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VOL. Mk m
m
DECEMBER 1931
NO. 4
��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 "iork,
N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. VI NO. 4
DECEMBER, 1931
t
CONTENTS
Palestine of Religious Romance and Historic Realism
By H. I.
Christmas Altar (a Poem)
By ALICE
KATIBAH
11
MOKARZEL
The Great Recurrence
By
Poetry, Edited by
3
12
KAHLIL GIBRAN
15
BARBARA YOUNG
Blithesome Boy, by
BARBARA YOUNG
Christmas Poetry
Still There is Bethlehem, by
17
18
NANCY BYRD
TURNER
Carol, by GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON
Second Coming, by ERNEST HARTSOCK.
18
18
18
�CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
News and Views
.. 19
By A
STAFF OBSERVER
Are These Great Men Really Syrians?
19
Origin of Chivalry
22
East and West
"... 23
Omar Khayyam—His Grave and Shiraz Wine
24
Promoting Religious Understanding
26
Home and Family ....'
Edited by
27
BAHIA AL-MUSHEER
The Dietetic Value of Syrian Food
A Menu For American Guests
Proper Roasting
How Ladies Could Use Idle Hours
A Party for Aneesa, (A Short Story)
By
EDNA
K.
27
28
29
29
30
SALOOMEY
Book Reviews
39
A Book of Sentiment and Fact on a Great
Syrian Poet
39
Resurrecting the Glory of Syria
41
Spanning the Nation's History
43
Peace and Good Will, Plus Faith
By
44
THE EDITOR
Political Developments in Syria
Syrian World News Section
.45
51
I
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Syrian
^^^^ f/
MOKARZEL, Editor
SALLOUM A. M<
DECEMBER, 1931
VOL. VI NO. 4
Palestine of Religious Romance
and Historic Realism
THE SUCCESSION OF EVENTS WHICH MADE A HOLY
LAND OF THE SMALL SYRIAN PROVINCE
LYING AT THE INTERSECTION OF
THREE CONTINENTS
By H. I.
KATIBAH
PALESTINE, to millions of our matter-of-fact, practical, realistic generation, is not a geographic term so much as a state of
mind and imagination. It suggests not so much plains, hills, valleys, rivers and stretches of gray, rocky, barren land as it does an
idyllic state of serenity, happiness, joy and eternal peace.
It is not surprising that such were the connotations and associations invoked by the word "Palestine" to the generations of
our grandfathers and great grandfathers in countries far removed
from that little country squeezed in the southern portion of a little
corridor between three continents—Asia, Europe and Africa. For
Palestine, to them, was something they learned about in the Bible
and from queer, multicolored maps of the Sunday schools. It was
studied always in connection with an ancient history that was always surrounded with a halo of sanctity and mystery, and often a
sense of taboo besides. Rarely was it ever, studied with any effort
at historic and geographic perspective. Great and mighty nations
as the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians and Greeks, were'
just outlandish, distant names that gain significance only in that
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
they are brought in association with the name of the Hebrews the
chosen people of God.
There was such a thing as "sacred history" and "profane history," and our ancestors sincerely believed that the former could
be studied separately, encompassed as it was between the two morocco covers of a collection of books—the Bible. In the minds of
those pious forefathers of ours even profane history became "bibliocentnc," and the achievements and civilizations of great neighboring
countries was dwarfed and dwindled in contrast with the earnest,
religious message of the Hebrew prophets and psalmists. Socrates'
Plato and Aristotle, who came in the twilight of Hebrew history,
were perhaps unknown to most of the Hebrew learned men and
priests of their days, and Greek civilization, which at one time
threatened to swallow the Hebrew and other civilizations of the
East, was condemned as an unclean, heathen innovation. And to
most of those who read the Bible a hundred or fifty years ago, even
to many who read it today, this great ancient civilization meant
just as little. It mattered little that Greek philosophy stole through
the backdoor of Christian theology and square-footedly occupied
a secure place in the Bible, or that it was two great Jews, Philo and
St. Paul, who introduced this same Greek philosophy to the Semitic
practical religion of the Jews.
It is no wonder, we say, that our ancestors took such an exclusive view of Palestine and its history, and that to them Palestine
was an idealized term of religious sentiment and distant history.
In those days there were no cables to link far-flung countries of the
world together and make them seem like a little country town
where all the gossip of the day could be exchanged around the stove
of the country general store; there were no fast trains that devoured
space, no airplanes that annihilated time, and shrunk this globe of
ours to one tenth of its original size. For, after all, time and distance are relative terms, and only have sense in relation to our
capacity for turning them into subjective human experience.
But the wonder is that to a great number of people among us,
in this age of the cable, the fast trains, trans-Atlantic steamers,zeppelins and airplanes, Palestine still is-a term of religious romance
that has little historic realism and practically no geographic perspective to them.
I was strongly reminded of this in a little anecdote that a
friend of mine, a former research worker in the Foreign Policy
Association, once related to me. She told me that she was once
dictating a letter to a Jewish stenographer in the office, and when
�—
"DECEMBER, 1931
fntTrmrrrTmmmm' ,
5
the letter was finished she directed that it be addressed to a certain
gentleman in Jerusalem, Palestine.
The Jewish girl opened her eyes wide with sudden surprise.
"Jerusalem? /" she asked, her eyes shining with a mysterious,
distant gleam, as if the word suggested to her some golden dream
of romance and bliss.
"Yes, Jerusalem! " replied the research worker, smiling.
"Palestine? " again asked the surprised stenographer.
"Yes, Palestine " added the research worker.
"And will it reach there? " still persisted the puzzled questioner.
"Certainly it will! " assured the young lady whose job it was
to keep a great section of American public opinion fully informed
on the latest developments in Palestine, Syria, Egypt and the rest
of the Arabic-speaking world.
Not only to Christians, but to Jews and Moslems also, the
earthly Palestine, and particularly Jerusalem, is inseparably linked
with the heavenly one.
The Jews, among the followers of the three great monotheistic religions, were the ones to whom the earthly Palestine, the
earthly Jerusalem, was not only real, but the very centre of their
reality, and without which their hopes, aspirations, their history and
religion, were without significance or substantiality. At least that
could be safely said of the orthodox Jews. They had a feverish,
fanatic, almost fetichistic attachment to the actual soil, the actual
stones, the hills, valleys, trees, the very air that circulated in the
clear, translucent sky of that little bit of a Holy Land. This was
especially true after the second destruction of Jerusalem under
Hadrian who ordered the city rebuilt as Aelia Capitolina and prevented the Jews from even entering it again on the pains of death.
Jerusalem became then to the Jews the land of their lost dream,
their ultimate hope and salvation, when Jehovah would gather them
from their diaspora in every corner of the world and bring them
back in rejoicing and triumph to Zion.
Once the land came into the possession of a friendly Semitic
people, the Arabs, it was this same passionate longing for Palestine,
for Zion, that burned in the hearts of pious Jewish pilgrims and
made them leave sometimes comfortable homes in lands where they
had flourished and prospered, facing innumerable dangers "of seas
and lands, to arrive to the land of their happy dreams, even if it
were only to lay their hands on its sod and die. It was this inexplicable attachment for a land from which they were separated by
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The Holy City of Jerusalem, as it appears from the Mount of Olives.
�DECEMBER, 1931
7
thousands of miles and almost as many years, that gave rise to
numerous legends and ceremonies which added more halo and romance to a country, otherwise less fortunate than many others in the
same neighborhood, and less favoured by Providence and nature.
Jerusalem became the city "in the middle of the world," and the
city to which all the dead will be gathered in the day of resurrection. Those who could not go to Palestine and die there, have to
walk in dark, subterranean passages when the archangel Gabriel
blows his horn, and every soul answers the roll call to appear before the Great Judge. In their superstitious yearning for "Eretz
Yizroel," it was considered a soothing compensation for Jews who
die outside Palestine to sprinkle a little of its sacred soil between
the legs of the dead—the seat of, life.
Perhaps no Jew gave a more intense, sublime expression to this
yearning than Jehuda Halevi who lived in the 12th century in Spain,
in the heyday of Arab supremacy. He himself wrote in Arabic as
well as in Hebrew, and was well off in the country of his sojourn.
But there was a mysterious unrestfulness about him which seemed
to egg him on and prod him to visit Palestine. Life to him was
worthless unless that object was fulfilled, and he sang in longing
and anguish of that land of his forefathers that sometimes rose to
the heights of the Hebrew psalms, and were shot through with
references to biblical passages and incidents. Legend has it that
as he was within sight of his cherished dream he was shot by an
Arab soldier with an arrow, and so the Jewish poet died within a
stone's throw, so to speak, of the Temple, of which he had sung
so majestically and pathetically. Here is a typical song, perhaps
one of his best, of Jehuda Halevi, from the English translation of
Nina Salaman:
"Beautiful of elevation! Joy of the world!
City of the Great King!
For thee my soul is longing from limits of the west.
The tumult of my tenderness is stirred when I remember
Thy glory of old that is departed—thine habitation which
is desolate.
0 that I might fly on eagles' wings,
That I might water thy dust with my tears until they
mingle together.
1 have sought thee even though thy King is not in thee
and though, in place
�IT
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Of thy Gilead's balm, are now the fiery serpent and
scorpion.
Shall I not be tender to thy stones and kiss them,
And the taste of thy soil be sweeter than honey unto mer"
But neither in Jehuda Halevi nor any of his compatriots who
wasted themselves for Palestine do we hear a celestial note. For
while it is true that Aelia supplanted the time-honored name (Jerusalem), as Margolioth remarks, and the latter name began to be
used exclusively for "the heavenly city of devotional fancy
painted in more gorgeous colours than before," the Jews still clung
to the earthly Jerusalem, while Christians, whose Messiah had already come and was with the Father in heaven, lost all interest in
the earthly Jerusalem and concentrated it on the heavenly Jerusalem, and often was the former transfigured beyond all recognition of its geographic and historic identity.
Thus when a Bernard de Morlaix, who was contemporary to
Jehuda Halevi, sang of:
"Jerusalem the golden,
With milk and honey blest,
Beneath thy contemplation
Sink heart and voice opprest"
we are, sometimes, not quite sure whether the hymnodist had in
mind the heavenly or the earthly Jerusalem, or perhaps both in some
mystic union of devotional fancy and fervour.
Perhaps the ones who held the most realistic view of Palestine
were the Moslem Arabs who occupied the country in the seventh
century, the first to fall under their control in their swift and brilliant series of conquest after they sallied forth from their Arabian
homeland.
Yet, even the Arabs themselves did not want to be outdone
by the Jews and Christians in their devotion to Palestine, "the resting-place of the prophets, the descent place of the angels and of
inspiration." It was this desire to rival its sister Semitic, monotheistic religious in pouring its tribute to the "Sacred House," that
was back of that most audacious "revelation" of the "Isra," or
"nocturnal journey," from the Holy Temple in Mecca to "the
Furthermost Temple" in Jerusalem. At the same time of that
revelation, one year before the hegira, many of the believers themselves cast serious doubts on the Prophet's claim that that distance,
which took a whole month to cover by swiftly driven camels one
�DECEMBER, 1931
9
way and another month back, was actually traversed by him in one
night. There were no airplanes in those days, of course, nor did
the Prophet say that he rode on a magical carpet of wind. On the
contrary, Mohammed asserted that Gabriel supplied him with a
green mount, a cross-breed between a donkey and a mule, called
al-Buraq. Once in Jerusalem, Mohammed tied his miraculous
mount to a window outside the Temple wall, and to the present day
the Mughrabite custodians of the Buraq quarter point to you that
very window without any qualms of doubt or trepidation. Then
he entered the Temple, and behold Gabriel had gathered for him
all the prophets from their graves, and he led them in a short prayer of "two kneelings!"
In this way the transfiguration of Palestine became complete,
and the real, earthly Palestine put on a sheen of myth and sanctity
more mythical and more sanctified than realistic history could possibly justify.
It took a long and arduous campaign of historic and critical
scholarship to restore Palestine to its realistic proportions. Whole
books and monographs have been written and are still being written
to remove an endless number of illusions about the Holy Land, illusions that have no origin in fact, but were generously supplied by
the pious imaginations of devotees to a country so intimately and
inseparably linked with the cradle of their religions.
Mark Twain poked satiric fun at those religio-romantic tourists
who travelled up and down the Holy Land gushing forth exaggerated and unbridled sentiment about its unmatched beauty and
'undying glory. He was, on the contrary, impressed especially by
its ardity, the sordidness of its environment and lack of scenic
beauty.
To bring the realization of its proper dimensions
nearer to his r.rtaers in America he declares that "the State
of Missouri could be split into three Palestines, and there would
then be enough material left for part of another—possibly a whole
one." That this reminder of Mark Twain was not unjustified or
uncalled for may be appreciated from an incident which I beg to cite
from my own experience. Travelling one day in Ohio, some fifteen
years ago, I was engaged in conversation with a pious old lady who
was trying to win me to her peculiar form of religious vagaries and
convince me that the second coming of Christ was very near, within a few years at most. She gave me some literature to read in
which the descent of the Heavenly Jerusalem over the earthly one
was vividly described. The heavenly city was to be three hundred
miles in length and three hundred miles in width.
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rHE SYRIAN WORLD
"Do you realize, my dear lady," I commented as I read that
description, "that the heavenly Jerusalem you speak of would cover
twice the size of Palestine, and a large part of it would lie in the
Mediterranean Sea!"
Singling out a particularly sentimental tourist who had written
more fancy than fact about Palestine, Mark Twain describes him
as one who "went through this peaceful land with one hand forever
on his revolver and the other on his pocket handkerchief. Always,
when he was not on the point of crying over a holy place, he was
on the point of killing an Arab." Then he adds with a touch of
indignant irony: "More surprising things happened to him than
to any traveller here or elsewhere since Munchausen died!"
Mark Twain did a great service to the people of his generation,
and his "Innocents Abroad" is a classic of debunking which every
tourist, particularly to the Holy Land, should read.
Nevertheless the stream of sentimental literature about Palestine still goes on. But the banner of fervid eulogizing and romancing vagary today is not carried by Christian monks and tourists,
but by so-called "practical Zionists," who refuse to believe that
Palestine is too small, too barren and utterly unfit for ethnic, industrial and military considerations, to be the seat of a revived
Jewish state. Nor would they even read their own history with
eyes undimmed by the wish-fulhllments of their harried, persecuted
career in Palestine itself and ever since they were driven out from
it.
To Zionists in particular, and to all others who cannot or
refuse to separate in their minds between Palestine of fancy and
Palestine of fact, Palestine of religious romance and Palestine of
historic realism, I sincerely commend a recent book written by a
Jewish rabbi, a scholar and gifted writer, who took upon himself
the task of redrawing the whole history of the Jews in deft and
broad strokes that restore its true picture to us and place it in a true
perspective of history and balanced reason. This book, "Srranger
than Fiction," by Lewis Browne, is a great work of popularization
which brings within our reach the painstaking labours of hundreds
of scholars and historians—that disquieting tribe of indefatiguable
workers who ever insist on bringing us back to our senses and destroy our cherished illusions ithat have no roots in fact, and often
not even in fancy.
One paragraph from this book, describing Jerusalem in the
days of David, is sufficient to illustrate the spirit and aim of the
author:
�11 !PS"
DECEMBER, 1931
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"When David took hold of Jerusalem," writes Mr. Browne,
"it must have been much like any other Canaanite town. From end
to end its length was probably that of ten of our city blocks, and
surrounding it was a tremendously high wall of stone.
The
houses were flat-roofed, one story huts of stone plastered with
mud} and there was no furniture inside them. The people ate and
slept on the ground, and the animals ate and slept with them. Horrid smells filled every corner of the town, for of course there were
no sewers and no street-cleaning department. Nasty insects buzzed
around everywhere, for refuse rotted in front of every house.
Savage, half-starved dogs prowled about, and here and there dirty
little children, naked save for the good-luck charms hung around
their necks, with bellies swollen from drinking foul water, and
faces covered with sores and scars, played amid the filth or ran
errands.
"Such was Jerusalem that became the capital of David's empire. There he established his harem of twenty or thirty wives—
and right proud he must have been of it, for in those days the might
of a monarch was largely judged by the size of his harem—and
there he served as high priest and chief justice and king."
Christmas Altar
By
ALICE MOKARZEL
There is a holy quiet here—
A sacred stillness that breathes a calm
Unto the troubled heart} a balmy incense
That seeks the weary soul and bids it rise
And behold the comfort of a thousand years
Revealed above the glamour of this shrine.
There are the gifts of Magi here—
In leaves that twine the golden cross,
And candles, soothing the beloved dark
Like pallid, love-lit soldiers, guarding
This world-heart of the hearts of men.
There is an unsung carol here
That fills the breast of king and shepherd,
And quells the tired and aching heart
That finds its solace near His bed.
3L««^..-<-
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�THE SYRIAN WORLD
12
The Great Recurrence
By
KAHLIL GIBRAN
Author of "Jesus, the Son of Man/' "The Prophet," etc.
MANY centuries ago they said that the humble shepherds
of Judea and the wise Kings of Persia came to a manger
to worship the infant Jesus. They also said that the shepherds sang of peace and good will, and of love that binds
man to man; and that the wise Kings laid gold and frankincense at the feet of the Blessed Babe.
Today we children of the vast yesterday come to a
manger, which is in truth our solitude; each one of us a
shepherd who would have peace in the pasture of his
thoughts, and the good will of all the other shepherds—and
each one of us a King of his own destiny, who would lay
gold and frankincense at the feet of his greater self: gold
for assurance and frankincense for dreams.
You and I and all our neighbors would kneel before
the anointed genius of mankind, which is in us all.
And they say that Jesus was born in a cave even like his
forerunners, Orpheus and Methra and Zoroaster. They
said this for they knew that only the secret depths can give
birth to great heights.
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DECEMBER, 1931
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II
I' I
And today, we, too, believe that vast souls, even as vast
worlds, move from darkness to light, and from oblivion to
recognition, from hidden roots to blooms that laugh in the
sun and dance in the wind.
But they said that the King of Judea decreed, in his
fear, the slaughter of all the newborn in the land, for he
was told even by the Persian seers that the infant Jesus
should overrule him and deprive him of scepter and diadem.
Today we in our fear of the unknown tomorrow would
slay the innocence in us that it may not be a stumbling block
in the path of our governing intelligence.
But, thanks be to the heavens above, there is for some
of us an Egypt for an escape and golden sands and palm
trees for safety.
If
We go there in faith, knowing that that which we
would save in us is the truth and the beauty which the angel
of our white nights so graciously taught us to love and protect.
Yea, it was in that distant yesterday when the genius
of our heart's desire was born, and the secret in our depth
was revealed to us, and the innocence in us sought escape
from the designing which is in us also.
And all this shall come to pass many times before we
reach our homecoming. It is the mystic recurrence of the
divine mystery before the face of the Son.
(Reprinted from the Herald Tribune, Dec. 23, 1928)
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Symbolic of The Great Recurrrence.
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�•DECEMBER, 1931
BARBARA YOUNG,
Editor
"The child is but a day old, yet we have seen the light of our God in
His eyes and the smile of cur God upon His mouth.
"We bid you protect Him that He may protect you all."
Kahlil Gibran
QOLD AND frankincense and myrrh
Never the celebration
of the Christmas holiday that these words do not ring in our
hearts like temple bells.
The poetry of the Yuletide is like the
poetry of no other time in all the twelvemonth of the year, even
as the poet whose birth we now remember, surpasses all other poets
who have lived and died upon this, planet; the Poet who lived his
poems and who left not so much as one written word on any parchment.
In that little bridge-country which has been an embattled field
since time began, in the midst of civil turbulence and inter-racial
violence, this Poet? and this Prince of Peace was born.
In the East, in the Arabic speaking countries, all princes have
been poets There were long ages when such a being as a king who
was not also a poet was unthinkable.
But the Poet of Nazareth, born, the churchlv reord reads "in
Bethlehem of Judea," has bequeathed to mankind a heritage of
poetry such as none other of any land, of any time, has left.
What he may actually have said reallv matters little after all
The divine beauty and power that invested his human person, the
mighty emanation from his ageless spirit lives and shall live a
persistent song in the deep heart of the race, and a golden word
upon its tongue.
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
More poetry has been written in his name than in the name of
any other ten of earth's high spirits. And there is that in every remembrance of this Man which imparts a rhythm and a melody
even to the prose that takes his doings for its theme. The magic
of his being bestows a quality of music upon our common words
and every poet who puts quill to paper delights to ponder his ways
and nis comeliness.
"Then suddenly, one night,
I had a vision—we will call it so.
I saw a Young Man working with his tools,
Hammer and' plane and saw, beside a bench.
It was a room like this. Often he stopped
And looked away out through the open door
To the low hills. I heard him speaking, too
He was a comely fellow, very young,
Twenty perhaps, with eyes like mountain pools,
The kind you'd know would gather stars at night
In their dark depths. His hands upon the wood
And on the plane were like two conscious things
That breathed and thought and lived a separate life.
I've never seen two other hands like those,
Nor such a frame, compact like a young tree
And his face, Michael, it was like a god,
And like a child, and like a woman, too;'
But most of all it was a poet's face,—
A poet who could be a warrior
If need be, or a shepherd, or a king,
Or just a man, a village carpenter."
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Today there is a great stirring in the world above this world.
This Christmas Eve when the choirs from our great city churches
gather around the living tree that comes to visit Times Square, and
when the people of Becharre, far away in the Lebanon hills, go
through the snowy night, singing and carrying their lanterns to the
village sanctuary there will be also a mighty convocation in the
ether of those freed spirits who have achieved the heights since
last the Christmas carols escended from the hearts of earth to the
great Heart of Heaven. And if we shall listen in the innermost
of our being, who knows that we too may not hear the echo of a
heavenly host chanting the poetry of that world beyond this world?
I
�DECEMBER, 1931
17
Blithesome Boy
I think he was a blithesome Boy.
I think his words were clear and free;
I think he was as straight and brown
As some young tree.
I think his laugh rang down the wind.
I think he tossed his tumbled hair
And flung a snatch of simple song
Upon the air.
I think he lingered on the hills,
And learned the magic of the grass;
And knew the heart of every tree
That saw him pass.
And heard upon the mountain-top
The distant singing in the sun
From cedar branches blowing green
On Lebanon.
I
I think he came to Mary's door
With eager homeward-running feet,
And to his hungry human mouth
Her bread was sweet.
Yet he himself was bread, and wine,
And olive-branch and cedar tree,
And grass, and star, and shining depth
Of Galilee.
Oh, he was laughter and delight,
And he was pain, and tears, and death,
And every suffering, and joy
Of Nazareth.
He was all silence, and all song;
He was a cross, a diadem;
The Man of Sorrows, and the Babe
Of Bethlehem.
BARBARA YOUNG
from The Keys of Heaven
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Christmas Poetry
STILL THERE IS BETHLEHEM
All love and mystery in one little face.
All light and beauty in a single
star
That rose among the shadows, pure
and far,
Above an humble place.
All heaven in song upon a lonely hill,
Earth listening, fain and still.
The long years go; the old stars rise
and set,
Dreams perish, and we falter in
the night.
Still there is Bethlehem; could heart
forget
That loveliness, that light?
Shadows there are, but who shall
fail for them?
Still there is Bethlehem.
Nancy Byrd Turner
in Good Housekeeping.
CAROL
The Christ Child lay on Mary's lap,
His hair was like a light.
(Oh, weary, weary were the world,
But here is all aright.)
The Christ ChUd lay on Mary's breast,
His hair was like a star.
(Oh, stern and cunning are the kings,
But here the true hearts are.)
The Christ Child stood on Mary's knee,
His hair was like a crown.
And all the flowers looked up at
Him
And all the stars looked down.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton.
SECOND COMING
He found us like the deathly thief
In all our night of unbelief;
A new star, like the Magi's gem
Above a blind new Bethlehem.
He lighted up the little way
Of men lost fearfully in clay.
Firefly or foxfire he was not,
But some eternal burning spot.
Some fagot that the gods forgot,
Some alien torch that dropped in place
From bonfires on the fields of space;
With beauty almost blasphemous
He aureoled and haloed us.
And we who had not known before
The white of daisies by a door,
The white of cloud and sycamore,
Knew suddenly the feathered frond
Of angel's wings—and worlds beyond.
Though some men craven with their
fear
Shaded their eyes when he grew near,
Some men who did not dread the
glow,
Went close and were translucent so,
With souls like hexagons of snow.
For we who once were darkened glass
Through which men's gazes could not
pass.
Each opened and a rainbow was!
Ernest Hartsock
in The Best Poems of 1931
Thomas Moult.
/
�"DECEMBER, 1931
19
News and Views
By A
STAFF OBSERVER
ARE THESE GREAT MEN REALLY SYRIANS?
/
pAR BE it from us to advance any preposterous claim calculated
to nourish an unseemly racial vanity. But we cannot very well
omit, for the purpose of historical record, reference to some facts
which every now and then creep into public print and have a direct
bearing on Syrian ethnology. Our excuse is that since others discuss such matters openly we are entitled to the same privilege." In
saying this we do not mean to be apologetic; simply modest!
Upon the visit of Premier Laval of France to the United
States reference often was made in the American press to the fact
that he was of Arab blood. A writer in the New York Sun was so
positive of this fact that he attributed to it not only the French
Premier's "extreme swarthiness of complexion but also the impregnable placidity he exhibited in trying circumstances." A Syrian
lady who attended the dinner given in the Premier's honor in New
York called the office of the Syrian World the following day to
break the glad news that M. Laval was not only Arab but Syrian.
The secret had been revealed to her, she said, by someone who was in
a position to know, and we knowing the lady to be of judicious discernment were strongly inclined to credit her report, but for fuller
confirmation sought information of one of our French friends in
New York, M. H. Jules-Bois, a scholar and author of standing who
had lectured at the French Institute on the career of M. Laval under the official auspices of the French consul. M. Jules-Bois neither
affirmed nor denied, simply confining himself to the statement
that he did not know sufficiently about M. Laval's ancestry to render
eoKtscientious judgment. He was positive, however, that the distinct in France in, which M., Laval was.born is known to have been
settled by Moors centuries back, and the report that he had Arab
blood in his veins might not be devoid of truth.
•
So much for the' Premier of France. The other great man of
�20
THE SYRIAN WORLD
our time who is persistently referred to as a Syrian, and sometimes is
attacked for being one, is Arturo Calles, the strong man of Mexico.
Reference was often made in the pages of the Syrian World to the
«?i -?at ^fiieS WaS frecluently called by his political opponents
111-lurco The Turk. Some Catholic papers in the United States
who resented Calles' attitude toward the church traced his genealogy and asserted that his father was a Syrian immigrant who had
started as a peddler and later settled in the interior of Mexico as a
farmer and trader. It must be borne in mind that all Syrians
whether in the United States or in Mexico, were formerly classed
as lurks in the immigration records. In declaring their country of
origin they were entered as Turks because they were under Turkish
rule. Hence the contention of a Federal Judge in one of the Circuit Courts of the South that the Syrians were not eligible to American citizenship because they were of Mongol blood, the Turks being
originally of Mongol stock, and the Syrians, because they were under Turkish rule, were consequently Mongols. This view would
appear preposterous on the face of it, but the Syrians, nevertheless,
had to carry the case to the United States Supreme Court to prove
their descent from the white race.
This is by way of demonstrating how public conceptions are
at times deceiving, and why Calles should be called a Turk although
a Syrian. Calles himself is not known to have ever denied it In
the face of all attacks levelled upon -him in the heat of political
campaigns, he is not known to have uttered a word of explanation
as to his racial origin. He took the attitude that if his opponents
chose to call him a Syrian or a Turk, let them howl to their heart'content. He is what he is, a true Mexican determined to bring order out of chaos in that troubled country. This he seems to have
succeeded in doing with a display of energy, generalship and statesmanship that have won him great admiration. Perhaps in later
years, when his biography as the political saviour of Mexico is
written, his descent will be traced back to its true origin For the
present let us be content to advance the claim as it stands While
not positively claiming Calles as a Syrian, we cannot help recording
the fact that he is "accused" of being one.
Altogether out of this class, but equally famous in his own line,
is another celebrity whom some claim to be a Syrian. We refer
to that undefeated champion in the pugilistic ring Mr Gene
Tunney, the battling marine of pronounced literary proclivities.
Ihe Arabic press of New York on several occasions made capital of
the rumor that Mr. Tunney is none other than the son of Peter
/
I
�'DECEMBER, 1931
/ i
nI
if
I)
21
Touma, one of the famous companions of the Lebanese hero Joseph
Bey Karam who fought the Turks to preserve the independence of
Mt. Lebanon. Touma is credited with having attacked a Turkish
mountain battery single-handed, and after putting to rout the gunners shouldering the cannon and carrying it triumphantly to his own
camp. There does not seem to be as much substantiation for Tunney's claim, however, as for the others.
Of more intimate relation to the subject under discussion is
the revelation of the extent of Arab influence in the Argentine
Republic which came about as a result of the last revolution in
that country and caused the downfall of President Irigoyen in the
fall of 1930. The President was represented as the last of the caudillos, the fierce Arab horsemen credited with having brought about the
Republic's existence. An account of their romantic activities was
published in the October, 1930 issue of the Syrian World, from
which we reprint the following extract as reported by a staff correspondent of the New York Times writing from Buenos Aires:
"*** The downfall of Dr. Irigoyen definitely marks a new
era in Argentine history m an even more romantic sense, for it means
the passing from history of the old caudillos (pettv chieftains),
who were a product of gaucho civilization on the Pampas. Argentine owes its very existence to these gauchos who were wild nomad
horsemen, whose fathers handed down to them the Moorish blood
they brought from Spain in the days of the conquest and whose
mothers were South American Indians.
"The gauchos retained many characteristics of their Arabian
ancestors who had overrun Spain, and they 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 caudillos led the numerous civil wars
which for so many years retarded Argentine progress until another
gauch caud]llo, Juan Manuel de Rosas, set himself up as dictator
and ruthlessly wiped out all other caudillos who opposed him, thus
paving the way for organized government in Argentine ' Dr
Irigoyen is the last of the caudillos."
Commenting on this news at the time of its publication over a
year ago, the Syrian World made the following observations: "Had
a Syrian or Arab writer laid claim at any time to the Arab's exercising such a great influence in the social and political 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
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
to claim everything for the Arabs, the Phoenicians and other Eastern
peoples ***In the present case the Arabs are not advancing any
claim of influence. They are accused of having it
****That
this influence did not prevail until the end is not the question as
much as its having existed and lasted for so long a time in the history of Argentine, and having been so strong as to be the cause for
the safety of the country while it lasted."
ORIGIN OF CHIVALRY
|N A SERIES of articles by Karl K. Kitchen on present conditions
in Soviet Russia now appearing in the New York Sun, this American writer offers what may seem a novel explanation of the Russians apparent lack of chivalry towards women as compared with
other European races. Here are his exact words:
"It might not be amiss to explain one reason for the equality
of the sexes in the Soviet Union. The bulk of the races that inhabited this part of Europe did not take part in the great crusades
durmg the Middle Ages. The idea of chivalry never came into
their lives. Consequently women were never placed on a pedestal '
as they were in many other parts of Europe. And that is why today
women are treated exactly the same as men, in every phase of life
as well as before the law.
"This also explains the bad manners, or at least the lack of
consideration, which the vast majority of Russians have for women
And, on the other hand, it accounts for the sturdy type of selfsupporting, self-reliant woman that is encountered on every side "
The plain deduction is that chivalry, as it is known in Europe,
originated in the East as a result of the crusades. And it naturally
follows that it originated in Syria since Syria was the theatre of
war m those days and the main object of the crusades was to free
the Holy Land from the domination of the Moslems, and the Holv
Land is a part of Syria. The crusaders learned the rudiments of
chivalry from their opponents and brought it back to their homeands where it bloomed into its present form. Russia apparently
lacks chivalry because it did not contribute its quota to the host of
the crusaders.
There is no dearth of English literature on this subject Onlv
recently our Syrian scholar, Prof. Philip K. Hitti of Princeton
wrote a treatise on this subject which appeared in the April 1931
!
mi
ll
�H
1
DECEMBER, 1931
23
issue of the Syrian World. Those of our readers who desire further
enlightenment on this interesting topic may profitably refer to that
article, or better still, they may refer to his lengthy work on the
subject entitled'the Memoirs of Usamah, an Arab Syrian Gentleman
and Warrior in the Times of the Crusaders, published by the Columbia University Press.
EAST AND WEST
The following is an editorial of the New York Times of
December 7.
£)EDICATION of a building at the University of Chicago devoted to the investigation of early man—a building which
"finds no parallel in any other University, either in America or
abroad"—draws the Near East still nearer to the West. It is
in the East that the origins of the civilization we have inherited
are for the most part hidden; and the Oriental Institute under
Western skies seeks now to help man in a literal sense to "orient"
himself—to get his bearings and see in true perspective the history
of the human race. Especially is it to help bridge the gap between
the savage of the paleontologist and the historian's story of the
people who emerge in Europe as "civilized" beings.
Dr. James H. Breasted, with his general headquarters in this
building, has an army of diggers not alone with spades but also
with modern excavating enginery, directed by an archaeological staff,
on a 3,000-mile front, stretching frpm Luxor in Egypt northward
past Sinai, through Palestine and Syria to the uplands of Anatolia,
eastward and southward across Mesopotamia to Persepolis in Persia.
Many other groups are making independent research, but for the
first time a single organization is able to "control and correlate" research and excavation throughout the leading early civilization in a
"single composite construction" of the pre-European course of human life, when for thousands of years man was advancing along a
front as wide as the United States.
Of special significance is the evidence that in this period man
in Egypt began "to hear remote voices that proclaimed the utter
futility of material conquest." It was then that "conscience and
character broke upon the world." The coffin lids of Egyptians five
hundred years after the Pyramid age and millennials B. C. revealed
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
Ldshelfen" "^
bey nd
°
** ***"*** of food and drink
In the spacious walls of the Oriental Institute the East walks
again „ its beauty and majesty, but with sobering if hot fHghtontS
rssa past srv*? r ?
every bject
° ~ssni
were mmona
Y!
