever as he had at first imagined. For had not her
master given her back unto him on the most generous of conditions? All that he now had to do was to seek Husna and her
master, and to that task he resolved to dedicate the rest of his
life.
He hailed a passing ship and begged for transportation to
Al-Basra. Once there, he roamed the streets in the hope of finding the rich Hashimite who bought his slave-girl, but only met
with failure. He entered a store to buy some provisions with
what little money he had left.
Now the storekeeper was of a kindly disposition and took an
interest in him, and Hassan complained to him of his misfortune,
and told him he was a stranger in the city without funds, but took
care to conceal from him the true circumstances of his plight.
Seeing that Hassan was of good education and beautiful handwriting, the storekeeper offered him employment and showed
otherwise in him genuine fatherly interest. After the lapse of
a month, the storekeeper found that Hassan had caused him considerable savings by his honesty and accuracy, and he became
greatly attached to him, so that at the end of a year he took him
in partnership and gave him his only daughter in marriage.
But Hassan was not reconciled to his new condition; he still
longed for his beloved Husna aand hoped some day to find her.
He seemed only to live with that object in view.
One day the streets began to fill with crowds carrying palms
and candles in a form of religious celebration. Hassan was moved
by a strange feeling and inquired about the nature of the event,
and was told that it was the Palm Sunday of the Christians.
Something vaguely told him that among the surging multitude
he would find his beloved, or a trace of her, and he asked leave
of his father-in-law for the day.
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Hassan went home and dressed in his best. He then joined
the crowds and began to scan their faces, and very shortly his
search was rewarded by meeting the very same company with
whom he had traveled from Baghdad that fateful night in which
he was lost.
"Praised be Allah!" exclaimed the rich Hashimite who had
bought Hassan's slave-girl. "Our happiness at finding you cannot be limited within bounds. We had given you up for dead,
believing you had been drowned in attempting to regain the ship.
And how pitiful was the condition of Husna upon realizing your
disappearance! She absolutely refused to be consoled. She donned the dress of mourning and sat day and night weeping by a
semblance of a grave. Hasten now to her that she might rejoice
at finding you still alive."
The meeting of the two lovers was most pathetic. Husna
raised a great cry of surprise upon seeing Hassan and swooned.
She was revived with difficulty by the sprinkling of rose water.
Now the Hashimite requested Hassan to remain in the company of Husna and never to leave her again, and Hassan forthwith returned to his father-in-law, the storekeeper, and having
explained to him all the strange circumstances of his life, divorced
his daughter and returned to live in happiness and peace with
his beloved Husna.
Arab Wisdom
Let your faith be above your knowledge; your deeds greater
than your words, and your dress below your rank.
There are four manifestations of ignorance: To show anger
when displeased j to associate with evil company j to plead poverty to one equally poor, and to meddle in matters not of one's
concern.
The truly wise is he who receives the censure of the adviser
more readily than the praise of the flatterer.
�.
JANUARY, 1930
The Wager
A SHORT STORY
By
AREF EL-KHOURY
P)AMASCUS lay squatted on the plane, its stone walls giving
the appearance of bas-relief on emerald-green, deep sea Chinese majolica among the overlapping orchards and gardens; and
up on the balcony of the Victoria Hotel, a group of Syrian-American girls stood looking at the panorama. Suddenly Edna spoke:
"That dragoman took us to every place in the city except
that section behind the big railway station."
"Every place worth seeing," commented Ruth.
'Of course he knew best," added Mary, the self-appointed
guardian for the group.
"Well," answered Edna," I am going to explore it,—and
how!"
"It may be the dirtiest section in Damascus; better be careful, dear," came Mary's advice.
"You may go, but how about your coming back?" asked Ruth,
allowing a sardonic, bravado smile to pass across her crimson lips.
"I am old and wise enough to take care of myself."
"I'll bet you a dollar that you won't venture five yards behind the avenue, over there," said Ruth.
"Who—I? Show the color of your money, baby," said Edna
with enthusiasm.
Ruth opened her compact and took out a powdered dollar
and handed it to Mary. Edna did likewise.
"But remember," Mary added, "our cars will leave for Beirut in about thirty minutes."
"These drivers will never know what punctuality means. If
we are on time, they are late," Edna flung this back over her
shoulder as she departed in the direction of the station.
"She was a fool and I made a bigger fool out of myself when
I let her go," said Mary regretfully.
"Don't let that worry you; she is exactly as the Arabs say
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
'Throw her in the sea and she will emerge with a fish in her
mouth,' " philosophized Ruth.
Edna reached the first alley leading into the residential section, and soon developed a feeling of suspicion that perhaps the
dragoman may have been correct in leaving this area out of his
itinerary. As the alleys became narrow and twisted and surrounded by high walls, she quickened her steps until she reached
a market place. Continuing ahead, she passed market after market until she was in the western section of the Straight, not far
from the Inn of the Cheese. Hesitating momentarily, she was
suddenly confronted by a slender youth.
Edna now realized that this was no place for a self-respecting girl to be. Presently a tall figure left the cafe on the opposite
side and ran toward her, and the youth made an effort to stop
him. A throng soon gathered around them, rogues, half-naked
urchins, half-caste girls, and lawless women. Edna looked around
for help, but the khaki uniform of the Damascus police was
not to be seen. The tall man unceremoniously seized her by the
hand to lead her away, brushing the youth away with a gesture
of impatience.
The youth backed away to a vegetable stand and began pelt ing his adversary with whatever came to hand. A true Damascus
street battle was soon in full swing as men and women sided
with this or the other. In the excitement Edna attempted to
escape, but the milling crowd blocked her way.
At the end of the street appeared two horsemen.
"Let us watch the battle," suggested one, a native of Damascus by the name of Mahmud.
"Great," answered Walter Ayoub, who was his classmate at
the American University of Beirut, and of Syrian parents born
in America.
"Look," they exclaimed simultaneously and spurred their
mounts through the milling crowd. Mahmud struck with his
bamboo wand the latest man to seize Edna while Walter lifted
her to his saddle. Mahmud faced the throng and shouted:
"Whelps, terriers, mastiffs, go to your kennels or Wallah! I shall
make seives out of your bodies." Recognizing a scion of one of
the leading families of the city they slunk away.
"Where to, Madam?" asked Walter as Mahmud hailed a
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JANUARY, 1930
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carriage, which seemed to appear magically at the wave of his
bamboo wand.
"To the Victoria, and I certainly am much obliged to you
both," replied Edna, as Walter and Mahmud saw her safely
out of the district.
"Well! That's that," said Walter as they watched the cab
disappear.
A few minutes later Walter, with a suddenness which Mahmud could never understand, spurred his mount and clashed off.
Mahmud followed with astonishment until they approached the
Victoria, when a knowing smile passed over his face. At the
hotel they were told that the girls had already left for Beirut.
"We must go. 1 forgot to tell her something," said Walter.
"Are you in earnest or is this another of your crazy American ideas?" asked Mahmud.
"Earnest: Yes! This is serious. We must rush."
Together they galloped to the home of Mahmud, where the
latter directed his Armenian chauffeur to bring out the Rolls.
Walter brushed him aside and took the wheel with the remark
that this was a time for some one to drive who could drive. They
overtook the girls near the frontier of Lebanon.
"Come here, sister," said Walter, singling Edna from the
group, "I forgot to tell you something."
"Oh!"
"Come," he insisted and held out his arms.
"Say, Ruth, I won my bet," said Edna, smiling over Walter's
shoulder.
"Just as I said—Throw her into the sea and she wouid come
out with a—Oh! I must buy you a wedding present."
Mahmud shook his head. "These Americans!!!"
THE GREATEST OF THESE IS CHARITY
By
ALICE MCGEORGE
No matter if the day be short, the sun be garmented in grey,
Sweet Charity will fill each hour with plenteous kindly deeds
Today.
No matter if the rainbow bright, fades out at setting of the sun,
Sweet Charity will pierce the clouds, and through the rift
God smile: "Well done."
11
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42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
EDITORIAL COMMENT
BEAUTY CONTESTS
THEY are now introducing
beauty contests and all other
forms of modernistic practices
in the East. The stronghold of
conservatism seems to be gradually giving way to European
and American innovations. Under the circumstances, the logical question imposing itself is:
How far will these modern
fads go, and how long will they
last? Coming, as they do, as
the immediate result of the
World War, will they be just
a fleeting phenomenon or will
rhey take a permanent hold on
the people and produce a genuine change in their manners
md customs? These are relevant questions that cannot be
massed lightly.
It is well to ponder the nature of the transformation now
taking place. Indeed, while this
transformation encompasses the
whole manifestations of the
people's life, it is most significant and noticeable in the social
sphere. The first barriers to
crumble before the onslaught
of modernism seem to be those
of human relationship.
Heralding the coming of the
new order was the tendency to
discard the veil. In Turkey the
transition was sudden and complete, while in Egypt, Syria and
other countries of the Near East
coming more or less under
European influence, the struggle for emancipation is being
waged vigorously by the disciples of modernism, with all
the odds in their favor so far.
It seems but a question of time,
say another decade or the coming of another generation, when
the old social order in the East
will be history.
What seems to overshadow
anything else as an indication
of this transformation is not the
change in garb, but rather the
change in the viewpoint of the
status of women in the East.
The. traditional viewpoint was
that women were created for
the home, and to that capacity
they have been heretofore restricted. Hence the harem and
the veil and absolute seclusion.
When, considering the traditional strictness of these social
customs, we find the women of
the East now engaging in beauty
contests, openly and with no
apparent compunction, then the
term "radical" would seem conservative in describing the
change.
With the sanction of Mustapha Kamal Pasha, a Turkish
newspaper recently launched
a beauty contest in which hundreds of Turkish young wo-
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men participated. And be it remembered that all these were
Moslem young women who
have discarded the veil only a
few years since. Modernism is
certainly making rapid strides
in Turkey.
But let us concede that Turkey is an exceptional case; that
the modernization policy of
Mustapha Kamal would place
nationalism above religion, and
in an effort to more quickly Europeanize the Turkish nation,
would force these new methods
on an otherwise reluctant population regardless of tradition or
moral code.
But what about Egypt where
the dramatic arts are flourishing as never before, and where
illustrated publications are full
of photographic reproductions
of native beauties, and where a
native moving picture industry
is fast developing along the
most advanced Western lines?
Then, too, we have the case
of Syria, hitherto the stronghold of conservatism, where
there seems to be no objection
taken to the launching of a national beauty contest. Rather,
the objection taken was to the
choice of Miss Lebanon from
among the Parisian colony,
whereas the contention is held
that the choice should be from
among resident Lebanese. They
seem to vie for the honor.
Considering these develop-
43
ments, the logical deduction
would be that the East is undergoing a modernistic craze, something of the nature of indulgence to excess after a long period of forced abstention, as
otherwise it would be expected
that transition be slower and
more orderly.
But the Arabic East is bound
to check itself in due course of
time. The novelty of these indulgences will wear off sooner
or later and the effect of centuries of tradition will compel
a more rational and conventional course. The East, it is true,
cannot escape adopting some of
Europe's customs and Europe's
ways, but not to the extent of a
complete change of its character. A middle course will be
found which will be neither
wholly Western nor altogether
traditionally Eastern. The East
will profit by these evolutionary
tendencies to develop a character all its own.
ON THE NATURE OF
CURSING
THE BRITISH authorities
in Palestine have deemed it
necessary to hold cursing a misdemeanor punishable by a
heavy fine. In this they are
actuated not by a desire for
moral reform but by purely
political motives. Theirs is a
hard task keeping Arabs and
Jews at peace, and in their study
�*""—-"-••
44
of the basic causes of enmity
between the two factions they
have introduced the anti-cursing
ordinance as a possible deterrent from, further trouble. How
this apparently simple measure
can effect the maintenance of
law and order may be better
understood when the [nature of
cursing in the East is explained.
It may be held axiomatic that
the nature of cursing denotes
a people's character and trend
of thought.While these remarks
ar& not intended as a scholarly
dissertation on the subject, a
few illustrations are bound to
be helpful in drawing a conclusion.
While all cursing is intended
as an expression of contempt, it
is expressed in different terms
among different peoples. The
English invoke God's damnation, or otherwise address an insulting remark directly to the
person involved. The French,
in their anger, call one a pig or
a beast. But in all cases the insult is personal and very rarely
is anyone implicated other
than he who is directly concerned. In the East, however,
one is not cursed himself, but
his religion is, or something
pertaining thereto which he
holds sacred. Hence the Prophet, or his beard, or the holy
places, or the cross, or heaven
itself are showered with imprecations, while the one at whom
THE SYRIAN WORLD
the curse is directed personally
escapes.
One of the most ready excuses in the East for collecting
an angry crowd or inciting to
attack is to accuse one of having
cursed another's religion.
Consequently, because religion in the East is held in such
sacredness, a devilement of it is
calculated to hurt one in his
most vulnerable
sensibility.
Especially does this apply to
the land which has given birth
to so many religions, and which
has been, and still is, the subject
of so much contention for none
else than purely religious motives. An Emir of M. Lebanon,
over a hundred years ago, realized the benefits of such a policy
and ordered every one heard
uttering a curse fined a quarter
of a Mejidi. A certain elderly
person noted for his profanity
restrained himself as much as
he could, then called a law officer and said: "Here is a whole
Mejidi—I must relieve myself.
The words in my throat are
choking me."
The British would lessen
causes of dissension among the
people of Palestine by an effort
to stamp out cursing. It is to be
hoped that they will succeed in
this effort, as they would be
changing the very character of
the people even jwithout offering a substitute for the expression of one's anger.
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JANUARY, 1930
Spirit of the Syrian Press
vl
I
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcosmie
picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever Arabic
dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking writers
who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabic-speaking
world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take no part in
the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our task will
simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and with utmost
sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion aa expressed
in these editorials.
Editor.
BRITISH JUSTICE
NON-EXISTENT
When the British Government
sent its commission of investigation
to Palestine, it gave it explicit instructions not to invade the realm
of politics, but to confine its activities to the ascertainment of the
causes of the disturbances. The commission went to Palestine, then returned to England, without accomplishing anything of consequence,
and a full month has now passed
without it presenting its report on
the main causes of the uprising. The
reason for this delay is quite plain:
the British Government wants to
temporize in an effort to smooth
over matters by delay, as it cannot
be in ignorance of the real causes of
the uprising, which are the Balfour
declaration and the encroachment of
the Jews on the rights of the original inhabitants of the country.
If Great Britain wished to settle
the Palestine question in a true spirit
of justice it would not have found
it necessary to send a commission of
investigation to the country, because
self-evident facts should not be held
subject to inquiry. But England had
/already committed herself to a prom-
,
5l
ise of a national homeland to the
Jews and she feels loath to break
her promise, especially because the
Jews are financially and politically
strong, while her own interests require that she maintain a strong
foothold in that part of the world.
It follows that "British Justice"
is a myth and all hope for its operation a dream. Proof of this is in
the fact that no sooner had the commission of inquiry completed its
labors than England proposed the
appointment of an international commission in which there would be no
British representation, and this even
before the publication of the findings
of the special commission sent to
Palestine. In truth, we fail to understand the reason for all these manoeuvres when there should be no
question of self-evident facts. But
Great Britain, like all other colonial
powers, uses the well-known strategy
of dilatory tactics to gain her ends,
and when she fails in this she has
recourse to fire and sword, mean*
while accusing those who seek liberty and justice of being savages
and barbarians.
,
This has been the bane of Palestine
and all other Arab countries who
have the misfortune of being under
�46
mandate. It follows that our dependence on "British Justice" will avail
us no more than if we depended on
the very devil. On this point we
wish to make ourselves clear and
do not hesitate to state that "British
Justice" exists only in. Britain, and
applies only to the British people.
The same may be said of French
justice and French liberty. These
Colonial powers acknowledge justice and liberty only in their own
lands and among their own peoples
but abroad they interpret these virtues into oppression, treachery and
injustice. They believe that all nonEuropean nations should be held
under subjugation and prevented by
all possible means from rising and
progressing, while the irony of the
situation is that these self-same
European nations seize their preys
on the pretext of civilizing these
peoples and preparing them for the
task of independence and self-government.
Such is tiie truth, whole and unadulterated-, and it follows that if
we were to appeal to the so-called
"British Justice", we would be in
the position of htm who has recourse
from the heat of the sun to the fire.
Because both Britisher and Jew are
in league against us and our country: the first with the object of affirming his foothold in Palestine
under the pretext of protecting the
Jew, and the second with the object
of seizing our country under the
protection of Britain. Let us then
forget all about this misapplied
"British Justice", for even though it
may be tangible and real in Great
Britain, it is but a farce and a lie
in Palestine as well as in other similarly weak countries.
Our brothers in the homeland are
awakened to the realization of this
truth and learned to place no more
THE SYRIAN WORLD
trust in this counterfeit "British
Justice" in the attainment of their
just aspirations. For this reason they
have resolved upon boycotting the
new commission which His British
Majesty proposes to send to Palestine for investigating the question
of the Wailing Wall, as if Moslem
sacred places were public property
subject to adjudication. This new
move, indeed, is but another BritishJewish plot to distract attention
from the real causes under controversy.
"Nothing like your own nail will
scratch your skin" says our Arabic
adage, and our dependence upon the
benevolence of this one or the other
for the attainment of our rights of
liberty and honorable existence is
manifestly wrong. Let our dependence be upon ourselves alone and
none other.
Al-Bayan, N. Y., Jan. 27, 1930.
'I
TRUE GOVERNMENT
We understand by the Lebanese
Government the native government
which SHOULD be the supreme
authority in its own country exaept
in matters requiring expert advice or.
where France should exercise the
role of an honorable ally and a
powerful guardian. But if the functions of the government should be
restricted to levying taxes as a
means of revenue for salaries, and
disregarding thereafter all the inherent rights of the people in such
manner as to deny the natives all
access to the resources of their own
country, then it were better that
the country be annexed to the mandatory power and let matters rest
at that. In such eventuality, it should
be understood that the Lebanese and
not the French must be held respon*
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JANUARY, 1930
sible for the outcome. But what redress can there be to such a situation when greed for office is at the
root of all our woes in Lebanon?
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Feb. 6, 1930.
THE BALFOUR DECLARATION
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The English press is awakening
to the danger attending the insistence upon carrying out the Balfour
Declaration. The Daily Mail, that
great English paper which is noted
for its uncanny foresight, and which
had warned Great Britain of the
approaching war with Germany
many years before 1914, has now
taken the lead in warning its country
of the dangers attending its policy
of disregarding the dictates of honor
m dealing with the peoples of the
East.
The Daily Mail is absolutely justified in its predictions. The findings
of the Shaw commission of investigation into the causes of the last
riots in Palestine have revealed the
extent of the conspiracies which the
Zionists have framed against the
country on the flimsy pretext that
their ancestors had been In possession of it thousands of years back.
Lord Balfour should be reminded, it
seems, that his Declaration in favor
of a homeland for the Jews cannot
be taken as the pivot of British policy. It would seem timely to remind
the people of Great Britain that antedating that famous declaration
were other declarations which should
be held just as valid. In truth, they
should be held more valid in view
of their priority.
These declarations and promises
referred to deal with the Allies' solemn vows to the Arabs to help them
attain their independence and to
leave them fuH liberty to determino
47
the form of government best suited
to their needs.
We may remind Great Britain of
the manifesto addressed to the Arabs
and which its airplanes dropped
freely among Arab communities during the war assuring them of unconditional assistance in the attainment of their national aspirations.
No doubt the archives of the Foreign
Office contain copies of this manifesto and it would be well for the
statesmen who are now in control
of British policy to refresh their
memories on its contents, that they
may ascertain the possibility of reconciling between these earlier promises to the Arabs and the later contradictory promises to the Jews
which followed much later.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N.Y.,Jan. 27, 1930.
UNITY SPELLS SUCCESS
The advocates of Svrian independence have shown by their steadfast
tenacity that no obstacles will swerve
them from the pursuit of their ends,
and because of this strong spirit of
determination they are bound to
achieve success.
This same spirit characterizes the
activities of the Palestinian Arabs
these latter days. Whether the incentive is their own, or whether it
is the Syrians' who are showing such
active interest in the Palestinian
question lately, we do not pretend
to discuss, because the Syrians seem
now to be in control of the guidance
of Palestinian destinies. But whatever the case, we cannot fail to admit that the Palestinians are bound
to succeed in their endeavors because
of the strong determination characterizing their efforts.
It is gratifying to see that Great
Britain herself has been favorably
�—
48
impressed by the attitude of the
Arabs. This should serve as a lesson
to the Arabs to appreciate the great
benefits of unity.
Syrian Eagle, N. Y., Jan. 28. 1930.
JEWS OF NEW YORK
BEING DISILLUSIONED
It is a fundamental truth that the
surest and safest means of success
is in unity. Unified efforts are the
greatest factor in assuring for every
nation the attainment of its aspirations and the breaking down of all
obstacles obstructing its way.
We are prompted to these remarks
by the honorable stand which the
Arabs have assumed in the Palestinian question, whether in the home
country or abroad, and which caused
a pronounced change in the attitude
of their Zionist foes. By such action
they have given cogent proof of
their fitness for national independence which all other free nations
enjoy.
Now the Jews of America are
coming to gradually awaken to the
utter impossibility of the success of
Zionist designs in the face of the
organized Arab defense. And American Jewry, as is well known, is the
backbone of Zionism. Because were
it not for American money which
is being poured into the Zionist
treasury by the hundreds of thousands the Zionist movement would
not have gained such impetus and
made possible the calling of the
Zurich congress which revealed the
sinister designs of the Jews against
the Arabs. Nay, had it not been for
that, the sons of Israel would not
have dared desecrate the holy places
of Islam and make such bold attacks on the people of the country
which resulted in the bloody uprising in which the Jews reaped the
reward of their perfidy and treachery.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Now the former illusions of the
American supporters of Zionism are
being dissipated, thanks to organized Arab propaganda. Instead of
the visionary homeland which they
aspired to erect, they have come to
realize that the Arabs have in the
land sacred places which they hold
inviolable, as well as traditions
which surpass by far anything that
the Jews may claim. Besides, the
Arabs in Palestine are strong in
numbers and have millions of their
Arab brothers in neighboring countries who would never permit an
alien people, whomsoever that people
may be, to carry out its designs
against Palestine which the Arabs
hold so dearly.
Al-Bayan, N. Y., Jan. 21, 1930.
LOST OPPORTUNITIES
Had the Syrians, in the early
stages of their immigration, realized
the great latent opportunities in the
acquisition of real estate in Washington Street, many would be the
millionaires among them today. As
it happened, they were laboring under the false hypothesis that they
were only transients, and their stay
in America destined to be only of
short duration, for, say, a few years
in which they would acquire a small
fortune and return to their homeland. Had they but realized earlier
that their stay would be permanent
they would have invested in real
estate and reaped the great profits
that they now see slipping from
their hands.
Washington Stret in New York is
popularly known as the Syrian Quarter and the great building activities
now taking place in the district have
made land in this street as valuable
as anywhere in the metropolitan
area.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., Jan. 30, 1930.
La
been
I the t
' takei
4*
"
�•
mm-
\
49
JANUARY, 1930
Political Developments in Syria
PALESTINE
Law and order now seem to have
been restored in Palestine. Even with
the trials of those accused of having
taken part in the last bloody uprising going on, no fresh outbreak 'has
been reported. When the Jewish
policeman Hinkas accused of leading a mob of his coreligionists
against an Arab family and murdering them in cold blood, was tried
and found guilty, the verdict was
received with indignation by the
Jews, but no recourse was had to
violence.
Present activities seem to center
on the political phase of the situation. While the Shaw Commission
of Inquiry has not yet submitted its
report, there are other moves being
considered by the British Government apparently for the purpose of
bringing a definite settlement of
the Palestine question. The latest
such move is the proposition to appoint a commission by the League of
Nations for determining the rights
of Moslems and Jews in the Wailing
Wall. Great Britain would then
claim to have shifted the responsibility from her own shoulders so
that whatever decision is reached
would be considered the concensus
of opinion of the world. This move,
if the Arabs have their way, will
prove abortive, as they plan to boycott such a commission if appointed
and never to admit in principle that
their sacred places are subject to
foreign interference and regulation.
Indicative of Arab feeling in this
matter is the editorial comment of
Al-Jamia al-Arabia, an Arab daily
of Jerusalem considered the mouth-
piece of the Moslem Supreme Council, which the correspondent of the
New York Times cabled to his paper
on January 26. Coming from what
is admittedly a highly authoritative
source, the editorial may be taken as
fairly expressive of the official Arab
point of view on the Wailing Wall
question. As reported in the dispatch
to the Times, the appointment of a
new commission would be considered by the Arabs an Anglo-Zionist
plot designed to deprive the Arabs
of their inalienable rights. Part of
the editorial follows:
"The commission is an AngloZionist plot which should be carefully watched. The British Government desired to throw the burden
of solution of the Wailing Wall problem on the mandates commission,
but the latter refused because it did
not want to shoulder the responsibility of this conflict, arisen out of
evil religious and political designs,
and because they considered there
was, in appointing such a commission, a sort of concession to the Jews
by the British Government at the
expense of the Moslems.
"Despite this the British Government did not rest and still aims to
throw its responsibility on the
League.
"The appointment of this commission, consisting of three members, is received by us with the
greatest surprise and astonishment,
because it again proves how great
is British influence on the League,
so much so that the latter finds it
difficult to refuse any British demands."
Discussing a communique issued
by the Palestine Government con-
�mmmmm
50
cerning the appointment of this
commission, the editorial goes on
to say:
"We surmise that the Council of
the League agrees with Britain that
the present conflict existing in Palestine between the Jews and Arabs
is religious and hinges on the Wailing Wall, and not that it is a political conflict over the rights of Palestine Arabs, of which they a^e being
robbed by the fact that the country
is being handed over to the Jews
under the mask of a British mandate
and the supervision of the League."
Asserting that the Wailing Wall
is a purely Moslem shrine the editorial quotes the last paragraph of
Article XIII of the mandate, which
states that the rights of Moslem holy
places should not be disputed, and
that they are to be safeguarded for
ever.
"We see," the editorial continues,
"that nine years have passed since
the ratification of the mandate, and
no commission has been appointed
to solve the religious conflicts among
the different non-Mos'cm communities, as provided by Article XIV of
the mandate.
"Why, then, does the British Government now force the Council of
the League to appoint a commission
on the wall, ignoring established
Moslem rights to their religious
shrine, which are assured by the
mandate? Is not the whole affair a
plot worked out by the British Government with the Jews for the purpose of granting the latter imaginary rights to the Wailing Wall ? Yet
this plot is being arranged with the
approval of the League and under
its supervision.
"We call the attention of the Moslem Supreme Council and the entire
Islamic world to this serious state
of affairs, and propose that Palestine
rr~r~~-!r
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Moslems boycott this commission
which the British Government is
trying to stamp with the seal of
the League of Nations.
"Palestine Moslems should reject
any solution which would in the
slightest way infringe upon their
rights to religious places. We want
the British Government and the
whole world to know that the conflict in Palestine is political between
the rightful owners of the country
and those trying to rob them of their
rights. Any solution of the Wailing
Wall problem, right or wrong, will
neither aid nor hinder solution of
the national conflict of Arabs and
Jews."
A special correspondent of the
New Yoi-k Herald Tribune, writing
from Jerusalem under date of January ]0, points out a new, important
development in the attitude of the
Aabs and anti-Zionist
elements
towards the land question in Palestine. This correspondent reports that
the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
is strongly anti-Jewish, and that in
its efforts to block Zionist acquisition of land necessary for the develorment of some of their colonization schemes it is acquiring possession of the land itself. The Zionists,
according to this report, fear that
the purchase of land for colonizing
purposes will become increasingly
difficult as a result of this new development.
The Latin Patriarchate has lately
purchased a village that is considered of great strategical importance
for the security of Emek Israel, the
main center of Jewish post-war colonization. It is also considering the
purchase of another equally important property hindering the colonization scheme of the Zionists in another locality.
The Moslems are also bending
\
\\
�JANUARY, 1930
every effort to fight the Jews with
their own weapons, namely, the use
of money and the acquisition of land.
The Moslem Supreme Council, a government department which administers the income from the Moslem
religious trusts, has purchased a
plot of land which the Jews wished
to buy so as to extend one of the
settlements destroyed during the
disorders. The Keren Kayemeth, the
land purchasing instrument of the
Jewish Agency, failed to acquire
the property for lack of funds. For
that reason the Jews now plan a
special drive to raise funds in the
United States for their depleted
treasury, but they are experiencing
increasing difficulty in the task owing to recent publicity on flagrant
cases of mismanagement.
On its way to the United States is
also an Arab delegation headed by
Emir Adel Arslan whose object is to
influence American public opinion on
Palestinian matters and induce, at
the same time, Arab residents of
America to use their resources for
the development of the mothercountry. The delegation was last
reported in Egypt where it is being
lavishly entertained by Arab sympathizers.
SYRIA
Rumors concerning expected developments in the Syrian political
situation continue to fill the air—
and the press. Party caucusses, conferences of officials and discussions
of various programs are of everyday occurrence. But M. Ponsot continues in his silence. Not a declaration has he made since his return
from Paris last summer, and the
expected solution of the Syrian problem rests on the results of his extended study.
51
A rumor which was given much
credence was to the effect that contemplated reforms in Syria are to be
shaped along the lines of those now
being introduced in Lebanon. This
would mean drastic economy in administration by the reduction of the
numbers of officials and the adoption of a semi-dictatorial rule. Those
discrediting the probability of this
rumor advance as their only reason
the long delay attending such a policy, which would mean a wait of at
least six months, while the Syrians
have suffered and waited long enough
not to be subjected to such further
delay.
From another source it is learned
that a group of thirty prominent
notables of Damascus met in Beirut
and decided to petition the High
Commissioner to terminate
as
speedily as possible the present
uncertain condition in the political
status of Syria. While insisting on
the immediate dismissal of the
present
provisional
government
headed by Sheikh Tajeddin and demanding the substitution of a permanent, responsible government,
they left the form of government to
be chosen to the discretion of the
High Commissioner.
Strong sentiment seems to be
developing in favor of a constitutional monarchy for Syria, judging
by reports of the Arabic press of
Beirut. A convention of a large number of prominent Syrian leaders was
declared to have been held in Beirut
early in January and to have petitioned the High Commissioner for
declaring a monarchy. The comic
element in the situation is that all
those present at the conference,
while agreeing on a monarchy in
principle, differed as to the person
to be chosen. They were divided into
three principal factions, one favor-
�52
ing Ahmad Nami Bey, the other the
Sherif Ali Haidar Pasha, and the
third Adel Ibn Iyad. The two first
factions actually presented to tha
High Commissioner an identical
petition simply substituting the name
of their candidate for that of the
other, while the third faction deferred action.
LEBANON
Premier Eddy of Lebanon has at
last begun putting his economy program into effect. Some papers describe his activities as a whirlwind
and others as bombs. Quite naturally,
there has been occasioned some
grumbling as a result of hundreds
of government employees losing their
jobs, but the general sentiment seems
to be one of satisfaction and approval.
The Lebanese Academy of Science,
formed only recently, has been abolished. Eighty-five schools of different grades have been suppressed
and a saving of over one hundred
thousand dollars effected in this department alone. The judicial department was also severely pruned.
Premier Eddy is described as being
indefatiguable in the pursuit of his
policy of economic reform. He is
reported at his desk in the Saraya
even on Sundays, and many of his
subordinates and colleagues are
made to work just as hard. Rumors
are being freely circulated to the
effect that reductions in salaries
will be made to affect even members of the Representative Assembly.
What is more, there are reports that
the whole Assembly will be reorganized along the lines obtaining
in Lebanon in the pre-war period,
which means that the number of
representatives will not
exceed
twelve, instead of forty-five as at
present.
The Eddy program is said to have
THE SYRIAN WORLD
\
the whole-hearted approval of the
mandatory authorities who, according to reports, plan to introduce similar reforms in all the states of Syria
under mandate once they prove effective in Lebanon. Surely, in the
present financial stringency of the
country, the crying need is for administrative economy.
The tobacco monopoly in Syria and
Lebanon has been granted an extension of three months from January
4. The Regie, as it is called, is under
French control and had been granted
the concession during Turkish rule.
THE DRUZES
The government of Transjordania
has officially notified the Druze refugees within its borders to either
leave the country or take up their
residence within the city of Amman,
capital of the country, where they
would be under constant surveillance. This action is said to have
been the result of an attack on an
automobile caravan sometime ago
in the desert which the Druze refugees are accused of having perpetrated, although in some quarters
this sudden decision of the Transjordan Government is said to be the
result of an understanding between
the French authorities in Syria and
the British authorities of Palestine
which bound the latter to force the
native government of Transjordania
to take this step.
About a hundred Druze exiles
with their families have already returned to Syria and surrendered to
the French who are declared to be
willing to extend them clemency except in cases of personal offenses.
Among those to return was the
brother of Sultan Pasha Atrash,
leader of the last revolt, but the
leader himself is said to be contemplating seeking refuge within the
borders of Arabia further south.
-«s>a.
»***-«» >**
'
I
ill
�JANUARY, 1930
53
About Svria and Syrians
SYRIANS AGAIN CONTROL
LEBANON NATIONAL BANK
While the Lebanon National Bank
of New York was originally a purely
Syrian
institution, having
been
launched through the initiative oT
Mr. J. A. Mandour, its founder and
president, its control passed out of
Syrian hands through purchase of
the majority stock by the New Jersey Banking Corporation, then anxious to extend its banking activities
into the metropolitan area.
Now, however, control of the Lebanon Bank again reverts to Syrian
hands through the purchase of the
majority stock by the Lebanon Financial Corporation, a holding company in Which about three hundred
leading Syrian business men of the
city are interested and also launched
and presided over by Mr. J. A. Mandour. This turn of affairs is bound
to please those who regretted the
loss of control of the Lebanon National and to insure fres'h support to
this Syrian financial
institution
which is a distinct credit to Syrian
business enterprise.
SYRIAN JUNIOR LEAGUE
GIVES SUCCESSFUL PLAY
\
During the three nights that the
Syrian Junior League of New York
gave its play, "Blue and Green Mat",
at the Brooklyn Little Theatre, Jan.
30 and 31 and Feb, 1, the house was
filled to capacity. After the last performance a supper-dance was held by
the League and was well attended.
The story is by Constance Wilcox,
and the play was directed by Adele
Gutman Nathan. The cast was composed wholly of members of the
League supported by male members
of the Syrian community. Considering that this was their first effort
i' dramatic productions, the actors
displayed creditable talent.
The group of dancing girls, directed by Esther Markowitz, performed
exceedingly well. John Maesoud, in
the ro^e of the Wandering Piper and
Miss Josephine Ayoub, in the role
of Zahira, the heroine, elicited considerable admiration for their fine
I laying.
Others contributing to lend to the
play its charming Oriental atmo
sphere were Anis Fuleihan, who composed the music and directed the orchestra, and Helene Jacobs, who designed the costumes.
MARCNITE YOUNG WOMEN
HONOR PATRON SAINT
The feast day of St. Maron, patron
saint of the Maronites, having fallen
this year on Sun., Feb. 9, the Daughters of the United Maronites Society
of Brooklyn celebrated it this year
by a luncheon and dance at the Leverich Towers. Anis Azoury, president of the Holy Name Society of
the church of Our Lady of Lebanon,
acted as chairman. The speakers included N. A. Mokarzel, editor of AlHoda; Joseph M. Khoury, editor of
Ash-Shaab; Dr. Najib Barbour, representative of the Lebanese president in New York; Dominick Faour,
N. Hatem S. Harfoush and S. A.
Mokarzel, editor of The Syrian
World. Over two hundred were present.
�54
THE SYRIAN WORLD
PLAY IN ARABIC
FOR MARONITE CHURCH
SYRIANS PARTICIPATE IN
BEAUX ARTS BALL
"Fee Sabeel Ettaj", a play in five
acts translated from the French by
Rev. Mansour Estephan, was given
at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
on January 18 for the benefit of
Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite
church of Brooklyn, of which tho
Rev. Estephan is pastor. The leading roles were acted by Mrs. Aseen
Azoury and Said Harfoush who
showed such talent as to be a credit
to professionals. The director was
Salim Mechelany who is a veteran
in this line but contributes his time
and effort for charity. The Brooklyn
Academy of Music was packed as it
has been only on a few occasions
since the Syrians began to use it for
their entertainments. The program,
a huge book of 168 pages was the
largest so far produced for any Syrian affair.
The Painters and Sculptors Society
of Brooklyn, of which Nicolas Macsoud, the well-known Syrian miniature painter is president, gave its
annual ball at the Leverich Towers
in Brookiyn on Feb. 8. This is considered one of the most important
society events of Brooklyn and almost rivaled this year the Beaux
Arts Bail held in New York a few
weeks earlier.
The ball this year took on a decidedly Oriental atmosphere, which
was added to by the presence of several members of the Syrian Junior
League of Brooklyn who served
Arabian coffee of the well-known
Sheik Brand imported by M. E.
Howatt. Among the coffee dispensers
were: the Misses Adele Macsoud,
Najla Macsoud, Florence Jabara,
Selma Milkie and Helene Jacobs.
CLASS OF LEBANESE
TEACHER WINS CERTIFICATES
SYRIAN PHYSICIAN
PLANNING HOSPITAL
The principal papers of Boston
carried an account of how two rooms
of the Bowditch School of Jamaica
Plain, had been awarded Certificates
of Achievement for excellent work
in Hygiene by the Boston Tuberculosis Association. The two classes
are conducted by Miss Labeebee A.
J. Hanna, a teacher of Lebanese
descent.
In the illustrations accompanying
t5ie account, the recipients of the
certificates, together with their instructor, are shown receiving the
scrolls of distinction from Mr. Frank
Kiernan of the State League. The
activities of the pupils in the winning classes as described in the accounts, attest the intelligent devotion which the teacher paid 'her work.
Dr. M. Shadid of Elk City, Okla.
has announced the formation of a
corporation for the erection of a
"hospital with the idea of eventually
serving Western Oklahoma on the
basis of the actual cost of hospitalization." The project is capitalized
at $100,000 and some of Dr. Shadid's
associates include many men prominent in the business and financial
fields in the State.
It will be remembered that Dr.
Shadid had made plans for such an
undertaking in Syria and actually
went abroad to study the situation.
We understand that he has not altogether given up his original intentions and that his present enterprise
might prove the prelude to a similar
one to be undertaken later in Beirut.
\
�JANUARY, 1930
LEBANESE PHYSICIAN
DEFENDS FRENCH
\
In a letter addressed to The New
York Times under date of Jan. 18,
Dr. Najib Barbour, signing himself
as the Representative of the Libano
Syrian Colony, takes issue with a
Mrs. Orth on statements by her published in The Times criticizing the
French administration in Syria and
i Lebanon.
\ \J
"The FrencV said Dr. Barbour,
"have their mandate from the League
of Nations and are responsible for
their conduct in Syria to that group
of powers who constitute the League.
The mandatory government has already reported its work officially to
the League and received its sanction
and approval."
Explaining the work of the French
in the country under mandate, Dr.
Barbour continues:
"The French are doing real constructive work in Syria, and all neutrals and reasonable people who have
come in contact with French activity
in that country can testify to the
truth of this.
"Again let me state that the
French mandate has been, and is
now, acceptable to the various races
and creeds now in Syria. To them it
means continued peace, security of
life and constructive substantial
progress."
SYRIAN STUNT AVIATOR
WINS HIGH PRAISE
Joseph Musleh, a Syrian aviator
of Jacksonville, Fla., is "recognized
in aviation circles as one of the
most intrepid in the South," according to the Jacksonville Times-Union.
In its account describing the feats
of the Syrian aviator, the Jacksonville paper characterizes them as
/
55
"most daring, and being done for
the love of the sport and not for
the applause they bring, and of such
character that other aviators are
awed at the manoeuvres."
Through a letter received from
Miss Mary Sabbag of Jacksonville,
we learn that Mr. Musleh came to
America about eleven years ago
when at the age of twelve. He knew
little or nothing of English, but
through attending night school, he
not only learned the language but
acquired such an education as to be
able to pass the strict test required
of licensed pilots. Furthermore, at
the U. S. Army Air Corps in Montgomery, Ala., he withstood the examination and was passed to become,
if he desired, a second lieutenant of
Reserve Officers. There were thirty
men taking this examination and
only two were accepted, one being
Musleh.
Recently, he was admitted to
membership in the Federation Aeronautique Internationale which entitles him to any assistance or aid that
may be required in this or any foreign country.
Mr. Musleh purchased his plane
out of his own funds and while the
craft is not of the most modern
type, his handling of it in his hazardous feats emphasizes his great
skill as an aviator.
CARAVANEERS OF BOSTON
ELECT OFFICERS
The Caravaneers Club of Boston
elected the following officers for the
coming year:
George G. Naymie, President;
Nicholas Samaha, Vice-President;
Harry Nassif, Treasurer;
Anna
Shire, Secretary.
President George G. Naymie has
appointed Labeebee A. J. Hanna, who
�56
THE SYRIAN WORLD
needs no introduction to readers of Treasurer; Alfred Abdalla, SecretThe Syrian World, as corresponding ary; Sydney Abdalla, Chaplain;
Schofik Mickal, Sergeant-at-arms.
secretary of the club.
The Caravaneers are now hard at
work rehearsing Channing Pollock's
"The Enemy,'" to be presented on LEBANESE ENTERTAINS
Friday, March 7, 19G0. The coach,
AMERICAN AUTHOR
Miss Gertrude Spaulding, is well
How an individual tan be of efknown in Boston and vicinity for
fective
service to the cause of better
hc-r talent and ability.
understanding
of his motherland
The members of the club have
was
demonstrated
the past summer
reason to feel very proud of one of
by
Mr.
Michel
Maloof,
of Boston,
their members George Shaghoury,
while
on
a
visit
to
Zahie,
his homeSenior at Boston University. We
have learned that in a contest con- town in Lebanon.
Mr. Maloof counts among his
ducted by a New York publishing
house, for seniors only, at the close friends many Americans prominent
of last year, young Mr. Shaghoury, in the domain of arts, the letters and
the only Junior to compete—at the finance, some of whom were his
urgent request of his instructors— classmates in Harvard. So once back
was the winner of a very fine set in his hometown, he decided that
of law books. We feel that the young other and impartial eyes should see
man has a successful future as a the beauty of Lebanon and judge it
lawyer in store for him, and wish on its own merits. He therefore
cabled his friend Mr. Lester G.
him well.
Miss Hanna will be happy to open Hornby, the well-known American
correspondence with any Syrian So- arti3t and author who was then in
cieties anywhere concerning club in- Paris, to visit him in Lebanon. Mr.
terests. Those desiring to may write Hornby came and was the guest of
Labeebee A. J. Hanna in care of the Mr. Maloof for over a month and a
Caravaneers, 37 Sharon St., Boston, half during which they visited the
Mass., and may be assured of an famous Cedars, the ruins of Baalbek and many other outstanding
immediate response in every case.
places of interest. Mr. Hornby, in an
interview with one of the Lebanese
papers, is declared to have been imNEW SYRIAN CLUB
IN McCOMB, MISS. pressed with what he saw in this
country as he never was in all his
A correspondent in McComb, Miss.,
travels in any other country in the
writes that the Syrian-American
world. He is also said to be preparyouth of that city had formed an
ing an important book with many
organization to which they have
given the name of "Young Peoples' original illustrations of the natural
Syrian Club" and whose object is beauty of Syria and Lebanon.
the promotion of good-fellowship and
the cultivation of knowledge of their
racial background. The following officers were elected:
Kinnon Amuny, President; Corinne
Abdalla, Vice-President; Foeh Assaf,
}
U-
JOIN
THE GREAT
SYRIAN WORLD
CONTEST
¥
Jl
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
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TSW1930_01reducedWM
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The Syrian World Volume 04, Issue 05
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1930 January
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Volume 4 Issue 05 of The Syrian World published January 1930. The issue begins with a discussion of Syrians' contributions to society introduced by Rev. W. A. Mansur. As is usual with Mansur's writings in the Syrian World, it is imbued with patriotism and inspiration in relation to the value of the Syrian people. Salloum Mokarzel is featured next with a discussion focused around the changes taking place in the Middle East, with particular attention paid to the fundamental orientation in the character of the people. He discusses the new presence of cooperation taking place within the economic field, the great hydroelectric project of Nahr Kadisha, and detailed accounts of special interviews with Archbishop Antoun Arida. Labeebee A. J. Hanna and Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin follow his article with poems, and Kahlil Gibran presents his literary genius with yet another of his prose poetry titled "The Two Learned Men," a story that showcases the struggle of faith. Following yet another poem by Mischa Naimy, Ameen Rihani gives a vivid account of the inception and growth of the Ahleyah School in Beirut. Aref El-Khoury's short story titled "The Wager" is the last work of prose in the issue. The story is set in Damascus, with a Syrian-American boy and girl as its characters. The issue closes with excerpts from the Arab press and an update on the political developments in Syria.
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Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
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English
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
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New York Public Library
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
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Text/pdf
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Text
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1930s
Ameen Rihani
Aref El-Khoury
engineering
Kahlil Gibran
Labeebee A. J. Hanna
Mischa Naimy
New York
Poetry-English
Reverend W.A. Mansur
Salim Alkazin
Syria
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/e200c01e257a5727698cbe4e1f3a8781.pdf
6255c2e8ae7cfc5959ee290f33af5aed
PDF Text
Text
VOL. IV. No. 10.
JUNE, 1930.
TTTF
SYRIAN WORLD
A
MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
CAN THE SYRIAN RACE SURVIVE IN AMERICA?
REV. W. A. MANSUR
THE SYRIANS IN AMERICA
DR. TALCOTT WILLIAMS
<si
ALEPPO, METROPOLIS OF NORTHERN SYRIA
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
3L
LOVE AMONG THE ARABS
(SHORT STORY)
LEBANON MOUNTAINEERS TAKE UP
HEALTH INSURANCE
STUART CARTER DODD
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
THE COPY 50c
1
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THE
SYRIAN WORLD
"Published monthly by
SALLOUM
A.
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
I
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies 50c.
Entered as second-class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. IV. No. 10.
JUNE, 1930,
CONTENTS
PAGE
Can the Syrian Race Survive in A merica?
REV.
W. A.
5
MANSUR
Reconciliation (Poem)
12
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
The Syrians in A merica
13
DR. TALCOTT WILLIAMS
Aleppo, Metropolis of Northern Syria
SALLOUM
A.
16
MOKARZEL
On Hatred
28
KAHLIL GIBRAN
Love Among the Arabs (Short Story)
29
�•'
•'"•
'
—
^
*
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
On Temper (Poem)
J. D.
34
CARLYLE
Lebanon Mountaineers Take Up Health Insurance
35
STUART CARTER DODD
The Prophet (Poem)
40
THOMAS ASA
Editorial Comment
41
Another Milestone
41
Syrians Only
41
Talent Available
42
Organization
44
Publication Dates
\
1
44
Spirit of the Syrian Press
45
Political Developments in Syria
48
About Syria and Syrians
53
i
-—
�—
MM
IN THIS ISSUE
REV. W. A. MANSUR discusses a question that should
seriously engage the attention
of every thinking Syrian in the
United States. "Can the Syrian
race survive in America?" he
asks, and proceeds to give his
weighty reason for an affirmative answer. Our readers know
the scholarly merits and sound
reasoning of the Rev. Mansur.
Not a statement does he make
but gives for its support ample
quotations from the most competent authorities. Especially is
his article in this issue instructive. We would ask our readers
to give serious thought to the
question raised because the situation becomes more and more
critical. Should we endeavor to
maintain a certain form of separate identity, compatible, of
course, with our spirit of loyalty to our adopted country, or
shall we go down in defeat and
admit our unworthiness? Read
the able article in question and
see if you can agree with the
erudite writer. * * * DR. TALCOTT WILLIAMS has long
since expressed an opinion that
not only conforms to that of
the Rev. Mansur but even goes
much farther in certain particulars. Few are those among
students
of
contemporary
American literature who do not
know who Dr. Williams is,
especially that he was so influential in shaping the course of
American literature by his
direction of the School of Journalism at Columbia University.
One is almost tempted to make
the assertion that Dr. Williams
holds a much higher opinion
of us than we do of ourselves.
Also that he entertains of us
much stronger hopes. Else what
could account for the apparent
lethargy noticeable in our racial
affairs! Dr. Williams' article
should prove a strong stimulus
to us in efforts of that nature.
It also contains invaluable material for quotation whenever a
Syrian finds himself in a position of self-defense. We cannot too strongly recommend a
most attentive reading of this
article. * * * THE EDITOR
takes you in the current installment of his travel articles
through northern Syria as far
as the ancient and romantic city
of Aleppo. Would you visit a
typical Oriental city such as you
find described in the Arabian
Nights? Then here is where
you may have your wish fully
gratified. A great city without
taxis, with covered bazaars,
vaulted streets that run in a
baffling maze like a catacomb,
open-air gardens with dancers
and singers and audiences fresh
HHR
�from the desert. All this you
will find described in a vivid
narration interwoven with exceedingly interesting historical
facts. The trip to Syria with
the editor is well-worth taking.
* * * STUART CARTER
DODD, professor of sociology
at the American University of
Beirut, discusses a most interesting experiment in health insurance undertaken" by a Lebanese physician who graduated
from the American University.
Dr. Rasheed Ma'took, the
physician in question, is unquestionably a benefactor to his
town and district. The account
given by Prof. Dodd of his activities is most interesting. Perhaps the example set by Dr.
Ma'took will before long be
emulated throughout Lebanon
and Syria. It is a novel case and
a noble experiment for the detailed description of which we
feel grateful to Prof. Dodd,
and which we feel confident
our readers will thoroughly
enjoy. * * * THE FICTION
in this issue is not really fiction. It is facts told in a romantic manner and dealing with
the general subject of love
among the Arabs and the case
of two famous lovers in particular. Arab chivalry is here
portrayed in its noblest methods of expression. The principals are a lad, a lassie and a
mare. Readers will profit much
by enlightening themselves on
the details of courtship as it
existed among the Arabs of olden days, and which persists to a
certain extent to our day. * * *
THE EDITORIAL COMMENT in this issue is a discussion of many timely and pertinent subjects. We would call
particular attention to the suggestion of enlisting able native
talent for our better representaton at all public functions.
* * * THE SPIRIT OF THE
PRESS is ever teeming with
topics of interest because it is
a condensation of the best comment appearing in our native
press. From this department
the reader can glean much information on subjects nowhere
else discussed. * * * POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
in Syria should be of more
than usual interest at this time
because of the great upheaval
taking place in the country. In
this department we give a comprehensive summary not only
of cable dispatches but of the
reports of the native press.
Nowhere else in English could
students of political affairs in
Syria find such a wealth of information, because we are in
direct touch with original
sources. Syria proper, Lebanon
and Palestine are all covered in
this department. * * * In all,
every endeavor is being made
to make of THE SYRIAN WORLD
a medium of information
meeting every need of SyrianAmericans and those interested
in Syrian affairs.
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
JUNE, 1930.
VOL. IV. No. 10.
Can the Syrian Race Survive
in America?
By
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
IN an article on The Future of Syrian-Americans which appeared
in THE SYRIAN WORLD the writer raised the question of the
survival of the Syrian-American race. "Shall they be as the proverbial 'lost ten tribes'? Shall they be destroyed through race
destroying factors in the modern social order? Or, shall the present Syrian-American generation realize its racial self-consciousness, bring about a healthy adjustment to the new situation, and
enhance the renaissance of the Syrian spirit in all its glory in the
future Syrian-American?" (Syrian World, Sept., 1927.)
In an able article in THE SYRIAN WORLD on Syrians* Future
in America George A. Ferris says, "In studying the history of
foreign minorities in the United States, it would seem to indicate
that separate, distinct, racial groups are doomed to be absorbed
into the body politic leaving little, if any, traces of their racial
characteristics." His conclusions are that while the Syrian race
will make its contribution to the upbuilding of the American
nation, it is nevertheless "bound in the process of time to lose" its
"racial identity." (Syrian World, May, 1929.)
S. A. Mokarzel, editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD, asks the following provocative questions in an editorial on Future of the
Race, "Shall we drift aimlessly, letting matters take their course,
which we may well admit is being determined by the organized
efforts of other groups, or shall we make an equally conscious
effort to assert ourselves?" "In other words, are we to assert our
racial characteristics, and in the latter case, what are the best
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
M?y,S192V)e
aChieVCment
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J
" (^an World,
The writer believes in the future survival of the Syrian race
in America. He believes that the inherent race vitality, race pride,
and race progress are already resisting the absorption of the Syrian race by other races in America. He is persuaded there are
forces now at work that are making for the preservation of the
Syrian race. He is convinced that Syrian-American pioneers, Syrian-American leadership, and Syrian-American race awakeninhave already established a determined race consciousness, pride*,
and hope that mark the stemming of the tide of race amalgamation, race absorption, and race extinction. The writer suooorts
PP
his conviction by the following considerations:
/•
The Syrian Race Can Survive Because its Background Is a
Religious Philosophy of Life.
the nl ^°StOV;z"ff ^ jj. hi,S Rome in the chaPter on Causes of
t*?<u7 °f ATentA Cwdizati > "!" the East we never obwh rU
KgCnera and Permanent ch^"ge of mental attitude
which ,s characteristic of the West-that Oriental culture was
based on a dehnite view of religion, which survived all change
ofde
ta,KeS and SaVCd mCn fr m fallin
°
S
int
°
the
«
The strongest factor in the preservation of the Syrian race in
America is the Syrian religious philosophy of life. Permeadng
our economic, educational, social and political views of life S
rflin?,^ exP^"g itself in a spiritual evaluation
relitLeusltldtfwg,VeS
th£ H,gheSt mea,li g t0 life is a
"
*y
The Syrian race is pre-eminently the race of prophets seers
i§
prets"hin:nanS: °f ^ "&»*
^ m*ral
^
,g] US aUd
VdueS
'£? inter-'
thl?r£
ZtlT
^ relationships
.°
°and progresst0in]ifeterms
- Ij ofis
he race that
defines things,
he highest welfare to all of life. In this vitality! inherent" th
race of a religious philosophy of life, lies the future survival of
the Syrian race in America.
//.
The Syrian Race Can Survive Because of the Renaissance of
Race Consciousness, Race Talent, and Race Greatness.
The Syrian race consciousness began to be born in the decision
of Syrian-Americans to make America a permanent homeland!
�JUNE, 1930
7
It is now being organized in the mind and heart of the Syrian
people. It is now showing signs of fruitfulness through the rise
of Syrian-American leadership. Already Syrian-American youth
are successfully answering the challenge of the hour by splendid
achievements.
The leader of the Syrian-American awakening, S. A. Mokarzel, editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD, said in A Call to Form a Federation of Syrian Societies, "During the past two years there hai>
been increasing evidence of a healthy awakening of racial consciousness among the younger generation of Syrians in the United
States. From every section of the country comes news of the
formation of new societies of our young people among both sexes.
Where once there had been suspicion of indifference, even hesitancy and reluctance to admit one's racial extraction, we have in
these societies proof positive that our young generation is beginning to show genuine pride in its origin." (Syrian World, Nov.,
1928.)
The Syrian race awakening is inspired by intelligent understanding of our glorious race inheritance. There is evidence in
education, commerce, religion and civilization of the rising tide
of Syrian race talent. There is rising on the horizon the rising
greatness of a SYRIAN WORLD EMPIRE. In the rise of a
common race re-birth, common race re-juvenation, and common
race achievement lies sufficient community interest to hold together our race, perpetuate race identity, and promote race pride,
inheritance and greatness.
///.
The Syrian Race Can Survive Because Race Persecution
Has Aroused Our Race to Self-Defense.
The World War brought the nations, races and languages of
mankind to grips with one another. Self-determination has become the watch-word of the times. Race equality has become a
race issue. Language became the accompaniment of the national
and racial questions.
Bishop J. H. Oldham says in Christianity and the Race Problem, "A claim to permanent domination exclusively on the ground
of race is bound to be resisted by other peoples with all their
force. A thoroughgoing racialism cannot be advocated on one
side without provoking an equally intense racial consciousness on
the other."
Ameen Rihani said in an address Americanism and Native
II
�8
'THE SYRIAN WORLD
Culture, "Every people, ladies and gentlemen, has a certain culture, which reflects the best of its racial heritage; and the nation
in which these various cultures abound and are incorporated harmoniously into its own spirit, without losing altogether their
original identity, is destined to become the greatest nation in the
world." "On the other hand, the foreign-born and their descendants in this their adopted country, cannot better perform their
duties as citizens than by preserving their native culture and
keeping alive all that «s good in their racial characteristics." (Syrian World, April, 19^9.)
The race struggle in America brought on a wave of race
defamation, race disparagement, and race depreciation. It aroused
the various races in America to self-defense. The Syrian-Americans began the study of their race history, their race talents, and
their race achievements. It awakened them to the glory of their
forefathers in navigation, trade and commerce; in religion, morals and philosophy; in mathematics, law and civilization. With
enlightenment regarding Syrian race heritage arose race pride,
race defense, and race organization. Due to our sufferings because
of race prejudice we are compelled to struggle for individual and
race survival. Due to hindrances because of race defamation we
are forced to develop the racial talents within us. Due to our
children because of the equal right to equal opportunity we are
urged to push forward for the sake of our posterity. In the
memory of the Syrian-American race, in the mind of our children and our children's children, and for many generations to
come will live the story of the struggle of the Syrian race in
America, its sufferings, and its sacrifices, which in turn will ever
promote the future survival of the Syrian race in America.
IV.
The Syrian Race Can Survive Because Disillusionment Regarding Western Races Has Accentuated Our Appreciation
of Syrian Race Virtues.
Bishop John Francis McConnell says in Human Needs and
World Christianity, "The war itself led to disillusionment."
The World War brought to a climax complete disillusionment about Western nations, races and religion. It was realized
the Western civilization was established on a triumvirate of military power, material exploitation, and race aggression. The Russo-Japanese war smote the first blow to Western claim to superiority. The rise of nationalism smote the second blow to western
�JUNE, 1930
9
greed. The World War smote the third blow to western aggression. Western nations, races and civilization are being weighed
in the balances in the Near-East, the Far-East and through the
nations of mankind. Western thought on the race, home, religion,
education, commerce, marriage, democracy and nationalism are
being weighed in the balances of justice among the races, nations
and peoples of earth.
Syrian-Americans are finding their race to be of the highest
intellectual ability, possessing great religious and moral capacity,
and capable of a tremendous urge for progress. They are finding
their racial character to be one that makes for the highest homeloving, liberty-loving, law-abiding and industrious-living citizens
in America.
The self-appreciation of their race by Syrian-Americans
will create a high sense of enjoyment of their race qualities, hold
together the various scattered elements, and promote the preservation of the Syrian race as a race identity in America.
V.
The Syrian Race Can Survive Because of the Establishment
of Syrian Denominational Churches in America.
The establishment of Syrian denominational churches in
America is a social insurance for the preservation of Syrian race
identity.
"Where there is a difference in religion, religious loyalty
may suffice to keep communities distinct; in India Hindus and
Mohammedans retain their separateness," says Bishop J. H. Oldham in Christianity and the Race Problem. "In Ceylon Tamils
and Singhalese live side by side and intermarriage between the
two communities seldom takes place. In Switzerland the German-speaking and French-speaking communities preserve their
distinctness though they belong to the same nation. The Jews
have for centuries maintained their identity while living in the
midst of other peoples j religion has no doubt been a powerful
factor in bringing this about, but a sense of racial community
seems also to be involved, since the separateness is maintained
even when religious fervor dies down.
The founding of Syrian churches in America marks an important factor in the preservation of our Syrian race distinctness.
Investigation will reveal a most powerful factor in the awakening of race consciousness, race pride, and race defense. It will
be discovered that there are Maronite Churches, Greek Catholic
�-
"'Sa
10
'•
" ,
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Churches, Antiochan Greek Orthodox Churches, Syrian Greek
Orthodox Churches, and Syrian Protestant Churches. It will be
found that Mohammedans, Druze and Mitwalites, though small
in numbers, have such meetings as meet their religious needs.
Let it be remembered that these churches and religious organizations are shepherded by native priests, ministers and sheikhs.
Through the Syrian churches in America there is being awakened by education appreciation of Syrian race inheritance, being
urged the emulation of our glorious ancestors, and being promoted the upbuilding of our Syrian race legacies for the preservation of the Syrian race. The following statement is taken from
an address by S. A. Mokarzel which was delivered to the United
Maronites Society in Brooklyn: "With the present generation
this precious heritage (referring to Maronite heritage) seems to
be safe, but the concern is for the future and it rests upon the
coming generations to insure the continuity of the work that has
so far endured for nearly sixteen centuries." "It is to be hoped
that they will imbue coming generations with this same sense of
obligation towards a sacred cause, to the end that this noble heritage which has come down to them through the ages will endure
to the lasting glory of a valiant race and a most worthy saint anc1
reformer." (Syrian World, March, 1929.)
The Syrian churches in America because of their religious
ritual, their training of the young, and their appeal to pride in
racial heritage and supported by centuries of historical background in present day world wide organizations will ever make
for the survival of the Syrian-American race.
VI. The Syrian Race Can Survive Because the World Has Become a Community Through Modern Invention, Discovery
and Transportation.
The discovery of the New World by Columbus began the
process which made the world a neighborhood of nations and
races. The modern missionary impulse is making the world a
brotherhood of all people. The rise of the machine is now making the world a community of citizens.
"The mechanical revolution," says H. G. Wells in The Outline of History, "the process of mechanical invention and discovery, was a new thing in human experience, and it went on
regardless of the social, political, economic and industrial consequences it might produce." The advent of the steamship, the
�* •
JUNE, 1930
n
railroad, telephone, telegraph, automobile, and the airplane is
shrinking the world, demolishing barriers, and destroying provincialism everywhere. The myriads of inventions, discoveries,
and modern methods are making education universal, luxuries
common to all, and speedy travel within the enjoyment of all
people.
Early immigrant communities were isolated from their native
homelands because of their remoteness. Scattered individuals
and families, because of high cost of travel, were largely dependent on other racial groups for social intercourse. The advanced
in education, business, and prestige sought social contact with individuals of like standing among other people.
During the last quarter of the nineteenth century there began
he impulse which brought into full swing the mechanical, industrial and social revolution of our times. The coming of Syrian
immigrants to America dates about the eighties of the nineteenth
century. During that period began the acceleration of popular
education, increase of railways, invention in the mechanical, electrical and various scientific fields. With the aid of native language
publications, newspapers, magazines and books: with the helo of
modern means of travel, by railroad, automobile and airplane;
with possibilities of immediate communication, by telephone
telegraph and radio, the Syrian race in America is holding itself
together during the transitional period, and thereby maintains
Syrian race identity in America.
With the modern means of communication, transportation
and information the Syrians in America, whether'in cityPor counm^/?UPS °rM f!?11' as.illdividuals or as families, are within
immediate possible fellowship with their countrymen at, practically, any time or place. With the automobile they are within
treVw?, f^ t0,Syrlan fellowshiP- With the telephone they
are within talking distance with Syrian people. With the radio
hey are within hearing distance of Syrian leadership. With
television they are within seeing distance of their loved ones
friends and others With the airplane they are within flying 2sance to Syrian fellowship friendship and society in America, and
soon among the nations of earth. Social intercourse among the
Syrian-Americans is now an every day practical possibility: is
promoting Syrian race solidarity, race pride, and race progress
is preserving Syrian race identity; and is making for Syrian race
survival for all time in America.
The writer has stated the factors and forces whose cumulative
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
power will preserve Syrian race identity in America among the
races of the nation. For it is our belief that the day is coming,
(may Heaven speed the way!) when for one to say "I am a Syrian-American" will be more glorious than the Roman Eagle,
more honorable than the Star and Garter, more desired than the
riches of Croesus, and more noble than the Lordly Caesars. It is,
therefore, our purpose to plant in the body, mind and heart of
Syrian-American youth intelligent understanding regarding the
glorious history of our ancestors, their benevolent influences upon
mankind and their superior race talents and thereby arouse race
enlightenment concerning the greatness of our race among the
races in America. It is our desire that our descendants shall ever
remember their race identity, race heritage and race talent and
preserve the same to the lasting honor of our glorious Syrian
race. It is our commission to our Syrian posterity that they preserve our race identity, uphold our race legacies, and defend our
race honor in America through race enlightenment, splendid
achievement, and race loyalty to our American homeland.
Reconciliation
By
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
O come, and let us turn this leaf,
And cover this disfigured page;
Disputing not the cause of rage,
Nor whose the balance of the grief!
Or if thou must, then gently chide;
For wert thou wholly innocent,
Or I alone on mischief bent—
But why by troublous tales abide?
Come, let us dash this cup of pain
To earth, and on its fragments rise,
And with life's beauty fill our eyes,
And lure dead love to life again.
I
�j;
13
JUNE, 1930
The Syrians in America
AN APPRAISAL OF THEIR CHARACTER
AND HISTORY
By
'
DR. TALCOTT WILLIAMS
CYRIA and Syrians constitute the first land and the first people
in Southwestern Asia who have entered into modern civilization. They stand alone in this. If Syria were an islanded-land,
instead of being four thousand years a thoroughfare of conquering peoples, swept by many tides, it would be, in its place, as
striking an example of progress as Japan.
Southwestern Asia begins with the fringe of the vast tableland
of the Central Asia steppes, lifted into an Arctic air, a vast desolation. The Khanates of Turkestan have changed the drill of
their soldiery and are responsive to Russian administration; but
they are as they are, imitating and not well the flaming architecture of the days of Tamerlane and still walking in the track of
the Institutes of Bokhara. The book shops in the city of that
name are still the great center of the book-buying of Islam. If
the Emir of Afghanistan has his aeroplanes, Cabul could neither
make nor repair them. Beluchistan is where it always was. The
lithographed pages of the newspapers of Persia are a pathetic
proof of a land still in the age and bondage of the written word,
not having attained the full liberty of print. Mesopotamia, were
the English troops withdrawn, would be where Mosul was when,
as a child, I saw its gates nearly seventy years ago, as far as the
real life of the desert, the town and the rivers twain are concerned. The Armenian Soviet Republic has far more self-government than the Russian province of Erivan in 1913. Armenians
are scattered over the trade of the world. They almost monopolize in some of the cities in Europe and America the trade in
Asiatic rugs, but they have not taken a place in European banking as has Greece, nor is their trade as far-flung as that of the
Syrian merchant. Nor has the Armenian created a new literature
on the same scale as has Syria and the Syrians. The strength of
Angora is to-day the strength of the past rather than of to-day
or to-morrow. To me, the Angora group as I meet the few I
�14
'THE SYRIAN WORLD
have come in contact with, follow their work and see their utterances remind me more of the old Turkish Pashas whom I saw
as a boy after the Crimean War, than of the young Turks of
the past fifteen years, whom we once believed and hoped, alas,
m vain would recast the Ottoman rule. I am strongly inclined
to think that Mustapha Kemal Pasha would have felt much
more at home with Barbarossa, or the greater viziers of the past,
than he has with Envers Bey or even Talaat.
The Syrians have in the last seventy years added a new chapter to the loftier tone of the Arabic literature. I can myself remember seeing even Moslem eyes brighten as the poems of Nasif
el Yaziji were adequately read; how hard a task and how difficult
to achieve. A new field of fiction has been created in Syria which
influences the Arab world as a whole. Modern journalism in
Arabic has been almost wholly created by Syrians. A Syrian edits
the organ of the Shareef of Mecca, who sits in the seat of Muhammad. The leading magazine at Cairo, foremost in the Arab
world, was brought into being by Syrians. Wherever there are
newspapers in Arabic, they are generally, not always, edited by
Syrians. The new literature of the Arab tongue, in science, in
history, in the discussion of modern issues, is by no means as
large, as effective or as widespread as the like literature in the
newly awakened peoples between the Aegean and the Baltic but
the output of Syria on modern topics and the progress of to-day
exceeds that of any land or people in Southwestern Asia.
This is not due simply to access and position. Egypt has access
and position as much as Syria. Persia has as lofty a tradition. Intellectual ability is still high in Mesopotamia. Narrow as is its
intellectual tradition, cramped as it has been by fanaticism, yet
no one can fail to see that the Khanates have powerfully influenced Moslem legalism. Let us not forget, this is one of the
great systems of law, the weight of whose codes, statutes, traditions decisions and precedents are still cited and argued, and
establish property and personal rights, from the Judicial Committee of Privy Council of Westminster to the far-flung frineine
palms of the Malaysian Archipelago.
But the trading instinct of the Phoenician has carried the Syrian trader over both North and South America as well as Africa
and Southern Asia. He has penetrated to the head-waters of the
Amazon, he is to be found in all parts of the West coast of Latin
America and more than one national legislature and city ordinance
has acknowledged the superior commercial ability of the Syrian
�JUNE, 1930
15
by trying to exclude him altogether. The trade of Brazil passes
more and more into his hands and every year there appear at
Beirut from the very ends of the Western world and the outer
Eastern coast of Asia, the sons of the alumni of the American
University at Beirut returning each autumn to share the education of their fathers, at the site of the greatest university of the
Mediterranean, since the Roman Empire reached its utmost
bounds from Bactria to Britain, from the great Atlas to the
North Sea.
This cosmopolitan note lends significance and weight to the
Syrian migration of our day. I know no American city where I
have not spoken Arabic and no port on the Gulf or the Caribbean
where the Syrian is absent. Twenty-five years ago, I found a
Syrian in command in the Southwestern corner of Morocco, north
of the Atlas, of an outpost, awaiting an attack from the locally
independent tribes of Wad Sur. No more intellectual immigration has come to us in the fast forty years. None more swiftly
feels the American sprit or retains more tenaciously the sprit
of Syria and the Syrian. No melting pot is the United States.
It never has and it never will reduce our population to a common amalgam. The stocks of many European peoples and most
of the Mediterranean races have been grafted on our national
stock. There they will remain and retain their old life, strength,
genius and flavor. They all, if they abide in belief in liberty,
shall be grafted in and grow, maintaining an identity through
centuries to come.
So after three centuries, Hollander, Huguenot, men of the
Palatinate and both banks of the Rhine, of Brittany and of
Sweden and Switzerland retain their identity in their descendants.
The descendants of Baron Graffenreid of Berne who founded
Newbern are still among us. What would we not give if we had
a close and contemporaneous study of the Huguenots who came
here two centuries ago in such throngs that a sixth of Philadelphia spoke French when Franklin began his work there as a
printer? A like service has Dr. Philip K. Hitti done in his
book "The Syrians in America." His intimate acquaintance
with Syrian immigration, his sympathy with the life from
which this addition to American life comes, all these things
enable him to understand, to appreciate and to describe the Syrian in America. For all these Syrian traditions I have the deepest sympathy. There I was born and there to-day the youngest
of my father's descendants are passing their childhood days.
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Aleppo, Metropolis of Northern
Syria
A CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF THE
EDITOR'S TRIP ABROAD
IX
By
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
I^ATAKIA could have claimed more of our time by virtue of
its being the capital of that district of Syria which Renan once
described as the treasure house of the archaeologist. Its interest
lies not alone in the fact that it was a flourishing Phoenician settlement fifteen hundred years or so before Christ, but in its
checkered career during all the succeeding centuries. Relics of
Seleucides, Romans, Arabs and Crusaders in and around it are
still to be found in great abundance, and the strife of which it
was once the scene between Moslem and Christian a thousand
years after Christ forms a bloody, yet most interesting, chapter
of history. The cynical poet Abul 'Ala, who saw only with the
eye of reason, once wrote of it:
Latakia is the scene of constant strife
Between the hosts of Mahomet and Christ.
While these ring bells and cause a steady din,
The others send loud shrieks from minarets.
Each claims his faith the greatest of the two.
Granting their claims, I wonder which is true?
But our present trip was only in the nature of a reconnoitering tour and, considering the limitation of time, our itinerary
had to be carefully planned so as to permit a visit to all parts of
Syria. Our reliance was on the smattering knowledge of the historical background of the country to render the visit, short as it
is, more proportionately profitable.
Accordingly, we planned to leave Latakia as early as possible
in the afternoon in order to insure arrival at Aleppo by daylight,
and we gave our chauffeur instructions to that effect. But the
half-breed was not unlike the proverbial sailor, with a cause for
�JUNE, 1930
I
!
17
delay in every port, and a faculty for inventing for his tardiness
the most ingenious excuses. This was our first experience with
him on this score, and, unfortunately, it was not destined to be
the last.
Finally the swarthy, diminutive Lebanese-Mexican-Indian
came driving madly to the hotel. He greeted us with a broad
diabolical smile and the provoking question: "Are you ready?"
To which we could only answer in a disgusted, searching look.
But the scoundrel would not be abashed. He hastened to explain:
"\ ou see," he said, "we are about to travel in an extremely
hazardous country. Not that we are in danger of attack by highwaymen, for the roads are perfectly safe in this respect. But we
shall have to travel over mountains and through valleys where
the winds blow with the fierceness of winter gales. I know these
sections well and you can't find in all Syria another chauffeur to
compare with me in experience. Considering which I had to take
the necessary safeguards, and the cause of my delay was to secure
rope to protect my car."
Surely enough, the canvas top of the open car was securely
tied to the iron frame in all the vulnerable places. We had no
further reason to question the cause of his delay, but we were at
a loss to account for the necessity of such precaution.
To give the devil his due, we will readily admit that in this
instance the action of the chauffeur was fully warranted. We
had no sooner left the plain of Latakia and begun the ascent of
the mountain leading to the plateau of the Syrian hinterland than
we realized the truth of his prediction. The wind that played
around the barren hills and forced its way through the narrow
valley.s attained at times the velocity of a hurricane. But it was
a scorching wind which smote our faces like blasts from a raging
furnace. We had to hold handkerchiefs to our mouths and noses
as a protection against the dust and sand. It was an unconscious
imitation of the Arab in completely covering his face when caught
in a sandstorm.
But in~spite of all this discomfort, the chauffeur insisted on
talking and extolling his .foresight and his many other virtues,
gesticulating the while and lapsing into his wonted habit of relinquishing his hold on the wheel while driving at 110 kilometers.
What would my companion have given just to be able to talk
back and tell that crazy driver where he belonged. But howcould he when he was huddled in the corner of the open car
almost at the point of suffocation from the heat and the sand
�•*
•-4.
Co
o
Panoramic view of Aleppo, showing the towering form of the great fortress dominating the city.
mmm
jsmm
O
"• M^ —!
rr* rr\ * >.
'—
r\
'-.:-
in
b
�JUNE, 1930
19
and the pressure of the handkerchief. I was in a like predicament
and all we could do was to exchange occasional glances laden
with reciprocal sympathy for our common suffering.
Once across the mountains conditions became more bearable
and we began to take notice of the landscape. We could not help
admiring the fine condition of the road which was being kept in
constant repair by gangs of workmen at regular distances. We
noticed here what we had failed to see in almost all other parts
ot byria, namely milestones along the way and conspicuous road
signs inscribed in both Arabic and French at all intersections.
We crossed the Orontes over the Shagour bridge at a point
sixty-hve kilometers from Latakia. It was the first time we had
come to this historic and famous Syrian river, and the setting was
well calculated to give emphasis to the mental picture we had
formed of it. If anything, Shagour is a perfect relic of the
medieval ages. Its closely huddled houses of massive masonry
and flat roofs formed but a slight break in the uniformity of the
terrain panorama. Only the bridge was impressive by its stupendous size and the pnmitiveness of its construction.
Then began a monotonous drive through the plains of Syria
across immense stretches of fields presenting a most desolate
aspect after the harvest. Now and then we passed an isolated
town of low mud huts of conical shape, but what was most conspicuous by its absence was forestation. Both in this section and
m the vast ondulatmg territory between Aleppo and Horns and
Hama hardly a tree is to be seen except on the banks of the
Orontes or in the immediate vicinity of Muarrat Nahman A
tired laborer or a weary traveler could not find a shady nook for
scores of miles around to protect him from the scorching ravs
of the Syrian sun.
Late in the afternoon we had ample compensation for the discomforts of the journey by the welcome sight of Aleppo. The
impressive appearance of the city as one approaches it from the
west justifies its claim to the proud title of Queen of Northern
Syria. The uniformity of its attractive white buildings is broken
by its numerous mosques with their stately minarets, while dominating the city, and almost in its very center, looms the huge
form of its famous citadel. The great expanse of the city bespoke
its importance from time immemorial as the emporium of Northern Syria.
We passed through a residential quarter which in point of
modernity would compare favorably with any section of an Amer-
�=SBBgg— WA
20
mmmmmmmsBBSBssm
THE SYRIAN WORLD
A typical view of Aleppo. The mosque in the foreground being
the traditional spot where Father Abraham had his sheep pen.
ican or European city—wide streets, spacious side-walks, and so
many balconies that further carry the picture by giving the impression of fire-escapes. The streets were also uniformly clean,
even the covered bazaars presenting the appearance of extreme
care and orderliness. Here, as in Beirut and Damascus, the work
of destruction and reconstruction is going on apace, many old
quarters giving way to wide, straight boulevards.
The Hotel Baron was recommended to us as the best in the
city and thither we went to secure accommodations. The registration blank we were requested to fill is a valued memento of
our experiences. "Police regulations," the affable clerk apologetically explained when he noticed our surprise, adding that we
�JUNE, 1930
21
had the option of giving
the information in either
Arabic, English, French
or Hebrew. Here was
our "third degree."
1. Name in block capitals. 2. Nationality. 3.
Occupation. 4. Residence.
5. Date of Arrival. 6.
From where. 7. Proceeding to. 8. Ultimate destination. 9* Signature. 10.
Room No. 11. Date of
Departure.
*
Having gone through
the ordeal, we decided to
dispense with any serious
business for the evening
and see the life of the
town. I made short shift
of washing and dressing,
more especially because
of the din of a gasoline
motor which sounded as
if coming from the adjoining room. Inquiry, A detail of the fine Arabesque designs
however, brought the as- done in mosaic in one of the mosques
suring information that
of Aleppo, formerly a church.
the motor was the hotel's electric generating plant, located within the building. But in order to insure
the comfort of the guests, there was an auxiliary motor outside
the building to relieve the regular "inside" motor in night duty.
That news was certainly relieving, for how could a person
sleep with the constant detonation of a gattling gun beside his
pillow!
After the trying drive of the day we had dismissed our chauffeur and counted on going about town with a native taxi driver.
Inquiry at the desk, however, elicited the information that in the
great city of Aleppo there were no taxis. The only means of
getting about, sir, is in the reliable old horse carriages, dependable hacks of proven merit, which can take you through the tortuous, narrow alleys of the old quarters as well as through the
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
wide, straight boulevards
of the new quarters. And
the price is very reasonable, only three mejides
per hour (about $1.50).
Having resolved to see
the town, we figured it
would be better to see it
slowly, and slowly we
did. Everything seemed
to keep pace with the
horse, even the action of
the dancers 'and singers!
The driver informed
us that the f a m o u s
Egyptian singer, Saleh
Abdul Hay, was in the
city. The opportunity was
exceptional. Would we
want to profit by it? We
did and the driver drove
us about until the hour
set for the opening of
the performance,
The Perfumery Bazaar in Aleppo, a 9 o'clock. The theatre
typical street of the old city totally was an open-air cafe to
which the admission was
stone-vaulted.
one mejide. It was packed to overflowing with
pleasure-loving Aleppian music enthusiasts. Small and large parties were clustered around tables heaped with arac glasses and
the indispensable maza. Circulating coffee servers went about
offering their commodity to the wanting, free, in common cups.
Others carried braziers full of Jive coals to add to the waning
fire of your arghile. While still others peddled delicacies to the
fastidious.
The scene was certainly one of quiet and dignified merriment.
Not a sound was heard but that of the click of glasses and the
melodious chant of the venders. Here was a real night club of
an Oriental city but without the boisterousness of an American
or European gathering. But where was the public entertainment?
The opening was scheduled for 9 o'clock, and here it was ten-
�n
**""*'1*'
JUNE, 1930
23
thirty, and the principal
has not appeared. Could
it be that he has met with
an accideent? We were
about to leave when at
last the famous singer
made h i s triumphant
entry! He was-dressed
in impeccable European
fashion with the tarboush
as his only Oriental distinguishing mark. He
took his seat between the
oud, kanoun and violin
players amidst .deafeningapplause. It was another
fifteen minutes before he
warmed up to begin.
"Ya Leil," he began
and paused. "Ya Lei
he continued and paused
longer. And "Ya Leil/'
he repeated betwee n
1 o n g and short pauses
until more than fully
The Red Slipper Bazaar in Aleppo,
twenty minutes were conso railed because it is the centre of
sumed without him "bethe shoe trade.
ginning his song. But
such is the accepted manner of Oriental entertainment, and whoever disapproved could
leave. And that is exactly what we did because of our having lost
the Oriental sense of evaluating time. We paid a mejide each
to hear a single "Ya Leil."
Our trusted hackster, whom we found waiting at the gate,
offered to drive us to a real native resort, where there was action
and motion. The place proved to be arfother open-air cafe where
a woman sang and danced with what the natives appeared to consider a good deal of spirit. But neither her words nor her motions conveyed the suggestive interpretations one encounters on
the American vaudeville stage.
The surprising feature of this second visit was that most of
the audience were bedouin Arabs—young men in aba, koufia and
�24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The fortress of Aleppo viezved from the main entrance showing
the tzvo gates and the bridge over the moat.
ighal and patent leather pumps. They displayed all the primitive
qualities of the sons of the destrt in these urban surroundings and
appeared to thoroughly enjoy the performance.
The night at the hotel was a truly miserable one. The sheets
were clean and the bed comfortable. But the din of the infernal
dynamo was not conducive to sleep. True, they had shifted from
the one inside to the one outside, but the change did not improve
the situation. The night motor was directly below my window!
Next morning we were up, perforce, bright and early, and
we decided to take a stroll for a further and fuller inspection of
the town. We had not reckoned that there would be many others
up and about much earlier than we. We had gone less than half
a square when we were accosted by two little tots in rags who
appeared to be not much older than six and four. Their disheveled long hair hung over their shoulders and their dirty dresses,
made apparently of plain sacks, trailed on the ground. They
were on the side of my companion, and the elder, with one hand
holding on to his baby brother, and the other outstretched in begging appeal, mechanically repeated: "A small barghout, a small
barghout," this being the smallest monetary denomination. The
alms given them was not a small but a big barghout. But I could
�ir >
JUNE, 1930
IUMIBW
25
Close-up of the main tower at the entrance of the Aleppo forttress showing some details of the fine work in what once formed
the^ residence of the lords of the city.
see that the effect of this early scene on my companion was anything but favorable. It was but natural to feel pity for the sad
plight of two children of such tender age, but the mind of the
business executive wandered in other fields. John began to reason: "Why should the government permit such vagrancy? Both
from humanitarian and utilitarian considerations orphanages or
asylums should be provided to care for destitute children, where
they could be taught some trade for their future self-support.
Where in civilized countries are such young children permitted
to drift about and subsist by begging? Much reform seems to be
still needed in this land!"
Later in the morning I visited the office of At-Takaddum,
the daily Arabic paper of Aleppo. I hope I am not betraying
any confidence by echoing the complaint of the editor that its
circulation is shamefully small, barely reaching 1500, for a city
of the size of Aleppo which claims a population of almost 200,000. The explanation was equally surprising: The lower classes
seemed to have a certain apathy for reading, while the educated
L.
�26
"THE SYRIAN WORLD
class read almost exclusively foreign papers. In all, the proportion of the patrons of the press could scarcely rise over one or
two per cent.
To one who had had the preconceived notion that Aleppo
was a city of arts and letters these revelations were shocking.
But perhaps the interest of the people was directed into other
channels. I had known that the Maronite bishopric of the city
enjoyed a long and brilliant record of scholarly pursuits and
achievement, and I would visit its press which I was told was
located in the "Crusaders' " Street, an odd name for a street in a
city located so far in the interior of Syria and never occupied
by the Crusaders. Here I was pleasantly surprised to discover
the nearest approach to a modern press among all the native
printing establishments in Syria. I was advised that the press
is maintained by a special trust fund which yields an adequate
income. Its specialty is religious and scholarly publications. My
visit later to the bishop's house further confirmed what I had
learned of the sustained interest of this religious institution in
scholarly pursuits. Bishop Michael Akras had his secretary, Father Elias Galy, conduct me to the formal reception hall opening on the patio of the building. The room proved to be
nothing less than an immense treasury of rare manuscripts carefully sorted and catalogued. All around ran bookcases reaching
to the ceiling with here and there a few portraits of former
bishops of the diocese. It was evident from the atmosphere of
the place that the arts and letters were fully appreciated in this
institution where such traditions have been maintained in unknown continuity since the time of the famous Arabic poet and
scholar Bishop Germanos Farhat, who lived about a century and
a half ago. In a prominent position on the wall hung a life-like
painting of St. Elias, patron saint of the cathedral, which the
admiring guide told me dated from 1489. It was executed on
parchment, making possible the finest shades and details. Other
objects of art were to be seen all about the room.
Such, then, is the setting in which the Maronite bishop of
Aleppo holds formal functions and receives distinguished visitors.
We had reached the bishop's residence through a covered
street lighted, even in daytime, by kerosene wall lamps. It is a
peculiarity of this old quarter of the city that most of its public
streets are in the form of underground passages. But once within
the gate of a residence you emerge into a spacious court flooded
with sunshine and smiling with shrubbery and trees. In places
�JUNE, 1930
27
the streets are not on an even level and as one peers through the
semi-darkness, with the flickering light of the street lamps creating fantastic shadows, one cannot help imagining oneself in some
sub-terranean passage of an immense medieval fortress or in the
intiricate maze of a catacomb. Strategic reasons undoubtedly
forced the building of the old city in this manner.
Even the square of the cathedral, which we had to pass on
our way out, was completely inclosed, access to it being available
only through vaulted passages, commonly called streets.
What perhaps is the most impressive sight in Aleppo is its
famous fortress. The main gateway and the ramparts are in a
fair state of preservation, and the purity of its Arabic architecture
is a delight to the eye. The perfectly smooth sides of the hill
on which the fortress stands attest the truth of the contention
that it is mostly artificial, so raised as to dominate the city. Facing the main gate is an immense open square that has withstood
building encroachment, but in other directions building has been
carried to the very edge of the driveway skirting the deep moat.
We arrived at the fortress shortly before noon and the Senegalese guards, after much persuasion, would permit us access
only to the second gate across the bridge.
Public visits are permitted only at 4 in the afternoon, and
although we could have applied to Mr. Lavastre, local representative of the High Commissioner to whom I had been recommended, for a special permission, we decided that possible formalities might delay our departure which we had planned for
the early afternoon considering the long distance we had to cover.
What we had already seen of the immensity and ornate decorations and vestiges of former splendor of this great fort was considered sufficient reward for anyone's pains to travel any distance
to see. After all, the finest specimens of art work are in the
facade of the main entrance. The outer tower guarding the bridge
is imposing as a piece of masonry, but the architect's and the decorator's art is chiefly in evidence at the main gate and the huge
building rising over it. King Al-Zaher, son of the famous Saladin, had lavished untold wealth on improvements in the fortress
which he meant for his official residence at the time he considered
making Aleppo the capital of Syria. Additions and decorative
details were later introduced by Sultan Kalil ibn Kalaoun about
1250. Throughout the decorative details, the nail and horseshoe
motif predominate.
Running along a section of the fortress is a broad boulevard
�11
'
28
"" '"
THE SYRIAN WORLD
lined with tall shade trees. Here one comes across a scene that is
typically Oriental in its picturesqueness and a relic of the ages of
long ago. In the cool shade, lined against the wall of an old
barracks, are the curators of that old Oriental institution known
as "public scribes." There they are with all their versatility waiting to write you anything from a letter to an absent husband or
son, to a petition to the governor. In former days they used to
squat on the ground and hold court wherever convenient. Now
they are assigned definite places and enjoy the luxury of a desk.
Modern conditions have not succeeded in completely eliminating
them, however. They are there to this day and seem to be enjoying a thriving business.
On Hatred
By G. K.
GIBRAN
Oftentimes I have hated in self-defense; but if I were
stronger I would not have used such a weapon.
*
*
*
How stupid is he who would patch the hatred in his eyes
with the smile of his lips.
*
*
*
Only those beneath me can envy or hate me.
I have never been envied nor hated; I am above no one.
Only those above me can praise or belittle me.
I have never been praised nor belittled; I am below no one.
*
*
*
Your saying .to me, "I do not understand you," is praise
beyond my worth, and an insult you do not deserve.
�29
JUNE, 1930
Love Among the Arabs
A SHORT STORY
Adapted from the Arabic Original.
THE Arabs of Al-Jahiliat, or pre-Islamic era, were noted for
the fierceness of their zeal in guarding the honor of their
women. A girl would be trusted to wander alone in the wilderness shepherding the flocks, but once she was suspected of contracting a secret friendship, she was immediately and mercilessly
secluded. If her love affair attained such proportions as to become
a topic for public gossip, the cruel custom prevailed of interring
her alive. The father would resort to this method as a last extremity in expiation for the family honor and the tribe's good
reputation.
This custom of burying alive maidens suspected of straying
on the hazardous road of romance before marriage was later so
modified as to only ban the marriage of offending couples. Most
of the love epics among the Arabs are based on such cases. The
famous case of Majnoun Lila, who when forbidden from meeting his beloved, deserted civilization and roamed for the rest of
his life among the wild beasts, affords the most striking example.
Kais Ibn Al-Molawah, the real name of Majnoun, which is but
a nickname meaning "madman," was one of the foremost Arab
poets who sang of tragic love and the pangs of separation.
To this common rule there were, however, some noteworthy
exceptions. The love affair of gallant Mussab and beautiful
Rihana was one such. The happy ending of the courtship was
due mainly to the self-assertion of the lady and her insistence
on marrying only the man of her choice.
This tale of romantic courtship and happy marriage abounds
in incidents indicative of the finest Arab virtues. It is here told
in strict conformity to the spirit of Arab chroniclers who revel in
lauding the chivalrous and the beautiful.
The persona; dramatis of the play are the two young people
directly involved} the father of the maiden, a prince of his tribe;
a troubadour poet who was instrumental in bringing about the
meeting of the principals, and last but not least, a famous mare
of a powerful chieftain which was required of the aspiring young
man as a dowry.
�HMHMHMMMMHMMMMHMfHMMH
30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Following is the manner in which the tale is told in the
Arabic original:
Providence had been most generous to Mussab, a scion of the
powerful tribe of Beni Sakhr, in gifts of personal distinction. In
hospitality he was unexcelled, in war he was ever victor, in debate
and in conversation he possessed the strongest argument and the
most captivating charm, and in physical appearance he was the
handsomest of men.
But Mussab was not of princely blood nor of exceeding
wealth.
In the north of Arabia Emir Faiz ruled over a powerful
tribe. His only daughter was Aida, a maiden of extraordinary
intelligence and charm, who had been wooed by many but accepted none. Her people were extremely proud of her and looked
up to her with the reverence of subjects to their queen, although,
in her extreme affability, she treated them as brothers. They
called her "Rihana", a term applied to aromatic flowers.
There also lived in those days a certain troubadour whose
name was Sayyah and who roamed the land singing the praise
of princes and chieftains of distinction among the Arabs. At regular intervals he alternated his visits between the tribe of Beni
Sakhr in the south and the tribe of Emir Faiz in the north. In
his accounts of his experiences he unfailingly lauded to the Sakhrs
the virtues of Emir Faiz and particularly his gifted daughter
Rihana, and to the tribe of Emir Faiz he was loud in his praise of
the extraordinary qualities of Beni Sakhr and particularly their
idol and youth without peer, Mussab.
In this manner he was unconsciously instrumental in kindling
the fires of love between Mussab and Rihana. Often, at the request of Mussab, Sayyah would spend nights giving accounts of
the extraordinary qualities of Rihana both from personal knowledge and current legend.
Mussab felt a strong urge to ask for the hand of Rihana in
marriage and was restrained only by the fear of being refused
owing to his station in life. To him who was the strongest in
battle and the most open-handed in hospitality such a blow to his
pride would be well nigh unbearable.
Rihana, on her part, had innumerable offers of marriage.
Many were the princes and men of great wealth who sought her
of her father but were refused because the proud princess had
formed the decision that only Mussab was her worthy mate.
Her father had left her destiny in her hands, and she abided her
�JUNE, 1930
31
time and awaited the periodical visits of the roaming poet with
increasing impatience.
One day Sayyah made an unexpected appearance at the camp
of Beni Sakhr. This time he was louder than ever in his praise
of Rihana. To the interested group of men that gathered about
him he repeated the verses which he said Rihana was fond of
reciting lately, to the effect that
Heed not the accident of birth, but let good deeds
Replace the honor of a noble blood.
The man is what he rriakes himself, not he
Who can but boast of what his father was.
Mussab took sufficient courage from this quotation to overcome his timidity—Rihana was bidding him overlook the causes
which had so far prevented him from seeking her hand. She was
far above considering the mere accident of birth a valid reason
for overlooking the merit of personal achievement. And he
forthwith prepared himself for the journey to the country of
the Arabs of the North.
Incognito, Mussab sought hospitality at the tent of the Emir.
There he remained three days receiving treatment as an honored
guest without a question being asked as to his motives or his
identity. Feasts were spread and conversations held but without
the slightest infringements on the accepted proprieties of hospitality. The guest was found to be of a most charming personality and entertaining manner, and Rihana always took a position behind a partition in the tent where she could hear and see
without herself being observed. She very soon came to the conclusion that if she were to marry any other than Mussab, her
choice would be this fascinating guest.
At the conclusion of the prescribed three days of hospitality,
Emir Faiz asked of his guest, "Who may be the brother Arab
whom we have the pleasure of entertaining?" And Mussab revealed his identity, and was received with further expressions
of welcome. Then the Emir asked, "And what may be the object
of the guest's visit?" To which Mussab replied, "To become
unto the exalted Emir like one of his sons."
No more welcome news could have been broken to Rihana,
but to her father it was the cause of a perplexing dilemma. How
could he consent to giving his famous daughter to an Arab of
common birth after having turned down many wealthy notables
and powerful emirs? In personal qualifications, Mussab was
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
fully acceptable to Emir Faiz, but have not the Arabs said:
"Marry your son to people of might, but your daughter to people
of position and wealth?
Not willing, however, to definitely refuse such a sterling
man without plausible excuse, the Emir finally asked of him as
dowry for his daughter the famous mare Nuhama, the pride of
all Arabia, belonging to Emir Malik of the powerful tribe of
Beni Aida.
Plead as he may, Mussab could not shake Emir Faiz from
his decision. He then realized that the request was but to test
his courage and resourcefulness and resolved to secure the coveted mare whatever the cost.
Without returning to his tribe, Mussab made directly for
the Valley of Beisan, the camping ground of Emir Malik. He
loitered for several days around the camp in the hope of scenting
news of the Emir and his famous mare, and what he discovered
only tended to add to his difficulties. For the Emir could not be
conquered in battle, nor was his vigil over the mare ever relaxed
sufficiently to permit of her being stolen. Still Mussab would not
despair.
One day Mussab learned that the Emir was about to visit
some of his outlying districts alone, and he laid his plans carefully to profit of this singular opportunity. He therefore inquired
about the route that the Emir was to follow, and laid in wait
for him on the way. He would resort to a ruse so long as the
mare could not be taken otherwise.
Noticing the Emir approach, Mussab began to roll on the
ground as if writhing in pain. The Emir dismounted and offered
assistance to the extent of having the supposedly unfortunate man
mount the mare while he led her by the halter. But Mussab
would have none of that: "Is it not enough that so exalted a prince
should walk while I ride that he should also lead himself the
mount of one who is not fit to be his servant?"
The ring of sincerty in Mussab's speech was so convincing
that the Emir reluctantly released the halter, at which the supposedly helpless sufferer immediately stiffened in the saddle and
Nuhama's fleet feet soon left the bewildered Emir far behind.
In bitter remorse, Emir Malik bit his fingers until they bled,
but before Mussab was out of hearing he called on him to halt
for a parting word.
"What is the wish of my lord the Emir?" asked Mussab.
'You well realize, brother Arab," pleaded Emir Malik, "what
�JUNE, 1930
33
every Arab's horse is to him, particularly what Nuhama is to me.
I beseech you to return her to me and ask what you will in money
or cattle."
But Mussab could not at that time think of Emir Malik's
loss in Nuhama as much as of his own loss in Rihana. Here was
a princess and a mare placed in the balance, and to the lovestricken Mussab there was no price too great for winning the hand
of his beloved. The plea of Emir Malik fell on deaf ears.
But as he again turned to go the Emir begged of him to listen
to a final word, and while Mussab remained mounted and at a
safe distance, he said:
"Now that you are in possession of Nuhama I willingly relinquish to you all right in her. Take her and may Allah reform
your ways. But when you reach your people they will surely
insist upon you telling them how you came by this highly prized
horse. Now take my advice and conceal the truth. For if you
tell them that you won her by a base ruse you will set a disreputable precedent among the Arabs, and owing to the result of your
deception and perfidy, no one would thereafter be willing to
lend a stricken wayfarer a helping hand. This would kill every
emotion of honor in the breasts of men. But what I advise you
to do is to say that you have met Emir Malik in fair combat and
killed him and won his mare. By this you will preserve my honor
and yours and maintain unsullied the record of Arab chivalry."
Up to this time Mussab had only thought of Rihana, and of
the mare as but a means of winning her hand. But at the words
of the Emir the chords of his nobler feelings were touched, and
for a few moments he was the prey of the most conflicting emotions. Should he, the chivalrous Mussab, be guilty of such a base
trick for the sake of a girl? Not on the honor of the Arabs! And
he forthwith dismounted and returned the mare to the astonished
Emir, remarking: "Not even for Rihana will I take Nuhama.
Much above both do I value my honor."
Emir Malik soon extracted from the confused young man
the full story of his rash and desperate action, but whatever the
causes, the valiant Emir could not conceive of anything nobler
than the return of Nuhama after once having had possession of
her, and his admiration of Mussab was beyond bounds. He insisted that he return with him to his camp, and there displayed
to him the extreme of hospitality. And at the end of three days
Emir Malik further surprised his guest by declaring that he
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
would accompany him in person to Emir Faiz and seek for him
the hand of Rihana.
Needless to say that Emir Faiz received his guests with the
greatest manifestations of joy and hospitality, and one evening,
while all the notables of the Arabs of the North were gathered
in the tent of Emir Faiz, Emir Malik solemnly recounted to
them the peerless deed of Mussab. Then addressing Emir Faiz
he said: "If thy demand for Nuhama is a test of Mussab's courage and resourcefulness, thou shouldst realize that his character
should be above such tests. But if in truth thou desirest Nuhama
as dowry for thv daughter, then both the mare and her owner
are at thy disposal. If I were the father of Rihana and had such
as Mussab ask for her hand I would give her to him in preference
to a hundred Arab emirs of noble blood."
To which Rihana's father replied: "If such is thy sentiment,
O noble prince, and such the chivalry of Mussab, I shall not be
the knave among the three. From this moment Rihana is Mussab's bride, while Nuhama remains thy proud property, and from
this day till the day of judgment there shall be peace and friendship between the tribe of Beni Aida and the Arabs of the North."
The festivities attending the nuptials of Mussab and Rihana
were unequalled in splendor among the Arabs of that age. After
which Mussab returned with his bride to his tribe of Beni Sakhr,
while Emir Faiz rode at the head of a chosen band of his men
to escort Emir Malik to his country in the Valley of Beisan.
On Temper
Translated from the Arabic by J. D.
CARLYLE
Yes, Leila, I swore by the fire of thine eyes,
I ne'er could a sweetness unvaried endure;
The bubbles of spirit, that sparkling arise,
Forbid life to stagnate and render it pure.
But yet, my dear maid, tho' thy spirit's my pride,
I'd wish for some sweetness to temper the bowl;
If life be ne'er suffer'd to rest or subside,
It may not be flat, but I fear 't will be foul.
i
�I
JUNE, 1930
35
Lebanon Mountaineers Take Up
Health Insurance
By
STUART CARTER DODD
Professor of Sociology, American University of Beirut.
J7IGHT years ago a young Syrian doctor, a graduate of the
American University of Beirut, settled in his native village
of Duma in the Lebanon. Gradually he acquired the confidence
of the people and came to be familiar with the sicknesses and
pains of every one of them.
One day Dr. Rasheed Ma'took suggested to the father of
one family that they arrange a group fee for the doctor's attendances on his family, instead of paying for each visit. He pointed
out that his family was large and when sickness came several of
them were apt to be ill at once. He found it difficult to pay the
fees when so many came at once, but could do it well if scattered
over the year. The doctor knew that on the average the total,
number of calls during a year to such a family did not vary
greatly. So they arranged an annual fee in return for which the
doctor was to care for all sickness in that family. The father now
could set aside a certain amount from his income each month, or
pi the annual harvest time when cash could be in hand, to pay
for health care of his family.
The idea was passed around of an evening on the village
doorsteps or under the walnut tree in the vineyard of a Sunday
afternoon. Other heads of families observed how the doctor
would go to that family without the father having to think of
the fee each time. They saw how the doctor would stop there
and advise what to do to keep the rest from catching some current sickness. Soon other families had made similar bargains
with the doctor to care for their health on an annual salary basis
The community was a typical Lebanon mountain village. One
half of its nominal population of 5,000 had emigrated to better
their fortune in foreign continents. But most of these still called
this "home" and returned to marry, or die, or to visit their relatives and childhood home. On any doorstep your host would
hail passing villagers and introduce his guest—a cousin returned
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
36
from twenty years in the Klondyke, a neighbor who had made
his fortune in Australia, a friend who was studying medicine in
America, an ex-cowpuncher from the Argentine, an ex-boss in a
steel mill in Pittsburgh, or his nephew away at school in Beirut.
Education had come to the village seventy-five years ago and
become a cult. Now sixty to ninety per cent, of the people of
Duma are literate in a country without free public schools and
a very low general literacy rate. In the smaller villages where
there is no school, the literacy is very much less.
The villages depend mostly on silk worm culture. A little
wheat is grown on the floor of the valley, olive trees and grapevines for local use surround most of the houses, and sheep and
goats are herded over the barren mountain slopes. The ancient
cedars and all the forests have long since gone and only diligent
terracing holds enough soil to grow anything. Most of the land
is devoted to raising mulberry trees whose leaves support the
silk worms. Wealth is reckoned by the yardstick of "He owns
so and so many mulberry trees." At one tree every three meters,
this measures acreage. The harvest season is June when the
cocoons are ready for sale and cash is in hand to pay all debts.
There are now six hundred families that are insured. This
means around six thousand individuals, as with the patriarchal
joint family system persisting, the average family is large. This
is about one-half of the population of the twelve villages in the
valley. Two hundred families pay two Turkish gold pounds
(about $9.00) each a year, two hundred pay one gold pound,
one hundred pay half of a gold pound, and one hundred are
included free. The amount to be paid by each family is determined, neither by the size of the family nor by the frequency of
sickness it has had in the past, but, by the ability to pay. Each is
assessed according to the number of mulberry trees, cattle or
other sources of income it possesses. The village meets in caucus
and then the elders draw up the neatly handwritten list in Arabic
script informing the doctor how the village will collect their
share of his annual stipend.
Generally no difficulty is met in collecting the amount, because its charges are less than former doctors' fees. The public
opinion strongly sanctions payment. Dr. Ma'took firmly believes
that the scheme is worth continuing because of its good effect
upon the general health, but, unfortunately, he had kept no statistical records of sickness to demonstrate the results in an objective form.
:f Bl— —
�——
JUNE, 1930
-"
37
One big difficulty presents itself at the start and serves to
deter neighboring doctors from adopting the plan more widely.
When payment is no longer proportionate to the number of calls,
anyone can call on the doctor for every little ache and pain and
enormously increase his work. This happened to Dr. Ma'took.
But instead of giving up the plan it drove him to a defensive
adaptation of a distinctly social sort. He proceeded to educate the
villagers to take care of themselves. Whenever he was called for
a child's digestive upset, he would call in the whole family and
the neighbors and tell them what to do for such symptoms and
how to feed children properly. When he visited a malaria case,
the neighbors as usual would gather and he would instruct them
in the use of a thermometer and quinine so that only in the most
serious cases need they call for him to come riding five or six
miles over the mountain trails. For contagious cases, he instructed
the headman about isolation and simple disinfection techniques
so that the neighbors would insist on a child with measles being
promptly isolated from the other children. This campaign of!
education proved successful to the point where now the number
of calls upon him per month is less than formerly under the feeper-visit system—and the villagers have learned hygiene.
From the social point of view the complete shift of emphasis
from curative to preventive medicine is the biggest feature to
consider in evaluating the plan. Flis selfish interest as well as
his altruistic impulses are lined up behind preventive work of
educating people in hygiene and sanitation. It will mean less
work for him in the future if the villagers eliminate a source
of mosquitoes and malaria; it will mean a more loyal clientele
if he inoculates them for small pox and they see that only clients
of other doctors get the disease; it will mean not only fewer calls
but public prestige when he insists that the school management,
in order to reduce colds and measles, establishes proper hygienic
precautions among the children. When the influenza swept
through the country he rode from doorstep to doorstep advising
the families how to guard themselves. His authority and intimate
touch with the simple villagers enable health education that no
amount of public print, lectures, or posters could accomplish. He
advises both the children and the parents in the home itself,
knowing its conditions and traditions. He is thus able to attack
the whole situation and not the ailment or defect of one member
of the family, which may often be but a symptom of the habits
in the home. The family doctor, in short, has become completely
�38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"socialized."
But he is not a public health officer salaried by the government. He can be economically supported in a community too
poor to pay taxes to support a Public Health department. But
more important is the motivation which is retained by this plan
and may be lost in a government official, appointed or elected by
devious ways. Here the doctor must keep the confidence of each
family and give service that satisfies it or at any time it may leave
the annual payment basis and revert to a fee-by-the-visit basis
with a rival doctor. But without being a government official he
acts as such, for his selfish interest in his practice is best prompted
by interceding with the government to improve health conditions—whether the need is a mosquito campaign, free vaccine,
hospital care of a destitute tubercular or insane case, or literature
on baby welfare.
In evaluating the factors that make this insurance plan work,
the factor of the personal qualities of Dr. Ma'took needs investigation. How far is the plan feasible elsewhere and how far is
its success here due to his particular qualities? For evidence on
this point some cases of the doctor's personal leadership will be
described and then a case of the plan worked out by a different
doctor.
The health insurance plan is only one among several projects
through which Dr. Ma'took is striving towards his avowed life
purpose—to create co-operation among the different sects and
factions in his villages towards the public welfare. The project
of controlling the floods of the river is famous all over the Lebanon. A rock ledge blocks the valley and prevents the swift
mountain torrent from washing the deforested hillsides out to
sea as fast as they erode. Behind this ledge silt has been deposited until a strip of land two miles in length has been built up.
This strip is flat in remarkable distinction from all the other rugged valleys of the Lebanon. The stream used to change its channel during the Spring rains and flood the floor of the valley,
killing the wheat, yellowing the mulberry leaves till the worms
even turned against them, and covering the fertile land with a
layer of pebbles often a foot deep. Dr. Ma'took succeeded in
collecting the villagers and organizing their desire to straighten
and deepen the channel. The banks were bound by planting willow trees along them and by throwing up dykes of pebbles. Here
and there a sluice gate of sticks would allow the water with its
silt to run over the land under control while sifting out the
HHiHnanHD
i
�MM
JUNE, 1930
39
pebbles. Each property holder in the valley was assigned a share
to be paid in money or labor as he preferred. Each Spring after
the rains the doctor appoints a day when the villages will gather
and inspect the damages, decide on repairs, and allocate shares
in proportion to property ownership. The government has nothing to do with the scheme; the enforcement of the decisions
upon the lazy is accomplished by the force of public opinion
brought to bear in very personal and forceful ways by the neighbors and the doctor himself. Its proven advantage in enabling
wheat to be grown between the mulberry trees on the valley floor
and in improving all crops is the chief incentive, however, to
every man to contribute his share.
Another illustration of the personal leadership factor in the
success of the insurance system was the case of the telegraph
service. Negotiations had been made with the Government which
had agreed to furnish the wire and a wireman, if the villages
would furnish the poles and labor to bring the telegraph line
from the plain up two thousand feet to the valley where Duma
and the other eleven villages were situated. But the villages
could not raise the money. Several attempts had been made and
each time the official had pocketed the contributions collected.
So Dr. Ma'took decided to get action in a form which was not
open to being frustrated by official corruption. One morning the
village saw him walking down the road with a pick over his shoulder. On being questioned he replied he was "going to dig a hole
for a telegraph pole." Others followed the example of the idolized professional man turned day laborer. The idea caught hre
and within two weeks, with the co-operative labor of the whole
village, four hundred poles had been cut and planted and the
telegraph line was brought to town.
It is quite characteristic also of Dr. Ma'took that he does not
believe in settling troubles and disputes among the people
through the court. He aims at reconciliation and mutual understanding. His personality and prestige enabled him to assume
the position of judge for the farmers and many a story is being
told of how he peacefully settled a bitter quarrel. It is for this
purpose that he is now studying law two months a year in the
University of Damascus.
His future plans are still more adventurous. He is planning
to have the villages send one of their boys to specialize in agriculture, then come back and scientifically develop the production
of the valley. Building a modern hospital for the district is being
�40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
thought of and discussed. Perhaps still bolder than any of these
is his idea of turning the richly endowed Lebanon Monasteries
into centers of education!
Dr. Ma'took's own evaluation of the personal factor is worthy of being quoted. "The urgent need of my country is not for
educated young men, but rather for those few of them who are
willing to go back to their villages and are able to win the public
confidence in leading the people to act in co-operation for the
common welfare."
Advocates of social insurance, national health insurance, and
such measures may well consider this type of insurance. It works
in a community where insurance by the government or a company is unknown and would make no headway. It comprises personal elements of confidence and individual advice and group
education which no large organized insurance project can hope
to include to such a degree. Under such a prospect, practice in
rural regions which is now avoided by young medical school
graduates, may acquire a new dignity and attractiveness.
The Prophet
By
THOMAS ASA
To G. K. G.
A trackless empire hearkened to thy word,—
Rose from primordial dust to dreaming spires;
Infused it with the voice of Godly lyres,
Lead by the vision of the sacred Bird
Of Heaven, whose message thou hast heard}
And from thy heart emerged the fusing fires,
And love divine in sodden minds inspires;—
Rule thine own people, in one nation gird.
And thou hast formed in thy short span of life,
From Sedrat's shaded desert thou hast made,
An ever-shining beacon to thy fame;
That all the world may wonder that the strife
Of thine own musing, God-like soul hast laid
The enduring wisdom of thy noble name.
�I
41
JUNE, 1930
EDITORIAL COMMENT
ANOTHER
\
MILESTONE
YY/ITH this issue THE SYRIAN
WORLD passes another milestone on the road of public
service. It has completed its
fourth year and now enters
upon the fifth. On its past record we shall refrain from any
comment, leaving to our readers the responsibility of judging its merits, its accomplishments and its earnest effort at
improvement. Nor shall we
dwell upon the discussion of
whatever plans we may have
for the future. What we may
be permitted to say, in all modesty, is that we have always
striven to give of our best in
the past, and that we shall continue to bend all our energy
and devote all our resources
towards continued and progressive improvement in the
future. We shall not, however,
venture on the hazardous path
of making any definite promise. Our record of sustained
and unstinted effort during the
past four years should be sufficient proof of our intentions.
Still it should be no secret
that, owing to difficulties of
various natures, the travel so
far has been extremely arduous. This should not imply,
however, that these difficulties
are insurmountable. THE SYR-
* KSoSfctafra , .
IAN WORLD is already an established institution which should
endure for the proven moral
prestige it brings to our race in
America. And endure it shall
because the will to continue it
exists, and the way should not
be difficult to find.
To that group of loyal
friends who have constantly
given of their encouragement
and collaboration goes our
heartiest gratitude. They shall
always be remembered as having most liberally contributed
to the success of the movement
for the Syrian reawakening.
A detailed account of their individual contributions will be
given in due time. They were
the first to grasp the importance
of the mission of THE SYRIAN
WORLD and the strongest to
foster and sustain it, and future
generations should always remember them in the fullest
sense of appreciation and gratitude.
We shall enter upon our
fifth year strong in the faith
of their continued support and
growing interest.
SYRIANS ONLY
A LTHOUGH written some
six years ago as an introduction to Dr. Philip K. Hitti's
book "The Syrians in Amer-
�E
42
ica," Dr. Talcott Williams'
eulogistic appraisal of the SyrSan people should always be
timely, especially to the Syrians themselves, and for this
reason we are reproducing it
in this issue. We would call on
our readers to ponder well the
statements of Dr. Williams,
whose place among American
educators and thinkers was appropriately recognized by his
appointment as director of the
School of Journalism at Columbia University, which office
he filled until his death.
Coming from such an authority, the testimony as to their
glorious past should be fully
appreciated by the Syrians, as
well as the. evaluation of their
splendid qualifications as desiralile immigrants.
What should be more relevant in the thesis is the author's
opinion on the supposed function of the so-called melting
pot. The lesson the Syrians
should derive from the writer's
trend of reasoning is obvious.
He answers for us the question
as to whether or not we should
forgo our rightful name or our
racial heritage. Certainly, as
would seem plain from the
study of our past history and
from our record in America,
we have every reason to be
proud of our race and of our
name. We have our place in the
sun and we should adhere to it
and defend it. We have estab-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
lished for ourselves a name
that we should not trade for
another. The Syrian should be
proud to be called Syrian and
to work to add lustre to the
name. For the last half century
we have been known in America as Syrians, and as Syrians
only we should continue to be
known. It is an admission of
inferiority to countenance a
change.
TALENT AVAILABLE
brilliant success of the
T HE
convention of Syrian societies held under the auspices of
the Syrian-American Society of
New London, Conn., at the
latter city on June 22, gives
rise to a timely and pertinent
suggestion. Why not call on
our best talent, wherever and
whenever available, to fittingly
represent us at such gatherings
when Americans are invited to
participate, or to insure the full
moral benefit of such meetings
when Syrians alone attend? The
question, we believe, is worthy
of serious consideration.
At the convention of SyrianAmerican societies at New London, the mayor and many other
high officials of the city attended. What they saw and heard
tended to confirm their belief
in the high moral standard of.
the Syrians, their industry, lawabidedness, integrity and desirability as stock for American
citizenship. Syria's place in
�HBi
JUNE, 1930
history, old as it is, was made
evident anew to the mixed
audience, inspiring in Americans a higher respect and in the
Syrians themselves a fuller
sense of self-esteem. This is a
most constructive method for
making better citizenry.
The presence of N. A. Mokarzel, editor of Al-Hoda; of
Ameen Rihani, well-known
author, lecturer and traveler}
of Faris Maloof, prominent
Syrian lawyer of Boston, as
well as of many other distinguished visitors swelling the
ranks of delegations from nearby and distant cities of Connecticut, Massachusetts and New
York, afforded a material contribution to the already fine
representation of the host society.
For having shown such
broad vision, intelligent initiative and befitting racial pride
in our native talent, the SyrianAmerican Society of New London is to be highly commended.
We Syrians in America are
comparatively a very small
group, and, aside from those of
pivotal centers, few Syrian
communities in the United
States number more than a few
hundred. Nevertheless the necessity exists that they should be
properly represented. They
command higher respect and
enhance their local prestige
when outstanding individuals
of their race are called upon
to assist in their public functions. Furthermore, such policy
would materially assist in
building up the prestige of the
race nationally.
THE SYRIAN WORLD offers
its services to communities and
organizations to promote work
of this nature by being ready
to supply necessary information on the availability of native
talent for public functions.
There are among us many lawyers and able public speakers
who we are sure will subscribe
to the idea. We may be able to
advise .applicants on the availability of talent perhaps in their
immediate locality, thereby dispensing with the necessity of
calling them from distant
places.
Although these remarks are
made in their broadest sense,
we would illustrate by citing a
case in point. We now have
among us our celebrated author
and lecturer, Ameen Rihani,
who by his lectures at universities and before the most
intellectual and critical audiences throughout the United
States has brought much honor
to the Syrian name. We maintain that if he is so appreciated
by others he should be more
so by us. His presence is bound
to lend prestige to every gathering and we would be passing
by a rare opportunity by not
profiting of his cooperation
during his stay among us. Sure-
�""*
THE SYRIAN WORLD
44
ly his convenience will have to
be consulted owing to his heavy
speaking program, but we cannot conceive of the possibility
of his refusing invitations from
his own people whenever feasible. In case of necessity we
can draft him to the service of
our common cause. His sense
of racial duty, however, renders such a course unlikely.
Another outstanding figure
is our scholar and historian Dr.
Philip K. Hitti of Princeton
whom we know to be much
sought after as a speaker to the
most select audiences. He also
should be drafted to the service of the common cause. We
have a right to the services of
such of our distinguished men
and they should not evade the
call to duty. The Rev. W. A.
Mansur of Nebraska is another
able representative who should
be available within a certain
radius from his city, and we
feel confident that he can do
honor to every public occasion.
Only when these and others,
too numerous to be here mentioned,find it impossible to respond should we forgo the advantage of their presence. We
should awaken to the necessity
of mobilizing our native talent
for the most effective service
they can give. It would be gross
negligence on the part of our
scattered Syrian communities
not to avail themselves of such
opportunities.
'
ORGANIZATION
HERE is an object lesson
to the Syrians of America
in a recent example set by the
Jews. The number of Palestinian Jews in the country does not
exceed five thousand, yet they
have formed a national federation of their societies at a convention held in New York and
attended by one hundred delegates. Could not the Syrians be
brought together to work in cooperation and harmony when
their number in the countrv
exceeds 250,000?
T
PUBLICATION DATES
pOLLOWING the precedent
etablished last year, THE
SYRIAN WORLD will suspend
publication during July and
August of this year also, as well
as during each following year
until further notice. This would
make the regular year of THE
SYRIAN WORLD ten months, a
practice followed by many other publications of a special
character.
Owing to the editor's absence
in Syria last year we had fallen
behind our regular publication
dates. This delay will be eliminated in the future when we
hope to resume our former
method of publishing each issue at the beginning instead of
at the end of its particular
month. The coming issue for
September will therefore appear early in that month.
I^^M
-•
�.—m
JUNE, 1930
45
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcosmic
picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever Arabic
dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking writers
who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabic-speaking
world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take no part in
the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our task will
simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and with utmost
sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed
in these editorials.
Editor.
PALESTINE DELEGATION
MAKES GOOD POINT
A point well taken in the statement of the Palestine delegation
now visiting in the United States is
their exhortation of their fellow
countrymen to retain their lands
and other property, and to acquire
what there is of such lands for sale,
in order to prevent its falling into
the hands of the Jews. This would
seem to be the only safe and sane
course to follow, as no benefit could
accrue from inciting to riot and
bloodshed. Violence is calculated to
benefit only the wealthy classes in
that it would bolster their prestige
and strengthen their hold on the
ignorant.
The only recourse of any country
boasting of independence in an effort to ward foreign penetration
should be the encouragement of
agriculture, industry and mining,
and the establishment of a system
of public education that would be
truly non-denominational, such as
now exists in the United States and
in France. The separation of civil
government from religious influence
cannot be too strongly emphasized.
This, and not the mere sending of
delegations to collect funds, should
be the supreme goal of those who
would see their country free from
any outside interference or tftie
danger of foreign invasion.
AI-Hoda, N. Y., May 10, 1930.
ARMENIANS IN SYRIA,
JEWS IN PALESTINE
The proportionate number of Armenians in Syria, we believe, is
much larger than that of the Jews
in Palestine, yet between the immigration of the two groups there is
a vast difference. The Armenians
came to Syria as honest immigrants
with the will to toil in contentment
and share witJh the natives some of
their privileges and gifts of life,
while the Jews came not as immigrants, but as usurpers who would
impose themselves on the country
not by their might but by their
financial influence on European government, especially the English government, one of whose spokesmen
lately stated that the Balfour declaration was a war necessity designed to influence Jewish financiers
in Germany against subscribing to
the war loans of their government.
The Armenians in Syria came to
�mm
46
settle in the land and earn their
living by the sweat of their brows,
but the Jewish influx into Palestine
was of a decidedly different character—they came from the ends of
the earth with the fixed purpose of
establishing a Jewish state.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
SYRIANS' PROGRESS
IN THE UNITED STATES
Every day we have a new proof
of the progress of the Syrian and
Lebanese immigrants in the United
States. This progress, it should be
borne in mind, is not restricted to
Under the circumstances Syria's the commercial field; it has encomlot is much better than that of Pal- passed every field of human endeaestine, because the Armenians are vor and is cogent proof of the native
peaceful and industrious and are Intelligence,
resourcefulness and
proving a potent factor in the eco- versatility of our immigrants. We
nomic rehabilitation of the country. now find amongst us many men of
They did not advance any claim on standing in science, in arts, in letSyria. They did not boast that they ters and even in politics. Many are
had a right in the land which they those who have become recognized
came to claim. All they did was to writers of high standing in the Engenter into competition with the na- lish language. We also have lawtives which is a natural right of all yers, architects, physicians
and
immigrants who abide by the laws dentists. We can also count several
of the land.
bankers. And this in spite of the
Not so are conditions in Palestine fact that our immigration dates
where no sooner had the Jews made back to no farther than forty years.
Perhaps the outstanding achievetheir entry than they began laying
claims to the legal possession of the ment of the Syrians is in the field
country, its holy places, its govern- of commerce. Not only in New York
ment and its resources. They had but everywhere throughout the
their language proclaimed as an of- United States they have succeeded
ficial one and bent every endeavor in establishing flourishing business
to revive and impose their tradi- enterprises which bear testimony to
tions from which they will not move their inherent ability and sustained
a single iota. This has resulted in energy and industry.
We would rather say that our
bitter enmity between them and the
brothers
in the interior have scored
natives.
an advance over us in mingling
Had the Jews sought to settle in with Americans and sharing in the
Palestine in the same spirit that the social and political life of the comArmenians came to Syria there munity. There is hardly a city in
would have been none to bear them the interior where we do not find
enmity or wish them ill. Instead, the Syrians prominent in civic mattheir presence has been cause for ters and well known by the authorioting and bloodshed at every op- rities and the community at large.
portunity. Such is the result of the
We are prompted to these reaggressive policy of their leaders marks by the success of the Syrianwhich aimed to usurp the country Lebanese community of Worcester,
from its inhabitants by force and Mass., in capturing second prize in
succeeded only in gaining the enmi- the celebration held by that city on
ty of the country which they sought the occasion of the tercentenary of
to settle.
its foundation.
The Syrians and Lebanese posAs-Sayeh, N. Y., July 3, 1U30.
-
I
WJ
�2£^
JUNE, 1930
sess a moral force of whose existence many of us seem to be unconscious. This force is what preserved
the life of the nation throughout the
centuries in spite of the many vicissitudes which befe'l it. And this
latent force is what the Syrians and
Lebanese should rely upon and cultivate for the enhancement of their
prestige in this country. This should
be a powerful weapon in their hands
which they could wield in self-defense and which is more potent than
any material power they could muster.
It is gratifying to see that the
Syrians and Lebanese are gradually
awakening to the potentialities of
this latent force, and that they are
having recourse finally to the only
method which insures their benefiting fully by it. We refer to the
steady and growing formation of
Syrian-American societies which at
once preserve out entity and permit
our participation as a racial unit in
Hie life of the nation. Our wholehearted participation in all phases
of American public life should be
t once admitted beyond argument.
Organized, our participation will be
more beneficial and effective both to
ourselves and to the Americans who
should be convinced that our loyalty
to our adopted country is equal to
theirs.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., June 28, 1930.
47
be in a much better condition than
the one we are in now.
During the Turkish regime our
rulers sought to fan the fires of
religious and sectional prejudice in
pursuance of the policy of keeping
us divided, but what excuse have we
now in continuing such practices?
As Syrians, we should confine our
discussions to our national problems without touching on creeds,
and as Arabs, the interest of the
whole Arab race should be our concern regardless of geographical
divisions.
Europeans and Americans despise
us only as a result of our dissensions and divisions, and the mandatory powers offer no excuse for the
continuation of their occupation of
our country except that of protecting the minorities owing to the
danger of conflict between Christians and Moslems.
The Arabic press has been grievously responsible for this condition.
The Moslem and the Christian press
share the blame in an equal degree.
This is a sad commentary on the
mentality of a people who claims
the right of independence. If we
would be truly free we should free
ourselves first from the pernicious
influence of re'igious prejudice, allowing to the Christian and the Moslem the right to worship God in his
own way but joining hands in matters affecting the national welfare.
Syrian Eagle, N. Y. July 1, y930.
RELIGIOUS PREJUDICE
OUR NATIONAL EVIL
&
Is there no means of preventing
the Arabic press in general from indulging in discrimination between
religious creeds amoeg the Arabicspeaking peoples? Religious prejudice has been at the root of our
misfortunes and without it we would
MUCH ALIKE
Truly Beirut is the Paris of the
East. Do we not see how cabinets
rise and fall with the same quick
succession that such events take
place in the Paris of France.
As-Sayeh, N. Y.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
46
settle in the land and eam their
living by the sweat of their brows,
but the Jewish influx into Palestine
was of a decidedly different character—they came from the ends of
the earth with the fixed purpose of
establishing a Jewish state.
Under the circumstances Syria's
lot is much better than that of Palestine, because the Armenians are
peaceful and industrious and are
proving a potent factor in the economic rehabilitation of the countryThey did not advance any claim on
Syria. They did not boast that they
had a right in the land which they
came to claim. All they did was to
enter into competition with the natives which is a natural right of all
immigrants who abide by the laws
of the land.
Not so are conditions in Palestine
where no sooner had the Jews made
their entry than they began laying
claims to the legal possession of the
country, its holy places, its government and its resources. They had
their language proclaimed as an official one and bent every endeavor
to revive and impose their traditions from which they will not move
a single iota. This has resulted in
bitter enmity between them and the
natives.
Had the Jews sought to settle in
Palestine in the same spirit that the
Armenians came to Syria there
would have been none to bear them
enmity or wish them ill. Instead,
their presence has been cause for
rioting and bloodshed at every opportunity. Such is the result of the
aggressive policy of their leaders
which aimed to usurp the country
from its inhabitants by force and
succeeded only in gaining the enmity of the country which they sought
to settle.
As-Sayoh, N. Y., July 3, 11)30.
SYRIANS' PROGRESS
IN THE UNITED STATES
Every day we have a new proof
of the progress of the Syrian and
Lebanese immigrants in the United
States. This progress, it should be
borne in mind, is not restricted to
the commercial field; it has encompassed every field of human endeavor and is cogent proof of the native
intelligence,
resourcefulness and
versatility of our immigrants. We
now find amongst us many men of
standing in science, in arts, in letters and even in politics. Many are
those who have become recognized
writers of high standing in the English language. We also have lawyers, architects, physicians
and
dentists. We can also count several
bankers. And this in spite of the
fact that our immigration dates
back to no farther than forty years.
Perhaps the outstanding achievement of the Syrians is in the field
of commerce. Not only in New York
but everywhere throughout the
United States they have succeeded
in establishing flourishing business
enterprises which bear testimony to
their inherent ability and sustained
energy and industry.
We would rather say that our
brothers in the interior have scored
an advance over us in mingling
with Americans and sharing in the
social and political life of the community. There is hardly a city in
the interior where we do not find
the Syrians prominent in civic matters and well known by the authorities and the community at large.
We are prompted to these remarks by the success of the SyrianLebanese community of Worcester,
Mass., in capturing second prize in
the celebration held by that city on
the occasion of the tercentenary of
its foundation.
The Syrians and Lebanese pos-
�JUNE, 1930
<;l
sess a moral force of whose existence many of us seem to be unconscious. This force is what preserved
the life of the nation throughout the
centuries in spite of the many vicissitudes which befe'l it. And this
latent force is what the Syrians and
Lebanese should rely upon and cultivate for the enhancement of their
prestige in this country. This should
be a powerful weapon in their hands
which they could wield in self-defense and which is more potent than
any material power they could muster.
^ It is gratifying to see that the
Syrians and Lebanese are gradually
awakening to the potentialities of
this latent force, and that they are
having recourse finally to the only
method which insures their benefiting fully by it. We refer to the
steady and growing formation of
Syrian-American societies which at
once preserve out entity and permit
our participation as a racial unit in
the life of the nation. Our wholehearted participation in all phases
of American public life should be
t once admitted beyond argument.
Organized, our participation will be
more beneficial and effective both to
ourselves and to the Americans who
should be convinced that our loyalty
to our adopted country is equal to
theirs.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., June 28, 1930.
47
be in a much better condition than
the one we are in now.
During the Turkish regime our
rulers sought to fan the fires of
religious and sectional prejudice in
pursuance of the policy of keeping
us divided, but what excuse have we
now in continuing such practices?
As Syrians, we should confine our
discussions to our national problems without touching on creeds,
and as Arabs, the interest of the
whole Arab race should be our concern regardless of geographical
divisions.
Europeans and Americans despise
us only as a result of our dissensions and divisions, and the mandatory powers offer no excuse for the
continuation of their occupation of
our country except that of protecting the minorities owing to the
danger of conflict between Christians and Moslems.
The Arabic press has been grievously responsible for this condition.
The Moslem and the Christian press
s'hare the blame in an equal degree.
This is a sad commentary on the
mentality of a people who claims
the right of independence. If we
would be truly free we should free
ourselves first from the pernicious
influence of re'igious prejudice, allowing to the Christian and the Moslem the right to worship God in his
own way but joining hands in matters affecting the national welfare.
Syrian Eagle, N. Y. July 1, y930.
RELIGIOUS PREJUDICE
OUR NATIONAL EVIL
Is there no means of preventing
the Arabic press in general from indulging in discrimination between
religious creeds among the Arabicspeaking peoples? Religious prejudice has been at the root of our
misfortunes and without it we would
MUCH ALIKE
Truly Beirut is the Paris of the
East. Do we not see how cabinets
rise and fall with the same quick
succession that such events take
place in the I'aris of France.
As-Sayeh, N. Y.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
48
Political Developments in Syria
SYRIANS PROTEST
NEW CONSTITUTION
Hold Public Demonstration in
Damascus and Other Cities.
High Commissioner Ponsot Leaves
for France.
Instead of pacifying the Syrians
the proclamation of a republic
has only tended to reawaken their
militant spirit and prompt them to
take energetic measures of protest.
Syrian papers reaching the United
States bearing dates as late as June
15 depict the country as being in a
tense state of excitement, with public demonstrations of protest and
encounters with the police taking
place in Damascus, Aleppo and
many other cities.
The apparent placidity with which
Ihe Syrians first received the proclamation of the new constitution
would seem to have been the result
of astonishment which atrophied
the populace into inaction. What
they were given was completely out
of harmony with what they had expected. After a patient wait of almost two years following the suspension of the Constituent Assembly, they were nursing the hope of
being given something that would
at least serve as a basis for a possible solution. The result was a further curtailment of their liberties
and an offer of new elections which
would aggravate the chaotic conditions prevailing in the country. The
present situation is seething with
elements of danger.
The new constitution having been
proclaimed on May 22, no definite
action was taken until a fortnight
later when Fakhry Bey Baroody, a
Nationalist leader and Secretary of
the Constituent Assembly, called a
meeting of his Nationalist colleagues
to meet at his house on June 11.
The provisional government, still in
control and opposed to the Nationalists, sought to prevent the meeting
on the pretext that no permit had
been granted for holding it. Police,
militia and firemen laid siege to
the house of Baroody and blocked
all access to it. The encounters which
ensued with the demonstrators resulted in several casualties. But the
Nationalists outwitted the forces of
Ihe government and the meeting
was held on schedule at the house
of Jamil Bey Murdam, another Nationalist leader. Fiery speeches were
made by Fares Bey Khoury and
others, and the following resolutions adopted and sent to the High
Commissariat, the French Foreign
Office and the League of Nations,
signed by Murdam:
"I am authorized by the throngs
gathered today in a public demonstration of protest, and who have
the support of the whole city which
has declared a general strike, to dispatch a strong protest to the League
of Nations against: 1, the action of
the authorities in preventing the
Constituent Assembly from pursuing
its natural functions; —2, the proposed division of the country and
the bestowing upon it of five different
and separate constitutions; —3, the
inclusion of Article 116 which nullifies the constitution and our national independence; —4, maintaining in power a provisional govern-
t
�i
JUNE, 1930
ment which has held office for years
against the will of the people; —5,
denying a large number of Syrians
the right of return to their country;
—6, the government action in restraining the liberty of the people
in their own homes by force of arms.
They wish to declare themselves as
determined against recognizing any
action or treaty that does not emanate from the people or their lawful
representatives."
J
Other than the above, no official
reply to the action of the High
Commissioner has been issued from
Nationalistic sources. The nearest
approach to any such action is the
press interview given by Fakhry Bey
Baroody denying the existence of
dissension in the ranks of the Nationalists and asserting that the
country would never acquiesce in the
administrative
arrangement
decreed by the new draft of the constitution. "Even a superficial comparison between our constitution
and that of the mandatory power,"
he said, "will demonstrate the utter
impossibility of the people's acceptance of it. It irrevocably decrees
the division of the country into separate states when we demand unity.
It makes of the temporary arrangement a permanent institution and
thereby perpetuates the illegality
first committed. The Provisional
government owes its existence to
the will of the Mandatory Power
which has ignored the desires of
the lawfully-elected representatives
of the people. Furthermore, the proclamation of the new draft of the
constitution was undertaken without the consent of the Constituent
"\ssembly."
Baroody Bey makes by this deca ration a direct contradiction to
the High Commissioner's statement
i which he asserted that the sec-
''
"' "
49
retariat of the Constituent Assembly was consulted before action was
taken on the constitution and that
it had tentatively subscribed its
approval.
What is considered of paramount
importance in the statement of the
Syrian Nationalist leader is his unequivocal declaration of the Syrians'
desire to be a part of the pan-Arab
movement! Hjis exact words are:
"Arab unity is the goal of every
Arab. If efforts are directed towards
its materialization then the nation
may be said to have discovered the
right path leading to the fulfillment
of its aspirations. I, personally, will
not deviate a hair's breadth from
pursuing the strict line of pan-Arab
policy, and I trust that the whole
nation realizes that the policy of
decentralization and regional divisions is doomed to failure."
The Nationalists' spokesman here
took pains to deny that any serious
difference on matters of policy had
arisen in the ranks of the party and
attributed rumors to that effect to
the malicious intentions of persons
in alliance with the "colonists."
The nature of these rumors is,
indeed, disturbing. They represent
President Tajeddin as having succeeded in splitting the Nationalists
by a tentative coalition program
which would admit some Nationalist
leaders into office. This arrangement
would leave Tajeddin at the head of
the government while Jamil Bey
Murdam (Nationalist) would be offered the Premiership and Hashim
Bey Atassi, President of the dissolved Constituent Assembly, would
be made President of the coming
Representative Assembly.
Some sort of verisimilitude is
lent these rumors by the fact that
the Nationalists called a convention
for June 9 to be held at Aleppo,
when it was expected they would
deliberate their future policy and
�.
-,
50
issue a formal statement on their
stand in the face of the new developments. This failed of materialization
and rumors went abroad that dissension had arisen within their
ranks.
Royalists Active.
There is now in Syria, on the
other hand, a royalist party which is
said by its adherents to be gaining
in strength the more the people
realize their unpreparedness for a
republican form of government. The
acknowledged leader of the Royalists, Aref Pasha Adlebi, proceeded
to Beirut soon after the declaration
of the Constitution and lodged a
protest with the mandatory authorities against proclaiming Syria a
republic. His contention is that the
overwhelming majority of the population favors a constitutional monarchy, asserting that if the coming
elections are free from administrative interference fully seventy-five
per cent, of the deputies elected will
be of his party. The Royalists' candidate for the proposed throne is
Ahmad Nami Bey, erstwhile President of Syria, who is said to be
the only man able to bring harmony
between the Syrians and the French
on one hand, and between the large
bedouin element and the urban population on the other.
Clearly, as some Syrian papers
comment, not a single element of
the Syrian population is satisfied
with the result of the latest move
of the French High Commissioner.
Meanwhile, M. Ponsot sailed for
France on his annual vacation and
for the purpose of being near to
give advice when the question of the
new political arrangement in Syria
comes up for discussion in the
League of Nations. Already the
French representative on the Mandates Commission has submitted to
THE SYRIAN WORLD
his colleagues the drafts of the new
constitutions for the several Syrian
States and the general expectation
is that they will be approved.
What is claimed by the correspondent of Al-Ahram of Cairo to be
authentic information is that the
Syrian Nationalists have finally decided to take part in the coming
elections on three conditions, namely, the issuance of a general amnesty, dismissal of the present government, and appointment of a neutral
government to supervise the elections. These conditions are said to
have been submitted by Hashim Bey
Atassi to the French authorities.
CONDITIONS IN LEBANON
The economic situation in Lebanon, as well as in all other parts of
Syria, is far from being satisfactory.
The French authorities
called a conference early in June
to discuss means for improving
conditions and tentatively decided
lo lower the tariff. The unstability
of the political situation in Syria
has tended to aggravate matters
already acute.
Lebanon depends on the summer
resort industry as one of its chief
sources of income, and the native
government had taken extra pains
to attract residents and tourists to
the country this season. The main
dependence is on Egypt whence
thousands of families come to Lebanon each year for the summer,
and a special Lebanese representative was sent thither to lecture and
otherwise
conduct
propaganda.
Prospects had been exceptionally
good until an order was issued requiring every Egyptian coming to
Xebanon to be inoculated with anticholera serum due to the discovery
of a few cases of bubonic plague in
Egypt. This immediately raised a
storm of protest which caused the
�1
JUNE, 1930
'
51
Lebanese authorities to rescind the to the growth of home industry.
harmful requirement. It later trans- The native governments of the varpired that the native Lebanese gov- ious Syrian States have been reernment had no part in, or even quired to take over the property of
knowledge of, the issuance of the the dissolved Regie at a figure fixed
order. The health authorities at the by the French authorities, while
headquarters of the High Commis- charters are being issued to foreign
sariat had done so on their own interests to compete in the tobacco
initiative. When the Arabic papers trade of the country. The Regie, as
of Egypt condemned the action the a result, may be reorganized to enter
President of Lebanon went in per- the field after having .disposed of
son to see the acting High Commis- its old stock and obsolete machinery
sioner and made strong representa- at a handsome price and enter into
tions to him. It is a sad commen- competition with the natives with
tary indeed on conditions in the decided advantage.
country that things have to be done
in such manner. Still the necessary
PALESTINE
rectification of the matter was made
before much damage had been done.
Case of the Wailing Wall—Arab
The new developments in the SyrExecutions.
ian political situation had a depresThe International Commission apsing effect on Lebanon. The papers
pointed
by the League of Nations to
of Beirut, almost of one accord, disinvestigate
the Moslem and Jewish
approve of the French High Comclaims
to
the
Wailing Wall was remissioner's plan for solving the
ported
in
press
dispatches from
tangled problem. Many are boldly
Jerusalem
on
June
25 to have opencommenting on the inadequacy of
ed
its
hearings.
The
Jews presented
such half-way measures and cite the
ineffective and unsatisfactory work- a lengthy memorandum establishing
ing of the Lebanese constitution as their right to worship at the Wall
an example of the one proposed for from time immemorial, a right
which the Arabs denied. The ComSyria.
mission is still conducting its hearLebanon seems to be doomed to ings.
continual political upheavals. The
The fortress city of Acca in Palpress criticism directed at the cabi- estine was the scene on June 17 of
net of August Pasha Adib fore- the execution of the three Arabs
bodes ill for it. Some observers
condemned for participation in the
would see in the growing volume bloody riots of August 23 of last
of criticism signs of an approaching
year. The original number of Arabs
crisis bound to result in the cabi- under death sentence was twentynet's downfall. It has already been five, but a reprieve was granted in
in office three months and has the case of twenty-two. The Arabs
achieved nothing.
Three to six of Palestine mobilized the whole
months has been the average life of Arab world to intercede for the
Lebanese cabinets in the past few other three, influencing King Feiyears.
sal of Iraq and Emir Abdullah of
Although the Regie, or tobacco Transjordania to send telegraphic
monopoly, has been terminated in petitions in their behalf to King
Syria and Lebanon, the result has George, but all to no avail.
not been found very encouraging
On the day of the execution all
�MII1UL »LH 11II. JIIIWIUH.JHH1.t
52
Palestine went on strike, and although the day passed without serious disturbances, a British police
officer was stabbed by a Moslem in
Jaffa.
Commenting on the execution, the
Arab national organ Falastin, in its
English edition of June 21, declares
that the three executed men are "in
the eyes of their countrymen martyrs to the National cause. It has
been suggested that murders do not
make martyrs. It is a misreading of
history. To take a comparative recent instance, the man Who murdered the Archduke of Austria and
was the tangible cause of the Great
War, was honored by his government officially, after his death. It
Is another thing to judge a man objectively, in cool moments, with
the ordinary law. But when nations
are sold away for selfish ends by
mightier powers; when they are
economically murdered as foully as
any physical murder; when theirs
and their children's bread is snatched
under treaties to which they are not
a party; when an alien people -is set
amongst them to insult them every
day by different means; when all
attempts to redress the wrongs
have failed; then human beings do
not use the ordinary weapons or
submit to be enslaved, but strike
back blindly, passionately and cruelly. * * * These three Arabs could
not be treated like ordinary criminals. *** If the government thought
these men very dangerous, it could
easily save society by keeping them
7n prison. To disregard all the passionate appeals (of Arab rulers) is
to show the value it sets on the
friendship of those who tried to intervene. Can it then wonder if the
Arabs pay back in similar sentiments and hug closer their dead
Che more to nurse the bitterness of
humiliation?"
THE SYRIAN WORLD
PALESTINE MARTYR'S WILL
Fuad Hijazi, one of the three
Palestinian Arabs executed at Acca
on June 17, was an educated young
man and a government employee.
Before going to the gallows he is
reported to have addressed the
British officials present in their own
language condemning the policy of
their government in Palestine and
warning them of the consequences
of their tyranny, asserting that the
Arabs did not fear their might.
In his last will he addressed each
member of his family personally,
admonishing one of his brothers
against "disturbance of the peace
and all other activities liable to impede his success in life." To his
brother Ahmed he says: "I was exceedingly touched by your vow of
yesterday to avenge my death.
Know, my beloved brother, that this
matter should not be your personal
concern any more, because I am become the son and brother of the
whole nation."
In addressing his mother he expresses himself as follows: "Grieve
not over my death, but rather wish
that you had a thousand sons who
would offer their lives for the nation. Your son Fuad is not des.d. I
have become immortal, thanks to
God, and my name shall be handed
<Town from generation to generation.
You should rejoice that your son
Fuad has achieved such distinction
and died before passing the second
decade of life.... A nation is deserving of life in proportion to the number of its sons willing to offer the
supreme sacrifice. The nation that
meekly submits to oppression and
tyranny should have its name stricken from the book of life... . Behold
how I offer my life as a cornerstone
in the foundation of the independence of Palestine within the Arab
federation."
I
�Ill III"
I
JUNE, 1930
53
About Syria and Syrians
SYRIAN CELEBRATION
AT NEW LONDON
The Syrian-American Society of
New London, Conn., held its annual
celebration at Wendell's Pavillion on
the afternoon and evening of Sunday, June 22, and made of the occasion a great success. The mayor and
many other officials and notables of
the city, as well as numerous delegations and representatives of Syrian
communities in other cities, were
present.
The program called for an afternoon session, which was conducted
in Arabic and at which N. A. Mokarzel editor of Al-Hoda, presided,
and for an evening session conducted in English at which the editor of
The Syrian World acted as chairman.
N. A. Mokarzel read an original
poem in Arabic which he composed
for the occasion. The list of the
Arabic speakers included Joseph S.
Hage, President of the Syrian-American Society; Rt. Rev. Antoun Anid,
Syrian pastor of New London; Fred
Hashim, President of the LebaneseAmerican Club of Poughkeepsie, N.
Y., and head of a visiting delegation; Esper Ganim of Bridgeport,
Conn., who although a boy of fourteen and American-born, spoke in
English on the necessity of the perpetuation of the Syrian heritage in
America; Ameen Rihani, author and
lecturer; Rev. Louis Eid of Fall
River, Mass.; A. Rustum of Orange,
N. J.; Farris S. Maloof, attorney of
Boston; S. P. Hamrah of Hartford,
Conn., and Elias S. Hage of New
London.
During intermissions Mrs. Julia
ssia sang Arabic selections to the
accompaniment of B. Hallal on the
oud. American music was supplied
by Shepard and Swanson Orchestra.
Speakers at the evening session,
besides the chairman, were Hon. C.
D. Twohmey, mayor of New London; Homer K. Underwood, Headmaster of Bulkley School; Deputy
Judge John McGarry; Prosecuting
Attorney Max Boyer; Ameen Rihani
and Farris S. Maloof.
The Syrian speakers acquitted
themselves most creditably on this
occasion and the society is to be
highly complimented on its good
judgment in inviting them.
The success of the celebration may
be judged by the visiting delegations
which came from New York City,
Syracuse and Poughkeepsie, N. Y.;
North Adams, Boston, Fall River'
New Bedford and Springfield, Mass.;
Providence, R. I.; Torrington, Danbury, Waterbury, Bridgeport, New
Haven, Ansonia, Willimantic and
Norwich, Conn., and from as far as
New Jersey.
The delegates were banqueted at
noon at the home of A. J. Maloof,
an ex-President of the society, and
in the evening, at the Pavillion.
The Syrian-American Society of
New London has done much during
its short existence to enhance the
prestige of the Syrian community
in the city and state. Its word of
greeting appearing in its program
is illuminating. It says in part:
"While our society came into
existence as an organized body only
a few years ago, the SyrianAmerican community of New London has been at all times striving
toward the fulfillment of the ideal
for which their society stands,
�T
52
Palestine went on strike, and although the day passed without serious disturbances, a British police
officer was stabbed by a Moslem in
Jaffa.
Commenting on the execution, the
Arab national organ Falastin, in its
English edition of June 21, declares
that the three executed men are "in
the eyes of their countrymen martyrs to the National cause. It has
been suggested that murders do not
make martyrs. It is a misreading of
history. To take a comparative recent instance, the man Who murdered the Archduke of Austria and
was the tangible cause of the Great
War, was honored by his government officially, after his death. It
Is another thing to judge a man objectively, in cool moments, with
the ordinary law. But when nations
are sold away for selfish ends by
mightier powers; when they are
economically murdered as foully as
any physical murder; when theirs
and their children's bread is snatched
under treaties to which they are not
a party; when an alien people-is set
amongst them to insult them every
day by different means; when all
attempts to redress the wrongs
have failed; then human beings do
not use the ordinary weapons or
submit to be enslaved, but strike
back blindly, passionately and cruelly. * * * These three Arabs could
not be treated like ordinary criminals. *** If the government thought
these men very dangerous, it could
easily save society by keeping them
7n prison. To disregard all the passionate appeals (of Arab rulers) is
to show the value it sets on the
friendship of those who tried to intervene. Can it then wonder if the
Arabs pay back in similar sentiments and hug closer their dead
{he more to nurse the bitterness of
humiliation?"
THE SYRIAN WORLD
PALESTINE MARTYR'S WILL
Fuad Hijazi, one of the three
Palestinian Arabs executed at Acca
on June 17, was an educated young
man and a government employee.
Before going to the gallows he is
reported to have addressed the
British officials present in their own
language condemning the policy of
their government in Palestine and
warning them of the consequences
of their tyranny, asserting that the
Arabs did not fear their might.
In his last will he addressed each
member of his family personally,
admonishing one of his brothers
against "disturbance of the peace
and all other activities liable to impede his success in life." To his
brother Ahmed he says: "I was exceedingly touched by your vow of
yesterday to avenge my death.
Know, my beloved brother, that this
matter should not be your personal
concern any more, because I am become the son and brother of the
whole nation."
In addressing his mother he expresses himself as follows: "Grieve
not over my death, but rather wish
that you had a thousand sons who
would offer their lives for the nation. Your son Fuad is not des.d. I
have become immortal, thanks to
God, and my name shall be handed
uown from generation to generation.
You should rejoice that your son
Fuad has achieved such distinction
and died before passing the second
decade of life.... A nation is deserving of life in proportion to the number of its sons willing to offer the
supreme sacrifice. The nation that
meekly submits to oppression and
tyranny should have its name stricken from the book of life.... Behold
how I offer my life as a cornerstone
in the foundation of the independence of Palestine within the Arab
federation."
�" "
.
——^M^—
JUNE, 1930
53
About Syria and Syrians
SYRIAN CELEBRATION
AT NEW LONDON
The Syrian-American Society of
New London, Conn., held its annual
celebration at Wendell's Pavillion on
the afternoon and evening of Sunday, June 22, and made of the occasion a great success. The mayor and
many other officials and notables of
the city, as well as numerous delegations and representatives of Syrian
communities in other cities, were
present.
The program called for an afternoon session, which was conducted
in Arabic and at which N. A. Mokarzel editor of Al-Hoda, presided,
and for an evening session conducted in English at which the editor of
The Syrian World acted as chairman.
N. A. Mokarzel read an original
poem in Arabic which he composed
for the occasion. The list of the
Arabic speakers included Joseph S.
Hage, President of the Syrian-American Society; Rt. Rev. Antoun Anid,
Syrian pastor of New London; Fred
Hashim, President of the LebaneseAmerican Club of Poughkeepsie, N.
Y., and head of a visiting delegation; Esper Ganim of Bridgeport,
Conn., who although a boy of fourteen and American-born, spoke in
English on the necessity of the perpetuation of the Syrian heritage in
America; Ameen Rihani, author and
lecturer; Rev. Louis Eid of Fall
River, Mass.; A. Rustum of Orange,
N. J.; Farris S. Maloof, attorney of
Boston; S. P. Hamrah of Hartford,
Conn., and Elias S. Hage of New
London.
During intermissions Mrs. Julia
Assia sang Arabic selections to the
accompaniment of B. Hallal on the
oud. American music was supplied
by Shepard and Swanson Orchestra.
Speakers at the evening session,
besides the chairman, were Hon. C.
D. Twohmey, mayor of New London; Homer K. Underwood, Headmaster of Bulkley School; Deputy
Judge John McGarry; Prosecuting
Attorney Max Boyer; Ameen Rihani
and Farris S. Maloof.
The Syrian speakers acquitted
themselves most creditably on this
occasion and the society is to be
highly complimented on its good
judgment in inviting them.
The success of the celebration may
be judged by the visiting delegations
which came from New York City,
Syracuse and Poughkeepsie, N. Y.;
North Adams, Boston, Fall River,
New Bedford and Springfield, Mass.;
Providence, R. I.; Torrington, Danbury, Waterbury, Bridgeport, New
Haven, Ansonia, Willimantic and
Norwich, Conn., and from as far as
New Jersey.
The delegates were banqueted at
noon at the home of A. J. Maloof,
an ex-President of the society, and
in the evening, at the Pavillion.
The Syrian-American Society of
New London has done much during
its short existence to enhance the
prestige of the Syrian community
in the city and state. Its word of
greeting appearing in its program
is illuminating. It says in part:
"While our society came into
existence as an organized body only
a few years ago, the SyrianAmerican community of New London has been at all times striving
toward the fulfillment of the ideal
for which their society stands,
�54
namely, to promote the civic welfare of the Syrian and Lebanese
people in this country. Coming from
a race which has given much to the
world, it is our ambition to give to
America the best that is in us of
our racial heritage by making every
effort to be loyal American citizens."
RIHANI LECTURES
AT CHAUTAUQUA
Ameen Rihani, noted Syrian traveler, author and lecturer, has beer
invited to give a series of lectures
covering the whole week of July
20-26. He is, to our knowledge, the
first Syrian to appear on the Chautauqua platform for such a long
engagement. The Syrians are to be
congratulated on the distinction
achieved by one of their most brilliant sons in America.
Prior to his appearance at Chautauqua, Mr. Rihani is expected to
take part in the Syrian pageant at
the tercentenary celebration of the
city of Boston by invitation from
the local Syrian community.
WORCESTER SYRIANS
WIN SECOND PRIZE
The city of Worcester, Mass.,
celebrated on June 28 the tercentenary of its foundation, by a historic
pageant in which all racial groups
took part.
The Syrian community, under the
leadership of the recently organized
Syrian-American Club, contributed
a float representing an American
historical scene. They won the second prize consisting of a state flag.
The first prize was won by the
Greeks who represented the progress
of civilization and the prominent
part Greek culture played in its acceleration. The prize consisted of a
gold cup.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
VISITING EDUCATOR
RETURNS TO SYRIA
Having wound up her campaign
for the Ahleyah School in Beirut,
Miss Marie Kassab will sail for
home about the middle of July.
During her stay in the United
States she visited the principal Syrian centers and succeeded in raising
a fund exceeding $6,000. She returns
by way of France where she expects
to spend some time studying modern
and improved educational methods
for introduction in her school.
BRILLIANT SYRIAN SCHOLAR
Having won his Ph. D. at Princeton at the age of twenty-one, Costy
Zrike of Damascus, sailed for Syria
early in July to take up his duties
as Assistant Professor of Oriental
History at the American University
of Beirut.
Dr. Zrike's scholastic record has
been a most brilliant one. Having
made his studies in Arabic in one
of the native schools of Damascus,
he won a scholarship at the American University where higher studies
are conducted in English. During the
summer recess the boy set about
studying English and passed his
examinations for admission to the
elementary school. In five years he
had graduated with high honors and
won another scholarship Which
brought him to the United States,
where he studied at the University
of Chicago, Columbia and Princeton.
FIRST LEBANESE IN
BRAZILIAN CONGRESS
The Sphinx, an Arabic-language
paper of San Paolo, Brazil, reports
that Dr. Jose Petro Abi Deeb has
been elected a member of the Bra-
t
�1
JUNE, 1930
zilian congress for the State of
Espirito Santo.
Dr. Deeh is of Lebanese origin,
his father having migrated from
Zgharta in North Lebanon and settled in Victoria, capital of the Brazilian State of Espirito Santo. He
is, according to the statement of the
paper, the first Lebanese to hold
such office.
LEBANESE GIRL
BEAUTY QUEEN
Arabic papers of South America
report that as a result of competition in a beauty contest held in the
sixteen states of the Uruguay Republic, a Lebanese girl, Miss Aneesa
Juan Antoun of Gouma, Lebanon,
won first prize in the state of San
Jose and was consequently given the
title of "Miss San Jose."
Now the Lebanese girl is entitled
to enter the national contest for the
selection of the beauty queen of the
whole republic. Her chances are
strong for being selected as the Uruguayan representative at the world
beauty contest to be held in Rio
Janeiro, Brazil.
PALESTINE JEWS
FORM FEDERATION
/
A national federation of Palestinian societies was formed in New
York early in July at a convention
of more than 100 delegates of local
organizations of Jews who were
born in Palestine, according to a
report of the New York Times. The
delegates, Who came from Chicago,
Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston and
several other cities, gathered at
the Pennsylvania Hotel, where messages of greeting were read from
Felix M. Warbrug, national chairman of the Allied Jewish Campaign
'
55
for Palestine and other prominent
American Jews.
Joseph Gabriel of New York, who
opened the convention, pointed out
that there were more than 5,000
Jews in the United States who had
been born in Palestine and that
many of them wished to return to
their native land.
The significant point in this news
item to Syrians is that the Palestinian Jews who number but 5,000
should have so many societies as
to send a hundred delegates to a
national convention. Granting that
the Syrians have societies in the
same proportion, will they respond
to a call for a federation in the
same manner?
DAMASCENES INCENSED
AT POLICE HELMETS
Aleph Ba, a leading paper of Damascus, reports that a good-sized
demonstration was staged by ulemas, merchants and artisans to protest the action of the police in wearing cork helmets during the summer
season.
The demonstrators are reported
to have first visited the mufti of
the city hoping to induce him to
voice their protest to the authorities, but he refused to take an active
part in the matter. Undaunted, they
marched to the Saraya and complained personally to President
Tajeddin, demanding that he issue
peremptory orders prohibiting the
innovation. Their argument was
that the heat was no excuse for
breaking age-long traditions held in
high reverence by the Moslems.
Members of the police force, they
claimed, could wear the kerchief
and ighal or otherwise adhere to
the tarboush. .
The President calmed the excited
demonstrators by promising to con-
�56
THE SYRIAN WORLD
duct an investigation into the matter, stating that the action of the
police was taken without the knowledge or sanction of the government.
It will be recalled that Dr. Ayub
Tabet, when Minister of the Interior
in Lebanon, forced the police to wear
the helmet over the protest of the
reactionary element.
tion. Many articles, especially statues of the Pharaohs, bore hieroglyphic inscriptions and were traced
to about 2,000 B. C.
All the newly discovered objects,
coming under twelve categories,
went to the National Museum, none
having been permitted to leave the
country.
SEVENTY ALAOUITE FAMILIES
CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY
DR. FORD'S COLLECTION
BEQUEATHED TO LEBANON
The majority of the inhabitants
of the villages of Taffaha and Jenainah, in the district of Tartous,
in the Alaouite State of Syria, comprising about seventy families, are
reported by the Syrian press to have
embraced Christianity at the hands
of a Jesuit missionary.
The religion of t'he Alaouites is
Islam of the Shiite sect, or followers of Imam Ali. They are bitterly
opposed to the Sunnites, or Moslems
of the orthodox faith.
Following this group conversion,
attacks on the converts are reported
to have been made by some of their
neighbors before the authorities
could intervene and furnish adequate
protection.
A most valuable addition to the
National Museum of Beirut 'has been
made possible through the generosity of Dr. Ford, an American missionary who lived in Sidon for nearly fifty years.
At a time when the natives knew
little or nothing of the value of the
antiquities which were to be found
in large quantities in and around
Sidon, once the flourishing capital
of the Phoenicians, Dr. Ford was
patiently and persistently gathering
his collection. Some of his articles
are invaluable as relics of Phoenician
civilization. The collection is carefully arranged and stored in a building of fifteen rooms.
Soon after the declaration of the
Lebanese Republic, the Lebanese
government was anxious to secure
the Ford collection for the National
Museum and bid for it $200,000. Dr.
Ford, however, set a price of $500,000.
Dr. Ford has since died, and when
Sis will was probated it was discovered that he had left his whole collection outright to the Lebanese government with the only condition that
it be preserved complete at the National Museum without permitting
a single object to leave the country.
The Council of Ministers at Beirut
ffeliberated the offer and voted to
accept it on the donor's conditions.
Out of gratitude for so great and
BYBLOS YIELDS
MORE TREASURES
Archaeological research at Jebail,
in Lebanon, on the site of the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos, has
yielded recently much
valuable
treasures, according to a report of
the curator of the National Museum
at Beirut.
Among the discoveries were several bronze statues of sacred cows
covered with gold leaf. Some of the
objects were in a fine state of preservation while others had rotted
beyond the possibility of redemp-
t
r
�1
JUNE,
1930
valuable a gift the government bestowed its highest decoration on
Dr. Ford's widow and on the American Consul General in Beirut.
SYRIAN ANTIQUITIES
DISPLAYED AT YALE
mmmm
57
the Syrian sun god about 2,500
years ago. Material of great importance in tracing the history of
the old Syrian city and the religious
cults of Syria before the advent of
Christ was found during excavations
in private houses and in the towers
of the city walls.
A rare collection of antiquities,
the fruit of two years of excavations SYRIAN PUPILS
in Syria, was placed on public exWIN FIRST HONORS
hibition for the first time at the
The Montreal correspondent of
Yale Gallery of Fine Arts as part Meraat-Ul-Gharb sends a glowing
of the commencement celebration, account of the extraordinary success
according to reports in the American of Syrian pupils at a certain public
press. The collection comes from school of that city at the last comSyria, where the historical objects mencement.
were found after being buried in
In the East side of Montreal, he
sand for several thousand years.
states, where live most of the SyrRare idols of worship are included ians, there is a public school whose
among the collection. There is also pupils number 1,000 drawn from all
a fine bas-relief of Atargatis and nationalities. The annual prizes of
Hadad—a copy of what is believed the school are equally divided beto be the great cult statues at Baal- tween the boys and the girls, four
bek; a Parthian altar with bas-re- for each group.
liefs; a head of a man sculptured in
Out of the thousand or more atstone; and
several inscriptions, tendance the Syrian pupils count
pieces of pottery, coins and some about fifty. But in the distribution
specimens of unusual jewelry.
of medals and prizes they won five
The finds were made during ex- out of eight, a very high percentage
cavations in the last two years at fndeed considering the large attendDoura-Europos, on the Euphrates ance and their relatively small numRiver, a place famous in olden times ber.
before it was buried under a heavy
The winning Syrian pupils were:
blanket of sand. With the permis- Olga Salim Kassab, Edna Abi Kasion of the Syrian Government, ex- lam, Adeeb Nicola Tannaj, Shafic
cavators from Yale University have Zerebtani and Kalil Hajje.
worked with a scientific group representing the French Academy on
the ancient fortress, and with outSYRIAN CANDIDATE
standing success.
FOR CONGRESS
The famous Temple of Artemis
has now been partly uncovered. This
A Syrian paper of New York refamous institution had been located ports that Sassin Letaif, a Lebanese
previously by Professor F. Cumont resident of Cross Plains, Texas, has
of the French Academy and beside been nominated by the Democratic
it a Temple of Atargatis and Hadad Party for congress. His chances of
was also discovered. Atargatis was success are excellent owing to the
sung as the Syrian goddess of fer- strength of the Democrats in the
tility and Hadad was worshiped as South.
—•-.
�BOOKS BY SYRIAN AUTHORS
To recommend to Syrians the acquisition of books
in English by Syrian authors would seem superfluous,
especially when the books are such as to cause every
Syrian to feel proud of the fact that their authors are of
his countrymen. All the books listed below have been
exceptionally well received by American critics, some of
them gaining national and even international distinction.
Not alone as a matter of racial pride, but also as a valuable addition to every modern library and as an indispensable medium of wider culture all Syrian homes should
have all or most of these books.
All prices quoted include postage.
Books by Ameen Rihani
Maker of Modern Arabia
The Path of Vision
A Chant of Mystics and Other Poems
$6.00
1.25
1.25
Books by Kahlil Gibran
Sand and Foam
Prophet—Reg
The Madman
The Forerunner
Jesus, The Son of Man
2.25
2.75
2.00
2.75
3.75
Books by Dr P. K. Hitti
As-Suyuti's Who's Who in the 15th Century (Arabic)
Pap<;r Cover
Usamah, an Arab-Syrian Gentleman and
Warrior of the Crusades
Syrians in America
Syria and the Syrians (Arabic)
History of Syrian Commerce in the United
States (Arabic; Illustrated)
By S. A. MOKARZEL.
Immortality (By DR. I. G. KHEIRALLA)
3.50
3.00
4.75
1.25
1.10
3.25
1.25
/I
�1
i
JUNE, 1930
59
(
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SYRIA, LEBANON, PALESTINE, EGYPT
OR ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE
NEAR EAST
Can Best Be Known by
VISITING —SEEING
Our native staff is in a position to give you first-hand
information on any of these countries, as well as expert
advice on planning itineraries that will afford the max
imum of benefit for the minimum of expense.
A. K. HITTI & COMPANY
83 WASHINGTON STREET
NEW YORK CITY
Phone Bowling Green 2765
!
�60
THE SYRIAN WORLD
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On check accounts, interest will be paid at the rate of
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a
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of control to its original founders by this liberal policy
of sharing profits with its depositors. Out-of-Town accounts are solicited on the same basis. We shall be glad
to correspond with anyone, anywhere, interested in availing himself of our facilities and liberal terms.
BANKING BY MAIL is a conception of good business.
You can begin at once to enjoy the facilities of
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Telephone—MAIN 1398-1399-8130-3655
THE
MOSLEM WORLD
A Christian Quarterly Review of
Current Events, Literature and
Thought among Mohammedans.
Editor: SAMUEL M. ZWEMER
It is the only magazine published
in English, which, from a Christian
standpoint, has dealt exclusively
with the Moslem problem in all its
phases in all lands for two decades.
It is indispensable to those who
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A well-appointed Syrian restaurant in the heart of the
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�•
THE ARABIC
LINOTYPE
in the FAR EAST
From the Far West of the Old World, Morocco, Tunis,
etc., to what is known as the Far East, the Arabic Linotype
is coming into general use. It has covered not only the
countries that speak Arabic as a native language, but those
speaking various Oriental languages using the Arabic
characters. There are around two hundred and fifty millions coming under this category.
The Malayan language was one of those to benefit by
the adaption of the Linotype to Arabic, and the government of the Federated Malay States was quick to avail
itself of this modern, economical, and versatile type composing machine. In the Government Press at Kedah there
are now two American Model 14 Arabic Linotypes setting
Malay Arabic, and having all the distinctive features
known to the wonderful Arabic Linotype.
QRflDE LI N OTYPE
K
)
MERGENTHALER LINOTYPE COMPANY
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, U. S. A.
CABLE
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LINOTYPE CLOJSTLR SERILS
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�64
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ALPHABETS, NUMERALS AND
BANK ACCOUNTS
i
Just as languages must have alphabets and mathematics figures, likewise you must have pennies to accumulate the dollars.
If you don't save the ten dollars you will never have
the hundreds, and by saving the hundreds you will
have the thousands.
If you fail to begin today in saving the dollars, the
tens, and the hundreds, you will never have the thousands.
In fact if you fail to accumulate you will lose.
The best way to save is to open a savings account
with Faour Bank and be thrifty, as the proprietors of
Faour Bank are themselves a model of thrift.
Faour Bank is always ready and willing to counsel
and assist you to the best of its ability.
Let your dollars be the beginning of your wealth
as the alphabet and figures are the foundation of literature and mathematics.
The dollar you will save is your best friend, particularly when old age and misfortune occurs through
illness, etcetera.
The deposit you have in the bank will be your best
friend, and you can depend on it for help.
Faour Bank accepts time deposits from $5.00 to $10,000.00 at 4^2 per cent, interest per annum.
Checking accounts and thrift accounts may be opened
by mail, as well as in person.
FAOUR BANK
D. J. FAOUR & BROS.
Established 1891
Under Supervision of New York State Banking Department
85 WASHINGTON ST.,
•
NEW YORK,
N. Y.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
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English
Contributor
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
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Identifier
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TSW1930_06reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 04, Issue 10
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930 June
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 4 Issue 10 of The Syrian World published June 1930. The issue begins with Rev. W. A. Mansur's engaging question, "can the Syrian race survive in America?" He proceeds to give his concise response with sound reasoning, crafting an article that is certainly meant to make readers think deeply on the question. Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin is next featured with his poem titled "Reconciliation," which discusses forgetting the past in lieu of forgiveness. Dr. Talcott Williams continues on the topic of Syrians in America. Salloum Mokarzel then continues to relay his travels in northern Syria and the city of Aleppo in a vivid narration interwoven with the region's history. Kahlil Gibran is featured with another piece titled "On Hatred." There are a number of fiction pieces in the issue described as "not really fiction," but a formation of facts told in a romantic way, dealing with attributes like chivalry, love, and courtship. Finally Stuart Carter Dodd, a professor of Sociology at the American University of Beirut, writes the last article presented in this issue. He discusses an experiment regarding health insurance undertaken by Lebanese physician Dr. Rasheed Ma'took. After a poem by Thomas Asa titled "The Prophet," the issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press and more on political developments in Syria.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
1930s
Kahlil Gibran
Lebanon
Medical
New York
Reverend W.A. Mansur
Salim Alkazin
Stuart Carter Dodd
Syria
Talcott Williams
Thomas Asa
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/0256c2568d3a7038ea1a276717c3084f.pdf
ba9f019488dfc35adf7c7252bcd775d9
PDF Text
Text
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VOL. IV. No. 7
MARCH, 1930.
PR
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
A
MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
m
m
MEETING THE MARONITE PATRIARCH
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
ij
THE OLD AND THE NEW IN ARABIA
AMEEN RIHANI
HAROUN AL-RASHID AND THE TWO LOVERS
(AN ARABIAN NIGHTS* STORY)
THROUGH SOUTHERN LEBANON
m
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
I
8
CAUSES OF PALESTINE RIOTS
1
THE COPY 50c
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THE
SYRIAN WORLD
Tublished monthly by
SALLOUM
A.
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies 50c
Entered as second-class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
MARCH, 1930,
VOL. IV. No. 7.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Meeting the Maronile Patriarch
SALLOUM
A.
7
MOKARZEL
The Old and the New in Arabia
19
AMEEN RIHANI
On Life (Poem)
27
J. D.
CARLYLE
Haroun Al-Rashid and the Two Lovers
28
(An Arabian Nights' Story)
On Giving and Taking
KAHLIL
32
GIBRAN
�CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
The Tzvo Answers (Poem)
DR. SALIM
33
Y. ALKAZIN
The Traveler (Poem)
3+
ALICE MCGEORGE
Through Southern Lebanon
35
SALLOUM A. MoiCARZEL
Advice to a Rash Youth (Poem)
LABEEBEE
43
A. J. HANNA
Editorial Comment
44
Causes of Palestine Riots
46
Political Developments in Syria
S3
About Syria and Syrians
56
GREAT SYRIAN WORLD
CONTEST
FOR
A FREE TRIP TO SYRIA AND RETURN
IS ANNOUNCED
ON PAGES 4, 5 AND 6 OF
THIS ISSUE
spec
Ma
�IN THIS ISSUE
E
•
«
L
ROVERS of travel will find
in this issue much material
to their liking. Mysterious
Arabia and romantic 'Lebanon
are here described in some of
their most interesting phases.
AMEEN RIHANI gives us a
further account of his experiences in Jeddah — how King
Hussein made his subjects live
up to the Koranic law and how
they proceeded to break it once
he turned his back. He also tells
how banking operations are conducted in the public square, the
President and Cashier leaving
their money unguarded, simply
covering it with a straw mat, to
attend to their noon prayers at
the mosque. The whole narrative abounds in the most interesting information. * * *
THE EDITOR describes in a
special article his visit to the
Maronite Patriarch at his summer residence. Some of the
truly wonderful natural scenes
in Northern Lebanon are worth
knowing about, and they are
fully described and illustrated.
The Patriarch's opinions on
home politics and on the religious future of his spiritual children in America are faithfully
recorded. * * * In another article describing his journey
through Southern Lebanon, the
editor recalls some amusing experiences and gives an account
of his observations in Mashgara, Jezzine, Kfarhouna, AlMukhtara, Beit Eddeen and
Deir El-Kamar. * * * KAHLIL GIBRAN is preeminent
in his originality of thought.
He is here quoted on the nature
and meaning of giving and taking. The beautiful decoration
appearing with his quotations is
of his own design. * * * DR.
SALIM Y. ALKAZIN, as
usual, contributes some of his
highly valued poetical compositions, as do Labeebee A. J.
Hanna and Alice McGeorge.
* * * A SHORT STORY, in
the nature of those of the Arabian Nights, is an original translation from the Arabic. Many
are the tales of love and tragedy that have not yet found
their way into English and
which THE SYRIAN WORLD
gives for the first time to its
readers. * * * A SUMMARY
of the official report of the
Shaw Commission of inquiry
into the causes of the bloody
riots of last August in Palestine is published in this issue,
as well as a full account of the
political developments of the
month in Palestine, Syria and
Lebanon.
JOIN
THE GREAT
SYRIAN WORLD
CONTEST
�Great Syrian
For a FREE TRIP to
The editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD having made a trip to Syria in
the summer of 1929, which he is now describing in a series of articles in
the magazine, came to realize not only the great educational and cultural
advantages of such a trip, but its unrivalled possibilities for pleasure and
recreation. In our enthusiasm for the benefits of such tours, we decided to
offer one as a prize to our readers. This is on a par with the most liberal
offers made by the biggest American publications, whose readers are hundreds of thousands and even millions. Needless to say that this is unprecedented in the history of Arabic journalism, whether in America or abroad.
THE SYRIAN WORLD, in making the great prize offer in spite of
the heavy sacrifice involved, considers that in so doing it is promoting the
cause of sympathetic understanding of the motherland. This is in keeping
with the main object behind the publication of the magazine. Whether the
winner be a boy or girl, American or Syrian, the purpose would have been
served by the actual contacts established with the great scenic beauties
and places of immense historical intei'est in our country of origin.
The proposition is unprecedented, the advantages great, the conditions most liberal. It is surely the opportunity of a lifetime for the ambitious.
ITINERARY OF TRIP
The free trip offered by THE SYRIAN WORLD takes the same route
followed by the editor in his recent trip to Syria. Passage will be Cabin
class on the luxurious steamer Providence, of the Fabre Line, sailing from
New York July 2nd. Stops on route and shore excursions will be made at
Ponta Delgada, Azores Islands; Lisbon, Portugal; Naples, Italy; Palermo,
Sicily, and Piraeus and Athens, Greece.
In Syria and Lebanon the winner may remain as long as he desires
and return on any of the Fabre Line steamers to New York, also Cabin
Class.
Sailing from New York will be under the direction and full assistance
of the firm of A. K. Hitti & Co., the well-known steamship ticket agents.
The Beirut Branch of the same firm will render the winner all necessary service and advice free. The editor, thanks to the contacts contracted
on his last trip, will also give the winner letters of introduction and recommendation to many influential friends who would render all necessary
courtesies. The winner, representing THE SYRIAN WORLD whose services
are fully recognized in the motherland, will be assured of the most friendly
reception by the authorities and the public.
a>*^xa*i~.-i*i"±a.
i
�World Contest
SYRIA and RETURN
SYRIAN WORLD OFFER
The prize offered by THE SYRIAN WORLD to the winner in the contest is free passage, Cabin Class, both ways from New York to Beirut and
return, together with a liberal cash allowance for the shore excursions
above mentioned on the outward passage. Is this not a worthy prize to
try to win?
CONDITIONS OF CONTEST
v
1. THE SYRIAN WORLD prize of a Free Trip to Syria and return will be
awarded the individual securing the largest number of New subscribers to the magazine at the regular price of subscription.
2. Considering the great value of the prize offered, the minimum number
required to win the award must be not less than one hundred.
3. Every contestant, other than the winner, securing more than one hundred new subscriptions, will be awarded a special cash premium of
$1.50 for every subscription. Those securing less than one hundred will
be given $.100 for every subscription. In the event of two or more contestants tying for the Grand Prize, all will receive identical prizes.
4. The contest closes June 10, 1930. Letters post-marked later than this
date will not be counted. Announcement of the awards will be made
June 15.