^ °J *?&**** that dreamed they
I^llM" , k
• ^/^ earthen fact is touched by the spirit of
n deaf T * ^ * ^ °n aS a ^mbo1 of druggie towa^
an ideal. The great winged bull that looks with steady eazeTto
mlTLWOdd "^ ^ bUt aU ear1^ d
oi human ni|ht-th
aPPeanng ab Ve the WmgS the stre
Sstin/th
, u°
'
"gth ^ the bull sug
Strden. ^ °f ^ ""** ** ^ *** «« P^ of beasl
it k iVCn-if thCSe rdiCS °f ' dead past cause disquiet in these days
~TrZ t ^Th^"'- Wkh Mn Fosdi^ peaking m th£
5S SaHf hi» the.a»?n«uW Peril that develops the human
spirit that ,t has, been ,n times of instability and not in hours nf
£llife'o? m^ grT,teSt C°ntributi0- "-been made to the cul
presLSav nhT' k ' *? ^ tdls US' b the words of a great
OMAR KHAYYAM-HIS GRAVE AND SHIRAZ WINE.
A RECENT press dispatch from Teheran announces that the
Persian government had decided to raise a tomb over the grave
of her great national poet Omar Khayyam, of Rubaiyat fame
whose remains reposed for nearly eight centuries at aXtance of
about four miles from Nishapur, where he was born almost un
marked and ,n a deplorable state of neglect. This tore7of the"
Persians in their famous poet is comparatively ^^SSd^fe
through the greater interest displayed in him by hi Western ad
SatilofTr0
aPP
rr -hiS P^^-P^y through the master^
Z I
L Fitzgerald. It ,s a well known fact that the Tentmaker, although famous as a mathematician and astronomer did
not enjoy among his countrymen the reputation of Hafiz aTd Sa'di
as a poet. Actually it was Fitzgerald who established Omar'
ThlS ]S
the
SetSnltor^r^ °onnethe
°f original,
""*practicallv
-^ants create,
wTi
the translator, by his improvement
a luminous and glamorous spirit out of wta^JS£~£3T
This does not preclude the other fact that in most caL the transla-
�'DECEMBER, 1931
/
25
tion never comes up to the standard of the original.
In commenting on the proposed action of the Persian government, the New York Sun quotes Professor A. V. Williams Jackson
of the department of Indo-Iranian languages of Columbia University, as describing Omar's tomb as "a simple case of bricks and
cement. Vandal scribblers, found in Persia as in every other land,
have desecrated it by scratching their names and making random
scrawls. A stick of wood, a stone and some fragments of shards
profaned the top of the sarcophagus at the time we saw it. There
was nothing else**** There were no evidences of the roses which
Omar had wished might mark his burial place, neither was there
fulfillment of his prediction that roses would fall in showers upon
his grave**** We wished for a taste from that jug of wine made
famous by Omar's line. Our messenger returned after a search
round the town, only to bring a vile specimen of Russian vodka."
This condition finds its counterpart in the grave of the other
Eastern poet Abul'Ula whose English translator is our own Syrian
poet Ameen Rihani. The philosophy of the Syrian poet transcends
that of the Persian. He is styled by some of his admirers as the
Oriental Dante. He antedates both Dante and Omar, and even has
a work on an imaginary visit to the nether regions, Risalat al Ghufran, much similar to Dante's Inferno. He also gave expression
to much of Omar's later philosophical tenets, but he did not sing of
wine and women and roses in such manner as to appeal to the popular fancy.
Why these and other Oriental poets are more honored abroad
than at home provokes thought. They live and die in want, although their songs are on the lips of city dwellers and desert
travelers. They give out of the overflowing of their hearts and
do not invoke copyright laws. Just how much Western poets are
subject to the same lot would bear discussion. But we do not wish
to trespass on the Poetry Department.
The remark of Professor Jackson on Persian wine is equally
interesting. For vile vodka to supplant the fine Persian wine is
tragic. Especially that one of the finest brands of European wine
owes its fame and popularity to Persian origin. This is on the
authority of the late Khalil Bey Aswad, a Syrian scholar who died
a few years ago in New York and had resided for a considerable
time in Persia. Cherry wine, he explained, is not a concoction of the
cherry fruit, but was so named after a certain method of brewing.
Originally it was known as "cherries wine," which is a corruption of
the original name of Shiraz wine, the similarity of sound being ob-
>
�26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
wi
t°nL ShJnZ 7*- in °ther WOrds "Persi
"e," was famous
m olden times for its superior quality, and when h* Portw^
first began to trade with Persia they discovered these virtuf of
Sh.raz wine, "which flows in the veins like liquid fire" TheV im
underwent ttie
tet^ZT
^^ * *
unuerwent
process of corruption.
^^
namc which
^*
PROMOTING RELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDS
JHlF AMERICAN HEBREW, Jewish national ^ , is
per
'
I
between
3
'JT^
^ fo8terin
* better
ng
between Ch'ri
Christian
and
Jew in America
and has
given "nde^id
a gold medaf
to be awarded each year to the "outstanding cSributoTto TntrT
religious comity and understanding." The movement w!
The very tact that such a movement has been «fJ,^
J
meeting with the approval of leading m n m„ ,g cLr fanTand
Jews indicates the existence of an amount of ill-wifl and mfsundTr
^andmg that is bound to be harmful if allowed to go u"he ked"
check k{s
.he eEf/tT:::? ?
0
ry
* ****** ^ =5
m t,ga,e
Lan Hebrew sS :S"o°do '° '
"' ThiS " Wh« tfe A «
The gratifying feature of the movement is that \t « k :
done with a method. People of the West work along^e piLs and
their efforts are consequently rewarded with success W "f the
East conceive of brilliant ideas and act on them Siv i response
to sudden impulses, and fail to achieve lasting result's The ex
ample of the West should carry a lesson.
" "*"
the n.T thC pr°mulgation of the Ottoman Constitution in iyU
1908
the people went into transports of iov and Ch ,'
° .
°
Moslem Sheikhs were known to hav^em^c5ouS]f^ "
structure ot the btate. Representation n Lebanon also is deter
ter
mmed along religious lines.
"
.
ft
�DECEMBER, 1931
BAHIA AL-MUSHEER,
27
Editor
THE DIETETIC VALUE OF SYRIAN FOOD
Y^ERY often we hear Syrian parents remark (and some complain)
that their children have lost their taste for Syrian dishes and
speculate about the cause, advancing theories for it, sometimes
rational and sometimes otherwise. That a large percentage of our
children partake of Syrian dishes under protest is, I regret to say, a
fact. It makes it hard for the old folks because they enjoy the
dishes on which they were brought up, and they consider it an unnecessary sacrifice on their part to submit to the whims of their offsprings. To him who appreciates the value of diet, this attitude of
our young generation should be a cause of great concern. I say this
because of my conviction, which is based on study, that our dishes in
their dietary values and in their flavor, are second to none. Here
I want to take exception to the statement often voiced by some to
the effect that Syrian dishes are, as they put it, "heavy", meaning of
course that one's stomach feels overloaded after finishing with a
meal. As a matter of fact, it is not that the dish in itself is "heavy"
but that the portion of it with which they load their stomachs is excessive. I will admit one point, however, and that is this: By faulty
preparation, one will make any dish "heavy" and indigestible. For
instance, what can be worse than "Dawood Basha" served with a
half inch of fat floating on the surface of its gravy, and the rice
swimming in butter? So when I say faulty preparation I mean the
Jack of judgment in the balancing of the ingredients, and the
failure in cooking or rather curing of them. Then there is the
question of the combination of dishes. In this we often make
grave mistakes, especially when we have guests and are afraid lest
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
m olden times for its superior quality, and when the Portuguese
first began to trade with Persia the/ discovered these vTrufTTi
Shiraz wine, "which flows in the veins like liquid hre.» The im
gm
undent
T'corruption.
^ " itS °ngmal
underwent thet
the process of
1
name which
» *«
PROMOTING RELIGIOUS UNDERSTAND!MrMERIC AN HEBREW
TTe fn
f
' ^^o^^,
is
f r foSt
b
bet^L^SS^
^rr^l
°
.
-^
^ter underLnding
oetween Lhristian and Jew ,n America and has given a eold medal
to be awarded each year to the "outstanding contnbutor to mtra
religious comity and understanding."
The movement w,
fc
PiiritYv} iV. loin
J r
i
iuu\ement was inau-
Ihe very fact that such a movement has been «t*r^
J
izi
I eeffoi ^h';:;^ ?checkm * isgateby rec°»"
"g £££*£
TWS is Wh
the Am
ica!, Hebrew S«°OU "OT' " '"
"
"
"
The gratifying feature of the movement is rhit ;. ;. u„done w,th a method. People of the West wlT
f
their efforts are conseque^tlyfetrf d Uh sutsf "^rfthe
East co„ce,ve of brilliant ,deaS and act on them h dy in respo.se
Moslem Sheikhs were bi, to tl^S^SS^t^
n the course of popular demonstrations. This seems to have h" n
but a momentary flare which soon died out. wS, the firs,exdte
structure oi the bta^e. Representation n Lebanon also lb
is defer
deter
mined along religious lines.
"
�DECEMBER, 1931
BAHIA AL-MUSHEER,
27
Editor
THE DIETETIC VALUE OF SYRIAN FOOD
y/ERY often we hear Syrian parents remark (and some complain)
that their children have lost their taste for Syrian dishes and
speculate about the cause, advancing theories for it, sometimes
rational and sometimes otherwise. That a large percentage of our
children partake of Syrian dishes under protest is, I regret to say, a
fact. It makes it hard for the old folks because they enjoy the
dishes on which they were brought up, and they consider it an unnecessary sacrifice on their part to submit to the whims of their offsprings. To him who appreciates the value of diet, this attitude of
our young generation should be a cause of great concern. I say this
because of my conviction, which is based on study, that our dishes in
their dietary values and in their flavor, are second to none. Here
I want to take exception to the statement often voiced by some to
the effect that Syrian dishes are, as they put it, "heavy", meaning of
course that one's stomach feels overloaded after finishing with a
meal. As a matter of fact, it is not that the dish in itself is "heavy"
but that the portion of it with which they load their stomachs is excessive. I will admit one point, however, and that is this: By faulty
preparation, one will make any dish "heavy" and indigestible. For
instance, what can be worse than "Dawood Basha" served with a
half inch of fat floating on the surface of its gravy, and the rice
swimming in butter? So when I say faulty preparation I mean the
lack of judgment in the balancing of the ingredients, and the
failure in cooking or rather curing of them. Then there is the
question of the combination of dishes. In this we often make
grave mistakes, especially when we have guests and are afraid lest
�28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
1 Let
Set !" Ir^tfrf :;
h
r **« - * ^
of New England bXTdiJ.
«""H <=Tf at to a meal composed
and pie; We a e servil A
' JT hAed beans> roast beef
manner'they are ser-edf,, A"1"' " ^ * °Ur ,abJe in "><= -e
our guests and "ur ^ "^K? °T' * ,he °*»—« of
ment when we serve our native" dthes"°
* "' "* ""* J"^
I
dishes ^f nltrVVtU" and"" "'" ? ^ aS in fla
«
our forbears, by ns<meteSertce „ "^S" 'SS"e' ' hi"ted that
made us heirs to ,^3
exped,e„ency,or all of these,
feeding. TS statemet may stank Sot am0ng
°f '^
^ "» °*
us who are
ogetic about their race n nd „!
.
*Poling good coming ~ tf ^S^ETS^ £» &
starting po,„t and our younger eenerari
j u
°k to the
wards our native food I seeln rh, 7 i •"" the'r att,tudes t0"
a
down upon what is our own r
A
'°" °" ,he mV w J°ok
telligenf reflectionas!£
H * % ^^ a Study « *say that one shou d be bli, dlv J , "0t mea".f°r one mome'« *>
and his own ways and ta^hlv"' **?"* °^ °f himsdf
s
somewhat like this- "Fat what J
* ^T6 '" Arabic that
others." I should'modi^th fer^'v '
2* pk^
a
* simple as possible^ ft££5 SSfe* »
A MENU FOR AMERICAN GUESTS
I
they have m^J^iS^^T °^
°f °U![ kdish-> -d
01
were good for them I Xit IhTi
' J" ^^
w they
f the
al
a great deal of thought n ordt J makV > SImple
$"?**alatable
°
healthful. Perusal of the mCnU
mlnn ddleS not lve
' P
and
it is a fact.
°
S
^at impression, but
Supposing I should give a sample:—
I
�DECEMBER, 1931
29
Lamb broth with small meat balls, garnished with minced
parsley, and lemon juice.
Mushroom, or Okra, or String Bean Stew with side of rice
Broiled Kibbi
Vegetable salad, lemon juice and oil dressing.
Fruits in season.
15
PROPER ROASTING
JN ROASTING chicken or turkey, let me suggest placing the bird
in the roasting-pan first on one side, then on the other. When
two-thirds done, lay at breast up. This will brown it evenly and
prevent the breast meat and drumsticks from over-cooking and becoming too dry.
HOW LADIES COULD USE IDLE HOURS
i
I
\^/HAT are our young ladies and matrons who have time to spare
doing with it? Time was when they used to pride themselves
on the articles they used to make for their own personal use or for
their future or present homes. I realize that knitting, tatting and
embroidering are passe, still there is something not only beautiful
and useful when it is done, but is fascinating in the making, and
like a fine oriental rug, increases in value as the days go by Moreover it is very fashionable. I refer to needle point Patterns could
be bought with the required yarn for them. I recommend the renaissance design. Some of them have petit-point centers already
worked out and the finished pieces for a chair or cushion have nothing to be desired insofar as artistic effect and richness and durability are concerned. By the way, I read somewhere that there are
2,850 stitches to the square inch in the petit-point work.
But don't be frightened, this comes already worked out in the
pattern and all you have to do is to fill out the needle point part
of it.
*
The best part of it is that you can work on it while listening
to the radio.
°
�r
THE SYRIAN WORLD
30
A Party for Aneesa
A SHORT STORY
By
EDNA
K.
SALOOMEY
"THE SUN snuggled a bit in the misty horizon and then, as though
resigned to December bleakness, it flung its rays through the
morning haze, directly into the windows of the Faris kitchen.
Mariam, wife of Khalil Antoun Faris, was unaware of the
wonderful panorma without, so busy was she preparing Khalil's
breakfast. She hustled from the pantry to the stove, from the
stove to the table.
For twenty years she had been rising early for this daily task.
She would no more have dreamed of remaining asleep and letting
Khalil get his breakfast as best he could, than she would have
thought of being separated from him except by death. This task
was done not from a sense of duty; it was to her a ritual.
In her pink, cotton dress, with her curly black hair, which was
streaked with gray, and her rosy, fair complexion, she was indeed
a delectable housewife. Her black fringed, dark brown eyes had
a very naive, kindly expression which belied all her efforts to appear
as the ultra-modern wife of Khalil Antoun Faris, the successful
merchant. The only streak of vanity she had, was her pride in
having acquired enough knowledge of English to read newspapers.
Her reading was confined mostly to the social page.
Mariam was setting the table for two. Aneesa, a girl of
eighteen and the only child, never arose in time to breakfast with
her parents. By virtue of having completed her high school course
shortly before, which was a rare achievement in the eyes of her
parents, Aneesa was privileged to sleep late.
The glowing coals in the grate made the kitchen pleasantly
warm. On top of the stove, the coffee bubbled tempestuously in
the percolator. To one side was a frying-pan in which eggs were
sizzling in elive oil. On the table was a dish of fat, juicy olives
which had ripened in some Syrian grove; a dish of laban, and one
of dates stewed in sugar. There were small, flat disks of Syrian
bread, baked especially for Khalil. Mariam did not like to see him
"»
i\
�"DECEMBER, 1931
'.
I
I
31
making cartwheel of slices of American bread, which he did by removing the inner part and eating the crust.
When Khalil entered the kitchen, he found his wife placing
the frying-pan of eggs on a hot-pad in the middle of the table. He
greeted her perfunctorily and she answered him in the same vein.
Their love needed no verbal reiterations or effusive greetings.
"How do you feel this morning? Is your cold better?" she
asked solicitously.
"I'm much better. I didn't cough very much during the
night. This looks like a cold day. I expect we'll sell some blankets and oil stoves today. Are you coming down to the store?"
Khalil had a department store and always thought of the
weather in terms of his business.
"Yes. Aneesa needs a new hat, and she and I are going down
town together. I think I'll select a party dress for her at the same
time."
"Party dress? What, does she need another one already?"
Manam did not answer his question. Quite frequently since
he married her, she had surprised him with some new idea; and
this time, she took a round about way to do it.
"I was reading last night about the big partv the Morgans
gave for their daughter, and I think we ought to give a party for
Aneesa," she said.
"What, are you comparing us with J. P. Morgan?"
"No, no. Habeebi, do you think I've lost my mind? I mean
the Morgan family that owns the big laundrv in town. You've '
seen their ads, haven't you?"
_ "Certainly, I have; but I don't know all about their family
affairs."
"Well," she said eagerly trying to arouse his interest, "they
have a daughter the same age as Aneesa, and they had a wonderful dance for her last night at the hotel."
"If they sneeze, do we have to sneeze too?" He was not impressed by the information, nor convinced of the necessity of having a party for Aneesa.
"Every night I read in the papers about this family and that
having parties for their daughters. Why, do you suppose, they
have these affair*? Well, just ^o that their daughters ran meet the
nice kind of people. How do you expect Aneesa to meet anybody,
if she doesn't have a chance?"
"If that's the case," he answered, "what more do we want?
DonV. we have a lot of company? Weren't the Doumits here last
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
night, and wasn't the family nf R„u
and weren't Father Daher and ,1 ^J- i Tbn« us on Tuesday,
people come to cur house ''
^ ^ h$t Week! M V
II
frie„dsD° T
vZk^T !° ""* ''< ^ m«ts «* Y
d Mr Ab
bond's broeherh „ i; fotnseveenmeTre *??"
"
"
her t0 meet more
young people, and you know fh" /
JT
house, she can't become ,
!» We don < lnvite them to the
instan'ce, Peter Mansour" '"^ W'th them d*«*^- For
ft
TO
to
to vigour ^me^l'Stw » IT '"
^ "'duce him
enough for him wltolTvin7a X-^ °» ^ —
(
Wm
too obvi uTwav' "ifwe^ave """ 7' hI "S,
° "'"* w
» - «*
W,il see h
how pretty Aneesa is I,
I ^7' f
e live, and
Pretend„. we're
ha", J*
/ Vu^
"' *rfolks
^" dress' We'll
,
.f; aa trtv
Party lor
the young
I1
R
wished «o8have her'wifn us'a h7 1 " »' * f *»
when we have to do the courting »
" tlmesth«e are,
Ws
and
tor
needed!
^t^
^
^
«-«*
was necessary XllS' to obtan, his approval, which
asked for his approval if e
fnakm
fu-'"8 °' m°ney' She always
"We would,V I, T
""
S y expensive plan
the C
in
Sht
Si
"We h v;I « 2 ±S?! , T f'"
' "" P- ^"tly.
Why shou,d
different fron other people J^ ^^
We could have sucn ffc^S^ ** **
3 P raSan eVMin
25?FS
tdT I '
;
^ >*
Child
?
«" -W-W to him.
termed, he w'Lsplbl 0
^ he nThl'""' *
.T* * mi?ht b=
a d he
hospitalitywathtvpicalSvrh ! t T
^ "
dispensed his
a
S
He
than hava'ng a h, useful 0wl f'r - u fJ^ nothing more
perfect evening for na SSu off 'fF
'? "T ^^ A
feW fr,ends
dred or pinochle.
"
Paying two hum
So, as he arose from thp tiU]„ „„A
We
eoat, he said hurriedly "IV 1 '
'" t0 PUt on his hat and
P r per
Mariam, we're not worry ill
?'"'" f , ° - B"t, remember,
and all Peter Mansour's Ze
" ""t^ f°r 0Ur *««**
his family in ^Z^Zy
,"0'^ to ""• Wh« ~
to- "7Z^^m7£l^^^"^
'
>
wiJJ become worse."
ULir colcl
^^^^^^
-
-
'
•
i n
�DECEMBER, 1931
n
Mariam had obtained official approval of her plan. She bemmenT i^Y engrOSS'd 'm ^ranging the party as any socially proWJth the aid
mar
e for
^T*A
"^ ^
**""*»*
retaries
her daughter's
debut **'
at the
Waldorf-Astoria °* secAnd, after giving his approval, Mr. Paris completely forgot
X*e e,nt'rI matt5r' u»tiJ °
^ning, three weeks later, his
Hire reminded him of it.
^ordered a turkey for tomorrow night," she informed him.
J,, Cyr , loU r^°,ng to give us turkey for Christmas dinnpi,
nei * It s six days to Christmas."
"No, no. I ordered it for the party."
"Party? What party?"
''What? Have you fogotten that we're having a partyy tomorrow night for Aneesa?"
'-Would you believe it, I forgot all about it? Who and who
is coming: '
rfrf, ' oathec Pah"r' ?T/
Ph in
ATK
1 M
^ ' iT-
Mansour
> *** Khouri, the Milhim
Cr Sim0U and Nazira D Umit
r '
°
> and
Ihilip Abboud and his wife Helany. I asked Simon and Philip
especially for your sake so that you would have company when the
yoi-ng people dance. Father Uaher will have to leave early because he promised to see some people to-morrow evening " ' '
Are you prepared for such a large group? Shall I order
anything today:"
"Nothing is needed," his wife assured him. "Shall we hive
arak or imbeed?"
"Have both, and I've got something that Simon likes. What
are you going to have for the supper, turkey?"
His wife put his fears to rest regarding the pkntifulness of
food .he named six dishes, any one of which would have sufficed
tor the mam course.
He was satisfied with everything, until she said, "Khali!
take yorr tuxedo to the tailor today for a pressing "
^Tuxedo? What for? I'm not going to a banquet."
1 his is a formal party, and you should wear your tuxedo "
Suppose Simon and Philip come and- find me wearing a
tuxedo, when they surely won't wear one."
"Is this their party? You're the owner of this house, and
you re the one to wear a tuxedo tomorrow night. Peter Mansour
will wear one, I'm sure."
"Well," he drawled, "from now till tomorrow night
I'll
6
think about it."
'
�*"***•
34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Mariam Fans had won her point again
UherVrU anticiPa,ted the Party wit" more pleasure than Aneesa.
It her mother was planning it especially that Peter Mansour might
open his eyes to Aneesa's charms, she was as ignorant of that plan
as nt was. Her joy was inspired by the anticipation of seeing Paul
Mumer whom she liked better than any boy she had evef met
She really loved him, which fact she would not have discussed eTe
ment wT° " 2? ^ ^ *"** j" loVe ^ one's engage
Z Ihter "n!10UnCfd- A"d Aneesa, being the typical, obedient
yP , C nSer VatlVe Parents l0Ved Paul from
Shes,whim
•
r K °on the
"far.
L street when ' passing with her mother
SAe saw h.m ,n church,
ind aiin '
T um at ChUrch S0daIs' hdd °»ce « winter
S Cials Paul alwaVS asked A
d cat h HSPnnWh,C
^- u^ th£Se
°
'
'^sa to
for n *rih
'
V?lS Possible as the dance was being held
to, a worthy cause, and he never danced with any one else
as sh< w-TT " C? u1 ab<i)Ut concealil^ hi* own affections for her
as she was her's for him because he wished to be certain that the
tUal
rC makmg PUWk th£ faCt he J
AsTLTn r
"d ° n
t,ng an inkli
from her
ca
of letting
11
T^
' ' take
*? its own course.
'^
caste of
the matter
oved her!
& was
Paul > was
wisea
n that rs F s was not
de
u"g7t:i
r
^
^
^^
of for a
salary
nhim fo, a son-in-law. HeHwas
wasearning
em edgoodly
at --
:; nd° rr^r- /
a
^ » £2^
too Seated on the outskirts of the town, and his only claim to
Wledge
P,a 1CS Which he had
"
H°
^/^a
of
l „I was
'" entrusted
; WaS rto81^
01 airplanes
him.
Bete/fenSS WaV10t intCrefed in
home Seated
TTf ^^
he JuS"" rt
' '
'~ £
>kiIlt>d aviator and the testing
PauJ
'* Prowess as she was in
°
P-ssive
h ldingS and his im
nCarJy thirt
>'^evc'b which to Aneesa implied that
His^ financial rise had made him a bit conceited and perhaps justifiably so, as he had earned his success by the dint of his own hrewd
ness and tireless efforts. He was much sought after by d signmg
and thc
the Catered
"a ^ et
r't^r
IT*
"^
««
"
°
d 1 I
l
f"^ He respected the Farises
Sh,e
from
a great deal, knowing that to Khalil Faris character and breeding
SUSpectin f r
e
M"
Tl?
« ° °»the
~S32
M.s. FarTwh
Fans, who "
was"""^
so Proud,
had even entertained
thought of
^B*"**mBJBBnHHHBHisF
�DECEMBER, 1931
35
his marrying Aneesa; so discreet had she been in her planning.
The night of nights arrived. Mariam Fans was too excited at
the prospect of having so many guests and by her efforts to carry
our her plans to perfection. She worked unceasingly from dawn
sweeping and dusting, washing the best china dinner set, laving out
her best linen cloth and napkins. She had cooked the entire meal
herself. Aneesa had shopped for fruits and had arranged the
flowers in the living room and dining room.
When Khalil returned from his store that night, he found
Mariam wearing a black velvet dress; her hair lovelier than ever;
her face rosy with excitement, and her eyes sparkling with the
thought of gaining many social laurels for the evening.
She scarcely said hello to him, she, was so anxious to have him
dress quickly.
"Yallah," she urged him, "everything is ready for vou
I
.pressed your tuxedo myself yesterday, and you'll find it on the bed
I our socks and tie are on the dresser. I purposely dressed early so
that we wouldn't get in each other's way."
"All right," was all he said. He knew that the occasion demanded acquiesence because Mariam was too intently thinking about
other things to listen to anything he might say. He didn't like to
rush, he preferred to contemplate everything slowly and to talk
matters over with her. But as they had no way of knowing how
soon the guests would arrive, it was necessary to be ready in time
to greet the first arrival.
By seven-thirty, every one would have come, except, perhaps,
the Doumits. Mrs. Doumit was a bit like Mariam in her desire to do
everything according to etiquette. She always insisted on her husband's delaying their arrival at any affair, because she was certain
that an early arrival was an indication of lack jf etiquette. The
more attention she gave to etiquette, the less she knew about it.
This evening Mariam was hoping and praving that the Doumits
would not be too long arriving, lest the food spoil from overcooking.
Scarcely had Khalil finished adjusting his tie, when the door
bell rang. Aneesa paused to greet her father, and was going down
to open the door when Mariam stopped her.
"Aneesa, you don't need to open the door. Let Flora open if
that's what I hired her for."
This was the first time that Khalil knew that his wife had
hired a maid for the evening. The thought of Mariam's piling
up so many expenses, all for a party, depressed him a little. His
�mm
36
?
THE SYRIAN WORLD
regrets were compensated, however, by the sight of Mariam looking so charming in her black velvet dress with its dainty lace yoke
andi sleeves; and his heart filled with pride because Aneesa was so
lovely m her white tulle dress with its rose sash.
lhe bell rang again.. Mariam was provoked. «I knew that
VC bC a hdp She thinks Pm
wwash
T dishes
dT r
I ^ P^g her J«st to
tonight. Aneesa, open the door, while I speak to
The guests were certainly convinced of Mariam's culinary
skill that evening. The dinner was excellent; it was a meal for
the imbeed
(wine
and the
lu^Zl- uil r?^ ^
^
"something
else which khalil brought out inspired much speech making. Father Daher spoke eloquently of the host. Mr. Doumit attempted
a lengthy toast in his best classical Arabic, and Philip Abboud was
content to say a brief wish for the health and happiness of all.
Manam was highly elated. The party was proving a huge
success. She was wondering just how to arrange for the rest of
the evening, after everyone had finished eating. Of course, Aneesa
must play a few piano selections.
The guests gathered in the living room. The men sat in a
group near Father Daher, and were soon engrossed in a political
discussion. The young people commenced to feel restless. The girls
talked together and the young men listened dutifully to Father
aher. U hen father Daher arose to leave, every one arose to bid
him good-night.
evn, fWhik unm 7S listening to Father Daher's appreciative
expressions, Khali] took matters into his. own hands.
tUrnmg to
1
ui'" hWill
x^SMdyou
play
pinochle.
playf"
to pkC>e>rtainJy'" ^^
b th
°
Phili
agreed
'
P
and Simon
"We
Want a fourth
"Do you know how to play pinochle, Paul?"
he arranged the bridge table.
2juh * d'd- ^Ut' 1
y U WOn,t be
Peter?"
°
donh kn0w the ki
a hel
P
then
-
Doumit, "Let's
Person
Khalil asked, as
"g from the jack."
about you, Mister
How
wurtalniy'-Mn Faris" VU be glad to Play with you."
\\ hen Manam re-entered the room, after seeing Father Daher
off, she found her husband and his three friends seated around
the table, intent on bidding. She was angry at Khalil for having
suggested the card game,.which she was certain from past experience
he had done. This was. not her idea. If. Peter Mansour spent the
j)
�'DECEMBER, 1931
57
evening playing pinochle what was the good of having this party?
She spoke to Mrs. Doumit and to Mrs. Abboud. The vbung
SoLT ****** kughing,. seated in a circle neaV thf
VKtrola Aneesa was sitting next to Paul, which didn't relieve her
mother's consternation.
Mariam thought of calling Khalil out on a pretext. She went
into the kitchen, and called to Aneesa, asking her to te 1 Kha
that he was wanted. -Aneesa went to her father
"Papa mother wishes to see you for a minute."
But Khalil had an excellent hand and he wanted to score as
^ri^er
erj Philip Abboud
>
TO
i
^ ^* i-s?5
"See what your mother wants, Aneesa. Tell her I'll be
through in a few minutes. Let's see what we can do, partner." He
became oblivious of everything but his game.
Aneesa told her mother that Khalil would come in later
Kh,l^ai]r WaS PrOV(*ecL What was the use of trying to call
Khalil s attention to anything, now that he had started. ' She Jjoined
her friends, Nazira and Helany.
The guests had divided into three groups: the ladies were
grouped by themselves, Khalil and the older men, including Pe
Mansour, were busily playing pinochle, and the younger people
were dancing. Paul Munier was having the best time of a^ he
was dancing to his heart's content with Aneesa
'
ty
Sa
1
one assured
Paris that
tlatesuch
,renjoyable
Ti^
^^
Mariam
*ans
such an
time ^
was had
only rarely. Khalil
felt
grateful inwardly; it had been so pleasant to have had a house fu 1
tS and
feClmg
piilinehhad
H won ^
-Philip
the^
game.
eSpedalJ
^
Cheerful be
--e"e fa,d
her se^tTm^rlf ^^
\^
•* W°uld be P6^ to mention
SC
hlS haVmg draWn Peter
a Ld T
' T r Jf
Mansour into
a card game; and she did not wish Aneesa to know that she had
deliberately planned the evening in order to have Pete- become
better acquainted with them.
income
%
Aneefa^hed Tan^ R^S ^"t "f
5'
"Yes" and W was about ^t^^^^
conversation, which lasted only three minutes or so
"Who was that?" her mother asked, curious to know who
could be calling them after midnight.
"Paul Munier. He called up to say goodnight."
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"What's that?" her father questioned. "He was just here
saying goodnight.
"Well," she answered evasively, "he wanted to call me up to
say it again."
"He certainly must have rushed home," Mariam said.
"He wants to come over tomorrow night," Aneesa announced
shyly. "He wants to speak to you, papa, and to mama. He asked
me if I would like to have him speak to you, and I didn't say no;
I didn't say anything."
"What's this? What's this?" Khalil asked.
"Why, he wants to marry Aneesa and he will come over to get
our approval," Mariam replied, impatiently and resentfully. She
was blaming this turn of affairs on Khalil's card party, which had
thrown Paul and Aneesa together and deprived Peter Mansour of
an opportunity to observe Aneesa's charm. She was tired by the
thought of having done so much in vain.
"We'll discuss the matter tomorrow," she told Aneesa. "It's
very late, we should go to bed. I have to be up early to get your
father's breakfast."
"I'll get up early tomorrow, mama. You stay in bed," Aneesa
urged her. She felt that she would want to be up early, there was
so much to look forward to; and she knew how tired her mother
must be. .
"Don't you believe it," her mother answered firmly. "When
I have a fever of 102, I'll stay in bed. You go up to bed now, else
you will be too tired tomorrow to help me with the work that
needs to be done."
"Good night, papa. • Good night, mama," Aneesa said, kissing
them.
"Good night Aneesa. By the way, what time is Paul coming
over tomorrow night?"
"He didn't say, papa. But he told me to tell you that he will
learn to play pinochle and that at present all he knows is a queen
when he sees one. He means me, papa."
�39
.BER, 1931
VECF
100K REVIEWS
JANei
A BOOK OF SENTIMENT AND FACT ON A GREAT
SYRIAN POET
A Study of Kahlil Gibran, by Barbara Young. Privately
printed First Edition limited to 250 copies numbered and autographed by the author. The Gibran Studio, 5 1 West 10th Street,
New York. $2.50.
In this handsomely printed brochure on her friend Kahlil
Gibran, Barbara Young writes not as a dry biographer citing facts
in chronological order, but as a poet who records her impressions of
the great epic poem that was Gibran's life. Dexterously she outlines his racial background, giving a glimpse of the rustic surroundings, almost feudal conditions in which he was born and reared,
but does so subtly, almost unconsciously alluding to the facts only
as details in the broad scheme depicting the many-sided genius of
Gibran. And of the intimate details of his earlier and later life she
has copious knowledge, gained through her long friendship and literary association with this gifted son of Lebanon who has won by his
innate goodness of character and consummate perfection of his art,
both of pen and brush, the love and admiration of so many kindred
spirits among the children of the West. Even to us, his own countrymen, some of the details weaved into the mosaic of the account
came as a revelation of the author's vast store of accurate and intimate knowledge. It is apparent that only Gibran himself could
have supplied the information, in reminiscent moments when the
two friends discussed their earlier lives and later aspirations. And
this Miss Young now uses so well in producing this "Study of
Kahlil Gibran," which is as much a fitting tribute to his greatness
as a monument to her own great devotion.