5. Every subscription must be a new subscription, and must be accompanied by a remittance of the full price of $5.00.
6. Gift subscriptions will be counted as direct subscriptions. For instance,
if a contestant succeeds in inducing a friend to make gifts of a year's
subscription to each of five individuals, he will be given credit for
five individual subscriptions. Multiple subscriptions to the same person
will not be counted by the number of years; as, for instance, a single
individual subscribing for two years will not be given credit for two
subscriptions.
7. Those wishing to enter the contest must write to register, in which case
they will be furnished with special blanks and helpful literature.
8. The contest is open to all friends of THE SYRIAN WORLD anywhere
in the United States and Canada.
�IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
ON THE SUBJECT OF THE
SYRIAN WORLD CONTEST
QWING to the appreciation by the public of our liberal offer
of a free trip to Syria as a first prize in the current Syrian
World Contest, and in compliance with numerous requests to
this effect, we have decided to extend our offer as follows:
1—While the minimum number of subscriptions required to win
the Free Trip remains at one hundred, any contestant, besides the winner, procuring one hundred subscriptions has
the option of receiving either the cash prize or a one-way
free trip to Syria.
2—If a contestant should procure two hundred, he receives a
free round trip.
3—For all subscriptions above two hundred the winner, as well
as any other contestant, receives a cash premium of one
dollar for each subscription in excess of two hundred.
4—Organizations are permitted to enter the contest and award
the prize to any individual member.
5—Contestants working for the limited prizes of either a oneway trip or a round trip may withdraw once their goal is
reached and sail on any Fabre Line steamer, cabin class,
before the date set for the close of the Contest.
Registered contestants to date are the following:
H. J. Hashem, Poughkeepsie,
N. Y.
H. Abood, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Mrs. R. Hamrah, Naugatuck,
Conn.
N. Sayed, Georgetown, S. C.
E. George, E. Liverpool, Ohio
TWO
IN
Mrs. J. Rafful, Toledo, Ohio
Ed. Hershewe, Fort Dodge,
Iowa.
S. Kallil, Detroit, Mich.
F. A. Coriaty, Manchester,
N. H.
MORE MONTHS
WHICH
TO
WIN.
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
MARCH, 1930.
VOL. IV. No. 7.
Meeting the Maronite Patriarch
NJ
By
SAI.I.OUM
A.
MOKARZEL
"THE MARONITES are the largest single group in the population of Lebanon. They take their name from that of St.
Maron who lived in the fifth century and whose disciples sought
refuge in the fastness of Mt. Lebanon fleeing their flourishing
monasteries on the banks of the Orontes to escape religious persecution. For almost fifteen centuries they maintained themselves in Lebanon against great odds in defense of their rights
to independence and freedom of worship.
The Maronite clergy has always played a leading role in the
shaping of the destinies of this valiant people. From time immemorial the clergy were looked upon as not only the guardians of
the faith but as defenders of the political liberties of the nation
as well.
These traditions have obtained, in an unbroken succession,
ever since the Maronites became a homogenous entity. During the
almost continuous internecine feuds and wars with native and foreign enemies, and during the trying times following the crusades,
the Patriarch, as the ranking prelate in the Maronite hierarchy,
was the accredited representative of his nation in both political
and religious matters. Even the chaotic conditions resulting from
the World War could not shake these deeply entrenched traditions. Rather, the momentum which they had gathered during
fifteen hundred years seems to have carried them beyond their
natural bounds, so that the Maronite Patriarch was conceded
the highly complimentary distinction of representing all the
religious groups of Lebanon, Christians and non-Christians—Orthodox, Melchites, Druzes and Moslems alike—at the Versailles
�I
8
I
THE SYRIAN WORLD
peace conference. On that occasion he was given by common
agreement of all elements, who for once forgot their party differences for the sake of the common weal, the significant and
all-inclusive title of the "Lebanese Patriarch," instead of his restricted title of the "Maronite Patriarch."
Nor have the frequent readjustments in the political alignments and administrative changes in Lebanon during the postwar period apparently affected the prestige of the Maronite
Patriarch. Bekerkey is still a name to conjure with in matters
affecting the political destinies of the country. We read that the
President of the Republic, on the occasion of his reelection, inaugurated his new term of office by paying a visit of courtesy to
the seat of Maronite ecclesiastical authority. The French High
Commissioner must be persona grata with Bekerkey, and is bound
by tradition to call on the Patriarch to exchange expressions of
good-will between France and the Maronites. Admirals of
French fleets visiting Syrian waters are lacking of tact if they do
not pay the customary visit to Bekerkey, and when the Patriarch
elects to return the call he is given a salute of twenty-one guns,
like heads of states.
Bekerkey is the official seat of the Maronite Patriarch. It is
situated directly above the seaport of Jounieh at a short distance
north of Beirut, and in the heart of the almost exclusively Maronite district of Kesrawan. It serves as the residence of the
Patriarch during nine months of the year.
In this respect, Bekerkey has the logical and weightier claim
to be symbolic of Maronite ecclesiastical authority. It is so considered in the public mind.
But during the three months of summer the Patriarch takes
up his residence at Ad-Deeman, situated in North Lebanon at a
short distance from the famous Cedars and in the Heart of a
densely populated district that is exclusively Maronite. From
the viewpoint of tradition and historical associations, as well as
of geographical location, the summer seat should be more representative of Maronite prestige and ruggedness of character.
The buildings may be comparatively recent, having been undertaken by the present Patriarch some thirty years ago, but the
location itself is associated with the history of the Maronites
from their earliest settlement of the country. Forming a sort
of semi-circle around Ad-Deeman are the important towns of
Hadath, Hasroun, Becherri, and Ehden, which figure prominently in native lore, while in the other direction there is afforded
I
�*. ,
I
MARCH, 1930
Rising on the very brink of the precipice is the town of Hadsheet,
the windows and balconies of its houses overlooking Wadi Kadisha in a sheer drop of 2500 feet.
the most imposing view of Wadi Kadisha, so called because of
its many monasteries and hermitages where the disciples of St.
Maron first took up their abode. No more appropriate location
could be chosen for the seat of the Maronite authority and the
perpetuation of their traditions. I was fortunate in having had
the opportunity to interview the Maronite Patriarch in these
imposing surroundings, so rich in historical and romantic associations.
*
*
*
The morning of August 3 we left Al-Hadath in the direction
of Ad-Deeman. The summit of Al-Mizab, the highest peak in
Lebanon, rising to a height of 10333 feet, loomed surprisingly
near, while the winding valley of Kadisha offered an ever-changing panorama of wondrous scenery. Along the way we came
across a view that was not only arresting, but awe-inspiring to
the utmost degree. We stopped in our tracks for a considerable
time to marvel at the extraordinary setting.
Rising from the depths of the valley, which seemed fathomless from our high position, was a perpendicular cliff, crescentshaped and projecting into the yawning gorge. The cliff was of
solid rock with hardly a trace of vegetation along the sides, but
s^
=»
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
crowned by a plateau which abounded in mulberry groves, interspersed here and there with tall and stately poplars, indicating
the existence of abundant water.
But this was not the cause of our surprise. We could well
imagine that the vulcanic convulsions responsible for these earth
formations could cast them into any fantastic shape. Rather it
was what seemed to us either the desperation or the foolhardiness of man which gave the place its awe-inspiring aspect. For
rising directly from the edge of the precipice, in fact, an unbroken
coninuation of its steep sides, were a cluster of dwellings bordering the fringe like a crown, or like some battlements surmounting the walls of a huge natural fortress. One could see any number of windows opening directly on the valley, while in some
cases there were overhanging balconies balancing precariously over
the abyss. I was told that the sheer drop to the bottom of the
valley was somewhere around eight hundred meters, or more
than 2500 feet. I could also distinguish a church built in like
manner on the very edge of the gaping gorge. The founders of
the town must have had a special reason for adopting such a
building policy, and all succeeding generations lived up to blind
tradition ever since. I further learned from trustworthy sources
that an average of three or four fatal falls, mostly among children or workmen, take place every year. I could not be informed whether the town has a special graveyard at the bottom of the
valley for the unfortunate victims. The name of the place is
Hadsheet.
We arrived at Ad-Deeman at about ten A. M. and were met
in the outer court by the personal attendant of the Patriarch who
informed us that his Beatitude was then at his prayers, it being
his life-long custom to fast on Saturdays and consecrate the day
to devotion to the Virgin Mary. The attendant, Mansur Harb,
proved in many respects a good entertainer and well-informed
guide. He conducted us to an overhanging rock commanding a
superb view of the Sacred Valley, pointing out to us the monastery of Kanoubeen, in the lower reaches of the valley, and appearing like a white speck amidst the dark green of the forests and
mulberry groves and vineyards. This was the former seat of the
Maronite Patriarchs, who chose the location for its inaccessibility
and security. The monks, by the patient labor of centuries, succeeded in terracing the steep sides of the valley to save the soil
from being washed away by the floods, and were thus enabled
. ..,
:
-
..
;
-.;
-
�11
MARCH, 193D
The Sacred Valley in Northern Lebanon as viewed from the
heights of Ad-Deeman. The white spots on the terraced sides
to the right are the old monasteries.
m
to make the soil yield to them the bare necessities of a frugal
existence.
Wadi Kadisha is unquestionably the most majestic and imposing view of Lebanon. Setting aside its historical associations,
its proximity to the Cedars and the many thriving towns it supports on its massive shoulders, the natural view itself gives rise
to the greatest admiration and wonder. The earth formations at
some places are both majestic and phantastic. The opposite side
as you look from Ad-Deeman, for instance, gives the impression
that a great temple, with massive columns and arcades as if designed by a master architect, is wrought in the solid rocky ribs of
the mountain. The recesses distinguished by the deepening shadows indicate the existence of numerous caverns. Huge slabs of
rock protruding over the precipice give the impression of overhanging balconies.
The Valley is uniformly deep, but takes a winding course
which makes possible varying effects of light and shadow at all
hours of the day. One could spend hours and days admiring the
kaleidoscopic colors of its fascinating beauty, but the attendant
had many other places of immediate interest to point out, start-
',.'.
;
. ~:~~
�JL
12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ing with the
solitary tree on
the projecting
rock immediate1y
below
where
we
stood, and under which
Archbishop Joseph Dibs, the
famous Oriental scholar,
spent many a
month working
on his "History
of Syria." He
was about to
relate more
about places
and things in
this little spot
s o abounding
in interesting
associat ions,
when
Bishop
Paul Akel, secretary to the
Patriarch arHis Beatitude Elias Petrus Howayeck,
rived to greet
us. He conducted us by the main entrance and through a
labyrinth of vaulted corridors to a large reception hall whose
windows on the one side opened in the direction of the Cedars,
and on the other on Wadi Kadisha. The furnishings were of the
simplest—windows with wooden shutters but no curtains; an
unpretentious divan with stationary masnads, or back rests, running along the four walls, and a solitary table in the center on
which were a few books. The walls were also bare except for a
few sacred pictures. The whole atmosphere of the place was thi
of such simplicity as to be severe in its quiet dignity. It was ii
strict keeping with the traditions of extreme austerity characteristic of the Maronite clergy from time immemorial. There is,
however, another reception hall on the upper floor of Ad-Dee-
^
w1*"**"
I
I Thi
�MARCH, 1930
13
I
The lowly, yet exalted throne of the Patriarch who in spite of
his eighty-six years insists on rising unaided.
man, furnished in a style befitting the dignity and prestige of
the nation which the Patriarch represents. This is used only on
the most formal occasions.
Soon the room began to fill with clergymen and laymen, residents and visitors. Archbishops Abdallah Khoury and Elias
Reesha soon entered, followed by many priests and seminars
and visiting priors of near and distant monasteries, while a group
of young people accompanied by a village priest paced nervously
one of the corridors. They had come from the farthest end of
Lebanon for a special dispensation to consummate a marriage
without the publication of banns. The priest came with them to
intercede and to plead. Youth was impatient!
It was now almost eleven and the Patriarch was still at his
devotions, but having been informed of our arrival he graciously
consented to grant us an interview before noon. Soon the measured fall of a cane on the stone-paved corridor was faintly heard
in the distance. As the sound drew nearer a hush fell on the
assembly in the room. The Patriarch was coming!
He presently entered. To one knowing his age he appeared
to be bearing well under the weight of his eighty-six years. The
large bright eyes gleaming from beneath the bushy eye-brows
showed vigor of spirit that defied the physical weight of age
�14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
indicated by the stooping shoulders. The Patriarch walked majestically, slowly. He proceeded to the corner of the room where
a large cushion was spread on the floor and squatted on it, Oriental
fashion, the rising sides of the high divan serving as his back
rest. The lowly cushion was the Maronite Patriarch's exalted
throne! I was told that he receives princes in this informal fashion.
He chooses to assume this position both for reasons of comfort
and of humility.
I had seen his Beatitude Elias Howyeck once before some
thirty years ago when he was elevated to the Patriarchate, but I
was in no position then to fully appraise either the man or the
dignity of his office. On the present occasion, however, three1
decadds of ^experience had their effect in bringing to me a fuller
appreciation of both the office and its incumbent.
The Patriarch was most solicitous for the well-being of the
Maronites of America. "Is it not strange," he remarked, "that
fully fifty per cent, of our people have now migrated to lands
across the seas! We ask the Almighty to grant them the grace
of persevering in the faith of their forefathers. It would be a
most grievous calamity if the precious legacy which has come
down to us through fifteen centuries should be lost in a generation."
A candid discussion of the spiritual conditions of the Maronites in America followed, the Patriarch displaying the keenest
interest in the subject. He readily agreed that the crying need
was for missionary priests capable of understanding the spirit of
the times and appreciating the evolutionary processes of the
changing conditions. Only those priests who have a thoroughly
modern education and are capable of true missionary zeal and
sacrifice should be permitted to come to America, and not those
who are still primitive or provincial or mercenary or exploitative.
Perhaps, it was suggested, a Maronite bishop in America might
succeed in coordinating and controlling the now loosely held
strands of authority. Would not Rome consider the special privileges and traditions of the Maronites and grant a request to
that effect? It was agreed that the plan was beset with many
obstacles, but that an effort was, nevertheless, worth attempting.
Then someone injected the question of politics, and it proved
like the proverbial snow-ball that gathered momentum the more
it rolled. From that moment on nothing else was discussed.
Owing to the great prestige of the Maronite Patriarch, his
opinion on matters political is anxiously sought and appropriately
i
!
�15
MARCH, 1930
The four Maronite prelates, keepers of the old Maronite faith
and traditions, are from left to right: Bishops Elias Reesha and
Abdullah Khouri, the Patriarch and Bishop Boulos Akel.
i
evaluated. Nor was his Beatitude averse to discussing the political and economic situation of the country. The temporal welfare of his people was of paramount concern to him after their
spiritual well-being. It affected him deeply, he said, to see the
people of Lebanon being driven to economic ruin through the
muddling tactics of politics. He who in spite of his advanced
age undertook the trip to Paris to safeguard the interests of his
people, can he suffer seeing them being systematically deprived
of the little they possess of economic resources through the greed
of some unscrupulous foreign interests? Would that he could
again undertake the journey to Paris to fight for the rights of his
beloved people! If this proves impossible there remains the
alternative of sending a delegation of dignitaries direct to Paris,
and over the heads of officials in Syria, to plead the cause of
saving the country from impending ruin.
Then the Patriarch quoted his favorite Latin motto to the
effect that right will assert itself and prevail in the end, no
matter how hard the trials.
It was now noon and the Patriarch made an effort to rise.
He supported himself with both hands on the edge of the divan
and was able to rise only in slow stages and with visibly painful
effort. I was surprised that those nearer him made no effort to
—^-——
�*
16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Main entrance to Ad-Deeman, summer seat of the Maronite
Patriarch, overlooking Wadi Kadisha, or the Valley of the Saints.
assist him. They stood in their places motionless, speechless. The
situation was getting beyond my power of endurance. Could it
be that the code of manners here was so diametrically opposite
to that obtaining in civilized countries where the weak and the
aged are concerned? I took a step forward in the direction of the
old prelate intending to profer assistance, but a bishop intercepted, and in a quiet tone laden with despair confided to me:
"His Beatitude never countenances assistance from anyone and
insists on rising unaided."
Then it was that the situation became clear to me, and for
the few moments that I watched the laborious efforts of the aged
Patriarch struggling under the weight of his years, summoning
the strength of the spirit to overcome the weakness of the body,
the whole history of the valiant Maronite people, struggling for
centuries against the heaviest handicaps, flashed rapidly through
my mind. How symbolic was the incident! Here was the head
of a nation who may be deemed old judging by standards of age
among individuals, and here was his nation that may be deemed
equally old judging by standards of life among nations. The
chief, through sheer will power and strength of character, refuses
to admit weakness and insists on rising alone. Will his nation
act likewise? Can the action of the aged Patriarch be interpreted
as a good augury? Through fifteen centuries this nation has
i
�mmm^
MARCH, 1930
17
Rear view of Ad-Deeman, showing the new magnificent chafel
under construction.
fought enemies both of elements and of men. It has wrought
the miracle of transforming a barren mountain into a smiling
garden. Will it succeed in maintaining its traditions under
changing circumstances which call for the same fundamental
strength of character but only by resort to different tactics?
We stood for the Patriarch to pass. His gait was slow and
measured and the company that followed seemed a part of a
ceremonious religious procession. At a certain point at the intersection of the corridors the Patriarch halted. To us who were
strangers to the routine of this religious establishment every
movement, as well as every stop, seemed to be charged with an
element of mystery. Bishop Akel, who walked by my side, seemed to read my thoughts but apparently delighted in my mystification.
At a certain marble block in the pavement the Patriarch
raised his cane and tapped once, twice, three times. He repeated
the operation again and again and before the echoes of his tapping had stopped reverberating, through^ the.-vaulted corridors
he proceeded in the^directiohof-the^tfKhg^rrxtfri.'./ ,
Then the mystery was cleared.- The tappings were the equivalent of the dinner bell, and at their sound doors began to fly
open from all directions in the various corridors and a stream of
bishops, priests, and secretaries came flocking to swell the ranks
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
of the marchers. These and the scores of visitors falling in step
formed an imposing procession.
To call the great hall in which meals are served a dining
room would be a misnomer. It is rather a mess hall—a huge
vaulted room about a hundred feet or more in length having a
single center table reaching from one end to the other. The
Patriarch sits at the head of the table by the entrance, the bishops
taking their positions at the right and at the left, followed by
whomsoever guests are to be honored, after whom sit the priests
and the general visitors. At times there are two or even more
sittings.
After lunch the Patriarch and the bishops graciously consented^ to pose for a photograph. And when I asked for an autographed photograph of his Beatitude he conducted me to his
private1 room which caused me no end of surprise at its austere
simplicity. All the personal luxury that the powerful Patriarch
of the Maronites enjoys is a plain iron bed, two chairs and an
apology of a wardrobe. Perhaps the nearest thing to luxury in the
furnishing of his room was a prie-dieu.
Twice while I was in the Patriarch's room official papers were
brought to him to sign, and on both occasions I was able to observe
the same surprising charasteristic. No matter how long the document, he never affixed his signature to it until he had read it
through.
Then bishop Akel took us for a tour of inspection through
the building. Up the grand staircase we went to the main reception hall which was not yet completed but even then gave indications of great sumptuousness. A corridor led to the roof of an
extension building from which we could admire the new elaborate
chapel under construction. But from this vantage point a view
could be had of something greater than man could ever build
of the Sacred Valley, with its many natural temples, winding its
way in a majestic sweep to the very hill on which nestles the
famous grove of the Cedars of Lebanon, reverentially called the
Cedars of the Lord, toward which we set our course that same
afternoon.
�19
MARCH, 1930
The Old and the New in Arabia
By
AMEEN RIHANI
INCONSISTENCIES may meet in every man; and for every
Arab of note today there are two Kaabas, the Kaaba of religion
and the Kaaba of the world. He may turn his face towards the
East once or five times, between sunrise and sunset; but for the
rest of the day he turns towards the West, towards Europe. O
thou my Kaaba when I dress, and when I eat, and when I ride
in the automobile. But the new Kaaba is hedged about with
complications and expenditures, which cannot be conquered
without the help of either international treaties and financial
loans, or scientific expeditions and economic concessions. King
Husein tried both, and was still wavering when I saw him between
a foreign treaty and a national concession.
He sent to Syria for specialists, mining and agricultural, chemical and medical,—the alchemists of modern science,—who would
discover and dig up for him the wealth of Al-Hijaz; and they
were all Arab Moslems who could go anywhere, in the sacred
precincts and beyond, without let or hindrance. For a whole year
they roamed and nosed about; smelling oil here; seeing gold
there; giving to certain hills and spots such names as copper,
mica, iron; and asserting that there is even a diamond mine in the
vicinity of Mecca. But there was not in all Arabia a national syndicate to exploit this hidden wealth and save His Majesty from
the fangs of foreign corporations.
Soon, however, a syndicate, headed by a Syrian Muslem, was
formed for the special benefit of King Husein and Al-Hijaz.
Its resources, financial and technical, were adequate; its conditions for exploitation were incredibly liberal; and its Muslem
sentiment, which washed its motives of every tinge of selfishness, was unquestioned. It would give the Government of AlHijaz 40% of its net profits and an option of purchasing 25%
of the shares of the Companies formed. It also offered to build
for the Government two railroad lines, one from Jeddah to
Mecca, another from Yambo* to Al-'Ala, free of charge, as the
pious friends of the Syndicate put it. What the Syndicate proposed was to build the lines, turn them over with all their equip-
�20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ments to the Hijaz Government, for its exclusive use, and collect the bill afterwards by instalments paid out of the 40% profit.
If there were no profits, more would be the gain to the Hijaz
Government who would have gotten two railroads free of charge.
But King Husein was still dreaming his pan-Arab dream,
which necessitated a treaty with Great Britain, whose conditions,
to be favorable to His Majesty, depended upon his granting the
concession to an English company closely connected, it was said,
with the Colonial Office. So, the offer of the pious Muslem Syndicate was rejected, and the Anglo-Arab treaty in the end met
with a like fate. What was left to the Hijaz, therefore, of the
fruits of the Scientific Expedition were the Military College and
the Agricultural School of Mecca. The two do not hang together
in a modern scheme of progress j but the Agricultural School is
of no use in a country that has no agriculture.
As for the Military College its success depended upon the
Bedu, who are the born enemies of order and discipline. They
know how to carry a rifle, putting it always to its right use, and
that is sufficient. If you would teach them anything else and
subject them to a rule, you have to pay them, instead of charging
a fee. King Husein paid something at the start; for he would
replace, at any cost, the regular army of Al-Hijaz which was
wiped out in the winter of 1919 by the Ikhwan, the Wahhabys
of Najd, in the battle of Tarabah.
In order to maintain the Military College, therefore, and
reestablish a regular Army, which was to redeem the pride and
glory of Al-Hijaz, King Husein came down with a heavy hand
upon the merchants of his Kingdom. How else could he arm
the Bedu and teach them to step in line? The merchants paid
and groaned at first in the bazaar; but His Majesty would make
them pay double for groaning. Willy nilly, they paid and did
their groaning afterwards at home. Some of them, however, who
had no homes, were offered the hospitality of the jail. Or they
were asked to Mecca, which is much worse. For there, King
Husein had a dungeon, many feet underground, which 'was as
prominent in the history of Al-Hijaz under his reign as was the
Bosphorus in the days of Abd'ul-Hamid. He was terrible in his
anger; and when any one by royal order was sent to Mecca,
there was nothing left for him but the dungeon and the mercy
of Allah. Guilty or innocent, they wrote their wills before leaving their homes, they who were ordered to Mecca.
A British squadron anchored one day in the waters of Jed-
�MARCH, 1930
21
dah and was the topic of conversation. "But the Hashemite squadron," said one of the citizens, who was deemed a wit by some,
a fool by others, "the Hashemite Squadron is greater. Otherwise, the battleships of the English would not have come to
make salaam." A few days later he was ordered to Mecca; and
when he arrived at the Holy City, he was taken directly to the
dungeon where he remained four months without a hearing and
without knowing what was his offence. He was then brought before His Majesty the Great Emancipator, who pinched his ear
and gave him a lecture to help him in the future to better speech
when the Hashemite Government and its Navy are mentioned.
I spoke with one of the distinguished citizens of Jeddah
about a bright boy he had, and asked him to send him, not to
Europe, but to Egypt or to Syria for an education. Reply: That
is my wish, but Saiyedna will not permit. There are others too in
Jeddah who would educate their children outside of the Hijaz,
in Syria or in Egypt—but Saiyedna (our Lord) will not permit.
I have already dwelled upon King Husein's profound respect
for tradition. Even more profound is his respect for the Koranic
law. Everything that is contrary to it in word and deed, in the
life of a Muslem; and everything that has aught in it with a
tendency to give the Muslem a freedom, which might take him
out of the law and the tradition; yea, everything with a germ of
knowledge in it, which might develop, even after two or three
generations, into a grub of infidelity, these are evils which the
wise legislator and the just ruler, if they be far-sighted, will
alwavs combat even before they come to light.
Above all things King Husein desired eternal happiness for
the Muslem people;—the happiness which Allah describes and
to which the Prophet points in the Holy Book;—the happiness
that does not depend upon music or dancing or wine or riches,
nor upon education in foreign schools. If, however, he tolerated
certain things, which do this "eternal happiness" no ill, as aeroplanes and armored cars, to use against the Ikhwan, or a condenser to use against the malaria of Al-Hijaz, he could not tolerate at all such things of knowledge as would confuse the mind
and corrupt the heart. He could not tolerate anything that has
the tendency of drawing the Arabs, even though a span, from
the straight path of their religion, which is their most precious
treasure in this world and the next.
His Majesty often said to me that the only education the
Arabs need is that which suits their life and the nature of their
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
land, "and enables them, within the bounds of religion—I say,
within the bounds of religion—to enjoy its perfections." There
are two public schools in Jeddah, where about two hundred boys
find these "perfections" in the three Rs, a little geography and
history, and a profusion of the Koran. At both of these schools,
which I visited, speeches were made by the "stars" of the class
welcoming the guest, their "brother Arab" who has come from
atar to help "our rising Mother" to achieve the perfections (the
King's phraseology was the style in those days); and one of the
boys, a hery little spirit, after the usual praise overture, impressed
upon me, m eloquent words and gestures, the need of my doing
so 'without fear or compromise". But there was an undue
amount of the alcohol of politics, for a boy of his age, in the
sherbet of his praise. He informed me that the Hijaz is indebted
to His Hashemite Majesty the Great Emancipator and to his
valiant sons for the freedom and independence it has regained
hut we want to see this freedom and this independence spread
all over the Arab Peninsula." And then, in the bold and fearless manner of his race, after asking me pointblank if I did not
think so, he proceeded to answer his own question. "You would
not have come from far-away America, the mother of freedom,
to Al-Hijaz, the first-born of Arab-freedom, if you did not
think so."
From the school we went to a more modern and more specialized public institution, the T. and T. (Telegraph and Telephone) Office, which is one of the modern Departments of the
Hijaz Government. It is called the Department of Communication, and the Chief has time to receive visitors and do the customary honors. Coffee and tea and soda water were served in
succession, other guests coming in at that particular moment to
share in the bounty of the Government, while the Chief was
dilating on the easy tenor of his Department's way. The operators are all Arabs, who use the Arab system j and their business
is simple, for they send every message by cable across to Port
Sudan—the only cable connecting the Peninsula on the West side
with the outside world.
Next to the Chief's private office is the Markaz, or Central,
the only place of its kind in the world, I think, which is not hallowed by the presence of the hallo-girl, nor her "allo" sister.
The operators are gentlemen in long skirts, who hide the receiver
under silk sumadahs crowned with silk ighals, and add a line to
their fine figures with a red or a green sash wound jauntily
�MARCH, 1930
23
around the waist.
Markaz! Central! and the affable young gentleman is ever
ready with marhaba (welcome). The perpetual smile is there
too—in his voice. 1 said, "ever ready" in haste; for he is at
times, especially in the afternoon, caught napping. His switch
board has twenty-five wires distributed to the Government Departments and the long-distance to Mecca and At-Taief, Markaz'—Mecca—His Majesty. And you hang up the receiver. In
half a minute, a minute at the most, your telephone rings and
Markaz calls you respectfully by your name. How did he knowI
He knows the voice of every one of his customers. Marhaba, riis
) Majesty will speak with you.—Or his Eminence the Supreme
jucw _or anyone you desire in the Government outside the
Kaaba! There, the telephone wires, unlike the wires of the electric, are not permitted.
On our way back from the T. and T. Office, as we were walking up the main street, I was attracted to a little square balustered
platform, jutting between the baker's shop and the grocers, on
which sat or rather knelt two men opposite each other. One of
them had a roll of bills in his hand; and before him on the
carpet were little stacks of silver of small denomination, while
in a movable case with shelves and pigeon-holes were stacks of
dollars of various kinds—Egyptian, Turkish, American, etc. One
of the men was counting his bills, the other was counting his
1
i
It was about noon when we passed, and 1 witnessed what was
more extraordinary than the open-air bank or the kneeling bankers The Mosque was across the way, and the muazzen was in
the minaret calling the Faithful to the noon devotion. So, when
the man finished counting his bills, he and his partner got up,
stepped down from the platform, covered it with a straw mat,
ind leaving their bank thus behind them, went to say noon-day
ra'r __0 Memory, be not unkind. Efface the vision of the
city bandits of the West who walk into a bank at high noon, and,
under the muzzle of a gun, make away with what they find
before them. Or shall I ever forget the straw mat guarding the
bank of Jeddah while its President and its Cashier were making their genuflections in the Mosque to Allah and the Prophet?
But the Justice of the Peace, whom 1 met the following day
at a dinner, was not surprised at all when I was relating enthusiastically about the matter. "There are no robberies in the City,
he said "Because we apply the shot* (The Koranic Law); and
�***
24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
there are but few people in the jail. The political offenders are
sent to Mecca; the robber, after his hand is cut off, is set free to
be an example and a warning; and only those who are guilty of
petty offenses do we imprison. The Arabs quarrel very much,
with reason or without reason,—they fight for nothing,—a word
said in anger, even a word which one fails to say sometimes,
causes a fight. In sooth, such a case once came before me. A
beduin quarreled with another and struck him because he did not
reply to his greeting. But the poor fellow, who failed to salaam,
was deaf. The Arab is often foolish in his pride, and his temper
is like fire."
His Honor, a burly but unconcentrated figure of a gentleman in stockingless feet and a heavy turban, was neither an Arab
nor a Sudanese, but a third or fourth generation one would say,
of both. For he was of a color hard to define:—burned ivory
under a wash coating comes nearest to it. Nevertheless, he had
the manners of a sherif brought up in Stamboul. I asked my
host afterwards if His Honor was a good judge. "He fills the
diwan" was the reply. He sprawled, to be sure, upon the diwan,
but he had the politeness to conceal his feet. Nor would he have
spoken of the law and the jail, had I not opened the subject. It
is one of the fine traits of the Arabs that they do not talk shop.
But Captain Yanni,whose official title is assistant Director of
the Aviation Department, is neither Arab nor Muslem, and is
therefore forgiven for airing his views ever and always on the
Air Force of King Husein. He had, moreover, a shop of ideas
which he would never close for the sake of Arabia. Captain Yanni
would have been a centre of trouble, of change, of activity, of
infidelity, of progress in Hijaz the Holy, if Hijaz the Holy was
not a wilderness. He was the one man in Jeddah who did not
hold down in the presence of the King. And he drank, and he
smoked, and he once had a Muhammedan mistress. Captain
Yanni is a bandit of the spirit: he has in him the blood of his
own bandit-ancestors, the modern Greeks, as well as that of a
saintly Syrian family. His maternal uncle was a bishop; his father
was a publisher, and he was in Hijaz the necessary evil of King
Husein.
The necessary good, if the Old Man knew well his business.
Yanni would supply the Hijaz Government with all the instruments of modern warfare,—the surplus or the second-hand stock
of one of the Allied Powers,—in perfect condition, at one-tenth
of the cost price!—Tanks at a -$1,000 each to mow down the
�Wahhabys; aeroplanes at $500 apiece to scatter the Idrisi forces
to the wind and banish the Idrisi House clean out of Arabia;
auto-busses at the price of a second-hand Ford for the comfort
and delectation of the pilgrims; and, ye Gods of the Acropolis!
this infernal Roumi, this Greco-Syrian revolutionary, would open
a cafe and a cinema in the very heart of Jeddah. A performer
of miracles, if the Old Man would only nod.
What he did once, for my benefit, was equal to a miracle.
The Condenser was out of order for a few days, and there was
no water in Jeddah but that of the wells, which was brackish and
lukewarm and scarce and dirty. Even the water that oozed out
of the earthen jar and gathered in the bowl that held it was of
the color of whey. I took it with lemon juice, in addition to the
quinine, to ward off the malaria. The Condenser water was clean
but not always perfectly desalted. Besides, it was always as lukewarm as the water from the wells. This was the calamity that
lasted twenty days. Never in my life did I have a greater desire,
a more oppressing desire, for a glass of ice water.
One day I heard a noise in the kitchen that resembled the
tinkle of ice in a pitcher of water in the hand of a negro boy at
the door! and I was transported to New York, elated for a trice,
and tormented for a long time after with the disillusion. I poetized before my friend about ice water, even about spring water,
even about the water of Ashokan in distant Manhattan. And
what happened: The following day at luncheon a glass of ice
water was placed before me. I could not believe my eyes. I could
not believe my hand. But the glass was ice cold and the vapor
was on my ringers. Praised be the Most High! No glass I have
ever raised to my lips gave me a more intoxicating delight.
Now, where in Jeddah did the ice water come fromr Yanni
is not a magician—I say—in the manner of His Majesty—he is
not a magician. But I will discover to you the trick and leave
you to judge of his ingenious and enterprising mind. A steamer
had anchored in the harbor, and Yanni had seen the two thermos
bottles I had in my bag. A moment later one of his Takrourmyrmidons, with a note and the said two bottles in his hand, was
seen hiring a sanbook at the port.
The King was still in Mecca that day. So in the evening,
our friends who came to dinner took their Scotch with water
instead of soda—ice water, thanks to Yanni—and took it in the
drawing room! But when His Majesty was in Jeddah, we had
to go into a closet and in the light of a candle do the bloody deed.
-
-
'
'
'
�i
THE SYRIAN WORLD
MA
He had us all cowed, the Old Hashemite. For in his days Jeddah was supposed to be dry, and the smuggling of liquor was
inevitable. Much of it was even smuggled into Mecca. One of
the King's Secretaries once lost his job, because, while packing
to return to the Holy City, a bottle dropped out of the bag in
the presence of the King. But as soon as His Majesty was out
of the city gate, Jeddah began its celebrations. The bottles came
out of the chests, the lute and the tambourine were uncovered,
and he who had a voice gave it the freedom of the night. The
King is gone to Mecca, Allah be praised!
But when he came back to town, the Jeddites put on sackcloth and ashes, and their city became a sanctuary submerged in
tea and soda-water and milk. The drinking in the closets by the
light of the candle, nevertheless, continued, and Pericles of the
cork helmet and the latest brand from Athens or London, came
withal to the King's majlis, and kowtowed and fawned and kissed
Majesty's hand. The bootlegging Greek! if the son of the
Prophet but knew.—In Jeddah once I met an accursed Roumi
who was what the Americans call a bootlegger, and I took him
by the throat and smote him thus.
Old Pericles, feeling a distant kinship to Yanni, often came
in the evening bringing a bottle with him; otherwise, the Army
officers would not Jet him join in a game of poker. A few came
to the Guest House for fellowship—and a drink—only; and one
of these had a few ideas as wild as Yanni's. He was the most
liberal turban in Jeddah, and he would always drink till his
liberalism began to reel. Sheikh Qasem, who speaks English,
Turkish and Arabic, was sent to Constantinople in the days of
the Young Turks to represent the Hijaz in Parliament. There
he met and befriended the translator of Homer into Arabic, the
Christian philosopher and poet Sulaiman Bustany; and every time
they had a discussion, Qasem would say to Sulaiman: "The only
way to reform the world is to make you Sheikh 'ul-Islam and be
myself the Pope of Rome." He would then quote, being an
orthodox boozer, from the English translation of Omar Khayyam:
noth
26
"Would we not shatter it to bits and then
Remould it nearer to the heart's desire?"
When Sheikh Qasem first told us the story, one of the Army
officers exclaimed: "Nothing can reform it but the sword."
The poet demurred: "You had the sword and you reformed
are i
ing
over
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tinu
the
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till
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27
MARCH, 1930
nothing."
The merchant interposed: "Our curse is the Bedu—the Bedu
are a problem which only Allah can solve."
Whereupon Captain Yanni, leaving the poker table and coming to the centre of the room: "Armed ignorance can only be
overcome by armed education."
"Excellent!" exclaimed the Army Officer. "The Hashemite
Military College was established for that purpose."
"Hashemism can reform nothing." The voice was that of
Sheikh Qasem, who calmly laid down his glass and calmly continued, "Zu Hasan (1) will remain robbers and cut throats till
the end of time;° the Bedu of Ruwais (2) can never be educated
or reformedj and the Buqoum (3) will lie and cheat and betray
till Allah wipe out the last of their seed. Pray upon the Prophet!
—And thou O Roumi, fill the glass."
(1) Zu Hasan are sherifs who live between Lith and Jeddah along the
coast and are pirates and highway robbers.
(2) The Bedu of Ruwais who are like Zu Hasan beyond Government control, operate in the north between Jeddah and Yambo'.
(3) The Buqoum is a tribe that lives in Tarabah and Khurmah on the border
line between Najd and the Hijaz; and among them are Sherifs who
have become Wahhabys. The King claimed them because they are of
Benu Luaiy, the sherifs of the Hijaz, and the Sultan of Najd claimed
them because they had become Wahhabys. But the question was settled at the battle of Tarabah (1919), in which the Army of the Hijaz,
12,000 led by the Ameer Abdalla'h, was wiped out completely by 6,000
of the forces of Ibn Sa'oud.
On Life
Translated from the Arabic by J. D.
CARLYLE
Like sheep, we're doom'd to travel o'er
The fated track to all assign'd,
These follow those that went before,
And leave the world to those behind.
As the flock seeks the pasturing shade,
Man presses to the future day,
While death, amidst the tufted glade,
Like the dun robber, waits his prey.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
Haroun Al-Rashid and the Two
Lovers
AN ARABIAN NIGHTS' STORY
(Translated from the Arabic original)
[N the days of the illustrious Haroun Al-Rashid, there lived
in the city of Baghdad a great musician and singer by the name
of Mouabbad whose fame had spread throughout the land and
who sang not only in the court of Jaafar but in the court of the
caliph himself. Through the excellence of his art he had amassed
great wealth, so that in his affluence he consented to sing only for
the highest circles and for exceedingly large fees. Those of moderate or limited means could never aspire to the distinction of
having him sing for them.
As related by an Arab chronicler on the authority of Mouabbad, the latter found himself one day face to face with a strange
situation which demanded quick decision, inasmuch as it affected
his personal prestige on the one hand and the loss of a large
sum of money on the other. He was not slow in coming to the
decision, but his surprise was not in the personal benefit involved
as much as in the happy ending which his action brought about in
one of the strangest love incidents ever to happen in the city of
Baghdad, even at the pinnacle of its romantic career during the
merry and glorious reign of the caliph Haroun Al-Rashid.
Mouabbad relates his strange experience as follows:
"On the afternoon of a certain day, when I had chosen to
seclude myself in the privacy of my house, denying myself
to all callers, my servant came to report that an insistent young
man was at the gate seeking a private audience with me. The servant had strict orders not to admit anyone, and it seemed to me
strange in the extreme that in the face of my explicit orders he
should disturb me with such a request. But his excuse was that
the determination and insistence of this particular caller were
such that he could not deny him at least the transmission of a
message. And I could trust the intelligence of my servant to feel
confident that he must have exhausted all possible means before
he chose to bring the request to me.
�MARCH, 1930
29
"Realizing the situation, my curiosity was aroused and I had
the caller admitted. He proved to be a youth of handsome features and stately bearing, but who seemed to suppress under a
serene countenance emotioas of the deepest pain. He greeted me
politely, and almost without any preliminaries laid before me a
bag of three hundred gold pieces, saying:
" 'In consideration of this sum please sing for me the following couplets:
" 'My eye has brought deep torture to my heart,
But it shall pay in floods of bitter tears.
No! Never with my secret will I part,
Until I die, or she to me appears.' "
Said Mouabbad:
"I sensed in the poetical selection that some love tragedy
had befallen the youth, but rather than disappoint him by
refusing to sing them, I thought that by complying with his
request I might soften his sorrow and I forthwith tuned my oud
and sang the verses in a soft and plaintive tone which 1 improvised to fit the meaning of the verses. Imagine then my surprise
when the youth fell unconscious, so that it was with great effort
that my servant and I could revive him by'sprinkling his face
with rose water and rubbing his hands.
"The youth showed his extreme gratefulness by bending over
my hands and feet and covering them with kisses, but so great
was his longing that he implored me with copious tears to repeat
the song just once more. This I refused to cio, telling him bluntly
that I feared for his life if I were to again tap the source of his
pent-up emotions by a repetition of the song which had so affected
him. But again he was insistent and exclaimed, 'Oh! of what
value is my life any more! Would that I could only meet my
death amidst such sweet melodies!'
"Yielding to his solicitations, I again sang the verses even in
a more touching manner, and as on the previous occasion, he
again swooned and fell unconscious, and it was with much more
effort that my servant and I could revive him this second time.
But once he came to, I laid the bag of gold in his lap saying:
T have had sufficient trials for the day. Please take back your
gold, may Allah have pity on you, and depart in peace.'
"The youth, however, would not listen to my counsels and
importunities. Rather, in his desperation, he countered by saying: 'Master, not only this sum, but another of equal amount
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
will I give you if you but sing me the verses just another turn.'
And again he fell at my feet weeping as if he had lost all control of his will.
"I will admit that the double sum which the youth offered me
tempted my weakness, and I consented to his request only on
condition that he accept my hospitality and partake of some food
that he might be able to withstand the coming ordeal. To this he
proved agreeable and in this manner I was able to extract from
him an account of the experience which brought on him his present state of misery.
" 'About a year ago,' he began, 'I sought the banks of a brook
in a picnicking party with some members of my tribe. There we
encountered a company of young women, apparently of a strange
tribe, disporting themselves in the water, and among them was
a maiden the like of whom I had never beheld, and never expect
to behold. She had the beauty of the rising sun, except that I
would compare the sun to her, she being the more beautiful in
my eyes. Her eyes were overpowering magnates, irresistible in
their attraction. One felt in her presence that life was of no
value to be laid at her feet. I became her helpless slave the
moment I first laid my eyes on her.
'That night I returned to the encampment in a state of bewilderment. I was ill with an illness which the doctors of the
tribe could not diagnose, but an illness, nevertheless, that was
: devastating my frame and reducing me gradually to a mere skeleton of skin and bones. The women of the tribe alternated in
keeping vigil over me as I was expected to pass away any moment.
'One of my cousins, suspecting the cause of my illness, implored me one day to confide in her my secret. By that time I
had grown so weak and despondent that I thought I had better
die with the secret of my heart on my lips, and with burning
words I told my cousin the story of my love.
'Now this cousin smiled at me sympathetically and said: 'Why
grieve you thus when you know not whether your love is unrequited or not? Perhaps the damsel entertains for you the same
love that you bear for her. Take courage, then, and let me assist
you in discovering a means of communicating with your beloved.'
'Saying which she explained to me that the tribe of this
damsel was in the habit of passing by our district twice every
year, in the spring and in the fall, and since they had now gone
south they were due on their return journey within a few short
months. She also promised to keep watch for the return of the
A*
�"
mm
">
MARCH, 1930
31
tribe and to do all possible to put me in communication with the
captivator of my heart.
'Under the gentle ministrations of this sympathetic and understanding cousin I began to take courage and become stronger,
and in due course of time the tribe returned, and my cousin and
I sought the banks of the same stream, and to my great delight
saw there my own beloved damsel.
'I felt as if I could fly to be by her side, but modesty restrained me, and I had my cousin recite to her the following
verse:
'She shot a dart that found the heart and left
Without attempting once to heal the wound.'
'Upon hearing which the damsel replied by the following
quotation:
'Our case is even worse than you suspect,
Abide your time, for succor may be near.'
,
Continued the youth: 'Hearing this, I refrained from any
further exchange of quotations and waited until the damsel and
her company departed, I following them until I discovered her
tent. After which we used to meet under the mantle of night
and exchange the sweetest conversation. But this bliss was of
short duration, because her folks soon became aware of our trysts
and caused her to be kept under the strictest surveillance and
seclusion, even refusing to consider my offer of marriage for the
well-known reason among the Arabs of preventing any marriage
between persons whose love relations become publicly known.
And here I am a helpless prey to my love, while I know that the
love is returned and only the moral code of the Arabs prevents
the consummation of our happiness.'
Said Mouabbad: "Having heard the story of the youth, I
felt no further reluctance in singing him the verses and he departed apparently relieved. But it was now my turn to be troubled,
and I forthwith sought the court of Grand Vizier Jaafar and
asked permission to sing him the very verses which the youth had
suggested in the same tune I had composed for them. And Jaafar was exceedingly pleased, and asked me how 1 had come by
this beautiful selection. This was the very occasion I was seeking
and I recounted to him the whole story of the youth and his
predicament. Whereupon Jaafar commanded me to fetch him,
and I did, and he had us all accompany him to the presence of
MM
�M
THE SYRIAN WORLD
32
the great caliph Haroun Al-Rashid who, upon hearing the song
and the story of the youth wrote to his agent in Al-Hijaz, where
the tribe of the damsel was then encamped, ordering them to
his presence. And at his command the two lovers were united in
marriage regardless of all considerations of moral codes or traditions, he even supplying the bride with the necessary dowry and
bestowing upon the couple many valuable gifts."
On Giving and Taking
By
KAHLIL GIBRAN
k,
We are all beggars at the gate of the temple, and each one
of us receives his share of the bounty of the King when he enters
the temple, and when he goes out.
But we are all jealous of one another, which is another way
of belittling the King.
You cannot consume beyond your appetite. The other half
of the loaf belongs to the other person, and there should remain
a little bread for the chance guest.
I stopped my guest on the threshold and said, "Nay, wipe
not your feet as you enter, but as you go out."
Generosity is not in giving me that which I need more than
you do, but it is in giving me that which you need more than I do.
You are indeed charitable when you give, and while giving,
turn your face away so that you may not see the shyness of the
receiver.
The difference between the richest man and the poorest is
but a day of hunger and an hour of thirst.
v
�>
1
33
MARCH, 1930
The Two Answers
By
alf
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
A MIDST a loving few the Prophet sat,
Inhaling deep the balmy breath of night,
Musing, pondering long; his eyes tracing
Upon the domed page of heaven the signs—
The mystic signs of fate—the awful lines
Of light and flame—and what between the lines
He read, I cannot tell.
He listened long,
He gazed and gazed. Perchance Gabriel's face
He saw among the stars and heard his voice.
Or more, perchance the airy legions he
Perceived with faces turned towards the Throne
And heard their song.
A sigh the silence broke—
How deep the sigh! How awful was the spell
It broke! Then one by one upon the ears—
The anxious ears, and longing, thirsting hearts—
Like drops of dew upon the parched land
His words now fell:
"All, all that dwell in heaven
Above, and all that crowd this earth below
And all that fill the space between extol
And praise Allah! At night the gates of heaven
Are open wide—extol and praise Allah!"
The name of God the spell of silence broke.
Then one, a stranger lately come, a new
Convert unto the faith, advanced and said:
"O Prophet of Allah, my heart has gone
To thee. I love thee well—dost thou in turn love me?"
"Thy heart will tell thee, friend. It knows, for hearts
Are witnesses." The Prophet spake and turned
His back upon him and he vanished in
The night.
"What made him go?" the whisper ran,
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"The question put: the answer given: and what
Is there:.... Yet hold, how strange that answer was!"
Then one, "I love thee, too; my heart has gone
To thee, O Prophet of Allah. Hast thou
A place, though small, within thy heart for me?"
"My friend, there is a silent, secret road—
A bridge from heart to heart. I've answered thee."
The Traveler
By
ALICE MCGEORGE
I saw a pleasant winding roadway,
Trees lapping overhead,
'Twas splotched with sunshine, knit with shadow
I wondered where it led.
It slyly whispered, "Follow, follow,"
There's romance just ahead;
Adventure lurks, and pleasures beckon.
"I come," I softlv said.
A river winding down the valley,
Trees arching overhead,
The eddying current dimpled brightly,
I wondered where it led.
It boldly shouted, "Follow, follow,"
Then breathless on it sped,
No time to loiter, or to reckon,
"The rapids," I cried in dread.
�MARCH, 1930
!
35
Through Southern Lebanon
A CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF THE
EDITOR'S TRIP ABROAD
VI
By
'
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
f"YWING to its central location, Zahle was my starting point for
many flying excursions in all directions of Syria and Lebanon.
It is situated mid-way between Beirut and Damascus, while tht
famous city of Baalbek, in the northern end of the Beka' plain,
is at less than an hour's drive. The southern end of the plain is
equally as convenient to reach from Zahle. So taking advantage
of the ready convenience, we bid farewell early one morning to
the host of friends along the Bardouni and sped along an even
road in the direction of Mt. Hermon.
My destination for that day was Mashgara, the native town
of my better half, whose folks I had heard so much about but
never met. For over twenty years I was having it dinned in my
ears that Mashgara was the most beautiful town in the world—
a terrestial paradise, and attributed the statement to the natural
pride of every native in his own home town. And if that native
happens to be of the fair sex, and above that your wife, there
remains no ground for fair objection, and submission or acquiescence becomes inevitable.
Now, however, I was afforded the opportunity of visiting
the town for the first time in my life, without the benefit of wife.
I could judge it by its appearance, free from any interference,
and whatever merits there be to the case I could take at their
face.
At a point near Kabb Elias we left the level road and began
a gentle ascent up the mountain which permitted of a wider
perspective of the enchanting beauty of Al-Beka' plain the
higher we rose. This section of Lebanon is but sparsely settled,
and one could admire on one side the rugged, natural beauty of
the mountain, and on the other the symmetrical and designed
beauty of the plain. The scene continues thus until one comes
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
abreast of Mt. Hermon, when the western Lebanon range is
broken in the higher reaches and permits of a sharp turn from
south to west through a narrow pass. It is then that one comes
into the thickly populated section of Al-Beka', passing in rapid
succession through such important towns as Saghbin and Aitaneet,
until one reaches the metropolis of the district, Mashgara. The
reason for this condition is that water abounds on the western
slopes and is scarce elsewhere. Mashgara, owing to its abundant
water supply permitting of the development of a tanning industry, fared better than any other town in Lebanon during the
.war, because of the need of the Turkish army for leather.
We passed a point midway between Aitaneet and Mashgara
which I cannot pass here without comment. Rising on a prominent hill was a beautiful mausoleum of Carrara marble, which I
was told was especially imported from Italy. A wide path was
cut from the main highway to the mausoleum enclosure, and
such pains were taken to beautify the place that shade trees were
planted on both sides of the path, giving it the appearance of a
miniature Taj Mahal!
The legend of this beautiful sanctuary of the dead in its
manifestly odd surroundings is that a certain citizen of Aitaneet
migrated to America and prospered. He returned and impoverished himself by heavy investment in property. Again he returned to America and accumulated a second fortune, but this
time he acquired for himself a rich wife and conceived the idea
of the mausoleum to perpetuate his memory. Such carefully laid
plans did he have, and such pains did he take in the execution
of every detail, that he even planted vines and a variety of fruit
trees for the accommodation of the visiting pilgrims to his grave.
He wished them to eat and drink and be merry and ask mercy
for his soul! The surprising development is that even before
his demise he saw both the trees he planted and the plans he laid
come to fruition. One of his entesprising young townsmen, aided
by his pretty and coquettish wife, opened a cafe alongside the
mausoleum which became immediately popular with the lovers
of Kaif!
The automobile road to Mashgara was in the early stages
of construction at the time of our visit in year of Our Lord 1929.
This would sound strange for a progressive district metropolis,
but in justice to the otherwise laudable enterprise of the Mashgaranians it must be recalled that Mashgara before the war was under direct Turkish rule as a part of Syria, and not annexed to auto-
�MARCH, 1930
37
Mashgara, whose lower quarter stretches into the valley of the
river Litani in a beautiful setting.
nomous Lebanon as it is now. And a royal road to Mashgara
in its rugged mountainous setting takes time to build.
At the town boundary we came to a bifurcation in the road
which exemplifies the enterprising spirit of the people of Mashgara. One branch led to the heart of the town and that was the
public highway, while another branch led to the upper quarter
which is populated predominantly by the Trabulsi family. The
Trabulsis built this private road out of their own funds. The
town owes them also many other public improvements, principal
among which is the contemplated project for generating hydroelectric power in the falls of the Litani intended to provide the
town with electricity.
At the end of the private road, which, by the way, is of considerable length, we came to the house of Suleiman Trabulsi,
leading citizen of Mashgara and for several decades its sheikh
or magistrate. His benign face and outstretched arms bespoke
his open hospitality. And that not because I was his brother-inlaw, as he was known for this generous quality throughout the
length and breadth of the land.
Then came Sophia, sister of Helena my wife, blessed be
the souls of both! She made me feel the first touch of feminine
�38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
lips since I left home. And she was so motherly prodigal in the
display of her affection! She kissed me first for, her sister, then
for each of her children and grandchildren in America. \o\v of
her children alone in America there are seven, and of grandchild
dren an equal number. Under her volley of kisses I felt that
she must have taken account also of her children at home of
whom there are no less than four, and added a liberal quantity
for good measure. I promised to distribute some to her loved
ones upon my return. What sterling qualities this grand old
woman of Mashgara has! Her voice rang with such sincerity
when she told me that she considered me like Nesib, her oldest
son, who, by the way, is about my own age.
The Trabulsi house hugs tightly the side of a steep mountain which rises abruptly to the rear. From the heavy stone railing of the flat roof a magnificent view is had of the opposite
mountain and of the rolling hills marking the opening of the
valley. The town below seems piled one house above the other
in serrated formation. The incline is so steep that no lower story
of any house seems to need but three walls, the fourth being
the solid side of the mountain.
But amidst this profusion of rustic scenery there was brought
a touch of ultra modernity that was all but amazing. Wonderful
America, how far thy influence has traveled!
Within the enclosure of the Trabulsi property, made by
planing several terraces, was a tennis court! A modern apartment was built on a corner of the immense flat roof of the house
that is all but a New York penthouse! The furniture is in period
style and the windows have wire screens! A bath room is available with running hot and cold water! And to further carry out
the effect, you have the luxury of a day bed! Yes, you are cramped for space in Lebanon!
Elias, a son of Suleiman, is a dealer in antiques in New
York. He paid a visit to the parental home a few years ago, and
this modern creation in an antique setting was the result.
That night almost half of Mashgara gathered at the Trabulsis to congratulate them on meeting with their brother-in-law.
We chose to hold the reception on the roof bathed by the silvery
rays of the moon and in close,proximity to the twinkling stars.
John Trabulsi was also there. He too is of New York where
he has an exclusive Fifth Avenue apartment and loves the comfort of American city life. He had been to Paris but left it with
�MARCH, 1930
39
the impression that it was still very much wanting in comparison
to American cities. To Mashgara, his beloved hometown, he
wanted to bring all the possible modern conveniences and amenities that would make it worth living in.
John would have the streets, if such there are, swepUgnd
sprinkled in summer as a sanitary measure. If the public revenue
of the town is only eight hundred liras it should be increased
by further taxation. The roads should be kept in good repair
and cheap electricity provided. Joseph Mokarzel, the progressive publisher of Ad-Dabbour, approved of John's suggestions
in toto. But the rest of the people were groaning under their
taxes as they are, and felt that if a few rich citizens of the town
in America could stand an increase in taxation, they could not.
John finally had to satisfy his civic zeal by liberally sponsoring
the hydroelectric project.
The following day we decided to visit Jazzine and continue
on our trip through Southern Lebanon. A military road had been
opened the year previous between Mashgara and Jazzine over
the twin mountains called At-Towmat, which it was proposed
we should take. The fact that the road was very steep most
of the way, and had been badly washed out in places by the
heavy rainfall of the previous winter, gave us ground for many
exciting experiences. We were.in two automobiles and, contrary
to most similar accounts we read, it was our car and not the other,
fellow's which went awry. At every climb it would simply
refuse to move, and we would have to scramble out and take
the shorUcut and meet it at the next turn. Even when we had
reached the summit and began the descent, we rode only in short
hauls, preferring to walk than to trust our lives to a balky car
and a cranky driver.
We had climbed in and climbed out so often that I became
careless of my movements. And therein was the cause of another
calamity. It so happened that while leaving the car at one time
in disgust, I was caught on the seat of my trousers by the sharp
point of the door, and the rip that resulted was in proportion
to my disgust. What added to my discomfiture was the ringing
laughs of the ladies riding in the other car,—Trabulsis all, by
the way,—Rasheedi of New York, Olga of Zahle and Angele
of Mashgara.—And I could not possibly retort. I only appealed
to their sense of decency to turn their faces the other way, slipping meanwhile behind a boulder for a few minutes. What a
relief to have an extra pair of trousers! Let the comedians poke
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
40
m -. •
-«*U •;
I . !
/:
View of Jazzine from the north, showing the high 'perpendicular
cliff and the numerous large, modern hotels.
all the fun they want at those buying two-pants suits and burning a hole in the coat."The hole there is better than elsewhere!
The engagement of that car was the poorest bargain John
ever made. He was carried so far by his desire to patronize
a townsman that he had dismissed for his sake a chauffeur
of a neighboring town who had served him long and well on
many other journeys.
At Jazzine we were the guests of Dr. and Mrs. Habib Nassif who lived up to the highest traditions of Lebanese hospitality.
I had heard much of the beauty of Jazzine from its many sons
in America, and on this visit I discovered that they were not
exaggerating. Especially is the view of its famous cliff and falls
imposing. The sheer drop is even higher than that of Niagara,
but the volume of water, especially in summer, is unconsequential.
We took refreshments on the balcony of a hotel built by Mgr.
Paul Rizk directly at the edge of the precipice. Jazzine has
become within the past few years one of Lebanon's most popular
summer resorts, and its many hotels are among the largest and
the best appointed in the country.
A suggestion was made that we go to Kfarhouna, a town near
Jazzine, to witness the celebration of the feast day of the local
patron saint. The reason advanced was that this fete attracted
annually enormous crowds from all the countryside. Obviously,
the proposition was an attractive one, because it afforded us a
w
�MARCH, 1930
i
/
i
!
41
unique opportunity to see a typical native celebration of these
feast days on an elaborate scale.
Kfarhouna lies in a depression amidst several low hills. We
reached it at dusk when the festivities were at their height. In
the principal square were several thousand people of all ages
bent on merry-making. Here was a group drinking and listening
to an oud player; there was another drinking and listening to
a quawwal or singer ; still another group was drinking between
their dabke dances, and finally any number of groups just sitting
and drinking. I observed several parties who had brought phonographs in the conviction that the instrument would obey them
in giving their choice selections more than the temperamental
human artist. But nowhere was there any rowdyism or objectionable drunkenness. The only surprising feature was that the
church was deserted!
I tried to extract from an old resident of the town an account
of how the feast originated and he obligingly informed me that
Our Lady of Kfarhouna had miraculous qualities. He could not
recall just what miracles were wrought through her intercession,
but the first intimation of her powers was when she revealed herself in an apparition to a notable of the town .and directed him
to dig for water at a certain spot and there would gush forth a
spring which would bring great blessing to the town. When the
notable doubted, she appeared to him again, and this time he did
dig at the spot indicated and struck water. The water effected
many cures and believers began to flock to the town in increasing
numbers as the years went by. And this in spite of the fact that
the spring dried up shortly after its appearance.
Incidentally, I learned that the said notable was a large
property owner. All honor to him, for his dream has actually
come true, and his having obeyed the command to dig has brought
a never-drying stream of prosperity to his town.
From Jazzine and Kfarhouna we proceeded to visit other
interesting places in Southern Lebanon. Passing through an intensively cultivated country we reached the town of Al-Mukhtara, seat of the powerful Druze family of Janblatt. There Sitt
Nazira rules in her beautiful ancestral palace, but not in the
manner of the feudal system of yore. She is not only one of the
most enlightened, but one of the most progressive women of
the country. Her initiative in inaugurating industrial progress
is truly admirable. She generates electricity from the abundant
water supply of the palace which once went to waste and uses the
... ... .......
�-
42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The approach of Belt Eddeen from the south is over a road that
skirts a steep precipice appearing in the right foreground
The palace is in the center background
power to operate a flour mill, an olive press and a carpentry shop,
besides lighting the palace and part of the town. I had an interview with her which lasted almost two hours, in which she discussed unreservedly the widest range of subjects, from the economic rehabilitation of the country to the status of the Druze
women both at home and abroad. A fuller account of this interview will be given separately.
At a short distance to the north we came to Beit Eddeen, the
one-time capital of Lebanon during the long and glorious reign
of Emir Bashir Shehab. Unquestionably the Emir's palace is
the finest example of Eastern architectural and decorative art
in Lebanon. It can be truly called a palace both in its proportions and in its fine design and arrangements. It is still in the
finest state of preservation.
Then the road led on a straight line north to historic Dair ElKamar which also claims the distinction of having once been the
capital of Lebanon. Through the massive door of the old Saraya one reaches the inner court where in the war of 1860 a
thousand Christians were trapped by the treachery of the Turks
and slaughtered in cold blood. You are shown the balcony from
which the bodies of the victims were thrown to an outer yard
which still serves as their resting place and is called the martyrs'
graveyard.
�MARCH,
1930
43
But for the good road.s in this district we could not have
visited so many interesting places in less than a day. As it was,
we had ample time to visit the famous springs of Al-Barouk and
Ain Zhalta and reach the heights of Dhour Kl-Baidar, on the
Beirut-Damascus road, before the sun had stolen from Sannin
its golden crown and hid behind the placid waters of the Mediterranean.
Advice to a Rash Youth
By
I
LAIJEEBEE
A. J.
HANNA
I would not sail on what I knew—
Straight to the open sea:
I'd try to learn a little more
To go on some mad spree!
1
A little knowledge does not give
A license — or a wing!
I'd want to know the notes and rhythm
Before I tried to sing!
I would not travel with a young fool
To show that I could lead3
I'd rather follow an able guide—
No others do I need.
I would not shout to the heavens
When a stormy wind blows by;
I'd rather sing on a summer's day
My voice would reach the sky!
:
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
44
EDITORIAL COMMENT
^E TRUST that the change
in format, introduced with
this issue of THE SYRIAN
WORLD, will please our readers.
Hitherto the quality of paper
used was bulky but light,
whereas the present paper is
smooth and heavy. This permits of printing the illustrations
in conjunction with the text, insuring their appearance nearer
the points intended to illustrate.
Obviously this was impracticable with the former arrangement when the illustrations
were printed separately and inserted where convenient.
While this change will affect the apparent thickness of
the magazine, it will not actually cause any reduction in
the amount of Reading matter.
The number of pages remains
the same, and whenever the
necessity arises additions could
always be made.
*
*
Vj7E would be anxious to bring
THE SYRIAN WORLD up to
the highest standard obtaining
among American periodicals.
Nothing would please us more
than to be able to double and
triple its size, to print it in colors, to have the material especially illustrated, and otherwise
introduce such typographical
improvements that would materially enhance- its attractiveness. We know that some of
our critics take pleasure in
pointing out our shortcomings
particularly along that line.
They see the appeal in the
great American magazines and
establish the comparison without consideration of capital invested, staff engaged and revenue from advertisements and
from a circulation running into
the millions. While we who
cannot use even the plural for
thousand in counting our subscribers, who do violence to the
editorial "we" in reference to
staff and who even have to contend with the still prevalent
Syrian notion that a subscription is synonymous with a gift,
we are expected to attain the
high standards of American
publications on such meager resources! Our critics do not even
stop to consider that if we were
to pay for contributions there
would not be left the shade of
a possibility of publishing a
single issue.
We have exhausted all
available methods for increasing circulation, our last and
most ambitious effort being the
prize offer of a free round trip
to Syria. We would be loath
�-
45
MARCH, 1930
to admit that the Syrian business instinct asserts itself even
in matters cultural to the extent of buying quantity instead
of quality—of wanting size and
appearance in a publication regardless of the cause it is meant
to serve. But the contrary remains to be proven.
for the kind of service we have
pledged ourselves to promote.
*P
*l*
*P
ALTHOUGH six installments of the account of the
editor's trip abroad have so far
been published, the subjects
have been confined almost exclusively to Lebanon. With the
coming installment, however,
A GAIN we would emphasize we hope to bring the account of
that THE SYRIAN WORLD is our travels in Lebanon to an
under no subsidy and that it end and proceed to other parts
receives no financial assistance of Syria, following our itinerof whatever nature or from ary in chronological sequence,
whatever source. It was under- traveling from Tripoli through
taken for the service of an ideal the Alouite State to Aleppo,
and the only obligation it feels Hama, Horns and Damascus.
is to that company of voluntary Jebel Druze will follow with a
contributors who have given of full account of the many intertheir best towards the promo- esting experiences met with in
tion of this service. They are that section of Syria lying on
the thinking element who feel the fringe of the desert and
the value of the principles still abounding with the elewhich THE SYRIAN WORLD ad- ments of romance and mystery.
In order, however, to further
vocates and have generously
rallied to its support. If their expedite the account, interviews
efforts and ours meet with such with religious and political
little response, then something leaders will be dealt with sepamust be radically wrong either rately, following the manner
with us or with the Syrian pub- of describing the meeting with
lic for which the publication is the Maronite Patriarch appearintended. We would like to ing in this issue. This would
learn where the fault really lies mean the publication of two
and what could be done to- articles dealing in some form
wards its correction. We pledge or other with the editor's exourselves to give full publicity periences in Syria in each of
to all opinions of whatever the coming numbers. The apshade or tenure. Let us see if preciation of these descriptive
we can get together on some and highly informative acconstructive effort and ascer- counts shown by our readers
tain if there is really any need justifies the action taken.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
Causes of Palestine Riots
SUMMARY OF THE REPORT OF THE SHAW COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON THE RESULT OF ITS INVESTIGATION INTO THE
CAUSES OF THE PALESTINE DISTURBANCES OF AUG.,
1929.
_ Editor's Note:—The long-expected report of the Shaw commission of inquiry was made public in London on March 31.
Forecasts of the findings of the Commission cabled earlier in the
month represented the report as favoring the Arabs. It does favor
them to the extent of absolving them from the charge of premeditation in the August riots, as well as of any hostile design
against the British mandate. The Grand Mufti, however, is subject to mild censure for having failed to exercise the prestige of
his office to ward off the danger. At the same time, the Jewish
Palestine Executive is given to understand plainly that it is not
entitled to share in the function of government, while the several
constructive recommendations of the commission would clarify
the political situation in Palestine, regulate immigration, curb
the press and maintain a strong military garrison capable of coping with further outbreaks. The dissenting member of the commission, Harry Snell, a Laborite, lays a greater share of blame
for the riot at the door of the Grand Mufti and is otherwise
more partial to the Jewish cause. The following summary of
this historical document was cabled from London on the day of
publication by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and published in
the New York Times of April 1.
Summarizing its findings as to the cause of last August's outbreak,
the Shaw Commission declares that the fundamental cause "without which!
in out opinion, the disturbances would either not have occurred or would
have been little more than a local riot, is the Arab feeling of animosity
and hostility toward the Jews, consequent upon the disappointment of their
political and national aspirations and fear for their economic future.
"The feeling as it exists today is based on the two-fold fear of the
Ar^bs that by Jewish immigration and land purchases they may be deprived of their livelihood and in time pass under the political domination
of the Jews. In our opinion the immediate causes of the outbreak were, first
a long series of incidents connected with the Wailing Wall which began
on the Day of Atonement in September, 1928, and ended with the Moslem
�MARCH, 1930
I
47
demonstration of August 16, 1929.
"These must be regarded as a who'e, but the incident among them
which in our view contributed most to the outbreak was the Jewish demons
stration at the Wailing Wall on August 15.
"Next in importance we put the activities of the Society for the Protection of the Moslem Holy Places and in a lesser degree of tha Pro-Wailing
Wall Committee; secondly, the exciting and intemperate articles which
appeared in some Arabic papers, in one Hebrew daily paper and in the
Jewish weekly published in English; thirdly, the propaganda among the
less educated Arab people, of a character calculated to incite them; fourthly,
the enlargement of the Jewish agency; fifthly, on the inadequacy of the
military forces and reliable police available; sixthly, the belief due largely
to a feeling of uncertainty as to the policy that the decisions of the Palestine Government could be influenced by political considerations."
The commission's report, devotes considerable space to recommendations for the future. In this regard it says, "We attach the highest importance to our recommendation that his Majesty's Government should
consider the advisabiHty of issuing a clear statement of policy, the value
of which would be greatly enhanced if it dealt with the points which we
set out in the second stipulation of the following clause:
"Our recommendations regarding immigration and land questions are
largely based on the assumption that in their definition of a policy the
government will clearly state that the rights and position of non-Jewish
communities in Palestine are to be fully^safeguarded."
In defining this policy the report says, "It is our view that the issuance
of a clear statement of the policy which the government intends to pursue
in Palestine is essential to good government. We therefore recommend that
the government consider the advisability of issuing such a statement with
the least possible delay.
"It is important that the government make clear that they intend
to give full effect to that policy with all the resources at their command.
Whatever form the statement of policy may take, its value would be
greatly enhanced if it contained a definition in clear and positive terms of
the meaning which the government attaches to passages in the mandate
providing for the safeguarding of the rights of non-Jewish communities in
the country and if it laid down for the guidance of the Palestine Government directions more explicit than any yet given as to the conduct of
the policy of such vital issues of land and immigration."
The commission's recommendation on immigration declares that "any
uncertainty as to the line of policy to be pursued in the vital matter of immigration is bound to be reflected in the conduct of the Palestine Government
in the attitude and temper of the Arab people and those representing Jewish interests. We recommend, therefore, that the government issue at an
early date a clear and definite declaration of the policy which they intend
to be pursued regarding the regulation and control of future Jewish immigration to Palestine, and in framing that declaration they should have
regard to our conclusions on the subject of immigration.
"The administrative machinery for the regulation of immigration
should be reviewed with the object of preventing a repetition of the excessive immigration of 192.3-26. Consideration should be given to the pos-
�48
THE SYRIAN WORLD
sibility of devising some more suitable method of regulating the disposal
of immigration certificates under the labor schedule. Until such time as
some form of representative government is established in Palestine, machinery should be, if possible, devised whereby non-Jewish interests in
Palestine could be consulted upon matters which, had there been a legislative council, would have been referred to a special immigration committee, of which mention is made in a statement of policy contained in the
White Paper of 1922."
Discussing the land problem the report recommends that "a scientific
inquiry should be taken by experts into the prospects of introducing improved methods of cultivation in Palestine. The land policy could then be
regulated in the light of the facts ascertained by these scientific investigations. It is of vital importance that in any scheme of land development,
adopted as a result of the expert inquiry regard should be had to the certain and natural increase in the present rural population,
mentioned elsewhere. The Palestine Government should consider the posthe present tendency toward the eviction of peasant cultivators from the
land should be checked by the adoption of one of the alternative methods
mentioned elsewhere. The Palestine Government should consider the popssibility of reviving the agricultural bank or providing by other means for
the needs of the poorer cultivators who require credit facilities to enable
them to improve their present methods of farming."
On constitutional developments the commission declared: "We do not
wish to make any formal recommendation on this question. We would,
however, urge that when the question of the constitutional development
of Palestine again comes under review regard be had to our conclusion in
another chapter of this report that the absence of any measure of selfgovernment is greatly aggravating the difficulties of local administration."
Discussing the Wailing Wall, the commission declared: "In December last,
while we were still in Palestine, we communicated to you a recommendation that the government take steps to secure the early appointment under
Article XIV of the mandate of an ad hoc commission to determine rights
and claims in connection with the Wailing Wall. The early determination
of the rights and claims connected with the Wailing Wall is a measure
essential to the peace and good government of Palestine. We consider,
therefore, that the constitution of a commission and its departure for that
country should be expedited by every possible means."
Referring to fhe activities of religious societies, the report says: "Since
the disturbances in Palestine legislation dealing with offenses against the
State, including sedition, has been repealed and replaced by an ordinance
based on English criminal law. In the circumstances we feel that it is
unnecessary for us to make any recommendation under this head."
On the matter of the incitement of the press, the report recommends
that "steps should be taken to insure that the attention of the senior officers
of the Palestine Government in the future be called to any article appearing in the Palestine press which is of an inflammatory character and likely
to excite the feelings of the people. The Palestine Government should
examine the press law now in force with a view to making provision, if
such provision does not exist now, which would enable them to obtain convictions from the courts in any case in which it is proved that articles
�MARCH y 1930
49
tending to a breach of the peace hod been published in a newspaper in
palps tin6.,J
Regarding incitement, the report urges that steps be at one etaken
to remedy admitted defects in the intelligence service of Palestine. An
adequate and efficient intelligence service is essential to enable the government to check the activities of persons who endeavor to stir up racial feelings."
.
On the functions of the Zionist Organization and the Palestine Zionist
Executive the report recommends that "the government should reaffirm the
statement made in 1922 that the special position assigned to the Zionist
Organization by the mandate does not entitle it to share in any degree
in the government of Palestine. We recommend for the consideration of
the government that they should examine the possibility of laying down
some precise definition of the meaning of Article IV of the Palestine mandate."
,
. .,
Recommendations for defense and security are that "the question of the
most suitable form of garrison for Palestine should be referred to the
appropriate advisers of the government. Until that question has been
decided and thereafter until racial feeling has shown some marked improvement, no reduction should be made in the present garrison of two
battalions of infantry. An independent inquiry should be made by an experienced police officer from some other dependency into the organization
of the Palestine Police Department. You have already accepted and acted
on this recommendation. The Palestine Government should be instructed
to inquire into and report upon the possibility of forming a reserve of
special constables."
While praising the conduct of the British Police in Palestine during
the period of the disturbances, the report admits in discussing defense and
security that the policy of reducing the garrison in Palestine and Transjordania was carried too far.
"The Palestine Police, regarded collectively, were not to be relied upon
after fire had been opened or for purposes of fighting at close quarters,"
it says." "The Transjordanian frontier force behaved with exemplary
loyalty, but the intelligence service in Palestine proved inadequate."
The outbreak was not, nor was it intended to be, declares the report,
a revolt against British authority. Referring to the Zionist complaints
against the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, the report declares that the motive
of his alleged desire to make secure his own position as president of the
Supreme Moslem Council, which formed part of the case put forward
against the Mufti, had not been established.
"The Mufti, so far as we can see, had no reason to suppose that his
tenure of office was in any danger," says the report, "and in playing the
part that he took in the formation of societies for the defense of Moslem
holy places and in fostering the activities of such societies the Mufti was
influenced by the two-fold desire to annoy the Jews and to mobilize Moslem opinion on the issue of the Wailing Wall.
"He had not intended utilizing this political campaign as a means of
inciting to disorders. Inasmuch as the movement which he partly created
became through the force of circumstances, a not unimportant factor in
the events which led to the outbreak, the Mufti, like many others who
�-———————______—
50
THE SYRIAN WORLD
directly or indirectly played upon public feelings in Palestine, must accept
a share in the responsibility for the disturbances."
The report says that there is no evidence that the Mufti issued any
requests to the Moslems of Palestine to come to Jerusalem on August 23
and that no connection has been established between the Mufti and the
work of those who were either known or thought to have been engaged in
agitation and incitement. After the disturbances had broken out, the report
points out, the Mufti cooperated with the government in its effort both to
restore peace and to prevent an extension of the disorders.
Referring to the Zionist complaints against the Palestine Arab executive, the report concludes that the charges of premeditation and organization of the disturbances are not proved against the Palestine Arab executive, and "if made in relation to the actual events of August 23 and the
following days are negatived by the known facts. The charge of deliberate
incitement to disorder has not been substantiated against the Palestine
Arab executive as a body, but we have little doubt that some of the constituents who have been elected to the executive carried out among the
more ignorant Arab people a campaign of propaganda calculated to incite
them. It is probable, though except in one case there is no proof, that individual members of the Arab executive further exacerbated racial feeling
after the disturbances had begun. For their failure to make an attempt
during the week preceding the disturbances to control their followers, to
declare publicly and emphatically that they were on the side of law and
order, neither the Mufti nor the Palestine Arab executive can be acquitted
of blame."
No blame can be properly attached to H. C. Luke, Acting High Commissioner of Palestine during the riots says the report referring to the
Zionist complaints against the government on the ground that he did not
obtain reinforcements from neighboring countries before August 23.
"Looking back on the question in the full light of our present knowledge, it is our view that it would have been a reasonable precaution if Mr.
Luke had mobilized the troops within his jurisdiction at some convenient
place in Palestine some time during the days which immediately preceded
the disturbances, but for reasons which we have explained elsewhere we
do not think that any serious criticism can be properly levied against Mr.
Luke for his failure to adopt this course.
"We endorse Mr. Luke's action in declining to arm a considerable number of Jewish people, whose services were offered on the 17t)h. We are satisfied that in taking his decision that forty-one Jewish constables should
be disarmed, Mr. Luke was following the highest military advice available
to him and using his own unbiased judgment as to the line of action which
was best calculated to serve the interests of the people with whose wellbeing he was charged.
Many exciting and intemperate articles were published in the Palestine
press between October, 1928, and August, 1920. We consider that the
power of the Palestine Government to suspend the press should have been
invoked against the papers which published some of these articles.
"We cannot attach any blame to any police officer for the failure to
prevent the Jewish demonstration at the Wailing Wall on August 15.- It is
our view that those who were present during the discussions with the
�MARCH, 1930
51
leaders of the Jewish youth failed to make clear to Major Saunders that
the Jewish leaders declined to accept one of the conditions which Mr. Luke
attached to his decision that the procession should be allowed to go to
the Wailing Wall on the 22nd.- Any attempt to have prevented by force
the Moslem demonstration on August 16 would have been dangerous and
ill-advised.
"Rumors current in Palestine immediately before were the natural consequence of the two demonstrations of the 15th and 16th."
Turning to the complaint that the Palestine Government had consistently shown a lack of sympathy toward the Jewish National Home and
that its policy had been one of weakness the report says that this ' is in
large measure due to the difficulties inherent in the mandate and the failure
to appreciate the dual nature of the policy which the government has to
administer. It is our view that the government did discharge to the best
of its ability the difficult task of maintaining a neutral and impartial attitude between two peoples whose leaders had shown little capacity for
compromise."
.
On the subject of immigration the report admits that Jewish enterprise and Jewish immigration were not in excess of the absorbtive capacity
of the country and "have conferred material benefits upon Palestine, in
which the Arab people share. We consider, however, that the claims and
demands, which from the Zionist side had been advanced, regarding the
future of Jewish immigration into Palestine, had been such as to arouse
among the Arabs apprehension that they will in time be deprived of their
livelihood and pass under the political domination of the Jews.
"We further consider that Sir John Campbell was right When he
reported that the crises of 1927-28 were due 'to the fact that immigrants
came into Palestine in excess of the economic absorbing power of the country' There is incontestable evidence that in the matter of immigration
there has been a serious departure by the Jewish authorities from the
doctrine accepted by the Zionist Organization in 11)22 that immigration
should be regulated by the economic capacity of Palestine to absorb new
arrivals.
-„ . ,
In conjunction with other and more immediate causes for the disturbances, the feeling of Arab apprehension caused by Jewish immigration
was a factor which contributed to the outbreak.
The land problem comes in for considerable attention. On this matter
the report savs: "Soon after the institution of civil government in Palestine,
the administration became anxious lest the interest of the tenants and cultivators be prejudiced by the sale of large estates. The land transfer ordinances of 1920 and 1921 were passed with the object of protecting the
interest of cultivators and preventing their expropriation from the soil.
These ordinances failed to achieve their objects and were replaced by the
cultivators' protective ordinance of 1929.
"Between 1921 and 1929 there were large sales of land, in consequence
of which numbers of Arabs were evicted without provision of other land
for their occupation. In some cases, the Arabs who were dispossessed received cash compensation, and no criticism can be levied against the Jewish land companies in respect to these transactions. Those companies were
acting with the government's knowledge
�52
THE SYRIAN WORLD i
"The cultivator's protective ordinance of 1929, while giving compensa- I
tion for the disturbance, does nothing to check the tendency toward dispossession of the cultivators from their holdings. The mere provision of compensation in money may even encourage that tendency. The position is now
acute. There is no alternative land to which the evicted persons can be
removed. In consequence a landless and discontented class is being created.
Such a class is a potential danger to the country.
Source of Discontent Seen.
"Unless some solution can be found to deal with this situation the
question will remain a constant source of present discontent and a potential cause of future disturbance. Palestine cannot support a larger agricultural population than it at present carries unless the methods of farming
undergo radical changes. With more intensive cultivation, should this prove
to be possible, room might be found for a number of newcomers in certain
districts."
The constitutional grievances of the Arabs also come in for some attention in the report, Which says on this subject: "It is a matter of regret
that the Arab leaders did not accept the offer of a legislative council that
was made to them in 1922. Today the Arab people of- Palestine are united
in a demand for a measure of self-government. This unity of purpose may
weaken, but it is liable to be revised in full force by any large issue which
involves racial interests. It is our belief that the feeling of resentment
among the Palestine Arabs consequent upon their disappointment at their
continued failure to obtain any measure of self-government is greatly aggravating the difficulties of local administration."
The difficulties inherent in the Palestine mandate in the Balfour Declaration, the report declares, are factors of supreme importance in a consideration of the Palestine problem. "The issue of a clear definition of
policy backed by a statement that it is the firm intention of the government to supplement that policy to the full would be of the greatest assistance in securing good government of the country."
Labor Member's Reservations.
Harry Snell the Laborite member, differs from the other members in
attributing to the Grand Mufti a greater share in the responsibility for
the disturbances than is attributed to him in the report. He is of the opinion
that the Mufti "must bear the blame for his failure to make any effort to
control the character of the agitation conducted in the name of the religion
of which, in Palestine, he is the head."
Although he agrees that the Arab Executive was not of necessity
responsible as a body for the words or acts of its individuals or followers,
Mr. Snell finds it difficult to believe "that the actions of the individual
members of the Executive were unknown to that body, or indeed that these
individuals were acting in a purely personal capacity."
In regard to the campaign of incitement Mr. Snell is unable to agree
with the conclusions in the report acquitting the Moslem religious authorities of all but the slightest blame for the innovations introduced in the
neighborhood of the Wailing Wall. It is his opinion that the innovations
"were dictated less by the needs of the Moslem religion and the rights of
property than by a studied desire to provoke and wound the religious susceptibilities of the Jewish people."
«
The
�MARCH, 1930
53
Political Developments in Syria
four declaration. Judging by the
tenor of the commission's findings,
The Shaw Commission's report on
this interpretation could not be oththe causes of the Palestine disturb- erwise than a disavowal by Britain
ances of last August was published of any intention to help the Jews
in London on March 31, and if it establish a national home in Palescaused a certain degree of elation tine against the interest of the
among the Arabs, it aroused pro- Arabs. In fact, considerable sentiportionately twice as much bitter- ment seems to be developing lately
ness among the Jews. A summary
in favor of establishing cantons in
of the report is published elsewhere
Palestine similar to the Swiss sysin this issue of The Syrian World. tem of government. This would perAs a result of the commission's mit of local or district governments
findings, Premier MacDonald made bound together only by national
a statement in the House of Com- obligations. Where the Jews premons on April 3 reaffirming Great dominate, such as in the district of
Britain's resolve to continue to ad- Jaffa, they would be given the right
minister Palestine under the terms of autonomous government, in which
of the League of Nations' mandate.
case they would assert themselves
In this declaration of policy the Pre- within limited bounds. This would
mier received the hearty support of tend to relieve the tension created
both former Premier Baldwin for the by the desire of the Jews to lay
Conservatives and David Lloyd- claim to the government of the
George for the Liberals. This is whole country when their total numtaken to prove conclusively that ber does not exceed 150,000 as comGreat Britain's colonial policy can- pared to an Arab population of
not undergo any material change
something like 750,000.
under no matter what form of govThe native press of Palestine and
ernment. Those under British rule,
Syria
continues to publish frequent
in fact under the domination of any
reports
of attempts by the Jews to
European power, should by now
smuggle arms and ammunition into
realize the fact.
Press dispatches from Palestine Palestine. The Arab boycott of the
state that publication of the Shaw Jews is reported to be still in full
Commission's report in Jerusalem force, and although no fresh outbreaks have been reported, thanks
was received with a large amount
to the vigilance of the authorities,
of placidity, because both Arabs and
Jews had taken the forecasts se- passions seem to be restrained with
riously so that the publication of difficulty.
A Palestine Commission, headed
the official text caused little surby
the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem,
prise. The Jews, however, were the
the
one who is censured by the Shaw
ones to feel the disappointment more
commission
for having neglected to
keenly because of the commission's
recommendation of a more lucid in- use the prestige of his office to preterpretation by Britain of the Bal- vent the bloody riots of last August,
PALESTINE
�i MARt
THE SYRIAN WORLD
54
is now in London in the interest of
furthering the claims of Palestinian
Arabs. Upon the publication of the
commission's report, members of
the Palestinian delegation were reported to have expressed satisfaction with its findings and recommendations.
Lord Balfour, author of the famous Balfour Declaration pledging
England to help the Jews in the
establishment of a national home in
Palestine, died in London on March
18.
SYRIA
An important development in the
Syrian political situation was the
meeting in the week of March 16,
of the Constituent Assembly at
Damascus for the purpose of discussing the deplorable condition to
which the affairs of the country
have been reduced as a result of
the continued policy of procrastination by the French High Commissioner. What lends the meeting more
significance is the fact that the Assembly was dissolved by the High
Commissioner on the promise to
study its demands and find a mutually satisfactory solution. To have
convened without the approval of
the High Commissioner indicates
the degree of desperation to which
the members of the Assembly have
been driven. Their action constitutes
an open defiance of the authority
of the mandatory power.
The meeting was said to have been
attended not only by the legally
elected members but by many delegates of the Syrian Nationalist
Party from all parts of the country.
The deliberations continued for several days, resulting in the preparation of a memorandum to be presented to the High Commissioner as
embodying the final and concrete de-
:: :-
:
mands of the Syrian nation. The
signers are said to have emphasized
at the outset that the Constituent
Assembly remains the only legal
body empowered to represent the
people, inasmuch as it derives its
powers from the people themselves
through popular election. Furthermore, the Assembly consented to
the act of suspension only on the
understanding that by so doing it
would give the mandatory authorities time to consider the national
demands and promote the policy of
understanding. Now that over a year
has elapsed since the cessation of
its functions, during which time no
progress seems to have been made
toward effecting a satisfaetoi-y solution, the Assembly feels it is obliged
to resume its duties to save the
country from threatened economic
ruin.
The Syrian Nationalists further
insist that a copy of their tentative
draft of a constitution be submitted
to the League of Nations for consideration. By this they hope to forcibly call attention of the Powers to
the justice of their demands.
One of the main grievances of the
Nationalists, as set forth in the
petition, is the continuation in power of the Tajeddeen government.
They contend that this provisional
government was only set up to supervise the elections to the Constituent Assembly. It has continued
in power ever since and has grossly
abused its privileges by granting
national concessions to foreign interests. In this the Nationalists
claim the government is acting illegally because it cannot claim a
de jure status and they demand the
revocation of all grants and concessions so undertaken.