1
PHHHBnHHnnRMHpnn
�40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
KAHLIL OIBRAN
Photographed in his studio by Mrs. Pliny Fisk a few
weeks before his death. From "A Study of Kahlil Gibran."
�DECEMBER, 1931
41
The, illustrations in the booklet, some consisting of hitherto
unpublished photographs of Gibran, and to which only Miss Young
seems to have access, span the whole life of the poet-artist from
his early youth to his closing days. A facsimile of an original manuscript and a pen-and-ink sketch by Gibran done in his student days
in Paris add considerably to the value of the work.
It is evident that Miss Young does not intend her present
work to be a complete biography. It is an appreciative study, but
nevertheless factual and illuminating. It is most welcome as an
authentic, and so far the only literary treatise extant, on Gibran's
life. For this Miss Young can lay just claim to the gratitude of
Gibran's countrymen, who surely wish to assure her of it unstintingly. In years to come, it is their hope that she will accomplish
her announced task of making a fuller study of Gibran with a viewto a more complete biography.
RESURRECTING THE GLORY OF SYRIA
History of Palestine and Syria, by Prof. A. T. Olmstead, New
York, Charles Scribner's Sons. 644 pp. Illustrated. $7.50.
pHERE IS a group of men in the West whose devotion to the
cause of scientific research, backed by the wealth of organizations
and individuals who appreciate the importance of retrieving the
hitherto lost record of human progress, is bringing untold blessings
to human enlightenment. These men are practically recreating
history. They have resurrected the East and restored to it its
prestige as the cradle of the race and the birthplace of civilization.
In the words of Prof. James H. Breasted at the dedication of the
Oriental Institute, "It was in the Near Orient that man began to
hear remote voices that proclaimed the utter futility of material
conquest, and conscience and character broke upon the world."
Professor Olmstead is a co-worker with Professor Breasted
at the Oriental Institute. His latest book on the history of Palestine and Syria is a companion volume to his earlier History of Assyria and represents the summary of all historical records, whether
long known or of recent discovery, in Syria and the Near East from
the beginning of time to the Macedonian conquest. The work bespeaks the most exhaustive thoroughness and scholarly research.
As a book of reference it is invaluable, but it can also be highly
�42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
recommended as a readable book on general historical information.
The author has the happy faculty of creating "atmosphere", of
treating what would be generally considered dry, technical material in a manner readily understood and relished by the layman, although never swerving from his objective and incorporating in his
account all the scholarly information he means to convey. As
such it proves useful not only to the scholar but to the general
reading public. Those whose racial origin is rooted in Near Eastern
countries should be particularly interested in this work.
Porfessor OJmstead covers t\e whole range of the history of
the land and its people from all angles. He treats the physical,
political, social, ethnological and religious evolution in its various
stages. His account of the origin of Eastern mythology, the relation between the Syrian and Egyptian conception of a deity, and
how several forms of Eastern worship were borrowed from the
East by Western Europe will prove particularly illuminating. He
displays a keen sense of appreciation of some concepts in Syrian mythology whose poetical value modern rationalists spoil by matterof-fact interpretation.
The chapter on "Ships of Gebal", which is exceptionally interesting, is partly based on the author's personal survey of the
Syrian coast which once was the scene of the flourishing civilization
of which he writes. Of exceptional interest also is the fact he establishes that monotheism was known to Syrians and Egyptians
Jong before it was adopted by the Hebrews. So were "the races
which were to enter into the composition of the Hebrew people
established in Syria a millenium or more before the conquest of
the Promised Land. The very language in which our Old Testament is written was spoken by Canaanites and Phoenicians from
these same early days. Already Syria possessed a high culture,
mixed to be sure with foreign elements, but made its own; before
the Hebrew conquest, its civilization might be compared without
disparagement to that of the great empires."
The dedication is made to Professor James Henry Breasted,
Director of the Oriental Institute in the University of Chicago, and
the author's predecessor in the chair of Oriental History in the
University.
The book is profusely illustrated and has been given the utmost of typographical care by the publishers.
�'DECEMBER, 1931
43
SPANNING THE NATION'S HISTORY
The Book of American Presidents, by Esse V. Hathaway, New
York, Whittlesey House. Illustrated. 367 pp. $2.50.
JN THIS book of close to four-hundred pages, Miss Hathaway
not only gives a biography of the Presidents but records the history of the nation. She starts from the assumption that the Declaration of Independence required of the President only to do his
best to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United
Spates, and emphasizes the fact that in the choice of president there
was no question of family, fortune, education or past experience.
This she deduces to be proof positive of the unswerving faith of the
founders of the nation in American manhood.
It is along this line that the author reconstructs the lives and
achievements of American Presidents. She brings out in each the
quality for which he was most noted and gives to the chapter on
each president a title indicative of that quality. Thus Washington
is "Starting Right"; Thomas Jefferson is "Extending Boundaries"}
James Monroe is "On Guard"} Abraham Lincoln is "Welding"}
until the end of the list is reached with Harding, Coolidge and
Hoover "At the World's Cross-Roads".
Nothing but the author's deep-rooted love for her country and
her pride in the achievements of her nation and its heads could have
induced such painstaking research and study. And she has certainly
accomplished her task well. We wish to applaud the success of her
efforts especially because her Americanism is not of the narrow provincial sort. She has been a reader of THE SYRIAN WORLD and
often has expressed her approval of our method of approach to enlightened Americanism. We therefore feel confident that our
readers of young Syrian-Americans will derive great profit and
pleasure from her book.
The pen-and-ink illustrations of all the Presidents appearing
in the book are by Samuel Bernard Schaeffer. There are also facsimile reproductions cf all the Presidents' signatures.
i
mwaw
�" **,; Iin; y ' •"
'44
--
:
-
•
..
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Peace and Good Will, Plus Faith
By
THE EDITOR
^HE ECHO of the angels' glad tidings of peace and good-will
still reverberates among the hills of Judea and is heard
round the world: That distant voice of centuries continues to increase in volume and velocity as the message of Christianity is
carried to an increasing number of men with the passage of each
year. That message brings comfort because it reminds man of
his divine origin, his hope of redemption and his ultimate perfection.
No single event in human history bears as much significance as
the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, because no other single event has
wrought so much change in man's conception of his destiny.
The small land of Palestine, a geographical part of greater
Syria, owes its importance chiefly to the birth of a child in a manger
on a cold night in the little town of Bethlehem.
Three Magi kings were guided to that humble spot on the
night of the great event by a star; now the thoughts of hundreds
of millions of believers in the teaching of that child of Nazareth
and .Bethlehem are turned with love and devotion to the land of
the child's birth on his anniversary, their hearts throbbing with
ineffable joy and the echo of the message of the angels filling
their ears.
The commemoration of the great event has ever been a source
of joy and hope and spiritual solace. In the present crisis through
which the world is passing it should prove of greater significance
and effect. Men now need hope and courage as they never did before, and the spiritual fortitude which the Christmas season brings
forth should impart steadiness to wavering souls. The present
economic crisis is an aftermath of the World War's cataclysm, and
if the world was '? to emerge safely from the war crisis, so' will
it find the courage to weather the resulting economic crisis. Peace
and good-will and hope and courage are now sorely needed, and
the commemoration of the one who preached this doctrine should
inspire the believers in him to practice his teachings. Now of all
time, is the need to practically apply the Christian spirit to the needs
of civilization so that the work which had its birth in the little town
of a Syrian province nearly two thousand years ago, and which
Christendom the world over commemorates each year might be
carried on.
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�DECEMBER, 1931
45
NEW ELECTIONS ORDERED IN SYRIA FOLLOWING RETURN OF
HIGH COMMISSIONER—PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT DEPOSED
The Syrian problem at last appears to have entered the final stage
for a definite solution. With the return of High Commissioner Ponsot
to Beirut on November 15 and h"s
swift action in ordering new elec
tions in Syria, together with the apparent cordiality which character'zel
his conversations with the leaders o2
the Nationalist party who were in
frequent conferences with him, it b2comes ev'dert that some common
understanding has been reached fDr
composing the 7ong drawn out differences between the Syrians and France
on the poltical future of Syria. Ad
cLtional pre of of the High Commis
sicner's determinat'on to speedily end
the present uncertainty in the political situation may be deduced from
his having lost no time in depos'ng
the pre visional government of Sheikh
Tajeddin Al Hasani preparatory t:>
holding the new elections and assum
ing in person the conduct of government ad inter'm and supervision of
the elections.
M. Ponsot's arrival in Beirut was
attended by much ceremony despite
his having banned any form of os
tentatious disp'ay. Official delegations from a'l parts of Syr'a flocked
to Beirut to take part in the recaption, presumably at the bidding of
Sheikh Tajeddin, according to press
reports. There was a representative
delegation also of the Nat:onalist
party headed by its veteran leader
Hashim Bey Al-Atasi. The delegations were received by the High Commissioner at his private rrs'dence and
there was evident cordiality marking
his conversations with the Nat'onalists.
Only two days later the High
Commissioner proceeded to Damascus
and immediate"}' went into r Lngthy
conference with the head of the prov'sional government. Later the two
went together to the S iraya where
the High Commissioner announced to
the officials of the Syrian government his dec'sio: s on his future policy.
Following these moves three offi
cial communiques wjie itoiied ty the
High Commi3sion?r set.ing forth his
decis'ons as fellows:
Assumption by ;he High Commissioner of direct government in
Syria pending the daemons for the
Constituent Assembly wh\h ware set
for the middle of December. An executive secretary will r .> >r s ni the
High Commissitner in the conduct of
[roverrment. Most of the members of
the provisional cabinet were reta'ned
Appointment by the High Commissioner of an Advisory Counci1 to
supervise the elections with a % iew
to insuring their fairness and impartiality. All former heads of the
Syrian government since the beginning of the mandate are appo:nted to
membership in the council, including
Sheikh Tajeddin. The High Commis-
HIIHMPf
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
46
Chambers of Commerce or" Damasens
and Aleppo end several others.
The third communique deals with
ths coming clectic;:s and S3ts for.h the
ccrdhions under which ths primary
r,nd final elections are to bo hod in
the different districts an.l among the
various clisscs of the population.
This appears necessary in view cf tin
spes'al conditions of the population,
seme being nomad:; or semi nomads.
Ths HigAi Commissioner assumes the
right of exercising direct supervision
cf the elections in his ca;?aei y of
head of the government.
Although the Nationalists appear
to be on the friendliest terms with
the French authorities, no official declaration of their stand has yet boon
g-'ven. Cut immediately following the
announcement of the action taken by
the High Commissioner the leader of
•the Nationalists, Hashim Bey Al Atasi, issued a call to all d'strict leaders and former members of ths Ccnstituent Assembly to convene for a
party conference at Dsmascus to discuss their future policy. It is hinted
in Nat:onalist newspapers, hc-wever,
that tie Party will rssume an attitude of co-operatic n w'th the mandatory authorities and participate 5n tha
coming e^ctions since they have been
convinced that the High Commissioner has earnestly secured the maximum
terms for the Syrians, and that there
SHEIKH TAJEDDIN AL-HASANI
are some rights wh.'ch France in hsr
For three years Provisional Presi- role oi mandatory cannot relinquish.
dent of the State of Syria, who was
These new developments would
deposed by High Commisslonere Pon- seem to mark the beginnng of the
sot in November.
end of the Syrian prbolem. At least
;
sicner reserves the r ght to appoint they appear to pave the way for a
to membership all outstanding per- new approach to an understanding if
sonalities whose presence induces con- rot a permanent solution. If present
fidence. He has consequently ap- plans are carried out acccrding to
pointed several leaders of the Na- schedule, the new Constituent Astionalist party, '"neluding Al-Atasi, the s:mb"y should convene in the midJ'e
judge cf the Supreme Court of Da- of February to del'berate on ths new
mascus, the President of the National form of government to be adopted for
Syria.
University, the Presidents of the
»
�DECEMBER, 1931
With these developments agitation for a monarchy in Syr'a, or even
the creation of a dual monarchy to be
•composed of Syha and Iraq with
King Faisal on the throne, S3ems to
have subsided. The wish of the Syrian people was expressed in the first
Assembly which formulated a constitution and declared for a republic.
Now with the Nationalists maintaining their former strength which insures their control of the coming Assemby, their often expressed adherence to their republican principles
is expectd to be mainta:ned.
LEBANON OCCUPIED WITH
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
N. A. Mokarzel, New York Editor,
Proposed by Influential Group as
Logical Candidate.
The paramount occupation of the
Lebanese at present seems to center
on the ccming Presidents elections.
In this connection some unexpected
developments have taken place which
in some respects indicate the desperate stage of discontent among the
Lebanese w'th present methods of
adminstration
One (f the curiosities of the Lebanese Republic is that representation
in the Legislative Assembly is still
maintained by re'igious denonvnations
along the lines obtaining :n the form
er regime. And this despite the fact
that the structure of the government
is supposed to be republican. The
first President, however, was chceen
from among the minorities, presumably owing tc< the impossib:lity of agree
ment on a candidate of the majority.
President Dabbas has now had two
terms, and while Hwre are rumors of
the possib*'lity of his election for a
mam
47
third term, such a possibility seems
to be remote.
The Maronites, who cempose the
largest single group in the country,
pre now clliming the Presidency as
their right in accordance with the law
of majority representation, but as on
previous occasions, they are not agreed on a candidate, the two most
prominenty mentioned at present being Emil Eddy and Bishara Khoury,
bo.'h former Premiers. As an alternate propositii 7i the suggestion has
been advance:! that the Presidency be
w'thheld from all the larger groups
and given to one from among the
minorities.
In this connection the
or.e mrst prominently mentioned is
Dr. Ayoub Thabet, former Minister of
the Interior who is credited with hav
ing inaugurated many reforms. Dr.
Thabet is a Protestant.
But what appears t(- be the most
starting suggestion is that coming
from an influential group in Lebanon
who advocate the e'ection of N. A.
Mokarzel, the veteran Lebanese editor
cf Al Hoda, to the Presidential office.
The suggestion was first advanced by
the Lebanese notable Sheikh Edmond
Belaibil, :n an open letter which h^
sent to Lebanese papers and was received by a considerable number of
editors with much favorable comment,
eliciting from sc me even enthusiasm.
The grounds on which the suggestion
is based is that Mr. Mokarzel, being
above local po itics and having had
a lorg record of distinguished service
to his mother country, together with
his tireless energy and adminstrative
ability, would be the Moses who wou'd
save Lebanon from the wilderness of
its present chaotic condition.
Commenting rn this proposal, the
editor explains in detail in the issue
of Al-Hoda of Dec. 12 the reasons for
his refusal to entertain the suggestion.
Whi'e expressing appreciation fcr the
generous gesture and the proffered
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7HE SYRIAN WORLD
PROPOSED FOR PRESIDENT OF LEBANON
N. A. MOKARZEL
Veteran Lebanese editor of AI-Hoda, oldest Arabic-language newspaper in the United States, who is offered the Presidency of the Lebanese Republic
�DECEMBER, 1931
honor, 'he reiterates hfs oft expressed
decision not to accept office in any
form. He takes the occasion to criticize the present form of government
in Lebanon and calls attention to Irs
advocacy since 1911 of the appoints
ment cf a governor in Lebanon for
life, preferably a Frenchman without the right of hereditary succession.
France, of course, is to retain the
mandate over the country, but to enjoy less than the right she now exercises in its administrative affairs.
These principles constitute the demands of the Lebanon League of Progress, a political organization in America, which the editor of Al-Hcda
founded twenty years ago and of
Which he still is president.
PAN-ISLAMIC CONGRESS
HELD IN PALESTINE.
dealt chiefly with the activities of
the Moslem Congress which convened
in Jerusalem the middle of December. It was attended by delegates
from all the Moslem countries, including Egypt and India. The question of the caliphate was not given
much consideration and the deliberations seem to 'have entered on Zionists' aims in Palestine, despite the
assurance of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem given to the British authorities that politics would net be discussed at the sessions of the congress.
Joseph M. Levy, special correspondent of the New York Times in
Jerusalem, reports that a 'heated controversy took place between the Indian delegate on the one hand, and
the delegates of Syria and Iraq on
the other, over the question whether
^Moslem opposition should be confined
to the Jews or made to include the
mandatory power in Palestine. The
Indian protested against the congress
going on record as opposing England,
but his opponents won.
49
Delegates also bitterly criticized
the aclr'on of Italy in condemning to
be hanged Omar Mukhtar, the Senussi rebel chieftain in Tripoli.
Considerable opposition developed under the leadership of Ragheb
Bey Nashash'bi, Mayor of Jerusalem,
to the Grand Mufti's ambitions to
Moslem leadership. A meeting of
protest was held at the Mayor's call
which is said to have been attended
by 1000 representatives from all Palestine.
Resolutions finally adopted by the
congress, according to The Times' dispatches, include, first, a protest to the
League against the establishment of a
Jewish national home in Palestine and
the ousting of Arabs; second, a boycott by Moslems throughout the world
of all Jewish goods manufactured in
Palestine; third, to broadcast to the
Moslem world that Zion;sm is a catastrophe for Palestine; fourth, to reject the Wailing Wall Commission's
decisions, and, fifth, to prop&gate
throughout the world the Palestine
Moslems' claims to independence. It
was unanimously resolved to< form a
$5,000,000 corporation with shares to
be subscribed by Moslems throughout
the world for constructive purposes in
Palestine to counteract the Jewish nationalist activities.
Aecord;ng to press dispatches,
the session of Dec. 12 was characterized by violent attacks on the British
mandatory policy, delegate after delegate rising to deliver a fiery speech
on the subject. Mohammad AH Pasha
of Egypt discussed at length Zionist
aims in Palestine as well as economic
depression among Moslem peasants,
alleging that Jewish leaders h?d made
statements that it is the Jewish plan
to colonize Palestine wth Jews, ousting the Arabs and restoring the ancient Jewish temple on the site of
the Mosque of Omar.
�50
His Excellency Sesostris Sidarouss
ing greeted by Salloum A. Mokarzel
dinner given in the minister's honor
America.. Nasib Kalaf, a member of
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Pasha, Minister of Egypt (left) beeditor of the Syrian World at the
by the Syrian Friends of Egypt in
the committee, is shown in center.
�»i.
51
DECEMBER, 1931
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
NEWS SECTION
VOL. VI NO. 4
NEW YORK SYRIANS
HONOR SIDAROUSS PASHA.
New Egyptian Minister in Washington Reviews 71st Regiment.
i
His excellency Sesostr;s Sidarouss
Pasha, the new Egyptian Minister to
the United States, was received with
much acclaim by official and social
circles upon his first visit to New York
since his appointment as Minister
Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary of His Majesty the King of
Egypt at Washington in August. He
arrived in the city November 29 to
review the 71st. Regiment of the New
York National Guard at its armory
on Park Ave. The nvlitary review
was fo'lowed by a reception at the
private quarters of the commanding
officer in honor of the minister.
His Excellency was the guest of
honor on the following day at a dinner
given in his honor by Mrs. George
Washington Kavanaugh. He was also
officially received by Acting Mayor
McGee at the City Hall and entertained at an official luncheon which
was attended by many prominent c:ty
officials.
Profiting of the presence of His
Excellency in the city, the newlyformed committee of the Syrian
Friends of Egypt in America invited
him to a dinner which was held at
the St. George Hotel in Brooklyn Dec.
DECEMBER, 1931
1. Despite the limited time, approximately one hundred guests were present. The response was a spontaneous expression of the genuine
friendship which the Syrians of America entertain for the Egyptian nation
and ^ts diplomatic representative.
Salloum A. Mokarzel, editor of
the Syrian World and Chairman of the
committee, opened the speaking program with a few words of welcome in
the name of his colleague on the committee and inv'ted Mr. N. A. Mokarzel, editor of Al-Hoda and dean of
the Arabic press in America, to preside as toastmaster. The speakers
were selected to represent the various
professions and classes of the community, and included George A Ferris,
dean of the Syrian legal fraternity,
and Dr. F. I. Shatara both of whom
spoke in English, and Rev. Mansur
Stephen who spoke in Arabic. The
Minister responded in both languages
expressing h;s deep appreciation of
the friendly sentiments displayed towards his government and himself.
The toastmaster introduced between speeches Madame Fedora Kurban who sang operatic selections in
both Arabic and English, and Professor Alexander Maloof who played
several solo piano selections.
The committf^ sponsoring the
dinner was compose^ of Dr. Salim Y.
Alkazin, Dr. F. I. Shatara, Nasib Trabuls;, Nasib Kalaf and S. A. Mokarzel.
Those in the Minister's party were
�52
Major and Mrs. Thomas MacDonald,
Wajih Rustum Bey Secretary to the
Legation, Mr. H. K'hatib, acting Egyptian consul in New York, Abdul
Latif Hannawy and Mr. Osman ffilmy
of the Egyptian consulate.
The guests included.
Mr. & Mrs. J. M. Abbott; William Abouchar; Dr. & Mrs. S. Y.
Alkazin; Mrs. C. Arb; E. J. Audi;
Mr. & Mrs. Selim Ayoub; Mme Fedora Kurban; Mr. & Mrs. George C.
Dagher; Dr. Najib Barbour; Miss
Daw; M4ss DeMoor; Saleem Hatem
representing Al-Bayan; Mme. Marie
El-Khoury; Mr. & Mrs. D. J. Faour;
Peter S. George; C. H. Griffith; Miss
Daisy Hamad; S. J. Hermas; Dr. A.
Himad*; Jamile B. Holway; Major &
Mrs. Howard Hutter; Mr. & Mrs. B.
M. Jabara; Mr. & Mrs. F. M. Jabara;
Bfiss Gl&dys Jabara; Mr. & Mrs.
George Jebaily; Miss Laurice Jebaily;
Mr. & Mrs. N. Kalaf; A. G. Khouri;
Mr. & Mrs. P. Kohlhaas; Edward
Leon.
Also', N. Makanna; Fred Malhame; Elias Mallouk; Prof. Alex. Maloof; Assad Milkie; Mike Mobarak;
N. A. Mokarzel Editor of Al-Hoda;
Mr. & Mrs. S. A. Mokarzel; Miss Mary
Mokarzel; Miss R< se Mokarzel; Miss
Alice Mokarzel; Dr. & Mrs. H. Rasi;
Najeeb Sah'adi; Selim Sahadi; Mr. &
Mrs. Michael Saydah; Dr. & Mrs.
F. I Shatara; Mr. & Mrs. Robert
Shephard; Mr. & Mrs. Abdullah Sleyman; Albert Staub; Rev. Mansour
Stephen; Mr. & Mrs. John Stephen;
Mr. & Mrs. Selim Totah; Mr. & Mrs.
Nes;b Trabulsi; Miss Barbara Young;
Fuad Zrike representing Meraat UlGharb; Mr. & Mrs. P. Zrike.
EGYPTIAN MINISTER VISITS
ARABIC LINOTYPE FACTORY.
.While in New York His Excellency Sesostris Sidarouss Pasha, Egyptian Minister to the United States, was
THE SYRIAN WORLD
invited to inspect the Mergenthaler
Linotype factory in Brooklyn which
manufactures the Arabic Linotype.
He was accompanied by Major Thomas MacDonald, Wajih Rustum Bey
of the Legation staff, Mr. H. Khatib
acting Egyptian consul in New York,
Mr. Abdul Latif Hanawy and Mr. Salloum A. Mokarzel editor of the Syrian
World who acted for the Mergenthaler Company in extending the invitation.
The party was entertained at luncheon in the Company's dining room
by the President Mr. Norman Dodge,
Mr. Joseph T. Maekey, the Treasurer
and Mr. C. H. Griffith, Assistant to
the President. Later the minister and
his
companions
were
conducted
through the vast factory and the
various processes of production and
inspection demonstrated to them. It
was explained to the Minister that the
Mergenthaler Company manufactures
composing machines for nearly fifty
languages and that it has given special care to the manufacture of the
Arabic. Linotype whch now has been
in use in America for almost twenty
years as the only method of Arabic
composition, and is being gradually
introduced into all Arabic-speaking
countries, including Egypt.
Earlier in the day the Minister
visited the Empire State Building as
guest of former Governor Alfred E.
Smith.
CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
AMONG N. Y. SYRIANS.
The needy among the Syrians of
New York will not want of Christmas
cheer this year despite the prevalent
depression. Churches, organizations
and the press are working along one
form of rel;ef or another, the response
being gratifyng.
Leading the movement among the
press are the two important dailies.
?•
�DECEMBER, 1931
",
Al-Hoda and Meraat Ul-Gharb. The
Syrian Ladies' A'd Society has sent
an appeal by mail to a select list of
over one thousand individuals. St.
Nicholas' Club is planning a Christmas
party for the needy Syrian children
of Brooklyn.
The American Syrian Federation
held a cabaret and dance at its clubrooms on Dec. 15 the proceeds of
which are to be devoted to Christmas
baskets.
Featuring the entertainment was Ted Black and his orchestra
who are in demand by the principal
hotels and restaurants of New York.
Ted Black is a Syrian whose original
name is Aboussleman. He donated
his services.
A musicale and entertainment was
given at the Wells House in Brooklyn
on Dec. 17 by the Syrian Chrstmas
Fund Committee to raise funds for
providing Christmas baskets.
The
principal sponsors were Mrs. Victoria
Z. Shehab and Miss Sumayah Attiyeh.
GIBRAN'S WORKS DRAMATIZED
AT AMERICAN CHURCH
Scenes from "Jesus" ably presented
at St. Mark's
By Alice Mokarzel
St. Mark's on the Bouwerie was
the scene on Sunday, December 13,
of a vivid and living interpretation of
excerpts from Kahlil Gibran's Jesus,
the Son of Man, under the capt'on
"Liturgical Mystery of Jesus the Prophet." This performance marked the
second of Gibran programs presented
by St. Mark's Church since the recent death of the Syrian poet-prophet.
The host of faithful and loving
friends of Gibran who filled the church
to capacity, wept silently during the
scenes that were enacted with consummate beauty and feeling.
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51
Fitting music for the occasion
was composed by William Arthur
Goldsworthy, who also conducted the
choir assisting the performers and
cantors. Dr. William Norman Guthrie, rector of St. Mark's Church, and
Lester Leake Riley alternated in reading portions from Jesus, the Son of
Man. They were assisted in this by
Bryce Fogle, who interpreted in singing some of the parts. Fedora Kurban, the Syrian singer of merit, opened the musical program with an appropriate Arabic song.
Mary Magdelene, revealed in the
first scene by Phoebe Anna Guthrie,
is filled with the vision of Jesus whom
she beholds for the first time, and
'obsessed by an alternate hate and remorse when Jesus fails to recognize
her. When again she sees him "sitting under the cypress tree" across
her garden, she goes to Him and
pleads with Him to come into her
house. But Jesus grants not her request. "And when He had walked
away," Mary Magdelene, remembering the "sunset of His eyes," feels
no hate but only the lofty spirit of
the woman born anew in her being.
In the second scene, Judas (Gordon Place) reveals to a friend his
betrayal of Jesus, and finds no comfort for his anguish even in the confession of h;s treachery. After ceaseless torment of spirit, Judas realizes
an end to his suffering in self-destruction and goes forth thus determined.
Ann Elizabeth Stroud portrayed
with sincere and fervent feeling the
character of the Woman of Byblos
who is burdened with sorrow and
anguish and "unable to see beyond
grief" in the realization of her "personal loss" in the fate of Jesus.
Bertha Kunz Baker, whose art
has already exceeded itself, cannot
be praised sufficiently. She gave the
character of Mary, Mother of Jesus,
a living imprint upon the hearts of
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
54
the audience. The depth of the feeling she wrought, although created by
her voice and expression, was more
so in the silent yet speaking movements she made as Mary, the Mother
who sees with "spiritual understanding Jesus' death" and "through sorrow and vision, the calm acceptance
of God's way." This was a living
and sufferng Mary, who hears in
silent angu;sh the crash that marks
her Son's death and who "at dawn
is still standing among us like a lone
banner in the wilderness wherein
there are no hosts."
In the concluding scene, Phoebe
Anna Guthrie, assisted by St. Mark's
Choreographic Group, characterized
the High Priestess who sees in His
death only "exaltation and glory."
Many interpretations of Gibran's
works have been given in St. Mark's
Church, but never, more than on this
occasion, has Gibran seemed so living
and beautiful and so appealing and
touching to the human heart.
GIBRAN TO REPOSE
IN LEBANESE MONASTERY.
Gibran's life-long wish is to be
partly gratified. He had often confided to his friends that it was his
supreme ambit1 on sometime to retire
into the seclusion of Mt. Lebanon,
there to spend the remainder of his
days in the shadows of the Cedars,
amidst the surroundings of his youth
Which influenced his life work and
for which he felt an ever growing
longing. The Cedars, the Sacred Valley, and Becharre his home town, all
in close proximity, held associations
extremely dear to Irs heart.
The Lebanese press now reports
that Gibran's wish in this respect is
to be respected. Having learned from
his sister who accompanied his remains to his native land that he had
—
wished to acquire for his retreat in
his old age the Monastery of Mar (St.)
Sarqis, Gibran's countrymen opened
negotiations with the owners of th;s
monastery to purchase it and convert
it into a museum for Gibran's works
and a resting place for his remains.
The monastery ;s ideally sfituated
above Becharre and below the Cedars,
perching on a ledge in the mountain
overlooking the Sacked Valley.
The Syrian World is in receipt of
information that M:ss Mariana, Gibran's sister, intends to purchase privately the monastery that is to be dedicated to ier brother.
GIBRAN'S MESSAGE
READ TO D. A. R.
Mr. Roderick Donley, a neighbor
of the Syrian World, whose wife is
an active worker in the Daughters of
the American Revolution, admired the
spirit of Gibran's Message to Young
Americans of Syrian Origin which we
had specially printed for framing as
a gift to our subscribers. We gladly
gave him a copy to take home. His
wife alsc« admired the sp;rit and made
excellent use of her admiration. During the State Convention of the D. A.
R. lately held in Paterson, Congressman Hamilton Fish of New York deVvered an address on the pernicious
activities of foreign communists in
America. Mrs. Donley, in making her
report as committee chairman, took
the occasion to declare that not all
foreigners should be classed in the
same category. The Syrians, she said'
were law-abiding and useful citizens.
As proof she read to the convention
Gibran's Message.
DR. SHATARA LECTURES
ON ARAB CIVILIZATION.
Dr. Fuad I. Shatara of Brooklyn
was the principlal speaker at the
y.
\
k
j
�M.
v-n
he
"DECEMBER, 1931
H
55
LEBANESE AVIATOR PROMOTED.
Baltimore Open Forum before an audience of 700 at the Baltimore Auditorium on Sunday, Dec. 13. His
subject was the Arabs' contribution
to civilization, and he defended Islam
aga;nst the charge of having been
spread by the sword, as reported in
the Baltimore Sun of Dec. 14.
Dr. Shatara encompassed the
whole history of the Arabs and enurnei-ated their various c( ntributions to
science and education. We are fortunate ?n having secured the copy of
Dr. Shatara's lecture and shall publish
illuminating excerpts from it in a
ccming issue of the Syrian World.
YOUNG PEOPLE'S CLUB
GIVES ENTERTAINMENT.
The Young People's Club of the
Syr'-an Prc.testant Church of Brooklyn gave an entertainment at its clubrooms connected with the church on
the last Sunday of November. President Shibly Kassis asked Philip Kahwajie, chairman of the entertainment
committee, to direct the meeting. A
varied program of song, music and
games was prcv;ded.
The educational feature of the
evening was an address by the editor
of the Syrian World who spoke on
the special role of the Syr'an-American
generation and related some experiences of his recent trip abroad. Dr.
K. A. Bishara, pastor of the Syrian
Protestant congregation, also spoke in
corroboration cf the editor's remarks.
THOMAS MOAWOOD MOKARZEL.
Appointed Deputy Sheriff in charge
of aviation in Dutchess County, N. Y.
sheriff in charge of aviation in Dutchess County. The appointment was
made on the recommendation of Senator J. Griswold Webb, chairman of
the New York State legislative committee on aviation, and County
LEBANESE FLYER MADE
Judge Flannery:
FIRST AIR DEPUTY.
Mr. Moawood is regarded as the
The Eagle-News of Poughkeepsie, leading pilot in the Hudson Valley,
New York, in its issue of October 10, according to the News-Eagle. Alcarried on its first page an account though he has been a licensed pilot
of the appointment of Thomas Mo- for over six years, he has never had
awood Mokarzel, the first licensed pi- a serious mishap. On the two oclot in the Hudson Valley, as deputy casions when he had minor accidents
�,
36
he has shown admirable presence of
mind. So far he is credited officially
with 21,000 flying hours. Last year
he won a race held at the Poughkeepsie Airport in which sixteen pilots
took part, some of whom enjoy
a national reputation. The cup he
was awarded on this occasion appears
in the accompanying picture.
Mr. Moawood is also known as the
"Lebanon Eagle". He is proud of
his Lebanese descent and one of his
greatest ambitions is to make a nonstop flight to Mt. Lebanon once he can
secure sufficient backing.
DISTURBANCES MARK
SYRIAN ELECTIONS.
A special cable dispatch to the
New York Times from Damascus dated Dec. 20 read in part as follows:
The situation here in connection
with the elections today became so
serious and demonstrations of opposing factions so turbulent that at 2
P. M. the Government decided to halt
the elections to avert bloodshed.
Although in some quarters everything passed quietly,;t was regarded
as expedient to postpone further polling in Damascus and Hama until some
indefinite date, but in Aleppo and
Homs as well as adjoining locations
they were allowed to continue until
completed.
After the voting places were closed
Damascus was comparatively peaceful and the demonstrations ended,
but until 2 o'clock this afternoon the
city was actually in a state of rot,
all parties fighting one another.
While the polling proceeded at the
Town Hall stones were hurled at its
windows, doors were smashed and
trolley cars also were stoned. Pclice
and troops, with the aid of the fire
brigade, tried to repulse the mobs.
ii«i*r-^
?HE SYRIAN WORLD
The police were obliged to open fire
to frighten the rioters and the fire
brigade dispersed them by turning
their hoses on them.
Women and students joined in the
uproar and general excitement by
issuing manifestos, driving automobiles to all quarters of the city and
urging the people to vote for Nationalists. Many students were arrested for throwing stones.
The Nationalists here and in Aleppo continue to send one protest after
another to High Commissioner Henri
Ponsot. The latest one is aga-nst
the officials in charge of the polling
boxes. One was sent yesterday asserting that the Syrians,
having
placed confidence in the High Commiss'oner's earlier declarations, 'had
decided to participate in the elections
in expectation that the elections would
be fair and free. The telegram protests that "measures were taken by
government authorities to instigate
Government officials to transgress
personal liberty and arouse trouble in
the country by opening fire on the
public." The telegram further requests M. Ponsot to submit the complaint to the League of Nations and
the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Communication with Damascus
today was practically cut off, as no
one was allowed to enter or leave
town and private long distance telephone calls were not permitted, the
telephones being reserved for the Government.
Disturbances occured yesterday
in the Kurdish quarter here, when at
a meeting, a Nationalist speaker was
attacked, beaten and ejected. There
was a clash also at El Kuneitra, between Royalists and Nationalists resulting in several persons being
wounded.
» ft
�DECEMBER, 1931
SIXTEEN ARAB STUDENTS
IN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY.
A correspondent of Meraat UlGharb reports that in the University
cf Michigan in Ann Arbor, there are
sixteen Arab students this year, drawn
from Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and
Iraq, the newest comer being Miss
Wadad K. Mackdici, who is specializing in sociology.
Miss Mackdici is the daughter of
Prof. Jurius Kho/iri of the American
University of Beirut and had graduated with honors from the latter institution. She spent a year teaching
in Baghdad and is now completing
her advanced studies on a scholarship.
CO-OPERATIVE HOSPITAL
OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES.
The co-operative hospital of Elk
City, Okla., opened in the fall of this
year, and marking the success of
several years of strenuous efforts on
the part of the Syrian physician Dr.
M. Shadid, was described by a feature
article appearing on the frcnt page of
' the Daily Oklahoman of Oklahoma
City as the only institution of its
character in the United States.
The writer lauds the courageous
enterprise and tireless energy of the
founder and declares . that he is on
the way of overcoming the financial
difficulties resulting from the failure
of some subscribers to complete payment for their stock. The writer also
hints that through professional jealpusy some private practicians had
lodged charges against the co-operative hospital w-'th the State authorities. The principal cause of complaint is that the hospital is dispensing medical services much below the
customary fees, and providing medicines at one-third less than the prevailing prices.
This is branded as
socialistic, but is exactly what the
57
founder of the hospital intended when
he launched 'his enterprise. He is
defending his practices with unwavering courage.
DICTIONARY CORNERSTONE
OF MOSLEM RENAISSANCE.
In a debate on Moslem culture
in one of the sessions of the Moslem
Congress in Jerusalem, Mohammad Ali
Pasha cf Egypt declared that the Arabic dictionary, when compiled, will be
the cornerstone of Moslem revival. He
emphasized that although the Arabic
language was replete with classical
terms it did not embrace modern
scientific words, which now are borrowed from English and French. A
dictionary, he said, is vitally essential
to bring about the Moslem renaissance. He suggested that Egypt's
geographical position be utilized to
concentrate on the preparatory work
of this dictionary particularly in view
of the fact that the Egyptian government had started organizing a special
academy for the same purpose.
FORMER EGYPTIAN KHEDIVE
FOR SYRIAN KING.
Contrary to previous advices, it
now seems evident that the royalist
agitation in Syria has not died out.
The elections now taking place disclosed the existence of a strong element favoring a monarchy.
The latest personage mentioned
as a propable candidate for the throne
is Abbas Hilmy, former Khedive of
Egypt, who will arrive in Jerusalem
on Dec. 23 enrcute to Syria, where
he will be received by the French High
Commissioner. A dispatch from Jerusalem says that rumors are persistent thafthe ex-Khedive is coming
to Syr'a on the explicit understanding of being placed on the throne.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
W$®&®MB&MF^
Gibran's Message
To Young Americans of Syrian Origin
ft
I believe in you. and I believe in your destiny.
I believe that you are contributors to this new civilization.
I believe that you have inherited from your forefathers an ancient dream.a song, a prophecy, which you can proudly lay as a gift of gratitude upon the lap of America.
I believe you can say to the founders of this great nation. Here I am. a youth, a young
tree, whose roots were plucked from the hills of Lebanon, yet I am deeply rooted here, and I would
be fruitful."
And I believe that you can say to Abraham Lincoln, the blessed. "Jesus of Nazareth
touched your lips when you spoke, and guided your hand when you wrote: and I shall uphold
all that you have said and all that you have written."
II
I believe that you can say to Emerson and Whitman and James. "In my veins runs the
blood of the poets and wise men of old. and it is my desire to come to you and receive, but I shall
not come with empty hands."
I believe that even as your fathers came to this land to produce riches, you were born
here to produce riches by intelligence, by labor.
And I believe that it is in you to be good citizens.
And what is it to be a good citizen?
It is to acknowledge the other person's rights before asserting your own. but always to be
conscious of your own.
It is to be free in thought and deed, but it is also to know that your freedom is subject
to the other person's freedom.
It is to create the useful and the beautiful with your own hands, and to admire what others
have created in love and with faith.
I
It is to produce wealth by labor and only by labor, and to spend less than you have produced that your children may not be dependent on the state for support when you are no more.
It is to stand before the towers of New York, Washington. Chicago and San Francisco
saying in your heart. "I am rhe descendant of a people that builded Damascus, and Biblus, and
Tyre and Sidon. and Antioch, and now I am here to build with you. and with a will."
It is to be proud of being an American, but it is also to be proud that your fathers and
mothers came from a land upon which God laid His gracious hand and raised His messengers.
Young Americans of Syrian origin. I believe in you.
nmmnmmmemn
FREE TO SYRIAN WORLD SUBSCRIBERS. This beautiful message by
Gibran 13x17 inches, printed in large type on heavy paper with ornamental border suitable for framing. Every PAID subscriber whose term begins
with Sept. 1931 is entitled to a copy, mailed in heavy cardboard tube. Subscribers whose term beg-'ns before Sept. 1931 may secure a copy by renewal.
\ '
�wmmmmmmmm
59
DECEMBER, 1931
A STUDY
of
KAHLIL GIBRAN
THIS MAN FROM LEBANON
T
>
Barbara Young, the American poet who is now Kahlil Gibran's literary executor, speaks with authority in a 48 page
brochure concerning his life and work, illustrated with
several hitherto unpublished protraits of the Poet of the
Cedars, and a reproduction of one pen and ink drawing and
one page of original manuscript.
A few copies of the limited first edition, serially numbered and autographed by the author, are still available.
The price for this edition is $2.50.
Owing to the wide interest in the brochure, a second
printing will be necessary. These will not be numbered nor
autographed, and will be procurable at $1.50 the copy.
Checks may be made payable to the Gibran Studio, 51
West 10th Street, New York City.
HMHW^'
�60
THE SYRIAN WORLD
AUTHENTIC
:»
ORIENTAL RUGS
THE A. SLEYMAN COMPANY. INC.
{276 5th AVENUE
NEW YORK CITY
Phone BOgardus 4-4345
George Haddad
Proprietor
1
I
Phone
CHickering 4-8878
ALEXANDRIA RESTAURANT
The new and beautiful uptown Syrian restaurant owned and operated
by a master chef, who summons his long experience to the
art of producing the most delectable Oriental dishes.
Small and large parties catered to
So Conveniently Located
21 WEST 31st STREET,
NEW YORK
'Y'I^SWSV'/WN/SV
IT IS YOURS
is the only Syrian publication printed
in English, and as such is the organ of the Syrians in America.
You can help it continue and grow by subscribing to it yourself
and inducing others to subscribe.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
PUBLISHER, THE SYRIAN WORLD:
104 Greenwich Street, New York.
You may enter my name as a subscriber to "The Syrian World" for the term of one yeary for which I agree to
fay the regular rate of $5.00 ufon receipt of the first issue.
Address
City & State
mimmmmAiMiM^vMJMniM
�ECEMBER, 1931
61
JERE J. CRONIN
FUNERAL DIRECTOR
MORTUARY CHAPEL
Local or Out of Town Funerals Personally Attended to
LADY ATTENDANT
Expense a Matter of Your Own Desire
115 ATLANTIC AVENUE
BROOKLYN, N. Y.
The large amount of business we do permits us to buy caskets
in large quantity which enables us to give the best funerals very
reasonable. We carry a complete line of the very best manufactured
caskets at $45.00 up. We pay no agents to secure funerals for us but
only give the family who has sorrow the very best of service, reverence
and economy. Our aim is to help those who are in trouble at a very
little cost. No charge for use of our services or funeral parlors.
Telephone—MAIN 1398-1399-8130-3655
SHEIK
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RESTAURANT \
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HOW TO BREED MOTHS
I Leave your rugs on the floor
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will do the rest.
<
A well-appointed Syrian rtstaurant in the heart of the
Syrian Quarter, in lower Manhattan, where yon and your
friends can enjoy the moat
delectable
Oriental
meals
amidst the charm of an Oriental atmosphere.
RESTORATIVE: Call the
THE KOURI CARPET
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!
RUG WASHERS
*
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10 West 33rd Street
Tel. LOngacre 5-2385
<
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JERSEY CITY, N. J.
552 Johnston Avenue
Tel. BErgen 3-1085
Second Foor for Banquets and
Private Parties
KIRDAHY RESTAURANTS,
}
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Inc.
1
65 WASHINGTON ST.,
New Yerk
\
�3
The ARABIC
LINOTYPE
in MOROCCO
Although the adaptation of the Linotype
to Arabic composition is comparatively
recent, the Arabic Linotype has already
been introduced into all Arabic speaking countries, whether in the Near or
Far East. And wherever it is used, it is
found to be a revelation in its efficiency
and economy of operation. This is but
natural since in all Western languages
the Linotype is now the standard method
of type composition, and hand composition has been almost entirely discarded
in the book, periodical and commercial
printing field for quantity production.
Impr:merie Officielle, Rabat
G. Pfister, Algiers . .
"La Renaissance", Tunis .
"Le Petit Matin", Tunis .
* TRADE
In our kst advertisement in this publication we gave a list of Arabic Linotype
users in Egypt. This month we list the
Linotypes now in operation in Morocco.
It will be seen that not only is it used
in the Government Press but in many
commercial printing establishments.
This testifies not only to the superior
merits of the Arabic Linotype but also
to the spirit of progress in the country.
The printing industry is one of the fundamentals of progress, and the Linotype is the machine which accelerates
the progress movement.
•
»
•
•
.
•
.
*
-
4 Linotypes
1 Linotype
2 Linotypes
1 Linotype
OTYPE "%
MERGENTHALER LINOTYPE COMPANY
Brooklyn, New York, U. S. A. Cable—Linotype, New York
J^Si\ jJUl j.u ^^ ^j cVlfj liJ
Representatives in the Principal Cities of
^
An illustrated descriptive catalogue of the
Arabic Linotype sent free upon request
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Brooklyn, New York, U. S. A.
Cable—Linotype, New York
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�THE SYRIAN WORLD
64
» •»
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^^U Clio
ATTENTION!
FORWARD!
SAFE!
MARCH ON TO PROGRESS!
START A BANK ACCOUNT
IMMEDIATELY
LET
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Checking accounts may be opened with $200.00 or more
FAOUR BANK
D. J. FAOUR & BROS.
Established 1891
Under Supervision of New York State Banking
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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
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TSW1931_12reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 06, Issue 04
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1931 December
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 6 Issue 04 of The Syrian World published December 1931. This issue begins with an article by Hatib I. Katibah discussing Palestine and how it became the small Syrian province lying at the intersection of three continents. Katibah breaks down exactly how this was possible through a succession of historic events. Following it is a poem by Alice Mokarzel titled "The Christmas Altar." There is also another Gibran work titled "The Great Occurrence," which speaks about the miraculous nature of Jesus Christ. The rest of the poetry in this issue, edited by Barbara Young, is also entirely Christmas related. After a discussion of current news, Edna K. Saloomey's short story titled "Party for Aneesa" is featured, followed by book reviews. The editor closes out the issue with a piece titled "Peace and Good Will, Plus Faith." The issue concludes with excerpts from the Syrian Press 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
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
Alice Mokarzel
Barbara Young
Christmas
Edna K. Saloomey
Habib I. Katibah
Kahlil Gibran
New York
Palestine
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/a075a21267ffe42e1041437683c9d85d.pdf
a2b0bea9449fc1c4b80bab869b1675a5
PDF Text
Text
VOL. VI
HH
FEBRUARY, 1932
OUR PRIDE IN OUR ANCESTRY
REV. W. A. MANSUR
SEiJ
BLUE BLOOD
A TRAGEDY OF ARAB TRADITIONS
H. I. KATIBAH
POETRY
BARBARA YOUNG
OUR YOUNGER GENERATION
W-.
EDNA K. SALOOMEY
A CHANCE MEETING IN THE OASIS
*&
A TRUE ARABIAN TALE
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
THE COPY 50c
NO. 6
��=3=
I
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
Tublished 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,
Xj. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
FEBRUARY, 1932
VOL. VI NO. 6
CONTENTS
PAGE
...3
Our Pride in Our Ancestry
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
12
She Is Not Dead (Poem)
ALICE MOKARZEL
13
Ya Baity (Syrian Folk Song)
DR. SALIM
Poetry, Edited by
B
Y.
ALKAZIN
BARBARA YOUNG
The Poetry of Labor
14
A Man Bereaved
17
PADRIAC COLUM
17
Scarcity
LIZETTE WOODWORTH REESE
Sonnet
18
JOHN MASEFIELD
onaBMMIBBBBSBiS
�CONTENTS (Continued)Our Younger Generation, Edited by
Do You Agree?
EDNA
K.
A New Era
SALOOMEY
PAGE
19
21
Al-Jirn
22
Blue Blood
23
H. I.
KATIBAH
Water and Flowers (Poem)
27
AMEEN RIHANI
Excavations in Syria and Iraq
28
DR. HAROLD INGHOLT
Syria in Romandxey The Brethren
36
RIDER HAGGARD
Condensed by
DAGNY EDWARDS
True Arabian Tales
40
A Chance Meeting in the Oasis
Freedom and Slavery
43
KHALIL GIBRAN
Editorial Comment
Apology
Hard Times
Which Shall Survive?
And Now Our Case
Departments
Political Developments in Syria
Syrian World News Section
44
ft
Jf
4
'
47
�&%>
ynan
«/
Editor.
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL,
Mi
FEBRUARY, 1932
VOL. VI NO. 6
Our Pride in Our Ancestry
HIGHLIGHTS IN OUR RACIAL HISTORY WHICH
EVERY SYRIAN AND LEBANESE BOY AND GIRL
OUGHT TO KNOW
By
REV.
W. A.
MANSOUR
"One of our chief objects," said S. A. Mokarzel, "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.
It is, then, in such a spirit of service that this publication was
conceived, and it is with a sense of reverence that we dedicate it to
the memory of a race whose contributions to the progress and wellbeing of mankind shall ever be valued as of paramount importance,
and whose descendants should feel proud of keeping forever alive
their sacred memory." (Syrian World, Vol. I, No. 1, Page 3).
I write deliberately to awaken Syrian Lebanese boys and girls
to the appreciation of their racial ancestors—the Phoenicians. I
wish to keep alive through them the sacred memory of their forefathers—the Phoenicians. I hope to create a realization of their inherited racial talents from their illustrious ancestors—the Phoenicians.
When Syrian Lebanese boys and girls know of their race greatness, they will be thrilled from within. It will open the springs of
their racial soul. They will understand the call to become foremost among modern races. They will assert with confidence their
place, pride, prosperity, and progress in the world.
J
�4
THE SYRIAN WORLD
I write that you may know the greatness of your blood, the
power of your abilities, and the far reaching importance of your race
in modern times. When you appreciate your racial qualities and
inheritances you will then be better able to comport yourselves with
a befitting sense of honor as citizens of this great American nation,
or any nation on earth. It is for these reasons that I thought it
good to write of some things every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl
ought to know about their Phoenician ancestors.
I.
PHOENICIAN ORIGIN OF SYRIANS AND LEBANESE.
It is very important that every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl
ought to know that they are descended from the Phoenician race.
They will find the Phoenicians to be Semitic, Caucasian, white.
They will discover the independent character, progressive nature,
and cosmopolitan type of people to which they belong. They will
realize their ancestors were foremost among the civilizing races of
ancient times.
"Now to what race belonged these -first Lebanese at the dawn
of recorded history?" Philip K. Hitti asks. He answers, "Undoubtedly they belonged to the Semitic race. Some unquestionablyy
were Canaanites who were akin to the Arameans,—both being of the
same Semitic stock. As regards the Phoenicians, they are none other
than the Canaanites who lived on the sea coast and who were called
Phoenician {blood red) by the Greeks who knew the Phoenicians
as traders in purple. The history of the Phoenicians began in
Lebanon about 2000 B. C. Traces of the Phoenician temples, tombs
and forts are still evidenced not only in Tyre, Sidon, By bios, Amrit
and the rest of the coast cities, but also in Afqa, Samar Jubail, Bait
Miri, Hermon and other localities situated far in the interior of
the country." (Syrian World, Feb. 1931, Page 9).
The Phoenicians were a hardy, resourceful, and adaptable
people to conditions and times. They maintained the spirit of independence, while situated in a land which was a thoroughfare of
conquering armies. They were talented in improving things. Their
alphabet has become almost the alphabet of the whole world. Although one of the smallest nations of antiquity, the Phoenicians became the most illustrious people of ancient times. Every Syrian
Lebanese boy and girl ought to know they are descended from the
Phoenicians—a foremost race of ancient times.
�FEBRUARY', 1932
5
//. THE GEOGRAPHICAL HOMELAND OF THE PHOENICIANS.
To understand the character, the nature of their movements
in history, and their relation to the surrounding nations, it is absolutely necessary to know the geographical location of the homeland of our Phoenician ancestors. Their physical environment partly explains the reason for their independent character.
Their
mountainous country partly reveals their interest in navigation.
Their central location partly shows the reason for their developed
adaptability in their relation to adjoining nations, races, and cultures.
S. A. Mokarzel says, "Old Phoenicia is none other than the
Lebanese^ Republic of today. Syria contains within its natural geographical bounderies 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." (Syrian World, May
1930, Page 37).
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to locate and study
the geographical position of Phoenicia on the world map. It will
reveal the amazing smallness of the land of Phoenicia. It will
magnify the importance of Phoenicia and Phoenicians in the history
of mankind. It will emphasize the degree to which the Phoenicians,
though small in number, have served the progress of mankind. It
will establish the importance not of numbers, militarism, or bigness,
but of talent, achievement, and progress of a people in its service
to humanity.
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to know that Phoenicia is a foremost motherland of the progressive urges for the betterment of the nations, races, and cultures of earth.
III.
THE PHOENICIANS WERE THE FOREMOST NAVIGATORS OF ANCIENT TIMES.
Our Phoenician ancestors were the foremost navigators of
ancient times. Hemmed in between desert and sea, they developed
the art of navigation. The forests of Lebanon provided them with
lumber for ships. Without chart or compass Phoenician navigators
followed the Pole Star.
"Along the eastern end of the Mediterranean," says H. G.
Wells, "the Phoenicians, a Semitic people, set up a string of independent harbour towns of which Acre, Tyre, and Sidon were the
�I
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
chief; and later they pushed their voyages westward and founded
Carthage and Utica in North Africa. They were great seamen because they were great traders." (The Outline of History, page 157)
The exploits of the Phoenicians are celebrated in the annals of
navigation. They were the first to push out far beyond the mainland. They passed the pillars of Hercules down the coasts of
Africa, circumnavigating it; along coasts of Europe; and possibly
crossed the Atlantic to the New World. Their navigation took them
to India, Ceylon, even China, and the Far East. These seafaring
people brought the peoples of the earth together through their inter-oceanic navigation and commerce.
Arthur Brisbane says, "Inscriptions found on rocks in the valley of the Amazon revive the belief that the seafaring Phoenicians
from the far end of the Mediterranean discovered America long
before Columbus and the earlier Lief Ericson. Archaeologists think
the Phoenicians went up the great Amazon with their ships and
founded a South American city 4,000 years ago." (See Associated
Press dispatch from Rio de Janeiro, Jan., 1, 1930. Given in full
in Syrian World, Dec. 1929, Page 53).
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to know that their
Phoenician ancestors were the greatest mariners of antiquity They
ought to know that it was Phoenician galleys that taught the nations
the importance of sea travel and sea commerce. They ought to
know that Phoenician ships carried the goods of the nations which
proved oi civilizing influence upon all. They ought to know that
1 hoemcian genius in ship building laid the foundations of interoceanic travel and commerce of all nations and times.
IV. THE PHOENICIAN ANCESTORS AS THE GREATEST
PEACEFUL COLONIZERS OF ANCIENT TIMES.
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to know that their
Phoenician ancestors were the greatest peaceful colonizers of the
ancients. The Phoenicians, because of their small number, made
it impossible to extend their possessions by conquest. They secured
their possessions by more peaceful means than any of the ancientsthrough mutual trade and benefit.
"The colonies and foreign possessions of the Phoenicians," says
the author of T^ RE, "were most extensive and valuable, far exceeding those of any other state in ancient or modern times, possessing m its original territory no larger amount of the world's surface
than ancient Phoenicia. These colonies were not obtained by con-
�FEBRUARY, 1932
i
7
quest, or, as in the case of many other nations, by the forcible removal of the original inhabitants; and the settlement of others from
a distance in the vacant territory; but thei-e were peaceful emigrations
of enter-prising traders to such localities as were discovered from
time to time by bold navigators, and which were considered to present opportunities for originating and maintaining commerce"
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to know the romantic story of the colonies of the Phoenicians among the Islands
of the Mediterranean, the coasts of the Mediterranean countries,
the west coast of Africa, the western coast of Europe, Ireland, England, on the Persian Gulf, the Far East, and possibly along the
Amazon.
I write that Syrian Lebanese boys and girls may be thrilled by
the greatness of their Phoenician ancestors; that they may comport
themselves as worthy descendants of a great people.
V.
THE PHOENICIANS GAVE THE WORLD THE ALPHABET.
Every Syrian boy and girl ought to know that the alphabet
was the gift of the Phoenicians to the world. It is the alphabet of
the Phoenicians which makes possible modern intercourse; the
mediation for the highest type of written language for science, art,
literature and what not; and the possibility of international characters everywhere.
The Phoenician alphabet is the greatest secular gift which any
people has ever made for the progress of mankind.
William A. Masson says in "A HISTORY OF THE ART
OF WRITING," of the Phoenicians, "They carried with them
their wonderful alphabet as -a necessary part of their civilization,
using it in conjunction with their trading enterprises and imparting
it to the Hellenic people among whom they sojourned. No tradition seems ever more thoroughly substantiated, both by internal
evidence and external fact, than that recorded by the Greek authors
that the alphabet used in Hellas came from the Phoenicians.
"The classic authors differed in their opinions as to the origin
of the Phoenician letters. Herodotus the Greek, and Pliny the
Roman, believed that the Phoenicians invented the letters; while
Brosius attributed them to the Babylonians and Tacitus to the Egyptians. But practically all the world now believes that it was the
Phoenicians who introduced the letters into Greece proper."
"What an honor," exclaims Masson, "it confers upon this little
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8
THE SYRIAN WORLD
nationality of Phoenicia, nestling along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea twenty-five centuries ago, that her written and spoken
alphabet, modified to the extent that we have indicated, is used today practically the world over, up to the wall of China and the land
of the Rising Sun."
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to know that the
Phoenician alphabet marks one of the greatest eras in the development and evolution of the human mind. It is the greatest instrument for the human mind. It is the greatest enlargement for the
range of thought and intercourse for humanity. It is the finest
means for the continuity and preservation of man's thought by
writing.
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to know that measured by its effect upon the human mind, human history, and human
progress, the alphabet of our Phoenician ancestors marks an achievement without any superior in the progress of man and mankind.
VI.
THE PHOENICIANS' GENIUS FOR TRADE.
_ Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to know of the
genius of their Phoenician ancestors for trade. They were a great
seafaring people because they were great traders. They developed
trade routes, sea navigation, and inter-oceanic commerce to extend
their trade. Their country, centrally located between great empires
of the Mediterranean, became a market place for sale and exchange.
Their ships carried their wares, and those of other nations, to every
part of the world.
"The genius of the Phoenicians was for trade," says W. Warde
Fowler, "and the splendid position of Carthage, near the modern
Tunis, with a rich corn-growing country in the rear, had helped
her merchant princes to establish by degrees what may loosely be
called an empire of trading settlements extending not only along
the African coast, but over that of Sardinia and southern and eastern
Spain, and including Sicily, as we have seen." (W. Warde Fowler
in ROME).
Cunningham Geike says in "HOURS WITH THE BIBLE,"
"—Phoenicia lay in the centre of the Old World, and was thus the
natural entrepot for commerce between the East and the West. The
trading routes from all Asia converged on the Phoenician coast;
and the centres of the commerce on the Euphrates and Tigris forwarding their goods by way of Tyre to the Nile, to Arabia, and the
West; and, on the other hand, the productions of the vast regions
�FEBRUARY, 1932
9
bordering the Mediterranean, passing through the Canaanite capital
to the eastern world." (Vol. Ill, page 344).
I hereby challenge Syrian Lebanese boys and girls with the
genius of their glorious Phoenician ancestors—for trade. I challenge them with the heritage which is in their minds and hearts
and destiny. I challenge them toward achievement in trade, commerce, mutual welfare among modern nations.
Let every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl be thrilled by the
glory of our ancestors to create pride in our ancestry, appreciation
of our genius, and the will to move forward to the forefront among
the nations.
VII. INDUSTRIES OF THE PHOENICIANS.
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to know of the industries of their Phoenician ancestors. They developed their own
materials through manufacture. They drew raw materials from
other peoples and manufactured them into fine luxuries, or food,
or clothing. They improved many things so that their products became popular objects of desire. The Phoenicians at home and abroad became builders and organizers employing vast numbers of
people in their industries.
George Adam Smith says, "Her armour, bowls and webs are
sung by Homer.. Hebrew and Greek writers acclaim the wealth of
Phoenician industries and the size and the range of Phoenician ships.
—The Phoenician markets drew ivory, scented woods, silk and
other stuffs from India and China, and passed them to the West.
Conversely Chinese writings of an early time rate the products of
Syria, which they call Ta-tsin, above even those of Babylon. The
incense of southern Arabia reached the temples of Greece and Italy
through the port of Gaza."
The Phoenicians brought silver and gold from Spain, tin from
England, incense from the east, corn from Egypt and Syria; they
brought the products of all countries to their land and from their
country to every other.
The Phoenicians had productions and inventions of their own:
the celebrated Tyrian purple, glass, ornaments, utensils, toys and
things for the bazaars, inlayings with ivory, and hundreds of luxuries were made and sold to luxury loving people everywhere.
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to know that Phoenicia and Phoenicians and their colonies became centers of industries
to the peoples of ancient times.
�^..
M. III..-——„, „„—
10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
VIII._ THE PHOENICIANS AS AGENTS OF CIVILIZATION.
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to know that among
those who laid foundations for international civilization in ancient
times were their Phoenician ancestors. Their trade, through exchange of products of every nation, became a means of civilizing
influence. Their language, their alphabet, became a bond of union
between their colonies and their peoples. Their ships transported
peoples of all nations to one; another's land. The Phoenicians became great agents of civilization.
C. F. Keary says, "But of course the Phoenicians must still be
reckoned as the great transporters of civilization from Egypt and
from Asia to the rest of the world. They could hardly be said to
possess a country} but they possessed cities of vast importance and
no small significance along the coast of Palestine—Lamyra, Aradus,
Byblos, Sydon, Tyre. From these centers went out that boundless
maritime enterprise which made the Phoenicians the trading people
of the world. Very early—in pre-historic ages—the Phoenicians
had possesseed themselves of Cyprus. From that point to the
Grecian coast of Asia Minor, or to the coasts and islands on either
side of the Aegean, was an easy transition} then on to the Mediterranean, to Sicily and Italy, but more especially to the island of
Sardinia} or again to Egypt and the farther coasts of Africa on to
Spain, and finally, through the pillars of Hercules, to the far-off
"tin islands" of the west, which were, it is likely enough, the British
Isles. This is, in brief, the picture of the doings of the Phoenicians long before the days of history had begun to dawn upon the
Aryan nations of the Mediterranean." (The Dawn of History,
pages 315-316)
Herein lies one supreme glory of our Phoenician ancestors,
their civilizing influence upon the world. They are entitled to rank
forever as the greatest of all civilizers. Their influence upon the
world of the ancients marked the beginning of a new trend in the
history of mankind. Their influence opened new thoughts, new
cultures, new modes of writing, new commerce, new principles, new
navigation, and new international relations.
IX.
THE PHOENICIANS AS THE DISSEMINATORS OF
THE SUPREME ETHICAL PRINCIPLE.
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to know that their
Phoenician ancestors developed through trade the supreme ethical
�FEBRUARY, 1932
11
principle. Fair dealing, mutual gain, and abiding confidence were
essentials developed by Phoenician traders. They established trading posts on the basis of right dealing, the continued satisfaction to
buyer and seller.
"The Semitic peoples, we may point out here," says H. G.
Wells in THE OUTLINE OF HISTORY, "are to this day counting feo-ples strong in their sense of equivalents and reparation.—
Other races and peoples have imagined diverse and fitful and marvellous gods, but it was the trading Semites who first began to
think of God as a Righteous Dealer, whose promises were kept, who
failed not the humblest creditor, and called to account every spurious act."
The Semitic Phoenicians were foremost among the Semites to
plant in human thought the ethical principle of right dealing between man and man. They thought of God as a Righteous Dealer.
They spread this idea among the nations.
It is this contribution of the Semitic Phoenicians of right dealing, this supreme ethical principle, that makes faith in God, in man,
and in the universe of paramount significance to mankind.
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to know that Phoenicia and Phoenicians are the land and people whose contribution
of right dealing to civilization should awaken pride in their ancestry,
arouse self-esteem, and urge them to high achievement in modern
times.
X.
FIRST TO EMIGRATE TO THE NEW LAND.
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl in America and the New
World ought to know that they are the descendants of the Phoenicians. They ought to feel the urge of their racial splendor. They
should discover the latent talents within them. They will be filled
with worthy sentiments about themselves and their posterity.
"From the oldest country in the world," says S. A. Mokarzel,
"to' the land known as the New World, they bring their priceless
racial distinction as heirs to the culture of the ages. They come
with the gifts of all the 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."
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
(Syrian World, May 1930, page 39).
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to know that again
the Phoenicians, through their descendants the Svrian-Lebanese,
are spreading themselves among the nations. The Syrian Lebanese,
the modern Phoenicians, are now establishing themselves through
trade, new homes, and new achievements in many parts of the
world. The Syrian Lebanese are proving themselves, through
leadership, achievement, and endeavor, the worthy heirs to their
illustrious ancestors the ancient Phoenicians.
I write deliberately that Syrian Lebanese boys and girls may
be awakened to appreciate their descent from the famous Phoenilans I wish every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl to feel proud of his
racial heritage. I expect them to rise to a renown similar to that
achieved by their Phoenician ancestors.
Every Syrian Lebanese boy and girl ought to keep alive the
sacred memory of our glorious ancestors the Phoenicians, should
appreciate their racial qualities and inheritances, and through race
pride comport themselves as worthy descendants through splendid
achievement.
She is Not Dead
She is not dead, who lies so silently
Where drooping flowers guard her rest;
She is not dead, beloved child,
Whom angels watched, whom God has blessed.
One muted string in quiet song
Above the mundane rafters sung;
One fallen star come home again
Where deeds in holy light are hung.
Weep not, then, child, for heaven's gain,
For peaceful rest, for ended pain;
Though tears will come and laughter go
Within each aching heart, we know '
She is not dead
ALICE MOKARZEL
)
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FEBRUARY, 1932
13
Ya Baity
Translation by
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
c^*—<# ki err"- ^
O^-J dL9j J5\ dLi
0>tt ^j ^L*
^L,
c~-->^r_5 o-*—!_j
A
i
>
- <j^*3 (y^^r &
d^
^"UJic
I
J
0.
I
(_5^,
3
J C5~?
C)_j^J dL9 j I j>o (iL9
Home, my unpretentious humble home,
To you to hide my faults I come;
In you I drink, in you I eat,
In you I rest my weary feet.
Though humble, still you fill my need.
(As dear as to my soul its creed.)
Born in you, in you I grew,
In you I'll train my tender crew.
I've built you of my heart and bone,
And mixed the mortar with my blood;
Since our souls have become one,
To glory you've become a throne.
No matter what my fate may bring,
You'll see me smile and hear me sing.
Or fair or foul, I take them both,
Embrace what joy or nurse the sting.
My own and my forefathers' toast,
My pride and my children's boast;
In you I'll live, in you I'll die,
From you in dust my bones shall fly.
�J:
Hn
14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
BARBARA YOUNG,
"Work is love made visible."
"We only live to discover beauty.
Editor
All else is a form of waiting."
Gibran
The Poetry of Labor
JN GEORGE MOORE'S "Confessions of a Young Man" we
find a paragraph which reads like a clipping from yesterday's
editorial. He says: "The world is dying of machinery; that is the
great disease; that is the plague that will sweep away and destroy
civilization. Men will have to rise against it sooner or later. . . I
say that the great revolution will come when mankind rises in revolt and smashes machinery and restores the handicraft."
In the East, Gandhi is saying the same thing. A year ago AE
George Russell, the Irish poet came from his little island to urge
upon this wide land of ours a return to the farmland and the timberland. Count Keyserling lecturing in Paris said, "The United
States is dead emotionally, because of machinery." Anne O'Hare
McCormick writing in the New York Times, asserts that "the fate
of all the present issues lies in the lap of the gods of the machine "
Will Rogers, that keen and kindly sage to whom we might
listen with great profit, has said in his own delectable fashionEvery invention during our life time has been made just to save
time, and time is the only commodity that every American both
rich and poor, has plenty of. Half our life is spent trying to find
something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying
to save. Two hundred years from now history will record- 'Amer-
J
�FEBRUARY, 1932
)
15
ica, a nation that flourished from 1900 to 1942, conceived odd notions for getting somewhere, but could think of nothing to do when
they got there.' "
In the minds of all these thinking persons there is more than
meets the eye, and the ear. They have not simply been tossing off
phrases for the sake of making copy. They have been expressing,
in one way or another, a basic principle of human existence, and an
essential tenet of the faiths of our fathers, living yet, that man
shall not live by bread nlo.ie.