A Nationalist editor has been
sentenced to a year in prison for
having accused a minister of the
I
�MARCH, 1930
ever, was an argument which developed between him and the President of the Assembly, a Moslem,
over a point of parliamentary procedure. The next day a resolution
concurred in by 27 members was introduced demanding a vote of confidence in the Cabinet without debate. The signers of the petition,
sympathizers of the President of
the Assembly, being overwhelmingly
in the majority, carried the day with
steam-roller tactics. Premier Eddy
immediately handed in his resignation.
Reports state that consequent
upon these developments, the President of the Republic visited the
French High Commissioner to confer with him on the situation. The
Premiership was said to have been
refused by both the defeated Premier Eddy and former Premier
Bishara Khoury, as well as by many
others who would not expose themselves to the intrigues of a politiLEBANON
cal machine. Finally August Adeeb
The Eddy cabinet met the fate undertook to form a cabinet and
of its predecessors and was defeated succeeded in winning a vote of conm a stormy session of the Repre- fidence. His choice for Minister of
sentative Assembly on March 20 by Education was Gibran Twainy, who
an adverse vote of 27, the twelve is expected to placate the Moslem
other members present having re- element in the matter of the application of educational reforms. The
frained from voting.
This is all the more regrettable Eddy reform and economy program,
because of the high hopes placed on on which so much hope had been
the application of the ambitious re- placed, seems to have been thrown
form program of the Premier who into the discard.
The new Premier is a man of
seemed to be making considerable
progress in effecting needed econo- wide administrative experience. A
mies. He met his nemesis,, as it Lebanese by birth, he entered the
would appear, in the attempt to do employ of the Egyptian governaway with sinecures and abolish ment and rose to the highest post to
inefficient schools. The unfortunate which a foreigner is eligible in the
part is that most of these schools Ministry of Finance. Through purely
were for the Moslems who interpret- patriotic motives, he returned to his
ed the Premier's action as prompted native land at the conclusion of the
World War and was appointed delby religious bias.
The immediate cause of the crisis egate to the conference on the adwhich terminated in his defeat, how- justment of the Ottoman debts.
Tajeddeen government of profiteering by the granting of concessions.
A movement that threatens to assume serious proportions is the demand of the Aleppians for secession
from the central government of
Damascus. Six copies of a petition
whose authors claim the backing of
the overwhelming majority of the
Aleppians were being circulated
for signatures prior to presentation
to the High Commissioner when
the authorities took peremptory action to stop the movement as being
of a seditious nature. The grievances
of the Aleppians are that they are
not properly represented in the government, that they pay three-quarters of Syria's taxes and receive no
benefit in return, and that all poblic
improvements are being confined to
Damascus. The petitioners demand
separation from the State of Syria
as a measure of safeguarding their
interests.
i
55
�'
56
'
THE SYRIAN WORLD
About Syria and Syrians
RIHANI ON A LECTURE
TOUR OF THE COUNTRY
INCREASING APPROPRIATIONS
FOR BYBLOS EXCAVATIONS
Our noted traveler and author,
Ameen Rihani, is at present on the
Pacific coast fulfilling lecture engagements with universities, clubs
and societies. In the week of March
10 he gave a series of three lectures
at the University of Illinois on various political and historical topics.
The week following he lectured in
Kansas City and crossed west to
Portland, Oregon, thence proceeding to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Newspaper clippings reaching us from these various sections
through the courtesy of our readers
concur in describing the high degree
of enthusiasm with which Mr. Rihani's addresses are met at every
stage of his journey.
A bill asking for an appropriation
of £S35,000 for excavation work at
Jubail, ancient Byblos, for 1930 was
reported to the Lebanese Representative Assembly and is expected to
be favorably acted upon.
The author of the bill proposes
that about 75 per cent, of the appropriation go to the purchase of
land known to have been the site
of ancient cemeteries, the balance
being devoted to actual excavation
work. This section of Mt. Lebanon
is admittedly very rich in ancient
relics, as Byblos was once a
flourishing kingdom and the seat
of the Phoenicians' most advanced
civilization. In the excavation work
of 1929, relics of immense historical value were recovered and placed
on exhibition at the National Museum of Beirut, which is now one
of the principal places in the itinerary of tourists visiting the country.
The many specimens of exquisite
workmanship in jewelry and pottery executed by the early Phoenicians nearly four thousand years
ago are cause for the greatest
admiration.
SILVER JUBILEE FOR
A MARONITE PRIEST
The congregation of Our Lady of
the Cedars Maronite church in Boston will give a banquet on April
27 in celebration of the twentyfifth anniversary of the ordination
of their pastor, Rev. Stephen Douaihy, to the priesthood.
Father Douaihy has had a most
interesting career. Educated at the
Maronite College in Rome, he became private secretary to the Patriarch upon his return to Lebanon,
and accompanied the prelate to Paris
at the conclusion of the World War
on his political mission.
Father Douaihy came to the
United States in 1920 and was pastor of the Maronite congregation of
Scranton, Pa„ until 1929, when he
was transferred to Boston.
SYRIAN AND LEBANESE
STUDENTS IN FRANCE
An official of the French Ministry
of Education is quoted by a Syrian
paper as saying that the total number of registered Syrian and Lebanese students now in French schools
and universities is 208, of whom 156
are in the city of Paris.
An analysis of the courses of
study taken up by these students
t
MAR
�MARCH, 1930
shows a marked trend towards practical sciences, indicating an awakening to the pressing needs of the
country. While at one time the
studies were almost wholly literary
or artistic, there are now 57 students taking up courses in commerce and industry and 16 studyin%
scientific agriculture. Of medical
and pharmaceutical students there
are 39.
SYRIAN BOY WINS
HIGH SCHOLASTIC RECORD
A reader of The Syrian World
sends us a clipping of a New Bern,
N. C. paper which we are glad to
copy while extending the boy the
heartiest congratulations. Said the
American paper:
"Probably one of the best records,
in the history of American schools,
has been made by Joseph Salem, of
New Bern, North Carolina.
"Joe was born in Mt. Lebanon,
Syria, and came to America with
his parents, when he was nine years
old. At that time 'he could not
speak one word of the English
language, not even "Good morning."
Yet he completed eleven years of
school work in eight years and five
months; always stood at the head
of his class, and not once did he
have to take an examination, being
always exempted because of his
high daily average. For this unusual
record and high standing, a scholarship from the University of North
Carolina was granted him last June.
"Besides being a good student, he
is a gifted linguist, speaking three
languages fluently: English, French
and Syrian.
"Among the offices held by him
during his high-school days were
the following, Member of the National Honor Society; secretary of
the Hi-Y Club; secretary and treas-
57
urer of his freshman class; vice
president of his sophomore class;
treasurer of his junior class; assistant manager and assistant editor
of the Bruin school paper all four
years, and besides being interested
in these activities he worked continuously to help pay for his education."
EXILED DRUZE REBELS
IN DIRE STRAITS
Reient reports from Palestine
state that a son of Sultan Pasha Atrash, leader of the Druze revolt
against the French in Syria during
1925-27, arrived in Haifa and declared in an interview that the condition of the rebels under his father had become well nigh unbearable. Their number is now reduced
to eight hundred souls, counting
men, women and children. They occupy a section of Wadi Sirhan within the boundaries of Nejd, under the
protection of King Ibn Saoud. But
they have run out of provisions and
are reduced to eating the green
leaves of trees. They are in great
need of medical supplies owing to
the prevalence of disease.
HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT
ON THE ORONTES
A concession for the generation
of electricity from the waters of the
river Orontes (Al-Asi) has been
granted to a French company which
immediately started operations and
has now completed the digging of
the canal to a point midway between Horns and Hama, where it
intends to erect its plant. The canal
is six kilometers long, four meters
wide and two meters deep. The waterfall will be from a height of fifty
meters, and it is calculated that
four thousand h. p. could be gener-
�56
THE SYRIAN WORLD
About Syria and Syrians
RIHANI ON A LECTURE
TOUR OF THE COUNTRY
INCREASING APPROPRIATIONS
FOR BYBLOS EXCAVATIONS
Our noted traveler and author,
Ameen Rihani, is at present on the
Pacific coast fulfilling lecture engagements with universities, clubs
and societies. In the week of March
10 he gave a series of three lectures
at the University of Illinois on various political and historical topics.
The week following he lectured in
Kansas City and crossed west to
Portland, Oregon, thence proceeding to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Newspaper clippings reaching us from these various sections
through the courtesy of our readers
concur in describing the high degree
of enthusiasm with which Mr. Rihani's addresses are met at every
stage of his journey.
A bill asking for an appropriation
of £S35,000 for excavation work at
Jubail, ancient Byblos, for 1930 was
reported to the Lebanese Representative Assembly and is expected to
be favorably acted upon.
The author of the bill proposes
that about 75 per cent, of the appropriation go to the purchase of
land known to have been the site
of ancient cemeteries, the balance
being devoted to actual excavation
work. This section of Mt. Lebanon
is admittedly very rich in ancient
relics, as Byblos was once a
flourishing kingdom and the seat
of the Phoenicians' most advanced
civilization. In the excavation work
of 1929, relics of immense historical value were recovered and placed
on exhibition at the National Museum of Beirut, which is now one
of the principal places in the itinerary of tourists visiting the country.
The many specimens of exquisite
workmanship in jewelry and pottery executed by the early Phoenicians nearly four thousand years
ago are cause for the greatest
admiration.
SILVER JUBILEE FOR
A MARONITE PRIEST
The congregation of Our Lady of
the Cedars Maronite church in Boston will give a banquet on April
27 in celebration of the twentyfifth anniversary of the ordination
of their pastor, Rev. Stephen Douaihy, to the priesthood.
Father Douaihy has had a most
interesting career. Educated at the
Maronite College in Rome, he became private secretary to the Patriarch upon his return to Lebanon,
and accompanied the prelate to Paris
at the conclusion of the World War
on his political mission.
Father Douaihy came to the
United States in 1920 and was pastor of the Maronite congregation of
Scranton, Pa., until 1929, when he
was transferred to Boston.
SYRIAN AND LEBANESE
STUDENTS IN FRANCE
An official of the French Ministry
of Education is quoted by a Syrian
paper as saying that the total number of registered Syrian and Lebanese students now in French schools
and universities is 208, of whom 156
are in the city of Paris.
An analysis of the courses of
study taken up by these students
�MARCH, 1930
shows a marked trend towards practical sciences, indicating an awakening to the pressing needs of the
country. While at one time the
studies were almo.st wholly literary
or artistic, there are now 57 students taking up courses in commerce and industry and 16 studyin%
scientific agriculture. Of medical
and pharmaceutical students there
are 39.
SYRIAN BOY WINS
HIGH SCHOLASTIC RECORD
57
uier of his freshman class; vice
president of his sophomore class;
treasurer of his junior class; assistant manager and assistant editor
of the Bruin school paper all four
years, and besides being interested
in these activities he worked continuously to help pay for his education."
EXILED DRUZE REBELS
IN DIRE STRAITS
Reient reports from Palestine
state that a son of Sultan Pasha AtA reader of The Syrian World rash, leader of the Druze revolt
sends us a clipping of a New Bern, against the French in Syria during
N. C. paper which we are glad to 1925-27, arrived in Haifa and decopy while extending the boy the clared in an interview that the conheartiest congratulations. Said the dition of the rebels under his father had become well nigh unbearAmerican paper:
"Probably one of the best records, able. Their number is now reduced
in the history of American schools, to eight hundred souls, counting
has been made by Joseph Salem, of men, women and children. They occupy a section of Wadi Sirhan withNew Bern, North Carolina.
"Joe was born in Mt. Lebanon, in the boundaries of Nejd, under the
Syria, and came to America with protection of King Ibn Saoud. But
his parents, when he was nine years they have run out of provisions and
old. At that time he could not are reduced to eating the green
speak one word of the English leaves of trees. They are in great
language, not even "Good morning." need of medical supplies owing to
Yet he completed eleven years of the prevalence of disease.
school work in eight years and five
months; always stood at the head HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT
of his class, and not once did he
ON THE ORONTES
have to take an examination, being
A concession for the generation
always exempted because of his
of
electricity from the waters of the
high daily average. For this unusual
river
Orontes (Al-Asi) has been
record and high standing, a scholargranted
to a French company which
ship from the University of North
Carolina was granted him last June. immediately started operations and
"Besides being a good student, he has now completed the digging of
is a gifted linguist, speaking three the canal to a point midway belanguages fluently: English, French tween Horns and Hama, where it
intends to erect its plant. The canal
and Syrian.
"Among the offices held by him is six kilometers long, four meters
during his high-school days were wide and two meters deep. The wathe following, Member of the Na- terfall will be from a height of fifty
tional Honor Society; secretary of meters, and it is calculated that
the Hi-Y Club; secretary and treas- four thousand h. p. could be gener-
�58
ated with present facilities. Horns
and Hama are promised electric service by July, 1931, under the terms
of the franchise, but may get it in
the current year if the work is
maintained at its present rate of
progress.
LOSS OF TREASURE
DRIVES SYRIAN MAD
Losing money on stock speculation is not the only reason for insanity or suicide. Here is a novel
reason for driving a Syrian laborer
out of his mind.
While engaged in removing red
dirth in the vicinity of Aleppo, a
laborer noticed a black box which
he thought contained ammunition
left by the Germans and Turks in
their hasty flight from Syria. He
called the gendarmes who, upon
opening the box, found it to contain
forty thousand pounds in gold. The
laborer fainted at the sight of the
glistening yellow metal, and later
lost his reason completely.
SYRIAN PAPER HELPS
FRENCH FLOOD SUFFERERS
Al-Hoda, the Syrian daily of New
York, invited contributions for the
sufferers of the disastrous floods of
Southern France, opening the subscription list itself with a substantial sum. The lists published by AlHoda show that the response to its
appeals from its Syrian and Lebanese readers is both generous and
country-wide. The funds collected
were turned over to the French consul General in New York.
LOCUSTS IN SYRIA
The authorities in Palestine are
making considerable progress in
checking the locust invasion, but
the country is not yet free from
danger.
In Syria the locusts have invaded
THE SYRIAN WORLD
certain districts of Houran and
reached some outlying sections of
the Damascus territory, but have
not reached the G'houta proper.
Aleppo has so far escaped the danger, but the vanguaru of the locust
hordes have made their appearance
at a point sixty miles to the east
of Homs.
OTTOMAN PRINCE
A TAXI DRIVER
A reporter of a Damascus newspaper in Beirut hailed a taxi and
thought that he had seen the driver
sometime, somewhere. When the
driver's Arabic proved unintelligible the reporter addressed him in
Turkish, and it was then that he recognized him as Hassan, the grandson of the Tin-kish Sultan Abdul
Aziz and nephew of the Sultan Abdul Majid. The driver made no attempt to hide his identity, explaining that he was driven to this occupation as the only one open to
him for earning a living.
Shades of Russian nobility in
Paris and other cities of Europe!
SETTLING THE BEDU
There is in the government of
Syria a special department for the
regulation of the affairs of the bedu,
or the nomad Arabs in the country.
This department had laid a program
for the gradual settling of the nomads and the direction of their interests and energies to agriculture.
It is now announced that it plans
the enforcement of this program by
the erection this year of one thousand houses in the district of Deir
Ezzour, which will be turned over
to the Arabs on easy terms as an
inducement for them to settle permanently on the land. They will also
be taught modern methods of agriculture.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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TSW1930_03reducedWM
Title
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The Syrian World Volume 04, Issue 07
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930 March
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 4 Issue 07 of The Syrian World published March 1930. Editor Salloum Mokarzel opens the issue with a special article on his visit to the Maronite Patriarch at his summer residence, discussing his opinions on home politics and the religious future of his spiritual children in America. Ameen Rihani then presents a further account of his experiences in Jeddah including interesting discussions with King Hussein, specifically dealing with Koranic Law, and unorthodox banking operations. Followed by a poem by J.D. Carlyle and An Arabian Nights' Story, Kahlil Gibran showcases his thoughts on the meaning of giving and taking, surrounded by his own illustrations. Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin is next, contributing his another one of his poems titled "The Two Answers," followed by another work of poetry by Alice McGeorge. Salloum Mokarzel is featured yet again in this issue with more describing his trip, this time through Southern Lebanon, specifically to Mashgara, Jezzine, Kfarhouna, Al-Mukhtara, Beit Eddeen, and Deir El-Kamar. The issue ends with a poem by Labeebee A. J. Hanna titled "Advice to Rash Youth" in which she discusses the trouble with making quick decisions. The issue is once again closed with excerpts from the Arab press, information on the Causes of Palestine Riots, and more on political developments in Syria.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
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Text
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1930s
Alice McGeorge
Ameen Rihani
Kahlil Gibran
Labeebee A.J. Hanna
Lebanon
Maronite Church
New York
Poetry-English
Salim Alkazin
Saudi Arabia
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/63102579a5a5ae3b6c65bb9009f3e920.pdf
d3c11cfeea51f6a95214ac5878f5a353
PDF Text
Text
MAY, 1930.
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
A
MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
m
i
ORIGINALITY IN REFORM
AMEEN RIHANI
FROM TRIPOLI TO LATAKIA
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
ESSAY ON LIFE (POEM)
THOMAS ASA
THE SYRIANS IN AMERICA
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
ARE THE SYRIANS ARABS?
(AN EDITORIAL)
SYRIA PROCLAIMED A REPUBLIC
THE COPY 50c
!
��attamam
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
Tublished monthly by
SALLOUM
A.
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies 60c
I•
Entered as second-class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
MAY, 1930
VOL. IV. No. 9.
CONTENTS
Originality in Reform
5
AMEEN RIHANI
From Tripoli to Latakia
SALLOUM
15
A.
MOKARZEL
On the Art of Writing
26
KAHLIL GIBRAN
Essay On Life (Poem)
27
THOMAS ASA
The Minor Key (Short Story)
LABEEBEE
31
A. J.
HANNA
The Syrians in America
37
SALLOUM
:
\^::.>.'---,.':VJ -:---...^..<•<:
:<,...
A.
MOKARZEL
�— "
-"—'
I 11
II
'II
«,» ——
"•'
'
"•'
"
'I ———II
^^»
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
Editorial Comment.—
A
Are the Syrians Arabs?
41
Express Yourself!
43
l Spirit of the Syrian Press
44
Political Developments in Syria
Syria Proclaimed a Republic
49
About Syria and Syrians
52
ANNOUNCEMENT
OF THE CLOSING OF THE CONTEST
FOR
THE SYRIAN WORLD'S FREE TRIP TO SYRIA
APPEARS ON PAGE 4
-•
�IN THIS ISSUE
AGE
1
3
4
9
P,
AMEEN RIHANI seems public in Syria should be conto have an inexhaustible store sidered a historical event of
of rich Arabian experience. His paramount interest. The manlatest book "Around the Coasts ner in which this came to hapof Arabia" bears testimony to pen together with pertinent
the truth of this assertion. And comment on the attitude of the
he tells about them in such an Syrian Nationalists, will be
inimitably fascinating way. The found most timely. * * * The
account of his experiences with principal poetical contribution
men and things in Jeddah, and in this issue is an able essay by
his near-haj to Mecca, as told THOMAS ASA, whom our
in his article appearing in this readers came to know and apissue of THE SYRIAN WORLD, preciate by his many former
should prove a feast of delect- contributions. DR. S. Y. ALable reading to the discerning. KAZIN also contributes one of
* * * Continuing the account of his delightful lyric composihis travels in Syria, the editor tions. * * * A short story by
takes his readers in the present LABEEBEE A. J. HANNA
instalment beyond the borders gives an intimate and graphic
of Lebanon and into the Ala- description of a phase of Syrouites—to Tripoli and beyond, ian-American home life. * * *
into a land rich both in Phoe- We wish to call particular atnician relics and magic-like tention to the editorial in this
Crusader's castles. Readers will issue dealing with the imporalso undoubtedly enjoy the des- tant question of whether the
cription of the Pond of the Syrians in America should
Sacred Fish, which, by the way, choose to be called Syrians or
is no "fish story." They will Arabs. A symposium is encouralso appreciate the uncomfort- aged in an effort to ascertain the
able feeling of the editor and drift of sentiment on this subhis companion with a chauffeur ject. * * * The department of
of an oddly mixed breed who the Spirit of the Syrian^ Press
insisted on being familiar and will be found teeming with inhad the habit of relinquishing terest and giving reactions to
his hold on the steering wheel public questions in the fairest
while the car was tearing up spirit of impartiality. * * * The
the road at 110 kilometers an news section is exceptionally
hour. * * * Declaration of a re- broad and inclusive in this issue.
__
1
-
�CONTEST CLOSED
A NEW OFFER MAY BE CONSIDERED
Owing to the delay in the publication date, we are
able to announce the closing of THE SYRIAN WORLD Contest for a free trip to Syria, set for June 10, in this issue.
We regret to state, however, that none of the contestants has attained the mark necessary to win the
Grand Prize. Their awards for subscriptions secured will
be forwarded them in the course of this month.
Hard times and the shortness of the contest period
have been partly blamed by some entrants for their failure. If some of the present entrants wish to make another attempt, with a whole year in which to work for the
prize, we might consider a further extension on the same
conditions.
New entrants wishing to register for the contest are
also invited to communicate with us as a second offer of
the prize will not be confined to old entrants. Rather,
a substantial addition of new entrants will favorably influence us to consider another offer.
New participants wishing to know the conditions of
the contest will be supplied with literature upon request.
We would ask them to write to us early.
The prize would be, as in the former offer, a free
trip to Syria and return with liberal cash allowance to
cover expenses of all shore excursions on the way over.
Address all communications to Contest Editor,
104 Greenwich St., New York.
SYRIAN WORLD,
THE
�y-nffiitw
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
MAY, 1930.
VOL. IV. No. 9.
Originality In Reform
An account of some of Mr. Rihani's strange experiences and
observations in Arabia.
By
AMEEN RIHANI
* A UN UR-RAFIQ, uncle of King Husein and former Sherif
of Mecca, was a man of wit and violence;—a philosopher
with a smile and an axe;—a sarcastic, caustic, iconoclastic Arab.
He refused to acknowledge, for instance, that pilgrims are people.
Pilgrims are—pilgrims. But what matters if the Grand Sherif
gives them the cold shoulder? Allah and the Prophet will give
them, of a certainty, a warm welcome in Al-Hijaz. The sun of
Al-Hijaz! thinkest thou that those who come to scald their
sconces in it are people? Thinkest thou, O most pious one, that
those who come from the end of the earth to drink the salt water
of Zamzam, and smell the stenches of sacrifice at Mina, and burn
in the Juhannam of 'Arafat, and starve in the streets of Mecca,
and if they survive, go back with the germ of pestilence in their
blood—thinkest thou that they are people? They are pilgrims,
O most pious one, and they deserve what they get.
And 'Aun ur-Rafiq was descendant of the Prophet with Wahhaby tendencies. He could see no use in tombs of waits (saints)
especially, to which the widow and the barren wife and the halfnaked, half-witted Bedu repaired for divine assistance. The tomb
of a wali is called a maqam, a shrine with a dome, of which there
is a multitude in Al-Hijaz, and on which the facetious 'Aun pronounced judgment. Let the widow and the barren wife go to the
right man, said he, and let the half-witted Bedu go to the Kaaba.
Invoke Allah alone: the waits are dead and cannot help. Every
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
domed shrine was therefore doomed; and many of them were
destroyed. The people groaned and moaned and appealed in
vain. The Sherif 'Aim the maqamoclast would not hear^ would
not care. But when the agents of destruction, the hosts of a Unitarian faith, arrived at Jeddah and stood with their spades before
the greatest maqam in Al-Hijaz, in Arabia,—in the whole world,
—which is the three-domed tomb of "our mother Eve," (1) the
citizens of Jeddah, knowing that the Sherif would not hear their
protests, appealed to the European Consuls. But what had the
Consuls to do with a religious reform in Arabia? They asked
themselves this question; and one of them, a man of genius,
answered. We have much to do with it. Eve is neither a saint
nor a Moslem woman: Eve is our mother as well as the Muslerns'. The Consuls, therefore, took action, and the Sherif was
amused. "But think you," he asked, "that 'our mother' was so
tall? If the stupidity is international, let the tomb stand."
But King Husein had a gentler wit and a milder method of
reform. He was subtle and original. Without touching a tradition he modified, and often nullified, its evil. One of the marvelous features of the Hajj, for instance, was that some of the
pilgrims, in an ecstasy of devotion, would throw themselves in
the well of Zamzam, believing it to be the quickest and safest
way to eternal bliss—a short-cut to Paradise. Now, King Husein
did not say to them that this was a form of insanity, nor did he
prevent them from indulging in it; but he had the well covered
with a wire net.
That epidemics accompanied the hajj in the past, even nested
in the Holy Places, is a matter of common knowledge; and there
was more than one or two or three reasons for it. King Husein
saw one reason immediately before him. The water ducts in Mina
were open, and the pilgrims, who go there to stone the devil,
do not give a thought to the microbe. They trample upon it, and
throw it in the stream, and then by drinking the water, put an
end to it! To the pure all things are pure. Which His Majesty
also repeated, and believed. But to cover the ducts is not irreligious, and a hydrant can work no evil. With a hydrant and iron
pipes, therefore, did he combat the microbe in Mina.
Indeed, he has even gone so far as to establish hospitals and
(1) It is sixty-five feet long with three domes and in an enclosure outside
the city wall containing other tombs. The women of Jeddah visit it
every Thursday.
.
�MAY, 1930
'
combat disease in a scientific manner. Of the two hospitals in the
City of Mecca one is exclusively for the poor; but both have
examination and operation rooms completely equipped, competent doctors and nurses, a drug department, and special wards
for women and children as well as for the pilgrims. Thus the
test of faith—the hardships and the sufferings and the disease
which the pilgrims welcome and endure—is fast disappearing.
In a middle degree, however, it may still be found at Kamaran (1) and.at the Island of Abu Sa'ad(2). Nevertheless, King
Husein thought that his Quarantine is the best in the world.
Moreover, the English at Kamaran were usurping, not only his
rights, but also his own Arab islands,—"Let them come and see
how well we can disinfect and how well we can care for the health
of the pilgrims. They cannot be more solicitous about them, O
dear one, than we are
Our Quarantine is incomparable. Come
and see with your own eyes."
His Majesty clapped for the servant and ordered the launch.
He was ever thus, with rarely a program for the day, but always
sudden and surprising. An excellent method to keep the servants
alert and the soldiers on guard; but it does not always succeed
in Arabia. The launch! And in a few minutes, while every one
in the Palace was in a flurry of preparation, a soldier came in to
say that the launch was ready. Nothing else was. His Majesty
put his galoches on with his own hand and walked out without
his black sleeves, without his Secretary, and without uttering a
word of dissatisfaction.
We were accompanied by the Ameer Zeid and the Minister
of the Navy. In a few places, as we steamed out of the landing,
the launch touched bottom and the sailors had to get out and
punt Whether in a motor car or a motor boat in the Hijaz we
were sure to get stuck in the sand. Once we were in the open,
however, the engine hummed, and in an hour we were at the
Island of Abu Sa'ad. The pilgrims, seeing the royal launch,
crowded around the landing. The Turks in baggy trousers—souvenirs of the old regime—shouted at them and tried to drive
them back. King Husein motioned, Nay, with his head and hand;
and as soon as he landed he was besieged by them.
They came rushing from every direction to kiss the royal
(1) The Red Sea Quarantine for those who come from the East.
(2) The Quarantine of Jeddah.
�8
THE SYRIAN WORLD
hand. Not a word was spoken, not a voice was heard. Of all the
pilgrims, the Javanese are the most welcome at Jeddah and the
most liked; for they are rich with piety and devotion, as well as
in the things of the world. Moreover, they are the first to arrive
and the last to depart. To them the pilgrim season is seldom
short of six months;—six months in the vicinity of Allah and
the Prophet!—and they shed tears of sorrow when they leave.
They shed tears of joy too when they saw the Descendant
of the Prophet. I have never seen such expression of reverence,
of devotion, of ecstatic servility; and as they crowded around
this man, grovelling, bending, whining words of worship, they
seemed at a loss how to bow or kneel. Those that fell on both
knees kissed the hem of his robe. Others rubbed their face against
his shoes, others against his breast; and having done, they withdrew, but not their gaze, and stood at a little distance with outstretched hands. More than King was he to them, and more than
Sherif: they stood before a revelation, as it were, a substantiation.
The Prophet himself seemed to be patting their cheeks, their
backs, their hands. I could see that the King was moved, and his
words were few. He made no effort to free himself, but stood
there the centre of the most .extraordinary demonstration, the
rarest human devotion;—a victim of his own faith and the faith
of his fathers, which, transplanted in the tropics, in equatorial
regions, sapped every vestige of other faiths and developed to
the proportions that border on the ugly and grotesque.
For half an hour we were lost in that half-naked yellow mass
of human devotion. Nor could we proceed. We were squeezed
out of one group into the press of another, for there were in the
Island that day about two thousand Javanese. Out of one of the
houses the women came and stood near the door hesitating, some
of them looking beseechingly with outstretched hands. The King
turned in their direction and in a moment he was swallowed up.
Now and then his white turban would become visible, as they
surged and resurged around it and carried it eventually into the
house. We stood watching and waiting. The King was again
visible. He stood at the door and clapped for one of the servants,
who came cringing and trembling; and, with tilted head and
folded arms, he received a good rating in Turkish. One of the
women had complained of the lack of water.
The Quarantine consists of about ten buildings, mostly one
story, each with two doors in the centre facing each other. You
�MAY, 1930
\
His Hashemite Majesty ex-King Husein
(From the only photograph known to be in existence)
enter into a vestibule on either side of which is a concrete floor
about a foot high. There the pilgrims, after they had passed
through the fumigation room, spread their mats and rugs and
bedding, and pile their luggage as a partition between each other.
In a sense, the place reminded me of our Ellis Island. But here
�. —1.— -^....
10
..
THE SYRIAN WORLD
are no iron bars, no dark rooms, no stuffy sleeping quarters, no
smelling berths, no heart-eating suspense, and no danger of
deportation.
The utter lack of furniture made these buildings look so
clean, so airy, so hygienic. The only complaint seemed to be
about water. Had they had any previous knowledge of Jeddah,
however, their present thirst would be more supportable. They
would accept it, one said, as a test of faith;—the only one remaining, and lasting only three days. Those who have contagious diseases are removed from the steamer direct to another island not
far from Abu Sa'd, with a hospital in it, and beds in the hospital,
and doctors and nurses in charge;—and they have a little to do
in the pilgrim season, in spite of Kamaran at one end of the Red
Sea and Tor at the other.
Only a few, however, escape with their contagion to Jeddah;
but most of them carry among their baggage a pack of precious
merchandise. Oriental treasures,—pearls and jades and precious
stones, and silks and cashmeres and rugs,—the rarest sometimes
and the oldest, are brought to the Hijaz by the pilgrims. They
pawn them or sell them when their money gives out. Or they
carry them as presents to the Grand Sherif or to the Kaaba. But
eventually they find their way to the merchants of Jeddah, who
are careful not to expose or advertise their treasures. Not for
them the tawdriness of the bazaar; but in their homes they transact business, and only through the courtesy of a native can the
stranger find them. It is the East, indeed, reticent and retiring,
—ever content with what the day will bring.
Even the motawwifin (guides) are acquiring again this native
quality, thanks to the legislations of the Hijaz Government. For
as soon as the pilgrim lands in Jeddah, he receives a circular
printed in his own language in which his attention is called to
the fixed tariff. Everything, from the sanbook in the harbor to
the last ceremony of the Hajj in Mecca,—board and lodging in
the two cities, the trip to Mt. 'Arafat, the Zamzam drink, the
guide's fee, even the bakshish is listed. This much and no more
must you pay, O most worthy hajj; and please report to the
authorities any violation of the Tariff.
The only item he has to bargain for is the transportation to
Mecca, because, the circular says, the fee depends upon the availability of camels. But I do not think the circular is exact; for I
suspect that the camel market cannot be controlled, and the cameleer remains a mercenary and an unrepentant one.
|
�MAY, 1930
IT
To the motawwifin also, in spite of the Tariff, all pilgrims
are not the same. There is, to be sure, a scale of desirability and
favor, at the top of which stands the Javanese and at the bottom
the blacks of Takrour. The reason is obvious. The motawwif
or his agent has a tourist rather than a pilgrim in a Muslem of
Javaj but in a Takrouri black there is nothing to attract a servant
of the Kaaba. He is as hard as a stone;—a hard working man,
rather, who works his way across, coming from Port Sudan
empty-handed, carrying and fetching in Jeddah, and after a few
months, with his well-earned piasters in his bosom-pocket, he
walks to the Holy City, where he loafs and invites his soul.
Between the two extremes there are different shades of liberality,
of sanity, and of sordidness. The Indian pilgrim reads well the
Tariff and keeps it in his pocket} the Egyptian reads it once and
forgets it} the Syrian glances over it and tears it up. He knows
better. He is, of all pilgrims, the most impervious to bunco. He
is the "wise" one. The Egyptian is perhaps as wise} but he is
not so close-fisted as the hajj from Syria.
To the Sherif 'Aun, however, they were all pilgrims; and to
his nephew King Husein "they are all our children, O dear one,
and they all deserve our care and attention
The Quarantine
is good, is it not so? And can we not fumigate as good as the
English? And can we not mitigate, by the grace of Allah, the
evil effects of this new creature they call the microbe?"
We were in the launch on our way back to the City, and
His Majesty was in a talking mood.—"When I was in Stamboul,
O dear one, I was asked by the Padishah and his Grand Vezier
if it were not possible, in order to combat the cholera, to build
for the pilgrims houses outside of Mecca. What do they know
about the pilgrims, they who live thousands of miles away from
the Holy Places? And what do they know about the cholera
and its cause? Ibn'ul-Athir in his History says that from Iraq
alone in the pilgrim-season came eighty thousand camels—I say,
eighty thousand camels} and often two and sometimes three pilgrims ride in a litter. But Ibn'ul-Athir mentions not the cholera.
Not one case among a hundred thousand pilgrims that came
across the desert. It is not so with those who come by sea. For
among two or three thousand who make a sea voyage of twenty
or thirty days, disease is certain to break out, either in the boat,
or in Jeddah, or in Mecca itself. This, O my dear, is one of
the facts.
"And there, are others which our friends in Stamboul and
�dL
12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
even in Europe do not know. When the cholera breaks out in
Mecca it confines itself to the pilgrims. The natives do not
catch the disease. They are fortified—I say, fortified. Allah, in
his wisdom, through the climate of Al-Hijaz, prepares them for
a state of resistance and maintains them in it. Otherwise, who
would serve the pilgrims? Even in At-Taief the microbe of the
cholera does not prosper outside of its own environment. Six
thousand cholera-infected pilgrims were once sent to At-Taief,
and not a single case among the inhabitants—I say, not a single
case. What is the conclusion, O dear one? The microbe is brought
from the East, across the ocean, into our land, and does not take
to our people. Allah, praised be he, is all-knowing. And thinkest thou that houses outside the City will keep away the microbe?
There is another vital point, O perfect one. The pilgrims come
from afar to pass the pilgrimage days in the Great Mosque and
in Holy Places,—inside of Mecca—I say, inside of Mecca, and
not outside. What do they know of the pilgrims, they who live
thousands of miles away from the Holy Places?"
His Majesty smiled and held up his two hands, the palms
toward his breast, in a gesture of finality. After which, reverting
to the Quarantine, he asked me again if I did not think it was
a perfect institution. The International Medical Commission,
which was inspecting quarantines that year, had arrived in Egypt,
and I suggested to His Majesty that they be invited to see Abu
Sa'd, thinking that he might be thus made to realize a few of its
deficiencies. But he took my suggestion at its face value, and
ordered his Foreign Secretary to cable to the Hashemite Agent
in Cairo about the matter.—"Let the esteemed Commission come
and inspect our Quarantine and the means of purification and
health at Abu Sa'd."
Of all such means, I think King Husein only believed in the
sun and the air;—"Consider, O thou brilliant one, the cupidity
of people. They charge the pilgrim for fumigation at Tor, and
they charge him for fumigation at Kamaranj and they want furthermore to have a hand in Abu Sa'd and thus exercise full
authority over the pilgrims, our children and our brothers. But
this shall never be, it is impossible—I say, impossible."
One of the clauses of the Angler-Arab Treaty, which King
Husein refused to sign in the winter of 1921, was that Great
Britain shall have the right to appoint English doctors for the
Quarantine of Abu Sa'd. Not the trifle of an income for a few
of their doctors was the clause meant to insure, it was suspected,
�13
MAY, 1930
but the establishment rather of British authority over the Hajj.
The suspicion may not be justified. But it should be noted that
the modern British method of interfering in the affairs of Arabia
and establishing or maintaining an influence in the country, includes an interest shown in public health and is sometimes confined to it.
It should also be stated that the Quarantine at Abu Sa d is
a superfluity, considering the one at Tor in the north-end, and
the other at Kamaran in the south-end, of the Red Sea. Had
King Husein ordered it closed, therefore, he would have closed
with it that imaginary door to health through which Great Britain is supposed to be seeking to establish her influence in the
Hijaz. He might have even reformed Abu Sa'd or abolished it
by applying to it his famous method, which I have mentioned,
and of which I give another example.
There was in Mecca an ancient royal band with a cobweb or
traditions upon it. Which band played before the royal Palace
three times a day, and three times a day drove His Majesty to
infidelity. But traditions have to be respected, nevertheless, and
doctored in a gentle manner. Now, one of the traditions concerning this band was that its members shall serve for life; and
when one of them died, the King appointed another to take his
place But King Husein, the wise and patient reformer, seldom
failed in his method of shuffling off a mortal coil. Five years
ago a drummer died, and there was no appointment. A year later
one of the buglers gave up the ghost, and His Majesty said:
"What harm if it be a bugle less?" Soon after the tambourine
was orphaned, and the royal pleasure was great. Thuswise by
the help of Allah and 'Izrail, the Angel of Death, he hoped to
get rid of the whole band.
Let the reformers come to Mecca and learn. Bttt they may
not like myself, get any farther than Hadda in their schooling;
and I doubt if they will get a better reward for their pain His
Maiesty, after staying two weeks in Jeddah for the sake of the
perfect guest", went back to Mecca on important business, leaving me with the Poet-Minister and the Poet-Soldier (I discovered one night that my fellow countryman and friend Captain
Yanni has also a liaison with the Muse). Nevertheless, I was in
the suds Even the chanting of Sheikh Fouad had lost its magic.
"Perish our vain desires! the tempest dark
Heeds not the wishes of the driven bark."
�14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Indeed, O my Sheikh, indeed. I could have welcomed the
Mecca band in those dreary days. My thoughts even dwelled
upon the drearier tradition which kept me out of the Holy City;
and I sat down, yielding to the mood, and wrote to my royal
friend the following lines:
My Lord King Husein, Allah uphold him:
There is a heart in my heart, and thou art today its Kaaba;
and there is an eye in my soul, and thou art today its only horizon.
If a religious tradition prevents me from following thee to the
Holy City, it cannot prevent my heart and my soul. But I am
human, O thou of Majesty; and the body would feign follow
the heart
Canst thou not make it possible? Wouldst thou
thus abandon a loving guest, who feels, in thine absence, like a
weaned infant in a desert of separation? Shall not the desert
blossom and the silvery waters therein stream again by single
word—the word, Come—which My Lord canst utter? It is the.
fond hope, the dream, which is still cherished by
Your Majesty's Devoted and Grateful Friend.
Two days after, I received a reply signed by His Majesty at
the top, and couched in a phraseology which is even more savory
than my own. Here in proof is the translation:
My dear esteemed one:
Salaam and profound respect. Thy note was received with
the fingers of love and longing; and great as my joy was in
perusing its precious words, even greater was my shame in having left thee in leddah. The sincere one, thine ever, hath done
himself the wrong of depriving himself of the pleasure and the
benefit of the virtues of thy liberal mind. And howsoever important the necessity of this deprivation be deemed, it is, alas,
but an argument against me. Albeit, there be in thine excellences
and the discernment thereof what renders all explanation superfluous. Nothing in sooth will lighten the affliction which I
impose upon myself so much as my belief that the causes and
reasons (for such action) are among the things which thy virtues
deem worthy of consideration. Allah protect thee, O dear one,
and favor me with the opportunity to compensate for what hath
passed.
Neither in Arabia's golden meadows of prose, nor in her
hanging gardens of poesy find I words more mellow and flattering. His Majesty returned to Jeddah a week later, and in his
majlisy of a certainty, were compensation enow.
a
�15
MAY, 1930
From Tripoli to Latakia
A CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF THE
EDITOR'S TRIP ABROAD
VIII
By
r
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
A LL my travels so far had been through a relatively familiar
country. I had not ventured beyond the borders of my native
Lebanon, and although I now visited many a place I had not
seen before my migration some thirty years ago, I felt I had of
it some intimate knowledge which dulled the edge of novelty.
Not so, however, with the interior and outlying sections of
Syria. They had seemed as strange and distant as any part of
Europe or America. Under the old order, Antioch, Damascus
or Aleppo, were as difficult for a Lebanese to reach as Egypt
or Europe. This was due to both political and physical reasons.
Lebanon enjoyed an administrative autonomy which raised
between it and its neighbor states all the barriers known to international conventions. Nor were the physical means of access
conducive to more intimate relationship. Where roads existed
they were bad or dangerous, and it was a feat of valor, immortalized in popular song, for one to travel to Damascus alone. Aleppo
and Antioch were at a much greater distance, and only the desperate attempted to reach either city on business, much less undertake a pleasure journey.
For one whose early recollections of the country were of
such nature, a journey to the interior and border sections of Syria
was in the nature of real adventure. It was in this spirit that I
ventured on it, and the many novel surprises and thrills with
which I was met were ample compensation.
We descended the slopes of Lebanon from Ehden early on
Monday, August 5. One of my companions was familiar with
the country and its lore and made many an interesting observation. Passing through a small town he told us that it was Sebel,
famous for its wine of which the poet sang:
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"All wine may under prohibition fall
Except the goodly, sparkling wine of Sebel."
And this from a native priest. Further on we passed a fort-like
monastery crowning a strategic hill. Said our companion: "This
is where the Lebanese hero, Joseph Bey Karam, defied an army
single-handed when he was in open revolt against the dowlah
(state). Daoud Pasha, first governor of autonomous Lebanon,
at the head of a Turkish regiment, intrenched himself in this
monastery. He knew that he could not overcome our hero by
force and resorted to a stratagem. Declaring a truce, he invited
Joseph Bey to a conference, and our hero would not show fear.
He entered the building alone and left his men on guard without. But when the Pasha ordered him arrested as a rebel, he
drew his trusted sword and cleaved his way through the ranks
of Turkish soldiers to freedom. The battle that ensued between
the men of the Bey and the soldiers of the Pasha is recorded
in Lebanon's history in letters of gold. Its tale of horror will
cause the hair of infants to turn grey."
Shortly after we reached the town of Zgarta in the coastal
plain of Tripoli and not far from the latter city. The tale my
companion told of this town is curious but nevertheless authentic.
Zgarta in the plain is the winter abode of the inhabitants of
Ehden, which lies in the upper reaches of the mountain. Every
year there is a general migration from one town to the other
at a fixed date. During summer Ehden is a beehive of activity,
with its milling throngs of natives and visitors, while Zgarta is
a dead city with only a few watchmen to guard the deserted
houses. The order is completely reversed in winter when the
population moves to Zgarta and Ehden is totally evacuated. It
would be interesting to learn if a similar case exists anywhere else
in the world, where each family has two fully equipped homes,
and a general exodus of the population takes place every year
with the inexorable regularity of Lebanon's seasons.
We reached the city of Tripoli in time to keep our luncheon
engagement with Kabalan Effendi Ontra, Vice-President of the
Town Council, who had arranged to have us meet at this function many city notables and government officials including the
governor, Khaled Bey, the President of the City Council, Hashem Effendi Zouk, and Nejib Bey Maloof, Military Commander of the Northern District of Lebanon. Jamil, the son
of Kabalan Ontra, then took us in charge for a tour of the city.
�The great citadel of Tripoli, occupied successively by Crusaders, Arabs and Turks, the parapets of which saw the enactment of the stra nge love tragedy recounted to the editor
�18
'THE SYRIAN WORLD
The governor of Tripoli and other guests at the luncheon given
the editor by Kabalan Ontra, Vice-President of the City Council
who is second from left, the governor fourth.
We sped along a beautiful highway among Tripoli's famous
citrus groves to the Port, a few miles distant. The latter place
bears all the ear-marks of a hoary antiquity. We had to pass
through an arched street to reach the quay, stepping at times over
the bodies of the porters sleeping peacefully in the cool shade
on the pavement. Only row boats and a few sailing vessels were
in the harbor.
But Jamil had reserved for us a better treat. Upon our return
to the city he conducted us through steep and winding, narrow
streets to the great citadel which crowns the highest hill of the city
and awes and dominates it. Many were the times the place had
changed hands from Crusader to Arab, and the masonry bears
marks of the different periods of occupation by each. During
the reign of the Turks it was used as a penal prison; now
it is completely deserted and shrubs and trees have grown in the
moat. The fortress is immense and ominous, but a beautiful
panorama'-ef^the city is had from its parapets. My companion,
John Trabulsi, would fain welcome me to the ancestral seat of
his family. The Trabulsis, he explained, were the descendants
of Godfrey de Bouillon who ruled in the castle of Trabulus
(Tripoli), and John's visit to the family castle inspired marked
*
�(MAY, 1930
19
ancestral reverence and
pride. I had not known
before that I was traveling in the company of
nobility!
At a point overlooking the city in the direction of the sea, Jamil
stopped. He had a story
to tell and we had to
listen. He had intimate
knowledge- of the history
of the place because of
his having served as an
officer during the early
French occupation and
was therefore entitled to
a hearing. His story was
of the nature of a barracks scandal.
"On this spot," he
began, "was enacted not
long ago a strange tragedy. A comely guard
spied a beautiful woman
promenading on yonder
roof. The flirtation soon
bloomed into infatuation Clock Tower in the principal square of
Tripoli.
and the guard proposed
elopement. The woman
would not agree at once and the guard threatened to kill himself.
At this the woman thought she would tease him and pointed to her
foot, meaning that she cared for him as much as she did for
her slipper "Mithl Ijri". At which the guard was so incensed,
and his masculine pride was so deeply wounded, that instead of
taking his own life, he leveled his gun at the woman and shot
her through the heart."
,
Jamil led us to the "blood-dungeon" where the guard murderer-lover was confined. The interest the place held for us was
in the gruesome relics of cruelty of the middle ages.
The day had dragged and we were anxious to resume our
journey north. Obliging Ontra Eifendi, being agent for an
American automobile concern, had pledged himself to secure for
�20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
us both a good car and an honest driver. "Not all drivers are
dependable. You must have one who knows the country well,"
he insisted. The driver he secured proved to be a dependable
entertainer, but not much more. What strange experiences we
had with him during the week he was in our hire!
We left Tripoli at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Had we made
an earlier start we could have reached Latakia in daylight, all
halts on the way notwithstanding. But we reckoned ill with our
chauffeur. We did not know until too late of his strange temperament begotten of an oddly mixed breed.
By too late I mean only about half an hour, once we had
crossed the city line of Tripoli. The chauffeur wanted to break
down at as an early stage as possible in the journey the barriers
of formality. He knew that we were from America and insisted
on proving to us that between him and us there was a bond of
kinship, a valid excuse for intimacy. He would take us in charge
and plan our itinerary and act as our exchequer even to the point
of dispensing the backshish himself. The account of his life interested and amused us. up to the point when, in the heat of his
narrative, he could not control his native temperament and resorted to the uncomfortable method of gesticulating with his
two hands, forgetting the wheel altogether, while driving at
almost one hundred kilometers an hour! And the villain would
not heed our remonstrances. Lawlessness was in his blood!
Here is his story and, inferentially, the explanation of his
strange actions.
His father was a Lebanese who migrated to Mexico where
he married a native Indian woman. Just before the war the father
brought his wife and three children to Lebanon on a visit and
was prevented from returning owing to the outbreak of hostilities. Then followed the famine which claimed the lives of almost
a hundred and fifty thousand Lebanese. "It was then a desperate case of everyone shifting for himself 'sauve qui peut', and
we, the children, begged or stole and managed to keep alive. But
our parents were too proud to beg and too honest to steal, and
they perished."
So it was the hot Mexican-Indian blood in the veins of the
chauffeur that made him usurp the gesticulative prerogatives of
the Italians to the point of letting go completely of the wheel
while driving at break-neck speed! But now a change was out
of the question.
Our first halt beyond Tripoli was at the Baddawi Mosque
t
�MAY, 1930
21
and its famous pond of sacred fish. I had seen and heard of
many fish before, but had never been privileged to see any
sacred species. Consequently, no matter what the hour, I must
see these fish and learn wherefor they became sacred.
The mosque is about three hundred feet from the main roadand the pond directly in front of it. We were given rush-buttom
stools and brought iced refreshments. There were about a score
men at the broad edge of the pond watching the antics of the
fish. And the fish were very obliging and accommodating in
their entertainment. A few crumbs thrown in the water by some
watchers would cause such a stampede among them that the
whole pond would convulse violently. They were of a drab
color and rounded form, and the largest about a foot long. The
water was literally black with them.
I made bold to inquire of a turbaned sheikh, in the dress and
the reserved deportment of an alim, an explanation of the legend
of the sacred fish. He smiled in the complaisant manner of one
who would say "a fish story!" And his verbal explanation bore
out the correctness of the inference.
"The fish are sacred because they are inedible. I have been
attached to this mosque for a long time, and against the weight
of tradition, I caught about a dozen fish on a certain occasion to
prepare them for a private banquet to some distinguished friends.
They were a rarity inasmuch as no one had had them before, or
confessed to having had. I ordered my chef to serve them
cooked and fried and bathed with appetizing sauces in the most
elaborate manner known to the culinary art. But all our efforts,
and in consequence our expectations, were in vain. The fish were
putrid and could not be touched in whatever form. Those originating the legend on the sacredness of the fish surely did so not
from any pious motive."
Scholars tell us, however, that religious reverence for fish
was common in the days of pagan Syria. Fish ponds were a complementary accessory to most temples in that section of the country, and it was customary for the worshipers to feed the fish as
part of their devotional exercises. The manner in which the
sacred fish of the Baddawi Mosque are treated would indicate
that the custom has its roots in pagan times.
We resumed our journey north over a fine road traversing
the fertile fields for which the district of Akkar is famous. Nahr
El-Kabir, midway between Tripoli and Tartus, is spanned by a
fine new two-arched bridge of heavy masonry. This marks the
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The great fortress of Al-Markab which looms gigantic to the
traveler in the vicinity of Banias. It is one of greatest Crusaders1
strongholds in Syria.
extreme northern boundary of Lebanon and the southern point
of entry to the Alaouite State. No passport visa or any other
formaiity is required for travel between Lebanon and the Alaouite or any other State of Syria.
About half an hour later we came to the site of the old
Phoenician city of Amrit, famous in old history for its orgies of
the opulent and pleasure-loving Phoenician. The most distinctive
relics marking the site, and at but a few hundred feet from the
main road, are the two imposing monoliths known as Maghazeel,
or spindles, so-called perhaps for their tapering shape. They
were Phoenician mortuary monuments dating back to the fifth
century B. C, and rise to a height of about fifty feet.
In less than ten minutes we had reached Tartous, the birthplace of St. Paul and a stronghold that played a leading part in
the wars between the Moslems and Crusaders. Its great Basilica
is an imposing relic of Christian occupation. The huge fort by
the sea still stands to bear testimony of its one-time strategic
importance, while directly across, at a distance of not over twomiles, is the historic small island of Rouad, or Arvad, where the
Knights Templars made their last stand in Syria. Its elongated
form gives it the appearance of an anchored battleship standing
guard over the city.
SK*^S.:
�MAY, 1930
23
The fortress of Al-Husn, another wonderful Crusaders' stronghold in Syria, also located in the Alaouite State in the neighborhood of Horns. It was built by the Knights Hospitalers.
The next place of importance on the way to Latakia was Banias, situated at about 25 miles north of Tartous. We pushed
towards the place in the closing hours of the afternoon, and had
the satisfaction of viewing in daylight the imposing fortress of
Al-Markab. This great stronghold was the key to the conquest
of northern Syria, and passed alternately from the hands of the
Prince of Antioch to those of the Count of Tripoli. It resisted
even the great Saladin in his wars with the Franks and was taken
by Sultan Qalaoun only after a long siege in the latter part of
the 13th century with the help of Egyptian sappers. Its great size
and strategic location bespeak its old importance. The fortress
proper crowns a steep hill about 1,200 feet above sea-level, while
almost directly above the road by the shore is a huge round tower
which served as an advance post in the defenses. Al-Markab saw
the heyday of its glory during its occupation by the Hospitalers
who rebuilt it after the earthquake of 1170 and planned it in
such large proportions that it could accommodate 2,000 families
and a garrison of 1,000 men and 1,000 horses with sufficient provisions to withstand a siege of five years. We could not visit
Al-Markab that afternoon because part of the way to it has to
be covered on horse-back, but even from a distance, the sight of
this great relic of the Crusades held sufficient compensation.
�1 - ::
KHRVM
THE SYRIAN WORLD
24
Our stop at Banias was of the shortest. We would have spent
the night in the town had we found suitable accommodations.
The only hotel, if such it could be called, is in the nature of a
khan. The innkeeper received us in his night-gown and showed
us the available rooms. When we asked for something better he
offered to rigg us beds in the reception room. But to the fastidious taste of my traveling companion this was unthinkable.
We decided to continue to Latakia, only 35 miles away, which
our hot-blooded chauffeur, in his trusty American car, promised
to cover in much less than an hour.
All the roads of the Alaouite State are comparatively of new
construction and in excellent condition. They run through an
enchanted country of field and forest. Especially pleasing was
the sight of the vast fields planted to cotton and maize and typifying the rich potential agricultural resources of the country.
While non-existent five years ago, the cotton planting area has
grown to a thousand hectars in this district.
Latakia, a city of about 25,000 population, seventy-five per
cent of whom are sumnite Moslems, is the capital of the Alaouite
State of Syria. It was a Phoenician city of great opulence as far
back as 1500 B. C. During the occupation of the Crusaders it
was comprised in the Principality of Antioch. The many imposing relics of Greek, Roman, Frank and Arab origin bespeak its
importance during these various stages. Broad avenues are now
being cut through it and modernization processes are being applied in every manner. Since the suppression of a native revolt
in 1921 the country was placed under direct French administration, and the French can here claim to have done an excellent
piece of work. Up to six years ago there had been no motor
road reaching Latakia, now a net-work of the finest roads connects the capital with all parts of the state.
We passed by a huge modern building of Moorish architecture facing a spacious square. I thought it was the Saraya, or
government building. But no. It was a public school built by
the French. Public instruction has been pushed tremendously
in the decade of French occupation and administration. From
only thirty schools in the whole State under the Turkish regime
the number has now increased to one hundred and thirty. All
other administrative departments show the same marked degree
of progress. The governor, M. Schoefler, is acclaimed as a genius
of organization, and his work is highly praised and appreciated
by the contented natives, I did not meet him during my short
mm
�MAY, 1930
25
The modern Tourists* Hotel built by the French in Latakia, facing the beautiful fublic gat-dens of the, city always maintained in
the finest condition of cleanliness and care.
stay at Latakia because he had been critically ill for three weeks,
but I met the young Emir Munir El-Abbas, son of Emir Jaber
El-Abbas, President of the Representative Assembly and the
ranking chief of the Alaouites, and what I learned from him was
testimony in a more direct form of contentment and satisfaction
with the French administration in the country. Of my conversation with the young Emir I shall have more to say later.
We spent the night at the modern Tourists' Hotel built by
the French directly on the beach. Here you can enjoy the luxury
of a bath and running water. The view from the balconies is
enchanting, especially of the fine municipal gardens facing the
hotel. A Moslem shrine topped by a white dome built on a rock
projecting into the sea lends colorful charm to the panorama.
On the following day I visited the Saraya and fancied myself
in a museum. The strappling Moroccan guard at the office of
the Chief of the Information Bureau, in his colorful native attire,
acted as guide in showing me the antiquities, chiefly statues and
columns of the Phoenician and Roman periods, which were liberally scattered around the corridors for lack of a museum.
I wanted to meet the editor of the local paper but he was in
Beirut. The publication establishment was a converted shop about
fifteen feet square, the whole front being open in the manner
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
26
of shops in Oriental bazaars. The sole compositor offered to
bring refreshments—coffee—cigarettes, but we thankfully declined. We explained that we were in haste and had to visit the
new cotton spinning mill established through the enterprise of a
Latakia citizen since native cotton began to be grown. We wanted
directions to get to the mill—a verbal explanation only. But the
bright young printers' devil who had been watching me and my
companion with unconcealed wonder and admiration would have
none of that. "I want to have the honor of escorting the inventor
of the Arabic Linotype," and his eyes sparkled with pride at
having met someone who had achieved something in his craft.
The boy so typified the willingness and alertness of the devils
of his class I had known in America, that I could not resist the
pleasure of his preferred service and for a few minutes indulge
in talking to him shop.
On the Art of Writing
By
KAHLIL GIBRAN
Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky. We fell
them down and turn them into paper that we may record our
emptiness.
*
*
*
Should you care to write (and only the saints know why you
should) you must needs have knowledge of the music of words,
the art of being artless, and the magic of loving your readers.
*
*
*
They dip their pens in our hearts and think they are inspired.
*
*
*
Should a tree write its autobiography it would not be unlike
the history of a race.
sassssa
�ttamKM
MAY, 1930
27
Essay On Life
By
THOMAS ASA
A MID the somber presence of the grave
And unknown meaning of the after-years,
No worldly magic of the mind can save
It from the weight of preternatural fears.
When subtle nature in its various forms,
Can rear its human bondage as it wills,
And, in the madness of its pow'r, transforms
Them into casts of monumental ills.
And yet the searching wisdom of the past
Has left no potent mark upon the time
Allotted to the living forms,—but last
Upon the ruling graces of the clime.
And with the boasted bounty of the Mind—
The weaver of exalted structures, seen
Only in ephemeral dreams of humankind,—
Ashes of design against the future screen.
And while the Nations with unceasing might
Wrest the treasures of the earth to build their sway,
Watchful Nature will, on some unguarded night,
Take its stolen riches and hide the hoard away.
While thoughts so widely differ within kindred breasts,
And no thinking mortal has the same desires,
Yet one and all would know where Future rests,—
Upon the tide of ages or in sinking mires?
Though Man has never found the guarded way,
That compasses the realm of the unknown,
He has stored his vault against the coming day,
That signals his departure from this earthly zone.
Some are burdened with time-tempered creeds,
That compel the knowing silence for relief}
Mysteries and cants refresh their growing needs,
And support the wav'ring flame of their belief}—
<
«*.
�28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Without the fadeless pulse of Nature's bloom
To check the fruitless Teachings of the Soul;—
That shrouds the trend of Life in chambered gloom,
And finds the end no nearer to the goal.
..__,
While the lowly savage in his native haunts,
Impells the sacred likeness of his God
Into a crudely chiseled image, which he flaunts
Before him, where the evil spirits trod.
And with the unchecked passion of a childish mind,
He conforms his living as his idols will,—
That a lifeless bit of clay or stone should bind
Even this untutored savage in its mill—
Where the humble peasant seeks his daily bread,
And when a day of labor closes with the night,
He droops his aging frame and bows his weary head,
The brilliant stars of Heaven as his only light.
Thankful for the simple gifts that come his way,
Divining in his joyless state he has been blessed;
For each virgin morn has left no empty day,
And each day will find him nearer to his rest.
How unlike the doubting pedant of the strife,
Who follows in the wake, and whose raucous cries
Are base reflections of his own bewildered life,
His harmless echoes swallowed in the hollow skies.
And the student who but learns from Nature's page,
And who well knows the meanness of his powers;
But who yet dares to probe the buried age
Of all Life, and its celestial bowers.
But, in the strength of his conceiving brain,
Varied secrets of the earth are yielded him;
Where some were lost he found them once again,
Nature's arcana made clear that once were dim.
And in the eager spirit of his own desires,
God's domain has lost its fearful face;
Which the terror of the vast unknown inspires,
And made the countenance of Life a peaceful grace.
af
�MAY, 1930
29
And some, are there, who know no staying hand.
But ride upon the crest of proud display;
And set the pow'r of fortune as their one command,
Without divine compassion to dispose their way.
Oblivious of the state of those below
And far outside the casemate of their social caste;
A grim reminder of our worldly woe,
A gnawing menace to the honor of our past.
And those compelled to traffic in the flesh,
And offer to the bestial lust of soulless man;—
Caught and held forever in the choking mesh,
That bleeds all semblance of the Godly plan.
No kindly glance or helping hand is sent their way,
But each seeking mortal sets them further on
The endless journey, with the Devil's pay,—
Chains them to their bondage till all life is gone.
And there are serpents in the human mould,
Who hide behind the mask of honest deeds,
And prey like vultures on the helpless fold—
Spoil the fruits of labor and sow the wasted seeds.
Where utter greed of gain has left amiss
The cleansing flame of that sublime despair;
That calms the savage heart and fords the dark abyss,
And leaves the mind where only good will bare.
Oft seen is the pious pilgrim on a summer day,
Walking the dusty roads that stretch beyond
And o'er the distant hills and vales, where lay
The hallowed haven of the Priestly bond;
Where he stilled the restless yearning of his soul,
And took away with him a bit of ancient sod;
And what had been in parts was now made whole,
With peaceful resignation to his God.
Now within the compassed vision of the mind,
Behold the figure of a man, whose four-score years
, »'.
Have lightly graced his frame, and left behind
All trace of th' embittered burdens of past fears.
, [], J
af
�30
'
'THE SYRIAN WORLD
Upon his brow where wrote the stress of time,—
Made known the joys and ills that Life may send;
The fleeting days have changed his manhood's prime
Into a cast that calmly views the end.
The beauty of the world his heart has known,—
The promise of the morn and then the night;
Never for a moment through the day alone,
And with every passing hour some new delight.
The humblest forms that God thru Nature made,
Assume exquisite imagery to his mind;
All breathing Life approach him unafraid,
For he is but the shepherd of their kind.
No unhallowed temple built by mortal hands
Enchains him to its dark, unseeing sphere;
No humble gesture at its stern commands—
Inspires him with no touch of earthly fear.
God in his wide domains can only claim
Sweet adoration from his inmost heart;
And bring to chastened lips the sacred name
That is to him more than his life apart.
,
,
The calm majesty of distant mountain peaks,
The splendor of one boundless reach of sky;
Where pulsing Nature in its silence speaks
An inner wisdom from the Throne on High.
No fulfillment of desires and worldly dreams
Mar the sweetness of his solitary way;
Amid the troubled wastes his heart redeems
The vain inanities of mortal clay.
The world he knows so well, and soon to leave
For realms uncharted within human skill;
The shadow of Life's end will never grieve
To meet his debt to Universal Will.
The revealments of the years have left no doubt,
That God shall weave the finished threads unseen;
Though Life to him has never been without
The guiding Hand that maketh all serene.
«
�—^_
31
MAY, 1930
The Minor Key
A SHORT STORY
By
LABEEBEE
A. J.
HANNA
17 VA sat down at the piano and allowed her fingers to run over
the keys lightly. Then she shook her head and her beautiful
chestnut curls caressed her face. She looked down at the keys
and struck a minor chord, and holding these notes—clutching
fast, she threw her head back and closed her lovely eyes.
The tones gradually died away. She repeated the minor
chord in a related key. Then another and another. In a frenzy
she played all the tonic chords of all the minor keys—and arose
rapidly from the piano. She closed the lid gently.
Eva loved her piano. It was the most prized of all her possessions. It did not so much matter to her that G minor was the
relative of B major. It did matter very much that music was
uplifting, soothing, exciting, sympathetic in turn. It did not so
much matter to her that she had not the technique of the most
practiced. It did matter very much that her music lived, and had
expression. After all, anyone can drum a piano with some practice, but not everyone could give it feeling, make it throb with
life.
These chords she had played gave her pleasure—she couldn't
tell why. Perhaps the minor chords suggested sadness to her,
and so far her life had been rather full and happy. We all have
a sad and a happy part of us. Probably this is the way she satisfied her sad part.
She would have liked to go on playing more, but even the
chords were music, and then, if she dressed quickly enough, she
could return to her piano before leaving for the night.
At sixteen, life is enchanting! To Eva in particular. This
night a musical comedy with some friends, and a cabaret, her
first, later!
She quickly went to her room, encountering a saucy brother
on her way.
"What's the rush, big sis?"
"I wish God had given me a sister instead!" she retorted.
Her mother was busy with the dinner. Her father was out—
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
probably making a sale of some real estate. Her elder-brother
had gone goodness knows where with a young uncle. She could
dress in peace—no outside interruption.
She wore a long, form-fitting black dress—sleeveless—whose
only touch of color was a bunch of grapes at the left waist. She
put another bunch of grapes in her hair. Quite demure, really,
but sophisticated, she thought.
On her way back to the piano she again encountered her
young brother.
"Pipe the long black dress! On your way to an old lady's
funeral!" he cried.
"Mind your own business!" she retorted—and hurried in.
At the piano again, she struck a major chord all the way up
the piano, then down. Suddenly, in another key, she played,
"Waylee Min El-Gharamy" so that a listener might think she
poured her whole sad heart in music.
Though she did not know it, she had an audience outside—
of two young men and a girl.
A full minute after she finished playing, the door bell of
her apartment rang. She wondered vaguely why it hadn't rung
while she played. She soon knew when, as three young people
trodded in, one young man exclaimed, "Syrian music, eh, Eva?"
"Syrian, right!" answered the other boy for her. "Play it
again, Eva!"
"Yes, do!" chirped the other young lady. "Fred has the
right idea."
"Fred will sing it, too. Eh, Fred?" said the first boy. "He's
a great singer! Try it once and you'll always buy, doncha know!
Come on, Fred, sing!"
"Oh, cut it out, Sour! You're the singer here!" said Fred.
"We'll all sing!" said Eva. "Come, Marge, show the boys
what you can do!"
"I'll sing if they all do," chirped Marge.
"They all do. Eh, Fred?" said Sam.
And they all did, with gusto. Syrian music—Syrian words,
making allowances here and there for mispronunciations and
words forgotten.
Sad? These young people seemed all to be nursing a broken
heart!
Beautiful? Yes. It might have been music in the Lebanon.
Charming Lebanon, With lute, and peasant costumes, and the
I
1
\
�-T;
33
3d AY, 1930
great outdoors. Voices, perhaps more mature, but certainly no
more appealing.
That night, musical comedy. Then cabaret—jazz, dancing,
cigarettes
and rotten food. But—fun!
II
One day Eva's father died. She had known it was coming,
but she had not expected it would be so soon, nor had she realized the seriousness of his condition. He had helped some customer repair a door, and a rusty nail had poisoned his system.
It was the inevitable, and it effected her terribly. Her grief was
so great that it blotted out all else for the time being—and for
a long time after.
While the body lay in state in the parlor with all mirrors
and pictures covered—and even a spread over the piano, Eva
had the greatest desire to tear the covering off the piano and
play_play anything for the last time, for him whom she had
loved more than anyone else. She was in great grief. She wished
sincerely that all these kind people would leave her alone with
the body that she might do as she wished. It would be a Syrian
song—a simple folk song of the Lebanon, a song her dad had
taught her when she first studied the piano. "Na'af laal Baab
Fatahtilloo." He had played it on his clarinet—often—to her
piano accompaniment. And then, too, she had enjoyed sitting
back on a divan listening to the bell-like notes of the clarinet
as he played alone—though the high notes often missed—
scraped, but then, the instrument was noted for this deficiency
in its makeup. She remembered, too, his wonderfully rich voice
which had a rare appeal—a genuine appeal—somehow, she knew
he dreamed of Lebanon. She felt he would have liked this
burial in the mountains of his birth. Perhaps, some day—she
hoped some day to do this. Meanwhile, the song—she sang it
with her mind's voice. A little, tender folk song.
"Na'af laal baab
Fatahtilloo:
Ahla wa sahla
111 til loo.
Tafad dal estreeh,
Ya oomree,
Wa srajil bal—
JCan yasree,"
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
34
III
For a long time after the funeral, Eva was forced to keep
away from her beloved musical instrument for the sake of relatives and family. People were constantly coming to offer sympathy, so that she felt like one whose hands were tied.
One day no one was about, and Eva, no longer able to contain herself, stole down to the piano—and making sure that all
doors and windows were locked—sat down to play. Without
conscious thought, she played softly "Na'af laal Baab Fatahtilloo." Once. Twice. Higher notes, bass notes. She found herself beginning to sing. She felt the presence of her beloved father close beside her—and nearly choked. She sang with tears
in her eyes—and a quiver, a catch in her throat. A few words.
She stopped short and burst into tears all by herself in the immense parlor as she sat bent over at the piano.
For several months she rarely played. Singing was out of
the question.
One day, Fred, Marge and Sam came to see her. They were
determined that she would go with them—anywhere, to forget.
"No, no. Please. I'd rather stay home. I'm always so tired!"
pleaded Eva.
"Oh, no, dear! You shan't stay home. And such glorious
weather out!" chirped Marge.
"It's not glorious to me."
"Yes," said Sam, "Fred will take us for a ride."
"Tell you what!" said Fred. "Let's go for a nice, long ride
in the country. We'll get some air. Beautiful scenery, dontcha
know. We'll all sing. Then we'll go somewhere, and hear some
soft music. How's that?"
It was finally decided that they were to go for a ride—and
land where they would.
The ride proved glorious. The wind caressed the faces and
wafted odors of lilac and wistaria toward their nostrils as they
sped the south shore road.
Hardly realizing what they did, they stopped and encamped
at Green Harbor. The beach was lovely, the salt air bracing.
To Eva the beach meant melody. The wind sang, the waves
swished and sang in monotone. Even the tiny dunes seemed to
be waves of music. And the song they sang was a sad, sad song.
Eva had been here the last time with her father. His song—
their song—was in the swishing waves. It was in a minor key.
K/
�MAY,
mo
35
Sitting on the long beach they all four looked straight before
them. Eva had her own thoughts. The others had sympathy.
Eva leaned back against Sam's shoulder and allowed the salt
wind to do what it would with her hair and face.
They spoke of trivial things—or of nothing, three of them.
Occasionally Eva nodded "her head or acquiesced to something
they had said, not realizing what.
Eva was walking up the long beach with her father. Lva
was teasing her dad about not going into the water. Eva was
sitting before her father—talking with him for mutual benefit.
Eva was leaning against her father—
Suddenly the girl jumped up.
"Oh'" she said. "Let's go somewhere! Anywhere! Quick!
«Oh' Don't you like it here?" Marge felt disappointed
"Where would you like to go?" Sam rose and rested his
large, dark eyes on Eva. He touched a little curl.
"Anywhere! Away from here! I can't stand it here another
t
minute!"
Another long ride. It finished at Marshfield. Here they
bowled. Even bowling couldn't distract Eva.
Fred remembered Warwick Inn but didn't know if he dared
mention such a thing at such a time. Perhaps if they suddenly
found themselves there they would go in without much ado.
"Let's ride'" he suggested. "Try the Nautashet road. Its
been widened. Six car widths on the road. We'll open her up!"
"Oh!" said Marge. "That's great!"
Away they went, to the throaty singing of Marge. Even
Sam joined in. There were American songs—and old Syrian
folk songs, and new songs. Sam loved the Syrian songs and sang
with feeling. When he sang "Ah-h Ya loun II Soud Hayati
Iounon Soud" all three looked at his beautiful bright dark eyes
—and joined in the chorus.
"That's great! Eh?" he finished.
All agreed, looking at his fascinating eyes.
"Look what's here!" suddenly exclaimed Fred.
"Warwick Inn!" Marge clapped her hands.
"In we go!" said Fred.
"Why not? You'd like it, eh, Eva?" said Sam.
"We'll try it. Anything to take away my tired feelings.
At Warwick Inn they ate, and smoked, and listened to the
music Finally they danced. What Eva had expected would be
�. - . .
MMMMMMBMMBRBMi
THE SYRIAN WORLD
36
a nerve-racking ordeal became a nerve-soothing affair. The
happy side of her was struck. We all have a happy and a sad
side, and she had been developing her sad side and neglecting
the happy for a long, long time.
That night—before going to bed, Eva played the piano.
Sam had kissed her good-night. The first time.
She sat at her piano, and played some happy chords. Then
she threw her head back, chestnut curls and all—and played
with gusto—jazz.
The Tainted Draught
By
SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
VWHY taint the beauty of to-day
With suspicions of the morrow?
Why dim the glow of pleasure's ray
With confounding thoughts of sorrow?
Or does the thought of sure decay
Add whiteness to the snow-drop's snow,
The lurking perils of the way
Enhance the pleasure as we go?
Or is your own the gambler's joy—
Between what may or may not be,
In Chance's hand his heart a toy,
Or child upon her rocking knee!
Ah Doubt and Hope! man's friend and foe,
Or foe and friend,—who knows their worth,
Or which the queenly rose does grow,
Or which the thorn, upon man's earth?
�<&MY, 7950
57.
The Syrians in America
The Editor's radio talk over Station WPCH given under the
auspices of the Young Men's Christian Association and
Reconciliation Trips on Sunday, June 8.
I
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IT has been said of the Syrians that they are the most misunderstood people in America. This is regrettable, because Syria and
the history of its people should be familiar to every American.
And this not alone for reasons of general knowledge about a
certain racial group in America but also for the many intimate
associations that Syria has had with the march of human progress
and the history of civilization. I shall attempt to give a brief
outline of Syrian history in order that the Syrians here in America may be better understood and more fully appreciated.
Syria, according to the most competent historical authorities,
has had more influence on human progress, spiritually and materially, than any other country of equal size. This is^<hiefly due
to the fact that Syria contains within its natural geographical
boundaries Palestine, which we know as the Holy Land, and
Phoenicia, the home of the great navigators of old and the land
whose people have given us that great instrument of knowledge
and progress, namely the alphabet. To every student of the
Bible the name Palestine is familiar, but it is necessary for us
to understand also that all other parts of present-day Syria are
biblical lands. Old Phoenicia is none other than the Lebanese
Republic of today, and Lebanon and its beauties and the majesty
of its Cedars were glorified in immortal song by the poets of
the Bible.
Due to its geographical location, situated as it is at the junction of three continents, Asia, Africa and Europe, Syria, in olden
times, was the hub of the known civilized world. It is inalienably
associated with all the great world movements of the past. Traces
of its historical importance are in plentiful evidence even to this
day. While on a visit to that country during the past summer, I
visited many shrines which conjured memories of an immortal
past. By the mouth of the Dog River, a few miles north of the
city of Beirut, there is engraved in the living rock inscriptions
dating from as far back as three thousand years before Christ.
Conquerors of old seemed to vie with each other in recording
�JUIiB'LI'l'
38
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
their feats on the imperishable rock which is now one of the greatest shrines of antiquity in the world. Close by one another we
find these inscriptions dating from the time of the Egyptians and
Assyrians down to the times of the Greeks, the Romans, the
Arabs, and the Allies. A little further to the north along the
coast we come across the site of the old city of Byblos which in
Greek mythology was the scene of the love episode of Venus and
Adonis. The river that still waters the plain of Byblos and is
now called River Ibrahim, is the very river known to the Greeks
as the River Adonis, so named after the God of Love and Beauty.
That river still runs red today in the spring flood, a phenomenon
naturally explained by the red earth formation through which run
tributary streams, but a phenomenon, nevertheless, to which the
ancients gave a different interpretation. They believed that the
waters of the river turn red each year in commemoration of the
slaying of the God, Adonis, by the wild boar on the banks of
that stream.
A short distance to the south are located the great Phoenician
cities of Tyre and Sidon which to the present day bear unmistakable signs of their great antiquity.
In the plain of Beka, dividing Lebanon from Anti-Lebanon,
the great city of Baalbek, known to the ancients as Heliopolis,
still jealously guards the mystery which has defied the efforts
of scholars and scientists during all time to unravel. The great
ruins of Baalbek are classed by competent authorities as being
superior in majesty and grandeur to the ruins of the Acropolis
at Athens. How was this great city built? What ingenuity or
power was used to raise the great stones to position—stones some
of which are of almost unbelievable dimensions, being 63 feet in
length, 13 feet in height, and over 10 feet in thickness. They
were moved a distance of miles from the quarry and raised to
position high above the ground, but with what instruments no
one has ever been able to tell.
But this is not all the glory that was Syria. The Cedars of
Lebanon are still young in spite of their age of four or five thousand years. The city of Damascus shows every sign of youth and
virility in spite of the fact that it is the oldest city of the world.
Crusaders' castles still crown the strategic points of Syria bearing
mute testimony to the desperate struggles which that country has
seen during its various stages.
In northern Syria we also have the city of Antioch which was
once the rival of Rome in the glorious role it played as the metro-
�r&fAY, 1930
! If
IN
3
?
polis of the East, and the city where the followers of Jesus of
Nazareth were first called by the name Christians. While in
Southern Syria, in the section known as the Druze Mountain and
bordering the great desert, invaluable finds of Roman relics are
being unearthed in the ruins that dot the whole country. For
miles and miles in this section, while on my visit last summer, I
observed Roman military roads still in the finest state of preservation after the lapse of twenty centuries. This section of Syria
is perhaps the most romantic because it is still the most primitive.
People there still lead the simple pastoral life of Biblical times.
In a certain town which I visited to see its Roman ruins I observed
the men, young as well as old, wearing their hair in long locks
and their eyelids blackened with Kohl like women. But these
men are brave to the point of recklessness in war. Almost a handful of them defied all the military resources of France for almost
two years only a short time ago. The Druze element, however,
is but about 2>4 per cent, of the total population of Syria. There
is also in Syria an Arab nomadic element whose habitat is confined to the desert border. But ninety per cent, of the population
of Syria is of the settled element, descendants of the race which
has been in occupation of the country for thousands of years,
and whose old cities bear testimony to their high degree of civilization and culture.
t
The foregoing is a brief outline of what Syria was in history.
It is from that country that the Syrians now in America have
come. From the oldest country in the world to the land known
as the New World, they bring their priceless racial distinction as
heirs to the culture of ages. They come with the gifts of all thie
attributes of varied but virile blood—Phoenician, Semitic, Roman,
Grecian, and Arabian. And it is a significant fact that the first
of the Syrians to emigrate were the Lebanese of the north who
claim direct lineal descent from the Phoenicians. It would seem
that the law of atavism seeks to assert itself and here finds complete vindication. The great sea-wanderers of old have bequeathed their wanderlust to their long line of descendants.
Syrian immigration to the United States began about fifty
years ago. Now there are about 250 thousand Syrians in the country of whom about 25 thousand are in New York City alone. But
nowhere in the United States do we not find Syrians. This great
dispersal is accounted, for by the nature of their early
occupations. Having landed in the country with no -capital,
no knowledge of the language, and no business experience, they
�40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
took to peddling. And their first wares were typical. They began
by selling religious articles imported from the Holy Land, the
country with which they were first identified. But in their roamings and wanderings their customers began to ask for a variety
of articles which they made efforts to supply. In this manner
their business began to expand and from these very modest
beginnings were built up the great commercial enterprises
throughout America that are now associated with Syrian names.
There would seem to be an element of real romance in this
evolution of Syrian commercial enterprise. The descendants of
the Phoenicians would vindicate the fame and duplicate the
achievements of their ancestors. How otherwise can we explain
the fact that from such modest beginnings and in comparatively
such a short time, the Syrians in America have come to play their
role of merchant princes with central offices on Fifth Ave. in New
York and ramifications reaching to all parts of the world?
But not alone to commercial enterprise has Syrian initiative
been confined. Their influence is becoming more and more evident
in the arts and the professions, in industry and in finance. There
are now two progressive banking institutions in New York City
controlled by Syrians, one of which is a National Bank.
During all the time they have been in America, the Syrians
have proven themselves most law-abiding and loyal to the institutions of the country. It is the opinion, not alone of casual observers, but of official authorities that the Syrians in America are
one of the most constructive and industrious elements among the
heterogenous stocks of the American nation.
For a people whose history runs back thousands of years and
whose representatives in America are found practically in every
city and town in the country, only the high spots of their history
and activities could be touched upon within the limited time now
available. But it is my sincere hope that the ladies and gentlemen
of the radio audience would have learned enough about the Syrians, both their past and present, from what has been now said,
to understand them in their true light and appreciate their genuine cultural, industrial and commercial contributions to America.
They came first in quest of opportunity, it is true, but have now
become integral to the American nation. They wish to be known
as Americans first, but not to lose sight of their ancestral background with all its spiritual and cultural advantages which should
prove a distinct contribution to their beloved adopted country.
.
I
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�41,
(MAY, 1930
EDITORIAL COMMENT
ARE
THE SYRIANS
ARABS?
pROM three distinct and
widely-separated places in
the United States comes to us
in the course of one month, the
significant question, "Are the
Syrians Arabs r" Upon receipt
of the first inquiry from an intelligent reader in Washington
we answered privately, assuming that the request for information was prompted by personal curiosity or the settlement of a local controversy. But
when the same inquiry was
addressed to us from different
parts of the country, and news
reached us that our countrymen
of Boston were to take part in
the city's tercentenary not in
the form of a purely Syrian
pageant, but in one to which
they have chosen to give the
name
''Syrian- Arabic,"
we
deemed it our duty to call attention to our special status not
only! as a distinct element ethnologically, but also as a social
group forming a distinct entity
and occupying a clearly-defined
position in the American commonwealth.
That the Syrians are not
wholly of Arab stock is a historical fact which should be
beyond argument. They speak
the Arabic language but they
themselves are not Arabs. The
Arabic language was imposed
on them in the manner that the
tongues of conquerors were
forced on other subjugated
races. The Egyptians, the Algerians, the Tunisians, and the
Moors are not Arab albeit they
also speak the Arabic language.
The Americans are not English
because of their use of the
English tongue. In the same
manner that the Americans are
a highly mixed nation because
they are drawn from many racial strains, so are the Syrians.
Drawing an analogy, we may
safely state that the Syrians,
ethnologically, are the Americans of the old world. English
culture and influence transcended in America in the exact manner that Arabic power established itself in Syria.
Dr. Philip K. Hitti, the wellknown historian, at the very
beginning of his authoritative
work, "The Syrians in America," denies categorically that
the Syrians are either Turks,
Arabs or Assyrians. Under the
definitive caption "The Syrians
not Arabs" he specifically states
that "the appellation awlad
PArab of which they (The Syrians) are particularly fond is
�42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
t
a misnomer. It has linguistic
But even were we to conrather than ethnic connotation. cede, against the weight of all
The Syrians spoke Aramaic historical authority, that the
throughout the greater part of Syrians were Arabs, what justheir history, and their adop- tification could there be for detion of the Arabic tongue is a priving a nation of its rightful
comparatively recent event, be- identity, or of making of it a
ing subsequent to the rise of Is- tail-end subsidiary of another?
lam and the Arab invasion. Why should not Syria enjoy
Some Syrians are undoubtedly the right of a distinct identity
of Arab stock, but, after all, cul- since it has had its separate and
ture, and not a strain of blood distinct place geographically,
is the determining factor in the historically and culturally over
a period of time for antedating
identification of a race."
Continuing his argument, that of any other nation
this same authority asks, "Who in recorded history?
are the Syrians then?" and
For another and equally
gives the following definite valid and weighty reason the
answer:
Syrians in America should not
"The modern Syrians are countenance a change in name.
the remnant of the ancient They should not destroy by a
Phoenician - Canaanite
tribes stroke of the pen what it has
who entered Syria about 2500 taken them more than a half
B. C, the Aramean-Israelite a century in America to build
hordes who arrived about 1500 in reputation and prestige. If
B. C, and the Arabs who drift- at all a change has been brought
ed, and still drift in, from the about by the World War in
desert and gradually pass from the political status of their
a nomadic to an agricultural mother country, that change is
state.
admittedly for the better and
"With this Semitic stock as should be capitalized to their
a substratum the Syrians are a further advantage. By this is
highly mixed race of whom meant that if before the war
some rightly trace their origin the Syrians were a subject race
back to the Greek settlers and they now enjoy an infinitely
colonists of the Seleucidae pe- more advantageous political
riod, others to the Frankish status in being internationally
and other European Crusaders, recognized as a national entity
and still others to Kurdish and and assigned by the League of
Persian invaders and immi- Nations to Class A mandate.
grants."
They have fought and are still
I
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' MAY, 1930
fighting for complete recognition as a sovereign nation. Under the circumstances, what
valid reasons could be advanced
for submerging their identity
into that of another nation?
The Syrians in America are
about equally divided between
Syrians and Lebanese. The
Lebanese were the first comers
and remained for a time an
overwhelming majority. If a
dual name were to be used at
all that name should be rightly
Syrian-Lebanese and not ArabSyrian. Of real Arabs,—Arabs
from Arabia proper,—there is
not a single one in America with
the exception of some transient
Adenite sailors manning English tramp steamers. Would the
existence of these be sufficient
reason to influence us into a
change of name with all the
consequences such a step entails? Let us act cautiously in
such a momentous matter, taking in consideration the fact
that no matter from whatever
point it may be considered, the
change from Syrian to Arab,
or to Arab-Syrian, could not
redound to our credit or advantage. Syria has its place in
both ancient and contemporary
histories. It has its own background of advanced civilization
and culture. Hence the reason
for not losing its distinct and
n? separate identity. The Syrians
n?
would only be inviting injury
** to themselves by tolerating a
43
change of name. We may be
closely associated with the
Arabs, but we are not Arabs.
We admit that the Arabs have
had a glorious past, but their
present is not such as would
make us anxious to associate
our name and destiny with
theirs. Especially should we
Syrians in America be jealous
to retain the name under which
we have been known for half
a century. We cannot afford to
destroy the work of all these
years and begin to build anew
on a doubtful foundation.
We have built our reputation as Syrians and as such we
should continue to be known,
for our greater advantage.
EXPRESS YOURSELF!
READERS of THE SYRIAN
WORLD should not hesitate
to communicate to the editor
their opinions on current topics,
or, for that matter, on any other
subject of public interest. The
same policy of fair and impartial treatment pursued in the
publication of excerpts from the
Syrian press will be maintained
in publishing communications
in the Readers' Forum. Whatever the opinion, pro or con, it
is eligible for publication. At
present we would particularly
invite comment on the subject
of the preceding editorial, as we
are in need of defining our status in face of threatening chaos.
�44
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcosmic
picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever Arabic
dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking writers
who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabic-speaking
world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take no part in
the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our task will
simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and with utmost
sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed
in these editorials.
Editor.
THE SPIRIT OF THE IRISH
Following their annual custom,
the Irish ip New York paraded on
March 17 over twenty thousand
strong after having attended services in the churches and given
proof of their religious tenacity and
racial solidarity. The green shamrock which they all wore was but
a sign of youth and a pledge to
continued growth.
Fourteen centuries ago St. Patrick came to Ireland and won its
people over to Christianity. The
Irish have been ever since one of
the truest peoples to the faith and
the most zealous in its defense.
The Irish have in them a good
deal of Phoenician blood. By the law
of atavism, they naturally rebel
against oppression and ignorance.
They have their heroes and men of
achievement in the arts of war and
peace, just as the Phoenicians have
their Hannibals and other great
leaders.
The Lebanese of today are the
direct descendants of the Phoenicians, and between them and the
Irish there are many points of similarity. But the Lebanese seem to
lack one essential quality of col-
...
lective action and national solidarity. The Lebanese are, rather, more
individualistic, otherwise the difference is slight between the sons
of St. Patrick and those of St.
Maron.
Al-Hoda, N. Y., March 18, 1930.
WESTERN TACTICS AMONG
EASTERN PEOPLES
Students of political movements
in the East, and of the policies of
colonial powers, will not fail to
discern the subtle designs behind
the tactics of Western governments
in their attempt to strengthen their
hold on their Eastern possessions.
Their favorite policy is to sow the
seeds of dissension between the governed people and to incite one faction against another by dealing out
lavish promises that are never destined to be fulfilled. In this manner they provide an outlet for the
surplus energy of the oppressed
people but in a direction that will
work to its detriment. In the meantime they would be watching the
enactment of the drama from behind the scenes, and when the play
comes to an end they emerge as
�45
(MAY, 1930
victors without showing in the least
that they had a hand in the staging
of the tragedy.
In this manner the West has been
able to oppress and govern the
East, and such will ever be its tactics until the East reaches the age
of reason and realizes that colonial
powers entertain no kindly motives
towards them. Rather, they are exploiting them as backward nations
and treating them like helpless
minors.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y.
April 23, 1930.
DESTRUCTIVE POLITICS
No sooner was the Eddy cabinet
in Lebanon defeated and the Adeeb
cabinet appointed to succeed it, than
rumors appeared that the latter will
soon meet the fate of the former
and will be as short-lived. If this be
true the political situation in Lebanon must be extremely deplorable.
It is bound to result in new elections which will cost the Lebanese
dearly in time and money, and who
knows that the result of the new
election will be different than the
one we now have.
Such lack of cooperation among
the elected representatives of the
people might be frought with the
most serious consequences. For it
must be remembered that the ultimate hopes of the Lebanese are to
achieve complete independence upon
the conclusion of the term of the
mandate. How can such a result
be expected when no concrete progress is noticeable in our exercise of
representative government?
During the twelve years of the
nandate no progress OL whatever
nature has been accomplished in
Lebonon other than in the economic
I
field, and this result may be attributed directly to French administration. In the realms of politics and
administration we have remained at
a standstill, and this must be interpreted as actual retrogression.
The political situation in Lebanon
is deplorable and should not be suffered to continue much longer. It is
no wonder that the Lebanese now
wish they remained within their
former boundaries when they had
adjusted themselves to a certain
fixed condition with which they were
seemingly content.
In view of these conditions, the
Lebanese emigrants would reiterate
their willingness and readiness to
aid the motherland in times of
stress and trial as they have done
in the past, but they expect to see
a certain degree of honesty and true
patriotism among the political leaders of the country, where a true
spirit of sacrifice would prevail and
the common weal placed above personal interest.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., April 23, 1930.
THE EDDY CABINET
The fall of the Eddy cabinet in
Lebanon is not in itself a matter
of surprise, for cabinets are liable
to rise and to fall overnight in republican governments. But the surprise is in the reasons which led to
the fall of this reform cabinet. They
prove conclusively that the country
is not yet ripe for any large degree
of progressive reforms.
We can only analyze the reasons
for this political disaster in that
Premier Eddy attempted to carry
out his reform program too hastily.
There can be no question as to the
honesty of his intentions, but he
committed the mistake of biting
�—
46
more than he could swallow. In his
attempts to affect economy he discharged an army of bureaucratic
sinecures who raised a storm of
protest against him. Then in his efforts at educational reform he
aroused the suspicions of the Moslems by the closing of some of their
elementary schools. At best, these
schools were but stupid apologies
for educational institutions which
the Premier meant to replace by effective instruments of learning, and
it is a pity that he was not given
the chance to carry out his plans.
Had Premier Eddy been satisfied
with a gradual application of his
reforms as to give the people an
opportunity to absorb them he
would have succeeded in maintaining his hold on the government and
rendered the country the greater
service of introducing real and effective reforms. As it is, he was too
hasty in the application of his honest designs in a country still subject to antiquated party and religious allegiances.
As-Sayeh, N. Y., April 24, 1930.
FRANCE ENCOURAGES
ARMENIAN IMMIGRATION
While the Syrians flee their
homeland to escape economic depression and French oppression, the
Armenians are being steadily imported into the country to replace
them. Syria has now become another
America to the Armenians, thanks
to the benevolent attitude of the
mandatory power. This prompts us
to ask: Is it the intention of France
to create an Armenian Question in
Syria just as her partner in deceit
and perfidy has created a Jewish
Question in Palestine ? But what will
stop her? Is it her conscience? She
and England are vying with each
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
.1
other in bringing ruin to a weak
country by populating it with outcasts and vagabonds.
Recent reports from Constantinople indicate that thousands of
Armenians are migrating to Syria
presumably to escape the hard times
prevailing in Anatolia. But are conditions in Syria any better that
France should import into it such
new and incongruous material without restriction?
The answer is plain. France not
only welcomes this new element but
actually seeks it in order to maintain a balance against the native
Arab population.
Al-Bayan, N. Y., April 21, 1930.
A SUBSERVIENT GOVERNMENT
The French High Commissariat
in Syria ordered the Lebanese government to suspend a native paper
because of the latter's publication
of derogatory statements about
Queen Mary of Roumania and her
daughter while in the country as
guests of the mandatory authorities. This would simply mean that
the French resorted to high-handed
action over the head of the Lebanese
government which had no other
course but to comply.
Surely the French would not take
such action against Le Temps, or
Le Matin, or Le Petit Parisien. Why
then not apply fairness to dealings
with the Lebanese press? When the
Queen and her daughter were in
America many notorious accounts
were published about them, but no
action was taken. We would want
the French to act in Lebanon as
they would in Paris without consideration for Balkan interests. And
what is more, we would want the
Lebanese government to refuse to
submit to ignominy and contempt.
Al-Hoda, N. Y., May 19, 1930.
s'
P
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�MAY, 1930
47
Text of the Syrian Constitution
AS ORIGINALLY DRAFTED BY THE SYRIAN CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY IN 1928 AND NOW PROMULGATED BY THE FRENCH
IN SYRIA IN A SLIGHTLY MODIFIED FORM.
Chapter I deals with the political
status of the country and contains
four main articles as follows:
«
Personal liberty is the inalienable
right of every citizen. All those
who, under the law, are deprived of
their personal liberty by the regularly constituted authorities must be
notified of said action not later than
the second day of the issuance of the
decree and be allowed immediate recourse to legal methods of selfdefense.
Article I declares Syria an independent sovereign state whose territory is held indivisible.
Article II defines the State of
Syria as all lands within the natural borders of Syria seceded from
the Ottoman Empire. The State as
Torture is declared illegal, as also
such is declared an indivisible polideportation and exile or the refusal
tical unit regardless of whatever of any Syrian's right to residence
administrative changes may have
in any particular place, or his combeen introduced into it following the
pulsion to reside in any special
World War.
place, or his compulsion to tdoo det
Article III declares the Syrian place, except under the circumState a representative republic "the stances and conditions defined by
religion of whose president shall be law.
Islam" and whose capital shall be
Homes are declared inviolable.
Damascus.
Personal property cannot be seized
Article IV describes the official flag
except for public interests and subto be adopted by the Syrian State
ject to a fair compensation.
and defines it as follows: "It must
Freedom of worship is guaranteed
be twice as long as it is wide and
be divided into three equal hori- individuals, the State undertaking to
zontal colors, the top being green, protect all religious bodies in the
the center white and the bottom exercise of their religious rites unblack. The center stripe must bear less found to conflict with law and
on an even line three red, five-point- order and undermine public morals.
Freedom of thought and speech
ed stars.
are guaranteed citizens of the State.
Chapter II deals with the status The press is relieved of all form of
of the individual onder the law and censorship.
contains twenty-four articles which
Elementary education is compulmay be summarized as follows:
sory for both sexes and the State
All Syrians are equal before the guarantees to provide free educalaw. No distinction is drawn between
tion to all.
one citizen and another because of
Religious minorities are protected
his racial origin, his language, his
in
their legal rights and are allowed
religion or his denomination.
�^
48
THE SYRIAN WORLD
to establish private schools to educate their children in their own
languages on condition of complying with state regulations.
Arabic is the official language of
all departments of the State.
Chapter III deals with legislative
and executive powers and with other
conditions governing elections and
representation and complete the one
hundred and fifteen articles of the
Constitution. The principal articles
in this section may be summarized
as follows:
All authority is declared to emanate from the nation.
Only one representative body is
constituted and is called the Representative Assembly in which is
reposed the power of legislation.
The executive power is reposed in
the President who has the right to
appoint a Ministry subject to the
approval of the Assembly.
Twenty is declared the legal voting age. Balloting is made secret
and every candidate for election to
the Representative Assembly must
be thirty years of age or over, the
term of office being four years.
Religious minorities are allowed
special rights of representation.
Maintenance of order within the
Assembly is the sole right of the
representative body, and no armed
force may enter the premises or be
stationed near its doors except by
request of the President.
The President is elected by a
majority vote of the Assembly for
a term of three years. He may be
elected for a second consecutive
term but not for a third except
after the lapse of three years since
his last term.
The oath of office for
ident ig as follows;
~~
the
Pres-
"I swear by the Almighty God
that I shall respect the Constitution
of the country and its laws and
guard its independence and the
security of its territories."
The President selects the Prime
Minister and appoints the ministers subject to the latter's recommendation. He also appoints diplomatic representatives to foreign
powers and receives foreign diplomatic representatives accredited to
the Syrian Republic and presides at
official functions.
The Council of Ministers is restricted to seven, all of whom shall
be responsible collectively to the
Representative Assembly for the
general policy of the government,
and each of whom shall be responsible individually for the conduct
of his own ministry.
Amendments to the Constitution
are permissible by a two-thirds
majority of the Assembly at any regular session. No amendment could be
made to the present form of the
Constitution, however, before the
lapse of three years.
A national army is to be formed
under a special law.
A special administrative bureau
is to be created for the nomad
tribes which shall be guided in its
policy by the special conditions and
requirements of each tribe.
Public religious foundations should
be considered purely denominational
institutions and shall be governed by
special boards elected by the Muslims.
The final, and what is termed as a
temporary article of the Constitution, vests in the Constituent Assembly the right to elect the first President of the Syrian Republic for a
term of office not to exceed two
years.
.
mmm - :
�(MAY, 1930
49
Political Developments in Syria
FRENCH PROCLAIM
SYRIA A REPUBLIC
Nationalists apparently withhold
approval—New elections to be
held in the fall.
i
I
JL'
Press dispatches from Paris carried the glad announcement that the
Syrian problem had been settled at
last by the action of the French
High Commissioner in proclaiming
Syria a republic on May 22. Comments of the French press on this
development gave the impression
that the final solution was bound to
please and reconcile the Syrians,
inasmuch as France had proven herself extremely liberal, going as far
as her special position as mandatory
permitted, and "even exceeding this
limit," in the opinion of some commentators.
Cable dispatches, however, failed
to give details of the new solution
beyond stating that the original
draft of the constitution as laid
down by the Constituent Assembly
was accepted by the French in its
entirety with the simple reservation
that the originally objectionable
articles would not go into force
until after the election of a de jure
government which would enter into
negotiations with the mandatory
power for defining the status of the
relations between the two governments.
But first accounts of the Syrian
press would indicate that this supposedly final solution is far from
being satisfactory to the Nationaliists.
The Constituent Assembly,
which they insist is the legally
elected representative body of the
people, and the one in which is
vested the power to draft the constitution and elect the president, is
not recognized in its vested rights
by the High Commissioner. Rather,
it is ignored altogether and the provisional government to which the
Nationalists offered strenuous objection is continued in power and
authorized to supervise the new
elections for the Representative
Assembly as defined by the constitution.
Furthermore, the basic article of
the constitution has been so altered
as to throw the whole document out
of balance. This is article II which
defines Syria as "all lands seceded
from the Ottoman Empire" and declares the State as such an indivisible political unit regardless of
whatever administrative
changes
may have been introduced into it
following the World War. This original definition, on the face of it,
would bring within the natural
boundaries of Syria Lebanon and
the other independent States of
Jebel Druze, the Alaouites and Alexandretta. But even with the elimination of Lebanon, to which the Syrian
Nationalists concede a special position, not even the other States understood to be an integral part of Syria
are comprised in the new republic.
Special constitutions have been
drafted for each of them separately
and individually, which would reduce
Syria proper to its present limited
confines.
M. Hoppenot, Chief of the Political Bureau of the French High
�50
Commissariat, in making public in
Beirut on May 22 the text of the
new Syrian Constitution, declared
to representatives of the press that
the Nationalists had not been consulted in reaching the decision on
this new move. M. Ponsot, on the
other hand, in the published text of
his letter to the French Minister of
Foreign Affairs dealing with the
matter, declares that negotiations
had been carried on with the Administrative Bureau of the Constituent
Assembly and that "it was expected that the Bureau would accept
this final solution."
No date has yet been set for 'holding new elections which probably
will take place in the fall. A Federal Council of a'l the Syrian States
is created by the terms of the new
declaration, whose principal functions will be to adjust economic relations between the different States.
The High Cbmmissioner is expected to leave for Paris before the
end of June so as to be near to give
the French government the benefit
of his advice when it submits the
constitution drafts of the several
Syrian States to the League of Nations for approval.
It would seem that this supposedly final solution was reached long
before its publication in Beirut, because printed copies of the Syrian
Constitution were furnished the
European press simultaneously with
the official declaration of the French
High Commissioner for Syria,—another cause for Syrian grievance,
according to first reports.
To one knowing the temperament
of the Syrian Nationalists, it would
seem that the Syrian problem, so
far as they are concerned, is far
from settled. They might take part
in the proposed elections and win
control of the Representative As-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
sembly as they did in the case of
the Constituent Assembly, but their
logical stand, judging by the consistency of their former demands,
is to insist on the rights of the
existing body, in which case they
may be expected to boycott the new
elections. A new armed revolution
would seem now to be out of the
question.
LEBANON
In submitting the drafts of the
new constitutions of the different
Syrian States to the Minister of
Foreign Affairs at Paris, M. Ponsot, the French High Commissioner
in Syria, pointed to the Lebanese
Constitution, which has been in
force for the past four years, as a
model of the new drafts, holding
that it proves the success of democratic, representative government in
Syria.
Now in Lebanon political affairs
seem to be in a sort of a chaotic
condition. The downfall of the Eddy
Cabinet, which was brought about
by Moslem discontent with the
educational program, did not put an
end to the perennial differences,
plotting and counter-plotting. August Pasha Adib's Cabinet does not
seem to be making much progress,
and there are strong rumors that its
downfall is in sight, perhaps to
give way to another Eddy Cabinet,
Eddy being admittedly the strong
man of the hour in the little republic.
The Regie, or tobacco monopoly,
has at last been decreed out of existence in Syria and Lebanon, and
full rights of free planting and
trade in tobacco products are restored to the population. This has
done little, however, to improve the
stringent economic conditions in the
country.
I f
�.T»^«l>," -
MAY, 1930
In an official interview, M. Charles
Dabbas, President
of
Lebanon,
declared that it has been definitely
agreed to make the Mediterranean
outlet of the Mosul oil at Tripoli.
The announcement was hailed with
great joy by the Lebanese, especially the Tripolitanians, and rents
in the city took a sudden boom. But
the Iraqians and Palestinians immediately raised a storm of protest
and appealed to England to insist
on making the port of Haifa, in
Palestine, the Mediterranean outlet
for the Mosul pipe lines. To this the
Lebanese make the counter demand
that France break her agreement
with England and the United State?,
if necessary, so as to insure bringing her share of Mosul petroleum
to Tripoli.
A storm was raised over a circular letter sent by M. Alphonse
Ayyub, economic agent for the Lebanese government in Paris, to the
Lebanese press in America, proffering his services to Lebanese nationals. The French consul at Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, published an open
letter in the Lebanese papers of
that city denying M. Ayyub the
right to make such proposals, claiming that all representation of Lebanese abroad is the exclusive privilege of France. The comment of
the Lebanese press on this subject
is strong and bitter, all agreeing
that France is proving by such actions a systematic attempt to hold
down Lebanon from making any
independent progress.
The Representative Assembly of
Lebanon has approved of the bill
appropriating a round sum of
$750,000 for establishing a flying
field near Tripoli. This action was
taken in spite of the great popular
objection raised because of its supposed misapplication of the economy
51
program. Some liberal papers, however, boldly take the stand that the
hand of the Lebanese government
was forced owing to pressure from
the High Commissariat, but the
Lebanese are at a loss to understand
why they should bear all the cost of
establishing the landing field for the
benefit of a French aeronautical
concern. What is cause of greater
surprise is that the Lebanese government should approve of the
project almost without deliberation
and in face of a large deficit threatening the treasury.
PALESTINE
The Arabs of Palestine seem determined to adhere to their original
demands for representative government in the country in which representation would be in proportion
to the different elements of the
population.
Their delegation to
London, which returned empty-handed, was, nevertheless, received with
great popular demonstration upon
its arrival home. Judging by reports
of the native press, no weakness
can be observed in the Arabs' demands for restriction on Jewish
immigration.
The Arabs of Palestine are being
strengthened in their stand by the
whole-hearted sympathy of their
brotJher Moslems throughout the
world, especially those of India.
This factor might prove of potent
influence in the study of the Palestine situation by the League of
Nations which now has the matter
under consideration.
Dr. Drummond Shields, the British Under-Secretary of State for
the Colonies, told the Mandates
Commission of the League of Nations that Britain would be guided
in her future policy in Palestine by
the findings of Sir John Simpson who
is now conducting an investigation.
-
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
52
About Syria and Syrians
AMERICA'S MISSION
IN THE NEAR EAST
Young America receives rich reward
from Eastern nations in exchange
for her educational contributions.
Albert W. Staub, Campaign Director of the six American Colleges
in the Near East, returned from a
visit to Syria the early part of
April. "This is the first time that I
have had the opportunity of being
in Syria during the spring season.
It is a veritable fairy land," he enthusiastically declares at the opening of his report. He then proceeds
to describe the wonderful constructive work in the way of helpful and
practical education that is being
carried on by the American University of Beirut, and asserts that
"the University has made a profound impression on the peoples of
the Near East which is apparent
not only in Beirut but throughout
Syria and adjacent countries." The
University's influence is evident in
many native schools, principally
Miss Kassab's School for Girls,
which he describes as "one of the
best organized institutions I have
seen in Syria," being considered "a
grand-daughter of the University."
A vivid account is furnished by
Mr. Staub of one of his experiences
while in Beirut on the occasion of
a banquet given by the alumni of
the University.
One of the Syrian speakers, he
recalls, made a statement that stirred the American soul: "When a
strong nation endeavors to help a
backward race one of two things
is inevitable," he quoted the Syrian
speaker as saying. "Either the backward race develops an inferiority
complex or else it becomes parasitical. You do not make us feel inferior because of the spirit in which
you have come. You have come not
as a conquering nation, but with
such sympathy and understanding
that you have captured our admiration and our love. Instead of making
us parasitical, you have inspired in
us self-respect."
This called forth the following
response on the part of Mr. Staub
who was endeavoring to outline the
purposes of the six American Colleges in the Near East:
Mr. Staub's Remarks
This movement in America may be
looked upon as a modern crusade—
not militant but in the interest of
peace, not arguing the theories of
religion but emphasizing the experience we have in common as
human beings based upon spiritual
facts.
It might be considered an educational mandate in the Near East—
not political, but inspired by a desire to share that which we have
found to be helpful to us culturally,
not imperialistic but as a gesture of
friendship.
The Colleges have been referred
to as broadcasting stations of international good will, recognizing the
essential values of nationalism, but
stimulating a world patriotism.
These institutions serve as the
medium of two important currents
of thought. As Americans we share
�.
MAY, 1930
the fruits of our idealism and culture with others. As representatives
of other nations you share with us
the product of your mature culture
obtained through centuries of experience.
Our life is highly commercialized
—we need the mysticism of the
East. Our manners are crude compared with the refined hospitality of
the Orient. Our religion is practical, but lacks the richness acquired
through thoughtful meditation and
contemplation. We are too responsive to every new idea. We need
poise — the product of age-long
traditions. We need an outlet for
the pent-up energies of a successful
people lest we become self-centered
and overbearing.
We do not claim to have a formula of our own which we wish to
impose on others. We are seeking
with the help of others the conditions which will result in the economic freedom of all peoples; the
permanent spiritual values of life
for all peoples; the mutual respect
for all peoples, one for another; and
the cooperation of all peoples for
the common good.
What we are striving for is not
a substitution of the characteristics
of one type of civilization for another—not the destruction of human
values wheresoever found, but the
blending of the cultures of many
peoples so as to build up a human
brotherhood—a fraternity of kindred
spirits for the benefit of all mankind.
SYRIAN POLITICAL LEADER
HONORED BY FRIENDS
The Syrian community's elation
over the election of George C. Dagger to the Republican leadership
of the First Assembly District of
53
Honorable George C. Dagher
Brooklyn was demonstrated by the
large attendance at the dinner
tendered him at the Elks Club on
June 5. The festive gathering was
the largest in the history of the
Syrian community, the attendance
being over 700, drawn mainly from
the select professional and business
elements.
The banquet was under
the
auspices of the American Syrian
Federation, and that it proved such
a success in spite of the short notice given is eloquent testimony of
the popularity of the Syrian political leader.
Albert Macsoud, chairman of the
Committee on Arrangements, opened the speaking session and turned
the chair over to S. J. Akel, President of the Federation. Joseph
Ferris made the presentation of a
gold watch to the guest of honor in
the name of the Federation.
�1
,
54
Mme. Fedora Korban, styled the
Syrian nightingale, gave several
operatic selections and was applauded heartily.
The American speakers were
Philip Elting, collector of customs at
the port of New York, United States
Attorney Ameli, Postmaster Firmin,
Justices Dodd and Martin of the
Supreme Court, Port Appraiser
Kracke, Collector of Internal Revenue Corwin, Transit Commissioner
Lockwood and Amy Wren, co-leader
of the First Assembly Republican
District.
Many of the government officials
present were Democrats who wished
to assist in honoring the young
Syrian Republican leader for his
sterling personal qualities regardless of party affiliations.
Collector Elting delivered a long
address in which he emphasized the
principle that loyalty to American
institutions is the prime consideration in determining the meaning of
the term American. "We are all of
foreign stock," de declared, "and
only the Indian aborigines are fullblooded Americans."
VISITING SYRIAN EDUCATORS
HONORED BY COMMUNITY
The Syrian Educational Society
of New York held a banquet on May
3 at Joe's Restaurant in Brooklyn
in honor of two prominent Syrian
educators now visiting in the United
States, Miss Marie Kassab of the
Ahliya'h School for Girls in Beirut,
and Prof. S. Saad of the National
School in Damascus.
A. K. Hitti, President of the Syrian Educational Society, presided as
toastmaster. The principal speakers
were Dr. Ph. K. Hitti of Princeton
and Dr. Albert W. Staub, Director
THE SYRIAN WORLD
of the American Near East Colleges.
Miss Kassab and Prof. Saad also
spoke in explanation of their missions.
Mme. Fedora Korban and Midhat
Sirbagi, noted Syrian operatic singers, received loud applause.
In giving his appraisal of the
native institutions which the visiting educators
represented,
Mr.
Staub, in speaking of American
leadership in the East, said that
"one wonders at times when Americans will become less dominant."
He particularly praised the organization and the advance methods of
teaching which he observed at Miss
Kassab's school, declaring "that he
was more impressed with it than
any other educational institution he
saw in the Near East."
BANQUET IN HONOR
OF WILLIAM CATZEFLIS
William Catzeflis, a member of
the literary fraternity Ar-Rabitah,
and a leading literary and social
figure in the New York Syrian community, recently elected to the vicepresidency of the Lebanon National
Bank, was given a testimonial dinner by his friends and admirers at
the Hotel Pennsylvania May 24.
Fouzi Breidy acted as toastmaster
and the speakers included G. K.
Gibran, George Ferris, Dr. N. Barbour, Dr. S. Y. Alkazin, J. Mandour, President of the Lebanon National Bank, N. Diab, editor of Meraat-Ul-Gharb, S. A. Mokarzel, N.
Arida, R. Saliba, T. Fakhr, M. Naimy, M. Saidy, A. A. Haddad and
Salim Mallouk.
Mr. Catzeflis responded in English
and in Arabic in appropriate expressions of thanks and pledged himself to further efforts in the service
of the community.
�. ' '
MAY, 1930
55
Telegrams and letters of congratulations were received from many
parts of the United States.
SYRIAN SINGER PROMISED
METROPOLITAN AUDITION
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, in its
issue of June 3, carried on its first
page a feature story by Isabelle
Keating giving an account of the
persistent struggle of Mme. Fedora
Kurban for recognition as a singer,
which efforts were finally rewarded
by a promise from Gatti-Cassazza
to give her an audition next October.
"An audition at the Metropolitan
Opera House of New York," says the
writer, "is a notable event for any
singer; but for Fedora Kurban it is
a miracle, considering the family
prejudices and objections she had to
overcome in pursuing her career."
Mme. Kurban is rapidly establishing a name for herself as a gifted
singer, and has come to be known as
the Syrian nightingale. The quality
of her voice is described by critics
as being exceptional, and for her
complete operatic success she may
be sure of the heartiest best wishes
of all her compatriots who wish to
see the Syrian name shine in added
splendor.
SYRIAN-ARABIC PAGEANT
TO BE HELD IN BOSTON
(From a Correspondent)
Boston—In connection with the
Tercentenary celebration in Boston,
Mrs. William L. Putnam, wealthy
and influential leader, was appointed
by State authorities as Chairman
for the Racial Group Committee.
Mrs. Putnam requested Faris S. Malouf, lawyer, to accept the Chairman-
-GO&
Mme. Fedora Kurban
ship for the Syrian group. Working
in conjunction with Mr. Malouf are
Rasheed Abdelnoor and Labeebee A.
J. Hanna.
In preparing a general outline of
a pageant to depict the history of
Syria and Arabia and their contributions to civilization, the committee is indebted to the following for
valuable information: Ameen Rihani, lecturer and author; Dr. Ph. K.
Hitti, of Princeton; Miss Theodora
Scoff, and Professor Jewett of Harvard.
Miss Labeebee A. J. Hanna was
elected to organize and compose the
pageant, which consists of eight
episodes, covering the following
years: .500 B. C.-1930 A. D. She is
also preparing a very interesting
music and dance program with the
help of Mr. George Leesha.
�56
The Syrians of Boston look forward to seeing friends from all
over the country on July 15, the
day of the pageant—as it promises
to be quite extraordinary and instructive, and at the same time entertaining.
Ameen Rihani, who has prepared
a pamphlet on the history of Syria
and Arabia for the occasion, will take
the character of History; and Labeebee A. J. Hanna will take the character of the princess at the caliph's
court in the Golden Age episode.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ther hieroglyphics nor Assyrian cuneiform characters, but evidently
parts of the first alphabet made of
26 and 27 signs, were found by a
young Alsation archaeologist on the
Syrian coast of the Mediterranean,
at a place called Ras-Shamra, near
Latakia. The expedition had discovered there a necropolis, the 4,000year-old ruins of a Phoenician palace and town, and numerous ancient
vases, jars and statues of great archaeological and historical value.
The opinion was put forward by the
Academie that these ruins represented traces of an Aegian colony that
existed on the Phoenician coast 2,000
WASHINGTON CLUB
years before the present era, and
HOLDS ELECTIONS
whose civilization was of the MyThe Young Men's Syrian Club of cenian period. Salomon Reinach, the
Washington, D. C, held its annual famous French historian, who was
elections at a recent meeting which present when the report was preresulted as follows: Jack Haje, pres- sented, declared that the discovery
ident; Louis Teehan, vice-president; was a most extraordinary one, and
Nelson Haje, secretary; John Kiat- that it would be of the greatest imta, treasurer, and George Atohi, portance for the study of ancient
sergeant at arms. The entire enroll- history.
ment was present at the meeting.
Following their election the officers were tendered a testimonial
ROYALTY IN SYRIA
dinner by the club followed by an
able dramatic presentation by Tony
After visiting Egypt in March,
Furrah and George Atohi. The ban- Queen Marie of Roumania and her
quet was attended by the outstand- daughter Princess Iliana crossed
ing element of the Syrian community Palestine to Syria where they were
the guests of the French High Comof Washington.
,
missioner and visited the principal
places of interest in the country,
particularly
Beirut, Damascus, BaalWORLD'S OLDEST LIBRARY
bek
and
Palmyra.
FOUND IN SYRIA
The Syrian press lived up to the
What is supposed to be the most highest tradition of journalistic enancient library in the world, consist- terprise and thoroughness in reing of documents written in the first porting the movements of the two
alphabetic signs known to savants, royal ladies, even to the extent of
was discovered in Syria by a French observing a hole in the Princess's
archaeological expedition, according stockings, and remarking that she
to reports in the American press. was seen on one occasion to be
Eighteen large and small tablets darning her own stockings. When
engraved with letters that are nei- she attended Mass at the Orthodox
�MAY, 1930
Cathedral the belles of the city
dressed in their best and came out
in force to meet royalty, but the
Princess appeared in the simplest
attire to the utter confusion and
discomfiture of the native women.
While in Damascus, the Queen was
accosted by a reporter of a local
paper with a petition pleading for
her intercession with the mandatory
authorities for ousting the government of Sheikh Tajeddin which was
bringing economic ruin to the
country.
Al-Ahrar, the principal paper of
Beirut, was suspended for three
months for publishing uncomplimentary remarks about the Queen,
thereby "offending a guest of the
mandatory power," according to the
wording of the official statement.
And this is in spite of the fact that
the publisher of the offending paper
is a member of the Lebanese cabinet.
ARMENIANS IN SYRIA
The claim of Syrian papers that
France is encouraging Armenian immigration to Syria with the purpose
of establishing in Northern Syria a
national home for the Armenians
which will serve as a sort of buffer
state between Syria and Turkey, was
denied emphatically by the Armenian paper Aztak published in Beirut.
The Armenian organ advances the
argument that the total number of
Armenian refugees now in all parts
of Syria and Lebanon does not exceed 100,000, which is but a small
proportion of the race. Their total
number in their own homeland, Armenistan, is one million, and these
do not plan to migrate. In Russia
and Caucasia there are half a million who are not permitted to leave,
and scattered throughout the world
are another half a million who could
57
not be induced to return. This plainly shows, according to the Armenian
paper, that the danger of an Armenian influx into Syria is more
fancied than real.
DAMASCENE CROWD
APPLAUDS A MURDER
Because Oriental Code of Morals
Approves Action in Avenging
Family Honor.
Husni Ibn Bayezide, a nineteenyear-old boy of Damascus, could not
withstand the shame his older sister
east on the family name and resolved to avenge his honor with blood.
He armed himself with a razor and
sought his sister in the prostitutes'
quarter. He met her offering a rose
to a stranger and attacked her with
the ferocity of a madman. A crowd
collected but he warned them against
interfering. He stood over the prostrate body of the young woman
until she breathed her last.
The police had by then reached
the scene and rushed upon the murderer with drawn revolvers, but he
shouted to them that he would surrender without resistance. He appeared relieved at having accomplished the deed—he had washed his
honor with blood. And the crowd
cheered him loudly all the way to
prison...
LOCUSTS RAVAGING SYRIA
Reports continue to be received
from all parts of Syria telling of the
continuous spread of the locust
plague and the excessive damage
being done to plantations. The pests
have covered almost all of Lebanon
and spread throughout Syria as far
north as Latakia and Aleppo.
�BOOKS BY SYRIAN AUTHORS
To recommend to Syrians the acquisition of books
in English by Syrian authors would seem superfluous,
especially when the books are such as to cause every
Syrian to feel proud of the fact that their authors are of
his countrymen. All the books listed below have been
exceptionally well received by American critics, some of
them gaining national and even international distinction.
Not alone as a matter of racial pride, but also as a valuable addition to every modern library and as an indispensable medium of wider culture all Syrian homes should
have all or most of these books.
All prices quoted include postage.
Books by Ameen Rihani
Maker of Modern Arabia
$6.00
The Path of Vision
1.25
A Chant of Mystics and Other Poems
1.25
Books by Kahlil Gibran
Sand and Foam
2.25
Prophet—Reg
2.75
The Madman
2.00
The Forerunner
2.75
Jesus, The Son of Man
3.75
Books by Dr P. K. Hitti
As-Suyuti's Who's Who in the 15th Century (Arabic)
3.50
Pap«;r Cover
3.00
Usamah, an Arab-Syrian Gentleman and
Warrior of the Crusades
4.75
Syrians in America
1-25
Syria and the Syrians (Arabic)
1.10
History of Syrian Commerce in the United
States (Arabic; Illustrated)
3.25
By S. A. MOKARZEL.
Immortality (By DR. I. G. KHEIRALLA)
1.25
The Nationalist Crusade in Syria; A Comprehensive and Authoritative Discussion of the
Syrian Question
2.75
By ELIZABETH P. MACCULLTJM.
— -„-ra4*
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
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Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
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New York Public Library
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
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1926-1935
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<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
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English
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
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NS 0002
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TSW1930_05reducedWM
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The Syrian World Volume 04, Issue 09
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1930 May
Description
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Volume 4 Issue 09 of The Syrian World published May 1930. The issue opens with more of Ameen Rihani's experiences in Jeddah and his near-haj to Mecca. Salloum Mokarzel then recounts more of his travels, specifically to Tripoli and Latakia. Mokarzel describes the lands around him in detail. Gibran is yet again featured with a piece titled "On the Art of Writing." The principle poetic contribution in this issue is Thomas Asa's "Essay on Life." Follows is a short story by Labeebee A. J. Hanna that details an intimate and graphic aspect of Syrian-American home life. Salloum Mokarzel's editorial is the last work in the issue, and it deals with the important question of whether the Syrians in America should choose to be called Syrians or Arabs. The issue closes with excerpts from the Arab press and more on political developments in Syria, specifically the formation of the Syrian Republic (1930-1958).
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Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
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English
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
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New York Public Library
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
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Text/pdf
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Text
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1930s
Ameen Rihani
Immigration
Kahlil Gibran
Labeebee A.J. Hanna
New York
Thomas Asa
Travel
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/2d47223c3b99851a35024a0e168671a4.pdf
cbab0e17e260dd7015cf3567654d221c
PDF Text
Text
NOVEMBER, 1930.
k^
SYRIAN WORLD
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
or
'•...'IN.
^^55 B^r
DEFINING NEW BRITISH POLICY IN PALESTINE
DR. F. I. SHATARA
THE SYRIAN IN AMERICAN ART
If
AMEEN RIHANI
THE CAPITAL OF THE UMAYYADS
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
ALI ZAIBAQ (QUICKSILVER) (A SERIAL)
S. A. MOKARZEL and T. S. DAYTON
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
THE COPY 50c
m
��"~1
THE!
SYRIAN WORLD
'Published monthly except July and August
by
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single Copies 50c
Entered as second class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New York,
N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. V. No. 3.
NOVEMBER, 1930.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Defining New British Policy in Palestine
DR.
F. I.
5
SHATARA
The Syrian in American Art
10
AMEEN RIHANI
The Capital of the Umayyads
SALLOUM
17
A.
MOKARZEL
V
Ships Sail Out (Poem)
30
ALICE MCGEORGE
Alt Zaibaq (Serial)
31
�• "1 T
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
The Rubaiyat (Poem)
34
THOMAS ASA
Book Reviews:—
Another Rihani Book on Arabia
35
Usamah in Arabic
36
A Frenchwoman's Defense of the Syrian Revolution 38
The Garment Fair (Poem)
DR. SALIM
40
Y.
ALKAZIN
Editorial Comment:-—
The Lessons of the Past
41
The Corporation
42
Know Yourself
43
The Palestine Issue
44
New British Policy in Palestine
45
Political Developments in Syria
.-. 49
About Syria and Syrians
51
�J
IN THIS ISSUE
E attention of the whole found most interesting and inworld is now focused on Pal- formative.
estine. The momentous struggle
taking place in that small coun- yHE eminent standing of
try which has given the world
Ameen Rihani in the world
two of the principal mono- of letters would render supertheistic creeds is fraught with fluous any attempt at introducthe gravest dangers. The Jews tion. His shining gifts and verclaim it for the reestablishment satile talents mark him out as
of a national homeland, while one of our inestimable national
the Arabs, Moslems and Christ- assets.
ians, stand in solid opposition to
We are now pleased to anthe claim. England, as the man- nounce a special article by Mr.
datory power, is charged with Rihani on the subject of The
the difficult task of reconciling Syrian in American Art. We
between Jewish claims and Arab believe the tribute is as much
rights. How is the situation de- to his race-pride as it is to the
veloping and what will be the ability and the talent of the inoutcome?
dividuals he has chosen for
A clear expose of the present mention. His concluding rePalestine situation is given in an marks on the mission and the
article by Dr. F. I. Shatara. value of THE SYRIAN WORLD
The author, himself a Pales- should be well pondered by
tinian Arab and a physician of every Syrian who would feel
Brooklyn, has followed closely proud in his origin and want to
political developments in his claim his rightful place among
mother country. His interest in the races of the world.
politics and his fearless espousal
of the Arab cause brought him Y^OULD you have an intimate
the offer at one time from exview of Damascus, that city
King Hussein of Arabia to be of proverbial picturesqueness
his diplomatic representative in and enchantment? You are here
Washington. Now he is fre- treated to one in the present inquently called upon for lectures stallment of the editor's account,
and debates on the Palestine of his Syrian travels. The opquestion. Being an authority on portunity is afforded to meet
the subject his article will be the President of the Syrian gov-
�"——
ernment, the Minister of Education and many leaders in the
political life of the city and the
nation. You are, besides, taken
on a tour through the principal
quarters and to the places of
foremost historical interest. In
this account, brief as it is, you
are afforded a glimpse into the
various interesting phases of the
city's life. The editor would
also like to get from readers
their reaction to the series which
; are meant for their enlightenment as to actual conditions in
the country of their ancestors.
those attributed to Ali Zaibaq.
Our hero, in this installment,
is engaged in one of his greatest exploits—war and love and
chivalry and revenge in the
most grandiose manner. We
need not urge readers to follow
up this interesting serial which
in many ways rivals the famous
Arabian Nights.
QTHER departments in this
issue are unusually interesting. The poetry is thrilling, the
editorial comment most timely
and the news section replete
JsJONE but an Oriental imag- with important happenings.
ination could weave such
Read the whole issue because
prodigiously fanciful tales as everything in it is of interest.
A LITERARY EVENT
The most delightfully entertaining book of Ameen
Rihani's series on Arabia has just been published in
America.
The new book, "Arabian Peak and Desert,"
deals with the richest and most inaccessible district of
Arabia, Al-Yaman. The possession of a copy of this
book should be the proud distinction of every cultured
Syrian home in America.
�- •' 'liiiiirr
^v,**^.^
TTTF
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. V. No. 3.
NOVEMBER, 1930.
Defining New British Policy in
Palestine
By
DR.
F. I.
SHATARA
PALESTINE is again on the front page, and the subject of
editorial columns. In the summer of 1929, world attention
was focused on that little strip of land known as the Holy Land.
The country was in the throes of serious disturbances leading to
bloodshed. Zionist leaders and propagandists denounced these
disturbances as the product of religious fanaticism, fanned into
flame by a few mischievous and selfish offenders and agitators.
Arab leaders, through the meagre channels of publicity at
their command, informed the world that the disturbances of 1929,
like the two previous ones, were the result of political Zionism,
which attempted to create in Palestine an imperium in imperio;
that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians were opposed to
Zionism and would fight it to the last; that the Arabs of Palestine
value their liberty and independence far more than any material
benefits which Zionism may bring to the country, and that the
Balfour Promise, the cornerstone of Zionism, was sandwiched
between two promises to the Arabs which are absolutely incompatible with that promise.
The British Government, in an earnest desire to get at the
facts through a neutral and reliable source, despatched the Shaw
Commission, which after an exhaustive study, and hearing evidence presented by able counsel, submitted its report. Space does
not permit more than a brief reference to that report, but the
outstanding feature was its refutation of most of the claims made
by the vociferious Zionist propagandists. Thus the report asserts
that the Arab attacks were not premeditated, and absolves the
�6
"THE SYRIAN WORLD
Arab Executive and the Grand Mufti of planning or inciting
actual disturbances.
One significant statement was:—"That the incident among
them which in our view contributed most to the outbreak was
the Jewish demonstration of the Wailing Wall on August 15."
The Shaw Commission made several important recommendations, chief among which were:—"That his Majesty's Government should consider the advisability of issuing a clear statement
of policy. * * * Our recommendations regarding immigration and
land questions are largely based on the assumption that in their
definition of a policy the government will clearly state that the
rights and position of non-Jewish communities in Palestine are
to be fully safeguarded."
Discussing the land problem the report recommends that—
a scientific inquiry should be undertaken by experts into the
prospects of introducing improved methods into Palestine * * *
It is of vital importance that in any scheme of land development,
adopted as a result of the expert inquiry, regard should be had
to the certain and natural increase in the present rural population. It is of vital importance that, pending the results of this
survey, the present tendency toward the eviction of peasant cultivators from the land should be checked."
The British Government, acting on these suggestions, commissioned Sir John Hope Simpson, an expert on Indian affairs,
to study the situation in Palestine and report on three important
questions, namely:—land settlement, immigration, and developy
ment.
His report on these three questions, according to cabled dispatches, is that the Arab land already available was limited in
extent, that the Arabs were not receiving sufficient consideration
in its allocation, and that Jewish immigration should be better
regulated and in certain categories checked altogether until more
lands are developed for settlement and until better provision is
made tor the landless Arabs.
r ,AC-T^nying thf rep°rt of Sir J°hn HoI* Simpson the
Colonial Office issued a White Paper setting forth the British
Government's future policy in the administration of its mandate
over Palestine.
In the White Paper Lord Passfield reminds the Zionists that
in their zeal for the 160 000 Jewish inhabitants of Palestine, they
have lost sight of the fact that Britain has a responsibility of
�-Tmlii.liii..iii.i.ii „.,.„.,
J{pVEMBER, 1930
7
safeguarding the rights of the 700,000 Arabs. While praising
the work of the World Zionist organization, that organization is
emphatically reminded that it is not the government, and that
Great Britain's responsibility for Palestine as the mandatory
power cannot be delegated to it.
The following extracts from Lord Passfield's statement will
give the reader an idea of its general tenor:—"The condition of
the Arab peasant leaves much to be desired
Some of the attempts which have been made to prove that Zionist colonization
had not had the effect of causing previous Arab tenants to join
the landless class have on examination proved to be unconvincing
if not fallacious
It can now be definitely stated that at the
present time and with the present methods of Arab cultivation
there remains no margin of land available for new immigrants
with the exception of such undeveloped land as the various Jewish organizations hold in reserve
Under the present circumstances his Majesty's Government considers their suspension of
immigration under the labor schedule last May fully justified."
The statement calls attention to and criticizes the rule of the
General Federation of Jewish Labor that Jewish settlers in Palestine must never employ Arab labor.
Lord Passfield then offers to set up .a Legislative Council
comprising the High Commissioner and twenty-two members,
of whom ten will be official and appointed by the High Commissioner, and twelve unofficial and elected by primary and secondary
elections.
The High Commissioner has the power to appoint enough
members to bring the number to twelve, if, through failure of a
section of the population to participate in elections, an insufficient
number is elected. He also sees to it that the mandatory power
will carry out its obligations to the League of Nations, and is
invested with power to enact urgent legislative acts, and to maintain order.
Immediately after the publication of the Simpson report and
the government statement, Dr. Chaim Weizmann handed in his
resignation as president of the World Zionist Organization and
the Jewish Agency. His example was shortly followed by Lord
Melchett, leader of the British Jewry, and Felix Warburg, president of the American Jewish Agency.
Vigorous protests, threats, and denunciations of Great Britain
from Zionists all over the world are coming thick and fast. It is
�8
THE SYRIAN WORLD
even hoped that the announcement will lead to the fall of the
MacDonald Government.
Baldwin, Lloyd George, Amery, and Smuts have expressed
their disapproval of the new policy, but whether they are sincere
in their protests or are simply playing politics is a question.
The Arabs so far have maintained silence. It is understood
that Hajj Amin El-Husseini, the Grand Mufti, will probably
reject the new offer. On the other hand, in a published interview, Ragheb El-Nashasheeby, Mayor of Jerusalem and leader
of the Moderates, accepts the offer as a working basis and expresses the opinion that a majority of the Palestine Arabs will
accept it.
In a cautious statement given out by Mr. Peter S. George
on behalf of the Arabs in New York, it is indicated that although
Britain's offer does not fulfill all the Arab aspirations, it will be
accepted as a starting point towards a fuller measure of selfgovernment and ultimate independence. The statement adds:
" * * * Both the Shaw and Simpson reports have vindicated
the demands repeatedly made by Arabs at home and abroad concerning the fundamental rights of the overwhelming majority
of the inhabitants of the land. We hope that these rights will be
completely achieved and that in the future independent and fully
representative government, Arab and Palestinian Jew will enjoy
equal rights."
The Editorial Comment in the Metropolitan daily press is
exemplified by the following extracts:
Thus, the New York Times on October 22, states:— "Great
Britain's new policy in Palestine is a blow at Zionist aspirations
only in the sense that it registers a verdict already pronounced
by the facts. The claims of political Zionism were always inadmissible. Neither justice nor the forces of nationalism let loose
by the war, nor Great Britain's pledges to the Arab people would
tolerate the imposition of Jewish ascendancy by high pressure
methods upon a native population four-fifths' hostile."
The Herald Tribune warns against the transfer of Zionist
headquarters to the United States thus: "But the suggestion made
by Dr. Weizmann, that Zionist headquarters might be transferred from London to the United States, must have been a very
hasty impulse. ***Britain is and will continue to be the mandatory
for Palestine, and the Zionists will have to cooperate with Britain
in any possible policy concerning the national home in Palestine.
To transfer headquarters to this country, which, to be sure, sup-
�NOVEMBER, 1930
9
plies most of the Zionist capital, would seem like an effort to
involve the United States in the argument. It is not a suggestion
which would be welcomed by either the British or the American
governments. It would hardly promote that international good
will upon which the future bi-cultural Palestine so largely depends; it might even increase the anti-Semitic currents in the
world which thoughtful Jews and Gentiles so heartily deplore."
The New York Evening Post states: "But it is time that
American and English Jewry recognized the realities of the
Palestine situation and appreciated the difficulties of the position
in which England finds herself."
The British Daily Mail of October 24 says: "The Balfour
Declaration was only one of many contradictory promises given
by the Allies in the war. * * * We have tried to force on the
people of Palestine the Zionist predominence which they detest
and to which they will only submit so long as they are held down
by British bayonets. That foolish experiment has got to stop,
and it has got to stop now."
In conclusion, the writer cannot refrain from expressing
amazement at the short-sightedness and numerous serious blunders committed by Zionist leaders. As one studies the events of
the last twelve years he is led to the inevitable conclusion that
Zionist leaders have failed to understand the psychology of the
Palestine Arab, or to comprehend the difficulties of the situation. Instead of trying to understand and cooperate with the
Arabs they put their trust in high pressures, and often false propaganda. They apparently went to Palestine in the belief that
money can accomplish everything. To be sure, large sums of
money have been expended to bolster up a movement which
Henry Morgenthau long ago characterized as "economically unsound, wrong in principle, and impossible of execution." But
high pressure methods often act as a boomerang and the pendulum now is swinging in the opposite direction and one is reminded of Lincoln's statement: "You cannot fool all the people
all the time."
It is earnestly hoped that after this clamour dies down,
sober reflection will convince Jewish leaders, who do not earn
their livelihood from the Zionist Movement, that the only hope
for the future lies in the abandonment of political Zionism, the
full recognition of Arab rights, and the pursuit of a policy in
which Arab and Palestinian Jew can live and work together in
harmony as they did before the ill-advised Balfour Promise.
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Syrian in American Art
By
AMEEN RIHANI
NATIONAL art, no matter how distinct in vigor and manA^ ner,
is seldom free from foreign influences; and when these
develop in harmony with the native elements, it begins to have
a universal appeal. The national spirit, in other words, gives
art a voice, the universal spirit gives it wings. But it does not
lose its identity when it achieves the universal. On the contrary,
its native character, like the foundation in a design, the undertone
in a rhapsody, the color scheme in a canvas, becomes in the contrast more distinct and often more impressive. In the process of
development, however, it must necessarily undergo certain
changes in form and technique, even in spirit. The foreign elements do not readily fit, do not easily fuse. They may be either
too crude or too refined, too racial or too exotic to harmonize.
The change must, therefore, be in the native expression, as well
as in the material for assimilation. It must be from within and
without.
This is, on the whole, the present state of American art; and
not the least among the contributors to its development, are those
whose Americanism is not the most valuable portion of their
heritage. The foreign groups, in other words, are becoming more
assertive, more emphatic in artistic expression; and the Syrians,
who are the youngest of the foreign groups but one of the oldest
in a cultural sense, are beginning to bid for the honor of participation. With an Oriental heritage of no mean significance—a
heritage that is neither too racial nor too exotic—they are destined
to a place of eminence in the American art of the future.
Already there are several artists in this country, singers, musicians and painters, who deserve to be better known and appreciated, at least, by the Syrians themselves. In the canvases and
miniatures of Nicholas Macsoud, the compositions of Alexander
Malouf, the voice of Madhat Sarbaji, are evidences of the Syrian's power of assimilative and creative expression. Western forms
are made to yield to the Orientalism of his spirit. The quaint
and the picturesque in the sensuous and the spiritual alike, are
vividly reflected through the medium of his adoption. The wr-istful appeal, the distilled, as it were, exoticism, the gesture that has
�NOVEMBER,
1930
11
in it the grace and languor of an ancient tradition, these are noteworthy features of the compositions of Malouf, the paintings of
Macsoud, the singing of Sarbaji. These three Syrians have already
received a certain recognition. Malouf's songs are sung in Syrian
and American homes j Macsoud's miniatures are especially prized
by the connoisseur, and Sarbaji's voice has been coupled by an
authority with Caruso's.
Personally, I do not feel a great joy in melody, native or
exotic, and I do not overvalue the purely picturesque. There is
in the two a fatal facility and a surface glamor; there is in the
two a common rhythm which readily drops to the common-place.
The Oriental heritage is, indeed, of deeper significance. Its spirituality is not less real than its sensuousness. It is always dual
in its emphasis. When I first heard in Beirut Madhat Sarbaji
mould the music of Arabic poetry into the classic forms of the
West,—when I first heard him sing Arabic in an opera technique,
—I realized the possibilities of a supreme harmony in the art of
two worlds. Here was for me the fascination of a double magic.
But the rarest joy I have yet experienced was when Fadwa
Kurban first visited Freike and there, from the balcony of my
home, strew over the wadi below the golden beauty of her voice.
It was one of those memorable moments that seldom recur in
life. The singing of Miss Kurban first evoked a memory of the
Metropolitan Opera in New York, when one afternoon I attended
a recital by Galli-Curci. But there, amidst the ruggedness of the
ancient Lebanon, over its scented vales and pine-clad heights,
was a presence that was neither Italian nor Syrian—a presence
divine. At that moment I felt that I was receiving a message,
through Fadwa Kurban, from the gods. After the Barcarole
she sang Izkorini in Arabic, and the village women coming up
from the spring below laid down their jars and the ploughmen
stood transfixed at their ploughs in a transport of joy. Even the
birds in the olive groves must have wondered at the voice of this
Syrian nightingale.
From Freike to the Metropolitan Opera House in New York
is a far cry. But if the presiding deities of a great musical centre
are always en rapport, as it were, with the Divine Giver, Fadwa
Kurban will yet attain the mundane heights of recognition and
fame. Some of the musical critics have already nodded, and a
few (^ the managers have paused while surveying the firmament.
Here is a voice that has the rarest qualities of what is called a
!
"
-
"• <
"
——
�The Hol
_
y Sepulchre, by Nicholas Macsoud
inis painting by the Syrian artist was once used by the Literary Digest as a cover d.
'{ffla^*^a^«^assi^MHfe**
. . ,v
�NOVEMBER, 1930
13
Fadwa (Fedora) Kurban
soprano colorature. To me it seems orchestral. In timbre and
range, in volume and texture and versatility, it combines the lyric
with the dramatic. It rises to the peaks of power and 'descends
to the murmuring depths of poesy with the same facility and
fascination. Fadwa Kurban, if the world of music is not out of
joint, will yet 'arrive'.
Another gifted Syrian is Anis Fuleihan who twelve years ago
made his first appearance in New York. And what he unfolded
of his knowledge of the masters in that recital at Town Hall,
was not the least of his talent. His creative as well as his interpretive power charmed his audience and made me wonder. Here
is a Syrian with the consciousness of the West and the intuitiveness of the East. Here is a student of the technique that is fundamentally intellectual and the emotion that is essentially esthetic.
The one is embodied in a science with instrumentalities of the
string and wood and brass, the other is reflected in a heritage
�14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
.which for centuries has been nourished with the poetry of religion, as well as the blood and tears of passion and romance. An
Occidental concept, an Oriental dream, an American background
—what possibilities for a musical art that may be more universal
in its appeal than anything that has hitherto come out of the
East or the West.
_ It may be presumptuous on my part to express a technical
opinion. But Anis Fuleihan seems to me to be more at home in
his Oriental compositions than either Debussy or Tchaikowsky.
He is even more real and more profound. He does not attempt
to dramatize his choice. He does not take, as a foreign composer
naturally would, the first conspicuous thing that appeals to him,
which is often a surface rune or a banal tintinnabulation, and impart to it, through the medium of string and brass—particularly
the latter—an artificial intensity. As a native he can go deeper
and without an effort. And he can evince from the head-springs
of secular and religious passions and the superimposed mosaic of
human desires, a rhythmic beauty of great scope;—a rhythmic
beauty which combines, for instance, the pious madness of the
dervish with the suggestive mellowness of the mystic}—a rythmic
beauty that emphasizes the gesture of the soul, as well as that
of the body. Anis Fuleihan at the piano, even in his rendition of
Bach or Liszt, has the subtlety and fervor of an Oriental esthete,
as well as the skill and power of an Occidental technician; and
as a composer, he is a born Oriental with two big black eyes in
his head and another eye, which can also hear, as the Sufi poet
would say, in his heart.
About the time Anis Fuleihan made his first appearance in
^ew York, another talented Syrian was struggling with his racial
heritage, through the medium of paint, in the woods of Pennsylvania. It was through Bach that I made the discovery. For when
I went to Bethlehem to attend the Bach Festival, which is one
ot the most notable musical events in this country, I was asked
to see an exhibition of paintings which strongly reflected, I was
told, the poetry and spirituality of the East. The name of the
artist, L. J. Halow, because of the slight corruption, was at first
misleading. But there was Esau or Isa, a fellow Syrian, who is
a descendant of the well known family of Hilu of the town that
bears its name in the neighborhood of Tripoli. And he spoke
Arabic with the accent of a beduin Arab! I was as much pleased
with the discovery as I was with the landscapes that were on
exhibition. For although he was still experimenting with color
�n»
NOVEMBER, 1930
15
and technique, his brush was unmistakably the obedient instrument of that ancient Syrian art that was cradled in Tyre and
crowned in Damascus. Here was a descendant of the Phoenicians
who invented dyes of beauty, notably the Tyrean purple, and
whose esthetic sense even in those days was highly developed.
This heritage of color and estheticism was the dominating note
in those early canvases of Halow; and through the process of
expression there was, to be sure, in form and perspective, a poetry
of suggestive charm and a spirituality of deep significance. The
artist in forest and meadow was indeed a descendant of the artists of the ancient temple. But the sacred passion was not without an artistic restraint. Here was a Syrian-American artist of
great promise^ I thought, and I was right glad to have been the
first to say so in print.
Since then Halow has been fulfilling his destiny and confirming my prediction. Although he came to this country in his teens,
his work js a florescence of a very ancient beauty, an Orientalism
of unfading fascination. In his early landscapes there is an adumbration of what has been developed in his recent canvases. The
artistic restraint in the former was but a promontory, as it were,
from which he was to soar on the wings of the imagination. But
his past, his country's past, is not far from him—it is in his soul.
With an Oriental fancy unrestrained and a Phoenician feeling for
color and texture undimmed by distance or time, hz unfolds a
symbolism of loveliness, he clothes with glorious purple an ancient
theme, he endows with permanence a mysticism of beauty. An
American critic would say of the purples of Halow that they
recall El-Greco. But why El-Greco? Why not Halow's very
ancestors, who discovered the Murex that yielded the purple
dye?^ Here again the Syrian's inspiration is from within, and not,
as with an Occidental in the Orient, from without. It is a thing
of the soul, and not of the intellect. In his mysticism and symbolism, as well as in the depth and texture of his colors, Halow
is making a distinct contribution to American art (1).
In the work of these Syrian artists, who should be a source
of pride especially to the Syrians of this country, is a strong evidence of what I have said on various occasions about the native
heritage of our people. It is a rich heritage, as rich as any other,
European or Asiatic; and when it finds exponents of genius, it
<
(1) I have not mentioned Khalil Gibran in this article, because his
work, in pen and brush, deserves a separate study. — A. R.
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
becomes invaluable as an element of permanence and beauty in
American art. If the Syrian-Americans were more conscious of
this, they would be less prone, in the process of Americanization,
to discard the entire dowry of their heritage and their past. They
can, indeed, be better Americans, and more worthy of respect,
by adhering, in principle and practice, to what is of abiding worth
in that heritage and thus encourage the talented among them to
contribute to the art and culture of the country of their adoption—to help in the creation of an American art that shall be
more universal in its appeal than anything hitherto known in the
world.
In these paragraphs, therefore, is more than a tribute to a
few gifted Syrians. In them is also a conviction and an appeal.
The conviction is that only through the exchange of art and culture and the consequent creation of an international supermedium
of expression and appreciation can there be better understanding and a better guaranty of peace and good will among the
nations of the world. As for the tribute and the appeal, they are
actuated by a sentiment that is racial in origin and inter-racial
in scope. The artists I have mentioned are the pioneers of the
Syrian artists of the future; and that the future will be more
artistically and culturally expressive, more creative, than the
present, depends upon the Syrian-Americans themselves. If they
remember and continue to cherish the best there is in their heritage and encourage those who are exceptionally conscious and expressive of it, there is hope. If they do not, they will be lost in
the great melting pot, and the loss will entail something of real
value to the country of-their adoption.
In this connection, and with the permission of the Editor of
this Magazine, I wish to add another word. The new Syrian
generation can not- read Arabic, and its American education includes little or nothing about the mother land. Here then is the
mission of THE SYRIAN WORLD. Its Editor was the first to realize
the necessity of bringing to the young Syrians, in the language
they can read and understand, the knowledge that is lacking in
their education, the knowledge that gives them more self-confidence and self-respect, the knowledge that makes them better citizens, productive and creative in every walk of life, the knowledge,
in a word, that will save them as Syrians and ennoble them the
more as Americans. THE SYRIAN WORLD is indispensable to the
new Syrian generation.
�NOVEMBER, 1930
17
The Capital of the Umayyad
A CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF THE EDITOR'S
TRIP ABROAD
By
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
XII.
T
Sv ^lted dme I C°Uld Spend m Damascus was
ant to be
devoted to serious business, but one cannot help making observations of diverse character in this city of hoary age and Checkered
historical record. It was rather pleasantly diverting to a new
comer to see the old and the new in close proximity aUisdZ'eVieW thC
P litiCal U
in
"f of
Sh D
^T
°
?"
*' country,
ot which
Damascus was
the storm
petrel,
against the
back
ground of count ess centuries, and above all,'to"be witness to\
palpable and rapidly growing revival of a national consciousness
manifesting itself in all forms of activity. That my ? me was so
metu^to'Z'f
"t8 li?itati
°n t0 a ^
» dfor
- ^"^
measure to the fortunate
circumstance
of **»
having
companions
my cousin Joseph Mokarzel, editor of the popufar BeiruTweZ
tndot oUfr'thae
^^^ BrAB
Pr min
t kaderS
jy>
f
the
native of Damascus
S
Partv F^khrv 1 °
T
°
^ian Nationalist
larty Kikhry Bey ,s -the scion ofr one of Damascus' old and
wealthy families who, due to his social position and m^mene land
holdings, cannot he p but be interested in politics. BuTkit be
said in justice to him that his interest is not perfunctory jfi
patriotic motives transcend by far any personal advantage that he
may have, and he has given proof of his sincerity of convk ion
by the heavy sacrifices he has undergone. His interest beside
h
ma^ofthe
S ^^ PConstituent
rlkiCaI PhaSAssembly
/ Akh°^and
^
-St
retariesof the Syrian
the author
of
the Syrian National Anthem, he is an active patron of the art
and a leading organizer and promoter of native industries Everv
where when together I had ample occasion to obse ve both Ws
Only on one occasion was I deserted by both of my compan-
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ions. It was when I declared my intention of
visiting the President and
other government officials. Naturally, Fakhry
Bey could not accompany
me by reason of his affiliation with the opposition party. But the editor too thought it inappropriate for him to
make the visit when
every issue of his paper
teemed with bitter criticism and uncomplimentary
cartoons of the President.
But by virtue of the fact
that I was neutral in my
politics, any idea of my
forgoing the visit was out
of the question.
President Tajeddin
waived formalities in according me an immediate
interview without previous appointment. He is
comparatively a young
man teeming with activity. He speaks rapidly
Sheikh Tajeddin El-Hasani
and with unmistaken poPresident of Syria
sitiveness. He could not
....
,
be drawn into discussing
politics but was voluble on other topics. The economic rehabilitation of the country seemed to be uppermost in his mind.
Roads were being built and irrigation projects undertaken which
held great promise. The district of Deir Ezoor offered immense
possibilities of development. Its soil is as rich as that of Egypt
and its water supply as plentiful. The Euphrates runs for a
distance of almost three hundred miles in Syria but is not yet
utilized in the least. The government is vigorously pushing the
training of technicians to carry on the work of reclamation and
�NOVEMBER, 1930
>
development. A score or
more are now being educated
in France at government
expenses.
The President, however,
appeared to be particularly
fond of the project of converting Bloudan into a firstclass summer resort. A large
modern hotel was being
erected in the town which
would not only attract Damascenes but visitors from
Palestine, Iraq and Egypt.
Bloudan being within the
Syrian state, the summer resort facilities it could then
provide would divert the
stream of tourists that now
flows into Lebanon, and consequently the stream of
gold.
19
Muhammad Kurd Alt
Syrian Minister of Education
This policy of husbanding the resources of the state seems
to be not simply the pet conviction of the executive but one that
is consistently followed by other departments. I had occasion to
have it demonstrated to me in a different form when I visited
Mohammad Kurd Ali, Minister of Education, upon leaving the
President's office. The Minister is as genial as he is learned.
rie is ranked among the foremost scholars of the East and has
recently published several authoritative works on the history of
Damascus. He received me with the informality and openheartedness evidently characteristic of the journalistic fraternity
everywhere, for the minister was formerly an editor. Naturally
the conversation revolved on education. To my inquiry as to the
progress being made in this direction, the minister evinced pride
in citing figures of new schools opened and the increasing attendance. Damascus, he said, now boasts a University of the first
rank, where all teaching is being conducted in Arabic, and which
is attracting students from Lebanon, Iraq and Transjordania.
Altogether there are now some 350 schools of all grades in the
country, including a teachers' training school. The radical policy
has been adopted by the government of sending a Moslem girl
��NOVEMBER, 1930
27
to France this year to specialize in the study of education. Altogether the government school attendance is about 30,000, which
figure is conaderably swelled by the large attendance in private
nnn
u PP7^nntioUS ,f°r public "**"«*">* in Syria were £216,000 gold in 1929, while similar appropriations in Iraq, whose
P?2lnT £um°re tha^ three and a haJf milliojls> did "« exceed
±200,000. This proved the great interest of Syria in public
edur
cation.
.
I
"But," remarked the minister dolefully, "we could achieve
much more had we competent teachers. We have the funds and
we appreciate the crying need for the spread of' elementary education, still we find ourselves compelled to proceed'Howiy until
such time that teachers can be trained to fill the ri%^
It was heartening to hear the minister outline his wide^educational program, but I failed to see the reason for delay when I
had just learned from no less a person than-the fV^ent of
Lebanon that the problem of the Lebanese was exactly *he opposite: I hey had an excess of the learned gentry in Lebanon so that
industry and agriculture suffered, and in order to maintain a
safe balance, they were planning to place restrictions on education Could not Syria draw on Lebanon for what the former
needed and the latter had, and thereby accelerate the educational
progress of the country?
The minister gave the following sad explanation: The Syrian
government had decreed a ban on the employment of Lebanese
in any of its departments in retaliation for a similar policy previously adopted by the Lebanese government. It was a pitiful
situation, but one that could not be helped. Not even the excuse
that Lebanon could not accommodate its own large army of office
seekers would be entertained.
If discussion of politics was anathema with the men in power
it was the order of the day with the Nationalists. One could not
help but feel himself in the maelstrom of politics when in the
company of such a man as Fakhry Bey Baroody. I expressed a
wish to meet Hashem Bey El-Atassi, leader of the Nationalist
Farty and President of the Constituent Assembly. The latter
was not averse to giving me a lengthy account of the recent political history of Syria and explaining the Nationalists' grievances.
The interview was treated separately and has already been published in THE SYRIAN WORLD.
Every hour that passed proved that seeing Damascus with
�The tomh of St. Jahn Chrysostom still preserved as a revered shrine in the great mosque"of
the Umayyads in Damascus
^^^^^MWWWBI"
SSSHBMHHHHHBHHHBBHfcL.
3
O
�—
.D
NOVEMBER, 1930
25
such a distinguished guide as Baroody was a potent advantage.
Of course the foremost place of interest in the city was the great
Umayyad Mosque. Our route to it was through Souk El-Tawile
known to the world as the street called Straight. It has been
repaired since the famous bombardment of 1925, but its original
aspect has been retained, roof and all. It seethes with activity
and the,shops present all the display that is wont to be expected
in this most famous of Oriental bazaars. It leads directly to the
great mosque, where one is treated, even oefore entering to a
view of its magnificence. What must have been the peristyle of
the edifice when it still was a Christian basilica remains evident
in the huge granite columns in front of the main entrance The
space between them has now been utilized for book and curio
shops. Building encroachment has been carried to the very walls
or the mosque.
Overshoes were offered us before entering the sacred precincts
but seeing that our companion had shed his shoes we did likewise!
1 he magnificence of the great inner court was only exceeded by
,at °* the mosque proper whose main entrance is from the court
Ihe mihrab and tribune are masterpieces of Oriental art The
tomb of St. John Chrysostom, still standing in the center of the
mosque is not only maintained in good repair but highly revered
by the Moslems. A number of worshippers were devoutly engaged at their prayers, but presently an imam came to our host
with a tale of woe: "A rug has been stolen from the mosque
yesterday, he exclaimed, wringing his hands. He seemed disconsolate.
"But how could the thief have escaped with it?" asked our
guide in surprise.
"It is one of the small prayer rugs," came the reply "The
thief must have tucked it under his jubbah."
To see the countless rugs and carpets covering the immense
floor space of the mosque, one wonders how a small rug could
be so soon missed.
In the fountain of the court were more faithful performing
their ablutions. They were so intent on their task that they did
not as much as give a glance to the sight-seers. Our guide would
show us a sight that few so far had seen. He conducted us back
to a corridor near the main entrance and pointed to a place on the
wall where the plaster had recently fallen as a result of a shock
of unknown cause. It revealed a beautiful landscape design done
*—
" —
�wmmmmmmmmmmmmmmimmmm
24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Interior view of the great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, showing the tribune and the tomb of St. John
in exquisite mosaic. It is a known fact that the whole great edifice, both from within and without, was at one time covered with
similar work.
It was with regret that we left this great building considered
not only the most magnificent in Syria but among the finest in
the East. What great processions and ceremonies it must have
witnessed in the brilliant history of the city since the advent of
Islam. The tall minarets rising on the four sides still issue the
call to prayer as when the city was the capital of the Umayyads
and later of Saladin. From the great court one can see only the
canopy of the sky, but then the spacious dimensions of the mosque
from a sufficiently vast horizon, whether to the eye or to the
memory. It bears witness in every column and wall and pavement stone to the procession of great historical events of which
it saw the enactment through the succession of centuries.
It was but fitting that from this mosque of great historical
associations we visit an equally memorable shrine just without
the walls on a side alley. It is the tomb of the famous Sultan
Salah Ed-Deen, known to the West as Saladin, and his vizier
'Imad Ud-Deen. The remains of the great Moslem ruler and
general who crushed the power of the crusaders in Syria lie in a
modest resting place devoid of anything equalling the splendor
of similar or lesser historical personages of Europe and America.
——
.-
�NOVEMBER, 1930
25
Perhaps his injunction is
still observed when, at the
approach of death, he
caused a crier to go about
the streets of Damascus
carrying a shroud and
admonishing the pious
Moslems that the few
yards of cloth were all that
the great sultan would
take with him to the grave.
A short walk hence
brought us to the Adeliah
School buildings, erected
bytheAl-Adel (the Just),
and reminiscent of an era
in the history of Damascus
when it was the capital of
learning in the East and
perhaps the world. It was
the period when the city
boasted of three hundred
and sixty schools of various grades, some twenty
Fakhry Bey Baroody
of which formed what f
would compare to our pub- le °* lhe most P°PuJ^ leaders of
the S rian
lie school system in that
y
Nationalist Party
they supported their pupils
from the income of special trusts and foundations. It now houses
the national museum of art and serves as a home for the Arab Academy of Science. The Academy comprises in its membership not
alone the foremost Arabic scholars of the East but the outstanding Arabist of the West. This institution forms the nucleus of
the renaissance of Arab learning in Syria.
Again emerging to the narrow streets of Damascus, one is
led, through open alley and covered bazaar, to what is truly
termed the Arabian Nights' Palace. The approach may be disappointing and is certainly deceiving. The great arched doorway
opening on the street is like many other entrances to sumptuous
Damascene palaces, a drab and dreary aperture in a high wall that
well conceals the beauty and splendor within. But once past
the door one is literally dazzled by the spectacle of beauty and
�r
rm—rp^
26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Section of the inner court of the great palace of Al-Azm in
Damascus
spaciousness that is unfolded to the eye. It was the famous palace
of the family of Al-Azm we were visiting which was now turned
mto a museum of Oriental art
pooh ZtntTh111 SUperflu°US f° refer to ^ « Y fountains and
the mode h the,Spaa°7 mner court when in Damascus even
the modest home has its fountain, and when in more pretentious
residences spouts are found in the main reception half and even
triv'ance fr°TS- ft ** *? **
> k n<* «* ordinary con
tnvaice of sink and faucet-it is the continuous running stream
sort or another of artistic et
SiTLT
> > » «"•» Joy is never
i - compietf
RS
wkhou^t
DamaSCeneS music
a d
The Al-Azm Palace was the residence of the Emir El-Hai
or commander of the pilgrimage, a position of great Tesdge and
fabulous income when Damascus was the starting pSff the
th£ M slems fro
Erf
% MT
°
- great
all"he
coun!
tries of SfTT
the East gathered
,n ^
it for the march
in one
caravan
across the Arabian desert. This event was attended bfgrlt'omp
and ceremony, and the commander of the pilgrimage wielded
over all those ,n the caravan the authority of the ship's c^ak
because he assumed even greater responsibilities. Surdythe'dan
gers attending the long march across the burning desert sani
�NOVEMBER,
1930
27
was attended by the same dangers as those besetting an ocean
voyage in past times. Now conditions have changed in both cases
The greater part of the pilgrimage route as far as Medina is
now covered by rail over a line built in the reign of the Sultan
Abdul Hamid with Moslem contributions. Besides, the automobile has robbed the pilgrimage of all its former frills and thrills
and danger and ceremony.
Imagine, then, the income from the pilgrimage tax, and the
value and volume of gifts from wealthy pilgrims, that came to
the commander of the pilgrimage caravan. Imagine, also, that
a large proportion of this great income was lavished on the creation and decoration of a palace in the traditional manner of Oriental conception, and you have Al-Azm Palace in Damascus.
The reception halls of the palace are completely covered with
mosaic expressive of the most delicate Oriental art. They also
are invariably constructed with a raised dais, covering almost
three-quarters of the floor space of the room, a relic of the times
in the East when hosts and guests shed their slippers by the door
before treading on the thick-napped carpets, or sitting crosslegged on the silk cushions and divans. Very little of the movable
furniture in the palace remains, however, except it be in the
harem quarters which visitors are not permitted to see, because
they are occupied by the families of the French officers in charge.
What would have been a magnificent modern palace, is the
unfinished building of marble and white stone which rises'on the
right side of the great court. It stands out in -vivid architectural
contrast to the older and distinctly Oriental buildings grouped
around the court. Perhaps it is best that it should thus remain
a subject of study of the old and the new in close proximity
In a large room by the main entrance was a motly assortment
of Oriental ware on display. I inquired if they represented any
special art collection, and was rewarded for my interest by the
shocking explanation that they were private merchandise on consignment for sale. What a prostitution!
Under the expert guidance of Fakhry Bey we were able to
cover considerable ground in a comparatively short time, and
benefit by the best expert advice obtainable. Only in one instance
did Fakhry Bey's store of knowledge fail, and that was on the
occasion of our visit to Bab Sharki, or the Eastern Gate, immortalized by the escape of St. Paul from Damascus. Our host-guide
was not acquainted with the details of this historic incident, nor
�28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
A salon in a sumptuous Damascene home giving an idea of
Oriental conception of luxury
are many Christians who should be, for that matter
But the
S
8
Wd
thC Wind W fr m Which
us
uTw"
!^down
° basket, mute
SdW«
us St
St IPaul
was',"
lowered
in a °wicker
andtell
ao-
y
ntro er ible witnesses to
rr I ^r r i
^ **&^ of z
legend We reached the historic spot by a long winding route
that took us alternate y through Baghdad Street to Bab Touma
otherwase known as the Christian quarter, thence to Bab SWki
�NOVEMBER, 1930
29
without the old city walls. Travel could not be fast owing to
the congestion in the narrow winding streets, and it was well
that it were so, for one then had a fuller opportunity to drink in
the intoxicating allurement and fascination of a truly Oriental
atmosphere apparently preserved stationary and unchanging from
the most ancient time. It was the East in its original colors and
heterogenous and crowded activities, going about its daily routine of life unconsciously as in the remotest ages of antiquity.
A more beautiful animated picture of one's dreams and fancies
of the days of the Arabian Nights could hardly be conceived. It
was the reality substantiating the dream in all its color and
glamor.
We profited of our presence in the Bab Touma quarter to
visit the Na'san factories of Damascene handicraft. Here we
saw the skilled workmen at their tasks of carving and inlaying
wood with mother-of-pearl, of hammering brass or inlaying it
with silver and gold, and of weaving rugs or fine cloth. No child
labor laws are in effect in Damascus, and children in their early
teens may be seen bending all their energy on the execution of
their allotted tasks. But the pity felt for them is mixed with unbounded admiration for their deftness and precision. It would
seem an advantage that they grow with their art—for art indeed
are their wonderful products, that could be had at such reasonable prices! They still grow and live under conditions reminiscent
of the ancient guilds. What is surprising, and would appear peculiarly Eastern, is that trades and handicrafts are not only confined to families but to religious classes. Hence we were given,
all innocently and in a matter-of-fact way, the curious information that brass work is the exclusive field of the Moslems, the
woodwork of the Christians and the tapestry and rug weaving
of the Armenians. To further illustrate religious lines of demarkation, Damascus, as well as most other cities of Syria, has its
separate quarters for Moslems, Christians and Jews. Christians
have subdivisions according to their different sects. While now
has come the added complication of creating Armenian quarters.
But in the old city of Damascus there are signs of a healthy
industrial rejuvenation not alone in the line of old crafts but in
most modern fields of endeavor. In all staple necessities the city
can be self-supporting. Fakhry Bey illustrated present conditions to me by proudly pointing out that every article he wore
from head to foot was the product of home industry, excepting
msamSmmmm
,-,,-.
�'.„:;., , Mil* HH-^
30
'THE SYRIAN WORLD
the tarboush and the pass-time beads. His sense of humor made
him fully appreciate the purport of my remark that the two
things he excepted were the on~s most distinctively Oriental
Damascus is a city of a past and a present, and by all reasonable indications, it also is a city of a great future, and as such
it would be presumptuous on the part of anyone to attempt to
condense a description of all things of interest in it and about it
within the limits of a single article. A volume could be written
not only about the city itself but about any number of interesting single places in it. Both the reader and I, therefore, have to
be content with the foregoing passing remarks. What may be
truly said, however, is that the real beauty, the prepossessing
romantic appeal, the distinctive picturesqueness of the city, can"
never be fully appreciated unless seen.
The city left on me a very deep impression, as did the many
ot its citizens whom it was my good fortune to meet. To Fakhry
Bey Baroody, who was so generous in his hospitality and solicitous
in his attention, I owe the fullest measure of thanks. After what
1 had seen of him I am not surprised at the degree of popularity
he enjoys. I vividly remember one of his shining characteristics
—his liberality with kisses. Everyone we met—and many they
were-he greeted with a fond kiss. Naturally we encountered
only the male folks, and to them I strictly confine my observations It is not surprising, therefore, that he should be so idolized by the youth of Damascus who do his bidding whatever the
sacnnce And since kisses are his specialty, it would perhaps
please him to learn that some are now being sent him from across
the seas.
Ships Sail Out
By
ALICE MCGEORGE
The ships sail out on a glassy sea,
Farther and farther away they go;
Will ever my ship come back to me?
The ships sail out on a glassy sea;
A sailor's life is full and free;
To the sailor's wife the sea 's a foe.
The ships sail out on a glassy sea,
Farther and farther away they go.
�NOVEMBER, 1930
31
ALI ZAIBAQ
(QuicksiherJ
THE UNPARALLELED ADVENTURES OF THE
CHIEF OF POLICE OF THE CALIPH HAROUN
AL-RASHID, OF THE CITY OF BAGDAD.
Translated from the original Arabic by
SALLOUM A. MOKAUZEL and THADDEUS S. DAYTON
CHAPTER
III.
QUICKSILVER'S STRATAGEM
OUICKSILVER, after having left the two men who had been
sent out to waylay him, whom he encountered at the well in
the desert, proceeded on his way without thinking further of the
incident. He had left them bound and gagged, but the next day
a caravan chanced to nass that way and set them free. One of these
spies returned to Cairo, but the other, Hassan Ibn El-Husry,
pursued Quicksilver to the Enchanted City in order to contrive
his destruction. But in the course of the whole journey he found
no trace of him, Quicksilver having pursued a different course.
Thus it happened by the will of God that Hassan Ibn ElHusry made his appearance at the gate of the Enchanted City
about two hours before Quicksilver's arrival, thinking that the
latter had already reached there.
No sooner did Hassan, however, draw near to the statue of
brass than it shouted its long-awaited cry which was re-echoed
by the inhabitants of the city who flocked forth from the gates
brandishing their weapons, bent on defending themselves against
the invader. Upon seeing this, Hassan drew his sword and attacked the oncoming multitude, engaging them in a fierce combat.
It was an hour of such desperate struggle that it would cause
the hair of the newborn to turn to gray.
All having hurried forth from the palace on hearing the
shout of the statue of brass the Princess was left alone." The
blacks quickly seized the occasion to enter the city and the royal
1
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
palace. They found the beautiful daughter of the King whom
they bound and put in a sack and bore out of the city by another
route which they traversed until they reached a secluded cave in
the mountains where they unbound her. It was there that she
was discovered by Quicksilver who effected her deliverance as
we have already related.
Quicksilver and the Princess made their way toward the
Enchanted City until they were near the great gate where the
battle was being waged. Quicksilver begged his companion to
tarry until he could ascertain the cause of the tumult. Therefore
she remained hidden in a walled garden while Quicksilver ran
swiftly until he came upon the scene of the conflict and beheld
Hassan fighting valiantly against great odds, close to death, being sorely pressed by his opponents.
Quicksilver recognized him instantly, and divined that he
had followed him solely for the purpose of contriving his death.
He stood for a moment waiting to see the outcome of the fray.
Presently the people of the city succeeded in overcoming Hassan.
They bound him and were taking him in captivity back toward
the city. Thereupon Quicksilver cried out to the guards who
were about one hundred in number:
"Woe to you! Release this man, or I shall put you to a most
ignoble death which shall be a lesson to all who will not be admonished."
Saying which he attacked them with surprising valor, striking
with his formidable sword, until they dispersed in flight. Then
he approached Hassan and cut his bonds, and lifted him from the
ground. Hassan, whose heart had now changed and who was
drawn through gratitude to loyalty to Quicksilver, thereupon
addressed him saying:
"Know, O my lord, that the sole reason which prompted me
to undertake this journey was to bring about your death; but had
it not been for you I would now be surely among those who
breathe no longer."
Then Hassan begged Quicksilver's forgiveness, promising
him his devotion forever afterward.
Meanwhile the people of the city had congregated about them
so that the plain outside the walls became filled with horsemen
and footmen. Quicksilver seeing that he would be powerless if
he were forced to contend Jong against this army, made haste
to inform them what had befallen the Princess, and how he alone
�NOVEMBER, 1930
33
had been able to effect her deliverance from the Blacks. Having
thus dissipated the wrath of the people, he returned to the place
where he had left the Princess and brought her into the presence
of her father the King, who rejoiced exceedingly and thanked
Quicksilver profusely. After this the King and his guards proceeded to the cave where the Blacks lay under the influence of
Benj. They were restored to consciousness, tightly bound, and
placed in a dungeon.
When the King had returned to his palace, accompanied by
Quicksilver and Hassan, he could not control his joy over the
deliverance of his daughter and begged Quicksilver to name any
reward that he might desire. He gave him at once a magnificent
palace and ordered for him and his companion provisions of food
and drink of which they partook to their satisfaction and then
retired for rest and sleep for they were exceedingly weary from
the long journey and the day's ordeal of combat.
The next morning they appeared before the King who received them most graciously and reiterated to Quicksilver his
gratitude, his praise for his chivalry and his promises of great
reward.
He asked him what disposition should be made of the Black
captives, whereupon Quicksilver demanded that they be brought
before him. No sooner had they been conducted into his presence
than Quicksilver, overcome by thought of the baseness of the
act they had attempted, drew his sword, sprang upon them and
caused their severed heads to roll in the dust. He left one alive,
however,—their leader, whose nose and ears he cut off.
"Now go to your master," shouted Quicksilver, "tell him
what has befallen your companions, and show him the degradation that has been visited upon yourself."
The leader of the Blacks fled from the Enchanted City with
all speed, and did not delay until he had returned to the City of
the Blacks from whence he came and had fullv informed his
King of all that had occurred.
Quicksilver acquainted the King of the Enchanted City
with his whole story from the beginning to the end: how he
had left his country to gain possession of the magic box of the
All Seeing Eye in compliance with the task that had been imposed
upon him by the Chief of the Sultan's secret police. He asked the
King's help in the accomplishment of his purpose, and the King
replied:
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
34
"Know, O Quicksilver, that you have bound me to you with
gratitude for the great favors you have done me, which I shall
never forget, and even if you should demand of me even my
whole kingdom I would readily grant it. But, O Quicksilver,
know you further, that the magic box of the All-Seeing Eye that
you have set forth to obtain is beyond the reach of all possibility.
Many a man has sought it before you, but in vain. I can give
you no aid in this matter. You alone must seek it in the Island of
Enchantment."
"Now this caused great events to be brought about, a recital
of which will be given hereafter," said the tale teller, "Allah
guard us until the morrow, and you shall learn what befell Quicksilver in the Island of Enchantment."
The Rubaiyat
By
THOMAS ASA
THOU canst in this late hour bring with thee
Visions of Orient lands that Omar knew;
The calm and past'ral breath of Arcady,
The storied past of Times, then old, now new.
Wise Omar mused within thy fragrant scope,
Mused with FitzGerald in another clime;
And left the world the vision of no hope
In other lands than ours, all else to Time.
What realms of truth and beauty has he left
In thy still form, gift of another shore;
The dreams of Youth and Love have since bereft
All thought and hope of what might be before.
Beneath a sky-enraptured cypress tree
He moulded into perfect thought thy shape;
Left to the listening Spheres what well might be
The beginning and end of Life—the Grape.
——
�NOVEMBER, 1930
35
Book Reviews
ANOTHER RIHANI BOOK ON ARABIA
Arabian Peak and Desert, by Ameen Rihani. 280 pp. Houghton
Mifflin Company, Boston, $5.00.
flIHANFs material on Arabia seems to be inexhaustible. During each of the last three years he has been giving out a large
volume dealing with a different section or a different phase of
that country of mystery and charm. And, to be sure, his study
is as thorough as is his description colorful and entertaining. One
need not fear a dull moment when traveling with Rihani through
any part of Arabia, coast or hinterland, desert or settlement, on
mule or on camel, and in the company of kings and potentates or
that of plain townsfolk or soldiers in rags. Travel with Rihani
m Arabia is a thorough education on that country hitherto called
mysterious because of the dearth of authentic information about
it. Now, however, not only do we have the information but we
are treated to it in the most palatable form, coming from the
pen of a master artist.
Rihani's latest work, Arabian Peak and Desert, forms the
third of a series dealing with the author's experiences and observations in Arabia in 1923-24. The former volumes dealt, the first
with Al-Hijaz and King Ibn Saoud, published under the title of
Maker of Modern Arabia, and the second with other Arab potentates and their dominions and was entitled Around the Coasts of
Arabia. Such was the demand for these authoritative works on
a country which is fast claiming the attention of the world that
the first editions were soon exhausted.
Rihani's latest book covers the one important section of Arabia
with which he failed to deal extensively in his former volumes.
MA aman, a country ruled by an autocrat and still adhering to
the practise of Islam in its pristine purity, may be termed the
most inaccessible part of Arabia. And this not because of its geological nature as much as for the fierce suspicion its people entertain for foreigners. And if the foreigners seeking entry be Christians their chances of success are reduced almost to the vanishing
6
point,
•
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Yet Ameen Rihani, thanks to his mission of working for
Arab unity and to a letter of introduction from King Hussein
which he carried to the Image of Perfection Imam Yahya, was
able to reach San'a, the capital of Al-Yaman, perched in the mountains at an altitude of over 8000 feet. But that very potent
medium proved the cause of a very unhappy experience, since it
led to the incarceration of the author under the strictest surveillance over an extended period of time. This may be attributed
to the efficiency of King Hussein's secretary who, in drafting the
letter, failed to mention the name of the man it meant to introduce. Hence the added suspicion of the too cautious Imam.
But the reader need not fear any dullness in the description
of those days of anxiety and growing aggravation of the author.
Of a truth, the chapters dealing with his captivity are the most
interesting. The subtlety of Arab diplomacy is nowhere better
illustrated and the author here surpasses himself in vividity of
description and wealth of anecdote and power of analysis.
Aside from its intrinsic interest and value, this, as well as
all other books by Rihani, should be held in special consideration
by the author's countrymen to whom he brings honor and prestige
by his valuable contributions to knowledge and literature. It
should hurt us in our national pride to find such a gifted one
among us more honored and appreciated by others. And our
appreciation of him should not be confined to mere verbal expressions, but rather should be expressed in the acquisition of his
works so as to better profit by his knowledge. It is not too much
to hope that a collection of Rihani's works should form a prominent part of every cultured Syrian's library.
USAMAH IN ARABIC
Usamah's Memoirs (Arabic), edited by Dr. Philip K. Hitti, 294
pp. Princeton University Press.