Beauty if a saving grace^xnto all people, and there is beauty in
the weaving o: the cloth, in the modeling of the bowl, in the tooling of the leather. »
In a news item ofrecent date I read: "An effort to counteract
the machine-made art of the present time and to revive the old
craftsmanship of the Middle Ages is being carried on by the Greenwich House Workshops at 16 Jones Street. There under the five
hundred-year old apprenticeship system as it was practised by
Michaelangelo and other Masters, youths are being trained in the
arts of stone-cutting, wood-carving, cabinet-making and bronze
work."
Why not multiply 16 Jones Street by a thousand, in all parts
of the land and see what happens? Why not add spinning and
weaving, the making of pottery, hand-blown glass, laces, embroidery and smocking, the making and binding of fine books, the
tooling of leather and the cobbling of sandals, to a wide circle of
16 Jones Street, the country over?
And this I propose not for the employment and rehabilitation
alone of the economic man and woman, though that might very
naturally ensue, but for the quickening and refreshment of the
mind, and for the very sustenance of that element of the human
being which our forefathers were wont to call the immortal soul.
Can we not conceive that happy condition which may be attained if the man or woman who has the soul of a weaver may earn
a contented and competent livelihood beside the loom? When the
man whose fists ache to grip the handles of a plough shall have his
own small acreage and till the generous soil? And when the sandalmaker may sit at his bench and fashion the simple foot-gear of the
pilgrim? This is the poetry of labor, and it can be lived.
This can be done. Nothing is impossible to a civilization
which has achieved the diabolical material and mechanical success
of the past five decades.
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Do not misunderstand me. I have no such absurd idea that
steel is a vice and a destroyer in itself; nor that wheels and cogs as
such, imperil the breath and sinews of the nation. The menace
lies in the destruction of balance which the unbridled multiplicity
of the essentially innocent machine has brought to pass.
We have the disease of steel, and it is the cancer of the soul.
Sometimes it is steel for steel's sake, and sometimes it is steel for
gold's sake. They are equally fatal. A sliver of the shining stuff
in the mind is as imminent a danger as the sword hanging by a
thread over our couch.
The poets have always been telling the world whither the
crafts of State.were drifting. But the world would not listen. Will
it listen now? It is extremely doubtful. But there is a fistful of
men who have the vision of the poet as well as somewhat of the
fanaticism of the prophet, and these may suffice. Let them fill the
hands of men and women with good raw products and they will
work out their simple destinies to their own pleasure and profit and
to the redemption of the Commonwealth. Put the adaptable resources of this nation into the promotion of handicraft, turn the
idle shops and factories into housing centres for instruction in these
pursuits, encourage the individual selection of the art or trade
which will excite the liveliest interest and pleasure, and in which
therefore, the artisan will the sooner acquire a deftness and skill;
and place as instructors the multitude of men and women among
us who are of the East, and who have by rightful inheritance both
the knowledge and the love of these works of the human hand.
Our education seems to be toward the suppression of this racial
endowment. We do not educate, we inculcate. It is an outsidein process when it should be an inside-out operation. We are sure
that John will make a first-class lawyer, because we are sure that
John will make a first-class lawyer. And it just as absurd as it
sounds, for John himself knows perfectly well that he wants to
farm or to garden or to forest. But we whip him through college
and law school and State Bar examinations and turn him out a very
third rate counsellor- at-law who has still a great yearning for the
soil. This is malpractice upon the human entity, and it has produced
the conditions which stagger us today.
A day or two ago a man who is in the midst of the melee
said, with great weariness, "I can forget the desperateness of the
situation only by listening to my daughteer playing Brahms or
Schubert to me, or by reading some of Masefield's sonnets." And
Hi
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FEBRUARY, 1932
/
17
then he said, "I envy the shepherd on a hill in Judea—if there is
such a being left as a shepherd, today."
There will always be men and women who are potters and
lace-makers at heart, and there will be always, the wheel and the
gadget men. But let us cease this thrusting of lever and throttle into the hand of the poet and the spinner and the wine-presser.Thus
has been our colossal error. All men are not born free and equal, nor
are they born with like tastes and gifts. This is the writing on the
sky, if we shall turn our eyes and read.
A Man Bereaved
My wife and my comrade
Will not come at all
Though the pine tree shall flourish,
The green rush grow tall,
And its cone to the ground
The larch tree let fall.
And I'll not hear her sounding
Songs over the din,
Where the people are crowded,
The harvest being in;
Nor see her come lilting
From the field or the fold,
Nor plaiting her long locks
In the young or old.
PADRIAC COLUM
in Old Pastures
Scarcity
Scarcity saves the world,
And by that it is fed;
Then give it hunger, God,
Not bread.
Scarce things are comely things;
In little there is power;
November measures best
Each vanished flower.
j i
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
If you dig a well,
If you sing a song,
By what you do without
You make it strong.
And life as well as art
By scarceness grows,
Not surfeit. Theirs must be
The hunger of the rose.
LlZETTE WoODWORTH
REESE
in White April
I
Sonnet
I never see the red rose crown the year.
Nor fed the young grass underneath my tread
Without the thought "This living beauty here
Is earth's remembrance of a beauty dead
Surely where all this glory is displayed
Love has been quick, like fire, to its high ends;
Here, in this, grass, an altar has been made
For some white joy, some sacrifice of friendsHere, where I stand, some leap of human brains
Has touched immortal things and left its traceThe earth is happy here, the gleam remains:'
Beauty is here, the spirit of the place
I touch the faith which nothing can destroy
I he earth, the living church of ancient joy."
JOHN MASEFIELD.
\
J
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FEBRUARY, 1932
EDNA
19
K.
SALOOMEY,
Editor
"I will not shut me from my kind,
And lest I stiffen unto stone,
I will not eat my heart alone,
Nor feed with sighs a passing wind.
Tennyson.
With the exquisite words of Tennyson, this department
is dedicated to the younger generation, including all those
vohose hearts are young regardless of their years.
Do You Agree!
i
J
pODAY'S younger generation of Syrians is in a category all by
itself. Some reader will elaborate this statement by adding,
"in more ways than one." By all means, say that; for we are different in more ways than one, to the regret of some of our critics,
and to the joy of others.
We have in mind one fact which distinguishes us from those
who preceded us and those who shall succeed us. This fact is characteristic of this younger generation, which is composed of those
individuals who have been growing up with the twentieth century.
This distinguishing mark is our predicament.
We are wedged tightly between tradition and experiment. Always there has been a struggle between these two to conquer, but
for us, who have been transplanted into surroundings entirely new,
the battle has been keener than any before. We are at a loss whether
to succumb to tradition, or die for experiment. There are some
A
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
amongst us to whom the experience has been so overwhelming as
to cause their reason to be dazed; and they wander about with an
expression like that of Elihu Vedder's painting, "The Sorrowing
Soul Between Doubt and Faith."
In our case, we have been wandering in a desert partly our
own creation and partly a creation of circumstance. Though we
have much in common, as far as problems are concerned, we have
made no effort in common to solve them. We have become so disintegrated by an increasing barrenness of our social life that our
young people go to all extremes looking for a satisfaction to their
gregariousness.
Our progress, individually and collectively, is hindered immeasurably by the lack of unity. There have been occasions when we
have had to pay dearly for this deficiency.
Unlike every other nationality represented in the United
States, we have no organization, social, fraternal, or educational,
of nation-wide scope. Even a mythical unity does not exist amongst
us. We need some such unity for the- three purposes mentioned
above, for social, fraternal, and educational benefits.
Some may contend that they have found their places in the
sphere of existence. All power to them; they are to be congratulated if they have so succeeded. But, it must be remembered that
for every high diver, there are hundreds who have not learned yet
to swim.
It is these people who are groping to adjust themselves that we are thinking of, when we claim that some bond should
exist amongst us. Even those who are self-satisfied will not deny
that genius itself thrives better on sympathetic understanding.
Up to the present time in the history of Syrians in this country,
there has been only one meeting-place, figuratively, for the younger
generation; and that is "The Syrian World." Within its pages we
have learned about "the rest of our world" and what our compatriots are doing elsewhere. We have spanned the entire distance
of the globe, and communed with those in far distant lands. This
magazine is the nearest approach to a means of uniting our common
interests and, we hope, shall be the chosen voice of the younger
generation.
We give you our hand in welcome in hope that together we
may bring understanding out of the chaos engendered by our inarticulateness, passivity, and indifference. Let us be united h§re, that
whatever is noble in us, as a people, may be registered on the consciousness of all. Let us not stiffen unto stone.
r
�23
FEBRUARY, 1932
A New Era
yHE ECONOMIC disaster,vwhich has tremendously influenced
our lives during the past thref. years, needs no retelling, because all of us, more or less, have been uprooted by it from what
we had, in blind, youthful optimism, believed was permanent
security, and thrown helter-skelter into places not of our choosing.
None of us has escaped from the effects of this disaster; for those,
who may not have suffered financially, have, nevertheless, been
distressed by the flaws in the economic system which are like so
many jabs at man's sense of security.
The repetition of this discussion about depression is like poison
to some people, especially to those who think the entire matter may
be settled by psychologists. We think differently for we can not
stifle what is suffocating us, and we depend neither on pyschologists,
nor psychiatrists for that matter.
All of us, before the advent of the depression, had been
dreaming over the chapter of romance and success and joys unending, when life turned the page to the next chapter. It is this chapter in which we are now engrossed beyond our power to escape. For
the first time in our existence, we have come close to an understanding of some of our economic lessons which looked so harmless and
uninviting in the pages of text-books. We know now that our
economic system is a hundred times more vulnerable than Achilles'
heel, and that it is perfect only in so far as the natures of the individuals who create it, are perfect.
Does all this make us feel downhearted? No!
This event in our country's economic history is of immeasurable
importance to us, for its cessation in due course, shall mark the beginning of the second era in the history of Syrians in the United
States.
The immigrant period is over. Our people have no longer to
contend with problems of languages and customs. Even though
the immigration bars were to be removed entirely, which is quite
unlikely, the newcomers would never need to fare as did those who
came here first.
Our younger generation has been given ample opportunity to
avail itself of educational facilities. The opportunity-has been at
the cost of a sacrifice to some parents, but has been given unbegrudgingly. That the old order has changed is proven by the pre-
�I
20
1
THE SYRIAN WORLD
amongst us to whom the experience has been so overwhelming as
to cause their reason to be dazed; and they wander about with an
expression like that of Elihu Vedder's painting, "The Sorrowing
Soul Between Doubt and Faith."
In our case, we have been wandering in a desert partly our
own creation and partly a creation of circumstance. Though we
have much in common, as far as problems are concerned, we have
made no effort in common to solve them. We have become so disintegrated by an increasing barrenness of our social life that our
young people go to all extremes looking for a satisfaction to their
gregariousness.
Our progress, individually and collectively, is hindered immeasurably by the Jack of unity. There have been occasions when we
have had to pay clearly for this deficiency.
Unlike every other nationality represented in the United
States, we have no organization, social, fraternal, or educational,
of nation-wide scope. Even a mythical unity does not exist amongst
us. We need some such unity for the- three purposes mentioned
above, for social, fraternal, and educational benefits.
Some may contend that they have found their places in the
sphere of existence. All power to them; thev are to be congratulated if they have so succeeded. But, it must be remembered that
for every high diver, there are hundreds who have not learned yet
to swim.
It is these people who are groping to adjust themselves that we are thinking of, when we claim that some bond should
exist amongst us. Even those who are self-satisfied will not deny
that genius itself thrives better on sympathetic understanding
Up to the present time in the history of Syrians in this country,
there has been only one meeting-place, figuratively, for the younger
generation; and that is "The Syrian World." Within its pages we
have learned about "the rest of our world" and what our compatriots are doing elsewhere. We have spanned the entire distance
of the globe, and communed with those in far distant lands This
magazine is the nearest approach to a means of uniting our common
interests and, we hope, shall be the chosen voice of the younger
7
&
generation.
We give you our hand in welcome in hope that together we
may bring understanding out of the chaos engendered by our inarticulateness, passivity, and indifference. Let us be united W, that
whatever is noble m us, as a people, may be registered on the consciousness of all. Let us not stiffen unto stone
I
�FEBRUARY, 1932
A New Era
THE ECONOMIC disaster, i^which has tremendously influenced
our lives during the past three- years, needs no retelling, because all of us, more or less, have been uprooted by it from what
we had, in blind, youthful optimism, believed was permanent
security, and thrown helter-skelter into places not of our choosing.
None of us has escaped from the effects of this disaster; for those,
who may not have suffered financially, have, nevertheless, been
distressed by the flaws in the economic system which are like so
many jabs at man's sense of security.
The repetition of this discussion about depression is like poison
to some people, especially to those who think the entire matter may
be settled by psychologists. We think differently for we can not
stifle what is suffocating us, and we depend neither oh pyschologists,
nor psychiatrists for that matter.
All of us, before the advent of the depression, had been
dreaming over the chapter of romance and success and joys unending, when life turned the page to the next chapter. It is this chapter in which we are now engrossed beyond our power to escape. For
the first time in our existence, we have come close to an understanding of some of our economic lessons which looked so harmless and
uninviting in the pages of text-books. We know now that our
economic system is a hundred times more vulnerable than Achilles'
heel, and that it is perfect only in so far as the natures of the individuals who create it, are perfect.
Does all this make us feel downhearted? No!
This event in our country's economic history is of immeasurable
importance to us, for its cessation in due course, shall mark the beginning of the second era in the history of Syrians in the United
States.
The immigrant period is over. Our people have no longer to
contend with problems of languages and customs. Even though
the immigration bars were to be removed entirely, which is quite
unlikely, the newcomers wrould never need to fare as did those who
came here first.
Our younger generation has been given ample opportunity to
avail itself of educational facilities. The opportunity has been at
the cost of a sacrifice to some parents, but has been given unbegrudgingly. That the old order has changed is proven by the pre-
�_
__
,
THE SYRIAN WORLD
oi families in our midst, where one or both parents are ili-ate, whose children are college graduates. In some families,
i.nere are as many as four or five children who hold degrees from
colleges.
What significance has the comparison? It means that we have
not been idle j that we are better fitted for the life here.
The second era shall find us more largely represented in the
field of professional activities. The benefits derived in this field
are computed not so much in terms of money, as in the benefits
which accrue to mankind's welfare. Those engaged in this field
shall deserve unbounded appreciation, for our people shall inevitably reflect their glory.
When the pendulum, that symbol of the trend of the times,
reverses its movement, we shall be prepared to write the second
chapter of our! existence here. May it be as excellent in spirit as
that written by our predecessors who fought against odds, greater
even than a depression.
We know that the younger generation shall not fail. If you
wonder at our power or divination, here is the answer:
"Strange friend, past, present, and to be,
Loved deeplier, darklier understood 3
Behold, I dream a dream of good,
And mingle all the world with thee."
Tennyson.
"AL-JIRN"
In the magazine's January issue, Mr. Faris S. Malouf, who is
deservedly one of Boston's favourite sons, characterized us as being a difficult people.
Coming from Mr. Malouf, who ranks high in the field of
jurisprudence, and who sees with clarity and speaks with discrimination, that characterization merits consideration.
We challenge Mr. Malouf to prove that we are any more
difficult than the rest of God's children.
*r*
*F
T*
Aunt Mary, aged four-score plus, to grandniece: "I want to
dance at your wedding. When shall it be?"
Her grandniece: "We can't say just yet. Selim and I are
saving now for a ten-piece-walnut dining room set."
�—-
rri -r-rwm-irfiirw
23
FEBRUARY, 1932
Blue Blood
A RECENT TRAGEDY OF LOVE AND DEATH CAUSED
BY A BREACH OF A SOCIAL TRADITION AMONG
THE ARABS
By H. I.
KATIBAH
AN AMBITIOUS young man of Baghdad, wealthy and cultured
but of humble origin, who had attained through his application
and brilliancy to the high post of General Director of the Ministry of the Interior, paid with his own life the price of aspiring to
marry into a noble family much higher than his own.
He had returned from a honeymoon trip with his bride to
lovely Lebanon, a month spent with blissful oblivion to the sombre
shadow of tragedy that was dogging their steps, and was attending
to his duties at the ministry when an enraged member of the bride^s
family forced his way to the director's chamber and emptied his
pistol point-blank into the body of his unsuspecting victim.
And the report of that shot has reverberated in every Arabicspeaking land from the furthermost limits of the Land between the
Two Rivers to the furthermost limits of Somaliland and the AngloEgyptian Sudan. It has been reechoed in ever further countries, in
the United States of America, in Canada, in Argentine and Brazil,
in Chile, in Australia, in Transvaal, in Dahomey and in the Malay
Peninsula—in every place where the ubiquitous Arabic newspaper
has found its way.
For it is not an uncommon tragedy, and its implications are
very far-reaching. A great issue hangs in the balances, and the
shot that was heard three months ago was the sign of the challenge,
the challenge of the old to the new, of archaic, decadent aristocracy
to aspiring, vital democracy. Since then the challenge has been
met, and the defendant has been condemned to death for his most
daring crime. The attenuating circumstances, the appeal to the old
nomadic traditions of the desert, were brushed aside, and another
victory for democracy and progressiveness in the East has been
won.
The story of that murder would make interesting reading in
some of our sensational newspapers. It has all the elements of
�24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
violent passions, of deep-seated emotions that spring from centuries
of tribal notions and clannish traditions. It belongs properly to
the glamorous pages of the Arabian Nights and the travel books of
the Arabian Desert and Bedouin life.
The characters of the tragedy are Abdullah Ibn Falih al-Sa'doun, scion of one of the noblest families of Iraq, and Abdullah alSani', son of an ambitious commoner who had risen to wealth and
influence through his own efforts and those of his father and grandfather before him, and a young Sa'doun girl whose father was dead
and whose mother is of Turkish origin.
For over a hundred years the Sa'doun family had ruled Iraq.
From it sprang governors and viziers in the days of the Ottoman
Empire j and it had sent representatives to the Turkish parliament
when the Young Turk regime overthrew Sultan Abdul-Hamid and
introduced a constitutional form of government to Turkey. So
powerful indeed was the Sa'doun family that the Turkish Government in the days of Abdul-Hamid held some of its members as
hostages, educated them in a special school for the nobility and occupied them with government tasks in Constantinople, as it did with
princes of the Sheriffs of Mecca and other scions of noble families
from its far-flung empire. When the World War was over, and
the British succeeded the Turks in Iraq, the prestige and power of
the Sa'douns were recognized by the agents of His Britannic Majesty, and one of the premiers of Iraq a few years ago was a Sa'doun,
Muhsin Bey al-Sa'doun. He was a sincere patriot, but his effort
to reconcile between the intransigent nationalists and the demands of
the British led many to suspect him of treachery.
So heavily
did this charge weigh on the sensitive soul of this noble Arab that
he ended his own life by a shot in the head rather than stand the
stigma of a traitor.
The Sa'douns migrated to Iraq over seven hundred years ago.
They come from a pure Arabic stock, and can trace their ancestry
to the Sheriffs of Mecca. In this way they are distantly related to
the same family from which Feisal, King of Iraq, sprang.
Most of the Sa'douns still lead the nomadic life of the Bedouins in the Muntafik district, named after an ancestor of the Sa'doun family, where they have always been recognized as emirs
and shaykhs of their tribe. But many of them moved to the cities
of Baghdad, Basra etc. where they soon established their influence
and became principal characters in the checkered life of Oriental
cities. But never, neither as Bedouins nor as settled citizens, did
�FEBRUARY, 1932
25
they allow themselves to forget that they are a distinguished clan,
members of a blood nobility that never permitted the admixture of
other inferior blood with that of their family.
Marriage customs among the Arabs go back almost to the prehistoric days of the taboo and totem conceptions of religious restrictions. A Sa'doun would never dream of giving his daughter in
marriage to any but a Sa'doun. Theirs was the noble blue blood,
the pure blood of chivalrous warriors and governing rulers, and
under no condition should it be contaminated with that of other
species of the human race.
On the other hand, the family of the bridegroom in this strange
tragedy was not only of humble origin, but, as the name indicates,
menial artisans who, in the eyes of the Arab nobility, were only
a hairbreadth removed from the status of slavery. The ancestors
of the Sani' family were servants, it was claimed in the defense of
Abdullah al-Sa'doun in the Baghdad court, to the Sa'doun family.
Be that as it may, they were artisans, and in the eye of a full-blooded Sa'doun that amounted to the same thing.
True the Sani' family travelled far on the path of progress,
and many a Sani' was superior in wealth and social accomplishments
to many a Sa'doun. The grandfather of Abdullah al-Sani' was a
prosperous merchant of large means, and his descendants intermarried with the shaykhs of al-Kuweit, whose nobility cannot be
denied. He himself was offered a large capital by the Al-Ibrahim
family, rich pearl merchants on the Persian Gulf, who were also
counted among the nobility of the Arabs. Abdullah al-Sani' was
a man of undisputed worth and high ambition, and like Muhsin
al-Sa'doun had won his promotion through his friendship to the
British.
But all that did not change the situation. Al-Sa'douns were
Qubeili, a genuine tribal Arabs, and al-Sani's were Khudairis, mere
artisans, men who attached themselves to the tribe, and whose origin
was dubious.
And that's that. Abdullah al-Sani' might have succeeded so
brilliantly as to become the premier of Iraq, or he might have devoted himself to some science and distinguished himself as a great
scientist, recognized by the universities and academies of Europe
and America, thus bringing glory to himself and all the Arab race.
Still he was a Sani', and considered beneath any Sa'douni. On the
other hand a Sa'douni might so degrade himself as to become a
burden on society, or he might be a dull clout whose total life would
•or
�26-
1HE SYRIAN WORLD
amount to nil, and in his heart of heart think himself superior to
all the Sani's in existence.
This sort of mentality is not strange to those who know the
old traditions of the East. We all know of Emirs who are cab
drivers and boot-blacks in the streets of Damascus, Beirut or Baghdad.
One of the men who always attracted my attention in Beirut
was an eccentric peddler who usually stationed himself on the corner
of Bab-Edris. He sold candy and displayed a banner with queer
writings on it. I asked about him, and was told that he was an Ayyoubi, a descendant of the great Saladin! On another occasion I
was leaving Baghdad, and a beggar approached my automobile for
charity. Before I had chance to drive him away, a fairly respectable fellow came forward and chased the beggar. Then after a
minute or so he himself asked for a tip. I was surprised, and said
to him: "Only a while ago you chased that other beggar, and now
you are begging yourself, what does this mean:".
Suavely the second beggar replied: "But 1 belong to Ahl alBeit." I "understood what he meant but rebuked him and drove him
away just the same. For those who do not know what Ahl al-Beit
means, we will inform them that it means the descendants of the
Prophet Mohammed.
The blood of the Sa'douns, we are assured, is blue, very blue
indeed, and that of al-Sani's perhaps is red, or black, or whatever
the blood of slaves and artisans may be characterized.
But just here comes science to dispel another antiquated notion,
to disillusion the pride and equanimity of the master class in the
East.
For biology is positive on one point, whatever it may be on
others. It is positive that the blood of the mother has as much to
contribute to the blood constituency and color of the offspring as
that of the father.
According to the marriage customs of those aristocratic families
of the Arabs, it is not necessary for a male member of those families
to marry into the same family, or one of equal rank, not even one
of the same race. From the earliest days of Islam we have records
of marriages between noble Arabs and Greek or Persian captive women; and some of the greatest figures in Islam are children of such
unions. Even today we have members of such noble families as alBakris and Huseinis married to European ladies, and the bride's
own mother in this celebrated case is a Turk, according to account.
�27
FEBRUARY, 1932
But, according to biology, when a Sa'douni or a Bakri is married to a woman of foreign blood, or one not quite as blue, the
blood of the children is undoubtedly determined by that of the
mother and her ancestry. The old conception that a woman is
only "a vessel" for the transmission of the male's inheritable characteristics, is completely exploded and confuted by modern science;
What then becomes of the blue blood of the Sa'dounis and
others who for generations have taken for themselves the liberty
to marry wherever their fancy chose and denied that right to the
female members of their families?
A certain scholar who once undertook the fantastic task of
studying the royal family of the reigning Ottoman sultans came
out of his investigation with the assertion that not one drop in a
million in the blood of that long lineage could be called "royal."
It seems to us like a recrudescence of barbaric notions that in
this day and generation there are still people in the East who seek
to determine the destinies of half of their genre by high-handed
and arbitrarv manners that have no foundation in fact or reason.
Water and Flowers
By
AMEEN RIHANI
Here are flowers, O my Beloved,
Here are flowers;
Let us lay our hearts today
Among the flowers
Let us not be led astray
By the mirage far away;
Here is verdure, and in verdure
Love embowers.
Here are springs, O my Beloved,
Here are springs;
Let us rest and build a nest
Near the springs;
Let us cease our weary quest
For the mountains of the blest;
Here is water, and in water
Blessing sings.
�i
28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Excavations in Syria and Iraq
Important Recent Discoveries Have Materially Added to Our
Knowledge of Origin and Progress of Civilization.
Editor's Note:—Al-Kulliyat, organ of the American University of Beirut,
summarizes in its December issue four public lectures on the progress of excavation work in Syria and Iraq delivered by Dr. Harold Ingholt, Professor
of Archaeology at the Univers;ty. The lectures epitomize almost the whole
history of these ancient lands and are here reprinted by courtesy of our esteemed Beirut contemporary with whom we heartily join in the praise of
the "generousity of the Syrian lady who established the chair of archaeology
at the American University of Beirut" and made possible the addition of
this most important subject in the University's curriculum.
By
DR. HAROLD INGHOLT
EXCAVATIONS AT PALMYRA—
JT SEEMS strange that Palmyra, now a small oasis with only
about 2000 inhabitants, once was the undisputed mistress o£
Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt and the greater part of Asia Minor,
powerful enough under the famous queen Zenobia to give Rome
a hard fight for the supremacy of the whole of the Near East.
The abundant springs in Palmyra must early have attracted
settlers and the first mention of the city does in reality go as far
back as 1100 B. C, when it was sacked by the Assyrian king TiglatPileser. It was then called Ta-ad-mar, the exact equivalent of its
modern name, Tedmor. For many centuries nothing is heard of
the city but when it reappears in history, in Hellenistic time, it is as
a city of considerable importance. Its location between the Parthian
and Roman empires was of great political significance and during
the first three centuries of the Christian era, it became commercially
important, being one of the chief junctions for the caravans, which
brought goods from China, India and Persia to the Occident The
Palmyrene merchants were assured protection in the dangerous
desert-district by means of the famous mounted Palmyrene archers
and m return the city levied a heavy duty on all the goods which
passed through: silk, perfume, oil, etc., and also made the caravans
�to
to
>3
a>
Main Entrance to the Great Colonnaded Street in Palmyra, Once
Queen of the Syrian Desert.
.
-
.:.
.___
.
, -. -
s
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
pay for the right of watering their camels. As the wealth of the
city grew, magnificent buildings were erected, the ruins of which
still bear witness to Palmyra's glory. A big, colonnaded street went
through nearly the whole length of the city, the columns being
adorned with statues of prominent citizens, and the main sanctuary
of Palmyra, the temple of Bel, competed in size and splendor with
the temples of Baalbek and Damascus. The chief authority rested
with the "Senate and the People," but in the latter part of the third
century the Odainath family became more and more prominent and
finally took absolute control. When the Persians in the year 260
A. D. defeated the Roman army in Northern Syria, Palmyra's existence was also in danger, and it was the younger Odainath, who
with his Palmyrene army and the remaining Roman troops, drove
the Persians back to the other side of the Euphrates. Odainath was
later murdered in Horns (266 or 267), but at that time the whole
of Syria and Mesopotamia virtually was under Palmyrene domination, even if it nominally still belonged to Rome. Odainath's widow, Zenobia, famous for her beauty and learning, took advantage
of the next years, in which the Roman emperors had more than
enough to do in the West and having added Egypt and the greater
part of Asia Minor to the possessions of Palmyra, she felt strong
enough to declare war against Rome in the year 271.
The new Roman emperor Aurelian was a much more formidable adversary than his immediate predecessors and in spite of
heroic efforts the Palmyrene armies were defeated near Antioch
and near Horns. Palmyra was besieged and taken in March, 272,
after Zenobia herself had been taken prisoner at the end of her
audacious camel-ride across the desert.
The first excavations in Palmyra took place after the great
war when two French-Danish archaelogical missions worked there
under the direction of Durand and Ingholt (1924) and Gabriel
and Ingholt (1925).
UR OF THE CHALDEES—
A systematic excavation of this most important site, the paternal city of Abraham, was not undertaken until 1923, when an archaeological expedition, financed by the British Museum and the University Museum of Philadelphia, under the direction of the British
archaeologist, C. L. Woolley, started work on the huge mound.
The oldest layers were found in the 1929 campaign, on the
bottom of a 12 nr. deep shaft, containing flint artefacts and pottery
�FEBRUARY, 1932
31
with geometric decoration on a characteristic brown or greenish surface. Above this level lay for 2^m.a layer of homogeneous clay,
free from any foreign particles. This layer can only have been
deposited by a huge flood, which may be the same as the Biblical
deluge.
The most impressive building cleared by the excavators was
the "Ziggurat," the tower-like temple of Ur, built by king UrNammii, who lived about 2300 B. C. The building, which is all
made of brick, sundried in the core, burnt bricks on the outside, consists of three rectangular platforms with tapering walls, the lowest
black, the second red, and the top one blue. Fragments of a stele
were found in another temple representing the king, Ur-Nammu,
sacrificing to the moon-goddess, Ningal, and the moon-god, Nannar, and receiving the order from this last deity to build just that
same "Ziggurat."
The richest and most surprising finds were made in an old
necropolis, in which Woolley discovered a number of royal tombs
dating from about 3200 to 3000 B. C. A beautiful gold dagger,
the lapis-lazuli handle of which was studded with golden beads and
the hilt done in exquisite filigree-work, bore witness to the marvelous skill of the Sumerian goldsmiths, as also a golden helmet,
found in the tomb of a certain Meskalamdug. In another tomb a
beautiful mosaic came to light, mounted on two pieces of wood and
representing the Sumerian army in action and a feast at the royal
court. The most interesting tombs, however, were those of Abargi
and his queen Shub'ad, in which for the first time clear evidence
was found of human sacrifices as part of the Sumerian funeral rites.
In Abargi's tomb no less than fifty-nine skeletons were found in
definite and appropriate positions, so that one might suppose that
the soldiers, the grooms, and the court-ladies had been marshalled
in order and cut down where they stood. The ladies had very
ornate head-dresses: gold-ribbon, four wreaths of gold leaf pendants and one of lapis lazuli and gold beads were wound around
the head and at the back a large "Spanish comb" of gold, its seven
points ending in rosettes with gold and lapis centres. Beautiful
fluted gold vessels, gaming boards, harps, a silver boat for the king's
last voyage and a very naturalistic donkey and bull, respectively
of electron and silver, originally placed as mascots on the rein—ring*
of the chariots, further rewarded the careful excavators. Similar
finds were made in other tombs and as the excavations are still
going on, we may expect still many finds of importance for the
early history of Mesopotamia.
-
�*C£S •*.
**" "'
US
Co
ft
5
The Massive Sarcophagus of King Ahiram Discovered at Jebeil in
Lebanon. The Cover Bears the Oldest Known Inscription in the
Phoenician Alphabet and Dates Back to the Thirteenth Century B.C.
o
to
i
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to
Pa
S
Pa
Some of the Archeological Treasures of the National Museum of Beirut.
m - N WHiPI .-i*.-J»:
t*4
�I
-"
34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
BYBLOSWhen Renan arrived in Syria in 1860 the first place he chose
to excavate was Byblos, the present Djebeil, no doubt prompted by
the most important role Byblos had played in antiquity, not only
as the chief sea-port for the export of timber to Egypt, but also
as center of the Osiris and Adonis cult in Syria, the temple of Byblos being known as one of the oldest in the world.
Excavations on a larger scale were, however, not undertaken
until after the great war. From 1921 to 1924 the French Egyptologist, Montet, worked there, after him Dunand, and it is not too
much to say that no excavation in Syria has produced richer or more
important results.
Besides tomb deposits of about 3000 B. C, Montet found
what probably is the site of the old temple, and there a number of
most interesting foundation deposits containing vases, cylinders,
ivories, bronzes, scarabs, jewels, all dating from before 2000 B. C.
Several sculptures representing gods or kings of Byblos were also
found within the temple enclosure.
A landslide revealed in 1922 a royal tomb belonging to the
king Abishemu, contemporary with the Egyptian pharao Amenemhet III (1850-1800 B.C.). Even if it had been robbed in antiquity
several interesting pieces were still left: a beautiful obsidian cup
set in gold, the silver "tea-pot," a pair of silver sandals, a golden
weapon in form similar to a sickle, the so-called "harpe," etc ;
the remarkable golden jewels, which by way of Jerusalem and Chicago have come back to Syria and were acquired by the National
Museum in Beirut, probably also have come from the same tomb:
bracelets, rings, a pectoral with the sacred Hathor-cow, and a gilded
bronze bull. Other royal tombs were found near by; one belonged
to king Ypshemuabi, son of king Abishemu, and contained a beautiful obsidian casket, a golden pectoral and pendants, a magnificent
harpe inscribed with the king's name, a silver knife and a silver
mirror with papyrus-handle of gold. The fifth tomb of the group
proved to be the most important of all. It was built for king Ahiram, who lived in the first half of the 13th century B. C. and
whose sarcophagus was found unimpaired in the funeral chamber.
Represented on the sarcophagus was found the king himself, seated
on a throne and receiving homage from his servants; on the two
small sides wailing women tear their hair and beat their breasts.
On the lid the king is seen blessing his son Itoba'al. The sarcophagus in itself, with its mixtures of Assyrian, Egyptian and Phoe\
�FEBRUARY, 1932
35
nician influences, is a most important archaeological document, but
its importance is further enhanced by the Phoenician inscription
engraved on it. The oldest inscription in alphabetical letters was
until then the one on the Mesa-stone, from about 850 B. C, but the
Ahiram one goes back still 400 years and gives us the oldest
alphabetical inscription known, the prototypes of the letters, which
we use today, and with which this article is written.