THE appearance of this work ushers a new era in the publication of Arabic books in America, inasmuch as it presages the
creation of a publishing center in America that may be hoped to
rival, if not excel, similar establishments in Europe, where the
researches of Oriental scholars might find ready and adequate
expression.
—
I
�NOVEMBER, 1930
37
Usamah's Memoirs is the Arabic original of the work which
appeared in English under the title of "An Arab-Syrian Gentleman of the Crusades", (Columbia University Press, 1929). Dr.
Hitti is responsible for its publication in both languages, he being
the translator of the one and the editor of the other. The book
is a valuable literary discovery. A review of the English edition, previously published in THE SYRIAN WORLD, gave an outline of the contents.
What lends the later Arabic edition its particular importance
is the fact that it is now made available for the first time in the
original. This was brought about by the happy combination of two
elements—the tireless scholarly efforts of Dr. Hitti, and the moral and material cooperation of those to whom the editor gives
acknowledgement in his introductory note, namely, "Professor
Harold H. Bender, chairman of the Department of Oriental
Languages and Literatures, Mr. James T. Gerould, librarian of
Princeton University, and the Mergenthaler Linotype Company."
The dedication is made to Mr. Joseph T. Mackey of the Mergenthaler Linotype Company.
The mention of the Mergenthaler Linotype Co. in this connection reveals another splendid contribution of this American
concern in the promotion of Arabic typography. Having adapted
its composing machine to Arabic some twenty years ago, it has
been assiduously striving at improvement ever since, so that the
Linotype is now equipped to produce Arabic composition of the
most exacting nature and meeting all scholarly requirements.
The first scholarly work composed on the Arabic Linotype was
"As-Suyuti's Who's Who in the Fifteenth Century," (The Syrian-American Press, New York, 1927). The Princeton University Press has since been equipped with Arabic Linotypes of which
"Usamah's Memoirs" are the first product. This is indeed a
great step forward in Arabic publishing in America, and considering the resources of Princeton University and the wealth of
its Arabic manuscripts that await the editor and the printer, nothing now seems to impede the Princeton University Press from
flourishing into a great Arabic publishing center. Surely this
would stand as a monument to American scholarship and its love
for the propagation of knowledge. "Usamah's Memoirs" are set
down as Volume I in Princeton's Oriental Texts, and it is to be
hoped that other volumes will be forthcoming fast and frequently.
�38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The type assortment used in producing the book proves the
vast range of which the Linotype is capable in Arabic composition.
It is cause for regret, however, that the composition falls short
of coming up to the highest standard of the machine. The average reader may not be as conscious of these defects as the typographical expert, but the eye accustomed to certain forms in the
complicated Arabic composition would resent the commission of
digressions not integral to the machine, and surely not coming
within the scope of its mechanical limitations. It is to be hoped
that cause for such criticism as we feel being compelled now to
make, will be obviated in the future.
A FRENCHWOMAN'S DEFENSE OF THE SYRIAN
REVOLUTION
A Damas Sous les Bombes—(French)—by Alice Poulleau. 15 Fr
Bretteville Freres, Rue de la Republique, Yvetot (S-I)n
France.
THE popular French adage "Plus royaliste que le roi" may
well apply to Mile. Alice Poulleau in that she seems to be
more Syrian than the Syrians. For irrevocable proof, one onlv
need refer to her latest book and peruse but a few pages at ran?!??;,At.times .sh,e expresses her sympathies in such strong terms
that the imparfcal reader's faith in her impartiality is put to the
severest test. She mercilessly lashes her own countrymen on
every occasion and discovers attenuating circumstances for every
motive or act of the Syrians. It surely is a great test of moral
courage to publish such a work, and the fact that the French ladV
bearded the task proclaims all the more her great sympathy for
the Syrians and her championship of their cause
"In Damascus under Bombardment" represents the diary of
the author as originally written under the impressions of the
moment. Mile. Poulleau had lived in Syria and Egypt fo^
spirit. That she found herself in Damascus during the tragic
days of the Syrian revo ution of 1925 must have sefmed to her
S!T m:sf°Te'? ** She lived throu&h ^e danger and
was able to witness first-hand the desperate struggle of her brother Syrians for liberty. And as behooves an enfghtened teacher
�NOVEMBER, 1930
39
and a woman of most delicate sensibility, the human appeal in the
situation proved the strongest to her.
She records the sufferings of the
women and children and the heavy
sacrifices of the men with the minimum regard for war exigencies. The
photographic illustrations in the
book, some of which were taken by
the author herself, bear out her text
admirably. One sees only scenes of
ruin and desolation and executions.
As a human document this book
may be considered a valuable contribution to literature on the Syrian
revolution. It is doubtful, however,
that it could have much value as a
work of reference from the political
point of view. Although there is an
apparent attempt to give the causes
and results of the revolution, they
are unmistakably biased and highly
colored. Plainly an effort is made to
put the onus on the French, an effort
which testifies to the author's love
for the Syrians and her championship
of their cause. To cite a single illustration one may refer to her account
of the partial destruction of the AlAzm Palace. While she deplores the
Alice Poulleau
irreparable loss of some invaluable
in the house dress of a
objects of art, caused admittedly by
Damascene lady
the attack of the rebels on the palace
in an effort to take General Sarrail prisoner, she condones the
acts of the Syrian revolutionists and blames the French High
Commissioner for having caused the destruction by his presence.
The same spirit of untempered criticism of the French permeates
the whole book, even to the point where she expresses an unmitigated feeling of shame for some of the acts of her own countrymen.
�40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Because she is French and offers herself as a voluntary witness, Mile. Poulleau's testimony cannot fail of being of great
weight in support of the Syrian Nationalist cause. As a war
document, however, her book could be reckoned most in its sentimental value—the description of the human side of the reign of
terror in Damascus during the revolution, but owing to its obvious
partiality it fails of being impressive as a legal document. It
surely should prove valuable ammunition in the hands of the
Nationalists who may be expected to avail themselves fully of
the opportunity.
Of one thing there can be no question, and that is Mile.
Poulleau's genuine sincerity in her love for Syria and the Syrians. Although she has returned to live in her native country,
she finds her greatest joy in making her surroundings reminiscent
of the years she spent in Syria. There is a room in her house for
Syrian art, as well as a room for Syria in her heart. She is always
singing the praise of Syria and defending it with vehemence and
ability on every occasion. The writer can testify to this fact from
personal knowledge.
S. A. M.
The Garment Fair
By
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
QAN it, thy cherished, treasured name,
Unflinching face the eye of light?
Has it escaped the touch of shame—
Unsoiled, still comely to the sight?
Has it, thy petted, fondled heart,
Escaped the hard'ning hand of timeDoes it with all the grieving smart,
Or blithely with the joyous, chime?
Then, 'should thy cloak of purple rare,
Or sacking coarse, if such it be,
Seem wondrous bright and passing fair
To them who have the light to see.
�DipVEMBERy 1930
41
EDITORIAL COMMENT
THE LESSONS OF THE
PAST
T'HERE would seem to be as
much fascination in exploring records of the past as in
speculating about the possibilities of the future. Both hold
that element of mystery which
has ever challenged human
love of discovery. And in this
urge for exploration and research may be found the key
to h uman progress. It would be
a drab and monotonous world
indeed that would not be kept
on moving by the potent forces
of science, motivated by the human craving to explore the unknown.
Especially now, when he has
reached a comparatively high
stage of development, is man
anxious to wrest from the bosom of the past the secret of his
gradual progress. Lands known
for their old civilizations are
being overrun by archaeological
expeditions in the hope of discovering traces that might tend
to shed further light on the secrets of the past. With every
new discovery of an important
Jink in the chain of human evolution in the past comes a thrill
that rocks the world even more
than does a new invention. Human thoroughness would not be
satisfied until the whole mystery of the origin and evolution
of the race is cleared.
Hence our elation and surprise at every important find of
old human records of civilization in Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia and other lands of antiquity in the Near East, as well
as in Asia, Europe and America.
The Incas archaeological discoveries in Yucatan may be cited as
a recent instance.
What is of especial importance to us Syrians is the growing evidence of the widespread
influence of our forebears,
Phoenicians or Arabs, in the
spread of civilization. True,
some records of their achievements have been preserved and
are appropriately evaluated.
But much more might be hidden
that will add lustre to their
name once their spirit of enterprise becomes more fully known
and appreciated. And what is of
especial significance is that most
of the important recent discoveries seem to bear some relation
to our ancestors.
The recent discovery of a
Mexican tribe speaking pure
Arabic reported by the Associated Press adds another link
to the chain of circumstantial
evidence that the Phoenicians,
�42
or other Near Eastern people,
were the first to discover America. It is to be hoped that the
scientific expedition reported to
have been equipped by the
Mexican authorities will succeed
in clearing this new and strange
mystery. It would be indeed a
strange turn of fortune if the
iirst reports were authenticated
and the happy result brought
rbout by an itinerant Syrian
peddler.
We may remind our readers
in this connection of another
similar discovery in the Amazon
Valley also reported by the Associated Press. Mention may
also be made to the contention
of some scholars that the Aztec
civilization of Mexico had its
inception in Egyptian origin.
Witness the pyramids and architectural principles common in
both countries. The Egyptians
were not a seafaring people
but cooperated in the conduct
of trade with the Phoenicians,
?nd the latter, being familiar
with Egyptian customs and
usages, may be reasonably said
to have been carriers of the
Old World civilization to the
New World, which they adopted when hardships of sea travel
in the days of old forced them
to settlejiermanently in the new
land they had discovered.
Truly there is incentive and
hope in looking to the future,
but let us not forget the thrill
of romance, the benefit of
THE SYRIAN WORLD
knowledge and the valuable
lessons of experience that dwell
in the past.
THE CORPORATION
|N the matter of the corporation we have chosen to make
haste slowly. The able business
men who compose the board of
directors are giving to THE
SYRIAN WORLD corporation the
same devoted attention they apply to the management of their
own affairs. Their wise counsel,
based on ripe and experienced
reasoning, may be depended
upon to guide the steps of the
young collective Syrian publishing enterprise along the
path that will lead to unfailing
success, inshallah!
But this wise and measured
course should not be misunderstood as being the result of inertia or indifference. The decision of the Board is to the effect
that the corporation will not assume active control and management of the publication until
a definite sum is raised from the
sale of stock. The object is to
insure the smooth and uninterrupted working of the corporate
machinery once it is set in motion.
Our friends who on different
occasions have expressed their
faith in THE SYRIAN WORLD
and their readiness to substantiate that faith by subscription
�.'KOV EMBER, 1930
to stock once the publication is
incorporated, could materially
hasten the execution of the wide
program laid down for it by
their immediate subscriptions.
"We would urge them to send in
their subscriptions regardless of
the amount, not only as proof
of their faith but to insure the
widest possible distribution of
stock. We need not repeat that
holding stock in THE SYRIAN
WORLD corporation implies not
only a sense of patriotism but
is also a mark of good business
judgment which visions the
possibilities of exploiting in full
a virgin field replete with possibilities.
We trust that the response
will prove both immediate and
substantial, that THE SYRIAN
WORLD might inaugurate with
the new year the wide and comprehensive program that will
insure its greater circulation, its
stronger appeal and benefit as
an advertising medium, and its
more appropriate ^representation of higher and finer Syrian
culture.
KNOW YOURSELF
gUCH a glowing description
of the beauty of Lebanon's
scenery as has come from the
pen of Dr. Sylvester Beach,
had it been the contribution of
a Lebanese or Syrian, would
have been attributed to undue
-_
43
enthusiasm and not at all warranted by fact. But the testimony of Dr. Beach is incontrovertible. He is a world traveler who can well cite instances
for comparison. He mentions
the outstanding beauty spots of
Europe, Asia and America and
unhesitatingly states his conviction that Lebanon affords the
most beautiful beauty spot on
Earth. We have no reason to
take issue with him.
That passage of Dr. Beach's
article copied in the October issue of THE SYRIAN WORLD
should prove of manifold interest to Syrians in America. It
should prove an incentive to
them to make an occasional trip
to their motherland to acquaint
themselves with its unequalled
resources of natural beauty to
which their eyes are being opened by foreign travelers. Particularly should this appeal to
Americans of Syrian descent
who are prone to belittle the
country of origin of their parents simply because they know
little or nothing about it. To
see it, therefore, as foreigners
see it, with an eye to its singular natural beauty, as well as
its unparalleled historical associations, cannot fail of being a
potent educational factor and an
incentive to a much needed
sense of racial pride.
It is an established fact that
a large number of the SyrianAmerican generation suffer a
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
sort of complex that is causing first reports on the reaction to
them to drift away from any the newly enunciated British
association of origin. Many policy, neither the Jews nor the
have been known to deny their Arabs are satisfied. From a
descent because of lack of judicial viewpoint this might be
knowledge of anything about considered a sign of fairness and
it. They had no ready sources justice to both parties concernto get any information and this ed. But judging by the temper
bred in them apathy and mis- of the Zionists, it Would be diftrust. Illustrations of this con- ficult to foresee an end to the
dition were cited on several oc- dilemma. They are mobilizing
casions in the Arabic press in all their forces to influence
America and admitted by the world opinion, while the Arabs,
persons involved themselves.
aroused to a greater sense of
This condition need not con- national consciousness and relytinue. Information of the sort ing on the sympathy and supneeded to inspire not only re- port of the whole Moslem
spect, but pride and admira- world, seem immovable in their
tion, is now fully available. It demand for complete recogniis coming not deliberately from tion of their sovereign rights.
native sources but also gratui- This clash of interests will give
tiously from-American sources, England an excuse for perand of the highest type. At manent occupation of the counleast such testimony as that giv- try.
en by Dr. Beach, if it does not
Unquestionably the Palestine
arouse an interest in travel,
problem
is fraught with elemshould at least spur SyrianAmericans to greater interest ents of great danger. And bein enlightening themselves on cause it is essentially a Syrian
facts bearing on their country problem we are resolved to deal
of origin—historical, cultural, with it in the fullest possible
educational, political, social and manner, adhering, at the same
otherwise. The more they know time, to our policy of strict
the prouder they will feel. It fairness and impartiality. Our
rests with them to cultivate the readers will bear in mind that
will to learn.
Palestine is geographically an
integral part of Syria, and as
such its destinies should hold
THE PALESTINE ISSUE for us a paramount interest.
RECENT events affecting the
When our own problem bePalestine | situation
hold comes a world issue we cannot
great portents. As evident from afford to ignore or dismiss it.
i
�NOVEMBER, 1930
45
New British Policy in Palestine
RESTRICTIONS PLACED ON JEW ISH IMMIGRATION — PROMISE
OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVE RNMENT MADE — JEWS INDIGNANT AND AR ABS DISSATISFIED
The long awaited report of Sir
John Hope Simpson on Palestine was
issued by the Colonial Office of the
British Government on October 20
together with a White Paper setting
forth the government's future policy
in the administration of its mandate
of that country. The immediate effect was to cause consternation
among the ranks of the Zionists and
jubilation among the Arabs, because
the Jews saw in it a repudiation of
the Balfour Declaration while the
Arabs read in it a plain admission
by the British of their prior right
to their own homeland. At the time
this is written, twenty days after
the issuance of the Colonial Office's
statement, Jewry all over the world
is reported up in arms against the
British and directing against it all
manner of accusations and threats,
while the Arabs, flushed by their
initial victories, are reported not
altogether satisfied with the British
admissions and concessions and insisting on the full recognition of
their sovereign rights.
Immediately upon the publication
of the British statement Dr. Chaim
Weizmann, president of the Jewish
Agency for Palestine and of the
World Zionist Organization, sent a
strongly worded letter to Lord Passfield, Secretary for the Colonies, denouncing the British policy as unfair
to the Jews of the world to whom
Great Britain gave to understand
that it would faithfully aid them in
reestablishing a national homeland
in Palestine. Later he issued a pub-
lic statement giving the reasons for
his action in detail and asserting
that on several instances in the past
Great Britain acknowledged the right
of the Jews to reconstruct a national
home in Palestine and pledged its
aid to them in the furtherance of
their program. The White Paper of
1922 was cited as having made such
an explicit pledge to the whole Jewish people who were to take their
place in Palestine "by right and not
by sufferance." He takes issue with
the government statement on the
question of unemployment in Palestine and denies that it is caused
by Jewish immigration. Jewish immigration was to be restricted, he
pointed out, not because it would
cause unemployment but because
unemployment
already
existed
among the Arabs. "This distinction
is of great importance because the
possibility of giving Jewish immigrants employment depends in large
measure upon the import of capital
into Palestine from the Jewries of
the world," he declared. "The capital
is sent to Palestine to promote the
growth of the Jewish national home
—it is sent to create employment for
Jewish immigrants. If it cannot
serve that purpose, Jewish capital
will not go to Palestine."
Following the action of Dr. Weizmann, Lord Malchett, chairman of
the council and political committee
of the Jewish Agency for Palestine,
also resigned both chairmanships as
a protest against the new Palestine
policy of the British Government.
�46
In his letter of resignation he showed plainly the temper of the Jews
over tfca government's action, characterizing it as "an act of almost
unparal eled ingratitude and treachery committed by a government
toward a credulous and harassed
peoph who believed they had found
a haven under the broad aegis of
the British flag and the guaranteed
word of British statesmen."
The effect of the British statement on American Jewry was even
more pronounced. They held mass
meetings of protest and proposed to
appeal to the American Government
and to Congress for action against
Britain on the grounds that the
United States was definitely committed to favor the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Felix M.
Warburg announced on October 31
his resignation as chairman of the
administrative committee of the
Jewish Agency for Palestine charging that Lord Passfield had misled
him and that the statement of Britain's policy was "a cruel betrayal
of trusteeship" in Palestine. Leading
Jews of America, including chief
Justice Brandeis, also registered
strong protests.
CAUSE OF JEWISH COMPLAINTS
The principal cause of Jewish
grievance against the newly enunciated British policy in Palestine is
the imputation of the White Paper
that the Jews have taken too much
for granted and acted on the assumption that they were the government and not the British mandatory
authority. England, therefore, proceeds to formulate a policy that in
its opinion will represent its obligations impartially towards both the
Jews and the Arabs. Accordingly it
lays down two fundamental principles for its future government of
the country, the first being the re-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
striction of Jewish immigration and
the second the establishment of a
tirm of representative government
that in its opinion will be expressive
of the will of the people and suitable
to present conditions of the country. The government has not gone
far enough to satisfy Arab demands
m full, but it has certainly conceded
to the Arabs sufficient privileges to
render the Jews fearful of the collapse of their dream of establishing
a homeland in the country of their
ancestors.
The decision of the goverment to
restrict Jewish immigration is based
on its study of land available for
settlement. On this point the statement discusses the relative positions
of the Jews and Arabs as follows:
"The condition of the Arab peasant leaves much to be desired and
a policy of land development is needed if the improvement of his condition of life is to be effected. The
sole agencies which have pursued
a consistent policy have been the
Jewish colonization societies, private and public. The Jewish settlers
have had every advantage that capital, science and organization could
give them. To these and the remarkable energy of the settlers themselves their remarkable progress is
due. On the other hand, the Arab
population, while lacking the advantages enjoyed by the Jewish settlers,
has by an excess of births over
deaths increased rapidly, while the
land available for its sustenance has
decreased by about 250,000 acres.
This area has passed into Jewish
hands."
Concerning the present and future
distribution of land the government
says:
"It can now be definitely stated
that at the present time and with
the present methods of Arab cultivation there remains no margin of
�NOVEMBER, 1930
land available for agricultural settlement by new immigrants with the
exception of such undeveloped land
r.s the various Jewish organizations
hold in reserve. The provision of a
margin availabh for further settlement depends upon the progress
made in increasing the productivity
of the land already occupied."
With reference to further Jewish
immigration, which is inseparable
from the land question, the British
government again cites its Palestine
mandate, which "directs that the
lights and position of other sections
of the population shall not be prejudiced by Jewish immigration."
"Clearly, if the immigration of
Jews results in the prevention of
Arabs obtaining work necessary for
their maintenance, or if Jewish unemployment
unfavorably
affects
the general labor position it is the
duty of the mandatory power to
reduce or if necessary to suspend
such immigration until the unemployed portion obtains work," continues Lord Passfield. "Under the
present circumstances his Majesty's
Government considers their suspension of immigration under the labor
schedule of last May fully justified."
NEW FORM OF GOVERNMENT
On the subject of the second important point, that of constitutional
development, the British government reviews the* efforts made in the
past to give the inhabitants of Palestine some measure of self-government and criticises the Arabs for
failure to cooperate in these schemes
and for demanding a form of constitution incompatible with Britain's
mandatory obligations. Despite such
opposition and past failures, the
British government declares itself of
the opinion that the time has come
to set ua a new form of Palestine
government and has determined to
47
do so. Moreover, it gives warning
that "all possible steps will be taken
to circumvent any attempt Which
may be made to prevent the establishment and operation of such a
government." The new government
machinery, as described by Lord
Passfield will consist of a Legislative Council comprising the High
Commissioner and twenty-two members, of whom ten will be official and
twelve unofficial. The unofficial members are to be chosen by primary
and secondary elections. If through
the failure of any part of the community to participata in the elections not enough unofficial members
are chosen by ballot, they will be
ajjpointed by the High Commissioner.
Furthermore, the commissioner will
retain the power to insure that the
mandatory power will carry out its
obligations to the League of Nations
including urgent legislative acts,
and also the power to maintain order. The legislative council will, of
course, include both Jews and Moslems. For the purpose of maintaining order and preventing in the future such disturbances as happened,
last year Britain will maintain in
Palestine and Transjordania two
batallions of infantry, two squadrons
of aircraft and four sections of armored cars. Measures will also be
taken to strengthen the police force.
The British Government concludes
the statement of its future policy
in Palestine with an appeal to both
Jews and Arabs to cooperate with
each other and Britain. "It is only
the closest cooperation between the
government and the leaders of the
Arab and Jewish communities that
can prevent Palestine from drifting
into a situation that would imperil
on the one hand the devoted work
of those who have sought to build
up a Jewish national home, and on
the other the interests of a majori-
�48
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ty of the population who at present
possess few resources of their own
with which to sustain the struggle
for existence.
"To the Arabs, his Majesty's Government would appeal for recognition of the facts of the situation and
for sustained effort for cooperation
m obtaining that prosperity for the
country as a whole by which all will
benefit.
"From the Jewish leaders his
Majesty's Government ask recognition of the necessity of making some
concessions on their side in regard
to the independent and separative
ideals which have been developed in
some quarters in connection with the
Jewish national home, and for accepting as an active factor in their
policy that the development of the
country shall be carried out in such
a way that both Arabs and Jews receive adequate consideration."
ARAB REACTION
Although the effect of the publication of the British White Paper
was one of consternation and dismay 'among the Jews of Palestine,
it did not cause much jubilation
among the Arabs. The latter,, it is
true, felt some elation at the limitation set on Zionist dreams of expansion, but the concessions made by
Britain were not sufficient to meet
all their national demands. In proof
of their partial gratification, however, they have decided not to hold
this year their regular strike of protest on the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
The Arab viewpoint was made
clear in a statement given out by
the Arab Executive and contained in
a special dispatch to the New York
Times. It reads as follows:
"Despite publication of the White
f'aper recognizing the rights of the
Arab people in Palestine, the Arab
Executive must continue to protest
with all its force against the Balfour Declaratic. , which is still part
of the program un which the London
Government bases its policy in Palestine and which is a stumblingblock on the road of Arab national
aspirations.
"The Arab Executive asks the
government to do away with this
policy and also demands definite abolition of the Balfour Declaration because only with that abolition will
the Holy Land have real peace."
It is learned from the same source
that the Arabs are divided into two
camps, the extreme nationalists who
would be satisfied only with the
complete abolition of the British
mandate and the moderates who appear anxious to have the mandate
continued. The latter party comprises
many Moslems as well as all the
Christians who believe British evacuation under present conditions
holds an element of great danger.
IMMIGRATION PERMITS
A few days after the issuance of
the White Paper, the British authorities approved permits for 1,500
new Jewish immigrants to Palestine.
This neither satisfied the Jews nor
alarmed the Arabs, inasmuch as the
newcomers would not affect the Arab
labor market but would be engaged
in existing Jewish enterprises. The
Arabs' sense of caution, however,
prompted their Executive to draft
a strong statement which the High
Commissioner cabled to the Colonial
Office in London. The government is
urged to prevent dangerous unrest
among the Arabs by publishing a
statement allaying their anxiety and
silencing Jewish protests.
'
�NOVEMBER, 1930
49
Political Developments in Syria
FRANCE TO ENTER INTO TREATY RELATIONS WITH LEBANON
— SYRIANS AWAIT RETURN OF HIGH COMMISSIONER
m
During the long absence of High than the English in the terms the
Commissioner Ponsot in France the latter granted to Iraq.
The fact that King Faisal had
Syrians had to adhere perforce to
spent
considerable time in Paris and
a policy of watchful waiting. Under
was in frequent conference with the
the circumstances, nothing could be
highest French authorities lends
done until the High Commissioner
weight to the belief that he was
issued a new declaration of policy
let into the secret of the new French
embodying the results of his conpropositions for Syria.
ferences in Paris. And M. Ponsot is
What may be a hint as to the
known to be deliberate to the extent
of aggravation in the opinion of some probable solution of the Syrian probSyrians. Still it is generally agreed lem is the reported new plan that
that to wait a reasonable time and France is said to 'have prepared to
reach satisfactory results is pre- apply to Lebanon. The papers of
ferrable to hasty action that will lead Beirut have referred lately to unto further complications. The Syr- usual activity in official circles and
ians at present seem to be hopeful reported an exchange of secret visits between the President of the Reof satisfactory results.
public and the Acting High CommisWhat is considered a major de- sioner. The cause of this unprecedvelopment in the Syrian political ented activity was explained by Lisituation is the statement given out san Ul-Hal as presaging radical
by King Faisal of Iraq while en changes in the relations of France
route to Baghdad from Europe and Lebanon. The paper claims to
through Transjordania. The state- have received authentic information
ment is considered all the more im- from its Paris carrespondent on the
portant in view of his Majesty's in- nature of the new changes involved,
terest in Syrian affairs and the fact which, summarized, are as follows:
that he was at one time king of
Substitution of the mandate by a
Syria and dethroned by the French.
treaty agreement between the two
The purport of his statement is
republics, subject to ratification Tt>y
unqualified advice to the Syrians to
the respective legislative bodies of
refrain from passive resistence to the two countries.
the French and to cooperate with
France will agree to protect Lebthem wholeheartedly in carrying out
anon against military aggression
the proposed program which High
and demands in return that Lebanon
Commissioner Ponsot will outline to
place at its disposal in case of need
them upon his return, The French,
alT its transportation and port facilihe is reported to have said, propose
ties. France also agrees to the creato be most liberal in their future
tion of a Lebanese national army,
policy in dealing with the Syrians,
under command of French officers,
and shall not be found less generous
but subject to service only within
�50
Lebanese borders and for purposes
of national defense.
Lebanon will enjoy the widest possible form of self-government, employing only French technical advisers where natives are not available.
French advisers will act only in an
advisory capacity and will be paid
by the Lebanese government.
France also undertakes to facilitate the entry of Lebanon jn the
League of Nations at the earliest
[ossible opportunity, and to accelerate the economic rehabilitation of
the country by the employment of
French capital.
The Lebanese paper, however, is
silent on the conditions governing
the employment of French capital
and guardedly hints that this might
rrove the stumbling block in the successful conduct of the negotiations.
The return of M. Ponsot was expected early in November. Information reaching the Syrian press from
Paris was to the effect that he would
soend a few days in Egypt to confer
with Syrian leaders in that country
on his proposed plan for the solution
of the Syrian problem. Then with all
the preliminaries arranged he would
order general elections for the Representative Assembly which in turn
would elsct a president or chose a
king or decide on any other form of
government without restriction.
There were rumors at one time
that the mandatory power had agreed
to permit the unity of the States of
Syria, the Alaouites and Jebel Druze,
but later it transpired that the negotiations then on foot were for a
closer economic cooperation between
these states under a supreme economic council.. Otherwise, it is argued, a separate constitution for
each would not have been promulgated.
Reports from Damascus announce
active preparations by the authori-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ties for the coming elections, but so
far the attitude of the Nationalists
remains vague, no definite policy
having yet been reached by them on
the subject of the elections.
LEBANESE DECORATIONS
WIDELY PROTESTED
Ever since the announcement of
the Lebanese government's decision
to award decorations of merit to a
number of Lebanese and some
French consular officials abroad, a
storm of indignation has been raised
by the press of both the United
States and the home country. The
principal objection seems to be not
as
much
against
the award
as against the indiscriminate manner in which the decorations have
been conferred. Moreover, the liberality of the government in the matter was cause for bitter criticism
and ridicule. To issue decorations to
a list of over five hundred and fifty,
with promise of increase, was unprecedented. The government is accused of having shown extreme bad
taste in including in the list persons -of little consequence and who
c'aim no outstanding service in the
cause of their country, but to whom
the award was made simply as a
favor to some of their influential
relatives. This at once destroyed
whatever value may have attached
to the decoration and prompted many
recipients to reject it as a gesture
of protest.
Widespread criticism is said to
have moved the government to a reccrs:deration of its action with the
possibility of rescinding the decorations altogether.
'
'
�NOVEMBER, 1930
51
About Syria and Syrians
MEXICAN TRIBE
SPEAKS ARABIC
Lived in Inaccessible Part of Mexico
for Over Four Centuries.
The Associated Press made public
on October 20 the following dispatch
irom its correspondent at Tuxtla
Gutierrez, Chalpas, Mexico:
"Wandering Turkish merchants
returning here from the Simojovel
district, 'have reported discovery of
a strange tribe speaking a language
similar to Arabic which inhabits an
almost inaccessible mountain retreat
there. The tribe which calls itself
Absolutan", preserves Oriental customs, does not speak Spanish or any
Indian dialect and shows no trace of
the Malayan civilization which is so
common in other parts of Chiapas.
"The merchants said members of
the tribe claimed to have inhabited
the region for almost four centuries, remaining entirely apart from
the outside world."
Mexican Paper's Report.
A Syrian paper of Mexico reports
the same discovery on the authority
of the Excelsior, the principal paper
of Mexico City, and gives the latter's version of the important event
as follows:
"While a Syrian peddler was traveling in little frequented places in
the districts of Chiapas and Tapasla,
his steps were fortunately guided to
a mountain ridge supposedly uninhabited and of extremely rugged formation. Penetrating the virgin forests, the peddler-came across a tribe
of natives whose hospitality he
sought for the night. He addressed
them in Spanish, with which he is
well conversant,, but they answered
in Arabic to the effect that they could
not understand his language. Naturally the Syrian peddler was struck
with surprise at the unexpected development as it was beyond his wildest fancy that he should address
members of a Mexican tribe in the
native language of the country and
they should profess ignorance of it
and answer him instead in the language of his own ancestors.
"The peddler asked them why they
had chosen to live in such an isolated
section away from civilization, and
they answered him in intelligible
Arabic that they had been living
there in self-sufficiency for hundreds
of years and that the only language
they know is the Arabic.
"When the exploring peddler returned to the city and reported his
discovery to the authorities they immediately took great interest in the
matter and prepared to equip a scientific expedition to visit the home
of this lost tribe and ascertain its
origin and ancestry. Also a special
investigator was sent by Excelsior to
accompany the expedition and report on its findings.
"In speaking of the tribe the Syrian peddler said that its language
was pure Arabic of the Egyptian
dialect, and that its customs and
dress were in strict conformity with
Arab standards."
[Editor's Note—The reference by
the A. P. dispatch to the "wandering merchants" being Turks is erroneous. Aside from there being no
Turks in Mexico the Turkg do not
speak Arabic. The reference may
�52
THE SYRIAN WORLD
have been prompted by the fact that
in certain sections of Mexico Syrians
and Lebanese are commonly known
as Turcos.]
Aztec Related to Chinese and
Egyptian.
Coincident with this report comes
the announcement by G. Ryden, archaeologist, of Los Angeles, Calif.,
that he is forced to deduce the existence of a connection between the
Aztec civilization of Mexico and that
of the Chinese and Egyptian as a
result of the finding of ancient funeral urns in a buried city in the
State of Jalisco, Mexico.
This news was also given publicity by the Associated Press in a
dispatch from Los Angeles on October 2.
The urns discovered are believed
by Mr. Ryden to date back to at
least 2 500 B. C, according to the
report. The twenty-six that are in
the possession of the archaeologist
stand from two to four feet in height
and were taken from excavations
made in tombs beneath an old city
at the Hacadera Los Copales.
"Without question," Ryden said,
"there was a connection between the
Chinese and Aztec civilizations and
possibly with the Egyptian. Many of
the faces on the urns are pure
Chinese in character and others
strongly resemble ancient Egyptian
sculpture and pottery. The tombs
were so old that an ancient and
ruined city had been built above
them."
Phoenician Traces in South America.
Less than a year ago, in December,
1929, an Associated Press dispatch
from Brazil had reported the discovery of important Phoenician inscriptions in the Amazon Valley
which would justify the opinion that
the Phoenicians were the first to
have discovered America. This important news was reported in The
'Syrian World at the time, but in
view of the more recent discoveries
referred to above, and in the interest of presenting a complete record,
the earlier dispatch on the Brazilian
finds would bear republication. It
follows:
"Discovery of inscriptions carved
on Amazon Valley rocks has revived
a belief that 4,000 years or more ago
Phoenicians discovered America, navigated the Amazon and built a city
there.
"The finds were made by Dr. Barbosa while on a trip a few months
ago with General Rondon, Brazil's
most famous explorer. The carvings
were in hieroglyphs.
"Information about them is withheld while decoding goes on, a job
expected to take about a year. They
were found in rock formations along
the Cumina River in the State of
Para and on bits of pottery.
"If the decoding comes up to the
expectations of archaeologists, it is
said excavations will be attempted
on the shores of the Cumina in
search for the buried site of a city.
"The name of this city, according
to tradition, was Atlantida. Curiously, this is the same as the name of
the continent that some geological
and archaeological writers say once
existed in the Atlantic Ocean and
that may have formed either a land
bridge or link for communication between the old and the new hemispheres.
"Other localities in the vast Amazon basin have furnished Phoenician
traces. At the confluence of the Solimao and Negro rivers, on a small
is'and called Pedro, what appears to
be a Phoenician ship-is carved on a
large rock."
�NOVEMBER, 1930
RIHANI TO SPEAK
AT TOWN HALL
With the opening of the Fall lecture season our celebrated author
and lecturer, Ameen Rihani, finds
himself called upon to fill a heavy
speaking program. On November 22
he is scheduled to speak at Town
Hall under the auspices of the
League for Political Education. This
organization is known to sponsor
lectures and discussions by outstanding visitors to America.
Mr. Rihani will deliver two additional addresses during November,
one at the National Arts Club on
the twelfth and the other at the
Poetry Society on the 20th.
LADIES' AID SOCIETY
GIVES DINNER-DANCE
The Ladies' Aid Society of New
York opened the social season by a
dinner-dance given in the grand
ball-room of the Elks Club in Brooklyn. Mrs. Dominick J. Faour, the
president, in her brief address of
welcome, announced that the society
had collected and distributed since
its organization a sum of $75,000.
Mr. S. Dowaliby acted as master of
ceremonies.
LEBANESE GOVERNMENT
TO ASSIST SUFFERERS
When news reached Lebanon of
the Santo Domingo disaster, in
which several Lebanese lost their
lives and others suffered almost a
total loss of their belongings, the
President of the republic called a
special meeting of the cabinet to
discuss ways and means of extending aid to the sufferers. An appropriation of 50,000f was made for
immediate relief and for repatriat-
53
ing those who elect to return to the
homeland. The mandatory authorities will be consulted as to the best
method for dispatching and distributing the relief appropriations.
SYRIAN COMPOSER
ARRIVES IN NEW YORK
Metri El-Murr, a well-known Syrian composer, arrived in New York
for a limited visit. For the last
thirty-five years Mr. El-Murr has
been in the lead in the movement
for modernizing Arab music. He is
particularly noted for his knowledge
of the Byzantine technique.
RADIO TALK ON
EDUCATION IN SYRIA
Mr. Ibrahim Dada, a Columbia
student hailing from Damascus and
specializing in education, was given
the opportunity by the Y. M. C. A.
of making a radio talk on the subject of education in Syria. Undoubtedly actuated by the best intentions, his talk was a very effective expose of the "abject ignorance" of 80 per cent, of the population of Syria. The talk might
have been intended as an appeal, but
it was certainly cast in the wrong
phraseology. Such discussions might
prove of value at the proper place
and time, as when addressing an
audience interested in the study of
education. But to go on the air with
a gruesome description of black
ignorance among one's own people is
far from being desirable. It would
be better we wash our dirty linen
in private, and not expose ourselves
to further misunderstanding by
stressing or magnifying an unfortunate condition.
�———
54
THE SYRIAN WORLD
HITTI TO PUBLISH
IMPORTANT BOOKS
WARM PRAISE OF
SYRIAN SINGER
Upon publication of the Arabic
edition of Usamah's Memoirs, reviewed elsewhere in this issue of
The Syrian World, the American
press of New York hailed the occasion as marking a new era in American
publishing
enterprise
in
that the book represented the first
work in Arabic published by an
American University press.
In an interview with the correspondent of the New York Sun, Dr.
Hitti is reported to have outlined
his plans for the publication of the
second volume in the series of
Princeton Oriental texts, entitled
Baha-Al Din's "Al-Juz' Awwal" the
sacred book of the Druzes of Syria.
It will be recalled that two years
ago Columbia University Press published a book on this subject by Dr.
Hitti, in which he made use of the
manuscript which will form the basis
of the new volume. This manuscript,
with several others dealing with the
religion of this Mohammedan sect,
is in the Garret collection on deposit in the Princeton University
Library. The account of the interview further states "that the publication of this manuscript will
bring to light for the first time the
secret scriptures of an interesting
Islamic sect which has been greatly
influenced by both Judaism and
Christianity."
Fedora Corban, styled the Syrian
nightingale, had a successful Western tour last summer and received
praise from music critics that would
bear out Mr. Rihani's appraisal of
her gifts as expressed in his article
published in this issue of The Syrian World.
We copy the following from the
Kansas City Times of July 3.
"Radio listeners had the unusual
experience yesterday afternoon of
hearing a fine coloratura soprano,
great in volume and with dramatic
timbre, broadcast over WDAF. Fedora Kurban was the singer and in
her voice was the dreamy and sensuous charm of the Orient from
which she came.
"With a voice that encompasses
three octaves, is warm and fluent
throughout its range, she sang the
"Bell-Song" from "Lakme" and followed it with the brilliant aria that
forms the climax to Bellini's opera,
"La Sonnambula," in which the
sleep-walker awakens to love and
happiness.
"In her singing of Delibe's music,
the singer disclosed rare good taste
and a skill that is likely to be the
despair of most Occidental singers.
The wealth of vocal ornamentation
in the "Bell-Song" was delivered
with effortless ease. Trills, staccato
passages, sustained high Ds, Es, and
finally a triumphant F floated out to
a multitude of listeners. In Bellini's
music she disclosed a lovely pianissimo, swelling to a full ringing tone.
"She sang in English a song of
the desert, "Allah, Hear Me Calling" by Maloof, in which the tropical
warmth of her voice carried with it
genuine emotion. "The Garden of
My Heart" was another example of
temperament and fervor."
—M. K. P.
ALICE POULLEAU'S BOOK
BANNED FROM SYRIA
Publication of Mile. Alice Poulleau's new book "In Damascus Under Bombardment", caused the
French authorities in Syria to take
drastic action against it. An official
decree by the High Commissioner
bans entry of the book into Syria
and forbids all translation or publication of its contents.
BBHWBH
�NOVEMBER, 1930
SYRIA REFUGEES'
DUMPING GROUND
The press of Syria reports a
strange migration movement to that
country which has been going on
steadily for several months in a
manner calculated to attract as little
public attention as possible. The
movement finally assumed such proportions as to arouse public suspicion, and resulting inquiries revealed that the new immigrants
were neither Armenians nor Greeks,
although most of them had embarked at Greek ports. They finally proved to be Chaldeans who before the
war inhabited Kurdestan but have
since scattered throughout Caucasia
and Russia while some found their
way to Persia and Greece.
The present immigration movement into Syria is said by the Syrian
press to be the result or an agreement between the mandatory authorities and the representative of the
Chaldean Patriarch in Beirut. The
authorities
promised
homestead
sites for these refugees on condition they would settle and engage in
agricultural occupations, otherwise
all assistance would be withheld
from them. Already over a thousand
families have settled in the district
of Deir Ezzour under the terms of
the agreement. Homes as well as
many other facilities have been provided for them.
Coincident with these revelations
comes the report that three Armenian representatives arrived in
Beirut the latter part of October to
make arrangements for settling in
Syria and Lebanon fifteen thousand
additional Armenian refugees now in
Greece.
With economic conditions in the
country at their Ipwest ebb, the
press is by no means complimentary
of the action of the mandatory power in facilitating the influx of all
55
these aliens. A leading paper of Beirut publishes the account of this
new migration movement under the
caption: "Syria 'has now become the
home of the homeless."
SYRIAN-AMERICAN CLUB
HOLDS ANNUAL CELEBRATION
The Syrian-American Club of Danbury, Conn., held its annual celebration in its clubrooms Sunday afternoon and evening, October 5. The
attendance was well over five hundred drawn from many parts of the
New England States and from New
York City. There was music and
dancing as well as speechmaking.
Mr. Michael Trabulsi presided.
The Syrian-American societies of
New England, particularly of Connecticut, have for many years been
holding these annual celebrations
which take at times the form of national gatherings, attended by deputations from a score, or more societies, who come with gifts and expressions of good will. The effect has
been a strengthening of racial ties
along with a keener appreciation of
citizenship obligations.
SPANIARDS SHOW TOLERANCE
TO MOSLEM STUDENTS
Spain is well on the way of losing
its stigma of having been the land of
the Inquisition. Not only are the
Spaniards showing tolerance towards Christians of other denominations, but they are even displaying
unusual courtesy towards
nonOhristians. The following Associated
Press dispatch from Cordova, Spain,
dated November 7 plainly interprets
the signs of the times. It reads:
"The high chant of a Moslem
religious service rose in the ancient
Cathedral of Cordova today for the
�56
THE SYRIAN WORLD
first time in 500 years, interrupting
But the young sheikh could not
for a moment a Catholic mass being as easily dismiss from his heart the
celebrated by the local clergy.
love of the beautiful urban maiden.
"A group of Moorish students, So, carried on the wings of desire,
touring the old province of Andalu- he chose two companions of proven
sia, which was wrested from their valor and set out in the direction
forebears five centuries ago, halted of the village to carry out a bold
in a corridor of the cathedral where plan. They forced the house of tJhe
verses of the Koran still decorate girl in the most approved romantic
the walls.
style and proceeded to carry her
"Oblivious of their whereabouts, away from her bed. Awakened by the
they burst into the chant as the commotion, her father raised the
Catholic service was in progress in alarm among the inhabitants who
another part of the church. The hastily armed themselves and sallied
Catholic clergy, realizing that the forth in pursuit of the kidnappers.
students were touring under gov- They overtook them on the outernment auspices, suspended their skirts of the village and engaged
service until the chant ended."
them .in..battle. The sheikh-lover
placed the girl in charge of one of
his companions and with the other
held the pursuers in check. The vilARAB SHEIKH ENACTS
lagers, owing to their superior numREAL LOVE DRAMA bers, were gradually closing in upon
the Arabs. It was now a hundred,
What a pity that the camera man then fifty, then twenty-five yards.
was absent!
The situation was becoming desperFor there was enacted in northern
ate
and the Arab appointed to guard
Syria the latter part of October a
real love tragedy of which the hero the girl left her to come to the aid
was a genuine Arab sheikh and the of his companions. She, profiting of
villain the father of his beautiful the opportunity, broke away to join
beloved!
her father, but fell exhausted in noThe story as reported by the Syr- man's land. A villager made a desian press mentions the names of the
perate dash to rescue her but was
persons and places involved in the
felled
by a well-aimed bullet. Andrama and leaves no room for doubt
as to its authenticity.
other member of the posse made a
Briefly, it relates that Emir No- similar attempt and met the same
waq El-Ahmad, a ranking sheikh of fate. Then the father made a last
the Mawali tribe, young and hand- desperate effort to reach her and the
some and romantic, became enamorembattled Romeo plunged a dagger
ed of Sabha, a bewitchingly beautiful maid of the village of Nahtara, in his side. Then lifting his prize in
district of Edlib, in northern Syria. his powerful arms, he swung her beHe sought her hand in the conven- hind him on his fleet Arabian horse
tional manner but was dismissed by and rode away with her under the
her father with the remark that he
mantle of the night.
would never consider giving his
daughter in marriage to a wanderWhat romancer could invent a
ing bedouin.
more daring and blood curdling plot!
�——-
NOVEMBER, 1930
57
PAN-ARABIAN PICTURE
CORPORATION, LTD.
Authorized Capital Stock
40,000 SHARES COMMON
$5 PAR VALUE
Main Office:
512 Union Bank Building
Los Angeles, California.
This is a purely Arabian organization, the first and only corporation of its kind in the world dealing in the moving and talking picture
industry in Arabic. It comprises the three elements necessarily associated with the film industry namely, production, distribution and
exhibition.
This is the age of amusement and our people, whose enterprises
and adventures are proverbial, must have their due share in this
flourishing industry. It is the intention of this company not only to
furnish the entertainment but to insure also for our people the organizing credit and profit.
We will make talking pictures of an Oriental character which will
acquaint our people in the American continent and in the East with
our historical deeds and cultural attainments. This we will perform
directly and through various theatrical groups.
We will also produce pictures of various phases of Syrian life in
the different cities and countries and present them to our countrymen
in other parts of the world and at home together with pictures of
famous men and great events in both the East and foreign lands and
wherever Arabic-speaking peoples may be, so that they may be informed of each other's leaders and affairs.
We intend to train the talented ones of our race in music, singing,
acting, etc., in order to have our own professionals and thus provide
them with employment.
Will you help us to attain that goal? Be a stockholder and gain
the privilege and credit in making this corporation a success.
You will not be risking anything. Your money is amply protected
by the laws of the state of California which guarantee you that only
10 per cent, of what you pay for the stock will go toward the preliminary expenditure if the company does not raise the necessary capital for the work. Otherwise your investment will be very profitable.
The general sales agent, Edward Gillett, will travel throughout
the United States in the interest of the corporation. Application for
subscription to stock may also be made to the corporation's headquarters in Los Angeles or to any of the Syrian papers, or to the corporation's representative in New York State, Mr. A. G. Milkie 160
Greenwich St.,, New York City.
�58
THE SYRIAN WORLD
STATEMENT OP THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT. CIRCULATION
of The Syrian World, published monthly at New York, N. Y., Oct. 1, 1930.
STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK.
Before me, a Notary Public, in and for the state and county aforesaid,
personally appeared Salloum A. Mokarzel, :who, having been duly sworn
according to law, deposes and says that he s the pub isher of The Syrian
World, and that the fo lowing is, to the best of his knowledge and belief,
a true statement of the ownership, management (and if a da ly paper, the
circulation), etc. of the aforesaid publication for the date shown in he
above caption, required by the Act of August 24, 1912, embodied in section
411, Posial Laws and Regulations, printed on the reverse of th's form, to wit:
1. That the names and addresses of the publisher, editor, manag'.ng
editor, and business managers are:
Name of—
Post office address—
Publisher, Salloum A. Mokarzel,
104 Greenwich Street.
EJitor, Sal oum A. Mokarzel,
104 Greenwich Street.
Managing Ed'tor, Salloum A. Mokarzel
104 Greenwich Street.
Business Managers, Salloum A. Mokarzel,
104 Greenw ch Street.
2. That the owner is: (If owned by a corporation, its name and address
must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses
of stockho ders owning or holding one per cent, or more of total amount of
stock. If not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of the individual owners must be given. If owned by a firm, company or other unincorporated concern, its name and address, as well as those of each individual
member, must be given.)
Salloum A. Mokarzel, 104 Greenwich Street.
3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or hoiding 1 per cent, or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other secur ties are: (If there are none, so state.) None.
4. That the two paragraphs next above giving the names of the owners, stockholders, security holders, if any, contain not only the list of
stockholders and security holders as they appear upon the books of the
company but also, in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears
upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation,
the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting is
g-ven; also that the said two paragraphs contain statements embracing affiant's full knowiedge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the
books of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity
other than that of a bona fide owner; and th's affiant has no reason to believe that any other person, association, or corporation has any interest
direct or indirect in the said stock, bonds or other securities than as so
stated by him.
5. That the average number of copies of each issue of this publication
sold or d'stributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the six months preceding the date shown above is.
(This information is required from daily publications only.)
S. A. MOKARZEL.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 6th day of October, 1930.
[Seal.]
Edna M. Huckner.
(My commission expires March 30, 1932.)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
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Identifier
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TSW1930_11reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 05, Issue 03
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930 November
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 5 Issue 03 of The Syrian World published November 1930. The issue starts off with an article by Dr. F. I. Shatara discussing the New British Policy in Palestine. Shatara, a Palestinian Arab, followed the events closely and wrote an article describing the situation. It primarily focused around the religious wars of the area, and England's place in reconciling the situation as the colonial power in charge. Featured next is a special article from Ameen Rihani discussing the subject of the Syrian in American art. Following that is Salloum Mokarzel's account of Damascus from his travels, in which he takes the readers through the principal quarters and places of historic importance. Following a poem titled "Ships Sail Out" by Alice George there is a continuation of the "Ali Zaibaq" serial from the previous two issues. In addition to the usual book reviews of the last few issues there are two poems, one by Thomas Asa and the other by Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin. The issue concludes with a further editorial discussion on the New British Policy in Palestine, more on the political developments in Syria, and lastly articles from the Arab press that specifically relate to Syria and Syrians.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1930s
Alice George
Ameen Rihani
F.I. Shatara
Law
New York
Palestine
Poetry-English
Salim Alkazin
Syria
Thomas Asa
Travel
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/748f86b70e5de481a32b47ab11cdc1d0.pdf
f0fbb0ecce766a656cb5310c6344f482
PDF Text
Text
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OCTOBER, 1930
VOL. V. No. 2.
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THE
SYRIAN WORLD
A
MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
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GREAT SYRIAN-AMERICANS OF OUR TIMES
REV. W. A. MANSUR
ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS
S. A. MOKARZEL
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THE TRAGIC LOVE OF A CALIPH
(SHORT STORY)
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THE SYRIAN WORLD A CORPORATION
ALI ZAIBAQ (QUICKSILVER)
(A SERIAL)
S. A. MOKARZEL and T. S. DAYTON
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
THE COPY 50c
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�SYRIAN WORLD
Published monthly except July and August
by
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single Copies 50c,
Entered as second class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New York
N Y
- -. under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. V. No. 2.
OCTOBER, 1930
CONTENTS
PAGE
Great Syrian-Americans of our Times
W. A.
REV.
5
MANSUR
On the Road to Damascus
S A.
16
MOKARZEL
Damascus (Poem)
23
THOMAS ASA
The Syrian World a Corporation
94
Alt Zaibaq — Chapter II.
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Hunger (Poem)
31
MISCHA NAIMY
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III
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
The Tragic Love of a Caliph (Short Story)
32
On Giving and Taking
G. K. GlBRAN
Ed-itorial Comment:—
The Syrian World, Inc.
39
Relative Obligations
40
The Mission of
THE SYRIAN WORLD
41
AMEEN RIHANI
Political Developments in Syria
49
Situation in Damascus Remains Unchanged
42
France, Italy and the Syrian Mandate
43
Moslems and Christians Quarrel in Palestine
44
About Syria and Syrians
47
�IN THIS ISSUE
fsJO judicial appraisal of pubciate his efforts in analyzing the
I
lie-spirited men among the distinctive characters of the
Syrians could fail to place the chosen men. It is evident that
Rev. W. A. Mansur among the he aims to inspire race pride and
foremost rank. The unstinted exhort to emulation. We are
patriotism, the tireless energy, glad to give publicity to his
the lofty ideals and unselfish findings both as recognition to
motives of this Syrian clergy- the men selected and as a tribman should endear him to all ute to the idealism of the writwho value noble public service. er, although the editor would
Although a pastor of an Amerhave much preferred not to be
ican congregation in Nebraska, included in the list, it being his
his heart is with his own people conviction that what he has done
and he strives to keep in con- is but little of what he would
stant touch with their various like to do, conditions favoring.
activities. His scholarly procThis article of the Rev. Manlivities and passion for research sur will be found most interprompt him not only to record, esting reading. It should not
but to weigh and properly eval- tail of achieving its purpose of
uate the spiritual qualities and arousing a fuller and keener
the moral and material accom- appreciation of our talents and
plishments of his countrymen. accomplishments.
Truly the Rev. Mansur has
been a discovery for the Syrians. Having been isolated ^HERE are any number of
from his people by reason of
legends and Syrian folk tales
his occupation and environment,
associated with Wadi'1-Karn.
we now see him a powerful
This mysterious valley was exmoral force that must eventuplored and described by the
ally be reckoned within the editor during his last trip
shaping of the Syrian destiny
through Syria. In this issue he
in America.
gives a description of its topoIn his article published in this graphy and records the reacissue, the Rev. Mansur gives an
tions of a traveler's passage
appraisal of six Syrian-Amer- through it. The present installcan leaders in different fields of
ment of the editor's travel arendeavor. Readers will appre- ticles also describes the ap-
�""i
ii in
H
proach to the famous city of
Damascus in preparation for a
full and interesting account of
his visit which will appear in
a coming issue.
corded are not simply a concoction of the Oriental imagination.
RECENT political developments in Syria and Lebanon
JSJ^l Zaibaq, the superhuman are of unusual importance, and,
hero whose exploits rival in as usual, they are treated withrichness of mystery any record- out bias or prejudice. Especialed in the Arabian Nights, is ly is the situation in Palestine
dared to get the Magic Box aggravated by certain serious
from the Enchanted City. He differences that have risen beencounters traps and is con- tween the Moslem and Christfronted by an army. One of his ian Arabs. The cause of the
extremely perilous situations is nft and the resulting murders
when he discovers that a com- and disturbances are reported
pany of blacks had kidnapped in detail.
the king's daughter to whom
there was no equal in charm and ^E believe most of our readbeauty. How does he act under
ers will be interested in the
the circumstances? The reader announcement that THE SYRwould be well recompensed by IAN WORLD has been made a
perusing the present install- corporation. This statement is
ment of Quicksilver and shar- made on the strength of the fact
ing in its thrills.
that most of our readers have
been steady subscribers from
the inception of the publicaJN the September issue we pub- tion. As such they are in a posilished the first part of a short tion to realize and appreciate
story dealing with the love of our consistent efforts at mainthe caliph Yazid. The second taining it at the highest standpart is published in the present ard indicative of our culture and
issue and should prove most finest traditions. And because
enjoyable reading. We may of this appreciation on their
well repeat that the story is part we would invite them to
based on historical facts, and become active partners. The
the reader would do well to very attractive conditions of
keep in mind that the extraor- subscription to stock are given
dinary happenings therein re- in the announcement.
�.
TTTP
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. V. No. 2.
OCTOBER, 1930
Great Syrian-Americans of our
Times
By
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
JHE Jives of great Syrian-Americans of our times are now
_ exemplifying Syrian-American awakening, foreshadowing Syrian raceprogress, and founding Syrian race immortality. A great
people is but the lengthened shadow of the character, achievement, and influence of its great men. It is great men who make
a people great, who make visible their race character, and who
constitute the vanguard of the people's progress
Greatness consists in heroic devotion to a life that sacrifices,
a work that endures, and a purpose that ennobles. Great men
make ideals visible, concrete life, stimulate achievement, radiate
vision, and ennoble living. Great men scorn superficial fame,
disdain selfish ambition, and despise sordid gain. Despite human
frailties there is in great men that which is permanent, overriding
changes of time, overcoming carping criticism, and ever renewtself through enthusiasm aroused in others.
In great Syrian-American souls lie the Syrian race's enlightenment, leadership, and progress. Already the people feel the urge
or their power, recognize resemblances in them to their strivings
and approve within their souls their race leadership. Great Syrian-Americans, because of nobility of character, sincerity of heart
and purity of motive through heroic devotion to some high purpose, are now enriching the Syrian race, glorifying its achievements, and enshrining its name in splendid immortality
"The search after the great," said Emerson, "is the dream of
youth, and most serious occupation of manhood." The writer is
':--'----:---- -
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�6
THE SYRIAN WORLD
hereby calling attention to some great Syrian-Americans of our
times who are bringing the Syrian race to the forefront among
the races in America, who are enshrining the Syrian race in honor
through splendid achievement, and who are leading the Syrian
race in enlightenment, progress, and glory. For the love of our
glorious race, praise of our famous heritage, honor of our splendid
leadership, and vision of our springing yuth, I pay loving tribute
to the following great Syrian-Americans of our times.
/. The Defender of the Syrian-American Race: N. A. Mokarzel.
Emerson said, "Every true man is a- cause, a country, and an
. age; requires infinite spaces and numbers and time fully to accomplish his thought;—and posterity seem to follow his steps as a
procession." Such a true man. is N. A. Mokarzel, for he is a cause,
a country, and an age in himself. His vision enlarges our vision,
his character supports our heritage, his leadership inspires leadership, and his achievements enrich our race.
N. A. Mokarzel's name is known wherever Syrians dwell as
a defender of the Syrian race, upholder of Syrian welfare, and
enhghtener of the Syrian people. Sentinel-like he stands on the
watch for the defense of our race. Hercules-like he stands prepared to uphold the rights of our kind. Beacon-like he stands
ready to enlighten our people.
All creeds, all sections, all parties have found in him a staunch
defender, preserver, and upholder of their rights, liberties, and
happiness. During the period of race immigration he gave the
vision to guide his people. During the era of race struggle he
defended our race against race prejudice, race defamation, and
race disparagement. During the rise of Syrian nationalism he
led with wisdom, sympathy, and courage the thought life of Syrian-Americans.
In America, shepherd-like, he has been leading his people in
culture, philanthropy, and progress. In Syria, statesman-like, he
has been standing for the rights and liberties of his native land.
In mankind, humanitarian-like, he has sought the welfare of the
Syrian race.
He has been educator of Syrian-Americans, promoter of philanthropies, exposer of hypocrisies, and builder of Syrian character, leadership, and welfare. He has smitten sinister forces, unmasked sham leadership, and uncovered selfish movements. He
has been the friend alike of the poor and the rich, the weak, the
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�OCTOBER, 1930
N. A. Mokarzel
strong, the ignorant and the wise, and always for truth iustice
liberty and welfare of Syrian-Americans
' J
'
acclaim'N AJMgtCnt P? ^^ exPerience> and posterity will
acclaim N. A. Mokarzel the Grand Old Man of the Syrian-Amer
y
mer
ican pioneer generation.
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2
' ^any^0^ °f ** ^"'^"can W- Antonius Bishal"All the past we leave behind,
We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,
�s
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Antonius Bishallany
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the
march,
Pioneers! O Pioneers!"
—Walt Whitman.
In Antonius Bishallany we have a first-fruit of the Syrian
renaissance, a first-token of Syrian progress, and a first-wave of
Syrian-American immigration. The age-long barriers to Syrian
progress began to crumble j autocratic domination, religious oppression, and economic exploitation. Yet within Syrian hearts were
aspirations for religious freedom, political liberty, and economic
prosperity. The first Syrian immigrant to America is a symbol
of the aggressive freedom, race vitality, and aspiration toward
progress of the Syrian race.
In this Syrian-American pioneer we have illustrated the primacy of the spiritual over the material interpretation of life. He
exemplified the basic philosophy of Syrian thought: the religious
character of life. Whether political, economic, moral, social, or
otherwise, to the Syrian mind, the spiritual interpretation of life
is fundamental to human welfare.
�OCTOBER, 1930
9
In this Syrian-American pioneer we have the symbol of the
most benevolent race expansion in history. Through other race
immigrations there may be military power, colonial expansion,
material exploitation, or the spread of some particular religion,
culture or civilization; in Syrian immigration we have the spread
of mutual welfare, race good-will, law-abiding citizenship, and
friendly commerce toward mutual material welfare, happiness,
and progress.
While Greece gave her culture, Rome her law, Syria is eternally giving the world the Syrian Gospel of the Fatherhood of
God, the brotherhood of man, and the kingdom of universal
peace. In the Syrian pioneer among the races, nations, and
tongues of earth Providence is founding a Syrian World Empire
based on the primacy of the spiritual life, the ethical evaluation
of man, and the universal diffusion of human welfare.
3. The Adventurer of the Syrian-American Spirit: Ameen Rihani.
George Adam Smith says in Syria and the Holy Land, "Hebrew and Greek writers acclaim the wealth of Phoenician industries and the size and the range of Phoenician ships. Long before
the Christian era these galleys had passed the Straits of Gibraltar
as far at least as the Canaries and Sicilies 5 and had sailed down
the Red Sea and along the east coast of Africa."
In Ameen Rihani the Phoenician adventuring spirit returns
to life, carrying civilizing influences to countries, nations, and
races of earth, and acting as sympathetic interpreter of various
cultures, peoples, and civilizations of mankind.
In him we have illustrated a trinity of Syrian traits: sympathetic understanding, mutual welfare, and cultural preservation.
His travels were for the benefit of civilization. He sought to
interpret sympathetically a people's history, talents, and culture.
He sought to preserve the treasures of a people's culture for the
enrichment of mankind. The benevolent purpose of his travels
will immortalize him in the histories of Arabia, Syria, and Syrian-Americans.
The Syrian-American race, through Ameen Rihani, contributes its share toward the civilization of mankind. His travels
into Arabia are among the most significant of the century. For
Arabia is the cradle of the Semitic race, and the birthplace of its
far-reaching influences on human progress. Thus the sympathetic understanding of its people, the just appreciation of its achieve-
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Ameen Rihani
ments, and the friendly assistance of its people in their present
need, will mean much toward the future peace,
prospTritv and
F
happiness of mankind.
' Prospenty, and
In this Syrian-American's understanding, appreciation and
promotion of Arabia's welfare is a symbol of heTrv ce the Syr
The earth! "^
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OCTOBER, 1930
11
G. K. Gibran
i. The Singer of the Syrian-American Soul: G. K. Gibran.
T. B. Macaulay says in his "Essay on Milton", "He who, in
an enlightened and literary society, aspires to be a great poet
must first become a little child." G. K. Gibran has the heart of
the child of the kingdom of God, full of faith in God, abounding in love for mankind, and rejoicing in song over goodness
beauty and truth.
In Gibran there is a radiancy of the Syrian soul, there is an
�I
12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
effulgence of the human spirit, there is an uplifting power of
enlightenment. He is a seer of the unseen, a herald of the truth,
and an interpreter of the vision.
G. K. Gibran is the singer of the Syrian-American soul
in the true poet there is the delicately tuned ear to hear the
primal song Deity has placed in the earth. There is the finely
tuned mind to catch the whisperings of the Creator in all creation I here is the harmoniously tuned eye to behold the beauty
the Great Artist has spread on the canvass of nature. There is
the virtuous y tuned heart to feel the profoundest emotions of
the human heart. For it takes divinity to understand divinity
true nature to appreciate nature, and harmony to catch the harmonious cadences of earth, sky, and sea.
_
Gibran is great because he is supremely human, vibrant with
imagination, and clear in seeing and singing of the invisible.
.What the eye is to the body, the window to the house, imagination is to the soul: it is the eye of the soul. In the true poet we
have ecstasy of feeling, superior range of imagery, and divine
gift of expression. The true poet, mystic-like, pierces the unseen
with dynamic spiritual insight; musician-like, catches the harmonious cadences of reality; and psalmist-like, breaks forth in songs
or praise, gladness, and worship.
In Gibran the Syrian-American soul rises to sing of the Great
Singer, the Great Poet, and the Great Artist. The Syrian soul
rises to exalt human feelings, human seeing, and human appreciation to the glory of the Creator and Father of mankind. Such a
singer must lie close to the heart of nature, have insight into
reality, have commerce with the unseen, and have confidence in
the victory of goodness, beauty, and truth.
5. 77;,? Scholar of the Syrian-American Mind: Philip K. Hitti.
In Philip K. Hitti is the rise of the Syrian mind toward the
highest pinnacle of world scholarship. In our new homeland he
represents the Syrian intellect's power to climb to the heights
By his achievement the way is pointed out to the younger generation to achieve the highest within their heritage. He personifies
to the world the potentialities of the Syrian mind, its intelligence
its character, and its reach.
'
H. G. Wells says in The Outline of History, "At Cordoba in
particular there were great numbers of Christian students, and
the influence of Arab philosophy coming by way of Spain upon
�OCTOBER, 1930
13
PMip K. Hitti
the universities of Paris, Oxford, and North Italy and upon Western European thought generally, was very considerable indeed."
J^nilip K. Hitti is already shedding light in the New World upon
the treasures of the East. He is arousing respect for the Syrian
race, its history, and its native Jand. He is interpreting the history place, and contributions of the Near East to the modern
world. In him is the founding of Syrian intellectual, cultural,
and civilizing influences in the university centers of the world
In this worthy scholar of the Syrian-American race we have
�14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
inspiration for ambitious Syrian-American youth. His writings
are now turning the tide toward appreciation of our race His
personality is winning a way for a larger place for our race among
the races in America.
In the persons of some characters we see a nation turn the
corner to better times, and of such persons is Philip K Hitti His
success marks a landmark of the Syrian mind, shows the trend
ot Syrian mentality, and points the way to greater Syrian achievement.
Some men's influences color the history of all succeeding ages
In the rise of this scholar of the Syrian-American mind we have
set in motion influences which forever color the history of the
Syrian-American race, the American nation, and the modern
world.
6. The Leader of-the Syrian-American Awakening: S. A. Mokarzel.
Rupert Brooke, the soldier-poet, said. "Now, thanks unto
God who hath matched us with this hour."
S. A. Mokarzel is a leader whom the Lord has matched with
this hour of our Syrian-American race awakening, with this era
of Syrian-American race Americanism, and this period of our
Syrian-American race solidarity for enlightenment, achievement,
and glory. Prophet-like, he discerned the awakening of the Syrian-American race to their race history, race talents, race legacies,
and race-glory. Seer-like, he saw the need of the Syrian-American
generation for race enlightenment, race solidarity, and race
Americanism. Genius-like, he has endeavored to enlighten the
Syrian-American mind, promote race solidarity, and spur the
Americanism of the Syrian-Americans.
In this great soul are envisioned the aspirations of our generation. In his noble efforts are foreshadowed the attempts of
our race. In his hopes are symbolized the ideals of our people
Some men are interpreters of their race to the races of mankind. They act as mediators between the races of earth. They
lift their race to fame, power, and prestige among the races of
humanity. In S. A. Mokarzel we have a leader whose sterling
leadership is given to arouse the American nation to the appreciation of the Syrian race and its contributions to human progress.
S. A. Mokarzel is a leader whom Providence has raised for
our times. He possesses the true qualities of leadership for the
Syrian-American race awakening: character, ability, vision, spirit-
=-
s
�OCTOBER, 1930
15
uality, personality, Americanism and will H. • K
J
•
1S broad
the legacies of the Syrian race to th? A
•
.
^stmg
Syrian American va7thZ I I
j Amencan nation, spurring
America,, ra^enf^
and race pride Alreadv^ ' T Amencanism> race solidarity,
dom of his undertaking
*
AI
motives, and the wis-
J
*
*
*
makeZ'w +£F£*? T ***** <*> - must
believe in grit ^Cal^^;* * ^l*
tory, only biography."
'
' There 1S no real his~
It is natural, right, and timely that we Svrhn
A,
honor the great men, leaders cfta,actcr
characters f tt ^nan-AAmericans
race. Other races nnL tfT
> of the Syrian-American
great men other
great le,H '
5 I
'
"ations extoll their
them we honor ourselves
menet
"*"
S
>—A
P
'
m honorin
g
rican youth to splendid achieve-
Thc knowledge that in the city is a man who invented the
i uili oad, raises the credit of all the citizens.
—Emerson.
^=__;
"
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
On the Road to Damascus
A CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF THE EDITOR'S
TRIP ABROAD
By
A.
SALLOUM
MOKARZEL
XI
QF all the cities of the East, Damascus remains by far the most
tyically Eastern. The veil of romance which guards its charms
rnd mysteries has defied the efforts of time to remove. Its ancient
landmarks, its tortuous, narrow streets and covered bazaars, its
singular distinction of being the outpost of settled civilization,
the border line between the desert and the sown, all remain as
evident today as at any time during the hoary history of the city,
reputed to be the oldest in the world. It is a strange feeling one
experiences when approaching this most famous of Syrian cities.
The reverence and awe inspired by its religious and political associations strangely mingle with the buoyant feeling of delight
aroused by its rich heritage of legend and fable. And the actuality does not fall for short of the expectation. Whichever way
you turn, your enraptured eyes rest upon a scene as beautiful as
it is strange. Perhaps nowhere else in the world are such extreme
contrasts to be found in such close proximity. A camel strides
leisurely in the crowded street jingling his bells heedless of the
tooting of automobile horns. A shepherd drives his flock of goats
and fat-tailed sheep in congested streets and over trolley tracks
as if his was the right of way. Veiled women flit about like phantoms while others parade nonchalantly in ultra-European styles.
And at the same time and in the same air of incongruity you
will see men of the desert with their heavy ighals and long flowing robes, brushing elbows with others in cut-away coats and spats,
while soldiers in trim uniforms and shining muskets offer a
strange contrast to the desert horsemen in the immemorable accoutrement of their tribes with but the addition of a long-barreled rifle.
*
*
*
*
I shall not here dwell on the history of Damascus and its
kaleidoscopic career throughout the ages. I shall, rather, confine
I
�1—mi.i
OCTOBER, 1930
}?
myself to recording my personal impressions and experiences on
my mt to the great city which I had read so much about but
had never seen. As mentioned in a previous installment, conditions prevailing in the country up to the close of the 19th century, when I migrated to America, did not induce much traveling,
bad roads and brigandage being potent deterrents, as well as a
particular pass ,n the Anti-Lebanon reputed to be extremely dangerous, its very name striking terror in the hearts of travelers
lhis pass had always been known to be infested with brigands
and almost invariably desperadoes and outlaws sought the Safety
of its crags and winding passes when fleeing pursuers. Wadi'lKarn, or Valley of the Horn, was a name associated with the
most sinister traditions.
H°'A
£ Washed wish of visiting this pass was to be
gratified. We were ,n times of peace and security and all we
could draw upon for thrills of danger was our imagination. It was
my farm purpose to see the country entire, and where I entertained any preference was for those hitherto little frequented or
inaccessible spots over which legend had thrown a shroud of mys-
We crossed the Plain of Al-Beka< over a fine asphalt road
which continued for some considerable distance over the gently
r-jsing foothills of the Anti-Lebanon range. The scenery aW
he valley was more pleasing than we had anticipated, judging
by the barren view of the mountain as a whole, because of the
care given to forestation.
Crossing a hill about midway in the mountain we came upon
a narrow gorge marking the beginning of Wadi'1-Karn To all
appearances there was nothing formidable or awesome about the
place; no precipitous or high towering cliffs that could not be
scaled, no extraordinary rock formations or caverns suitable for
hiding or holding siege On the contrary, the wadi looked tame
with its low flanking hills of almost even height. The early mental picture I had formed of it was rudely shattered
But we had not progressed far before I began to reform my
first opinion as I gradually discovered why the wadi cast such a
sinister spell over travelers, especially those acquainted with its
pas history. The farther.we went the stronger, the ominous
feeling grew, so that it was with a welcome sense of relief that
one emerged into the relatively hospitable valley of Maissaloon.
What gives to Wadi'1-Karn its sinister spell, ks forebodings
of lurking danger, is not its impressiveness as a valley as much
�—I
18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
T
thebaTl °L i°TtB71 %T m tke Valley °f Mtssdoon, where
the battle that deaded the, fate of Syria was fought between the
byrtans and the French in 1920
as its peculiar topographical formation. It is a sort of canvon
running through hills of uniform height and forming ,arZ
and restricted honzon. It is desolate and bleak and, what is more
its ^Jigging course never permits of a perspective of more than
re
d to e
LotTer
T°"^
*"**
» be"angles,
"°
another aatt St
extremely
short t^
distances
and sharp
and for
many m,leS
V
f the
uns would
would wear
,
V. ThC
«i-~
turns
down
the
nerves^>""*"*
of the bravest,° especially
when
under old conditions, caravans of camels or pack mules took many
r t0 neg0ti
PaSS
thaTZ
T K
f 5 thC
that the nlH
old Lebanese
folk
song so-
Littk SUr rise theref
P 'the woman
^>
highly praised
wW husband proved so brave as to "journey to Damascus
Debouching from Wadi'1-Karn at Maissaloon one comes in
touch with the first signs of civilization. An old inn by the side
or a rill has been turned into a gasolene station. Here also the
eye is regaled by the sight of vegetation, and flocks of goats doing
to it their proverbial damage, leaving only the old and lofty} trees
uninjured.
To the east of this spot rises a hill which commands the little
valley and on which could still be discerned traces of the fortifications which the Syrian army, composed mostly of raw recruits,
hastily threw up in its valiant but vain effort to check the advance
ot the French army under general Gouraud in 1920. That battle
�D
OCTOBER, 1930
19
The cemetery of the French soldiers who fell in the battle of
Maissaloon, at but a short distance from the tomb of the Syrian
Minister of War.
decided the fate of Syria and paved the way for the French occupation of the interior. Its anniversary, falling on July 24, is commemorated with elaborate ceremonies every year, delegations
coming from all sections of the country to take part. On the day
of our visit, August 10, some of the wreaths placed on the tomb
of Joseph Bey Azme, the Syrian War Minister who preferred
death to retreat, were still in evidence. The tomb was wrought
in white marble but stood in an open field, in sharp contrast to
the finely kept and walled-in cemetery of the French dead.
We gained the summit of the hill over a sharp-winding road
which gave access to a vast deploying plateau as level as it was
bare. The straight road reaching the farther hills to the east
stretched like a narrow ribbon. To the south rose towering Mt.
Hermon whose sombre grey monotony was relieved only in spots
by lingering snow patches. What wonders of transformation
could be wrought in this beautifully located spot among the mountains by the magic touch of water! But nature seems to have
reserved its bounties for a spot further east, and a little lower
in elevation.
We had to make a few detours in crossing the plain where repairs were being made to the road. But the hard and even surface of the ground made travel possible in any direction without
�':#.*
PANORAMIC VIEW OF DAMASCUS
3
Co
3
The famous capital of Syria with its flat-roofed houses and towering minarets,"appearing
like a sparklmg gem of multicolored hues set in a vast emerald field." '
ft 5 ||
P
3
fir Gf cr
o a
O
ST ET
a,
P
P
c«
OfQ
C O 3 K* El
3 3 fD ^ 3"
2 5-^3
22
O
%
b
�MM
OCTOBER, 1930
21
much discomfort, The opposite hills were reached in less than
half an hour.
The most widely quoted reference to the beauty of Damascus and its famous Ghouta is the story related of the Prophet
Mohammad that when, during one of his commercial journeys, he
emerged from the sandy wastes of the desert and beheld the
dazzling green of the Damascus orchards, he exclaimed, "This
is a terrestial paradise. I will not enter it for fear of jeopardizing
my chances of entry into the Paradise of the hereafter." The
Prophet's exclamation of surprise and admiration may well be,
in modified form, that of all travelers approaching Damascus, whether from the east or the west. Except that from
the west the first effect of exotic delight at the music of murmuring streams and the beauty of rich verdure and the welcome coolness of the embalmed air is intensified by progressive stages a«
one descends the gentle slopes to gain the plain. Here the more
one advances the wider the fields of green expand in testimony
to the magic effect of the branching waters. One no longer remembers the scorching heat of the desert sun, nor the desolate
expanse of sandy wastes. The eye that hungered for a touch of
green is here treated to it in unexpected measure, and the feeling
of ecstasy becomes supreme. The sharp contrast attending the
sudden transition from one extreme to the other is, perhaps, what
accentuates this feeling of relief. The effect is such as to create
a most happy predisposition to enjoy the many other beauties of
the city and its setting.
The road runs along the banks of River Barada amidst enchanting scenery. The gently sloping terrain offers an ever
changing vista of charm and beauty. Alternating cascades and
pools afford endless temptations for the pleasure-loving Damascenes. The single railroad track on the opposite bank is cause for
but little disturbance in the quiet of the pleasant surroundings,
trains being run hardly more than twice a day. This neighborhood of the head-waters of Barada, bearing such musical names
as Dummar and Hamat, has long been the inspiration of poets
and the theme for many a popular song.
Emerging from these sylvan retreats and scenes of delightful rusticity, the traveler comes to a point affording a dazzling
panoramic view of the city spreading in the plain. It appears not
unlike a sparkling gem of multicolored hues set in a vast emerald
field. The domes and minarets of its many mosques, the huge
�f0t
!
22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
A typical scene in one of the old quarters of Damascus, where a
shepherd claims the right of way for his flock over trolley tracks.
glass-covered roofs of its bazaars looming like great hangars,
the drab of its closely huddled buildings frequently relieved by
rich touches of green in streets or courtyards, all combine to lend
it an aspect of a dream city, especially to one just emerging from
the waste and desolation of the desert.
Now the city is not entered through a gate as of old. The
approach is over a broad boulevard that still bears the marks of
an early stage of development, having progressed only to the
point of being lined with ultra-modern looking cafes all along
the water course. The only imposing building before entering
the confines of the city proper is the old Turkish barracks now
transformed into a university.
Soon after we were at the entrance of the principal hotel and
being received by a porter in native dress, not altogether sightly,
and in bare feet and slippers. This was not calculated to impart
a favorable first impression, but the place proved to be good in
all other respects. After lunch and a short rest we started on
what proved to be some of the most interesting experiences of
our travels through Syria.
.,...
.,-.- ..
awwMMfe*ri.^
�OCTOBER, 1930
Damascus
(The Pearl of the East)
By
THOMAS ASA
The Prophet's earthly paradise thou art,
Eternal mound in countless ages lain;
And though another has usurped thy part,
Ten thousand years shall over thee in vain.
And in the midday sun thy minarets,
Resplendent with their alabaster gleam,
Tow'ring rise, which no mortal eye forgets,
The earthly vision of some poet's dream.
And to the Desert sight thy sheltered bow'rs
Give strength to wearied limbs of pilgrimage;
Thou should'st have been the mart of sacred pow'rs,
O'er which three shrines in futile efforts wage.
And with the advent of the evening hour,
As fades the purpling sun into the West,
The faithful Muezzin cries from his tow'r,
And calls to pray'r who seek the Prophet's rest.
And when the welcome canopy of Night
Embraces thee within its dark'ning shades,
The moon and stars, with their celestial light,
Illume with Love thy gardens, streams, and glades.
'Tis then I think what once wise Omar thought:
Drink deep of wisdom, beauty, happiness;
Conform thy Life to what the Earth has wrought,
Ere Death shall close thee to the Sun's caress.
mmnmHHmSmi-.
�24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Syrian World a Corporation
An Investment Productive of Moral Benefit and
financial profit.
JN all the history of Syrian immigration to the United States no
pubhc project has yet been undertaken that combines the two
TuzZf "w ] ^^i and finandal Profit as the PublicationTf
L
SUCh THE SYRIAN W RLD is
SiL thfH
°- u*
°
« ^der-
V S thC Sen US consi
nir^H Q
T 1
°
deration of every publicspirited Syrian, Lebanese, or any of the other immigrant ele-
thC
ArabiC tOI
e
"ns
de^ ^
^^
^now
- The
-eh
consideration
are many
and varied, and
that~£
the publication
h" tZZToT"
"^ ^^ fr°m
COm m n ownershi
AmeriT^ f 1
r °
P
th£
of
^vidualSUf
the Syrian people in
^ASSS* " ^ SUbmltted " Pr°SpeCtiVe LeS"
HISTORY OF THE PUBLICATION
is the realization of an ideal. It was
conceived in the spirit of service to the Syrian American geneTa
tion who had no ready means of satisfying their naturafdes re
to be mformed on the ancestral background of their parents as
THE SYRIAN WORLD
CW
PP mSS am n th£
del
in
Zt^
T^
r
° S
different'commu'nt
ties, in America and abroad, with whom they had natural bonds
of racial interests. Another and equally important obje is "or
the Syrians m America to provide a medium for the proper interpreta ion of Synan culture and the representation of the Syrians
in heir true standing as a component element in the American
nation. These two objects THE SYRIAN WORLD has consistently
striven to attain throughout its career. Its efforts have been such
as to evoke the commendation of Syrians and Americans alike.
I he Syrians have found in the publication a dignified organ fittingly representing them in their finest cultural traditions, and the
Americans have welcomed it as a source of information urgently
needed on Syria and the Syrians. The four years of THE SYRIAN
W0RLD'S publlc tl
h
d to estaW4 .t ^ JVRIAN
I
n the esteem of the thinking element in our community. The
test or its usefulness and necessity is in the answer to the ques-
�OCTOBER, 1930
25
toon: Has THE SYRIAN WORLD been of benefit to the Syrians,
and can we afford to dispense with it?" A thinking Syrian, man
or woman has yet to be found who would not consider the suspension of THE SYRIAN WORLD, or a publication of its character,
an irreparable national loss. As a racial element in America we
are in need of an organ. THE SYRIAN WORLD has supplied this
need and vindicated its existence as a necessary national institution.
HOW TO PROMOTE AND PERPETUATE THE
GOOD WORK
Its necessity established, the next consideration to arise is to
give THE SYRIAN WORLD, first, a guarantee of permanency and,
second, an opportunity to expand so as to more efficiently and
thoroughly carry out the mission set for it. To secure this end,
the best means was to turn the publication over to public ownership by organizing a corporation in which all would have the opportunity to share. This at once provides the necessary financing
tor putting into effect the plans for expansion, and lends to it
the prestige of public support, which comes from the public's
participation in ownership.
CORPORATE ORGANIZATION AND METHODS OF
SUBSCRIPTION TO STOCK
THE SYRIAN WORLD has been incorporated under the laws of
the State of New York with a capitalization of 1,000 shares of
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all of the assets of the corporation and is to receive interest at
the rate of 7% per annum before any dividends can be paid on
the common stock. The voting power is vested in the common
stock and in a Board of Directors composed of men of integrity
and business ability who will control the policies and management
of the corporation.
That the stock may be distributed as broadly as possible the
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with a bonus of one share of common for the price of $100 for
the unit. Should any subscriber desire a lesser quantity than a
single unit, subscription may be made for one-half or one-quarter
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For illustration: If a subscriber should purchase eight shares
[of preferred stock he will receive two shares of common stock;
�26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
or, if he subscribes for three shares of preferred stock he will
receive three-quarters of a share of common stock
All net earnings of the corporation over and above the diviSt Ck arC
able
t
tnTrT
7ofSffif*
° holders
^of
cretion
of the Board
Directors to the
the«^excommon
St ck wil1 be held
untif
^V^
"* °fthe
° successful operation
* < of*
until aa^ven'sum^
given sum is received
insuring
the plans for expansion and improvement.
PROSPECTS HOLD GREAT PROMISE
m Jh7dditi°nai CaPltal ra'Sed ^ the sa]e of st°ck will be used
to introduce into THE SYRIAN WORLD those improvements whch
will not only enhance its standing as a national organ 17the
Syrians in America, but also increase its popular appeal and sub
stantially enlarge its circulation with a consequent increase in
revenue. This in turn would further add to the effectiveness of
its service in carrying out its educational mission.
The immediate field for the increase of circulation is extensive. Being the only organ for the Syrians published in English
every English-reading Syrian in America or abroad is a potential
subscriber. The Syrians in the United States are conservatively
estimated at 250,000 of whom at least 100,000 are American
born. Conceding that only 10% of this number can be ultimately
induced to subscribe, the publication would not only be carrying
out its educational mission effectively, but would also prove a
financial success.
*"
The capital sought by the sale of stock is to form the necessary
organization that would seek the means of reaching the vast number of prospective subscribers among the Syrian communities scattered throughout the United States.
Besides, the circulation of THE SYRIAN WORLD need not be
restricted to Syrians. Every Syrian proud of his name would be
.nterested ,n having his American friends read his national pubcircuTation
immediately open an unlimited field for
In view of the above stated facts, investment in
THE SYRIAN
2riSJ e0rp0ratl°!: Su°Ulrd haVC the Str°nSest aPPeal *> publicspirited Syrians, whether from consideration of profitable investment or the promotion of a work that exerts the strongest influence on our standing in America as a race
^
m
�OCTOBER, 1930
27
ALI ZAIBAQ
(Quicksilver)
THE UNPARALLELED ADVENTURES OF THE
CHIEF OF POLICE OF THE CALIPH HAROUN
AL-RASHID, OF THE CITY OF BAGDAD.
Translated from the original Arabic by
A. MOKARZEL and THADDEUS S. DAYTON
SALLOUM
CHAPTER
II.
THE ENCHANTED CITY
"Q my son," said Quicksilver's mother, "the Enchanted City is
at a distance of forty days' journey from Cairo. No mortal
man has yet visited it and returned alive. Know also that the
Magic Box of the All-Seeing Eye, is constructed of precious
stones: emerald, diamond, ruby, and turquoise. It was fashioned
by a certain Greek Sorcerer who was accustomed, by sitting within
it, to view therefrom all parts of the world and all their treasures,
simply by turning about.
"After finishing this work he performed an act of geomancy,
and it was disclosed to him that after his death this box would fall
into the hands of a certain stranger from Egypt. Therefore, he
selected an island far from the Enchanted City, and there he
built a great dome beneath which he deposited this enchanted
box which was the fruit of his life's toil. Then, as a further precaution, he enchanted the island and caused two opposing scimitars to play up and down forever before the entrance so that no
one might pass. Also he built a great statue of brass which he
placed at the entrance of the Enchanted City as a guardian against
anyone who might come with designs against this product of his
witchery. Now the function of this statue of brass is to utter a
thunderous cry whenever a stranger from Egypt approaches the
gates of the city, thereby informing the inhabitants of his presence. Thereupon they will rush forth to slay him."
"^?^Tr.i-<
�po
THE SYRIAN WORLD
lifeT0W^mZJ°n,"l.-0,IltinUed Fatimah> "y°u are risking your
Me ,n undertakingthis
hazardous task, but if you persist in it I
e y U
rCP
Zt nCe t0 tHe Shrine f
and
r
°
° ^Pt's Patron saint,
asl f° 1°
and ask for his intercession with God so that he will help you to
P Y
execute successfully this undertaking."
Accordingly Quicksilver went that night and lay down in the
shnne and whi e he was in peaceful slumber therecame to hfm
uTAnd a heavenly voice called to him and said-
two ruhi?,UlCkl
.1 5ef°re Ly°U depart CUt out a branch about
that
temn e nVnarry ^
K y U^n Mm
^0WS before this
]t Wlth
y Ur ***
Urne
You
13 K
/
° °
°
J°
y-
U find that
it w 11 be of great service to you in executing your mission »
Upon arising next morning Quicksilver cut off a branch of
he palm tree as he had been directed, and went forth as if
transported on the wings of a great hope
e
Ud
7 f r S£Veral dayS thr0U h a vast de
His^
nnr
f
^
T
° exhausted and he gwas on the point
^t.
u
His supply of water became
of perishing from thirst. While he was meditating upon* ni
3 f^T? the distance a palm tree toward which he
directed his steps. Beneath it he found a well of pure and delicious water, but to his great surprise could discover no bucket
or rope by which it could be reached. Therefore he unwound hi
urban and took his belt from his waist and tying both together
iuench HftTirs^ "* ** T " *" "" "** «* ft ~*
While he was so engaged he saw reflected in the water at the
bottom of the well the faces of two men secreted amid the
branches of the palm tree that overshadowed it. He instantly suspected that these men were lying in wait for him
After satisfying his thirst he took from his bag some antidote for benj which he secretly placed in his nostrils. Then he
lighted a phosphoric stick and by that means burned a quantity of
that powerful drug benj, so that the smoke rose in a dense cloud
CS
hidden
°f
th£
^
WhCre the tWO men were
After waiting until the benj should take effect, Quicksilver
nsThn 1 /^e a « f°Und tHf tW° men ly'mZ amon& the inches
as though dead He pitilessly cast them to the earth and then
descended, and bound them hand and foot. This done, he administered the antidote for the drug whereupon they sneezed and
recovered their senses. Finding themselves helpless, they beg&
ged for mercy and said:
*
^.-,;W««*
�OCTOBER, 1930
2p
"Quicksilver, hasten not to visit punishment upon us, for we
are only emissaries of Salah-Eddin who has sent us to intercept
Y
Tw t*TY and preVent yoUr return to Cair°; bu< the mantle
or Allah s .Protection seems to cover you."
Thereupon Quicksilver tightened their bonds and left them
alone and helpless by the well in the desert while he proceeded
on his way He continued his journey until he approached the
Enchanted City. It was then in the dusk of the evening, and
considering that this was not an opportune moment to enter the
city he sat down, saying to himself:
"I will repair to the mountains nearby and remain there until
morning; then I will go into the city, for it is now dark and undoubtedly danger lurks in the way."
At that moment Quicksilver heard a great tumult and cries
rising in the distance in the direction of the city; so he left the
path and made for a cave that was not far distant. There he remained until night had fallen and everything was dark Then
his restless spirit urged him forth towards the Enchanted City
but on his way he perceived a light burning dimly in a cave near
the road and he turned aside to discover the reason for a light in
that desert place. As he drew near and reached the mouth of the
cavern he saw a company of blacks surrounding a beautiful damsel of fair complexion, whose face resembled the moon at its full
She was lamenting, beating her breast and shedding tears like
pearls and when Quicksilver perceived her he was greatly
amazed, and said to himself:
"No doubt this beautiful maiden is of noble birth and has
been kidnaped from the house of her father and brought to this
secluded place by these black slaves who undoubtedly intend evil
against her. I must save her' from their hands and return her
safely to her home."
Thereupon he took from his traveling bag a phosphoric stick
which he covered with benj and when it was aflame threw it into
the cave.
After waiting a little while, he entered and found all the
blacks lying on the ground as though dead. He proceeded directly
to where,the maiden was-and administered to her an antidote
which revived her-and she opened her eyes in wonderment saying"Where am I ?. . For the sake of Allah!"
To which Quicksilver responded:' "6 beautiful damsel, I
pray you tell me how you came to be in the hands of these
blacks."
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
On hearing these words the white maiden answered:
"Know, O young man, that I am the daughter of the King
of the Enchanted City, who is the ruler of all this land.
"Now there was in our city a most precious treasure—the
work of a great sorcerer. This magician discovered that this
treasure would one day be taken by force by some stranger from
the land of Egypt. Therefore he hid it away on an island distant from our city, and he cast a spell of magic over that island
also. Then he caused to be made a great statue of brass which he
placed at the entrance of the Enchanted City so that if a stranger
from Egypt should approach it would raise a great outcry at
which the people would rush forth to defend themselves against
the invader.
"It was not until this very day that this statue, which had
been silent for ages, raised its voice, and thereupon the inhabitants of the Enchanted City, remembering the ancient tradition,
rushed forth, led by my father the King, and all the occupants
of the palace.
"There was no one left in the palace but myself. While I
was thus alone these blacks made their appearance. They bound
me and carried me to this isolated spot, saying to me:
" 'We have waited long for this favorable occasion. You, and
you alone are what we are seeking.' "
"No sooner had I heard these words," continued the Princess,
"than I despaired of my fate. There seemed no hope of deliverance from the hands of these savages. O bravest of the brave,
accept my sincere, undying gratitude, for rescuing me. When
my father learns of this he will enrich you with money and
jewels and high honors in recompense for your noble act."
But instead of accepting these golden prospects Quicksilver's thoughts centered themselves on the strange coincidence
which had brought about his encounter with the daughter of the
very king whose country he was seeking to enter.
Straightway Quicksilver and the Princess turned their steps
in the direction of the Enchanted City.
Now it happened that this Princess was the most beautiful
woman of the age. The fame of her loveliness, wisdom and accomplishments had traveled far and wide and was the subject of
conversation in the courts of kings. She was sought in marriage
by the greatest men of the time, but her father loved her so much
that he would never consent to be separated from her.
�OCTOBER, 1930
J;
Now it also happened that the news of her great and surpassng beauty had reached the ears of the King of the Blacfaand
the Soudanese the ruler of a great empire, and his heart and
mind were filled with the thoughts of the loveliness of the Princess of the Enchanted City. So he sent an embassy to ask the
Princess s hand in marriage, but the King, her father, refused.
This enraged the King of the Blacks, and he called for the
most noted of his champions and the most cunning of his spies
and related to them everything from beginning to end. He commanded them to disguise themselves and to go to the Enchanted
Uty and there to contrive some stratagem for obtaining possession of the daughter of the White King and bringing her to him.
It they were successful he promised them whatsoever they might
It was not long thereafter before this company of spies and
warriors set out on their journey, in the guise of merchants. They
reached the Enchanted City and entered it, finding lodgment in
some of the khans and awaiting an opportune moment for the
accomplishment of their master's desires.
"This unexpectedly came about in the manner which I shall
relate to you," said the tale-teller, "at the end of our next day's
march, should Allah vouchsafe us his protection from the genii
that are abroad by day and night upon this great desert."
(To be continued)
Hunger
By
MISCHA NAIMY
Into my heart a seed was cast
And it took root and sprouted fast.
It spread so far and reached so high,
Until it filled the earth and sky.
And now its boughs are weighted low
With fairer fruit than angels know;
Yet I whose heart sap feeds the root,
Though famished, dare not taste the fruit.
�i !
32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Tragic Love of a Caliph
A SHORT STORY
Adapted from the Arabic
(Continued from the September issue)
For a time Saada permitted Yazid to relax while surrounding
him with the most ingenious display of the tenderest solicitude.
She was preparing him for the climax which she had most cunningly planned. At times she would appear in the role of critic
and admonisher and at others she would assume the role of loving comforter. Under her subtle influence it was not long before
\ azid lost what little he had of will power and became a ready
tool in her hand.
Having worked Yazid to such a submissive and receptive
mood, Saada was now ready to spring on him her great surprise.
She had laid her plans most skillfully and was now about to proceed with their execution.
"What can now trouble the mind of my lord and master?"
she began by way of preparation. "Has my beloved Yazid not
accomplished his most sanguine ambition? Is he not now the
successor of the Prophet and the Prince of All the Faithful?
What more exalted situation can a mortal desire? Oh! that it
were in my power to read my master's thoughts that I might devote every moment of my life towards their fulfillment!"
"Beloved Saada," wearily replied Yazid, "I have truly come
to the fulfillment of my ambitions, but the caliphate to me is
worth but little in comparison to your sweet company."
Yazid was making an attempt to be chivalrous. He' loved
Saada of a sort, and this she realized only full well. She filled
a place in his official life, but not the place that the genuine love
of a woman fills in a man's heart.
"But why the apparent despondency of my beloved lord and
master," Saada continued. "Here you have attended today the
official function at which the homage of the world is laid at your
feet. And if this were not to gratify your desires, behold me
now at your side ready and willing to lay down my very life for
the consummation of your utmost personal happiness. But will
not my master confide implicitly in me? What desire is there
mmnnHmMmni
I,
�OCTOBER, 1930
<
33
weighing on his heart that I could relieve? My lord thirsts for
a drink, does he not?" and before he could answer she clapped
for her slaves, who came in bringing wine, and fruit, and all
manner of the most delectable relishes. Yazid drank and ate, but
all the wine that Saada forced on him could not shake him out
of his melancholy mood. Saada, however, was not alarmed, not
even depressed. Rather, she was wont to smile in satisfaction
at the auspicious working of her plans.
Now Saada was ready to shoot the last arrow out of her
• quiver of artifices. She drew near to Yazid and caressed him
softly.
"I^know that my lord is concealing something from his loyal
slave," she said, "something that even the most coveted power
in Islam could not make him forget. There surely is some personal concern weighing over your heart. You must tell me, Yazid, for Allah is all compassionate and merciful, and his ways
of rewarding his faithful servants are mysterious and strange,
and perhaps he has chosen me as the vehicle for rewarding you
and bringing joy to your heart. Now you must admit, Yazid,
that your happiness is not complete. All the pomp of the caliphate
was insufficient to fill the void that you feel in your bosom. Tell
me, Yazid, do you not still lack something?"
She looked into his eyes as if to read the innermost reactions
of his soul, but he still clung to his secret, simply replying- "No
sweet Saada, I lack nothing."
"Yes you do,'" she insisted in an assertive tone, "and while
I might have detected the truth, I wanted vou to voluntarily impart it to me. You still feel the lack of something, or someone,
a beloved person, a comforter. Do you not, of a truth?"
Now that Saada had progressed in the disclosure of her
knowledge of his mind from the "something" to the "someone,"
Yazid realized that she knew more than she had already divulged. For was it not the absence of this "someone" that made him
lose all the joy and satisfaction of succeeding to the caliphate?
Was it not originally his ambition to seek the caliphate with all
the power attending upon it, only to be in a position to regain
possession of the greater prize which he had lost when he was
forced to sell the incomparable slave-girl Hubaba? Now he had
gained the lesser prize but was still lacking the greater and more
precious one. The memory of Hubaba was forever the spectre
that stalked his path and haunted his every move, and now that
Saada had so subtly hinted at his continued loss, his grief and
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
anguish were mercilessly crushing him. Nor did he entertain the
hope of ever finding her. He had already made secret inquiries
and was told that she was sold first to a master in Iraq, and then
to another in far-off Marrakesh; whence she seemed to have completely vanished and all traces of her lost. Oh! that he could
confide his woe to a sympathetic soul that the burden of his misery might partly be lightened by being borne with another! Why
should Saada now open his wounds and remind him of the emptiness of wordly pomp and power when the man in him nursed a
dead heart consumed to ashes by a desperate and departed loveI azid was so enfolded in his despondent thoughts that he became
oblivious of the presence of Saada. The only world to him was
the enchanted world which Hubaba alone could create by her
presence. He could not help but heave a sigh. Oh, that she were
only there to complete his happiness!
At the thought of Hubaba a faint smile played over Yazid's
countenance and Saada was not slow to understand. She had been
actually thinking with him and divining his every notion. She
followed the success which she had already gained.
"My master has not yet answered my question," she breathed
softly to interrupt his reverie. "My master would do well to
open his soul to me."
"Saada," almost cried Yazid in an attitude of surrender "I
do lack something, and that very badly. Lack it to the point of
placing not the least value upon my whole realm in comparison
to it And that something is not a thing, it is a person. Forgive
me for baring my heart to you, but my heart is at the breaking
po:nt from anguish. If the truth will not hurt you, I will tell "
But Saada showed by her every action that she was fully sympathetic and understanding. She was the one urging him to con"My lord should realize my sincere solicitude for his happiness. Nothing that will effect his pleasure can hurt me" she
sweetly whispered.
'
"Then I shall tell you," said Yazid. "I shall not be fully
happy until I recover possession of Hubaba."
At this Yazid almost broke down, but the all-thoughtful and
comforting Saada was quick to the rescue. He startled when she
asked him.
'|And would you recognize her if you were to sec her now?"
"Is she here?" adced Yazid, in a tone of both supplication
and surprise. "I beg of thee, Saada, beloved, hold me not in
�OCTOBER, 1930
35
cruel suspense any longer."
For answer Saada made a hurried exit from the chamber and
returned leading Hubaba by the hand. The slave-girl, fresh
from the bath and resplendent in costly dress and sparkling
jewels, was more beautiful than ever. Yazid, in the exuberance
of his joy, cast aside all reserve in his welcome of her. For once
he felt his pleasure complete and forthwith proceeded to add to
it some more for good measure. The whole royal household
were summoned to the grand hall of festivities to celebrate the
return of Hubaba. And the caliph's hilarity could not fail of being contagious. Singers, musicians, jesters and dancers gave of
their best, and there was no restriction on the consumption of
wine.
Fate was kind to Yazid for some time. For over two months
his only concern was to indulge in the orgies of pleasure which
the return of Hubaba inspired. By her song Hubaba could make
him weep with contrition, or dance of sheer delight. He was
wont at times to fill a special basin in one of the inner courts with
wine and plunge into it fully dressed. On other occasions he
would carry a cushion on his head and parade about the room,
crying, "Fish! fresh fish! Who will buy fish of the fisherman!"
in imitation of the hawkers of the street. The playful spirit of
Yazid could not be suppressed.
Now the people of Damascus began to grumble at the caliph's
continued neglect of the affairs of state and some of his advisers
made bold to bring the matter to his attention.
"Your predecessor, Omar, was a man of noted piety and
justice," they pleaded, "and your continued inattention to the
affairs of state is bound to cause discontent, which might lead to
more serious consequences. Appear then to the people this coming Friday and lead them in prayer, as behooves the successor of
the Prophet and the Prince of the Faithful."
Yazid was impressed with the cogency of the argument and
promised to repent. For two days thereafter he sat in judgment
and devoted his entire time and attention to public matters, not
even once visiting the harem quarters. Hubaba became alarmed.
Friday marked the third day of Yazid's repentence, and, true
to his word, he was proceeding to the great mosque to lead the
faithful in prayers. But Hubaba had planned otherwise, and her
influence on Yazid was never known to fail. She bribed one of
his personal attendants to hide her in a convenient place along the
corridor where Yazid was to pass on his way to the mosque, and
�36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
when he drew near she pleaded with him to resume his former
attentions to her. And Yazid could not resist. He forthwith ordered his chief of guards to lead in prayer in his stead while he
straightway followed Hubaba into their regular haunts of pleasure.
The relapse of Yazid into his former irresponsible state was
cause for great concern "to his advisers, and the very vizier who
had caused the temporary repentence again came to press the argument. Yazid proved attentive but not amenable. He would
give his consent only conditionally and proposed a bargain.
"Under pretense of being blind," he suggested, "you will
accompany me into the harem to listen to Hubaba's singing and
attend other forms of entertainment. If, after personal observation, you insist on my giving up my pleasures I shall repent irrevocably."
Saying which, Yazid led the vizier by the hand into the precincts of the harem. Immediately the slave-girls gathered about
the stranger and threatened to beat him, some even throwing
their slippers at him. They were appeased only by the intercession of Yazid and hisassurance that the man was blind. For otherwise no stranger could lay eyes on the harem of the caliph and
be suffered to live. Yazid then commanded Hubaba to sing and
the other slave-girls and entertainers to indulge freely.
"What is your verdict now?" whispered the caliph into the
ear of the vizier.
. "Truly this is not of the earth," stammered the transported
vizier. "This is of the ecstasy of Al-Jannat. By Allah, keep it up.
H ou are absolved of any blame."
And^ Yazid did keep it up, pursuing his pleasures with a vengeance, if such were possible. The affairs of state were carried
on by the very strong impetus which characterized the early rise
of Islam. Debauchery was in the palace but not in the victorious
armies fighting under the banners of the Arabian Prophet.
One day Yazid was so transported with joy that he said to
Hubaba:
"Beloved, I will fly without wings if you so command me."
But his beloved was considerate. She could not permit his embarking on such a hazardous feat!
"I know that your joy is of such buoyancy that you can fly
without wings," she remonstrated. "But who is there to guide
the destinies of the empire after you? There is but one Yazid."
"I will proclaim you my successor and appoint Abdullah
�OCTOBER, 1930
climax "
hC COntiniled hy W
37
^
()f aln
T'»g the pleasantry to a
"I dismiss the regent," she hastened to say in a show of authonty.
/P^u Y°u dismif the man J aPPoillt-?" he retorted in anger,
and forthwith retired to his own apartment
Yazid, however, could not bear Hubaba's absence for more
than a day, although he could not with dignity take the initiative
towards a reconciliation. He called to him Hubaba's favorite
<3hat may y0Ur mistress be doing now?" he inquired
She is occupied in play, O Prince of the Faithful," the servant replied.
"Go and engage her in a game of chess," commanded the
caliph, and at a given time pick up the pawns and run hither in
my direction."
The servant did as ordered, and when Hubaba was chasing
the offending servant she ran into Yazid's arms!
Yasid resolved there should be no further scenes to mar the
even flow of his happiness. He would plan his days in a manner
that each would surpass the other in the perfect consummation of
pJeasure. He would disprove the common contention that happiness could never be complete to any man for a full daV He
would have of that not only one day but many days. Accordingly
} azid proceeded to carry out his plans. He ordered barred all
intruders whatever the nature of their business and retired with
Hubaba to a rose bower in a secluded corner of the royal gardens
Slaves came in long trains carrying wine and fruits and viands and
all other forms of appetizing delicacies. Hubaba sang and plaved
and sported with the caliph in her happiest mood of buoyant
hilarity And 1 azid went into ecstasies of delight. So far his
com lete
false!
P
- The common adage was branded as
Yazid's high spirits made him extremely playful Not a
device of merriment could he think of than should be tried Hubaba s resourcefulness was responsible for many ingenious games.
While in this mood Yazid began pelting Hubaba with luscious
pomegranate seeds which she roguishly caught in her mouth The
play proceeded merrily until a seed became wedged in Hubaba's
throat. She coughed and writhed in a desperate effort to dislodge
*" j £ ,TS fra,ntlC and called for assistance like one become
mad. Hubaba could not be saved and she soon ceased her strug-
�38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
gle and dropped her head like a withered rose. Fate was mightier than the caliph! She was also cruel in her revenge!
For days Yazid would not permit the burial of Hubaba's body.
He could not bring himself to realize that she was dead. He
abstained from all food and drink until he became a mere shadow.
His great grief was pitiful to behold and whatever he had left
of strength cracked under its weight. It was suspected that he
was intent upon hastening his end so as the sooner to join his beloved in Al-Jannat. He followed her into the beyond forty days
after her tragic end.
Yazid was the only caliph of Islam known to have died a
martyr to love.
On his death bed he was heard to whisper: "Fool is he who
would stay the hand of Fate. Complete happiness can never be
the lot of mortal for a whole day, not even for a part thereof.
The hand of Allah is above all others!"
Saada's grief over the death of Yazid was sincere, but between her tears a faint smile would play over her countenance
when she thought of her nursling son and the future of Islam.
On Giving and Taking
By G. K. GlBRAN
You owe more than gold to him who serves you. Give him
of your heart or serve him.
I would walk with all those who walk. I would not stand
still and watch the procession passing by.
How mean am I when life gives me gold and I give you
silver, and yet I deem myself generous.
How heedless you are when you would have me fly with
your wings and you cannot even give me a feather.
They spread before us their richest of gold and silver, of
ivory and ebony, and we spread before them our hearts and our
spirits:
And yet they deem themselves the hosts and us the guests.
�OCTOBER, 1930
39
EDITORIAL COMMENT
THE SYRIAN WORLD, Inc.
yHE announcement of the
incorporation of THE SYRIAN
WORLD, published elsewhere in
this issue, is self-explanatory.
The purpose, aside from raising
funds for improvement and expansion, is to pass the publication into actual public ownership in substantiation of the
claim that it is a public Syrian
institution. The result will be
a gradual building up of an
organization that will be trained
to carry on the work and make
it an enduring monument to the
Syrians of America.
In furtherance of this plan,
the incorporators have decided
to issue the preferred stock at
a moderate par value so as to
insure for it the widest possible
distribution. It is felt that there
should be stockholders in THE
SYRIAN
WORLD
corporation
wherever there are Syrians, because, aside from its investment
value, ownership of stock is
proof positive of racial pride
and civic interest.
Purchase of stock in THE
SYRIAN
WORLD
corporation
should also prove of strong appeal to patriotic societies whose
avowed purpose is the promotion of Syrian public welfare.
It can readily be realized that
while their sphere of activities
might of necessity be restricted
to their local communities, they
can through their sponsoring
of THE SYRIAN WORLD, extend
their interest to the national
held and thereby render a
double service.
THE SYRIAN WORLD has been
carried on for over four years
as an individual enterprise,
and although its resources have
been limited, it has succeeded
in proving that its scope of public service is beyond limit. It
has furthermore established itself as an indispensable institution which we should be impelled by a consciousness of
racial pride not only to support
and continue but also to increase its facilities as an instrument of public service to our
Syrian-American generation as
well as an indispensable national organ and a disseminator of
our culture and a champion of
our racial interests in the language of the land.
We earnestly ask organizations and individuals to give
serious thought to the proposition of investing in THE SYRIAN
WORLD corporation on the consideration that it is an investment in the most vital public
enterprise
yet
undertaken
among the Syrians in America.
�MM
'
(!
40
It is high time we develop a
sense of cooperation and a proper appreciation of the benefits
of collective action in matters
of public interest.
RELATIVE OBLIGATIONS
J"HE two leading Syrian papers of "America, Al-Hoda
and Meraat-Ul-Gharb, have
taken up seriously of late the
discussion of the relations of
the Syrians in America to their
motherland. Both seem to be of
accord that the duty of the Syrians in America is towards their
own immediate interests first.
Such a statement, on the face
of it, would appear superfluous
*n view of the self-evident
truth that no other course
would be logical. But the fact
remains that there is abundant
reason for thinking otherwise,
giving rise to the timely complaint of the two papers.
The Syrians of America,
judging by the comment of the
Syrian-American publications,
are being unduly exploited for
all manner of schemes and
propositions and enterprises in
the mother country that have no
direct bearing on their immediate interest or welfare. This
evil, according to the argument
advanced, could be mittgated if
the Syrians of America would
show as much interest in vital
public matters that immediately
concern them as they do in remote and somewhat irrelevant
THE SYRIAN WORLD
schemes foisted on them from
abroad. But the fact of the situation is they do not, hence the
aggravation.
Although no specific instances
are cited, which fact may be attributed to a magnanimous impulse, enough is said in general
terms to give a clear idea of the
object in view. The prevailing
note is an expression of indignation and surprise that foreign
enterprises attract much more
support than do those of home.
A newspaper publisher of no
standing comes to America and
collects in subscriptions in the
course of a few months more
than a publisher of a home
newspaper could hope to accumulate in years, if he is at all
successful in reaching the figures of the foreigner. This circumstance seems to be particularly aggravating to our SyrianAmerican publishers because of
their feeling that America is
their own particular field, and
whatever income is to be derived from it should go by right
to them. For, they argue, are
they not fighting the battles of
the Syrians in America and catering to their immediate
needs? Why then should someone from abroad compete with
them in their own field and
carry away what should be law*
fully theirs?
Furthermore,
Arabic-Language newspapers in general
are complaining of decreased
�OCTOBER, 1930
41
demands from ab ad, I^d
^—- P^^ing in the
tion. Schools, hospital, dvk
improvements church L~!_
repairs
and various public and private
chanties have taken a toll of
the Syrian-Americans' funds
seemingly at the expense of
their own public enterprises,
and aJJ for no reason other than
the Syrians' tharitable disposifirm
in/) sentimental
„
a.!
.1 w^T
.*
tion and
^ £TS
°f the *«bic
d
• «
»tmct commun ty
,„ Amenca our paramount interest should be in our own
vital public matters. We owe it
to ourselves and to posterity to
develop a civic spirit alive to
our public requirements. From
purely humanitarian and sential considerations we may
mental
considerations we may
is
^tsna&sr to sr^V «*
for thingsTK^kS688 rftam
T int£reSt in the affair"
Ur h metown or
It may be recalled tti th i
K ° 1 °
homeland,
S
n
C ndition that
subject w^onL treated in THI
V^ ° ^ °
SYRIAN WORLD by A Halim
T "*"?* d°CS n0t adversely
writing under the ruti^The f
°\
^ public welSage of Washington Strelt'' QZ ? ^"S" °U1" dUty t0
firSt In
Such a discussion wa bound io th
I ^f
find ourselve
find its way finallvTnto n„Kl
'
s in hearty
agreement with
print in the A abic Dress I
the stand taken
i 7fe Mission^fThFs^i^W^
5
rpuu
.
y AMEEN RIHANI
c
THE new Syrian generation can not read Arabic, and its
moth" Tnded^1°»1-lud- little or nothing about th
motner land. Here then ,s the mission of THE SYRIAN
WORLD. Its editor was the first to realize the necessity of
ana understand, the knowledge that is lacking in their edu
that 8 es hm more
-E££ZlSr
l makes them
tit-co,^
k , / that
ana sell respect, the knowledge
better citi e"
zens productive and creative in every walk of fife£
knowledge,, in a word, that will save them as Syrians' and
ennoble them the more as Americans. THE SVRLTK WOR D
IS indispensable to the new Syrian generation
D
�42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Political Developments in Syria
SITUATION IN DAMASCUS
REMAINS UNCHANGED
These must be exceedingly trying
times for the Syrian Nationalists
who are eager to find a solution of
their present political difficulties and
find
their way
blocked
by
the vacillating policy of the French
High Commissioner and the equally
changing attitude of the French Foreign Office. The latest solution proposed by M. Ponsot proved utterly
unacceptable, and although the
League of Nations upheld the French
in their execution of the mandate,
High Commissioner Ponsot is said
to be tarrying in Paris for the purpose of devising another scheme designed to placate the Nationalists by
providing an acceptable settlement
of the country's difficulties. As usual,
however, the nature of this new solution remains a sealed secret and
only when the taciturn Ponsot
choses his time and place to divulge
it will it become known.
The latest reports from Beirut
would set the date of M. Ponsot's
return to Syria about October first.
He is said to have attended the
meeting of the Mandates Commission of the League of Nations at
Geneva where he defended his policy
in dividing the country into several
administrative units and then returned to Paris to take up with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs the
question of devising a new plan for
the mandated territory. Some Syrian
papers guardedly publish the rumor
that such an arrangement has been
reached and that already orders have
been issued to officials in Syria to
prepare the necessary machinery for
putting the new plan in operation.
The rumor went so far as to infer
that immediately upon the return of
the High Commissioner popular
elections will be held on an acceptable basis yet to be defined.
What would seem to bear out this
contention is that President Tajeddin
of Syria undertook a tour of the
principal populous centers of the
country proceeding as far north as
Aleppo. The Nationalists attempted
to place every impediment in his way
and it is claimed that the apathy
with which he was met was counteracted only by the appearance of paid
demonstrators. Some opposition papers even made so bold as to accuse
Tajeddin and his administration of
using treasury funds for hiring the
men who staged the pseudo public .
demonstration.
Further accusations represent the
Tajeddin government as resorting to
unfair and unconstitutional means to
suppress the lawful activities of his
opponents. Al-Ahrar, a liberal paper
of Beirut whose editor is Minister
of Public Instruction in the Lebanese
government, was proscribed from
entry to Damascus by President
Tajeddin, and when the French authorities set aside this decree Sheikh
Tajeddin confiscated issues of the
paper offered for sale.
The Nationalists, on the other
hand, seem to be still marking time.
Their principal grievance would seem
to be directed against the continuation in power of the government of
Sheikh Tajeddin, which fact, they
claim, bars all possibility of understanding with the French. The Nationalists are also said to be planning a general convention to define
�OCTOBER, 1930
their stand and prepare for whatever action might be necessitated
upon the return of the High Commissioner.
FRANCE, ITALY AND
THE SYRIAN MANDATE
43
England which has had its hands
full in carrying out its own mandates
and seeks to divert public attention
at home from its own failure by
creating complications for others.
Otherwise^ argues the French paper,
how are we to account for the publication of the latest rumors concerning France's intention to relinquish its Syrian mandate simultaneously in London and in Beirut? Besides the publisher of Al-Nada, the
Syrian paper which first gave publicity to the rumors, is a Druze, a
people whom the English have befriended and protected to counterbalance the influence of the French
with the Maronites. But, concludes
the French paper, this latest manoeuvre has failed to bring to England
the relief it expected in easing its
own critical position in its mandated
territories.
Although repeated denials have
been issued by all parties concerned,
the rumors bearing on Italy's intrigues to secure the mandate over
Syria and Lebanon through the support of the Maronites still persist.
The indirect denial by the Maronite
Patriarch issued through the Catholic paper Al-Bachir was followed by
a signed statement of the Patriarch
categorically branding all rumors of
political designs of some European
powers through him or any of his
bishops as false. As a further gestEconomic conditions in Lebanon
ure of amity and understanding between the Patriarch and the Papal remain acute. The shortage of crops
Nuncio in Lebanon, the latter made resulting from the locust invasion
an extended visit to North Lebanon and the general depression in the
and spent several days as a guest of prices of all native products, printhe Patriarch. Some papers would cipally silk, together with the deattribute the origin of these rumors pendence of the country on importato the reckless enterprise of a new- tions^ have all combined to aggracomer in the newspaper field who vate the situation. Added to this is
sought this sensational means of the poorness of the summer season
launching on his career as a means which this year attracted only about
six thousand to the country. It is the
of attracting attention.
In spite of these denials, the in- opinion of many observers, openly
cident seems to have been taken expressed, that had it not been for
seriously by a number of French pa- emigrant remittances Lebanon would
pers who would accuse Mussolini of be reduced to a condition bordering
sustained political ambitions
in
on famine.
Syria. Nor do they absolve England
of blame in secretly fomenting
An extra session of the Repretrouble in the country to harass the sentative Assembly has been called
French. Le Journal of Paris, comfor September 15, and already it is
menting on the situation, asserts
that France is determined not to rumored preparations are under way
relinquish its Syrian mandate, and to bring about the downfall of the
that the recurring rumors to the cabinet. How else could politicians
contrary are chiefly the work of give vent to their pent-up energies?
�44
MOSLEMS AND CHRISTIANS
QUARREL IN PALESTINE
Press dispatches from Palestine
have stressed lately certain differences arising between Christians and
Moslems which led to murders and
reprisals. While these incidents
tending to disrupt the unity of the
Palestine Arabs may be considered
important as news material, there
are graver happenings now taking
place in the country on which dispatches maintain a mysterious silence. Some reporters or news agencies must have a nose for news only
in certain directions.
What may be rightly termed the
most important recent development
in Palestine is the effort of the British police to evict the Arab tenants
of Wadi El Hawareth from their
homes and lands. The case of these
lands has been hanging for several
years but has now come to a head
through the determination of the
government to use forcible methods
of eviction. Early in September an
armed force sent to this valley had
an encounter with the settlers and
is said to have used force without
sufficient provocation. The principal
cause of complaint is that the British police wounded several Arab
women so severely as to necessitate
hospital treatment, and in arresting
them manhandled and manacled them.
The Arab press was indignant at
what it termed undue cruelty on the
part of the police in their treatment of the Arab women defending
their hearths and an Arab paper
was suppressed for its criticism. This
case 'has in it all the tragic elements
of the land problem in Palestine,
where the tenant farmers find themselves subject to eviction through the
purchase by Jewish interests of their
land from absentee landlords, while
they, the tenants, apparently have
THE SYRIAN WORLD
no recourse to redress. The Shaw
Commisson of Inquiry realized the
importance of the Wadi El Hawareth situation and reviewed it fully
in its report. We copy from the
English edition of Falastin (Jaffa)
the text of the Commission's report
on this case in view of its intrinsic
importance and its possible bearing
on future events. It follows:
"The second case to which we will
refer is the recent purchase of the
land known as Wadi el-Hawareth.
We do so because the sale of this
land was made the subject of many
protests addressed to us during our
stay in Palestine and because this
transaction serves to illustrate the
extremely difficult position in which
the Government of Palestine are
liable to be placed. The lands in question which belonged to Arabs were
mortgaged in 1882 to a French subject. Between 1882 and 1923 there
were two transfers of the mortgage
without the consent of the mortgager. After legislation in the course of
which the validity of the mortgage
was disputed judgment was given in
favor of the heirs of the mortgager
and an order for sale was duly made.
"The area offered for sale was
30,826 dunoms and the Jewish National Fund purchased the property
for £41,000. The land was registered
in its name on the 27th of May,
1929. The persons occupying the
lands which have been sold number
about 1,200 and own between two
and three thousand head of stock,
about a third of the land is used for
grazing purposes; among the crops
grown on the remaining areas are
melons and the tithes paid in the
"Among the persons now occupying the land are actual cultivators
who received in August, 1928, notice
to quit expiring on the last October,
year 1928 indicate that the crop was
worth at least £7,000.
�OCTOBER, 1930
1929. On the 30th of November, 1929,
an order of eviction was made
against a large proportion of the occupiers. At the time when we left
Palestine, we understood that the
police had not executed the order of
eviction and that the reason for
their failure to do so was that they
did not know of any locality to
which they could move the present
occupants and their flocks. We were
informed that this action on the
part of the police might at any time
result in proceedings for contempt
at the instance of the purchasers
who are not disposed to abandon any
of the right which they possessed
under the orders of the Courts or to
postpone the enforcement of those
rights. The purchasers have, however, offered to put approximately
5,000 dunoms of land in the Beisan
area at the condition that they are
paid one fifth of the produce of that
land. We were informed that this
land is irrigable but the present occupants of the Wadi Hawareth land
know nothing of irrigation and that
furthermore the Beisan lands contain
no grazing area. When we left Palestine no State or other land had
been discovered to which the persons
to be evicted could be transferred.
^ "It is noteworthy that both the
Sursock land and the Wadi-elHawareth lands were the property
of absentee landlords and in their
absence were being cultivated by
persons who paid as rent a percentage of the produce yielded by their
holdings. The sale of lands over the
heads of occupant tenants and the
consequent dispossession of those
tenants with or without compensation is not peculiar to Palestine but
the position there is complicated by
two factors which can seldom obtain
elsewhere. In the first place the dispossessed tenant in Palestine is unlikely to be able to find alternative
land to Which he can remove. Secondly, in some cases, the cultivators
who were or may be dispossessed
have a strong moral claim to be allowed to continue in occupation of
their present holding. Under the
Turkish regime, especially in the
latter half of the eighteenth century,
persons of the peasant classes in
some parts of the Ottoman Empire,
including the territory now known
as Palestine found that by admitting
the over-lordship of the Sultan or of
some member of the Turkish aristocracy, they could obtain protection
against extortion and other material
benefits which counter-balanced the
tribute demanded by their over-lord
as a return for his protection. Accordingly many peasant cultivators
at that time either willingly entered
into an arrangement of this character or finding that it was imposed
upon them, submitted to it. By these
means persons of importance and
position in the Ottoman Empire acquired the legal title to large tracts
of land which for generations and in
some cases for centuries had been in
the undisturbed and undisputed occupation of peasants who, though by
the new arrangement they surrendered their prescriptive rights over
the land which they had cultivated
had undoubtedly a strong moral
claim to be allowed to continue in
occupation of those lands."
In commenting on this report, Falastin lays stress on the findings of
the Commission that the occupant
tenants have a strong moral claim in
view of the peculiar conditions obtaining in Palestine which can be
found nowhere else and therefore
constitute a unique problem. It justifies the resistance of the Arabs on
these grounds. The paper further
sees in the incident a cause for increased estrangement between Arabs
and Jews. The action of the police it
�46
THE SYRIAN WORLD
brands as "very untactful and most ORIGIN OF RELIGIOUS
STRIFE IN PALESTINE
brutal... The feelings of the Arab
world (in the matter) are best left
The incident leading to the presunwritten. The incident will not ent condition of religious strife bemake them any kinder to the Jews tween Christians and Moslems in
Palestine had its origin in a controor grateful to the British."
Another cause of apprehension in versy over the ownership of a cemethe Palestine situation is the tension tery in Haifa.
Al-Bachir, the Jesuit organ of
created between Christians and Moslems as a result of the murder of a Beirut, reports that during the war
Christian editor in Haifa over the a cemetery belonging to the Greek
ownership of a cemetery. A Moslem Catholics was used by the Moslems
in Jaffa is said to have been mur- as a burial ground. Because of this
dered in reprisal, giving rise to fear fact the custodian of the Moslem
that the movement will spread to religious foundations sought to apother sections of the country. Joseph propriate the cemetery and exclude
M. Ley special correspondent of the Christians from any right to it.
the New York Times in Jerusalem, The difference was finally settled by
reports that the Grand Mufti, relig- the agreement of both factions to
ious head of the Moslems, has de- use it jointly.
Within the cemetery enclosure
cided to go in person to Haifa "to
meet some Christian religious digni- there had been at one time a group
taries with the purpose of attempt- of huts in which lived some Christing to find a way of opposing Mgr. ians of the poorer class. These huts
Hajjar, Catholic Bishop of Haifa, were burned not long ago by willful
who insists on going on with the persons whose identity remained untrial against Rashid Haj Ibrahim, known. The Greek Catholic bishop,
the Grand Mufti's representative in Mgr. Gregory Hajjar*, having decided
Haifa, who is sti'l incarcerated in to rebuild the huts sent a gang of
the Acre Fortress prison on a charge workmen to undertake the work and
of murdering the Christian Arab placed in charge one of his trustees,
newspaper editor" who is of Mgr. Jamil Bahry, editor of the Arabic
publication Az-Zuhoor. No sooner
Hajjar's denomination.
The Times' correspondent further the workmen started work than they
reports that the Christian Arab pa- were set upon by a group of Moslems
per Falastin charges the Zionists of who attacked with knives, sticks
"paying large sums of money to and stones. In the fighting three
both Christians and Moslems for the Christians were wounded, including
express purpose of bringing about the editor whose wounds proved
enmity and quarrels between them." fatal.
The incident being the outcome of
The same correspondent also rereligious
differences, the feeling of
ports that a large number of Chvistthe
Christians
became extremely
ian Arabs, who since the British occupation of Palestine have taken to tense and the murdered editor was
wearing hats, are now again donning given a public funeral in which all
the fez for self-protection and in or- traditions among the Christians
der to escape the notice of Moslem were broken, being attended not only
fanatics. Many Christians in Jaffa by the representatives of the Cathohave also applied to the government lic churches but also by those of the
Orthodox and the Protestants.
for permits to carry firearms.
�OCTOBER, 1930 .
47
About Syria and Syrian:
SYRAMAR GOLF CLUB
HOLDS TOURNAMENT
other golf veteran and close friend of
the champion. Mr. Ferris has to win
the championship laurels still anothThe Syramar Golf Club of New er time to gain permanent possesYork held its fourth annual tourna- sion of the coveted. Syramar trophy
ment at the Wolf Ho'low Golf course
consisting of a solid silver platter.
at Delaware Water Gap on Saturday . The CIub> however,
was not sparand Sunday, September 6 and 7
ing m its distribution of prizes. Both
Members and their friends turned
the champion and the runner-up reout in large numbers, and the en- ceived valuable mementoes, as well
thusiasm for the game was as pro- as the winners of the qualifying
nounced as the delight of the large
matches. The Club's policy is to fos
gathering over the opportunitv ter love of this healthy and digniwhich brought so many friends to- hed game among the Syrians and
gether under ideal conditions. From
its efforts are meeting with gratifyevery point of view the tournament
ing results. Already the sport is findproved a complete success.
ing increasing favor among our
Saturday and Sunday morning people as proven by the steadily
were devoted to qualifying matches growmg membership of the club.
and the championship contest was
As an integral part of the tournaPlayed between George A. Ferris and ment a brilliant social function was
George Aboarab. It was a hard- held at the club following the Sunfought game which was decided only day game. President Henry Haddad
at the 20th hole. After having taken proved himself a resourceful and enthe lead early in the game Mr Fer- tertaining chairman. Mr. George A
ns found himse'f in the uncomfort- Ferris dean of Syrian lawyers in
able station of two down and two New York and one of the founders
to go on the 17th tee. But his cham- of the organization, was assigned
pionship mettle began to te'l and by the duty of distributing the prizes
winning the two remaining holes he following the unbroken tradition
succeeded in squaring the match. ot the club ever since its foundation.
The 19th was halved with fives and Salloum A. Mokarzel, editor of the
only on the 20th was the issue deSyrian World and the only honorary
cided when Mr. Ferris emerged vic- member of Syramar, was also a
tor by 4 to 5.
speaker.
'The Syramar Golf Club is one of
One of the surprising features of
the contest was the form disriaypd the few Syrian organizations in
by Mr. Aboarab, a youth who has which the growth of enthusiasm
taken up golf only within the last seems to keep pace with the advance
two years, but has devoted much in years. Its membership is increasing steadily and every year witnesses
time to practice.
improvement in its tournaments and
Mr. FernVs victory marks his
attending
functions.
The name
third of the Syramar annual chamstands
for
Syrian-American
and thpionship contests, the fourth having
fallen to the lot of Mr. Mallouf, an- abbreviation and contraption are
designed for euphony.
�SYRAMAR GOLF CLUB OF NEW YORK
Co
R
o
p
_
,—..
�OCTOBER, 1930
49
Henry Haddad (left) presenting Syramar championship trophy to Geo
A. Ferris (center). George Aboara b, the runner-up (right) looks on
cheerfully.
ARAB INFLUENCE IN
ARGENTINE POLITICS
Aside from the general interest
they should have in the Argentine
revolt as a major world event, the
Syrians should have an especial interest in the historical background
of Argentine politics culminating in
the late developments because of
their immediate associations with
Arab influence. The revelations of
the true causes leading to the deposition of President Irigoyen are
of a startling nature, especially
when viewed in the light of the long
struggle going on for decades among
the different classes of the population. The causes for this long-drawn
struggle are laid at the door of certain inherited traits and customs of
one section of the population which
was invaluable at one time for the
protection of the country but has
now apparently outlived its usefulness.
Had a Syrian or Arab writer laid
claim at any time to the Arabs
exercising such great influence in the
political and social order of a new
and progressive country in the New
World such as the Argentine Republic, his claim would have been branded as preposterous. Immediately the
accusation would be made that we
would want to claim everything for
the Arabs, the Phoenicians, and other
Eastern peoples. Present tendencies
are to break away as much as possible from old influences and above
all, to claim all credit of human
progress for the so-called Nordic influence instead of the Eastern.
Especially is this true in the case of
America where the cosmopolitan nature of the population brings the
controversy over the relative racial
virtues to an acute point.
�mm
50
In the present case the Arabs are
net advancing any claim for influence. They are accused of having it.
Press dispatches from the capital of
Argentina early last month gave
lengthy descriptions of conditions
leading to the revolt, ascribed to
Arab influence. That this influence
did not prevail till the end is not
the question as much as its having
existed and lasted for so long a time
i:i the history of Argentina, and havi: g been so strong as to be the cause
for the safety of the country while
it lasted.
A staff correspondent of the New
lork Times writing from Buenos
Aires under date of September 7
fives the following account of the
causes leading to the downfall of
1 resident Irigoyen:
'The downfall of Dr. Irigoyen
d-finitely marks a new era in Argentine his.ory in an even more romantic sense, for it means the passirg frcm history of the o d caudil os
(petty chieftains), who were a prodvet of gaucho civilization o.i the
pEmpas. Argentina owes its very existence to these gauchos who were
v .1 j nomad horsemen, whose fathers
Landed down to them the Moorish
blcod they brought from Spain in the
d:ys of the conquest and whose
mo hers were South American Indians.
"The gauchos retained many characteristics of their Arabian ancestors who had overrun Spain and lh:y
formed a barrier between the tiny
outposts of civilization and the wild
Indians of Pampas, who until the
late 80s resisted Argentina's efforts
to establish herself as a nation. The
gauchos were arrogant individualists, receiving and asking no 'help
from the town authorities.
"The gaucho who was the best
horseman, the quickest with his knife
and the most arrogant in his dea!-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ings with his fellow-men became recognized as a caudillo (petty chieftain), under whose leadership the
gauchos formed when danger threatened them. These caudillos led the
numerous civil wars which for so
many years retarded Argentine
rrogress until another gaucho caudil o, Juan Manuel de Rosas set
himse f up as dictator and ruthlessly
wiped out all other caudillos who opposed him, thus paving the way for
organized government in Argentina.
"Dr. Irigoyen is the last of the
caudillos. Although he is a town
man rather than a gaucho, he is one
of the most characteristic caudillos
in Argentina's history. His leadership has always been arrogant and
personal. The Radical party has never had a platform. It was organized
around Dr. Irigoyen as its personal
leader and his word was the party's
law."
SYRIAN HISTORIAN
OF SOUTHERN LEADERS
A young Syrian who is attracting
much attention in the South as a historian and scholar is Mr. John E.
Hobeika of Dillon S. C. His efforts
are appreciated not alone because he
was born a foreigner, but because
they show genuine merits which
have elicited the highest praise from
noted Southern scholars. "His tribute to the Confederate Soldier," according to an editorial in the Charlotte Observer, "was regarded as
worthy of being printed in pamph'et form and is given introduction
by Dr. Oliver Orr who feels that
God has called forth this student,
writer, historian and Christian gentleman." The paper itself adds its
tribute by terming the work of Mr.
Hobeika 'one of the finest pieces of
literature ever contributed to the
�OCTOBER, 1930
.
51
history of the South."
ed with the Egyptian National AnWe gather from the wealth of them, followed by selections from
material about this young Syrian Puccini given by Miss Margaret
historian published in many South- Romaine of the Metropolitan Opera
ern papers that he has had a re- Company. Prince Muhiuddin played
markable scholastic career. Having the 'cello, and Miss Ruth St. Denis
come to the United States with his gave an exhibition of the Directoire
parents at the age of 10 in 1912 and Waltz assisted by Mr. Ted Shawn.
settled in Dillon, S. C. he entered the Mr. Rafa"elo Diaz, also of the Metropublic schools and joined the class of politan Company, gave several
Miss Laura Heath whose love of the selections. The reception was brought
days and the "gentlemen of the old to a close with the playing of the
school" was contagious to young American and Egyptian National
Hobeika and prompted him to spec- Anthems.
ialize in the study of Southern hisThe exceptional quality of the protory. He developed a great admira- gramme as well as the distinguished
tion for General Lee and has visited attendance, over two hundred guests
every place in the country connected drawn from the exclusive circles of
with the Confederate commander. the city, lent the occasion an air of
He has collected a library of Gen. dignity and refinement.
Lee which is said to be unequalled
in America, and he has drawn on
this wealth of material, some of
which has hitherto been little known, MOSLEMS IN AMERICA
to write a biography of the General
ISSUE A PUBLICATION
Which will be published by a New
York firm this fall. He also has under preparation biographies of many Also Establish a Mosque and a Misother Southern leaders.
sionary Center in Chicago.
RECEPTION IN HONOR
OF KING OF EGYPT
His Excellency Anis A. Raphael,
Royal consul of Egypt in New York,
gave a reception at the Hotel Ambassador on October 9th in honor of
the anniversary of the accession of
His Majesty King Fuad I of Egypt.
The reception hall was elaborately
decorated for the occasion, and a
portrait of the King surmounted by
a multicolored electric crown was
displayed between the American and
Egyptian flags. The staff of the
Egyptian Consulate all donning the
tarboush, assisted at receiving the
guests.
The musical programme was open-
....
- ...
The disciples of Islam are aggressively conducting missionary efforts
in America, but with what success
it is not yet possible to tell. The
Moslem Sunrise, a 24-page quarterly
in English published in Chicago and
edited by Sufi M. R. Bengalee gives
an account of the various missionary
activities conducted by the Moslems
in the city and vicinity. The missionaries belong to the Ahmadiyya
sect founded by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of India who died in
1908. He is styled by his disciples
the "Promised Messiah and Mahdi
and the expected Messenger of all
nations."
These Moslem missionary activities are commented upon by many
Chicago newspapers, the Daily News
�—fc
52
publishing the following interesting
account:
"The first mosque devoted to the
religion of Islam opened its services
in the Auditorium Building on Wabash Avenue. * * * Dr. Bengalee is
the Chicago missionary preacher of
what is declared to be a new form
of the Islamic faith, which goes
back to the original form of the
religion as preached by the Prophet
Muhammad. Among the interesting
theories set up by Dr. Bengalee is
that Christ did not die on the cross,
but lived to a venerable age in northern India and the Ahmadiyya movement, as its missionary terms it,
holds that Christ is another of the
great prophets, but not divine."
Another Chicago paper quotes the
leader of this new Moslem movement
as "stressing particularly the nonviolent feature of the Islamic faith,
contrasting it with our Western
Christianity which, though essentially non-violent employs force in
its nationalism."
The Moslem Sunrise is sold for
25c a copy, but the publisher makes
an ardent appeal for "generous contributions.... that the light and
lustre of Islam may be shed through
this magazine throughout the length
and breadth of this country particularly and all over the world."
SYRIAN AVIATRIX MAY
VISIT NEW YORK
Al-Hoda of New York, reports on
the authority of Mr. Ed. Jallad,
President of the newly formed PanArabian Pictures, Ltd., now visiting
in the city that Mrs. Afifa Maloof of
Zahle, a resident of Rodondo, Cali
fornia, has won her pilot's licens;
and may soon attempt a non-sto{
transcontinental flight to New York
She has ordered a new plane for the
purpose.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
MODERN AGRICULTURE
INVADES NEAR EAST
Sons of Wealthy Landowners Learn
to Operate Farm Machinery.
Efficiency and culture are coming
to count for more than birth among
the wealthy noble families of the interior of Western Asia where feudalism has existed for many centuries,
according to President Bayard Dodge
of the American University of Beirut.
In the sixty-fourth annual report
for this American University in
Syria, President Dodge states that
"heretofore the sons of great landlords have inherited power and, regardless of education, they have exploited their peasants by forceful
measures.
"Today the new governments are
taxing landed proprietors so heavily,
that they cannot maintain their positions, unless they have had the advantages of modern education. Efficiency and culture are coming to
count for more than birth.
"Accordingly, many noble families are sending their sons to the
University and there is a rare opportunity to train the young aristocrats to appreciate democratic adjustments.
"Instead of idling away his time
and exploiting his many villages one
graduate is studying agriculture and
striving to improve the conditions of
his peasantry. Another spent a whole
summer in overalls learning to manage farm machinery so as to be able
to build up his family estates.
"University men who honor work
and feel a responsibility for their
tenants, form a great contrast to the
untrained sons of a decadent aristocracy who are losing ground before the advance of a, new order of
things.
�OCTOBER, 1930
oun
53
n who iack mod
idZ
tr
*
ideas seek low paid positions in government offices and business houses
and lack initiative to make any conland
t0 thC deVel
°Pment of their
"Many graduates of the American
University are building Up depart
sirs se]iT A «~-
. ooiies and Popularizing wMt(lm
novations. Several have fould for
eisn markets so as to reviwaffa
"The University is endeavoring to
teach men how to undertake new en- ulnf e/roTing-Last *«" two g a
rad
ter-prises and to apply scientific
n
t0
ev°era i former
/o 2" students
^startpH
^
processes to industrial work. One an u several
graduate has mastered the fruit pre- selhng automobile insurance int^
One alumnus has developed a flour
serving business in Dublin and is
ȣ* m4ustry tor the sale and eXstarting a new industry 0f his own.
Several young men have been
specializing in chemistry so as to be
--er resort oAheLal^:
able to aid their fathers with soap
manufacture and leather tanning
Students are choosing maior
Numerous graduates have studied courses which will fit them for partT
engineering and are successful in
construction work.
tion of their communities. Among
"Before the Armistice business
the junior and senior classes leTave
decided to major in biology and aZ
a ried
a Very
way
T he merchant
°l " used to *«
way. The
sit in»1
a
culture, 12 in chemistryfe in econo
shop which was small because he "»cs 44 are taking advanced work
kept most of his goods in a nearby m Commerce and 24 mechanics and
and
engineering."
warehouse. He bargained over prices
S rt
f
Way
se
d
off*tT
^ ° ° customers,
' kept
coffee
to prominent
the simplest sort of books and male
no effort to advertise. Corporals
were unknown and successful partnerships comparatively rare. Technical experts usually came from
FREE ENGLISH CLASSES
AT BROOKLYN Y. W. C. A.
abroad and progressive methods o"
commerce and industry were seldom
street, offers an opportunity to girls
and
Wom
f gyrian ^l ^ &*
The International Institute of the
entage to learn English, to meet
"Today a change is taking place
others of their own nationality and
Shops are becoming modernized
with show windows and well arrangubs
^ " SOdal Hfe' -eluding
dubs
parties
and other recreation
ed counters. Advertising is popular
The English classes will meet
and good book-keepers are in de"
every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:30
mand. Local capital is being invested
P. M. There will a]So be Wednesday
to form new banks, cloth mills cement factories, mechanical flour comern00;>,ClaSS f°r th°Se Wh0 c«
come m the evening. It will meet at
mills, soap works, potteries tourist two o'clock.
companies and agencies of other
The homelike rooms of the Instisorts. There is a definite attempt to tute
are aiwavs avai,able for go
pool native resources so as to compete with Western industry along gatherings of every sort. Call Miss
Bah,a Hajjar, Main 4163, for further
modern lines.
information.
�BRM
54
LEBANESE DECORATIONS
CONFERRED ON EMIGRANTS
Controversy Over Award Arises
Before Official Notification.
Lebanese papers of Beirut made an
advance announcement of the intention of the Lebanese government to
confer decorations of merit on prominent Lebanese emigrants abroad on
the occasion of Lebanon's Independence Day which falls on Saptember
1. President Charles Dabbas is said
to have offered the suggestion and
instructed the Premier to prepare a
list of prominent Lebanese abroad
who deserve to be so honored. Press
reports indicate that the list will be
very broad, comprising scores of
Lebanese all over the world in all
walks of life.
The tentative list, according to the
Beirut papers, includes Mr. N. A.
Mokarzel, editor of Al-Hoda, and
Elia D. Mady editor of As-Sameer,
both of New York. The award to Mr.
Mady, however, was made on the
ground that he was the editor-inchief of Meraat-Ul-Gharb of New
York and son-in-law of its publisher,
Mr. N. M. Diab.
In its characteristically fearless
manner, Al-Hoda was the first to
take up the discussion of the propriety of the awards. Mr. Mokarzel
reminded the Syrian-American public of his consistent policy of refusing all decorations and other honors
from foreign governments, a policy
he announced when he refused the
decoration of the French Legion
d'honneur several years ago. His
criticism of the Lebanese government, therefore, should not be misconstrued as prompted by any personal motives because of his disap-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
proval of conferring the honor on
other individuals.
Taking up the choice of Mr. Mady,
the editor of Al-Hoda points out
that he (Mady) was never loyal to
the cause of Lebanon, but rather
gave aid and comfort to its enemies
and sided with them in all political
controversies arising on Lebanese
questions. Under the circumstances
Al Hoda questioned the wisdom and
tact of the Lebanese government in
making promiscuous awards of its
decorations, granting that early reports on the subject were true.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb was not slow in
engaging in the controversy in defense of its own prestige, Mr. Diab
the editor, declaring that never in
the history of his pub'.ication had
anyone but he been its editor-inchief. He was not seeking the decoration for himself, he asserted, but
no other should be the recipient of
it under false pretense.
This drew the fire of Mr. Mady
who, in a long article published
simultaneously in several papers,
centered his attack on Meraat-UlGharb, the publication of his fatherin-law, and reminded the public of the
fact that he had won his literary
laurels before he joined the staff of
any paper. That he should be given
credit for the excellence of his
work, although published anonymously, is through no fault of his own,
he declared. He would not commit
himself as to whether or not he
would accept the decoration.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese government still seems to be having the list
of those whom it wants to honor
under advisement, no official announcement having yet been made on
the subject. It would seem from present indications that its promiscuous
distribution of decorations seemingly
without regard to signal services is
defeating its purpose.
�-
OCTOBER, 1930
MOSUL OIL AFFECTS
FUTURE OF SYRIA
Controversy Between France and
England Over Terminus of Pipe
Line Said to Have Been Settled.
The long-drawn controversy between France and England over the
Ua: sportation of Mosul oil has been
tentatively settled, according to information which Al-Ahrar, of Beirut, claims to be authentic.
The stumbling block in the way
of a settlement had been the insi3trnee of England on making Haifa,
the newly developed port of Palestine which is under British mandate,
the terminus of the Mosul Oil pipe
line, while France maintained that
the natural terminus would be the
port of Tripoli, in the territory
within its own mandate. The British
plan is said not only to extend the
line for hundreds of miles, involving
enormous extra expenses, but to
rlace it in territory continually exposed to attacks by bedouins. These
two features are eliminated if the
French plan were carried out.
England having consistently been
unwilling to swerve from its stand,
the new arrangement said to have
been arrived at is to create a central distributing station at Abu Kama! situated about midway between
L osul and the coast outside the boundaries of the mandated territories.
1 rom this point on, two separate
pipe lines would be constructed, one
carrying the French portion of the
oil and terminating at Tripoli and
the other ending at Haifa. *
Another element entering into the
Mosul oil situation is reported by a
special cable dispatch to the New
York Times from Paris under date
of Sept. 29 to have developed recently The dispatch is illuminating and
55
deals with this new aspect of the
controversy in detail. It follows:
The approaching weeks are expected to witness a denouement in
one of the most important international oil controversies which has dsve'oped since the close of the WorlJ
War. The stakes are tfea rich and as
yet unexploited oil fields of Iraq,
and the contestants are the present
ho'ders of an exclusive concession—
the principal oil groups of Great
Britain, the United States anJ Fra.ice, the Royal Butch of Holland a.id
the Gulbenkian Armenian group- and an entirely new international
oil group in which the guiding genius is understood to be Benko Mussolini.
The issue involves the question of
whether the present concessionaires,
by their undertaking with King Feisal of Iraq did not agree to a somewhat stringent time clause committing them to proceed with the exploitation of their fields before November 1, 1930 under penalty of
losing their concessions to new and
more active groups.
The so-called allied concession
holders maintain that no such limitation was placed upon their contracts
and that the present world oil crisis,
due to overproduction, is ample reason for proceeding slowly with a
program of development of the
fields, the chief item of which is the
construction of a pipe line from Iraq
to a Mediterranean port at a cost
estimated at $800 000,000.
King Feisal, who is eager to obtain the largely increased State revenues which active exploitation of the
fields wTould insure, recently visited
European capitals with a view to
bringing the issue to a conclusive
stage.
From the Italians, it is believed,
he received promises of financial as
well as political support for his new
�_J
56
State, provided he agreed to turn
the Iraqui concession over to the
new group known as the British
Oil Development Company, but in
which Italian capital and influence
are said to be dominant.
SYRIAN VICTIMS OF
DOMINICAN DISASTER
The hurricane which struck the
city of Santo Domingo September 3
took a toll of four Syrian lives and
caused serious injuries to about
thirty others, according to a special
communication to Al-Hoda from the
stricken city.
The victims are: Thomassa, wife
of Khalil Saadie of Ehden and her
twenty-five-year old son;
Maria
Zaiter, 45, of Ghazir; Carmehista
Dibs 13, of Ghazir.
The more seriously injured are
George Dibs, Emilia Zaiter and Enhel Zaiter.
The Syrians' loss in property and
merchandise was heavy, and their
lot was no better than the thousands
of others who were left destitute by
the terrible disaster.
Al-Hoda opened a subscription for
the relief of Santo Dominican sufferers and has so far raised considerable funds which it has turned over
to the Dominican Consulate in New
York which acknowledged their receipt with profuse thanks for this
display of generosity on the part of
the Syrians.
SYRIAN GIRL WINS FIRST
PLACE IN AUDITION
(Special correspondence)
Shreveport, La., Sept. 27.—Miss
Olga Maroun of this city, a Syrian
girl who is studying voice for an
opera career, won first place in the
?HE SYRIAN WORLD
girls' class in the District of Louisiana Atwater Kent Radio Audition
held Sept. 19 and 20 in Shreveport
and broadcast over Station KTBS.
She will represent the fourth district of Louisiana at New Orleans
where she will compete for State
honors. She competed against girls
from six parishes, and received high
praise from the local papers.
The parents of Miss Maroun are
Mr. and Mrs. Najeeb Joseph Maroun
of Amcheet, Mt. Lebanon, Syria.
PUBLIC MORALS IN
NORTHERN LEBANON
When two couples living together
without the benefit of clergy in Ehden, Northern Lebanon, refused to
mend their ways or leave the town,
a visiting bishop publicly denounced
them from the pulpit during the
Sunday services and served on them
final notice to leave.
This did not take place in the Middle Ages, but during.the latter part
of August of the year of our Lord
Nineteen-Thirty. And an enterprising reporter of a Lebanese paper did
not hesitate to give it full publicity.
It was explained that the two
couples involved were not natives of
the town, but came to it as summer
residents. Nevertheless, the high
sense of morality of the North Lebanese would not tolerate any such
conduct, and the public warning of
the bishop met with general and
whole-hearted approval.
Nor did the explanation of the two
couples satisfy or appease the natives. The offenders attempted to
prove that the wives of the men
and the husbands of the women had
migrated to America and (had not
been heard from over a long period.
It was natural for them, therefore,
to enter into this union for mutual
I!
�OCTOBER, 1930
comfort and support. But instead of
living: together as common-law husbands and wives they were married
by a clergyman whose church placed
no bans on such unions.
This is held out as proof positive
that the evils of moral laxity characteristic of the times has not yet infiltrated into the sequestered parts
of North Lebanon.
57
tial contributor to the educational
development of all the surrounding
country. Her progress has been the
result of admirable policies followed
in its direction and she has merited
the large patronage she receives today and the prominent position held
in the cultural work of- this part of
the country. Each day has seen her
service become of more essential
value and today she is indispensable
to the community."
SYRIAN MUSIC TEACHER
PRAISED FOR ABILITY
Miss Louise Yazbeck, whose distinctive musical attainments were
recognized by the city of Shreveport,
La. when the authorities appointed
her director of Musical Week in the
city, as previously announced in The
Syrian World, has been making rapid
progress in her musical career. She
has lately opened a new studio in
the fashionable suburb of Broadmoore, while retaining her original
studio in the heart of the city.
A musical critic, giving an appraisal of Miss Yazbeck's musical
ability, wrote the following glowing
account in one of the local papers:
"As the purpose of this review is
to give the outside world an adequate
idea of our social, industrial, artistic
and educational progress we deem it
quite appropriate to call the attention of the public to the efficiency
and great work that is being carried
on by Miss Louise Yazbeck.
"Miss Yazbeck understands both
the art of music as well as the art
of teaching. She puts all her energy
and soul into the music and is able
to impart to her pupils both the technique and the spirit of each selection.
She takes an interest in each pupil
and gives them individual attention
and has them specialize in music
that is adapted for their talents.
"Miss Louise Yazbeck is an essen-
LEBANON UNSURPASSED
FOR NATURAL BEAUTY
Writing in the Princeton Herald
the Reverend Sylvester Woodbridge
Beach, D. D., describes the wondrous
scenery of Lebanon as follows:
"I am not exaggerating my own impressions when I say that, so far as
my travels have afforded opportunity
to enjoy the scenery in Switzerland,
the Italian Alps, Sicily's Taormina
and the Amalfi of Capri and Sorrento, Spain and the familiar bits of
scenic grandeur in Western and Central Europe, the Carpathians and
Balkans of the east and south-east;
and the majestic mountains and unparalleled geologic wonders of America—I have never found any spot on
earth where the scenery is more won derful and enchantingly picturesque
than in the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon regions of Syria. Their beauty
and glory are indescribable. My
friends on the rear cushions (of the
automobile) kept up an interminable
line of talk, interlarding it with
frequent ejaculations and exclamations as "Oh, my! Isn't that great?
It takes tne cake!" But I sat speechless, drinking in the soul and beauty
of what thereafter would be a part
of my life an element and influenca
that could never lose its magic charm
and power, wherever I might be."
�mm
MM
BOOKS BY SYRIAN AUTHORS
To recommend to Syrians the acquisition of books
in English by Syrian authors would seem superfluous,
especially when the books are such as to cause every
Syrian to feel proud of the fact that their authors are of
his countrymen. All the books listed below have been
exceptionally well received by American critics, some of
them gaining national and even international distinction.
Not alone as a matter of racial pride, but also as a valuable addition to every modern library and as an indispensable medium of wider culture all Syrian homes should
have all or most of these books.
All prices quoted include postage. •
Books by Ameen Riliani
Maker of Modern Arabia
The Path of Vision
A Chant of Mystics and Other Poems
$6.00
1.25
1.25
Books by Kahlil Gibran
Sand and Foam
Prophet—Reg
The Madman
The Forerunner
Jesus, The Son of Man
2.25
2.75
2.00
2.75
3.75
Books by Dr P. K. Hitti
As-Suyuti's Who's Who in the 15th Century (Arabic)
Pap^r Cover
Usamah, an Arab-Syrian Gentleman and
Warrior of the Crusades
Syrians in America
Syria and the Syrians (Arabic)
History of Syrian Commerce in the United
States (Arabic; Illustrated)
By S. A. MOKARZEL.
Immortality (By DR. I. G. KHEIRALLA)
m
i.
i'.
.
i
i
illi-1...
i
,t»
3.50
3.00
4.75
1.25
1.1U
3.25
1.25
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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TSW1930_10reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 05, Issue 02
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930 October
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 5 Issue 02 of The Syrian World published October 1930. The issue begins with another piece by Rev. W. A. Mansur in which he discusses the important material and moral accomplishments of his ethnic peers in order to showcase their overall greatness. He gives an appraisal of six Syrian-American leaders in different fields in order to showcase their important achievements and imbue other Syrian-Americans with pride. Next, the editor continues to discuss traveling through the mysterious valley of Wadi'l-Karn, and briefly discussing his time in preparation to Damascus. Also about Damascus is a poem by Thomas Asa. "Ali Zaibaq" returns in this issue and the "Tragic Love of a Caliph" is also continued, before a poem by G.K. Gibran titled "On Giving and Taking." The issue concludes with a discussion led by Ameen Rihani on the mission of The Syrian World before the usual installation of the political developments in Syria this month, specifically dealing with the situation in Damascus, The Syrian Mandate, and Moslem and Christian tensions in Palestine.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1930s
Ameen Rihani
Immigration
Kahlil Gibran
New York
Palestine
Poetry-English
Religion
Reverend W.A. Mansur
Syria
Thomas Asa
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/d559ab736cdc67c6615d2b09c48953d9.pdf
4758dd4c1e496e43f636feef57f35c28
PDF Text
Text
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
569876A
TILOZM FOUNDATIONS
R
1931
L
1
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
"Published monthly except July and August
by
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single Copies 50c
Entered as second class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New York,
N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. V. No. 1,
SEPTEMBER, 1930
CONTENTS
PAGE
Woman in the Near Hast
5
AMEEN RIHAM
American Near Eastern Colleges
14
PROF. CHARLES
D.
MATTHEWS
The Tragic Love of a Caliph ,.-.
19
(Short Story, adapted from the Arabic)
The Twin Cities of the Orontes
SALLOUM
A.
25
MOKARZEL
�CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
The Battle (Poem)
35
Y.
DR. SAI.IM
l>
ALKAZIN
Alt Zaibaq (Quicksilver) (Serial)
SALLOUM
A.
THADDEUS
MOKARZEL
S.
Greatness
35
and
DAYTON
41
G. K. Gi BRAN
The Tale of a Rose (Poem)
42
THOMAS A&A
Editorial Comment:
L
Our Fifth Year
44
What's in a Name?
45
Racial Representation
47
Political Developments in Syria
4^
About Syria and Syrians
53
�IN THIS ISSUE
TO determine the degree of
a people's progress, one
must look to the home. The
mother is the one to rear a
| nation. In the East, woman
had been held down to straight
jacket traditions forcing her to
the strictest seclusion. She could
not broaden and develop sufficiently to accelerate the march
of progress. The East was
man's realm exclusively.
Not so are conditions at present. Woman is emerging from
. her confinement and asserting
I herself in almost a radical manner. She is seeking education
and already discussing political
franchise. It's a sign of awakening that cannot fail of carrying a weighty portent.
The woman's movement in
the East is a subject of fundamental importance. The whole
question of national progress
hinges on it. And Ameen Rihani discusses it in a most enlightening manner. In his present
article he gives the whole history of the movement and cites
many instances of its progressive and effective manifestation. Mr. Rihani's standing as
an expert in Near Eastern
matters is well-known.
PROF. Charles D. Matthews
of Birmingham Southern
:—
-
-
College is an Arabic scholar of
recognized ability. He visited
Syria and the Near East last
year and made a study of its
social, political, educational and
economic trends. His present
contribution to THE SYRIAN
WORLD on American educational institutions in the Near
East is both informative and
entertaining. We are happy to
welcome him to our circle of
contributors, and feel sure that
our readers will immensely enjoy his writings, both in poetry
and prose, inspired by the beauty of some wondrous scenes he
beheld in our motherland.
VWE begin in this issue a serial
of the nature of the famous
Arabian Nights, and done in
the same order. Ali Zaibaq, or
Quicksilver, is one of those
superhuman) heroes created by
the fertile Oriental imagination and around whose person
are woven tales of the most
wonderful exploits. The translation of Quicksilver was undertaken many years ago by the
editor in collaboration with his
friend Mr. Thaddeus S. Dayton. There was no thought at
the time of publishing THE
SYRIAN WORLD, and the manuscripts were forgotten. Lately,
however, our loyal friend and
�•
collaborator discovered us and
learned of our work and generously turned over the longfmried literary treasure to us.
We are now happy to pass it
along to our readers. They will
surely find it to be a real discovery.
love. How he lived and loved
and died is graphically told in
an exclusive translation from
the Arabic original.
yHE Political Department in
this issue is teeming with interest. Political developments
in Syria are being watched by
Europeans and Americans as
never before because of the
mandatory experiment. Surely
these developments should
hold more interest for Syrians
and those of Syrian descent.
They are treated in a concise
and comprehensive manner in
CONTINUING the description of his trip through
Syria, the editor takes the reader in his present installment to
the interior of the counery, first
on a pilgrimage to the tomb
of Abu'l-'Ala, and then to a
visit to Horns and Hama, the
twin cities of the Orontes.
Readers who have followed THE SYRIAN WORLD.
the editor's travel articles will
In this issue the supposed
find the current installment plottings of Italy to gain the
most interesting.
mandate over Syria through
the Papal Nuncio and the MaJTiE Umayyad dynasty at ronite clergy are disclosed in all
Damascus saw the heyday their details.
of the power and glory of Islam. Yazid, a son of Mu'awi- THIS issue marking the entry
yah, succeeded to the throne of
of THE SYRIAN WORLD in
his father when most of the its fifth year, an editorial on
civilized world was paying trib- the subject surveys the past and
ute to the Prince of the Faith- promises a most important anful in the capital of Syria. But nouncement to be published in
the heart of Yazid did not the coming issue. Also discusscrave pomp and power—he ed editorially is the advisabilwanted love, and in the pursuit ity of a change of name for the
of his worldly pleasures he con- Syrians in America. This subtemptuously neglected the af- ject should be of general infairs of state. Of such strength terest and expressions of opinwas his love that it killed him ion on it would be welcomed if
and gave him the distinction of treated logically and dispasbeing the only caliph to die of sionately.
�TTTP
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. V. No. 1.
SEPTEMBER, 1930
Woman in the Near East
By
AMEEN RIHANI
pROM the seclusion of the harim the women of the Near East
are going out to the public school, to the open forum, to the
dance-hall, even to the business world. The change, social and
intellectual, is evident everywhere, from Turkey to Arabia and
from Egypt to Afghanistan. There is also a European, a Western direction of significance. Eastern women attend women congresses in Europe, Western women travel in the East with a message and an appeal; and in both places they meet on common
ground and exchange views and confidences. The status of woman, fashioned and upheld by man for centuries, must change.
But how fast is it changing in the Near East? There is Occidental speed in Turkey; there is a steady advance in Egypt; there
is determination flavored with controversy in Syriaj and there is
in Arabia, Persia and Afghanistan a traditional caution highly
spiced with the modern ambition. Everywhere there is a common urge, however, and an uncommon tendency to get together.
At the Woman Congress held in Damascus last June, were
delegates from all the countries I have mentioned. And the
speeches were made in languages that were not all Asiatic. The
representative of an international organization for women in Europe spoke in French; the delegate from Persia delivered an
address in English, and the head of the Turkish delegation made
a gracious concession to Damascus in fluent Arabic. We may infer
from this that the sources of inspiration are as vital as the points
of convergence. Arabic, of course, was the common medium;
and through Arabic, with English and French as the auxiliaries
of its modern culture, the cardinal objectives of the woman move-
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
ment will eventually be achieved everywhere in the Near East
of
gress
TeTr'
i" "*"**
**right
*****
^choose
ingress, ar'th
are three,
namely,
monogamy,^the
of a girl to
her own husband and the abolition'of seclusion. Which mea"
that polygamy and the veil and the harim are passing way
They have already passed away in Turkey. The woman move
ment ,„ the most successful of Oriental repubfehasTte
Sulfan AbTl R ^ ^ eJlf—hisement. It"began where
that li f^amid Cnde,d and Progressed slowly to the poiM
hat marks the beginning of Mustapha Kemal. Since then Has
soTalge°x;iitSntsy Th^f
** Tf
*»*" °f economic" a'nd
C tCmp
and not the
TnlQi9 TT ?
°'
spirit, has changed
" ,|J tant' noP] e: rShe was the first woman to unveil in public
and after she had finished her speech, she waved her vefl\ a
mX f/reedom- ^any women after that followedh r x
ample, and soon the eloquent,gesture became superfluous
author of 2 T H!' ^^ ** ^ustapha^ema is the
author of the Turkish woman's freedom. He is its official nm
tagon.st and its guide. But what share and what trouble he mav
be haying ,„ gu,ding it, may be only inferred. The Amerkan
Pin°cl W ?rlS in CTtantin°Ple--w Istanboul-is SlT h
principal factor in modern education; and from Pierre T nt?
„
sna
aes or a European experiment.
argiJhdies of^he^ "CVer ^^ ^ ***** of the lethmUSt
g f SCh o1 but th
must
sf work
work Thev
mT even
2* the
^mistresses,
° °
° more
'
aiso
l hey must
be
or ^
Jess of
their own destiny. Earn your living, find your own husband
solve your own domestic problems Freedom'.
husband,
are seldom free from frcel^T^hTs
compensations
How much the modern Turkish girl is beginning to feel
ment bne is still n the glow of dawn; and encouraged bv the
Dictator, stimulated by his edicts, she is bravely going ahead The
publicists of the Republic are her prophets. The dogrn^ of the
mu lah has been replaced by the dogmaof the propagf'dist Bu
there are, for her diversion, playgrounds on the wayg And there
are dance-halls and beauty contests to keep up her spirit There
are also cafes where she may tarry to surve'y L 3L world
Sip§ her ddnk and
curette
* who
t^
cigarette. XI
Barbers, *?
too,
but yesterday were poeticamokeTEer
about the
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
7
unseen beauty of the hair they now consign to the litter basket.
Alas for romance.
But the girl who read Pierre Loti in the secrecy of the harim
now reads Bernard Shaw and Bertrand Russell on a park bench
in Taksim. What is the poison and what is the antidote? No one,
I dare say, can be judicious and precise, at the present time, in
answering the question. Our modern prophets may be responsible
for a revival of interest ultimately in the romantic era—may even
drive us back to its scented shades.
Meanwhile, the Turkish woman, who has unveiled her face
and her mind, is willing to stand European fashion before the
judges of a beauty contest. And the editor of the Turkish review
receives and publishes her photograph with the nonchalance of a
theatrical manager. His readers, too, may judge—and choose.
From the slave-market to the beauty review, is not, after all, an
innovation. It is a development in, at least, the masculine mentality. For while in the past a Turk inspected a slave as he would
a brood mare, he has to stand today at a virtuous distance, trusting his eye and mind, or even be content with a vision, on paper
or on the screen, of semi-nudity. But other contests of a more
serious nature are taking place today in Turkey; and the Turkish
girl, even as a typist, is catching up with her American sisters.
On the other hand, her Muslem sisters in other parts of the
Near East do not altogether approve of her speed. She is too
fast for them, even as Mustapha Kemal is too fast for the mullahs of Afghanistan. The fact is that the woman movement in
Turkey, because of its ultra-revolutionary spirit, is exerting little
or no influence beyond the Turkish frontiers. This revolutionary
spirit may be compatible with the Turk in whom the Islamic religion is not, after all, deeply rooted; but it can not find free access
into such strongholds of Islam as Persia and Arabia or be received
enthusiastically in such centres of Islamic learning as Cairo and
Damascus.
Thus, by its own force and scope, the movement is isolated.
But there are before it the possibilities of either increasing in
power and overcoming the barriers of tradition in other Eastern
countries about the time the woman movement there had become
somewhat radical, or of experiencing a reaction which will force
the Turkish woman to take a few steps backward to meet her
slowly advancing Eastern sisters. The latter, in my opinion, is
more probable. To leap is as bad as to creep. But from the kitchen
to the platform direct is not so dangerous a leap as from the harim
�'
mmmm
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Moslem women venturing in public had to be heavily veiled
according to time-honored traditions.
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
I
Manifestation of the emancipation movement in the Ens!. Deleapes to the Women's Congress held hi Damascus }>/ June of
this year.
to the dance-halls, for instance, or to the business world. A woman publicist may also be a good dancer and a good wife; but
she can not be of much help to the thousands of her sisters who,
through the same new economy of life, go astray. Even a publicist in the whirl and upheaval, may become a publican. And a
Jupanar, which very seldom existed in Islamic countries, is not an
improvement upon the harim. Slippery, indeed, is the dancing
floor of the Republic.
In Egypt the way to the dance-hall has not yet been open to
the Muslim girl, and may not be for a time to come. Instead of
a slippery floor, however, she has a thorny path. And the thorns
are not from Europe. The Azhar University of Cairo is a hothouse of a variety of spinous plants, and it furnishes the nation
with hedges of every kind.
The Azhar dons, who are more intransigeant and straitlaced
than any of their colleagues elsewhere, oppose with the Koran
every innovation imported from Europe. Not long ago there was
�' —
10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
a flaming controversy between them and the young reformers
about the hat; and one of the dons wrote a book to prove that
the hat is not the proper thing for an Orthodox Muslem—it is
not sanctioned by the Koran. Incidentally, I might say that in a
part of southern Arabia the sun, and not the Koran, is the recognized authority. The Arabs there, men and women, who are not
less religious than the learned shaikhs of Al-Azhar, find it necessary, when they are working in the fields, to wear hats—large
straw hats of their own making.
^ When it comes to argument it does not require much effort to
drive the heavy-turbaned Muslem dons to the wall. QasimAmin,
one of the greatest of modern Egyptians, drove them all to the
wall, but apparently, as it was then observed, to no purpose.
More than a dozen books were written against his one book The
Emancipation of Woman. And on both sides the Koran was in-i
voked. "Woman's place," said the dons, "is where the Prophet
placed her." "The Prophet," said Qasim Amin, "found woman
in bonds, a miserable chattel, and after lifting her to a position
that was compatible with the spirit of the times, he opened to
her, through the very Koran, the way of gradual development
and freedom. We are continuing the work of the Prophet." And
the reformer, who was an eminent jurist, could not be accused of
misunderstanding or misinterpreting the Koran.
This was forty years ago, when in Turkey rarely a voice was
heard for the emancipation of woman. Qasim Amin was then
alone, not only in Egypt, but in the whole Islamic world, and
now, fifteen years after his death, he is the guiding light of a
nation-wide movement and he has many disciples even among
the students of the Azhar University.
But the foremost exponent of his principles today is a woman
of rank and power, the widow of the nationalist leader the late
Sa'd Zaghloul. When her husband was exiled by the British Governmenet in 1922, she was asked if she would like to accompany
him. "No," she replied, "I will remain here to continue his
work." Another influential disciple of Qasim Amin, who like the
widow of Zaghloul has discarded the veil, and who takes an active
interest also in politics, is Huda Shi'rawi, a society leader and organizer of exceptional ability. Lady Huda is also one of the best
known Oriental women in Europe, where she frequently sojourns,
moving from one woman congress to another in the interest of
her country and her sex.
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
Qasim Amin has also received, directly and indirectly, official
recognition. At the Egyptian University, not Jong ago, tribute
was paid to a young authoress whose work was inspired by the
reformer; and when the Egyptian sculptor Mukhtar was commissioned by the Government to make a monument to Egypt, he
conceived it in the terms of the woman movement. His work is
in reality a tribute to Qasim Amin; for the Mother of the Nation
in marble stands erect and unveiled.
But the veil in itself is no more a vital issue. The change
from a heavy material to a light chiffon, white or black, is a significant comment upon its evolution. From an esthetic point of,
view, however, there is a hope, even among the moderns, that it
does not thin down to nothing. The Egyptian flapper in high
heels, a short skirt and a filmy veil, is a picturesque contribution
to that kaleidoscope of color and fashion the Musky. She exemplifies the potency, even the gaiety of silken defiance. And as a
recruit, she is also often seen among the more conventional of
her sex in the political demonstrations of the day. Thus, through
the various channels of politics and education, of culture and
fashion, the mission of Qasim Amin is being accomplished.
It also radiates its influences to other Arabic-speaking countries through the written word. There are today several magazines in Cairo devoted to the movement and edited by Christian
and Muslem women. But the most distinguished among the
writers is Mary Ziadi, a Christian from Mt. Lebanon, whose
home in Cairo is the magnet of the intellectuals of both sexes
and of all religions. It is the only salon that I know of in the
Near East. Miss Ziadi writes under the pen name of Maiy, and
she is fast becoming a power in the woman movement, not only
in Egypt, but wherever Arabic is read.
In Syria many other forces and influences are at work. But
the Muslem woman there, although opposed to the old traditions, is not ready, it seems, for any radical action. She has not
the heroic quality of the Turkish woman, who tore her veil and
waved it as a banner of freedom; nor is she favored with the
economic conditions that enabled many families in Egypt during
the past forty years to employ foreign governesses and teachers
for the education of their girls at home.
Moreover, the spread of French fashions in Syria, the fashions, rather, of the Paris Boulevard, with a powder puff and a
lip stick to complete the public defiance, aroused even the Muslem youth to indignation and rage. There were their sisters and
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
sure' bu0tUchdWiVeS
'^
*' "5
°V ^ to shoP>
m
agen
f French fabrics
a full li
Jr
]T °
iled to be
> which exhibited
fc WaS 0Utra
0US
was
insuffeSb
But the
trf^
**? T
' *even
insurteraole. But
indignation
of men expressed^itself
more outrageously, criminally. Musiem women, dresed in^
att cked
the streets with
£s£ir&s "n,t ^r"^
fn ^e face T 3
L„S
5'
u
S me
ffl whs
°
°f them were burned
m Damascus
>
which
is
more
conservative than
r
in style, walked through the bazaar unveiled and was slapped in
he face by a fanatical shaikh. These two instances of the asserdele'd
?&*">
^ °ninthe
^^
aesired effeTTh^t
ettect They checked
the extravagance
style
But be
yond the surface deep in the soul of woman, theyawakened a
were capable of more resistance than they had shown Instead
of publicly protesting, however, they are organizing And as a
reply, perhaps, to the fanatical shaikhs of Damascuf' .Woman
^ hdd * ^ — -ient of cities SS^
An essential feature of the movement in Syria and Palestine
and Iraq, is that women of all creeds, Muslems Christians ,nd
Druses, are working together, and they are all^reedCiS
bo. » not the wisest policy and that organization^ not tS"
I hey are all agreed that education is even more popular thnn the
Pans fashions Twenty years ago there were not mo", than thirty
Ol forty Musiem prls ,n the various schools of these four cit e
today mBeirut alone, I was told by the Minister of Kcmca on'
the attendance ,s more than one thousand.
nation,
Beirut, the leading centre of education in the Near Fast his
more schools and colleges, native and foreign, than any ciVo
its size m the world But its girl schools, before the W rid \V
were all fore,gn and more or less of a missionary charac er Tki
is why Musiem parents refused to send their daughters to thern!
But during the war, when all the foreign schools were closed
a Syrian woman Marie Kassab, opened a native schooTwhere she
herself was taught, in the building of the English Mission The
success of the school was such that the attendance in a few years
rose from twenty to three hundred, and an enthusiasm for educa
ion was kindled in all the neighboring countries. From Iraq
from Palestine, from all parts of the Arabic-speaking world'
gxk of all creeds, Muslems and Christians and Drufes, come
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
13
Modern training for Syrian g-lrls. — Physical culture exercises
at the Ahliyah School for Girls in Beirut.
today to the Ahliyah School of Marie Kassab. The secret of its
popularity lies principally in the fact that, besides being native,
it is non-sectarian. Technically and executively also it enjoys an
uncommon reputation.
The emancipation of woman in Turkey has been achieved, as
we have seen, principally through legislation3 but in Egypt and
Syria, in all the Arabic-speaking countries, as well as in Persia,
it is being achieved through education. While emphasizing the
power of the school, however, the leaders of the movement do
not deny the power of the Government. The two together are
certainly more effective and more permanent in their good than
the edicts of a dictator even if they include the adoption of a
European code of civil law. The Damascus Congress, aside from
the cardinal objectives referred to at the beginning of this article,
has adopted, as part of its programme, resolutions to secure ( 1)
compulsory education for boys and girls, (2) legislation to prohibit the employment of children under the age of fourteen, and
(3) the establishment by the Government of technical schools
for both sexes.
�14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
American Near Eastern Colleges
By
PROF. CHARLES
1).
MATTHEWS
of Birminghm-Southern College.
Editors Note — Prof. Matthews pivcs in the following article a comprehensive, yet concise, account of American educational activities in the
s
«/p • f'
~?cia! emPhAasi,s on tha work of the American University
of Beirut The writer is an Arabic scholar and in his travels in Near Eastern countries, which he undertook last y2ar had the advantage of studying
first-hand the effectsi of the solendid educational endeavors of America in
those lands. Prof. Matthews has pledged to The Syrian World his steady
co-operation and our readers may expect many valuable contributions from
his pen in both poetry and pross.
^0 Americans who visit the important Mediterranean city of
Beirut one of the most interesting sights is the American University. The institution, with its more than fifty buildings, its
large faculty, and its more than 2,500 alumni who are filling
places of responsibility in the life of many Near Eastern countries, is the outstanding member of a group of such schools.
"Broadcasting international good will," as their slogan reads,
there are six American institutions in the Near East College Association located as follows: Robert College and The Women's
College, in Constantinople; International College, Smyrna; Sofia
American Schools, Bulgaria; and Athens College, Greece, and
the university here in Syria. In addition, there is a recently
founded American University in Cairo, not connected with the
group.
Although some of these institutions have not reached full collegiate standing, they all are having an important part in adapting these lands of ancient civilization to modern life. Through
them America as a product of Western civilization is partly repaying the debt which the West owes to the East. Robert'College is said to be one of the most potent social forces in this part
of the world. The Women's College of Constantinople, as the
only institution for higher learning in Turkey, has a unique position of influence. International College in Smvrna lays emphasis
on commercial training, and especially on agricultural because of
the richness in natural resources of the district in which it is
located. The American Schools in Bulgaria have increased opportunities for service and leadership since liberation in the country
"
�.
SEPTEMBER, 1930
15
—which came about indeed, it is said, by inspiration of the ideals
promulgated by Robert College.