MINET EL-BEIDA AND RAS SHAMRA—
A subterranean tomb, built of large stone slabs, was found in
1928 by a farmer ploughing his field at Minet el-Beida, a small
natural harbour 13 k. m. north of Lattakiah. The Cypriote vases
left in the tomb and the Cretan character of architecture seemed
to justify further researches, and in 1929 work was begun there by
the two French archaeologists, Schaeffer and Chenet. The excavations soon revealed the great importance of the site in antiquity,
when it was the chief harbour on the Syrian coast for the Cypriote
export of copper, to the Near East.
In Minet el-Beida two burial-grounds were found, one with
many animal bones, deposits of pottery, dating from the 13th centuary B. C, and near a small wall two bronze statuettes of the
Egyptian falcon, the one inlaid with silver, a statuette of a god,
may be the Phoenician weather-and-war-god Reshef, and a gold
pendant of a nude goddess, probably Astarte. In the other necropolis the excavators found tombs similar to the one brought to
light by the fellah, and in one of these a beautiful ivory lid, probably of a toilet-paint box, representing the Cretan goddess of
fertility, flanked by two goats.
On Ras Shamra, the acropolis of Minet el-Beida, the excavators cleared a temple, in and near which a number of interesting
Egyptian sculptures were found, as also two steles with representation of the Bacal and Ba'alat of Sapuna, the ancient name of the
city. But the most important find was that of the library, with
tablets written in Akkadian, Sumerian, and an enigmatic language.
These last tablets have now been deciphered (Bauer, Dhorme and
Virolleaud) and proved to be written in the Phoenician language
with twenty-eight alphabetic signs taken from the cuneiform signsyestem. An epic poem of eight hundred lines is among the texts
discovered, and it will, when published, no doubt give us most welcome information about the Phoenician civilization of the 14th
tentury B. C.
\
\
�Sa
36
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Syria in Romance
The Brethren
By
RIDER HAGGARD
Condensed by
DAGNY EDWARDS
(Continued from December)
Days went by and one hot July night the brethren sat in their
.camp gazing from the mountain top across the plains toward Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. The next day they were to advance
across the desert plain to battle with Saladin, who lay above Tiberias. As they sat there, Godwin had a vision wherein he saw Saladin walking to and fro alone in the royal pavilion. Godwin read
his thought.
It was: "Behind me the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee,
into which, if my flanks were turned, I should be driven, I and all
my host. In front the territories of the Franks, I have no friend;
and by Nazareth their great army. Allah alone can help me. If
they sit still and force me to advance across the desert and attack
them before my army melts away, then I am lost. If they advance
upon me round the Mountain Tabor and by the watered land, I
may be lost. But if, oh! if Allah should make them mad, and they
should strike straight across the desert then, then they are lost, and
the reign of the Cross in Syria is forever at an end. I will wait
here. I will wait here."
Awaking, Godwin told his tale to the king, and all his pleading
prayers, and those of the bishop and Wulf, who saw truth in the
dream, could not change his mind to hold the army. Advancing in
war, the dream was fulfilled terribly, to the extent that one of the
most hideous rights in the history of the world took place, on the
battlefields of Hattin, which broke the power of the Christians in
the East. Wulf settled his score with Prince Hassan for the killing
of his uncle and the poisoned wine, by killing Hassan on the battlefield. But before death took him, Hassan in all friendliness toward
Wulf gave him the badge of his House, the famous star jewel,
that was to stand the brethren and Rosamund in good stead, later,
when they sought to make their escape.
�FEBRUARY, 1932
2?
Awaiting her chance, Masouda instructed the brethren how
Z?M8ht,efape.fr°m.Sakdin's camP> ^ which they were to
pay Masouda s assistant in the plot, the jewel of Hassan. Rosan0t
Slightest detai1 lest in a cas
ToliT
Z before
?Td they
°u thewere
»y Abdul
* they
should be caught
well away. ' That night,
ih°,reckei!ed ^he jewel, was captured and confessed that he
f
th£ P n
C6rtain arden 0
cal
Wh morning
°
"gcame,
?, f ?, f° awas
the
camp. When
Abdullah
dead,g he gave^
no more
of the plan away, but Godwin, Wulf, and the ladies were brought
before the wrath of Saladin, who, however, could not punish them
since there was no direct evidence against the brethren. Finallv
an imam of the Sultan consulted with him. Saladin was pleased
paving the court the imam returned presently with two small'
couTd f°jISa"dalwood tied with silk and sealed, so alike that none
ky thC JeWd kll Wn aS the Star
d
Luc rf I W aPar^ HaS
JB 0nC' m
°
the ther
a ebble of
wlh,
V
7was asked
f "j to give° a box^
P of herthe
same
weight. Rosamund
to each
cousins.
He who had the jewel should die. Beseeching Saladin to be less
cruel and spare her the task, Rosamund was forced to present the
boxes to her cousins, each taking the box nearer to him Opening
nf'w?^
Ileanu"g enchanted Star of Hassan fell to the feel
oi Wulf, as Rosamund cried out,
"Not Wulf! Not Wulfl"
Then it was that the brethren knew which she loved
Later that afternoon, Godwin offered Saladin his life as the
guilty one in place of Wulf; and though loathe to believe him, the
h S Wi8h
biddi
^a
he T^T
ThCnMasouda
"S farewdl
^ Rwho
"d
(as he
thought, for ,t' was -really
in disguise,
again
planned Rosamund's escape, and showed her love for Godwfn
t0 SPeak
Wdf Wh
the d
when'sld° Cntered
^that
vault,'
when Saladin came "in, andi°spoke to them
both saying
he
refused such sacrifice as Godwin was about to make, andfmce thev
were brave men, he would much prefer to kill them in war. Making them a gift of fine horses, he bade them go to Jerusalem where
they might meet again within its streets, in war
agai R0SamU id made her CSCape thr0U h the
of
,
> was£ brought
-genuity
J
of MSoud
Masouda. R
Rosamund; dressed
as Masouda,
by the
latter's uncle Son of the Sand, to Godwin and Wulf in Jerusalem
Ihey placed Rosamund ,n a sanctuary with the nuns of the Holv
Cross, where none would ever dare drag her. Then Godwin fear-
camo Lhefeh °\ ^TSleft behi»d> -turned to Saladin's
camp, for he felt a strange love for that fearless young woman who
\
X
�=—?m
38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
braved death for love of him. Through the trickery of the Sultan
and his imam, who led Godwin to believe that Masouda, though
their prisoner, was well and alive, he entered the prison vault, and
there to his horror and grief found Masouda dead. Then he knew
that he truly loved her, even as she had loved and died for him.
Stung by the mockery of the imam, the same who had planned the
casting of the lots, Godwin smote his eye out with a silver lamp,
then falling across the corpse of Masouda, he lay sick for a long
time.
The siege of the Holy City had begun, and slaughter waged
on both sides. As Godwin lay resting in camp, wondering what the
outcome of the struggle would be, he remembered Saladin's vision,
that through Rosamund much slaughter should be spared. Seizing
an opportunity, Godwin broached the subject to Saladin, who greatly vexed, would not listen to him, although as he left the tent, he
pondered the matter.
Several days later, Godwin by his own wish, though still in
the camp of Saladin, was ordained a priest by the hand of the Bishop
Egbert, amidst the triumphant servants of Mohamet, who rejoiced
at the approaching downfall of the Cross.
Misery and despair settled over the tens of thousands of
fugitives within Jerusalem, and finally the Sultan declared that
only on condition that Rosamund surrender to him that he might
deal with her as she deserved, would he have anything to say to
the embassy sent to discuss terms with him. Then was Rosamund's
hiding place discovered, and the men came to plead with her to return, but she staunchly refused.
The battle went on and on, the people ever suffering new terrors, fearing momentary death. Again they pleaded with Saladin;
again he refused to deal with them till Rosamund surrendered, but
even as he listened to their pleadings for mercy, did he think that
this was the massacre of which he dreamed—eighty thousand lives.
Prayers and sobs mingled with the cries of the people outside
the convent, came to Rosamund as once more they besought her
to go to Saladin. A final message came to her there, from him, telling that if she came to him willingly he would consider the question
of the sparing of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. If she refused,
everyone, save those women and children who might be kept as
slaves, would be put to the sword. Listening to the pleading all
around her, from the Queen Sybilla, the women, children, knights ;
and lords, Rosamund asked Wulf, would he have her die. "Alas!" '
�I
FEBRUARY, 1932
30
he answered, "It is hard to speak. Yet they are many, you are one."
lhen Rosamund of her own will declared that that too was her
wish, and prepared to go. But Wulf declared that he must die with
her, and thus they made confession of their sins before the priest
received absolution and the sacrament for the dying, while all in
the church knelt and prayed, as for souls that pass. So the solemn
ritual ended, and they entered the presence of the Sultan, kneeling
to
before him.
The Sultan heard them speak that Rosamund was ready to pay
the price, to fulfill his vision, and spare the city, and for its blood
he should accept hers as a token and offering. Then did Salah-eddin show his mercy. The terms of his treaty were fair; he was just
and kind, even paying out of his own treasury the ransoms of hundreds of ladies whose husbands and fathers had fallen in battle.
_ For forty days, Rosamund and Wulf lay in separate prisons
awaiting death, while the ransoms outlined in the treaty of peace
were being paid; and when it was over, Saladin took possession of
me city. 1 he Crescent had triumphed over the Cross in Jerusalem
As the camp broke up at length, Rosamund and Wulf were
summoned before the Sultan. Dressed in festive robes, Rosamund
knew not what to think as the ladies of the court clad her in fine
linen and put over it gorgeous, broidered garments and a royal
mantle of purple, and brought her to Salah-ed-din. As she stepped
within his presence, trumpets blew, and a herald cried: "Way for
the high sovereign lady and Princess of Baalbec'" And again they
med, "Way for the brave and noble Frankish knight, Sir Wulf
D Arcy!
And thus Saladin restored to Rosamund her title and
estate, and further, led them to the Convent, where stood a Christ1
P
st t0 PCrf rm the marria e servi
M u-I
°
S
ce. As the service ended the
old bishop withdrew, and another hooded monk uttered the benediction. His hood fell back, and there stood Godwin, the priest!
Once again they stood before Saladin, and this time he declared
that they had drunk the dregs of their cups; the doom which he
decreed for Rosamund had been accomplished, and now that they
were man and wife, they were free to do as they wished, whether
they desired to enjoy their rank and wealth in the East or return
to England. Bewildered and happy the pair chose to return to their
home across the sea, but Godwin, in his newly found joy in the
Cross, declared that he would stay in Jerusalem, and serve the
Cross, that was down, but not forever.
Then bidding Wulf farewell, Godwin was gone.
T-,
Ml HHM
�40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
TRVE ARABIAN TA
W. I+AM6
THE CHANCE MEETING IN THE OASIS
TRIBE of 'Uzra was renowned among the Arabs for the
THE
intensity and purity of its love. " 'Uzra love" was synonimous
with Platonic love in the highest sense. It was a sacred tradition
among the 'Uzraites to love intensely, but in a manner that would
exact the strictest abstention from physical indulgence. No other
Arab tribe had the reputation for devotion in love to equal that of
'Uzra.
The tales of love among the men of 'Uzra are many. Often
they ended in stark tragedy because of the fierce stoicism which
would countenance no weakening in the traditional abstinence. The
following tale, however, is a happy exception. It is related on the
authority of the well-known Arab traditionist 'Amru Ibn Rabi'a
and is here retold in his own words.
Said 'Amru:
Ju'd Ibn Muhje', of the tribe of 'Uzra, was a young poet who
enjoyed a wide reputation both for his intense love as well as for the
traditional reserve of his tribe. He was in the habit of making an
annual pilgrimage to Mecca, where his appearance was anxiously
awaited by a group of poetry lovers and intellectuals who formed
a steadily growing circle about him. For he was also a prolific entertainer with erudite and well authenticated Arab folk tales.
One year, during the pilgrimage season, Ju'd failed to make
an appearance and his absence was greatly felt. I took it upon myself to make inquiries about him and sought the camp of the 'Uzraites for the purpose. I made my object plain to the first group
upon whom I came, and a man from among them emitted a sigh
�FEBRUARY, 1932
41
and quote the well-known verse which signifies desperation in love:
By thy l,fe I swear that my love for Asma
Will neither drive me to die in despair,
Nor set me free to live in peace.
Alarmed I asked the man if anything had befallen Tu'd and to
"or ZTl "^ m~*a*?> he -plied in a spirit of contemptTat
±or me to be so anxious about him only meant that I was of his ilk
wandering in a trackless desert of corruption and ignorance
'
And who may you be to so condemn my friend?" I asked
1 am his brother," was his curt reply.
The year following, at the same season, I found mvself at
Urfa among a group of pilgrims from the <Uzra trite and I
noticed particularly a young man who had almost become un'cog
mzable through his emaciation. Although erect, he seemed noting
but skin and bone, a shadow of his former self. I was Tie tf
recognize him as Ju'd only through his familiar came]T When I
greeted him and asked him of his condition, he emitted uch a deen
sigh that I-thought his soul would depart with it. I hen Lght to
divert him by impressing on him the sacredness of the occasion and
the necessity of prayer. He prayed until sundown, and when he
had finished I heard him exclaim,
"O Allah, the compassionate' the mercifull Be thou mv <mn
The oL^
thC ,Md thM ta
«*«» «P0« « sint thela^f
to me tot he would confide all to IZ^T^^*
That evening, when we were alone, I again asked him £
explanation as to the cause of his exclamatic££t Itmenhat'
he unburdened his heart and recounted to me' the folWing story
my mater,Ml u
8
tribe
KjbC who,
l ^T^
**?
»*s are
tribe J
of Kalb,
aside from
being men of renuhtin,,
f of.uthe
•
them custodians f my
up zfe as?
° p p-y -dts
lay in my path. I had food and drink in sumrienrv 27 £
having partaken of my needs, I reclined to e^yfeme ^
�42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
of the hospitable palms, when from the distance rose a commotion
that attracted my attention. I looked, and there was a horseman
who was chasing a gazelle with such dash and dexterity as to excite
my admiration. For a time I watched the chase with interest, and
finally the hunter not only gained on the quarry, but felled it with
a lance thrust, as if disdaining the bow and arrow. Nor did he,
to my surprise, occupy himself with the task of recovering the carcass, as if his only interest was in the love of the sport. And to
my further surprise, the hunter, having achieved his aim, came
trotting leisurely in my direction apparently seeking the shelter of
the oasis.
"Our first meeting was most cordial. The young man, for
such he appeared to me, proved of most charming presence and conversation. He was not only erudite and conversant with Arab poetry
and folk lore, but of such captivating demeanor as to betray a
feminine charm. Thus we spent a pleasant hour until the hunter
arose to adjust the saddle of his horse, in which operation his armour
partly shifted, displaying the beauty of two breasts that put
ivory to shame in their firmness and translucency. The attempt to
a hasty concealment was abortive, and to my question if she were a
woman the reply came in the affirmative, but with the qualification
that she was one of extreme chastity, although not averse to liberal
conversation.
"And in this we indulged. The scope of the maiden's knowledge
was a revelation to me, and the charm of her manner had on me
the effect of intoxicating wine. Sometime later, overcome by the
heat of the day and the effect of her strenuous labors, she reclined
and fell into peaceful slumber. For a long time I watched over
her, drinking in her beauty with an avidity that was heightened by
the quiet of the place and the strangeness of the occasion. I want
to confess to you that often did I resolve to forswear chastity for
the strong temptation that lay before me, but recalling the tradition of my tribe, and invoking the honor of manhood, I finally
overcame the weakness.
"When she finally awoke and was preparing to leave I asked
permission to visit her, but she protested that her father and brothers were exceedingly strict and of high temper, and all I could
hope for was a chance meeting.
"She then departed, and never since have I seen her. But her
memory lingers with me and my love for her has reduced me to
a skeleton, as you see. It was because I was so weak last year that I
could not attend the pilgrimage."
" : :
.
-,:
-
'•
�FEBRUARY, 1932
43
The tale of the love-stricken young poet touched my heart
and I resolved to contrive for his salvation. I prevailed upon him
to accompany me to the tents of his uncles and there sought the
father of his beloved. I had provided myself with a thousand
dinars in money, a silk robe and a beautifully designed green tent.
The preliminary exchanges of salutations were brief and I hastened to explain to the father that the purpose of my mission was to
ask the hand of his daughter in marriage, to which he replied that I
was more than welcome.
"It is not for myself that I make the request," I protested,
"but rather in favor of your nephew whom I consider to be equally
as worthy."
"Unquestionably he is," he parried in a rather impatient manner, "but if you must insist we will leave the final choice to the
maiden."
I was about to interpose an objection when Ju'd motioned
me to acquiesce, and to my great relief and elation, the girl did express her preference for her friend.
Immediately I made a gift of the silk robe and the tent to the
father and presented the thousand dinars as the girl's dowery, insisting that the marriage ceremony be performed forthwith.
Early on the morrow I met Ju'd and asked him how he had
fared. "No man can be happier than I," he said, "because Selma
expressed towards me a reciprocal feeling that made me forget all
my past sufferings."
With this I felt that I had been amply repaid. I extended to
the young lovers my congratulations and departed.
Freedom and Slavery
By
KHALIL GIBRAN
You are free before the sun of the day,
and free before the stars of the nightj
And you are free when there is no sun
and no moon and no star.
You are even free when you close your
eyes upon all there is
Hut you are a slave to him whom you
love because you love him,
And a slave to him who loves you
because he loves you.
�44
THE SYRIAN WORLD
EDITORIAL COMMENT
APOLOGY
Although every possible effort
has been made to maintain the
regular publication schedule of
the Syrian World, unavoidable
difficulties have retarded the appearance of the February number
to the middle of March. The
lapse will be corrected with the
coming issues.
HARD TIMES
One would like not to discuss
the economic depression. It is
unpleasant to be reminded -of
such painful subjects. The effect is to depress the spirit and
undermine the energy. After
all, the wise ones will tell you,
our ills are only psychological.
The coffers of savings banks are
overflowing with money, only it
needs" to be put in circulation.
Talk prosptrity and you will
have it!
All of which is very good if it
were only practical.
Closed factories, stagnant markets, empty cupboards, with millions of unemployed and hundreds of thousands dependent
upon public charity, are all too
serious and concrete matters to
be treated lightly and delegated
to the class of the ephemereal
and psychological.
Such crises the world has experienced before and emerged
therefrom safe but wiser.
It
would be ridiculous to expect that
the result in the present case
would prove otherwise. In the
commonest way of expressing it,
the world is not coming to an
end. A solution will eventually
be found, although the world
will have to readjust itself to
new conditions. But just what
form the solution will take no
one has yet been able to tell. The
Bolsheviks claim that in their
formula lies the world's only
salvation, while the rest of the
world still hold a diametrically
opposite view. One thing is certain, and it is that such conditions as those which brought about the abnormal and unsound
prosperity which led to the correspondingly heavy depression
cannot be suffered to remain.
There was an orgy that had to
come to an end sometime, and
people who had settled down to
the snug assurance that the bubble could continue along the process of inflation without bursting
will have to face the painful task
of disillusionment.
The important question is:
What will happen in the mean-
mmem
�FEBRUARY, 1932
time?
The economic pressure is already straining heavily at family ties. Parents who cannot now
provide as was their wont, and
children who fancy themselves
deprived of what they had been
accustomed to having as a matter of course, although they
themselves are not productive,
suffer a painful present and vision a dark future. In this case
it is safe to assume that the development of a sorely needed
sturdiness in character will prove
a welcome result from the travail of the depression.
Then there are the national
governments that are sorely
pressed in the task of balancing
their budgets. Large corporate
enterprises, with national and international ramifications, who
had been looked upon as towers
of strength in the world financial
structure, are facing a similar
predicament.
But the most pathetic case is
that of the small man, the one
who through systematic savings
and self-denials accumulated a
small capital with which to open
a shop, a store, or some other industrial or commercial undertaking. He had felt the security of independence through the
individual enterprise he had
painstakingly built up. By the
assiduous cultivation of personal,
contacts and the assurance of
honest individual service he had
45
every reason to believe that he
had a claim on the constant patronage of his clientele. We may
imagine such a man's distress
when through the forced curtailment in expenditures on the part
of his customers, he is reduced
to a position of utter helplessness. For he is neither fit by
training nor capable by former
connections to find other means
of earning a livelihood.
The Syrians in America fall
mostly in the latter category.
Their native initiative prompted
them to seek independent means
of gain which in the majority of
cases were confined to individual
enterprises. That they have not
suffered severely so far may be
attributed principally to their
sense of thrift and their mutual
helpfulness.
During the past few months
a score or more public affairs
were held by the Syrians of New
1 ork City for purposes of charity, and many more are planned.
Similar activities are being constantly reported from almost all
sections of the country.
This constitutes about the only
cheerful news in the otherwise
dark situation. But people would
much prefer to give work in exchange for money than be the
recipients of charity. It may be
said for the Syrians that their
pride would prevent them from
appealing for charity except at
the last extremity.
The fact
�mam..
46
that public affairs are being held
so frequently with the avowed
purpose of alleviating the distress of needy Syrians would indicate that that point of desperation has already been reached.
WHICH SHALL SURVIVE
THE SYRIAN WORLD
tion, edited by Miss Najla Bellamah of Canada, and the only
Arabic feminist publication in
North America, was forced to
suspend before it could run out
the cycle of a full year. It must
be said to its credit that it reimbursed paid subscribers for the
difference due them, but this act
of extreme honesty is poor consolation for the lack of adequate
support for a worthy publication.
Character, a literary Arabic magazine of New York, now in its
tenth year, will suspend "until
such time as conditions warrant
resumption."
During the past few months
the scythe of the depression has
mowed down several worthy and,
in some instances, long established Arabic publications, both
in America and abroad. By virThe daily papers so far have
tue of long and meritorious ser- not been affected except in that
vice some of the defunct period- they are issuing continuous apicals had come to be looked peals, which alternate between
upon as established institutions. threats and pleadings, for the
Most of them, however, had the collection of subscriptions. One
misfortune of being serious or- of them has set a premium of
gans of opinion or scholarly re- 10% discount for payment of
search.
back accounts within a given perLughat-Al-Arab - (The Arabic iod. Another is willing to give
Tongue) of Baghdad, announced as much as 50%.
its suspension because of lack of
When, on the other hand, one
support, although it was consi- reads that such old and supposeddered over a long period one of ly popular publications in the
the foremost sources of authority American field such as Judge and
on Arabic phylology.
The Police Gazette are forced inAl-Khalidat, of New York, to bankruptcy, one is surprised
could not weather the economic that the ratio of mortality among
storm although its editor, Rev. Arabic publications is not higher
Archimandrite Antony Bashir, as than what it has proved to be so
a prolific writer and itinerant far. But we have not yet reachmissionary, was considered to en- ed the end, as the wise ones who
joy exceptional advantages.
view the depression dispassionAl-Fajr, a bi-lingual publica- ately will tell you.
n
�FEBRUARY, 1932
47
AND NOW OUR CASE
DEPARTMENTS
Perhaps it would not be malThe Poetry Department has
apropos to make an allusion here been as regular in its appearance
to^the predicament of the Syrian as the great nocturnal luminary
World. We seem to fare none which is the poet's inspiration.
better than the publications pre- Ever since Miss Barbara Young
viously mentioned. As a pioneer assumed editorship of the departin its field, The Syrian World ment not a single issue has apmay even be going through a peared but had the beautiful faharder struggle than all the miliar heading and the varied
others, owing to the necessity of but consistently excellent materconducting virgin missionary ial. And may we not reiterate
work. Some day we might give that this is a labor of love that
out the full secret of -how we Miss Young has imposed upon
manage to keep the flickering herself and adheres to faithfullight of life burning. That day ly? In plain words, she who commight come either when we reg- mands a handsome price for her
ister a decisive triumph or have literary work has been willing
to lay down our arms in defeat. to make this regular and sustainWe are now navigating the tur- ed contribution free out of her
bulent, eddies of the midstream, deep feeling of friendship for
—the exact middle of our year
the Lebanese and Syrians whom
and between now and the end of she came to know and appreciate
the year we should know how the through our great Gibran of
tide will flow.
whom she was the devoted
One thing is certain. It is that friend . In a future issue, we
we shall never give up if only we expect to make an important anare shown reasonable support. nouncement relative to Miss
Not, to be sure, to make the con- } oung's forthcoming trip to Betinued publication profitable, but charre, Gibran's native town in
only to make the loss bearable. Lebanon.
Delinquent subscribers can ease
the task by prompt remittance,
With this issue the editorship
and those of our enthusiastic
of "Our Younger Generation"
friends who were shocked at the
department will change hands.
possibility
of | discontinuance
To the former editor, Mr. A.
when we put the question to a
Hakim, is due our sincere expublic referendum last year,
pression of thanks for his connow have occasion to validate
scientious and able efforts during
their promises of effective supthe period of his. incumbency,
port.
and it is with reluctance that we
-
' f-'-
HHH
�48
have to concede to his wish to relinquish his self-imposed task.
He has been a constant and loyal friend of the Syrian World,
and there could be no reason to
doubt the validity of the reasons
prompting his resignation.
We are happy to announce,
however, the substitution of an
equally able editor in charge of
this department in the person of
Miss Edna K. Saloomey. To
hear each laud the qualifications
of the other when the two met
in the office of the Syrian World,
one would have difficulty in
choosing between them. What
we consider the more weighty
argument is the one advanced by
the retiring editor in favor of his
successor. Miss Saloom'ey, he
pointed out, is the more logical
person to conduct the department because she is American
born and retains nevertheless all
those finer racial qualities that
are characteristically Syrian.
With a deep understanding of
and appreciation for our wholesome traditions, combined with
her natural sympathy for her
generation and her keen insight
into their problems, her personal advantages as well as her
greater possibilities for service in
the department become obvious.
We can appreciate the reasons
which have caused some irregularity in the Home and Family
Department. We are glad, how-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ever, to communicate to our
readers the promise of the editor,
Sitt Bahia-Al-Musheer, to be not
only punctual in future, but even
more generous with her excellent
material.
Rev. W. A. Mansur lives up
to his reputation of mentor of
the Syrian-American youth. In
his article published in this issue,
the first he has contributed for
our current year, he brings out
the high lights of Phoenician history which he points out as a
rich heritage of which our younger generation should feel proud
and which it behooves them to
remember. Neither the learned
divine writes, nor do we publish,
such material in a spirit of boastfulness. It is authentic history
that has a direct bearing on our
racial status, and of which we
should be reminded for the very
excellent raesons given by the
author.
The poet in Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin will not be downed. His
inspiration this time is the popular Arabic song which corresponds to the English "Home,
Sweet Home." In rendering it
into English verse, Dr. Alkazin
has succeeded not only in making
almost a verbatim translation, but
has also preserved the exact
rhythm of the original so that
the English version may be sung
to the tune of the Arabic with
the same melodious effect.
n
�MB
FEBRUARY, 1932
ELECTIONS IN SYRIA
LEAD TO BLOODSHED
The general elections which High
Commissioner Ponsot ordered held in
Syria following his return from Europe with a view to the establishment
of a stable government able to enter
into negotiations with France for the
definite stttlement of the Syrian question, and which resulted in bitter and
bloody struggles between the National;sts and the Moderates, were postponed in Damascus and other Syrian
cities pending the return of order.
According to reports in the latest
Syrian mail, the resumption of the
elections was tentatively set for the
early part of March, but so far the
French H-'gh Commissioner has not
committed himself to any definite date.
The troublesome question is whether
the Nationalists will concede the legality of the returns if the elections
are conducted by the present government, inasmuch as they claim that
undue influence is being exercised by
the authorities to support the government t;cket. Apparently reliable reports from Damascus indicate that
the Nationalists have finally decided
to take part in the elections because
the three principal cities where the
elections have been deferred, namely
Damascus, Hama and Duma, are their
conceded strongholds.
That the Nationalists have reached
such a decision is an indication that
they have conceded defeat in the elections, as the general results cannot be
materially altered by the returns of
the three remaining cities. But on
49
what conditions they have agreed to
participate remains unknown.
Disturbances cont;nue to be reported in various parts of the country
as a result of the elections, especially
in Aleppo. Demonstrations of a violent nature are reported to have taken
place in the latter city resulting in a
score of casualties. The Nationalists
are said to have reciuited school
children of tender age to stage antigovernment demonstrations.
Because political demonstrations
often are organized after religious
services in the mosques, where agitators take advantage of unrestricted
right of congregation and speach to
arouse the crowds, police have taken
unusual precautions to deal with this
kind of disturbances. Some police
units have been fitted out with helmets and breast-plates to ward off
missiles such as clubs and stones, but
to further enchance their effectiveness, they have been supplied with
overshoes which they are required to
carry as a part of their regular equipment. To those unacquainted with
the traditions of the East this action
may seem puzzling, but the purpose
becomes obvious when it is recalled
that Moslems, upon entering the
mosques, are required to shed off
their shoes, and in the case of visiting strangers, they are required to do
likewise or to don overshoes. Naturally it is quicker and more convenient for the police to sl;p on their
overshoes when forcing entry into the
courts of the mosques to quell disturbances. Hence the regulation of
carrying this apparently indispens-
�1 <
50
THE SYRIAN WORLD
able adjunct to the maintenance of
peace and order in the East.
Conditions in Aleppo have taken
such a serious turn that French military authorities have had to take over
the handling of the s4tuation. A state
akin to martial law now exists in the
city with military detachments patrolling the streets and tanks and machine
guns stationed at strategic positions.
The commercial activities in the cityare at almost a standstill and men of
all classes are said not to dare to venture out except armed.
Each of the so-called moderate and
extreme Nationalists have protested
to the authorities against the alleged
provocative actions of the other, and
what was expected to be the free
expression cf the will of the people
at the polls threatens to develop into
bloody partisan feuds.
A regrettable incident which threatens to cause international complications was the murder of a Franciscan
monk of Italian nationality, who was
set upon unawares and felled by a
dagger thrust in the back. The Italian consul immediately lodged a protest with the mandatory authorities.
POLITICAL FUTURE
M. Lavastre, accredited representative of M. Ponsot in Aleppo, is reported to have declared in a speech he
made to a political assemblage in
that city that France entertains only
the friendliest feelings for Syria;
that it proposes to have it enjoy much
more than the degree of national independence granted to Iraq, and that
only the stubborn obduracy of the intransigent Nationalists for the past
ten years has stood in the way of
France carrying out sooner its benevolent intentions. As proof of France's
sincere intentions he cited the fact
that she had actually effected the
liberation of many nations, including
Poland. He expressed the belief that
the time for the execution of France's
plans in Syria cannot now be far distant since the moderate' Nationalists,
who were victors in the elections, have
displayed a better understanding of
the only policy which will redound to
Syria's interest and be compatible at
the same time with that of France.
COMING PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS IN LEBANON
Cond;tions in Lebanon seem to be
dragging along in the same manner
existing ever since the establ-'shment
of the republic. During the past six
years the people have come to realize
the benefits of the republican form of
government and to rest on it the:r
pclitical future. About the only serious reason for complaint has been
the excessive taxation necessary to
support a top-heavy administrative
structure wh'ch seems out of keeping
with the size and the resources of the
country. For a country of less than
a million population there is a Representative Assembly composed of fortysix members, a full-sized cabinet patterned on the order of those of the
great powers, a nr'litary organization
and an army of employees most of
whom are admittedly sinecures. The
pressing problem of Lebanon at present would seem to effect the administrative reforms necessary to bring
about the sorely needed economy. This
issue is figuring prominently in the
platforms of the fispirants to the
Presidency, with all indications pointing to the success of M. Enrle Eddy,
a former Premier Who had devised
such a program and was defeated by a
coalition of deputies who had much
to lose by the success of his policies.
It must be remembered that the Lebanese constitution follows closely that
of France in that the Chamber elects
the President. This circumstance, in
�FEBRUARY, 1932
51
the case of Lebanon, would give the
official summer residence.
mandatory authorities the decid-ng
During the stress and uncertainties
voice in the choice of the President
of
the World War, however, the late
inasmuch as half the deputies are
Patriarch
Howayek was forcibly reappointed by the mandatory power
moved
from
his official residence by
and it may be taken for granted that
Jamal
Pasha,
then Turkish military
those deputies follow instructions.
governor
of
Syria,
and was about to
The elections will be held about
be
sent
to
exile
but
for the timely
May 20 at the close of the second
intervention
of
the
Pope
and the
term of President Chas. Dabbas. The
Austrian Emperor.
constitution has been amended so that
At the close of the war Patriarch
m future the President's term will be
Howayek
deliberately broke the tradisix instead of three years.
tion of confinement and seclusion by
going in person to attend the VerPATRIARCH VISITS BEIRUT
sailles negotiations for peace land
there plead for Lebanon's secession
The newly elected Maronite Patfrom Turkey and its placing under
riarch followed the precedent esta- French mandate.
blished by his predecessor in making
When, later, upon the appointment
personally an official visit to the
of
Gen. Gouraud first French High
French High Commissioner at the capital. The visit was made on Feb. 11 Commissioner for Syria and Lebanon,
and was attended by a great popular Patrarch Howayek considered the dedemonstration. While in the city, velopment a triumph of his political
the Patr-arch also returned the visits program, he further broke the tradiof the Christian Patriarchs and digni- tion by proceeding to Beirut to extaries Who had personally offered him tend in person his felicitations to the
their felicitations upon his accession High Commissioner. Thus he established for Irmself a precedent
to the Patriarchate.
whien he consistently followed upon
Although in the strictest sense the
the appointment of each succeeding
visit of the Pariarch is a denominaHigh Commissioner.
tional gesture, much political signiAn incident worthy of note in this
ficance is attached to it in view of
respect was the attitude of Gen. Sarthe fact that the Maronites are the
rail, who was a professed anti-cleric.
largest single religious unit in LeThe Patriarch visited Irm as he had
banon and have been the traditional
vis-ted the others, but the General was
friends of France in the East and
reluctant in returning the visit, and
those most responsible for France's
did so only after heavy pressure from
presence in the country. The move
Par^s. His reception by the Patriarch
assumes further importance in that it
on that occasion was as frigid as that
constitutes a definite break in a tradihe had given him upon his visit. Only
tion long held inviolable for Maronite
the tact of de Jouvenel, Sarrail's sucPatriarchs.