Respect in which the American institutions are held in the
Near East is well shown by the foundation of the American University in Athens, in 1925, undertaken by request of the people
of Greece, is given a campus by a wealthy citizen, and awarded
unusual privileges by the governmental decree. Other countries,
like Iraq or Mesopotamia, have asked for similar institutions, and
many lands of the Orient are asking for graduates for various
types of work.
The American University of Beirut was opened in 1366, and
has exerted a continually growing influence in the Near East. One
of its outstanding schools is that of medicine, which now has more
than 800 graduates throughout the Near East, a territory where
modern medical science was sorely needed. Other departments,
in addition to the regular college of arts and sciences, are those
of commerce, pharmacy, dentistry, and nursing. Along with the
medical school there is a well equipped hospital where thousands
of cases are listed yearly. A preparatory division trains young
students for their college work. Everywhere one goes in this
section of the world, he finds doctors, dentists, editors, and government officials who are educated at the American University
of Beirut. It is the "educational capital" of the Near East, students coming here from other institutions to complete their training. The Near East is making unmistakable progress. In the annual report of the Near East College Association for 1928-29, a
document which portrays a romance of practical missionary endeavor, President Bayard Dodge, of Beirut, points to the "dramatic" leadership of four great personalities. They are: Ras
Tafari of Abyssinia or Ethiopia (an ancient Christian country);
Mustapha Kamal Pasha of Turkey; Shah Riza Khan of Persia,
and Ibn Saoud, who is called "the Maker of Modern Arabia."
Beirut itself is a considerable city, having near 250,000 inhabitants, a fine harbor with about 3,000 ships annually, and a unique
location at the foot of the Lebanon Mountains. If the business
man or ordinary citizen feels uncomfortable in the summer
warmth of the city, by a trip of an hour by auto he can ascend
to one of the innumerable, picturesque villages scattered over the
mountains and there enjoy a climate as of spring! The city is
very old, its history reaching back to the maritime state of the
Phoenicians, as interesting objects in the university and municipal
museums attest. Phoenicians, Egyptians, Assyrians, Romans,
�s=asHss
16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
�17
Arabs, Crusaders, Druzes, Turks, and now the French, have been
its masters throughout history. The memorials of past rulers are
impressively sculptured on the rock cliffs of the Dog River,
Nahr el-Kalb," a few miles to the north of the city, where
eleven tablets of inscriptions tell of campaigns from those of
ancient Egyptians and Assyrians to that of Napoleon when he
was seeking to emulate Alexander in this part of the world. Evidence of French control at present is seen everywhere—in the
colorful observance of Bastile Day, July 14; in the ubiquity of
the French language; in the war memorial to French soldiers and
sailors on the waterfront; in the large number of soldiers still
stationed here (many of them black Colonials), and in the ex tensive program of enlargement of the city by which, old narrow
lanes of native buildings are being replaced by modern structures.
^ We have been living more than a week in the village of
"Souk el-Gharb," where there is a summer school for boys as a
division of the university, and also a summer school for religious
workers of the American Mission in Beirut. As luck would have
it, we happened upon a hotel owned by a voung Syrian-American
who was born in North Carolina "and wants to get back there as
soon as possible!"
It is impossible to give more than a hint of the pleasant situation here. From the hotel open-air dining room we can look
down on the entire city and environs of Beirut, fully 10 miles
away (though appearing to be within a few minutes walk,) and
20 miles by the winding automobile roads or the equallv windimnMlway. We have a wonderful view of the sea, from far north
of the city and harbor, to several miles south, past the radio tower
over which w- recently sent a message and received an answer
m a very comforting fashion to people far from home. We watch
the sunset here every afternoon,—or climb to the top of the
mountain a few minutes away, to obtain a grander view and to
watch the lingering reflection on the higher mountains to the
west. And then we return as the delicious!v cool breezes begin
&
to be a little chill.
The chief business of the people here, in addition to raising
fruits, praoes. vegetables, and cocoons for the silk trade of France',
and driving American-made automobiles for hire, seems to be
running hotels for the summer visitors. Hotels and pensions and
cafes are sprinkled all over the mountains. Our hotel is a middle
class one, with a friendly, social spirit and very tasty Syrian food.
Last night we walked further up the mountain'to a de luxe
�(T~
1 o
THE SYRIAN WORLD
establishment, and there saw, as one of the chief sights, vacationnLZT" ^ntlJmCn and voluPtuou* Egyptian ladies winder's
TJu? "salary!
^ rmentS at the table more than a allege
teachers monthly
°
In a measure fulfilling their war-time promises to the Arabs
the BmHh created in Syria after their success against th Turks
of M
°A ?"* W,th Feisd' the so» of f<
r King Hussein
of Mecca and the native spirit of the revolt, as the monarch. But
he French were determined to have Syria according to their prearranged plans, and the kingdom was short-lived; Feisal was
forced to abdicate, fleeing to Mesopotamia or Iraq where he wa
given a "consolation throne" in that ancient country of the Assyrians and Babylonians watered by the great Tigris and Eu60611
kd hy the
HauS > 1925 thP°rrfUChI Ih3Ve
""
^Uzes
reor anized
four ZZ s' I," ?T
g
of
^
the territory into
"TeUl
.n yna"
uebfr' thG Akouites 0n the n«rth), and
Jebel ed-Druse," south of Damascus in the Hauran. The greatest measure of freedom has been given to the people of the Lebanons, the state of which Beirut is an integral part. They have a
NeTtcoL'Z
° rfT^ and/ h°USe °f -P-e"tadveesa
JNext come the people of the state of "Syria," which includes the
great port,on of the territory, including the region between AW
po and the Euphrates and running south past Damascus The
"Syrians," as the inhabitants of this artificially hewn-out state are
called, have a president but no representative assembly. French
ESSES" °Ver th£ ^^ and the brave ^WaUy
Svrif?^ D°Se thUS defnbeS the new State University of
Syria, located in Damascus, dean of cities: "Perhaps there is no
other university in the world with such a picturesque sett ng The
Muslim School of Theology is in the 16th cenLy mosque of
miroTthe cf
orm
side ofacourt withthe
;°r
,
'
owSldhanty de a
des A K
^ 5°? "'I r
P rtment on the other three
sides. A beautiful tank of water is in the centre. The department
8 ,n
lted
Ht by domes iike
batV
T T fr^
£^
waters of n "
^ ^^
old park, with
is an
the
the wateis of Damascus pouring down from Lebanon through
lovely groves of poplars and fruit trees. Most of the instruct
is given in Arabic, and one of the aims of the institution i to
Je^mg of the West:'""1
bCing
^ "* T
thR
^ "-*»
�19
The Tragic Love of a Caliph
A SHORT STORY
Adapted from the Arabic
gAADA, the ranking legal wife of the caliph Yazid, successor of
the Prophet, Prince of the Faithful, retired to the most secret
recesses of her quarters in the spacious palace of the harem in
Damascus and gave orders to her maids and eunuchs that under
no conditions should she be disturbed. It was a strange and inexplicable action on the part of the queen when the capital was given
up to great reioicing over the accession of the new caliph. Shouts
of Allahu Akbar rising from thousands of throats floated to the
palace from the crowded streets, while in the palace itself the generals of the great Arab army, the princes of the empire and the
notables of the capital, were gathered to render homage to the
new sovereign. Even the harem quarters, whose strict seclusion
is proverbial, especially those of the caliph's palace, could not
escape the contagion of popular joy. The women inmates staged
their celebration in their own way: musicians playing gleeful
times on their ouds, singers making the palace resound with
songs of the happiest moods, and dancing girls performing with
the extreme of unguarded abandon, as would spring from the
most sincere and spontaneous feeling. But the motives behind
the queen's seclusion no one dared question. Nor did anyone
seem to care amidst the hilarity of national festivities.
Presently, coming stealthily from a secret passage, a man was
seen to enter the queen'3 private apartment, with whom she appeared to be on terms of greatest familiarity. For a time she was
engaged with him in earnest conversation, after which she opened
a secret chest from which she brought forth several bags of gold
and an immense quantity of precious stones and jewelry which
she handed him. The man soon thereafter disappeared through
the same secret passage whence he had come.
*
*
*
Three months later the great city of Damascus, then the capital of an empire which had grown within less than a century to
greater proportions than the Roman Empire ever reached at the
�€
20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
zenith of its power, was the scene of a demonstration such as
it had never witnessed in all its long history, notwithstanding the
tact that it is reputed to be the oldest city in the world. Great
caravans were converging on it from all parts of the vast-flung
empire. Arabia, Egypt, Marrakesh and Spain contributed their
contingents. The hosts of Mohammad had conquered almost
half of the world, and the responsible caids of this all-sweeping
religious-military movement who had been apprised by special
courners of the accession of the new caliph were proceeding to
Damascus to render him homage and pledge loyalty. They were
bringing the choicest and most precious gifts of their respective
lands to the successor of the Prophet. The splendor of their
equipage was dazzling in its gorgeous display. Emirs in flowing
silk robes, bedecked with fine jewelry, and their chargers caparisoned in silver and gold, rode in retinues scarcely less gorgeous
Behind them trailed long caravans of camels bearing rich stuffs,
and spices, and precious metals and stones intended for gifts to
the new caliph. The population of the city, almost to a man,
was foregathered at the city gates or in the public squares. The
muezzins, from atop hundreds of minarets, sent forth from silvery
throats joyous shouts of Allahu Akbar that rolled over the city
like distant echoes of a celestial choir. All activity in the city had
ceased, except that which had direct bearing on proclaiming the
ascendency and power of Islam.
Entering the city by the southern gate, the African contingent,
coming from Al-Maghreb, was by far the most imposing both by
extent of numbers and display of wealth. It was composed not
only of Moroccans and Tunisians but of representatives of all
the Barbary States of North Africa as well as of. those of Egypt.
Somewhere in Morocco a man and a maid had joined this
caravan and during the whole march maintained themselves in
strict seclusion. The man was apparently the master or custodian
oi the girl, because he was extremely jealous of her and solicitous for her welfare and safety. He had sought the caid of
the caravan at the outset of the journey and confided to him
something of apparently great moment, because the caid assigned
to him and his charge a place in the line immediately following
his own bodyguard, and none was suffered to interfere with them
or molest them. With the single exception of the caravan leader
none knew who the pair were, nor whence they had come or whither they were going.
Once inside Damascus the man and the maid fell out of line
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
d Stant
absence we,« practically unnoticed
'
^ thdr
The man apparently knew his way about the citv well He
^SSSX-^s stow? -•
queeTt^hicrLdicaSd'JLt'the6 ********
«*-^ of the
1 Up n which she had se
the man Masrour w,,
k
"'I""
°
a second ^Z^/ZZ^^TL!^^ **
embraced him affectionately. The auTen's
conrtn't
,
, d
q
ed only bv the f>rt n,„. vi
f conduct can be explainMaSTOUr Was her truste
adviser
d servant and
hardty att'ed! "* """" ^ "*ed
the
""«"' »» excitement
nlVHIMlJy
her
'» vour presence » re
aWalt y UC
c°
°rderS
t0 brin
g
£-ES2£° ~« °* ** "^ - ^ the"
ftitt»Si2rs.the ^TeS^
whe thou
kMwest m
ss&s** -
&*%£z?z
Masrour was not long in returning with Hubaba H, k-i
left her only ,„ one of the ante-chambers there to await Ws en 1
The girl was of surpassing beauty. Contemporary Arab chronic
lers describe her as the most beautiful as we is rL \
plished woman of her times. She %"dSri^SJSrf
the most emment masters of the age and was versed in nottrv
in Arab lore, and in vocal and instrumental music TL?^'
none other that surpassed her in all the art S&
profuse in her show of loving soiicit^But stwtld not^
*—"
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
her long m this condition after her long and trying journey. She
clapped for her maids and had them take Hubaba to the bath,
and, Jater, clothed her in her choicest queenly robes and bestowed
upon her the costliest jewels. Truly, after her refreshing bath
and her appearance in the gorgeous regal robes, Hubaba stood
out like a hounat from Al-Janna, a temptation and a subject of
admiration to all mortals.
So far Hubaba had said nothing beyond a few words of appreciation and thanks, so overwhelmed was she by the profusion
of the queen's hospitality and kindness. Now that she had been
through her bath, and was sharing with the queen the bountiful
repast that a long train of eunuchs and slave-girls were serving
them in an endless variety of tempting courses, Hubaba made
bold to ask of the queen the reason for such action. The queen
was frank and explicit.
"You realize, my dear, the love of Yazid for you," she said.
*.ver since his brother Omar, when caliph, forced him to part
with you he was disconsolate. Now that he has come to the caliphate it occurred to me that I would be doing an act which would
secure for me the joys of Paradise if I brought you two lovers
together. Our Prophet Mohammad, (prayers and salutations of
Allah be upon him,) has so promised whomsoever did such an
act of kindness and charity. As Yazid's wife I love him, but he
in turn loves you, and because of my love.for him I resolved to
contribute to the fullness of his happiness by giving you to him
I herefore have I sent my trusted servant to seek you and purchase you from your new master whatever the price. Now my
happiness is complete that I found you."
Hubaba could well realize the reason behind the queen's apparently strange action. She, Hubaba, was not a freewoman and
could never aspire to the rank of Saada. And the caliph must
have his diversions and pleasures, especially if he be of the character and temperament of Yazid. Of slave-girls he had aplenty,
and the addition of just one could not materially affect the situation.
Still there was cause for some vague, undefined doubt in
Hubaba s mind. Her feminine intuition told her that behind
this profusion of kindness and generosity there must be a definite
and thus far hidden, reason. But she who was so diplomatic and
tactful could not openly question the motives of the queen For
a moment she remained silent, deliberating on the manner to un-
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
23
cover the queen's designs without causing offense. Then she
spoke:
j qy g
"Beloved mistress and queen," she ventured, "words fail to
appropriately express my deep feelings of thanks and gratitude
to you. I am your servant and slave, and thus shall I remain to
the end of my days. My only regret is that, owing to my humble
station, I can only show my gratitude to you in words. Oh, that
I could be of some service to you in any other capacity. My life
would be the least I could offer in payment for your great kindness."
At these words the queen was exceedingly pleased, and she
again drew Hubaba closer to her and encircled her with her
arms.
"Sweet Hubaba," she said, "it is true that I am the ranking
wife of Yazid, but you should realize it is equally true that you
are the ranking woman in his affections. Ever since Omar forced
him to sell you there was a void in his heart that none other than
you could fill. But upon his accession to the throne 1 determined
to bring you back to him whatever the cost."
Saada had said something of this nature before and she felt
that the repetition did not fully satisfy the curiosity of Hubaba.
None but a woman can sense the secret of another woman's heart,
and Saada felt that in the heart of Hubaba lurked some deep and
subtle suspicion. She decided to tell all.
"Beloved Hubaba," she continued. "While I am solicitous
for the happiness of Yazid, 1 am also extremely conscious of the
future welfare and safety of the state. You, more than any other,
know Yazid's temperamental nature. In a fit of irresponsibility
he is liable to say or do anything. Now that you know this, and
realize that I am the first legally wedded wife of Yazid, and the
ranking queen of his harem, and since you display such gratitude
for the small favors I have done for you, you would amply repay
me by an act that will bring you no harm and result in lasting benefit to the state and the line of Yazid. Use your influence with
Yazid to have him proclaim his son by me his legal heir. That
is my only request of you."
Hubaba gave her consent readily. She was aware of the rivalry between Saada, Yazid's first wife, and Zongia, his second,
and could not help but give the former her wholehearted sympathy. Especially since Zongia was known to be negotiating for
the purchase of Selma, another famous singing girl, to make a
gift of her to Yazid. Hubaba could not help but feel slighted in
�M.
24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
preeminent standing, and naturally sided with her own mis-
dal wood/ltts?dav
w
„ ,',nCe"Se
Md
,rbergeris a"d -»-
W
h
introduced* , U^^SfJ
H
\father Muawi>^ tad
?
his element Hi T
tradition. But Yazid was out of
a.Kft"gnHe ,tem,':;:dtnpoass,on r the..he,oveKo°fwon*-*«
to the Flithfd"t ,h, ° T' * °V
'S injunction
W e : A d hC W U,d h
te
tered his thro"e StSS at '" f
",
e °
'of his harem with hi,fcS& a , "ers aTd " ^ ""? ^"^
panions.
lancers and singers and cup com-
^^^"Sff ^
the h
b
ught him
since to Yazid personal ZTtt
* m°St Urgent matter- And
considerations of tate he f"S7£r^ TI m°re imPortailt *»
and proceeded ?0 S&SSSjfS *" ^-^
ing himself on a divan to rll.v /
l {
,qUeen'there throw0
nof even inc^rmgXu th "atrTof th^b"
" °f 2? ** a"d
he buSmess which cau
Saada to send after him Y, "T
sed
loyalty fitter TS£ ^ COOJnoBdf«* only of Saada's
n
tion her
-otivL.
p
4^
&fe
i£Ls%
s
r
e
to drag him away from the boredom of nffl, f ?
°
mCanS S
was content to let her have her ^ with h*Ul1 ^^
s*^^,^^
r
to her not unlike ^LZZdA u
aS
He
like an op
eVCIy m Ve
-^
° - He was
spoiled so long as he"SntwIuS^Tto^ *°r ? he *"
through him she could comeTo herealfzaton
U *****
^
tions.
realization J
of her
own ambi(To be continued)
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
25
The Twin Cities of the Oron tes
A CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OE THE EDITOR'S
TRIP ABROAD
X
By
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
1
journey from Aleppo took the nature of a real adventure
O)UR
i he vast expanse of uninhabited country we had to traverse,
m h only a few reckless automobiles making desperate efforts to
pass us on the way, or a solitary horseman fullv armed, stopping
to watch until we passed, and giving us the while some moment"
of mtense anxiety, gave us the feeling of one crossing a real desn!"l f
T
countryside was totally bare of vegetation. Not
onJy rorests were conspicuous by their absence, but even single
rees or bushes. The only point of difference between Xs vas
bare plains and the desert was in the visible traces of earlier cul7' } enWe,"e n°W hl mid-A"g^t d the grain had been
a
C lori
cane was
w,anfh
^ §f
^theThe
°'^
° soil
<S to the landscape
that imparted
from
nature
of the
A striking peculiarity of the Syrian plains in this section is
their division into longitudinal narrow strips of almost perfect
uniformity. Starting from the road in either direction, these^rS
ran for what appeared to be a mile or more long. Their boundary hnes were plainly traced both by the different in the maim r
of cultivation or the various hues of the earth and the withering
P
S
Patches
lanted t0
i^tWH
f • of
? sombre
°T CaSCS
retained a color
green, which Pwas most watermelons
welcome in
breaking the oppressive monotony of the landscape.
This odd manner of laying out the farm lands was explained
by the fact that all land in the interior of Syria, even up to represent day, is communal property. The community holds the title
to the land which is divided into proportionate shares. Every -hie
or four years the land is reapportioned among the shareholders
and each is allotted property in the amount of area to which his
shares entitle him. But it is the invariable custom that the same
and is not given to the same person for two or more successive
terms. This would have the obvious benefit of not permitting a
�XT'
26
'THE SYRIAN WORLD
few to hold a monopoly on the choice parcels, whether by location
or fertility. Hence, also, the explanation of the strange fact that
no forests or fruit groves or any sort of permanent planting is
to be found in that part of Syria. No one would go to the trouble
or expense of planting for another to reap the benefit, since the
lease on the land is of such a short duration.
About thirty miles south of Aleppo we came to a town which
apparently was favored with an abundant water supply, since there
were evidences of extensive truck gardening by irrigation,while the
surrounding country for miles around was thick with green groves
It proved to be Ma'arrat-ul-Naman, the birthplace of the famous
Syrian poet and philosopher Abu'l <Ala, and as such had an especial attraction for us. It was yet early in the afternoon and we decided to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of the famous bard.
Close by the main road stood two huge buildings occupied by
a mixed l<rench and Syrian garrison. Between them the road Jed
to the town proper lying a short distance behind. The immediate
neighborhood of the barracks presented a pleasing sight with its
small but well-kept gardens. But the appearance of the town
proper was uninviting, except, perhaps, for its clinging touches
of primitive Onental atmosphere. The houses were huddled together in han-hazard fashion, while the main street, or bazaar
consisted of two rows of small booths where the merchants squatting cross-legged in the center, could reach every article of merchandise around. Vegetables seemed to be plentiful and cheap
and the storekeepers apparently undisposed to take advantage of
tourists. If they did we were not conscious of the fact. We bought
several luscious watermelons for the equivalent of a few cents
each.
I made inquiries for the tomb of Abu'l-'Ala, and immediately
a bright Jad of about seventeen volunteered to conduct me to it.
He seemed to be the only one among the group to whom I addressed the question who knew anything about Abu'l-'Ala or entertained any reverence or appreciation for him. The blank look
in the eyes of the others seemed to imply the question, "Who
can be this celebrity among us who arouses the curiosity of strangers that they would rather visit his tomb than tarry at our bazaars?"
The youth led me through several narrow streets, past a huge
stone arch, and into a narrow alley along the sides of which rose
high garden walls. He stopped at a dilapidated wooden gate rrom
which we entered a court about forty feet square. A chorus of
�'
SEPTEMBER, 1930
27
A scene of the vast flams In the interior of Syria in the harvest
season. Primitive methods are still used in threshing grain.
juvenile voices rose from a room to the right, through whose open
door we could see a turbaned school master squatting on the mud
floor and surrounded by a group of children seated in like position. Our guide went directly to him and apprised him of our
mission, and he immediately called for his slippers, which one of
the pupils placed before him. He then rose and felt his way along
the wall until he reached a door which he unlocked with a key
which he carried constantly about his waist, and in the center of
a small, dingy chamber, into which light entered only through
the door, we saw the slab marking the tomb of the famous Arab
poet. For the few moments I stood in reverential awe at this
shrine, I could not help but make a damaging comparison. Only
a month before, on my way to Syria, I had visited Lisbon, capital of Portugal, and marveled at the magnificent marble tombs
which the Portuguese wrought for some of their national historians and poets, going to the extent of raising them to the exalted station of saints by devoting to them the most elaborate chapels of the magnificent convent of Jeronymosj while the tomb of
Abu'l-'Ala whose intellectual influence has been growing steadily
for the last thousand years, is permitted to remain in the
most abject condition of neglect. Something must be radically
wrong with the East, at least to our modern conception
Abu'l-'Ala is not unknown to Occidental scholars. It may
�28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
P er Abu i Ma, photographed from the center of
the public square.
ow'l^^ef ^ torT 'I*?*** **» '"an by his
iaeed by a number ofZl I Wei?.d's s^ 3nd P""y '"ans-
a ProWs D s
MargoLurs
CMir
S
-„ and poet, Ameen Rif^m L.T
°f - lo our own author
IN1
on
verse which wleTubli^d nfST^ITS §*"*
Un
der the t.tJe of "The Luzumiat of AbuVAla "
"
and Wdent,ean„Cdl1ism ";Ak " *"•
bo
°f *d
*d *ought
was able to master the arts a„M c :
• ,
' How ne
he achieved is th m rve o S,01« Sfe d£ ^ th°roUghneSS
of the eleventh century, before^"te*
was born, and the similarity of thought „£;5?
. f Kha>Tam
two leads Mr. Rihani to conclude that «0
?f betWeen the
reason to believe, was an iJ^£S2&£SSftL &*"
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
29
^r^ °I thf ^f °f AMJAla in the courtyard of the elementary school conducted by a blind teacher, the second fZnthe
left.
tPfSi0to kl^lT °f ^UJPAla' gaV£ US license <° mention
chair of he
/tT"1 tHat the P,"esent incumbent of the
chan of the great Arab poet was aJso stricken w^ blindness in
SdL? "ame " Sh£ikh ISmail S1—•
Wh
- -rlng:
sented"^^ ^° ^"^ the toP°^aPhy <* the country presented the same desolate aspect as that previously encountered
and not a trace of formation could be seen until we Secthe
banks of the Orontes. But in Hama we discovered that Irigat on
was done by pnrmtive and laborious means. Thctj^Tr
th s city Js d raise the
S term intI h ^ r* 'PP y^zvz
Zeakn^nfTh
stone arches. The
hSS.
g
W
SU
ds ,S contmuou
orted b
* and atrocious, but to f he in
.ong and that for the obvious reason that water to the Arab renP
resents the most precious gift of life
"
We were told that the principal sight of Hama was the nub
T"? *7 ,thC bndge- We saw the'^ nothing but caf6s W"
mg the high banks of the river. Sheikhs in tuHnns fnrffl •
robes, aiid Effendis in European garb and £toE,tL*322
lechmng on low cushions, or seated around the tabled on low
�rV
30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Abu'l-'Ala, the Voltaire of the East.
(A conception by G. K. Gibran.)
>:r >.-;-v^v-sf;---:':.. -•' •.--: ':
�'
SEPTEMBER, 1930
rush-bottom stools, some smoking their arghiles and others nlav
mg games or drinking black coffee and refreshments W^ enter-"
rg
m St
rd r d ssome
o me lie
""^ t0 ?
*< loath
° to
^^
ordered
beer,^
my companion
being
nartake^^
of the
refreshments concocted of unfiWd wfter. But here no intoxi
cant beverages were to be had. The town was under strct Mo "
hammedan influence which prohibits all forms of liquor-in b
5
another
°fder\d a ">«**** we did not drink, a'nd crossed to"
another cafe where we also ordered some beer
11
He ha
to
^ '^who
TaIter
,m°re that
°bli^"
to c^ultThet
consult the manager
explained
he could "send^ned
out"
kC liqU r n he
tXt^bln
"^
? ° u° / P^^ w£ld£t
tT await Z 2
^T °f ^ Tf-buildi»^ out of public view,
to await the messenger's return? We readily consented Our
groats were parched but my companion was' adamanfagabst
In the meantime we ordered some watermelon which the
waiter said could be served forthwith. We waited fifteen Smites
and my companion's patience became exhausted. K?
the square to have the melon prepared in decent style Now it
t0
th Se CCuli
shoTwtrtSjVT.
E °orf raw,
° hot
P and-cold
Oriental
fid
shops
where all the food, cooked
is exnosed
o nubhc view but not in .lass cases. The restaurat^r won^X
artyouyour choice of meat and broil it on iron spits while you
wait. When we reached the shop he was handling our melo
which h T\haUdS, "^ amm^ the sIic- in the mTntr
tr*WTKl m
W1" V° bC SCrVed t0 wrists from
aSS thanks" 1Cft ^ h'm Unt°UChed With ~ >«*«
ed
Pkce in the Caf6 to aw
the
^T
Tihalf
S**
ait
the bleVfnd
beer, and at
the endA of
an hour decided that our first
sneakeasy experience in Syria was a failure. We paid and left
But before we reached our car the waiter came ruling from a
tlnAA TT W:th somethin* wrapped in his apfon He
nroduced a bottle with a German label that felt as if it had just
P
f
5
6 The Wa5ter
ha
d°tol
r
'el
"r
"?
'T!
that'
he had to go to a Christian hotel ,n - town for the«P«3
beer as none
can behad anvwhere else. We carried our thirst to Horns the
tTtrit°h.Hama on thc nVer °rontes'and about «*S^£
Our arrival in Horns, sometime after sundown, furnished us
��SEPTEMBER, 1930
33
one of the most trying experiences of our journey through Northern Syria. Our driver had haggled with a storekeeper in Hama
over the price of a can of gasoline and drove off without taking
a provisional supply, assuring us that he had more than sufficient
to reach Horns. But crossing the gently rolling hills between the
two cities we noticed that the driver shut off the ignition and
simply coasted down the inclines. It was evident that he was
economizing on gas. What we had to tell him need not be repeated here, but before climbing each hill he assured us that the
city lay immediately behind. We crossed more than a dozen hills
and were met at each turn with the same desolate horizon. There
was not a single habitation or a living soul on the way, and our
fears rose as our gasoline supply became lower. The sense of
solitude in the wilderness, unarmed and in a strange country without provisions, was not comforting. The sun disappeared behind
a hill and we began to expect the worst, when in the fast gathering dusk, the tall minarets of the mosque of Khalid Ibn Al-Walid
loomed from behind the last hill and we were in view of the
city. Praise be to Allah! We were safe at last!
Once in the city we soon forgot the trials and tribulations of
the day. By the fountain of the new municipal gardens, caressed
by a cool breeze blowing from the west, we came across friends
known to us either in person or by reputation. The Homsians
are by no means scarce in the Syrian community of New York
and some of them were then in the home town on a visit. Meeting them brought pleasant memories of our new home country.
That night a feature program was to be given at the municipal
theatre. We had not been inside a movie house in Syria so far and
decided to take advantage of the opportunity now offered. Our
hosts took a loge in the balcony, affording a splendid view of the
floor below. I advisedly refrain from calling it the orchestra or
pit because that would be a misnomer. The floor is level and has
no permanent seats. It is no more nor less than a regular cafe.
Tables are set all about where large or small parties form to enjoy their wonted manner of amusement with the cinema as an
adjunct or an added feature. Arghiles are served as well as coffee
and refreshments, and between the acts, or the reels, the waiters
circulate to give service and the audience indulges in conversation. The scene was typical of a phase of city life in Syria.
The cosmopolitan nature of the audience gave rise to some
amusing incidents. It was composed of French officers and their
wives, sheikhs from the desert, transient tourists and townsfolk.
-aur -
^,,.,,--..,
�—
-T—
'€
34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The original titles of the picture, in French, were thrown on
the screen only for a few seconds. The Arabic translation, written
in a crude hand, was at times misleading. This caused vociferous
com^'aint from both French and natives.
The forenoon of the following day we were taken in charge
by Mr. RafFoul Nasser, founder of the National College of
Horns, for a tour of the city. A straight, broad boulevard is being
opened in the center of the town leading to the railway station,
now in the outskirts. It stands in sharp contrast to the old souks
which still retain all the marks of their Oriental primitiveness.
We visited the silk bazaar and it proved to be an immense quadrangular building, with a spacious interior open court, where trading caravans display their wares and put up while in the city,
in the immemorial Eastern fashion. The permanent shops are
located in an upper tier running around the whole building. Horns
is noted for its silk fabrics.
The mosque we had first seen nroved to be one of the outstanding places of interest in the city, whose history dates back
to the early Moslem conquest. It was rebuilt some twenty-five
years ago along the plan of St. Sophia in Constantinople, Sultan
Abdul Hamid donating all the rugs for its furnishing. The tomb
of Khalid Ibn Ul-Walid, the Arab general who conquered Horns,
occupies a prominent place in the edifice.
There are also some Christian shrines of interest in the city.
Our learned volunteer guide conducted us to the Greek Orthodox
church of St. Lian whose miraculous specialty is mental and nervous diseases. We were shown a narrow, stuffy compartment behind the main altar where patients are confined for a night,
emerging either cured or non-violent.
Horns may also claim the title of the windy city. At night a
western wind usually blows that attains at times a velocity of
sixty miles an hour. The Homsians claim this as one of the
distinctive advantages of their city, because it cools the nights
as in no other place in the hinterland of Syria.
And in Horns also we had occasion to witness the efforts of
the prohibition policv in Syria. We were driven to the once
famous gardens of Al-Meemas, where the waters of the Orontes
have wrought a fairyland of cool atmosphere and beautiful vegetation. Alas! the walks and the shrubbery and the ponds were
in the worst state of neglect imaginable, because the concessionnaire of the only cafe was forced to close for having been caught
twice selling arac.
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
35
The southbound train leaves Horns at 1 P. M. every day.
We arranged to take it to Baalbek rather than risk another long
journey across the Syrian wilderness with our half-breed chauffeur.
The Battle
By
DR. SAI.IM
Y.
ALKAZIN
gKNDING low its lofty crest
To elemental rage,
That in their maddened hurry,
And unabated fury
A battle royal wage,
Smiting at its sides and breast,
Pitilessly. Moaning, still
Its crown with steel-like spring,
Persistently regains
Its former poise, its pains
Forgotten, like a sting
Causing ne'er a mortal chill.
Mid the fray some limb was torn,
Some leaf was torn away?
Is not the heart still sound,
And in the friendly ground
The roots embrace the clay,
Drawing life for life unborn?
Watch it greet the youthful spring
As bride her mate, draped o'er
With gauzy finery,
And magic broidery
The while the bridal score,
Silver throated warblers sing.
�=—
36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ALI ZAIBAQ
(Quicksilver)
THE UNPARALLELED ADVENTURES OF THE
CHIEF OF POLICE OF THE CALIPH HAROUN
AL-RASHID, OF THE CITY OF BAGDAD.
Translated from the original Arabic by
A. MOKARZEL and THADDEUS S. DAYTON
SALLOUM
FOREWORD
This story of Quicksilver, the Chief of the Secret Police of
the Caliph Haroun Al-Rashid, has been more popular than the
Thousand and One Nights in all Mohammedan countries from
time immemorial.
The name of the author of this remarkable work and the date
of its origin are alike unknown. It existed for many centuries in
the memories of professional tale-tellers wandering with caravans across the deserts of Arabia. Only within the last two hundred years has it been put into manuscript form in Arabic. Doubtless, like the Thousand and One Nights, it is the product of many
romancers, each of whom has added something to the original
story.
I N the Name of Allah, the
Compassionate, the Merciful!
This is the story of whom there is no peer, the star whose
lustre surpasses that of all other stars, the Lion of the Forest and
the Conqueror of All Enemies: Quicksilver, Chief of the Secret
Police of the Sultan Haroun Al-Rashid, of Baghdad, who triumphed over the wicked Dalila and out-witted all the other contestants for his coveted post, thereby causing his fame to be
borne by caravans throughout the length and breadth of the
whole World.
CHAPTER T.
DALILA THE SERPENT
"JTIERE was, in the time of Haroun Al-Rashid, a man called
Ahmad El-Danaf who had attained great fame for his intel-
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
27
Jigence bravery and wonderful feats of valor. For that reason
the Caliph recognized his proven fitness for the service and invested him with the position of Chief of the Secret Police, in and
around the great city of Baghdad. At the time there were only
tour bodies of secret police in the whole Islamic Empire, namely,
at Baghdad, Aleppo, Damascus and Cairo. The last three were
subordinate to Baghdad.
At this time there was in the city of Ispahan, the capital of
I ersia, a woman called Dalila, who had attained great favor in
the eyes of the Shah of Persia and Khorassan, because of her
mastery of all the arts of trickery and wickedness. The Shah
trusted m her implicitly, and when he heard of the surpassing
beauty of the daughter-of the Moslem Caliph, Haroua Al-Rashid, he longed to possess that princess.
Forthwith he summoned Dalila. She straightway appeared
before him and after kissing the ground three times at his feet
she asked for his commands. The Shah told her of his desire to
have brought to him the peerless daughter of the Prince of the
i'aithrul, and Dalila assured her sovereign of the comparative
ease with which she could execute his wish and forthwith put on
the dress of travel and was soon on her way to Baghdad.
Dalila, the Serpent, who was secretly faithful to nothing but
her own caprice, no sooner had beheld the beauty of the city of
Baghdad than she decided to throw the mission of her master
to the winds and to make her permanent home in the Abode of
1 eace as the Moslems call their capital. Instead of endeavoring,
therefore, to gain possession of the daughter of the Caliph she
set to work conspiring against Ahmad El-Danaf in order to supplant him as the head of the Secret Police. She committed or
caused to be committed many atrocities, assassinations, robberies
and other crimes which threw the city into an uproar and caused
the populace to cry out against Ahmad El-Danaf who was seemingly powerless either to prevent or to detect the causes of these
disorders. Thereupon the Caliph caused a crier to go about the
streets of the city proclaiming immunity and pardon to the perpetrator of these crimes if he were willing to disclose himself.
Now this is what Dalila desired and she forthwith repaired
to the court of the Caliph and made herself known to him ' Haroun Al-Rashid was greatly surprised that a woman was able to
out-wit all the forces of his secret police and he invested her with
a robe of honor and proposed to install her as the Chief if
Ahmad El-Danaf proved to be unequal in the future to the task.
�-L.
38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Ahmad El-Danaf, whose hair had been turned prematurely
gray by the trickery and subtlety of Dalila, readily assented.
That was a great day of rejoicing for Dalila the Serpent, but
Ahmad El-Danaf, in jnortal fear of this new enemy, forthwith
called unto him some of his faithful and trusted aides and friends
among the Secret Police and fled with them to Alexandria, in
the Province of Egypt, the city of his birth.
There was, among the friends of the deposed chief, an Egyptian called Hassan Raselghoul, who had the renown of being the
most courageous of all the secret police in the empire. He stood
loyal to Ahmad El-Danaf and returned with him to Egypt where
he subsequently married Fatimah, daughter of the Sheik Noureddin, the Magistrate of the City of Fayoum.
When Hassan Raselghoul reached Egypt he had to disguise
himself for fear of Salah-Eddin who was the head of the Secret
Police of the Sultan in Cairo. This Salah-Eddin had previously
supplanted Hassan Raselghoul in this post and had caused him
to flee to Baghdad. After many encounters in Alexandria with
the spies and emissaries of Salah-Eddin, of whom he killed in
all about five hundred, Hassan Raselghoul repaired to Cairo in
order to take reprisal on his enemy in person. But there some of
Hassan's influential friends interceded for him with the King,
who granted him pardon. After having brought about a reconciliation between him and his mortal enemy, the King made Hassan Raselghoul a Chief of the Secret Police, conferring upon him
powers equal to those enjoyed by Salah-Eddin, who continued in
his place as before.
But Salah-Eddin did not forget his former enmity. He caused
to be sold unto Hassan Raselghoul a beautiful slave-girl whom
he instructed to administer poison to Hassan with his food at the
first opportunity, promising her that if she were successful he
would make her his wife and give her precedence over all the
other women in his harem.
Hassan Raselghoul fell an easy prey to the wiles of this beautiful woman.
The slave-girl had been only three days in the household
when Hassan Raselghoul was found lifeless. The cause of his
death was not apparent. Fatima, his Wife, while weeping over
his corpse, in the madness of her anguish grasped the hair of her
husband's head and was amazed to see it fall, like withered leaves,
to the ground. Then she knew that his death was brought about
by poison.
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
in
39
She interrogated the slave-girl and by means of threats and
tortures wrung from her a full confession of the conspiracy
against her husband on the part of his ancient enemy, SalahKddin.
The slave-girl was put to death and her body thrown to the
dogs outside the city walls. The corpse of Hassan Raselghoul
was buried with all due honor in a secluded spot in the gardens
of his home.
Fatima was overwhelmed with grief, but nevertheless concealed the fact of her husband's death and announced that he had
departed on a long journey.
Not many days thereafter she gave birth to a son whose countenance shone like the full moon and who showed every indication of being of masterly intelligence. The sages said of him
that undoubtedly he was predestined to attain great fame and
many honors; that he would be the cup-companion of Kings. He
was named Ali, but became known to all the world as Quicksilver.
Such was the origin of the Shining Star, the Lion of the Forest, the Bravest of the Brave, by whom the most wonderful
achievements of his age were predestined to be executed.
By the time Quicksilver had attained the age of twelve he
had mastered all knowledge of horsemanship and sword play
and was notably dexterous in the arts of war. His fame spread
throughout the city until it reached the ears of Salah-Eddin, who
had compassed the death of his father, and who had learned of
Quicksilver's identity. He instructed his men to seize the boy
at the first favorable opportunity so that he might make him
drink the cup of death.
Quicksilver's mother, however, thwarted this plot by sending
her son to his father's former chief. 'On arriving at the house of
Ahmad El-Danaf and disclosing his identity Ahmad El-Danaf
exclaimed:
"O Quicksilver, your father was the bravest man who ever
drank of the waters of the Tigris and the Nile. He was my brother-in-arms, and Salah-Eddin poisoned him."
Upon hearing this Quicksilver cried out in a voice like thunder:
"I will show you what I will do to this dog Salah-Eddin.
I will avenge- the blood of my father."
And he demanded that Ahmad El-Danaf invest him with a
title of chief of the secret police of Cairo in place of Salah-Eddin.
This being done, and Quicksilver being given the insignia of
�40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
the office, he returned to Cairo.
Fatimah, who had carefully preserved her husband's weapons,
brought them from the places where they had lain hidden and
gave them to her son. There were the famous scimitar, the mace,
the rope ladder with hooks used in climbing roofs, his father's
trusty bow and sheaf of arrows, and all other paraphernalia such
as robes of apparel suitable for disguise j benj, which renders the
conscious unconscious, likewise its antidote which restores to their
normal state those who have been drugged; also phosphoric sticks
which blaze at the least touch of heat and illuminate all that is
around. She also instructed him in the use of these various
things and invoked the aid of Allah for his success.
Thereupon Quicksilver was spurred to fury and performed
many deeds which struck terror in the heart of Salah-Eddin and
his men and threw the people of Cairo into such tumult that the
city seethed like a boiling pot. Finally Salah-Eddin, while invoking the wrath of Allah upon this new pretender to his pos^
made up his mind that it would be useless to continue his resistance to him and consequently repaired to the court of the King.
The King asked if he had succeeded in capturing this enemy
O my lord," answered Salah-Eddin, "Allah grant that'I
may be a ransom for you, and may your name be everlasting I
have exhausted all means at my command to capture this superhuman enemy and bring him in bonds to your presence. But so
far he has proved beyond all my efforts and skill. He is not -i
man. He is rather a genie. Therefore I deliver myself to you
to suffer my prescribed fate and cede my position to him. Your
servant, O my lord, believes that it is better to live in obscurity
than to court death in splendor. You are the master of my head "
Salah-Eddin, having relinquished his post, a crier went about
the streets of the city proclaiming the King's immunity and parr
don for Quicksilver.
When these tidings reached the ears of Quicksilver he
straightway put on his best apparel and repaired to the palace
of the King. There he bowed to the ground before his sovereign
and addressed h.m most eloquently. The King was amazed at
Quicksilver's youth and received him with all honors. Addressing Salah-Eddin, the King said:
"Here is your rival. Do you cede your position to him now?"
Q my lord," answered Salah-Eddin, "may your reign be
ever characterized by justice and impartiality. Suffer me to
bring to your attention that it has always been the custom of your
mmnm
c, „
^,
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
4J
^Xo^^r"l ^task -* -
« p-
doP^S^ ^"* ** *» ~" ««* Quicksilver
"HuTti? gTant l°ug JifC t0 y°Ur m*i«*y»B rePlied Salah-Eddin,
6
1 makC f him is that he
J
!
, V^
° Box, the All-Seeing
should Eye
bring"
us from
from thT
the Enchanted
City the Magic
S U ht th
alive Th^tL0
; & . 5 Endiaated City had returned
alive. I h,s task seemed certain death to Quicksilver, yet he was
undaunted, and hastened to set forth
Quicksilver went to inform his mother of the task which
he must undergo to become chief of the secret police of Cairo
His mother begged him to desist from this undertaking Bui
finding that he was obdurate she told him what she had fe'arncc
of the Enchanted City and the perils that he would encounter
But now, my comrades," said the tale-teller to his comrades
of he caravan, "Arcturus is high in the heavens, and we must
go to rest Tomorrow mght, if Allah wills, I shall tell you of the
amazmg thuigs that befell Quicksilver in his quest of ,
A
Seeing Eye.
( To be continued)
Greatness
By G. K.
GIBRAN
Every great man I have known had something small in his
11
which
^Tm^irsSr —
woul^&eS"ehe
Wh
°
!
»^
W Uld maSt6r n
°
° "* -d *»
I would not believe that man is a mediocre simply because
he kills the criminals and the prophets.
>*.cause
I am the flame and I am the dry brush, and one part
of me
P
consumes the other part.
�^<ss^K«!miistvM^m
.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
42
The Tale of a Rose
By
THOMAS ASA
W/ITHIN the shadow of a noble wood,
Where through summer days I lonely stood,
And flung my fragrant breath upon the air.
Yet solitude had claimed the ceaseless time,—
A visitor from some exotic clime,
For none more beautiful than I was there.
Though the witching magic of the day
Could aught but make one wish to play.
And laugh and dance with the whisp'ring breeze,
Yet I bemoaned the will of my stem,
That caused me to be but one of them,—
Silent and dumb to my restless pleas.
When, as if in answer to my prayer,
One day a lovely maid came to my lair,
Her eyes the color of a changing sea.
And from that moment she my fancy held,
While in her face youth's rapture welled,
Then to my bush she came and gazed at mt\
Lovely, and yet more lovely, she became,
As she in voiceless wonder called my name,
And leaning nearer kissed me with her breath;
Which, far more sweet and pure than mine,
Made me swoon as if some heady wine
Had taken me within its joyous death.
The virgin lips expressed her childish praise,
Which to my ears surpassed the poet's lays,—
And placed her tender hand upon my stem;
But drew it back without the treasured sight,
For as bidden by some inner might,
To leave me there alone to rest with them.
I
But I bowed my blushing head to her,
And opened wide my stores of richest myrrh,
And bade her take me to adorn her breast.
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
While she, succombing to the potent lure,
To own temptation as the only cure,
Broke the stem and freed me "from the rest.
To her chamber went the lovely maid,
Where within a crystal vase she laid
And cooled my fevered pulse with scented rain;
Then* placed me on the mantle near her bed,
Where I could see at night her drowsy head,'
And ever o'er her never love shall wane.
Each passing day she tendered me her care,
Belike my silken petals bloomed more fair,—
And trembled with delight at her caress.
But one day came when I negelected lay,
And like a prisoner passed an endless day,
That nothing could allay or fears suppress.
A week of days had drifted to the past,
And left me withered in my morbid fa'st,
Without the pride of loveliness I knew;
But never could I hear her coming feet,
As she had daily to me come to meet
That under her fond gaze I fresher grew.
Soon I lost hope of seeing her once more,
When who but she, one morn, came thru the door,Back from a distant visit she had come.
Up to the faded Rose she softly came,
Sorrowful of my state she called my name,
In great surprise at what I had become.
And from her eyes the pearly tears I felt,"
In her chaste sorrow my dead heart would melt
To bring back the smiles to her sweet face.
In her soft hands she pressed my withered folds,
And against her heart this Rose she holds,
The harvest of the days she would efface.'
In memory of the beauty I had known,—
As for her cruel neglect she would atone,
She placed my shrunken frame within a book;
And sealed my sight forever from the day,
Which I had thought too cheap and cast away,
All for a moment's pleasure of a look.
43
�H
THE SYRIAN WORLD
EDITORIAL COMMENT
OUR FIFTH YEAR
attempted or deemed feasible,
JTVER since its appearance, only demonstrates the value of
the value of THE SYRIAN - the service the publication represents and the growing appreWORLD has never been quesciation
of its timeliness.
tioned, whether as a needed
It
is
then with natural elaorgan for the Syrians in America in the language of the land, tion and pardonable pride that
or as a medium for disseminat- we hail the advent of each new
ing and perpetuating that which year as proof of stability and
is best in Syrian culture by growth. Our path/ so far, has
acquainting the Syrian-Amer- not been strewn with roses it
ican generation with their is true, but hardships are to be
expected in all pioneering
ancestral heritage.
work. What matters is the as
But there was doubt as to
surance of achievement. New
the ability of the publication to courage is always born from the
continue along the high standconsciousness of work successard it has set for itself and
fully accomplished, and the
enlist sufficient popular sup- passing of each year in the life
port to insure stability. In
or a publication is but another
this connection, it must be
stimulus of this consciousness
borne in mind that the circumand an incentive to further
stances of THE SYRIAN WORLD effort.
differ from those of most other
We are not satisfied with
publications of its character. merely holding our ground.
It was launched on personal
We want to accelerate our
initiative and conducted under progress so as to render the useprivate management without fulness of THE SYRIAN WORLD
subsidy or organized support.
more effective and far-reachIn this respect, it was a purely
ing. This necessitates organizaprivate undertaking although tion and planning that would
devoted to the service of a pubbreak the restricted bounds
lic cause. That THE SYRIAN
within which the publication
WORLD, under these conditions,
has been moving up to the
has been able to negotiate safely
present. The expansion is bound
what is considered the crucial
stage in the career of a new to be fruitful of the most beneficial results in that the sphere
publication, especially one repof influence of the periodical
resenting a pioneering enterwill be greatly enlarged and
prise that had never before been
its message carried to greater
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
45
limits than those it has been
reaching hitherto. Of these
preparations and plans we hope
to be able to make an important announcement in the coming issue. And we feel confident that our loyal friends will
immediately realize that the
contemplated step will mark a
new era of progress in the
career of the publication, fitting
it the more to portray their
culture and finer racial qualities.
These remarks could not be
conscientiously brought to a
close without an expression of
deep appreciation of the efforts
of that band of volunteer collaborators who represent our
finest talent in America. They
have been steadfast in their
loyalty to THE SYRIAN WORLD
and generous in their contributions towards the success of its
educational
mission.
Their
names are familiar to our readers.
Nor could we omit mention
of those hundreds of loyal subscribers who have not wavered
in their constant support. Many
among them have even constituted themselves volunteer
agents and helped introduce
the magazine to many a new
subscriber. They were actuated
by their enthusiasm for the
cause which they felt was their
own. Such loyalty cannot fail
of inspiring confidence and
trust in the future.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
y\
VIOLENT controversy
seems to have developed as
a result of the adoption of a
dual name for the Syrian pageant held in Boston. We are
informed by the Boston correspondent of a New York Syrian newspaper that the difference is being aired in the columns of the American press of
Boston. This, indeed, is regrettable, and it was for fear of
just such a result that we took
our former stand in the matter. We held that inasmuch as
we had been all along known in
this country as Syrians, by such
a name only we should remain
to be known whatever the internal administrative divisions in
the mother land. Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinians could be
included in this classification
because their respective countries are within the natural
geographical boundaries of
Syria.
Besides, all Arabicspeaking elements in the
United States come from Syria,
and to merge them in the allmclusive term "Arabs" would
destroy our work of half a century in America and necessitate
our starting the work of education as to our ethnological
descent all over again.
It behooves us to bear in
mind the all important fact
(hat we in America are Americans first and preeminently,
�46
and that to our posterity in
America we owe our prime
duty. This duty is partly to
identify ourselves by our country of origin. This country,
happily, happens to enjoy an
independent historical record
as well as a distinct geographical entity. Furthermore, the
statistical records of the United
States do not classify us by our
spoken tongue but by our country of origin. It will therefore
be immediately seen that we
stand to lose more than we
could ever hope to gain by a
change of name. At best this
would only introduce in our
status an element of confusion.
We would like to make our
stand clear on the matter. We
do not approve either of the
broad or of the restricted term.
Fxcept among ourselves, and
in cases requiring clarification,
we would not approve of the
term Lebanese or Palestinian
Syrians, nor of the term SyrianArabs. Syria, we hold, is an independent geographical entit>
which we are bound to recognize. From there we come and
by its name we should be
known. We have been known
in America by this name for
for over half a century and it
would be a* decided loss for us
to undo the work it has taken
us so long to build and begin
anew the work of education
with all its resultant confusion
and possible misinterpretation.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
It is through no prejudice or
inimical feeling that we are
prompted to take this stand.
It is rather in fulfillment of a
duty to our race in America as
we conscientiously feel it. We
fail to see any benefit in the
change of name or the adoption of a dual name. Rather,
we believe that such a course
would result in injury to our
standing in America, injury in
the sense that we would lose
-our former identity of long
standing and be confronted
with the necessity of establishing ourselves anew. And we
cannot too strongly emphasize
the fact that we stand pledged
to uphold our national name
and defend our racial interest
as an ethnic group in America
before and above any other
consideration of old-country
politics. THE SYRIAN WORLD
is for the service and defense
of the Syrians in America first
and it is owing to these considerations that it is forced to take
this stand.
We exceedingly regret that
*uch a situation has developed.
"Regardless of our affiliations
or sympathies with old-country politics, we should never
have lost sight of the fact that
our duty towards ourselves as
a racial group in America is
paramount and preeminent.
The conditions we have chosen
to leave cannot claim our interest in the same degree as
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
those we have chosen to live
in. We must be fair to ourselves and give first consideration to our standing in our
country of adoption. We must
be fair to our children and considerate of their immediate interest by clarifying their stand
instead of complicating it. We
maintain that the term "Syrians" is the only logical name
by which they should be known.
RACIAL
REPRESENTATION
47
Syrians of Cleveland were the
first group to give a play in
their mother tongue under the
new scheme. But neither the
Interpreter nor any other paper commentig on the movement made any reference to
the Syrians. And for this we
cannot hold them to blame.
The point of interest in the
movement being the encouragement of native art, the "expectation was that each group would
produce that which is native
and intrinsic. This the Syrians
failed to do. They produced
not an original play but one
translated from a European
language. Naturally the motivating interest was lost.
Another recent case where
the Syrians made commendable
efforts at enthusiastic participation in patriotic and civic
movements but failed to choose
the proper method of representation was the Worcester
Syrians' contribution of a float
to the historical pageant on the
occasion of the tercentenary of
the city's foundation. Their
portrayal was of a purely American episode, whereas the expectation was for something
characteristic of their own race.
The Greeks made the proper
choice and won first prize.
F'HE Interpreter, organ of
the Foreign Language Information Bureau of New
York, published recently an article on the Theatre of Nations
sponsored by the Plain Dealer
at Cleveland. The Interpreter
is read by the editors of all the
influential papers in the country, and its information usually
elicits much favorable comment. Its object is to interpret
the finer qualities of our racial
groups, to the end that the
American public will better
rnderstand
and
appreciate
them. Obviously, itr service is
most commendable.
The object of the Theatre
of Nations is to sponsor and encourage the cultural contributions of the various ethnic
groups to America. The InterIn the future we should hope
preter's article was commented to avail ourselves of such sin
I'pon favorably by the leading gular opportunities to better
New York papers.
advantage.
We wish to recall that the
�48
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Political Developments in Syria
POLITICAL SITUATION
IN SYRIA UNSETTLED
No major political developments
have taken place in Syria since High
Commissioner Ponsot sailed for
Fi-ance after making public the draft
constitutions of the several Syrian
States, and none are expected before
his return which may be delayed
until the end of October, according
to late reports. This delay is said
to be due to the fact that France
has not yet decided on a definite
policy for Syria in spite of assertions to the contrary. The French
Foreign Office is said to have been
impressed with the strong protests
lodged with it and with the League
of Nations against the announced
policy of the High Commissioner in
perpetuating the political division
of the country in the manner proposed in his latest proclamation.
What may be considered a most
significant manifestation of the new
national spirit in Syria is the sinking by the political leaders of their
party differences to refute a statement made to the Mandates Commission in the French report on the'
alignment of the Syrian political
parties. The statement was to the
effect that a strong Syrian party approved of t'he French mandate and
of the new administrative arrangement which constitutes of Syria
several independent States. Upon
news of the purport of the French
report reaching Syria a telegraphic
protest was dispatched to the League
of Nations and to the French Foreign Office signed by the responsible
leaders of all political parties denying the truth of the statement. This
was considered a most wholesome
manifestation of a new spirit of
unity hitherto lacking in Syrian
politics. Especially that the leader
of the Royalist Party willingly joined in signing the petition of protest
with the explanation that the Syrians may be divided as to the most
suitable form of administration for
the country, "but t'hat they were of
one mind in matters of basic principles. The Royalist Party, it may
be explained, is the most powerful
political unit after the Nationalist
bloc.
It had been previously taken for
granted that upon his return from
France High Commissioner Ponsot
would order the holding of elections
according to the provisions of the
new constitutions, or if deferred at
all the elections would be held not
later than the coming spring. Seemingly confidential reports reaching
Syria from Paris represent the
French government as being undecided as to the course of its future
policy in Syria. The French Foreign
Office, according to these reports,
had been satisfied that the Syrians
were well pleased with the new administrative program laid down by
the High Commissioner, and even
interpreted the popular strike in
Damascus not as of any political
bearing but rather as of an economic
nature. But owing to frequent and
collective protests from the various
Syrian political parties the French
Government is represented as having experienced a change of mind,
to the extent of seriously considering the appointment of an impartial
commission to conduct a thorough
investigation of the Syrian situation. If such a step should finally
be decided upon, the delay attending
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
the solution of the Syrian problem
might carry it well into the indefinite future.
The tenth anniversary of the battle of Maisaloon in which the small
volunteer Syrian army was defeated
by the French invading army under
command of General Gouraud, was
celebrated with extraordinary display of patriotic fervor this year.
Delegations of the principal cities
gathered at the tomb of Joseph
Azme, the Syrian Minister of War
who lost his life during that battle,
and held patriotic exercises. But the
mass meeting in Damascus which
followed was such as to overshadow
any previous demonstration of similar nature. Some of the poems composed for the occasion aroused great
popular feeling and the Syrians
there gathered pledged themselves
anew to the unrelenting prosecution
of their national demands.
The Tajeddin government remains
the butt of bitter and constant criticism. The latest action to arouse
the anger of Its opponents was its
peremptory prevention of a meeting of the Royalist Party for which
a regular permit had been issued by
the local authorities of Hama. It is
feared that the government is preparing to control the coming elections by the use of intimidating
methods.
The office of the High Commissioner announced on July 14 the issuance by the President of France
of full pardon for fifty-nine Syrian
political prisoners and exiles sentenced for their part in the last revolution. The military leader of the
revolution, Sultan Pasha Atrash, and
Dr. Abdul Rahman Shahbandar
were not included.
Sultan Pasha Atrash issued from
his desert exile a call to the Syrian
nation to adhere to their original
demands for the political unity of
49
the country, and branded the new
administrative divisions proposed by
the French as an effort to forever
keep the country divided. He also
sent a protest to the League of
Nations on the new French administrative program declaring his resolve to continue the struggle until
the Syrian national demands are
granted.
ITALY SEEKING
SYRIAN MANDATE?
That Italy is conspiring to secure
the mandate over Syria, using for
the purpose the influence of the
Papal Nuncio in Lebanon and the
prestige of the Maronite Patriarchate, is the bold assertion of some
Syrian papers who claim to have
come into secret information bearing on the subject. The inception of
the conspiracy is placed as far back
as 1922, when three bishops are said
to have induced the aged Patriarch
to sign a petition to the Pope asking
to be relieved of active duty and to
have a vicar appointed to take
charge of the affairs of the Patriarchate. The Pope is said to have
doubted the authenticity of the petition because the Patriarch had visited Rome only a year before and
was apparently in the best of health
and spirits. Consequently His Holiness sent the petition back to the
Patriarch for verification and by
this action the plot of the conspirators was frustrated.
This would have been only of
local religious interest had not political motives been ascribed to the
plotters. The Papal Nuncio was
mentioned as being the real instigator of the conspiracy to remove
the Patriarch because of the latter's
steadfast loyalty to the cause of
France in Lebanon and Syria. The
S^Q-^^^'iAtalian, would nat-
�H1
50
ura'ly want to see his own country
the mandatory in Syria and since
the Patriarch was the stumbling
block in the success of the plan, he
soug'ht to have him removed that
he may recommend a bishop to succeed him who would favor an Italian
mandate.
The rumor having been first given
publicity by Moslem papers, almost
all the Christian papers of Beirut
denounced it as being utterly without foundation and concocted in the
brain of an office-seeker who unsuccessfully sought to enlist Ihe support of some bishops and resorted
to this means as a measure of revenge. Finally Al-Bashir, a Catholic
pa^er pub'ished by the Jesuits in
Beirut, officially denied, on the
authority of the Maronite Patriarchate, that there was any foundation to tha rumor.
The Lebanese government was
o only accused of wholesale corrupt'on by a member of the Legislative
Assembly in a press interview. His
v barges, although
not
specific,
aroused the government to action
and a special meeting of the cabinet
was ca'le 1 to consider the matter.
Jt was at first decided to instruct
the public prosecutor to bring court
action against the offending legislator, but upon further consideration this decision was rescinded.
Regulation of the tobacco industry is giving the governments of all
the Syrian States no little cause for
concern. Ever since the abolition of
the Regie, or the monopoly held by
the French by a franchise from the
late Turkish government there has
been a scramble for manufacturing
and sales privileges. Foreign companies were at first admitted to do
business under the same conditions
as native concerns, but an amendment is said to hive been Introduced later giving foreign interests
THE SYRIAN WORLD
special privileges which would place
the natives at a decided disadvantage. These privileges include the
right of foreigners to trial by their
respective consuls and their placing
wholly outside the jurisdiction of
native courts. Consequently the cry
has been raised that Whatever the
name, it is simply one Regie replacing another.
BRITAIN BLAMED FOR
PALESTINE DISORDERS
The League of Nations officially
pub ished on August 25 its mandate
commission re.ort on an examination of the Palestine riots of 192J,
together with the British Government's comments on the report. The
papers disclose a sharp clash of
opinion on the responsibility for the
bloody" disorders, according to an
A. P. dispatch from Geneva. The
whoe matter will he laid for discussion before the League council
when it convenes on September 5.
The mandates commission, composed of the strongest Power;; of
the League, accused the British
Government of having failed in its
e.rlministration of the Palestine mandate, specifically in failing Lo sati fy the political aspirations of the
Arabs, in failing to procure security
for persons and rroperty for establishment of the Jewish home, and for
being taken by surprise by the outbieik of last August.
Kr. Henderson pointed out the
difficulty of satisfying the political
ambitions of the Arabs and at t'.ie
s:me time advancing the cause of
a Jewish national home, while carrying out orders of the League of
Nations to maintain the rights of
a'l inhabitants of Palestine regardless of race and religion.
White the controversy over Palestine is waxing hot in Europe the
I
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
situation in Palestine itself is no
less turbulent.
Dispatches from
Jerusalem under date of August 22
brought the information that the
Arab Executive had issued proclamations calling for a general strike
on the anniversary of the outbreak
of last year's rioting. The strike was
to be a protest against commutation
of the death sentence of the Jew
Orphali in connection with the riots,
while the Arabs tried and sentenced
for the same offense were executed.
The authorities confiscated the proclamation and suspended an Arab
paper for publishing it. It was feared that its widespread distribution
would lead to the renewal of the
disorders, because it characterized
the 120 Arabs killed during the riots
of last August as "martyrs" and
accused the government of doubleedged justice. Zionism was called a
branch of British policy.
"You are not under a mandate,
but clearly under British rule," the
proclamation also declared.
51
sets forth certain conditions preliminary to their discussion: It holds
that the Jews should agree not to
evict a single fellah, not to compete
with Arab officials or workers, to
employ at least 80 per cent. Arabs
in their undertakings, not to claim
government aid for their industries,
not to compete with Arab merchants,
to accept Arabic as the only official
language in Palestine, to abandon
"the dreams" of a Jewish national
home in Palestine and not to oppose
Palestine's joining an Arab federation.
This, of course, is the individual
opinion of an Arab paper and it may
not represent the minimum conditions upon which the Arabs may be
willing to reach a compromise with
the Jews. The official, and what are
supposed to be the irreducible demands of the Arabs, are those submitted by the Arab delegation to
the MacDonald Government in London last June and published recently
in the English Edition of the newspaper Falastin. They are:
Harry Snell, Labor member of the
1—Legislation to prohibit sale of
Palestine Inquiry Commission, made
forty-two proposals for Arab and land by an Arab to a non-Arab.
Jewish co-operation which were pub2 —Immediate stoppage of Jewish
lished the last week of August by immigration.
the Brith Shalom Society headed by
3—Return of those lands which the
Dr. Judah L. Magnes, chancellor of Government took away from the
the Hebrew University and endorsed people on the ground that those in
by it. They included the establish- possession did not own the lands acment of Arab-Jewish chambers of cording to the Tabu entry.
commerce, the extension of credit
4—Return of the land from which
by Jewish organizations to the
Arab
peasants have been expelled
Arabs, the admission of Arabs to
by
the
Jews on the excuse that these
Jewish schools, the extension of
lands
were
bought from the Jews
Jewish research to Arab districts,
by their owners.
the extension of Jewish medical and
social service to the Arabs and the
5—Re-institution of an Agriculallocation of a special member of tural Bank and the protection of the
the Jewish Agency Executive to de- country's produce.
vote his time to Arab-Jewish relafi—Institution of a national reptions.
resentative government according to
The Arab Palestine paper El Car- clause 22 of the Covenant of the
mel, commenting on the proposals, League of Nations.
�52
THE SYRIAN WORLD
About Syria and Syrians
an open-air meeting of communists
who were attacking the institutions
of the United States. The orderly
Sunday, Aug. 31st and Monday, manner of the Lebanese celebration
Sept. 1st were gala days for the and their expressions of loyalty to
Lebanese and Syrians of the East- American institutions stood out in
ern States on the occasion of their sharp contrast to the other disturbFestival-Outing held at Champ's ing element. His honor remained to
Farm, Bridgeport, Conn. Over two witness folk songs and dances and
thousand attended the celebration other forms of entertainment which
and took part in the different forms pleased him immensely.
of entertainment provided by the
Mr. N. A. Mbkarzel. editor of
committee in charge or supplied by Al-Hoda and founder of the Lebvolunteers. A holiday spirit per- anon League of Progress, presided
vaded the gathering which was rem- at the official function and welcomed
iniscent in most particulars to sim- the mayor. Mr. Salloum A. Mokarilar festive occasions in the mother- zel, editor of The Syrian World, reland.
sponded officially to the mayor's adThe idea of the festival was con- dress. Rev. K. A. Bishara of Brookceived and sponsored by the Leba- lyn spoke also in English on Syria's
non League of Progress of New and Lebanon's place in history.
York. The committee on arrangeOn other occasions there were
ments, headed by Mr. A. K. Hitti, speeches in Arabic as well as reliwas indefatiguable in its efforts to gious exercises. The celebration was
provide means of entertainment and of such a nature as to delight both
comfort for the guests. This being the first generation immigrants who
the first celebration of its nature to had an opportunity to live over again
be held in America, there was no their earlier days in the motherland,
possibility of judging the volume of and the second generation who were
attendance, and when about five hun- given an actual exhibition of some
dred automobiles began streaming phases of social life of the country
to Bridgeport bearing visitors from of origin of their parents. The conthe New England States, as well as census of opinion was that such
from upper New York State, Penn- gatherings were immensely profitsylvania, New Jersey and even more able and enjoyable, and it would
southerly States, it was evident that seem beyond doubt that they will
the proposition met with hearty and be enthusiastically patronized in
unanimous approval. It is now plan- the future.
ned to hold the celebration annually
The arrangements committee, in
and perhaps extend it to other sec- explaining the object of these festions of the country.
tivals, gives the following reasons
Mayor Buckingham of Bridgeport indicative of its motives and policy:
welcomed the Lebanese to the city
"The prime motive of the Festival
in the highest words of praise. He is to bring the Lebanese and Syrians
remarked that while coming to at- of Vhe Eastern States together in a
tend the Lebanese festival he passed spirit of racial brotherhood and
LEBANESE FESTIVAL
IN BRIDGEPORT
mSBmsBKaBSmBmKBKi
I
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
53
good-fellowship. It is to be hoped value of their racial contribution to
that the movement will spread to our comparatively young American
other sections of the country for the nation."
oovious benefits that are bound to
accrue from it.
"While we come together as a SYRIAN PAGEANT IN
BOSTON SUCCESSFUL
racial group bound by ties of kinship and common ancestry, we are,
From both special correspondence
nevertheless, only too mindful of and fragmentary accounts of the
the fact that we owe our undivided American press in Boston received,
allegiance and unwavering loyalty
we gather that the Syrians of Bosto our beloved adopted country and ton took a leading part in the celeto all that for which the flag of the
bration of the city's Tercentenary
Stars and Stripes stands in ideals held in the middle of July and won
and principles. Our past record of the praise of both officials and publoyalty as American citizens pre- lic.
cludes the necessity of our reassertThe pageant, held on July 15 at
ing our stand on this question.
Symphony Hall, was arranged and
"Our coming together on such a managed by a general committee
gathering is because we are influ- composed of Faris S. Malouf chairenced by the same traditions gov- man, Miss Labeebee A. J. Hanna,
erning our former social conditions. Miss Theodora Scoff, Rev. Shibley D.
We are in the United States a dis- Malouf, Rasheed Abdelnour and
tinct group who owe their adopted George J. Khouri. Mr. Ameen Rihacountry the contribution of the best ni, Prof. Ph. K. Hitti of Princeton
that is in them towards its culture and Prof. James R. Jewett of Harand future progress. And we are vard acted in an advisory capacity.
proud to claim one of the most
Symphony Hall was packed to
precious heritages that have fallen
overflowing
during the Syrian pato the lot of any small nation in hisgeant,
among
the attendance being
tory. By coming together as an etha
large
representation
of Boston's
nological unit we propose to keep
highest
literary
and
intellectual
alive those distinctive features of
elements. Mr. Rihani, who was
our racial heritage for permanent
contribution to our land of adoption. specially invited by the committee
to take part in the celebration, ex'We believe that such gatherings plained the various historical epiwill enhance civic interest and pride, sodes represented in a manner to
and promote a spirit of co-operation cause surprise and admiration.
in all constructive endeavor.
The committee published a pam"The folk songs, dances and other phlet on the Syrian and Arab conforms of entertainment that will now tributions to civilization for free
be given are the relics of an old and distribution on the occasion.
progressive civilization, going back
Miss Labeebee A. J. Hanna, a
to our ancestors, the Phoenicians,
Boston
high school teacher, contrilong before our Christian era.
buted materially to the success of
"That the Lebanese have been the pageant by her enthusiastic and
able to maintain these traditions in tireless efforts in coaching the acunbroken continuity for such a long tors, selecting the costumes and
succession of centuries proves the composing the special music.
inherent virility of the race and the
The special pamphlet issued by
�BBSS
54
the Syrian committee for the occasion was fittingly closed by the following pledge:
"Mindful of the contributions our
ancestors made to humanity and
feeling the urge to intellectual cultural and humanitarian achievements, we, in commemoration of the
founding of the Massachusetts Bay
Colony and as a token of appreciation for and loyalty to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, pledge our
religious, moral and racial inheritance to the service of our new homeland, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Republic of the
United States.
"We conclude with the words of
our former President, Calvin Coolidge, 'All peoples have points of excellence and are justly entitled to
the honorable considerations of all
nations.' "
THE SYRIAN WORLD
A SECOND PAGEANT BY
SYRIANS OF BOSTON
Aside from their participation in
the general tercentenary celebration, the Syrians of Boston took a
leading part in other exercises held
under the auspices of the Catholic
Charitable Bureau on the Common.
The Boston Globe, in reporting this
second
event,
concedes
"that
uie most elaborate feature was presented by the Syrian group," although Italians, Poles and other
nationalities were represented.
Following is the full account of
the Boston Globe:
"Two men, dressed in Oriental
robes, and playing clarinets, headed
the procession in which was a truck
decorated with the flags of America,
Syria and Lebanon. Around the sides'
of the truck were Oriental rugs and
cedars. In the center of the group
The following paragraph is given was an Orientally decorated camel
in the pamphlet as an indication of ridden by a Syrian boy dressed as
the Syrians' place in, and contribu- a chief.
tions to, America.
The "Pageant of Syria and Leb"In writing about the Syrians in anon" was a graphic representation
America, Salloum A. Mokarzel, edi- by men, women and children of those
tor of The Syrian World said, 'They countries, of eight memorable epihave helped plant the love of Amer- sodes in Bible history, beginning
ica in the hearts of millions of peo- with Adam and Eve and ending with
ple speaking the common Arabic the sending out by the Savior of
language, and they have proven Matthews, Mark Luke and John to
their gratitude and loyalty to their spread His Gospel throughout the
adopted country by responding in world.
vastly more than their proportionate
The various scenes and tableaux,
quota to the appeal of the govern- the greater portion of the represenment, both for financial aid and for tation being in pantomime, were reman power in times of-national call.' garded by the hundreds of specta(Syrian World, November, 1927.) tors with reverence, and yet with
Rev. W. A. Mansur, in writing about an enthusiastic interest that several
the Syrian-Americans in the Syrian times found expression in hearty
World, said, 'They exemplify in their applause.
lives industrious living, patriotic
There were a number of Syrian
loyalty, law-obedience and love of
and Lebanese dances by children or
liberty.' Talcott Williams said of
young women, several choruses by
the Syrians in America, 'No more
young people of both sexes in cosintellectual immigration has come to
tumes of Oriental character, and the
us in the past forty years.'"
music was quaint, simple and in
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
keeping with the time and the counhy represented.
There was. a tableau of Mary with
the Holy Infant in her lap and Joseph by her side, with the coming of
winged angels and richly garbed
wise men of the East bringing gifts,
followed by the allegory of the
spreading of Christianity.
The final feature was a spirited
Oriental sword and shield combat,
reminiscent of the days of the Crusades and more dramatic than most
combats in tragedies as presented in
the theatre.
The solo dancers, each of whom
deserved high praise were Celia
Saliba, O'ga Scoff, Mrs. Amelia Corey, Rosanne Letourney, Annie Hanaty and Alice Thomas. A dance for
two was executed by Pauline Hanaty
and Josephine Moussally.
Some of the chief roles in the
pageant, with their impersonators
were: Adam, Frederick Assad; Eve.
Olga Scoff; Abel, S. H. Attaya; Cain,
Samuel Haddad; Noah, Solomon
Moses; Moses, Antonio Corey; The
Savior Ceorge Kirk; Joseph, Elias
Hajjar; Mary, Agnes Shadrawy;
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, respectively, John Lufty, Charles Assad, Nadra Escaf and Joseph Hajjar.
The sword combatants were Nicholas Najjar and Habib Wayshek.
Rev. Archimandrite Peter Abouzeid, B. S., of the local Syrian Catholic Church was on the stage most
of the time, directing proceedings
and making necessary interpretive
announcements to the audience.
The executive committee, which
saw that there was no hitch or inappropriate incident in the progress of
the enterprise, consisted of two Harvard men, Elias F. Shamon and John
H. Shadrawy. The pageant was
planned by the local Syrian-Lebanese
committee, cooperating with the
Catholic Charitable Bureau.
55
RIHANI DELIVERS
SERIES OF LECTURES
For the whole week beginning
July 21, our well-known author and
traveler, Ameen Rihani was engaged at giving a series of lectures at
Chautauqua to a select audience
orawn from all parts of the United
States. The Chautauqua Daily, in
each of its issues for that week,
featured accounts of Mr. Rihani's
addresses and stressed his e oquenee
and forcefulness of argument The
paper was expressing the public
sentiment of the ever-growing audience which flocked to hf-ar the
visiting speaker.
Mr. Rihani spoke on the political,
social and cultural conditions of the
various Arabic-speaking countries
of the Near East. Tracing Arabian
history from 800 B. C. and outlining the Arabs' contributions to arts,
sciences and culture, the speaker
covered the whole span of centuries
through succeeding periods until our
present time. He dealt separately
with the Arab countries under mandate and expressed the opinion that
no pacification is possible without,
unity.
In one of his lectures, Mr. Rihani
treated the subject of Arabic poetry
giving translations of his own and of
other Arabic scholars.
While in Chautauqua, Mr. Rihani
was a guest of his friend and admirer, Mr. M. Rashid, at a luncheon attended by a large number of prominent residents and visitors.
LOS ANGELES SYRIANS
TO PRODUCE PICTURES
In an Arabic circular letter sent
to the Syrian press of the United
States and to The Syrian World, Dr.
Alexander Mulki of Los Angeles announces the formation of a Syrian
stock company for the production of
�56
moving pictures known as the PanArabian Picture Corporation, Ltd.
The organizers are five leading Syrians of Los Angeles and Hollywood,
Charles Andrews, Dr. Alexander
Mulki, J. Haik, Tom Davis and Edward Gillett. They announce their
object as being, first, the production
of talking films in Arabic, English
and Spanish, and perhaps in other
languages later, featuring the historical background of the Syrians;
and, second, to create by this means
a medium for better understanding
and co-operation among the various
Syrian communities in all parts of
the world and throughout the Arabic-speaking peoples in their homelands.
The organizers stress the advantage of their location in Hollywood,
the greatest picture production and
artistic center in the world, and express the utmost confidence in the
ultimate success of the undertaking.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"These excavations give the world
in a remarkable way a 'history of
The culture in Palestine that it is
possible to read alongside biblical
history as the supreme test of its
trustworthiness," said Dr. Kyle.
"Only real events leave anything
which can be dug out of the ground.
"The fortress at Tell Beit Mirsim,
thirteen miles directly southwest
of Hebron, which is the ancient
Kirjath Sepher, proved to be a
moond of ten cities each separated
by burned levels. These ten cities
represented only five civilizations."
"The first city dates from 2000 B.
C, perhaps earlier, which is Abraham's time in the Scriptures," he
continued. "The same social and
political conditions of the story of
Lot and the angels are reflected in
the ruins of this first city which approximates the civilization of that
Hme and not the time of the Kings
of Judah in the eighth and seventh
centuries B. C.
"There was only one city in the
early bronze age, about 1900 to 1600
B. C, there were six different cities,
Discoveries by the joint American one above the other, the first two
expedition at Kirjath Sepher in Pal- representing the transition from
estine conclusively prove biblical the early to the middle bronze age,
stories and fix the date of Abra- the next four being typically middle
ham's time according to a cable bronze. These were definitely disdispatch to the New York Times tinguished by their pottery.
from Jerusalem dated Aug. 19. Dr.
"The last city on the mound was
Melvin Grove Kyle, director of the
the city of the Kings of Judah, dejoint expedition of the Xenia Theostroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, as is
logical Seminary and the American
conclusively testified to by the disSchool of Oriental Research of Jerucovery of stamped jar handles which'
salem, is reported to have so asserved as tax receipts from King
serted in a public statement. AssistJehoiakim, who reigned a few years
ed by a staff of ten archaeologists,
oefore Nebuchadnezzar's destrucincluding many Americans and 110 tion.
native workmen, the expedition un"In modern tines Nebuchadnezcovered a mound containing ten diszar stands as the symbol of military
tinct cities one above the other, linkruthlessness although in fact his
ing Abraham's arrival in Canaan
destruction was less terrible than
from Chaldea of the period of Nebuany of the others of these ten burnchadnezzar, who raided Canaan.
ings. The Israelites, for example,
IMPORTANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL
DISCOVERIES IN PALESTINE
�SEPTEMBER, 1930
destroyed the city at the time of
the conquest of Canaan so thoroughly that they destroyed all traces of
it, but Nebuchadnezzar left walls
four or five feet high."
Dr. Kyle said it was possible to
confirm that the Abraham and Lot
story was true, because he found a
house such as that described in the
scriptural narrative of Lot and the
angels, with a strong door capable
of resisting onslaughts of a mob.
"This disproves the contentions
that the story of Lot and the angels
was written in King Hezekiah's period in the city of the Kings of Judah about 700 to 600 B. C. because
the sociological and political conditions differ," he asserted.
"In the last city on the mound
there is evidence of adequate police
arrangement in the fact that no
doors were found, merely arches
with curtains or light coverings,
whereas in Lot's time many heavy
doors were uncovered, proving the
people took their own defense precautions. It is unlikely that a historian of the time of Hezekiah would
appreciate such a subtle distinction
in sociological conditions proving
the biblical narration that Lot actually harbored celestial visitors
from the fury of an attacking Sodom mob."
Dr. Kyle sad he hoped to resume
excavations in 1932 to elicit further
conclusive biblical proofs.
SYRIAN INVENTS
SUCCESSFUL HELIOCOPTER
Nassif Shibley, a Syrian of Wheeling, W. Va., is said to have invented a successful stabilizing device for
airplanes for which patents have
Been issued to him recently. The
device also permits of the taking
off and landing of the machine perpendicularly in perfect safety, thus
eliminating the necessity of spacious
flying fields.
Shibley is said to have many other
useful inventions to his credit. He
is a mechanic by trade and has been
applying his talents to his latest
invention for several years.
TRAINED NURSING IN EAST
BEGAN AT THE A. U.B.
Nursing in the Near East has
progressed in six steps from the
first when the grandmother of the
family nursed the ailing members to
the modern trained nurse, according
to Mrs. George Shahla of Beirut,
Syria, an alumna of the American
University of Beirut School of
Nursing.
This School has just celebrated its
twenty-fifth anniversary. In discussing the accomplishment of the
school, Mrs. Shahla summarized the
six steps in the evolution of nursing
as 1—the grandmother of the family, 2—the midwife, 3—the maiden
aunt, 4—the Nun with very little
special training, 5—the Deaconess
with more practical training, 0—the
modern trained nurse.
The modern trained nurse in Syria
has been the outcome of the School
for nursing established in 1905. Byfore that a few isolated nurses were
found but they were either foreigners or Syrians who had been trained
abroad. The School began with five
girls and the first graduating class
of 1908 had three members. Until
the close of the world war the school
numbered about twenty trainees.
Since then the number has risen to
fifty-seven including three Persian
girls the first to study nursing, and
two girls from the Sudan, also the
first Sudanese to study nursing.
Miss Jane E. Van Zandt, superintendent of the School for Nursing,
�S8
says that one hundred and fifty
nurses have been graduated in the
twenty-five years and are scattered
throughout the Near East though the
majority are in Syria, Palestine and
Egypt. Many of the gir's marry and
take an active part in teaching other
women in the community how to
care for their babies and their
homes. A number are doing infant
welfare work in Palestine, one in
Tel Aviv, one in Bethlehem and several in Jerusalem. One is a school
nurse in Ramallah with health
classes for children.
One graduate went to a mission
hospital in Addis Ababa, Abyssinia,
last year and is doing excellent
work. Two of the nurses went to a
mission hospital in Bahrein, an island in the Persian Gulf, four years
ago and did excellent educational
work on the island where primitive
living conditions were responsible
for much preventable illness.
Some of the graduates do private
nursing but the majority are interested in institutional and publichealth nursing. A certain number
remain at the University hospital,
others enter work in Tuberculosis
Sanitoria.
Miss Mary Beard of the Rockefeller Foundation who was a guest
at the twenty-fifth anniversary of
the School of Nursing commented
the work of Miss Van Zandt and
said that "the science of preventive
medicine and
its
promulgation
among the masses is the greatest
contribution of this age to the
health and happiness of mankind."
AL-HODA MOVES TO BROOKLYN
The Syrians of the United States
missed their leading daily paper, AlHoda, for a week when it moved its
publication plant from 55 Washington St., New York, to 169 Court St.,
Brooklyn, early in August. That Al-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
IFoda did not suspend for a longer
period is due to the untiring energy
of its management Which made possible the moving of the heavy
presses and the many Linotypes,
together with tons upon tons of
paper and books, in what is considered record time for an Arabic publication.
We wish to congratulate Al Hoda
upon its reappearance from its new
offices and regret that it has given
up its old quarters in the heart of
the Syrian colony in New York
where it made history.
ARAB ARGUMENT ON
THE WAILING WALL
During the taking of testimony by
the Wailing Wall Commission of the
League of Nations in Jerusalem last
July, Ahmed Zaki Pasha, noted
Moslem scholar, presented the Arab
case. He read a declaration submitted by the Arab delegation in which
it was said that Palestine was not
recognized as a "Jewish National
Home."
Zaki Pasha then went into Palestinian history, according to the
Bible, from the time of Abraham
to show that neither Jews nor Arabs
were original owners of the country,
but the Canaanites.
He submitted documents which he
said were from Christian travelers,
declaring the Jewish practice was to
mourn and not to pray at the Wailing Wall, and he said that statements of other Christian writers
that the Jews prayed at the wall
may have been made because travelers mistook mourning for praying.
Jews he declared, were turning
persecutors of the only people who
had never persecuted them. The
Arabs, although conquered by the
Crusaders, were never expelled
from the country, while the Jews,
he asserted, were definitely expelled
2,000 years ago.
�58
says that one hundred and fifty
nurses have been graduated in the
twenty-five years and are scattered
throughout the Near East though the
majority are in Syria, Palestine and
Egypt. Many of the gir's marry and
take an active part in teaching other
women in the community how to
care for their babies and their
homes. A number are doing infant
welfare work in Palestine, one in
Tel Aviv, one in Bethlehem and several in Jerusalem. One is a school
nurse in Ramallah with health
classes for children.
One graduate went to a mission
hospital in Addis Ababa, Abyssinia,
last year and is doing excellent
work. Two of | the nurses went to a
mission hospital in Bahrein, an island in the Persian Gulf, four years
ago and did excellent educational
work on the island where primitive
living conditions were responsible
for much preventable illness.
Some of the graduates do private
nursing but the majority are interested in institutional and publichealth nursing. A certain number
remain at the University hospital,
others enter work in Tuberculosis
Sanitoria.
Miss Mary Beard of the Rockefeller Foundation who was a guest
at the twenty-fifth anniversary of
the School of Nursing commented
the work of Miss Van Zandt and
said that "the science of preventive
medicine and
its
promulgation
among the masses is the greatest
contribution of this age to the
health and happiness of mankind."
AL-HODA MOVES TO BROOKLYN
The Syrians of the United States
missed their leading daily paper, AlHoda, for a week when it moved its
publication plant from 55 Washington St., New York, to 169 Court St.,
Brooklyn, early in August. That Al-
U, -.-„>,- *
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Ifoda did not suspend for a longer
period is due to the untiring energy
of its management which made possible the moving of the heavy
presses and the many Linotypes,
together with tons upon tons of
paper and books, in what is considered record time for an Arabic publication.
We wish to congratulate Al Hoda
upon its reappearance from its new
offices and regret that it has given
up its old quarters in the heart of
the Syrian colony in New York
where it made history.
ARAB ARGUMENT ON
THE WAILING WALL
During the taking of testimony by
the Wailing Wall Commission of the
League of Nations in Jerusalem last
July, Ahmed Zaki Pasha, noted
Moslem scholar, presented the Arab
case. He read a declaration submitted by the Arab delegation in which
it was said that Palestine was not
recognized as a "Jewish National
Home."
Zaki Pasha then went into Palestinian history, according to the
Bible, from the time of Abraham
to show that neither Jews nor Arabs
were original owners of the counti'y,
but the Canaanites.
He submitted documents which he
said were from Christian travelers,
declaring the Jewish practice was to
mourn and not to pray at the Wailing Wall, and he said that statements of other Christian writers
that the Jews prayed at the wall
may have been made because- travelers mistook mourning for praying.
Jews he declared, were turning
persecutors of the only people who
had never persecuted them. The
Arabs, although conquered by the
Crusaders, were never expelled
from the country, while the Jews,
he asserted, were definitely expelled
2,000 years ago.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NS 0002
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
TSW1930_09reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 05, Issue 01
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930 September
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 5 Issue 01 of The Syrian World published September 1930. The issue opens with Ameen Rihani's discussion of Women in the Middle East, specifically that up to this point in history women were forced into submission and seclusion in a male dominated world. Rihani discusses how women are now claiming their independence and for the first time gaining an education and discussing politics. Rihani discusses the fundamental importance of the women’s movement in the East. Next Prof. Charles D. Matthews discusses American educational institutions in the Near East as a part of a study he conducted while visiting Syria and studying its the social, political, economic, and educational trends. There is also a short story adapted from Arabic titled "The Tragic Love of a Caliph," which details Yazid, ruler of the Umayyad dynasty, and his quest for love which ultimately kills him. Salloum Mokarzel then continues to describe his travels, first on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Abu'l-'Ala, and then to the twin cities of the Orontes. Featured in this issue is also a serial titled "Ali Zaibaq" or "Quicksilver," translated by Salloum Mokarzel in collaboration with Mr. Thaddeus S. Dayton. The last two works in the issue are poems, one by G. K. Gibran titled "Greatness" and the other titled "The Tale of the Rose" by Thomas Asa. The issue concludes with a discussion of The Syrian World’s fifth anniversary, excerpts from the Arab press, and more on political developments in Syria.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1930s
Ameen Rihani
Education
Kahlil Gibran
New York
Poetry-English
Rivers
Thomas Asa
Travel