The Patriarch occupies
cessor, prevented a complete break.
m his own sphere a position similar
Upon the death of the late Patrito that of the Pope of Rome, and at
arch Howayek, the question arose as
no time was it known that any into whether the old tradition should be
cumbent of the high office has ever
maintained or the precedent establishleft the confines of his see except to
ed by the late Patriarch followed. The
make the annual journey from BekerFrench High Commissioner had come
ky to Al-Diman, the latter being the
in person to extend his felicitations to
�HP
THE SYRIAN WORLD
52
the new Patriarch, and the country
was all set aguessing as to whether
the Patriarch would return the visit
in person. There was a division of
opinion, according to reports, among
the college of bishops on the question, but the Patriarch finally decided
in favor of the course set by his predecessor. The great popular reception he received in Beirut gave proof
of the popularity of his move.
trip he had taken to Palestine by
special invitation. Openly, no political object is admitted for the visit,
but the extraordinary interest displayed by both the British and French
mandatory authorities in receiving the
Egyptian Prime Minister with state
honors is being generally interpreted
as indicating the existence of a deep
political purpose.
EDITOR OF AL-HODA
ON POLITICAL MISSION
SYRIAN NATIONALISTS
PUNISH FAIZ KOURI
N. A. Mokarzel, editor of Al-Hoda,
the Arabic daily of New York and
founder of the Lebanon League of
Progress, was to sail for Paris sometime in March supposedly on a political mission, the exact nature of
Which was not disclosed. Our readers
will recall that Mr. Mokarzel has been
most active in Lebanese politics, and
through the political organization
which he founded was responsible for
many noteworthy reforms in the home
government. It is conjectured that
his present mission must have some
bearing on the coming presidential
elections. It can be positively stated,
however, that the veteran editor has
no personal ambitions inasmuch as he
has repeatedly and publicly rejected
the proposals put forth by his many
admirers respecting his candidacy for
the presidency.
Reports from Damascus coming
with the late mail indicate the continuance of the bitterness resulting
from the national elections. Subhi
Bey Barakat, leader of the victorious
Moderates and their candidate for the
presidency, arrived in Damascus on
a political mission and there met Faiz
Bey Kouri, formerly an outspoken
Nationalist, and brother of the wellknown leader Faris Bey Kouri, who
was at one time suggested for president of the Syrian State. The action
of Faiz aroused the Nationalists to a
high pitch of indignation and it was
decided at a party caucus to strike
his name from the ballots in the supplemental elections. Faris Bey Kouri
is said to have taken part in the meeting at which his brother Faiz was impeached and banished from the party.
SUDKY PASHA IN SYRIA
Sudky Pasha, the Prime Minister of
Egypt, arrived in Beirut Feb. 11 and
was ofncially received by the French
High Commissioner, who gave a state
dinner in his honor, and by the Lebanese government. His visit to Syria
and Lebanon was an extension of a
Subhi Bey Barakat is a former
governor of Syria and the one Charged by the Nationalists with having
advised the French to bombard Damascus during the 1925 rebellion. The
Nationalists are said to be bitterly opposed to his candidacy, and failing
the election of their leader Hashim
Bey Al-Atasi, they are said to be
willing to throw the weight of their
support to Ahmad Nami Pasha the
Damad, another Moderate.
IWWWWB—MMBlimHIMWirilBW"T
�. FEBRUARY, 1932
SB
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
NEWS SECTION
VOL. VI NO. 6
GIBRAN NOW RESTS
IN PERMANENT TOMB
Remains Removed with Great Ceremony to the Monastery of Mar
Sarkis Which Will Serve as
Permanent Shrine.
Gibran's remains repose at last in
the ideal spot which he had long
hoped to make his home. To many
of his friends he had expressed the
wish to return to his native land and
there acquire ownership of the monastery of Mar Sarkis, located below
the famous Cedars and overlooking
the Sacred Valley of Kadisha, a spot
which even in his early boyhood he
had come to admire and love, and
where he had hoped to spend the closing days of his life.
That wish has been gratified only
to the extent that the monastery of
Mar Sarkis now serves as Gibran's
permanent home, only it was not given him to again see the beauty of the
place with his mortal eyes.
Gibran's remains had reposed temporarily in the church of St. John, in
his native town of Becharre, pending
arrangements for the acquisition of
the monastery. Issaf George Rahme,
Gibran's cousin and devoted companion, who had accompanied the body
from the United States, finally bought
the monastery from the Maronite Carmelite Missionary Order and converted
I
FEBRUARY, 1932
it into a shrine for the great poet.
The tomb, as described in the Lebanese
papers, is a natural grotto opening
on the chapel, the interior of which
was permitted to remain in its natural state, with exquisitely shaped stalactites pending from the domed roof,
reflecting a myriad of dancing colors'
from the bright electric lights. A view
of the interior is permitted through
a large plate glass encased in a frame
of cedar and olive wood, revealing
Gibran's coffin resting on two Corinthian pillars. Atop the chapel, overlooking Becharre and the Sacred Valley, the large cross bears the following inscription:
"Here Repose the Remains of the"
"Prophet Gibran Resting Under the"
"Wings of the Angel of Peace."
The removal of Gibran's remains
took place on Sunday, January 10.
with almost as much ceremony as that
attending the reception of the body
upon its arrival from America. Seven
thousand mourners marched in the
procession, and again there were the
poetical improvisations in the vernacular as well as recitations of original
literary poems and speeches. Both
the government and the clergy were
well represented.
GIBRAN'S SPIRIT
Writing apparently with the utmost
conviction, Emil Zaidan, editor of AlHilal, one of the oldest and most re-
�f
54
spected monthly magazines of Egypt,
claims to have had communicat;on
with Gibran's spirit during a spiritualistic seance he attended this summer while visiting Syria. The editor
admits that he had been indifferent
to the claims of the spiritualists until he was induced by one of his
friends to attend one of their meetings
from which he emerged fully convinced of ail their claims. The spirit of
his father, the famous Arabic scholar
and historian, spoke to him and gave
him much practical advice concerning
the policy of the paper. He was also
able to communicate with the spirit
of Gibran who dictated a message
which the editor published as being
in Gibran's accepted style, but which
literary critics take as a poor imitation. Gibran is said to be happy, in
the "higher spheres", but he wants
his sister Mariana to put a check to
her grief. Gibran also mentioned the
celebrated Syrian writer who uses the
pen name of "May" with whom he
had been in correspondence but whom
he had never met. "May" is a resident of Egypt and at the time of
Gibran's death published a personal
letter which he had written to her.
Hence the natural association between
Gibran's spirit and this lady.
Strange as it may seem, Gibran
has forgotten all his friends of a lifet;me in America. Mrs. Mary Haskel
Minas to whom he willed all Irs art
works he did not choose to mention
(obviously because the medium did not
know of his relationship with her),
nor did the sensitive and generous
spirit of Gibran remember Barbara
Young, his most loyal and devoted
friend, and the host of other friends
he had come to know and love during
the long years, comprising all his
adult life, he had spent in America.
Gibran also referred to the reception
given his body upon its arrival in
Syria, but not a word did his grate-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ful spirit mention of the memorial
meetings, the church services and the
many other signs of affection shown
him in America.
Truly, for such a respected organ
as Al-Hilal, founded by the practical
and discriminating scholar George Zaidan, to have espoused the cause of
spiritualism and attempted to prove
it in such fash;on, is a sign of decadence from its former high scholarly
standard.
SYRIAN JUNIOR LEAGUE
PRESENTS FINE PLAY
No one who attended "The First
Year", presented by the Syrian Junior
League at the Booth Theatre in New
York Feb. 21, had cause to regret the
time or the money spent on the occasion. The cause was for charity, it's
true, and all those contributing to
the program or investing in tickets
would feel amply repa;d considering the purpose alone. But there was
a good deal more than this spiritual
compensation: the play itself was well
worth seeing and the actors acquitted
themselves like veteran professionals.
To some visiting Syrians who were
not aware that all the actors in the
play were Syrian amateurs, members
of the League and their friends, it
was almost inconceivable that the
young men and women who displayed
such talent were not actually Broadway old timers.
Madeleine Malouf, Nedda Uniss and
John S. Macksoud did full justice to
their roles, although the other actors
acquitted themselves most creditably.
The cast, besides these mentioned,
was composed of Fred Shamas, Adele
F. Macksoud, Victor Hamati, Fred
Zrike, Alfred Zrike and Lyla J. Mabarak.
The attendance was not up to expectations, which is through no fault
of the organization giving the play.
N
i
a
c:
�FEBRUARY, 1932
We venture to predict, however, that
if the League were to make a second
presentation of the same play, the attendance would be more than doubled
in view of the general approval expressed by those who witnessed the
first performance.
Miss Selma Milkie, president of the
Syrian League, made a short appearance before opening of the play to
outline the purpose for which it was
being given and to welcome those supporting the cause.
The League, in its elaborate program, made special acknowledgment
for helpful advice and assistance to
the following: Mr. Nicholas Macsoud,
the artist; Miss Gertrude Wainwright,
the dramatic director of the play;
and Messers. Elias Aboarab, Suhail
Hermos, Basil Couri and George Mabarak for assistance given the program committee.
The Dramatic Committee was composed of Mrs. George Saliba, chairman, and the Misses Lou'se Dibbs,
Mary Mokarzel, Louise Mussawir and
Selma Uniss.
The Program Committee was composed of Miss Madeleine Zaloom,
chairman, and the Misses Alice Diab,
Lyla Mabarak, Najla Macksoud, Mary
L. Milkie, Mary Trabulsi and Selma
Uniss.
LEAGUE OF PROGRESS
HOLDS CHARITY BAZAAR
The Lebanon League of Progress of
New York held its charity bazaar at
the Knights of Columbus Hall on
Clinton St., Brooklyn during the three
days of Feb. 27, 28, and 29. The admission was $1.00 for the three nights
and the varied program of entertainment provided for each night was enthus;astically received by the large
attendance.
The bazaar was especially sponsored by Al-Hoda, whose editor, N. A.
55
Mokarzel, is the founder and the president emeritus of the Lebanon
League. The proceeds of the bazaar,
according to announcement, will be
distributed to the Syrian and Lebanese
needy of the city through the agency
of the various churches irrespective
of denominations.
__
SYRIAN FEDERATION TO
GIVE CHARITY BALL
The American Syrian Federation
of Brooklyn will give a Charity Ball
and Entertainment at the Grand Ballroom of the Elks Club in Brooklyn on
the evening of April 16. The affair
promises to be the most brilliant Syrian social affair of the season. The
proceeds will be devoted to charity.
The Federation carried out th;s
Year its annual practice of distributing Christmas baskets although primarily it is not a charitable organization. Realizing, however, the extent
of distress prevalent this year, it has
decided to extend its char;table activities and is planning the entertainment and ball. The pcsit-on of leadership Which the Federation occupies
in the community insures full success
for any of its undertakings.
The chairman of the committee on
arrangements is Mr. Jos. W. Ferris,
the well known Syrian lawyer and a
former president of the Federation.
A souvenir program is planned for the
occasion and should be well patronized.
Earlier this month, the Federation'
gave a special entertainment at its
clubrooms for the members and their
families, and in honor of the retiring
president, Mr. S. J. Akel, who took
occasion to remind the gathering in
his brief remarks that the Federation
building has actually become the civic
center of the Syrian community in
the city. President George Dagher
was master of ceremonies.
�ill
56
THE SYRIAN WORLD
MME. FADWA KURBAN
MAKES FORMAL DEBUT
SYRIAN COLORATURA
By Alice Mokarzel
Fadwa Kurban, "The Syrian Nightingale" and coloratura soprano of merit,
gave a New York recital in the Roerich Hall of the Roerich Museum on
Saturday evening, February 27.
Miss Sumeyeh Attiyeh, the wellknown Syrian lecturer, formally introduced Mme. Kurban.
The program consisted mainly of
difficult and technical numbers that
were performed with beautiful and
exacting skill.
The famous Mad
Scene from Lucia de Lammermcor, a
favorite of Mussolini and of operalovers, gave Mme. Kurban an opportunity to prove the exceptional
quality of her voice. The other numbers were exceedingly pleasing because of their variety and served to
demonstrate the versatility and range
of Mme. Kurban's vocal powers. Some
had the del:cate and appealing accompaniment of the flute. Included among the numbers were Liebestraum
by Lizt, the Japanese Love Song by
Brahe and The Bell Song from Lakme.
Mr. Alexander Maloof, who was in
the audience, was asked to accompany
Mme. Kurban in two Arabic songs
which were requested after the recital.
In these numbers, sung in her own arrangement, she is very much at ease
especially in the melancholy and languid strains of Wailee Min al Ghoramy.
This recital served to introduce
Mme. Kurban formally to the American public as well as to give her
many friends further opportunity to
hear her. It was indeed an appreciative audience that applauded her efforts, requesting encore after encore
which she rendered graciously, convincing them that' she is justified in
seeking an operatic career.
Mme. Fadwa Kurban
ALEFPIAN FRATERNITY
GIVING ENTERTAINMENT
The Aleppian Fraternity of New
York will give an entertainment at
the Knights of Columbus Hall on the
evening of Sunday, April 10, for the
benefit of Al-Kalimat charities in
Aleppo which extend from maintaining an orphanage and a home for the
aged to the distribution of food and
clothing to the needy of the city without discrimination as to religious denominations. The program is expected to be exceptionally entertanrng as
has been that of all other affairs arranged by this society, which has
command of a large variety of native
talent.
i
<i
�FEBRUARY, 1932
SYRIAN BOY MAKES
MUSICAL DEBUT
Although less than three years ago
he could not distinguish one musical
note from another, Sam Kiami, a Syrian boy of sixteen whose talent was
discovered and trained by Prof. Alexander Maloof, gave a recital on Sunday, March 20, at the Maloof Studio
in Carnegie Hall, which thrilled the
large audience of critics and lovers of
classical music.
Young Kiami played selections from
well known composers like Chopin,
Dilibes and others. H;s teacher feels
certain that the boy has all the qualities necessary to become a concert
virtuoso.
At the concert Mme. Fadwa Kurban sang several operatic selections.
Mme. Adele McCormick, a Syrian by
birth and a noted singer, also rendered
several pleasing numbers.
The three-score or more who were
present at the concert, mostly Syrians, were agreed that the formation
of a Syrian musical club would be
well received by the community to
foster the love of good music and
hold regular private concerts fortnightly and one or two public concerts once or twice a year.
SYRIANS OF BOSTON
CELEBRATE BICENTENNIAL
From a Correspondent
The Syrian-American Club of Boston celebrated George Washington's
bicentennial anniversary, on Sunday
Feb. 28, in the Hall of the Municipal
Building, at the corner of Shawmut
Avenue and West Brookline Street.
Over twelve hundred were present.
Mr. Louis A. George, prominent
Syrian attorney of Boston, was the
master of ceremonies. The invited
guests were, Governor Joseph B. Ely
of Massachusetts, Honorable U. S.
57
Senator David I. Walsh, Mayor James
M. Curley of Boston, Mayor Michael
C. O'Nieil, Jr. of Everett, and ex- congressman, Joseph Conry. The following Syrian organizations were represented by two official delegates:
The Syrian-American Club of Worcester, The Syrian-American Association
of Lawrence, The Syrian Young Men's
Association of Pittsfield, The Mount
Lebanon Society of Fall River, The
Syrian-American Society of Brockton,
The Sons of Lebanon of Quincy, and
The Syrian-American Society of New
London, Connecticut.
Senator Walsh was the principal
speaker of the afternoon. He emphasized the fact that liberty, equality,
and justice is what Washington fought
for, and a government which does not
permit these is not a good government
but a tyranny. The meet;ng was opened by the president T. N. Maloof. A
short talk on Washington's life was
given in Arabic by Mr. Faris Maloof,
prominent Boston attorney.
The musical program was lead by
our well known singer Madhat Serbajy, ass-'sted by Miss Josephine Latturny of Boston. An orchestra of
local Syrian talent furnished the music to an appreciative audience. A
very attractive feature was the appearance on the platform of Bessie
P. Edwards Post American Legion
Drum and Bugle Corp, dressed in
beautiful uniforms. This is a ladies
unit.
One special instance deserves particular mention. In introducing the
Senator, Mr. George suggested that
he was well qualified to be the president of the United States. This remark created quite a stir in the local
press which featured it under this caption "The Syrian-American Club nominates Walsh for President". Unquestionably, this was one of the most
outstanding events in recent years
among the Syrians of Boston.
�JC
58
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Gibran's Message
To Young Americans of Syrian Origin
By G. K.
GIBRAN
Author of I'-The Trophel,"
"Jesut the Son of d4an,"
I believe in you. and I believe in your destiny.
1 believe that you are contributors to this new civilization.
1 believe that you have inherited from your forefathers an ancient dream, a song, a prophecy, which you can proudly lay as a gift of gratitude upon the lap of America.
I believe you can say to the founders of this great nation. 'Here I am. a youth, a young
tree, whose roots were plucked from the hills of Lebanon, yet I am deeply rooted here, and I would
be fruitful."
And 1 believe that you can say to Abraham Lincoln, the blessed. "Jesus of Nazareth
touched your lips when you spoke, and guided your hand when you wrote: and I shall uphold
ail that you have said and all that you nave written."
I believe that you can say to Emerson and Whitman and James. "In my veins runs the
blood of the poets and wise men of old. and it is my desire to come to you and receive, but I shall
not come with empty hands."
I believe that even as your fathers came to this land to produce riches, you were born
here to produce riches by intelligence, by labor.
And 1 believe that it is in you to be good citizens.
And what is it to be a good citizen?
It is to acknowledge the other person's rights before asserting your own. but always to be
conscious of your own.
It is to be free in thought and deed, but it is also to know that your freedom is subject
to the other person's freedom.
It is to create the useful and the beautiful with your own hands, and to admire what others
have created in love and with faith.
It is to produce wealth by labor and only by labor, and to spend less than you have produced that yonr children may not be dependent on the state for support when you are no more.
It is to stand before the towers of New York, Washington. Chicago and San Francisco
saying in your heart, "I am the descendant of a people that builded Damascus, and Biblus. and
Tyre and Sidon. and Antioch. and now I am here to build with you, and with a will."
It is to be proud of being an American, bur it is also to be proud that your fathers and
mothers came from a land upon which God laid His gracious hand and raised His messengers.
Young Americans of Syrian origin. I believe in you.
vmmnmtmmmmmmmmms^mimmmsmmmmvmimimmmmmm^^m^m^^^mm
FREE TO SYRIAN WORLD SUBSCRIBERS. This beautiful message by
Gibran 13x17 inches, printed in large type on heavy paper with ornamental border suitable for framing. Every PAID subscriber whose term begins
with Sept. 1931 is entitled to a copy, mailed in heavy cardboard tube. Subscribers whose term begins before Sept. 1931 may secure a copy by renewal.
jmm
'4
�FEBRUARY, 1932
59
A STUDY
of
KAHLIL GIBRAN
THIS MAN FROM LEBANON
Barbara Young, the American poet who is now Kahlil Gibran's literary executor, speaks with authority in a 48 page
brochure concerning his life and work, illustrated with
several hitherto unpublished protraits of the Poet of the
Cedars, and a reproduction of one pen and ink drawing and
one page of original manuscript.
A few copies of the limited first edition, serially numbered and autographed by the author, are still available.
The price for this edition is $2.50.
Owing to the wide interest in the brochure, a second
printing will be necessary. These will not be numbered nor
autographed, and will be procurable at $1.50 the copy.
Checks may be made payable to the Gibran Studio 51
West 10th Street, New York City.
WorldC°PieS
arC
aiS
°
f r Sak at the
°
°ffice °f
the S rian
^
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
60
KlS0Sei^KaS®S^^!!SKSSSS^i§
AUTHENTIC
ORIENTAL RUGS
THE A. SLEYMAN COMPANY. INC.
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NEW YORK CITY
i
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The new and beautiful uptown Syrian restaurant owned and operated
by a master chef, who summons his long experience to the
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IT IS YOURS
is the only Syrian publication printed
in English, and as such is the organ of the Syrians in America.
You can help it continue and grow by subscribing to it yourself
and inducing others to subscribe.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
PUBLISHER, THE SYRIAN WORLD:
104 Greenwich Street, New York.
You may enter my name as a subscriber to "The Syrian World" for the term of one year, for which I agree to
fay the regular rate of $5.00 ufon receift of the first issue.
Address
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Telephone—MAIN 1398-1399-8130-3655
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The Arabic
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in Beirut
T^OIXOWING
the World War the
*- American Press of Beirut de->
cided to refit its plant with modern equipment. The Arabic
Linotype was the first and principal item in its consideration.
And now for over ten years the Arabic Linotype has been in
practical and profitable operation in the plant of the American Press in Beirut in a variety of uses. It is utilized to set
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languages using the Latin characters. Ornamental borders,
plain borders, rules and other material indispensable to
every printing plant are also cast on the machine.
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Brooklyn, New York, U. S. A.
Cable: LINOTYPE, NEW YORK
Representatives in the Principal Cities of the World
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An illustrated descriptive
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Representatives in the Principal Cities of the World
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
64
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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
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.
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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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TSW1932_02reducedWM
Title
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The Syrian World Volume 06, Issue 06
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1932 February
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 6 Issue 06 of The Syrian World published February 1932. The issue opens with an article by Rev. W. A. Mansur that discusses the racial pride Syrian and Lebanese people should have as a result of the historical accomplishments of their ancestors. Following it is a somber poem by Alice Mokarzel titled "She is Not Dead," which discusses how even though the subject of the poem has passed she lives on in spirit. This is followed by a Syrian folk song translated by Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin as well as another collection of poems edited by Barbara Young. Edna K. Saloomey opens her discussion on the younger generation with Tennyson's poetic words. H. I. Katibah then discusses how a breach in social tradition caused a recent tragedy of love and death in his article titled "Blue Blood." Within its pages he recounts the murder of a man who married outside of his social class. Dr. Harold Ingholt then discusses excavations in Syria and Iraq, which have materially added to knowledge of past civilizations and their origins and progress. After two classic Arab stories there is a poem by the late Kahlil Gibran titled "Freedom and Slavery." Following the editorial comment on the tardiness of the February issue, it concludes with more on the political developments of Syria and excerpts from Syrian world news.
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 Mokarzel
Barbara Young
Edna K. Saloomey
Habib I. Katibah
Kahlil Gibran
New York
Poetry-English
Reverend W.A. Mansur
Salim Alkazin
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/84831ff1efb2b40ef0033e1fda69eb78.pdf
9a2f9b9ac3a28dbda13d563e1cb26512
PDF Text
Text
OL. VI
APRIL, 1932
7ha
A GREAT SYRIAN LEADER PASSES
(N. A. MOKx\RZEL)
GIBRAN A YEAR AFTER
A CHALLENGE TO THE YOUNGER
GENERATION SYRIANS
H. I. KATIBAH
AMERICAN POET TO LIVE IN SYRIA
THE PORTRAIT
(A MODERN SHORT STORY)
THOMAS ASA
THE REWARD OF KINDNESS
(A TRUE ARABIAN TALE)
THE COPY 50c
NO. 7
��—,
i I
i
TTTR
SYRIAN WORLD
Tublished 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. VI NO. 7
APRIL, 1932
CONTENTS
PAGE
A Challenge to the Younger Generation Syrians
H. I. KATIBAH
Poetry Department, Edited by
... 3
BARBARA YOUNG
Poetry and the Stars
Song of Annaik
While the FJax Crieth
9
\Q
12
JOHN STERLING HANEY
A Lost Dream
13
ALEXANDRIA FADDOOL
A Great Syrian Leader Passes
14
A' Notable Career of Achievement
18
Tributes to a Leader
22
Pioneer and Seer
24
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
Eternal Guidance (Poem)
ALICE MOKARZEL
?5
�CONTENTS (Continued)
i
Gibran a Year After
.
PAGE
26
On First Viewing Gibran's "The Prophet" (Poem)
GERTRUDE
33
MAGILL RUSKIN
Gibran the Artist
34
DAGNY EDWARDS
American Poet to Live in Lebanon
37
ALICE MOKARZEL
True Arabian Tales
The Reward of Kindness
Our Younger Generation, Edited by
According to Dun
We Have Been Told That
Al-Jirn
42
EDNA
The Portrait (A Modern Short Story)
K.
SALOOMEY
49
'.'...........'.............. 52
[_ S3
*
55
THOMAS ASA
Editorial Comment
N. A. Mokarzel
No March Issue
67
Political Developments in Syria
59
Syrian World News Section
73
68
NOTICE
Owing to insurmountable difficulties it was impossible
to issue the March number. The increase in the volume
of this number is intended as partial compensation. Fuller details appear in the Editorial Comments.
�ffi-
ynan
t/
MOKARZEL, Editor.
SALLOUM A.. Ml
APRIL, 1932
VOL. VI NO. 7
A Challenge
To the Younger Generation Syrians
By H. I.
KATIBAH
QINCE THE CLOSE of the World War a revival of interest in
the civilizations and cultures of the East has made its appearance among reflecting and intelligent men and women in Europe,
England and the United States. And this interest has waxed and
grown ever since. People of sensitive minds and keen perception,
whose souls rebel against the tyranny of iron-clad traditions and the
accepted authority of convention and mass orthodoxy, turned their
faces away with deep humiliation and dismay from the appalling
tragedy with its gargantuan holocaust of human lives and irreparable loss in untold millions of dollars. They turned away sadly to
examine more searchingly and thoroughly the grounds and premises on which such a civilization which would permit of such a
terrific breakdown and denouement is based.
How could these
things be in the Twentieth Century and in countries which profess
to follow the benign, peace-loving gospel of the gentle Nazarene?
Has Western civilization declared its bankruptcy to the whole
world? Has the "White Beast" in the descendants of the Vikings
and warriors of the Norsemen triumphed at last over the White
Christ? Has Western civilization proved itself to be what Sigmund
Freud bluntly declares to be a veneer to cover the deep-set animal
instincts lurking in the breast and heart of the city denizens? or is
there something essentially wanting in what we call Western Civi-
v.
�4
THE SYRIAN WORLD
lization; an element of human development that makes for stabil- \
ity, harmony and peace?
Or, to put the question in a different form, has the West had
time enough to grow and acquire a stock of human experiences that
will give it that perspective of wisdom and grace necessary for a
rounded existence? Has not its progress been lopsided and disproportionate, like that of an overgrown boy with a man's body and
a child's mentality?
These questions and many others of like nature have engrossed
the minds of hundreds of thinkers who have shown solicitous concern about the future of Western civilization. And many divergent
answers have been given.
Some of those answers, like that of Oswald Spengler, an ast
German philosopher and student of history, have been extreme
gloomy and pessimistic. Spengler, and many of his followers, ha
come to the discouraging conclusion that our Western civilizatic
has run its course, has nothing more of its cultural and spiritual n.
ture to give anymore to the world, and for any hope of a new creative culture one should turn to the East, which the German believes is making a new cycle of existence fraught with immense potentialities in the spiritual and cultural fields. The West is bankrupt, Spengler believes, and turns eastward with a dismay tempered
with hope and expectation. Others, less pessimistic, find in the West
all the elements necessary for a wholesome, well-balanced civilization, if only the right adjustment is made in time between its materialistic and idealistic forces. Science, thinkers like James Turslaw
Adams, Prof. John Dewey, Bertrand Russell and the late George
Dorsey believe, has grown way beyond our human needs, while life
itself has been neglected. There has been little attention paid to
the proper application of these sciences and the wonderful progress
in the material and economic worlds which it has evoked and made
possible to a betterment of human life and the elevation of social
conditions to the same level which science has attained.
Be that as it may, it is pertinent to our purpose to point out
here that a strong and acute interest in the East and things Eastern
has been stirred in intellectual centers of the West. And the East,
with its more mature view of life, with its instinctive emphasis on
those human values which make for happiness and contentment,
with its renewed vigor and forward-looking progressive outlook on
the future, with its determined efforts to create local cultures preserving all the good elements of progress which have carried the
�I
^fPRIL, 1932
5
West a long distance ahead of the East in material comfort and supremacy, is more and more in the minds of serious Western thinkers
and writers of our present generation. Back of that interest, we
think, is the feeling that East and West have mutually supplementary forces and elements necessary for a complete and wholesome
lire, be it social or individual.
If that is the case, and there is no doubt in our mind that it is,
then a special duty, a special moral obligation, we believe, rests on
the_ shoulders of a class of people who live amongst us in these
United States, a class of people for whom this magazine, out of all
the publications in this far-flung young continent, was specially designed, and whose particular interests it specially serves. If this
duty, this obligation, is shirked by them, then a great spiritual opportunity would have been missed by them, an opportunity which
others, perhaps less qualified, would take up and exploit. More
than that, a great chance for creative thinking and for contributing
something worthwhile to the heterogeneous and rich culture of
this country, will pass from their hands. And of them will be true
what the Gospel says of the "sons of the Kingdom of Heaven" who
were thrown out into the outward darkness, while others from the
Hast and West will come and lie in Abraham's bosom.
It is needless for me to say that I have in mind the younger
generation of Syrians born and brought up in this country. I have
in mind the second-generation Syrians of whom the late Gibran
said:
_ aI believe that you have inherited from your forefathers an
ancient dream, a song, a prophecy, which you can proudly lay as a
gift of gratitude upon the lap of America"
It is the new generation of Syrians in whose veins the blood of
the intrepid adventurous Phoenicians and proud Arabs courses
through, and whom the beloved poet of the Cedars earnestly and
pleadingly charged «/0 stand before the towers of New York
Washington, Chicago, and San Francisco saying in your heart <I
am the descendant of a people that builded Damascus, and Biblus,
and Tyre and Sidon and Antioch, and now I am here to build with
you, and with a will.' "
The once accepted view of Americanization, still prevailing in
some circles, which essayed to melt the different racial characteristics and differences into one homogeneous amalgam, and for which
the melting pot" was an appropriate symbol, is giving way to a
more natural, more vital conception, one truer to life and its laws of
i
.' <
�wmmm
0
THE SYRIAN WORLD
growth. According to this latter conception the racial differences
are not considered as undesirable elements to be eliminated, but as
desirable ones to be incorporated in the living body of the American
nation. The colorless, standardized unity gives place to a rich
variety in unity. True assimilation of the foreign groups within
the body politic of this country, which this writer has consistently
and persistently advocated, does not mean the absorption of one
racial element by another. It means, rather, the interaction of those
different elements, to produce therefrom a wholesome unity rich in
the contributions of the best and most beautiful in all the races that
threw their lot with the New World.
1
"
;
'
Hegel once predicted in his Philosophy of History that the
destiny of the world will one day be determined on the shores of
the New World. This prophecy is being fulfilled in our own days,
and before our own eyes, but not for the same reasons advanced by
the German philosopher. Instead of a bloody war contending for
the only land still available for conquest and exploitation by overcrowded nations, a new world idea, a world unity through international understanding and international amity is the one distinguishing mark of American leadership today which is holding the
only ray of hope to a distracted and haggard world. And what a
role the different nationals enrolled under the banner of the Stars
and Stripes could play in this gripping drama, in the realization of
this glorious dream, could be left to the imagination of the perspicacious reader. But it is only those who have travelled in Europe
and the different countries of the East and studied for themselves
the amazing and tremendous penetration of American influence
abroad who could fully realize the extent of that influence. Undoubtedly the lion's share in this spiritual conquest of America falls
to American citizens of foreign extraction who had returned to live
m the countries of their origin or those who have translated into
their different national languages the spirit and technique of American democracy and American culture, the spirit of youthful adventure, of buoyant optimism and undaunted courage. One of the first
things that attracted my attention in the East was "the Americanization" of the Arabic press, an Americanization which is effected
not in a semi-conscious effort of imitation, but with a fully conscious
realization of the process of adaptation and its application to local
needs and local problems. The Arabic illustrated weekly, patterned
after the popular American publications, is blazing its way, brushing
aside the cobwebs of tardy traditions, enlightening the popular mind
�14PR1L, 1932
7
to social evils, oddities and scandals, arousing the dormant conscience
of reform in serious-minded citizens, and reaching quarters of human response which the more literary organs left completely untouched.
This is a phase of the Americanization or democratization of the
world for which the younger Syrian-American generation, happily
or unhappily, is not called upon to shoulder. Most of the second
generation Syrians born in this country hardly know enough Arabic
to carry on a kitchen conversation with their grandmothers, and perhaps a limited few could pen a letter in Arabic to their cousins in
Syria or Lebanon without committing a dozen mistakes or more on
the same page.
But this does not exempt the younger Syrians from a service
which they owe to the country of their adoption, a country to which
they have pledged fealty and undivided loyalty.
Paradoxical as it may seem, this service consists in their being
better Syrians than they usually like to admit. It is in assimilating,
as they alone can admirably do, the spiritual culture of the East, in
whose subsoil their very roots are deeply imbedded, and presenting
it in their daily lives, their social intercourse, the spoken and the
written word, in such a manner that the average American can readily understand and appreciate. This is a huge task which may well
challenge every ounce of energy and creativeness in the souls and
bodies of ambitious and highly-aspiring Americans of Syrian abstraction.
Is it not pathetic that while American university students, boys
and girls of Puritan origin, or descendants of American pioneers who
trekked to the Middle West and the Pacific Coast states in their
covered wagons ransack the musty books of history to write about
Mohammed All Pasha, a Tamerlane, a Harun-ar-Rashid, our
younger Syrian generation should avoid the study of Arabic and
things Arabian from a subconscious feeling of inferiority, or lest
their Americanization be challenged? Is it not a sorry comment on
our sense of value and discrimination that while American Orientalists subscribe to the SYRIAN WORLD, as an indispensable magazine
from which they may.draw most valuable information on the current history and thought of the Arabic-speaking East, our younger
Syrians should find little to choose between it and such sensational
piffle as "the Smart Set » "Ballyhoo," and a hundred and one other
oddities temptingly exposed for sale on the magazine stalls at evervJ
street corner?
•:
�8
THE SYRIAN WORLD
A few weeks ago I happened to speak informally before a
group of second-generation Syrians in Boston. I told them sketchily
and briefly of the tremendous renaissance movement going on today
in the Arabic-speaking countries, notably Egypt. It was encouraging and inspiring to see their eyes open wide with interest and amazement as I told them of the trend in religious liberalism in Islam, of
the feminist movement in the land of harems, of the inroad of'industrialism into the ancient lands of artisan guilds and enslaved fellahin, of labour unions and agrarian cooperative societies in the Valley of the Nile, in Damascus, Beirut and Baghdad, of the introduction of the motor pump and labour-saving machineries into countries
where the human hand did all the work before. They asked intelligent questions, and took down names of books dealing with such
subjects. But what surprised me in turn was the fact that these
things had not been known to them before; that they showed as
little knowledge, or if we are inclined to be less charitable, as much
abysmal ignorance about the countries of their forefathers and ancestors as the average American boys and girls from Maine or Vermont.
Forget for the nonce that you are Syrians or of Syrian extraction. Let us assume that you are as American as George Washington and Calvin Coolidge themselves, and that there is not the least
trace of foreign accent or mannerism in your speech and behaviour,
that you are perfectly predestined and preconditioned to the American social life. Let us assume all this and keep in mind that there
is today in America, in Europe, in England, a keen interest in countries and cultures which just happened to be those of your fathers
and forefathers. Is it not the most logical thing in the world that
you should be the ones of all God's creatures to take advantage of
this interest, to exploit it to its utmost limits, to take hold of assets
which were given you as a birthright, and make something of a talent handed you by Providence instead of burying it timidly in the
soil looking furtively to the right and left as you do lest you be
caught with that talent in your hand?
This is a thought which I like to leave with readers of this
magazine which has put up such a valiant and deperate fight to keep
up interest in the East where it was most natural to look for it, but
alas, where the response has been most discouraging and disheartening.
-
�*APRILy 1932
BARBARA YOUNG,
Editor
Poetry and The Stars
J\S THIS month of April passes—the month whose name has been
more upon the lips of poets than any other, the month which
gave to the world the Bard of Avon, and Wordsworth—we turn
from the pressure and the problems of the streets, and look away to
the trees, to the hills, to the stars. The exigencies and the expediences of every day crowd our hearts beyond endurance when Nisan
returns to the earth. Our minds wander from the considerations of
t0 a lon
W.& A
,
& yesterday, and forward to a distant tomorrow.
We find ourselves thinking with streams and stars
A day or two ago a young friend asked me "What have the stars
to do with us anyway?" That question is the reason for the brief
things I shall have to say upon these pages. Needless to record, I
have no answer Who knows what or how much the stars do influence
the destinies of individuals and of nations? But this thing I have
discovered: Turning the leaves of a calendar issued by Sainf Mark's
it8:? ' ^c " T10US ^y 0f "ames ** down upon
the dates between the first of May and the first of June, great poets
Ins 1ZZX grCaf tCaChfS ua?d Philos°Phe-> teat* humanitar-'
lans. And to those of us who believe it, all these lives were an expression of the supreme poetry of the universe. Let me recount the
names: Tagore • Tschaikowsky and Brahms born upon the selfsame
day, St Stanislaus, Schiller-these five born uponfour conse cutrve
1
Florence N
ale
S^^n^r
^^
^
fcSHrn
May 12th; Dante Aliggien, Richard Wagner, Abdul Baha,
Emer-
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
son, Bishop Augustine of Canterbury, Venerable Bede, Voltaire and
finally Walt Whitman. Just over the line, and a little into June,
but governed by the same general zodiacal conditions were born
Schumann, Charles Kingsley and Gounod. What had the stars to do
with this bright company:
In no other forty days, I believe, can we discover such a roster
of names denoting genius and power as these. Surely in the destiny
of worlds these are not happenings. There is a pattern woven by
the "versed Fingers", and whether the pattern is indeed set in the
stars, who shall say? Certainly not I. This is but a fragment of
wonder tossed to you in passing.
From immemorial time there have been men and women who
trusted in the firmament for direction and guidance, for comfort
and for consolation, and none more than the poets of the ages. And
with reason—if reason be necessary.
. We have long heard of the "music of the spheres"; the great
composers, the masters of interpreted harmony and symphony have
lived in its ecstasy and intoxication; the masters of the golden word
have caught the words of the songs and set them down upon the
parchment and the printed page. A sound that is no sound has come
since the beginning of time from the stars to the inner ear of man,
and I do not hesitate to assert that all the greatest poetry of the planet, that which has endured and will endure, is poetry that had its
origin from among the heavenly bodies, and not from earthly stir
and circumstance. Suddenly, out of the night, out of deep sleep,
poems are born—from darkness and a strange and high excitement
of the spirit, which has not anything to do with daily round and
common task. From the day's affair we glean, perhaps, a handful
of small grain, and without knowing or intention, we sow it among
the stars when we lie down to sleep. And tomorrow—or another
tomorrow, as dawn breaks, there is a budding and a flowering, and
we say, "The little moment that we now remember has blossomed
through some heavenly magic, into a poem."
The sophisticates among modern poets require that we shall
eliminate all allusion to stars and moon (and roses) from our poems.
Do not listen to them. In a moment they will die and be forgotten
but roses, and stars and moon will endure as long as the earth stands
and poets sing.
\A
�^PRIL, 1932
11
SONG OF ANNAIK
It will not matter
When the song is ended;
It will count nothing
In the last deep stillness—
The long fearsome waiting
For you, O late-in-coming,
The calling to the sky
For you whom I knew not.
It will not matter
That youth went slipping over,
That ashen threads came weaving
My brown braided hair.
It will not matter
That April left my garden,
That now the blue leaf-smoke
Of Autumn stabs the evening.
O lover, O my lover,
The barren winds are crying,
The wild gray geese
They are southward long agone;
The bleak night is jeweled
With one star only,
Yet, I, so long aweary,
Take laughter to my pillow.
All the dark bread
My pale lone mouth has eaten,
All the bitter brew
Is forgotten in a moment;
I walk abroad in beauty
In the deep grass going;
The haw blossoms white,
And the heather-bell is clear.
�12
?HE SYRIAN WORLD
It will not matter
That all the gathered roses
Have lost their singing fragrance
And withered on the stem}
For there is a rose here
That shall not fall nor scatter,
A budding in the hedge here
To open at your bidding—
O lover, O my lover!
O head of dusk and starlight,
O eyes like woodland shadows
In brown shaken water ;
O mouth of wine and honey,
Sweeter than the clover
That's flowering in the meadows
Wherever heaven is!
BARBARA YOUNG
V
WHILE THE FLAX CRIETH
From the snow upon the height
Trickled the waters of Fulfillment,
And there walked among the people
One who burned with a voice.
And the people gathered about him
And they implored:
"Speak unto us we pray thee
Of happiness."
And he stood upon a stone
At the roadside, beyond the Outer Gate,
And he spoke:
"Ye seekers after the Lesser Things,
Ye idlers to the sunward of a wall,
Why clothe ye yourselves in cast-off garments
While the flax crieth unto thee from the fields,
And the loom mourneth in thy hearts?
�*APRIL} 1932
13
Of a truth
I say unto thee,
And my word shall prevail:
There is no happiness. . .
There is only understanding.
And there is no sorrow. .
There is only preparation."
JOHN STERLING HANEY
A LOST DREAM
I lost my dream;
The mystic web I spun
Has lifted; alike are gone
Hope in future's blank wall,
Warmth in today's sullen garb.
I fret for rosy hues.
I lost my dream;
A lonely star longed for
A thought, and seeing
Mine, drew to its solitary
Heights my fantastic notion
Of what should be.
I lost my dream;
No longer do I feel the
Throb of life roused by its
Glamorous scenes; I am become
Again a stumbling, gray-faced
Being; a planet without a sun.
'
I want my dream!
But it has flown.
Would that I too
Could follow, to make
It again my own and watch
It grow into reality.
ALEXANDRIA FADDOOL
I
�,i^^a.^,i^^;.;:v.fi,i;.^iv---v'
14
?HE SYRIAN WORLD
A Great Syrian Leader Passes
Editor of Al-Hoda, Dean of Syrian Journalists in America, Succumbs in Paris While on a Political Mission for the cause of
Better Government in the Motherland.
A WAVE OF consternation swept over the thousands of Syrian
and Lebanese communities throughout the United States at the
receipt of news from Paris that the foremost leader, reformer, literary figure, and dean of Syrian journalists in the United States, Mr.
N A Mokarzel, editor of Al-Hoda, had passed away on April 6
in the French capital whither he had gone on a political mission tor
his motherland. The news was as shocking as it was unexpected.
Upon sailing on the Olympic from New York on March 18, Mr.
Mokarzel appeared to be in the best of health. Despite his sixtyeight years, he was still as vigorous and energetic as a man half his
age. His indomitable will and energy, so manifest in all his writings, was also evident in his physical appearance. The scores oi
admirers who congregated at the pier to bid him farewell, little
realizing that they would not see him alive again, represented the
hopes of thousands of Lebanese immigrants centered on the veteran
editor in his voluntary mission to promote the cause of good government in a nation, though small in size and resources, was rich in
historical prestige, and to the service of which he had devoted his
whole life.
The Lebanese republic which claimed the life devotion culminating in the supreme sacrifice of Mr. Mokarzel is the tiny land on
the shore of the Mediterranean forming in its geographical boundaries and historical traditions what is known in history as the
land of the Phoenicians. It has given the world the great spiritual
and cultural heritage which includes the alphabet and the art of deep
sea navigation and many other basic improvements thus laying the
cornerstone of human progress. Throughout the centuries of
recorded history this small country has been the focal point of nations, forming the center of human interest and activity. As an integral geographical part of Syria and the Holy Land it was closely
associated with the rise of Christianity and played a leading part
M
�^PRIL,1932
jo the crusades.
S
h
But owing to its numerical and geographical resWkh
CCntra Wi n in the
S S rWaS SubI!?ec
ion hvT
'
.
J Vt0
!
°
the rava es
&
PolitifalSei of
and vicissitudes of inva-
0118
Greeks Ro
PfersianVanTTL""
- ?$**"*>
****"«>
>
msians and Turks succeeded
one another
in the occupation
of ->
its
11
If*! AHils
6 W rId W
°
"
br Ught ab Ut itS del
°
°
P
-rance at the hands
r „K1 Tkf r^ °f tThe,Phoenicians was then transformed into the Reto^ther^luT
To"' and7aS given 0Ver t0 French mandate
together with the rest of Syria of which Lebanon forms an integral
^graphical.unit. For nearly twelve years Lebanon has b en mak
fas7o e?M°! r? ltse
? *&* itSdf t0 the neW SCheme of worId ****
fam Jv of
^new m the position it deserves among the
family of nations. The present republican form of government
was promulgated in 1926, and Lebanon thus became fhe firsHe
public among Arabic-speaking countries. But the legacy of ages
of subjugation with its attendant misrule could not be eradicafed
S
e g
Sa fiCe Th£re WaS eed
a"d
win
f,
7
"•"
7 -would break the
" bounds
*<* "nsdfoh
and whole-hearted devotion which
of servility and corruption characterizing former regimes
There
were men m the motherland capable of putting the new households
order if properly sustained and supported. And the Lebanese emigrants, who had tasted of the sweet fruit of orderly republican government in their lands of adoption, were most anxious to see Zs
condition brought about. N. A. Mokarzel was the mouthpiece the
leader and protagonist of this new reform movement.
'
Consequently, when the new presidential elections for the Lebanese Republic were about to take place, Mr Mokarzel iT !t
tempt t0 SUp rt Mr. Emil Eddy? Ph£ liWal j^^J » £
of a constructive program of progress and reform, waged a vigorous
11
1
brin
Al
HM
? nelection.
TTPer A
tlpetition
-H0d* t0
£
""fl-nce
for
Mr Eddy's
was circulated
among thefota
Leb
anese elements in the United States, Mexico and Canada"expreW
their preference for this liberal candidate as the next pre ident The
response was both immediate and generous-thousands of signatures
being secured in support of the candidate favored bv Mr MokarzeT
a fU
r
th C C3USC f g od
Lebanon
W0rt to
° °Mr. government
in
Lebanon bbyv rhe"
the election
offW
the liberal, candidate,
Mokarzel decided to carry to France in person the petitions of the LebaneseTmm grants and impress upon the mandatory power the necessity o^n
proving their interested choice.
But alas! in his arduous pur-"
i'
�16
'
:;
*s
;
THE SYRIAN WORLD
suit of public reform he sacrificed his own life. It was indeed the
end which he would have chosen for himself, and which his whole
life of public activity presaged—that of laying down his life only
to raise aloft the standard of civic reform, and to consecrate his life
to the service of his people to the very last breath.
During his long career of public service he was as tireless in his
energy as he was sincere and ardent in the prosecution of reform
campaigns. He often expressed himself in his fiery editorials as
hoping to die like a soldier on the battlefield. And thus it was given
him to meet his end, his last illness having lasted but a single day,
following an operation for intestinal adhesions.
Mr. Mokarzel's death was announced by Al-Hoda in its issue
of April 7. And as the paper widened its circle of travel, bearing to
its readers the news of the editor's sudden demise when they had
anticipated only tidings of his success and early return, a condition
bordering on pandemonium pervaded the Syrian communities
throughout the country, expressed in the many scores of messages of
grief and condolences which daily swamped the office of Al-Hoda.
They came from civic and patriotic organizations, the clergy and representatives of the professions, as well as from thousands of personal friends and admirers. It was evident that the death of the
veteran editor and reformer formed an epochal event in the life of
the Syrian people in the United States, because he symbolized not
only the struggles and aspirations of the pioneer immigrants but
proved himself during his long career of public service the greatest
and the most spectacular, yet the most constructive leader, the Syrians have yet produced in the whole history of their immigration.
Nor were expressions of the sense of great loss in the death of
Mr. Mokarzel confined to the Syrians of the United States. Press
dispatches had carried the news to Lebanon simultaneously with the
announcement of his death to America, and the passing of the editor
was viewed in the motherland as a national loss. The President of
the republic cabled his condolences while the President of the Legislative Assembly tendered sympathy in his own name and in that of
the nation. The Maronite Patriarch and a number of church dignitaries, deputies and government officials also cabled their condolences, while public demand for the return of the body to the native land finding expression immediately upon the publication of the
news of the editor's death, gave indication of the high place he occupied in the hearts of his countrymen.
�PHOTO BY MARTAR. N. Y.
NAOUM A. MOKARZEL
1864-1932
�I
I
I
�Sftlps;
*APRIL} 1932
17
-
PK Howrani /J
N. A. MOKARZEL ON HIS DEATHBED
Sketched by Mr. Philip Mourani, a Lebanese Artist Resident in
Paris for Thirty Years
Mr. Mokarzel died without issue. Aside from his wife Rose,
nee Princess Bellamah, he is survived by a brother Salloum, editor
of the SYRIAN WORLD, and two sisters Mrs. Catherine Libbus and
Mrs. Liza Rahid of New Bern, N. C.
At the time of Mr. Mokarzel's death his wife was on her way
to Syria for a summer visit. She was reached by wireless, however,
and landed at Lisbon from whence she traveled overland to Paris
and will bring back the body to the United States on the Olympic,
the same steamer which he had taken for Europe only a month previous. The arrival of the body in New York is expected on May 3.
Direction of the funeral arrangements has been left in the
hands of the Lebanon League of Progress, the reform society which
the editor had organized twenty years ago. This sad duty was ceded
to it by the family in response to insistent public demand that the
funeral of the great leader be in keeping with his prestige, although
his expressed wish was for a simple funeral. This is further made
necessary by the fact that from present indications scores of delegations representing Syrian communities throughout the country will
come to New York on the day of the funeral.
�18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
A Notable Career of Achievement
The Life of the Late N. A. Alokarzel Was one of Distinguished
Service and Sacrifice for His Country and People
gEHIND THE daily Al-Hoda, the institution which the late Mr.
N. A. Mokarzel built and which is expected to endure as a living monument to his ideals, stands a record of achievement unparalleled in the annals of Syrian immigration in the United States.
Through long years of bitter struggle, in which he displayed a prodigious capacity for work and a passionate love for his chosen profession, this Lebanese editor was able to establish a daily paper in
Arabic that became not only the moulder of public opinion among
the Syrians abroad but a power to be reckoned with in shaping the
political destinies of the motherland. Not a campaign did he wage
but resulted in signal success, so much so that the mere fact of his
supporting a cause came to be associated in the public mind with its
ultimate triumph. For this two factors were mainly responsible,
namely his undoubted sincerity and the relentless vigor which characterized his every word and action.
This driving force in the famous editor's life was sustained till
the very end, since his fatal illness lasted but a single day. During
his life he had many narrow escapes from death, all attributed by
physicians to his indomitable will.
But almost in every case the
cause of his ailment was ascribed to overwork. Every waking hour
meant to him an opportunity for creative activity. He chose to live
near his office for no other purpose than to economize in time, but
in so doing medical opinion was agreed that he was wasting his life.
To all their pleadings and admonitions, however, he turned a deaf
ear, and no sooner would he feel strong enough to move a hand than
his uncontrollable passion for work would assert itself in feverish
activity.
Nor was this extreme devotion caused by necessity. He could
have retired from the active management of his paper apparently
without financial injury to it. But Al-Hoda was to him all that life
held worthwhile. Not content with writing the editorials, he chose
the material for translation and edited it thereafter and supervised
every detail of the production of the paper. It may sound incredi-
�<JPRIL, 1932
ble that a single man should read every line appearing in every ediY aP Cr
v I °L\
? u f*"**?*1? and ^ough choice, but this actually held true of the late editor of Al-Hoda. Not to mention the
multifarious details of management to which he attended in person
Truly the late Mr. JVJokarzel's career is one of exceptional disWkh achievement
beW to" irCP
> ^ ^ it been given him to
belong to a larger group of people than his limited own he would be
he also took phylosophically, and his expressed conviction which he
applied to his small Lebanese people may well apply to himin that
it is best to be small and independent than large^nd subse^ient
th Jthn7^ °f a Mar°nke fri6St °f a higher educational standard than
M v
f aTage Pansh pnest of Lebanon in those days, Naoum
Z
7 £nJOyed thC adVa tagC f
a^d
2
P^reSsive
su^unding"
and the
the win
willingness to spare no effort
or° expense
in giving
him the
U
e
WaS Wn in
g
Autsl
' He
F-ike,
MtgLebTn
0n
August B
15, ?S
1864, "f?
and almost
as soon as he could
formulate
sounds
was taught to read. When still in his early teens he wa'r Stered a
a boarder In Madras* Al-Hikmat in Beirut, then considered one 0|
nLant,dg",A,tKt,0nSi°;adVanCed eduCati°»
*« country He
speaalized in Arabic and French literature and was esneciaJlvLf
cent m Arabic which he studied with the foremoTArTbic"MarIf
modern t.mes, the late Abdallah Bistany who died in 1930 TJnon
graduating from this college he entered the Jesuit University orBd
rut to take up advanced studies in French. The Jesuits receded
hd rSeSi;? offercTd him the chair °f
SSBSS^
h position he filled
tneir University in Cairo. This
for over a vear
but upon being stricken with fever, his father went to Egjt to
administer unto him and induced him to return to Lebanon for re
operation, later prevailing upon him to remain there
Haying started on an educational career, the youn? professor
decided to establish a school of his own, and owingTh^pracS
methods of teaching and fame for strict disciplinf, hischoo the
first year attracted over a hundred boarders and day pupfls frl
duced the young schoolmaster to undertake tbc'jZZ££g£
I
1
�.
20
i
iiTifiTniiwmin
THE SYRIAN WORLD
them they raised a substantial capital which, in those days, was in
itself a fortune. But Naoum was anxious to raise a larger fund to
increase the capacity of his school and he welcomed the opportunity.
This ideal of establishing a native Lebanese school of higher education he consistently cherished throughout his life, and only a few
years before his death he was known to be negotiating for the purchase of a suitable site for such an institution. He also was known
to be planning to pledge all the resources of his paper to its maintenance.
The two partners left the homeland in 1887 and while in France
bought such religious articles and fancy notions represented to them
as being then in demand in the American market. But the commercial venture proved disastrous, and Naoum again reverted to his
earlier calling and was engaged by the Jesuits as French instructor in
one of their colleges in New York.
A year later saw the young professor engaged in his first journalistic venture. He issued a mimeographed sheet in Arabic under
the name of Al-'Asr, (The Age), but soon discontinued it to take up
the study of medicine. For this purpose he moved to Philadelphia
and it was there that in 1 897, and before finishing his medical course,
he established his newspaper Al-Hoda which was destined to become
under the driving force of his dynamic energy, the leading Arabiclanguage newspaper in America and one that compares favorably
with the foremost in the Arabic-speaking world.
Mr. Mokarzel from the beginning of his journalistic career waged a relentless and sustained campaign against corruption in every
form. His bitter attacks on the despotic government of Sultan Abdul Hamid caused him to be condemned to death and his property
in Lebanon confiscated. His father, the Rev. Antoun Mokarzel,
was sought by agents of the Turkish government in Lebanon, and his
life would have been held forfeit had he not taken refuge with the
Maronite Patriarch who finally convinced the government that the
father was not responsible for the actions of the son, nor was he in
sympathy with his attacks.
After five years of publication in Philadelphia, Al-Hoda was
moved to New York where it changed its frequency from semi-weekly to daily and has been so maintained ever since.
In 1922
the silver jubilee of Al-Hoda was celebrated as a milestone
in Syrian cultural progress and achievement in America at a
banquet attended by the most notable Syrian gathering ever to
come together in America, N. A. Mokarzel was hailed on that oc-
l
HI
�'^fPRIL, 1932
21
casion by common agreement of all factions as the greatest leader
the Syrians in America have yet produced.
His publication was the late editor's consuming passion. He
spared no effort to continue its improvement not only in content matter but in typographical appearance. His progressive spirit was evident from his having adopted every new device calculated to further
efficiency and typographical beauty. Al-Hoda was the first Arabic
publication in the world to use the Linotype, and the first in America
to use a webb printing press. It also was the pionerr in the liberal
use of display captions in its make-up, setting the standard which was
later followed by the Arabic press throughout the world. He often
expressed himself as anxious to prove to the Arabic-speaking world
the advantages of adopting American methods of efficiency.
When in 1912 the convention of Arabic-speaking nations was
held in Paris Mr. Mokarzel attended as the delegate of the Syrians
in the United States. During the Versailles Conference at the close
of the war he was present in the same capacity, while during the war
he helped recruit the Oriental Legion which was being raised by
France to effect the liberation of Syria. He also was instrumental in
sending to Syria through secret channels during the war hundreds of
thousands of dollars from Syrian immigrants to their starving relatives in the homeland.
The Lebanon League of Progress which he founded in 1911
was the instrument through which he sought action on political reforms. He was ever consistent in his demand for an independent
Lebanon under the protection of France, and he is credited with having been the author of the suggestion to make the French tricolor,
with the cedar appearing in the center white stripe, the official flag
of Lebanon.
His last trip to France, which resulted fatally, was also in the
interest of his beloved Lebanon. His avowed purpose was to serve
the cause of good government in that country by inducing the
French authorities to sanction the choice of a liberal candidate in
the forthcoming presidential elections. The news of his untimely
death occasioned genuine and universal sorrow both in America and
in the motherland, and almost simultaneously with the first announcement of his death came the demand from Lebanon that the
body of this illustrious son be permitted to repose permanently in
his native country which he so nobly served. In all probability, this
mandate of the nation will be gratified.
�.....
22
r_,
-immmmk
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Tributes to a Leader
EDITOR'S NOTE—
flool^trJes^lu0** md°JtHe Syrim W°Hd " li^ally
ian World feels equally%^^MZ^^ ^^ ?f ^ Syr~
number of message, rJh
Y sympathisers, only a limited
done fr^y7nglelLtuVrZd
"7*"
^ "* ** b
f eC rdand
as
^des^eadJefaroLeTbZ; ° / °
*» indication of the
editoHn Am^lr
J
*"* °f ** dhti^ished Lebanese
CABLED TRIBUTES FROM LEBANON
Rel>ublk Leh
ZZtlZfdTof theORK
°f
-
Irfhr^V
(OFFICIAL)
F
EXCEEDINGLY GRIEVFD AT TUC
TTT^
PLEASE ACCEPT MSSS "^
CHARLES DABBAS
J
Sit PTeSidem °f ^ *«***» *< *h of the ReMUc of
MOKARZEL, NEW YORK
MOHAMMAD DJISR, PRESIDENT
From
p d n of the Prsss Ass cM n B
4^
7i : L
° ° ->» ' >CEES^G^^E^ ^S^CIATION WAS EXOF OUR GREAT COLIEArnp^ S^£ OF THE DEMISE
M
WITH SSSKALIL KSEIB, PRESIDENT.
From /^ Maronite Patriarrh
SINCERE REGRETS AND CONDOLENCES
PATRIARCH ANTOUN ARIDA.
�IfPRIL, 1932
23
THE GREAT LoIsND°LENCES- * SHARE WITH
V
fhZ ^ me"ller °f «** ****>*» AssenMy Sheikh Joseph Sle-
From the editor of Ad-Dabbour, Beirut
ON CLl^fN^S^8 BEFALLEN
US
-
LEBAN
"
TRIBUTES FROM AMERICA
of Progress.
natem, Prestient of the Lebanon League
Mr MoLTe^T"?^,'he
m St C rdial
°
°
««-*» with
h S eraste
the cause of Right and Lk*y Plf'
' P
« =«<>«s in
PW
dolences.
'
^P1 "V "*» sincere con-
WSJ:CgfJrCy
SeS S,riS Siia
P
°
and the Arabic world at large
">>«- *W*» ***r i.
m
&?** °'DamM'Assis,mt Basin
^^\y served his country
U
^ of * "« r«*
:::; LTafsir^rYour brother -*"-««' <*-
�24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Pioneer and Seer
r
IT IS WITH profound regret that I read of the death of the greatest Syrian Lebanese of our race in America: N. A. Mokarzel.
He was the symbol of our race in America. He was the prophet of
the new era of our race and the leader of the educational, moral, social, political, and philanthropic movements of the Syrian Lebanese
pioneer period in the New World.
N. A. Mokarzel's passing marks the end of the Syrian Lebanese
race pioneer period, and the beginning of the development period
of the race with America as the new homeland. His life story is the
life story of our race in America. His death marks a prominent
date in our race history. His name, place, and achievements and
dreams symbolize the name, place, achievements, and dreams of our
race.
N. A. Mokarzel is the outstanding Syrian Lebanese pioneer in
the history of the Syrian Lebanese race in America. He was the
moulder of the thought life of the younger generation. He led in
the forward movements of the period. He pointed the way to future progress through education, inspiration, and publicity. He lived
what he taught, he exemplified what he wrote, and he led where
he desired others to follow.
He founded institutions of far reaching influence in America,
in our motherland, and wherever Syrian Lebanese dwell, as well as
among the Arabic-speaking peoples. He established the foremost
Arabic newspaper in the New W7orld, the influence of which has
blessed our race. He founded the Lebanon League of Progress for
the aiding of the motherland. He organized the Educational Association for the spreading of enlightenment, culture, and progress.
He initiated the Syrian Lebanese Mahrajan for the perpetuation of
our race culture, solidarity, and progress.
N. A. Mokarzel lives, though dead. He lives in the mind of our
race, in the consciousness of our generation, and he lives in the leadership of today and the rising tomorrow. He was a dreamer of the
better dreams of our race. He was a seer of the better days ahead.
He was a shepherd of his people. He was a beacon to guide the
masses. He was a true statesman of his people. Young and old,
rich and poor, wise and ignorant, people of all classes, religions, parties, and conditions followed his benevolent leadership. He was
�^4PRIL, 1932
25
unselfish, devoted to the welfare of others, and spent his life in doing good.
N. A. Mokarzel is glorious in death, the glory of serving Lebanon: our race, our motherland, and our future. In his death he
challenges us to match ourselves with his ideals, his achievements
and his hopes We Syrian Lebanese shall dream the dreams of the
betterment of our race; we shall uphold our race legacies, and we
shall promote the Americanism, the loyalty, and the progress of our
citizenship in America. We Syrian Lebanese youth shall honor his
name place, and achievements by accepting his ideals, challenges,
ments°PeS'
C Urage
°
'
ViSi n
° ' ^
eff rt t0 greater achieve
°
"
... N- A- Mokarzel's name will live through the ages, his influence
will inspire greatness in others, and his achievements will awaken
progress in the mind, heart, and life of the present and future gcn^ZlT
A-grCatneSS WiU gr°W and glow more and
to bless,
awaken, and inspire our generation, our motherland, and our future
1
xrm^ J^gment that history> experience, and posterity will"
acclaim N. A. Mokarzel the GRAND OLD MAN of the Syrian
Lebanese pioneer period in America.
^
w.
. , __ ,
W inside, Neb.
REV.
W. A.
Eternal Guidance
TO MY UNCLE
The light that glowed a thousand years
In human benevolence, has softly gone,
And silent voices and unseen tears
Mourn this passing of a paragon
Of men and minds j this human heart
That God inspired to guide the way for men;
And now, in claiming, hath spread the glow '
He cast unto these humble children
Of a kindred world, who kneel in reverence
Their torch held high above his pallid face
To cast upon his blessed brow the eternal glow
Of love, that passing years will not efface.
ALICE MOKARZEL
MANSUR
�ua
m
26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Gibran A Year After
The First Anniversary of the Lebanese Poet's Death Reveals Him
a Universal Figure Beloved and Honored in Every Land.
A YEAR ago this month, the month of Nisan, the month of budding blooms and running brooks, the month in which nature
stages its annual victory over death, the month of Resurrection, of
love and hope, of youthful aspirations and longings, the beloved
poet, artist, sage and mystic, Gibran Kahlil Gibran passed away.
It was, to be exact, on the 10th of April, at ten minutes to
eleven on Friday night that the great soul which had comforted
many a soul in its weary march through the Vale of Tears, that had
brought courage and hope to many a faltering step, itself had to face
the dreadful, the glorious ordeal of its own release to the Great Beyond.
There is something touching and beautiful about the last days
of Gibran's earthly life, and the last journey which his body took
before it rested in eternal peace under the shadow of the Cedars he
so much loved, and which so much mingled with his soul's dreams
and visions. Something that reminds us of the fortitude of a Socrates drinking his cup of hemlock in a dismal cell of an Athenian
prison j something that is reminiscent of the Gospel narratives about
the last days and death of the great Nazarene. For to these and all
kindred souls in whose bosoms burns the divine fire of Another
World, in whose eyes shines the light of immortality, death is but
an accident in the Larger Life. They looked at body and all the
material world that surrounds it as so much impedimenta.
Theirs is the motto which one of them, the great German poet
Goethe, enunciated: "Es ist der Geist der sich den Koerber baut",
"It is the Spirit which builds unto itself the body!" And well may
Gibran himself have sung, not only to one of his devoted friends
and followers, to whom he had ascribed the lines, but to all the
thousands of his admiring, revering readers:
"Nay, go fast, faster,
Bride of my dreams,
For the valleys and the higher hills
�^PRIL, 1932
27
That I feared but yesterday,
Now I would cross and climb."
w en Death beck ned Gibran
thiSwtidnwn,vhgf rnt,that
\
° and a11 sentien
to Hd
S mUCh a
his friends
be „« o hu rim
7
°
L ^
' ^
<
I i ^ *?<* SpaCe Were his friends), those who gathered
the ChOS£n f6W Wh
U n his
T„TA
rl kLsTed ^
° ^ P°
"
a ay mt etermt
££L /
T
°
>'' were of the ^ sex? That was
fitting and proper for one who, like the Master, had much of The
feminine in him and whose fine spiritual message found more re
MisTfiarbf* "nderStandin^ heart -d -tholic intuition of worn n
Miss Barbara! oung, poetess, Mrs. William Brown Malonev writer
e
Gibra
nT'HMlSS ^ ^^ MrS" L€0n°bel SC
Gibran, his devoted sister, Mrs. Rose Diab, a cousin, were the min
istenng angels who hovered around the deathbed of al-Musfafa
S^S^SS men present'a friend Mischa Naim^a?d a
hteV
ibran KahH1 Gibran was
to
^l^
ff ?
to Blt7ti7t
Boston, the home of
his early
dreams and struggles- thecarried
home
where he was so misunderstood, yet so loved by thosfwho were nTr
est and dearest to him; the place which he never ceased teca 1his
hi bel0 ed BeCharre
mTe
Stt-**
V
' ^d£^s£
in the world to him. For l
New ;
York which recognized
his eenius
and showered its largess of success on him was only fwo sfon
den from which he contemplated the universe and Zught ?his
houghts after his Godheart. Meticulous in his appearance dmo
like a suave diplomatist, cosmopolitan in his tastes and manners
in
SOdal aCC
aTa^tJat
herrt
°*^s, Gibran MGKS
a ascetic at heart a mystic who set on his journey for the ereat
y fr0
C
a11
£T<Sv
h H his
?° aloneness,
f^ f° *
^ his
«
m" to Only f/ew
a few shared
his ^
silence and
innermost
musings. To those alone, out of the teeming millions of the citv of
skyscrapers, subways and congested thoroughfares the ctv of^n
lofh
Sr7yVheTrned hlS. ^^ ln that ^^studJofhi"2 5 W
1 Oth Street That was his Kaaba, his haram, his retreat from th,'
efficient
^
*"*
SUCC£SS and intoxicated
with
And in Boston, where Gibran looked forward for his annual
varation, for his temporary relaxation from the round of routine and
work, he was received with heavy hearts and reminiscent tenderness
•
�..
.
..:..
.
a
;9"
28
;
THE SYRIAN WORLD
And here again we see the gentle touch and solicitude of women
which followed him wherever he went. After the bier was met by
a group of distinguished Syrians and former friends of the mystic,
headed by Msgr. Stephen al-Douaihy, it was carried to the home of
the Syrian Ladies' Aid Society on W. Newton Street; and on the
following day services were held for him at the Maronite Church
of Our Lady of the Cedars on Tyler Street, the same street where
his sister's home is, and where in his vacations he spent long hours
in informal conversation with his many friends and visitors.
Right here a word may be said about Gibran's attitude to conventional religion. For it does seem incongruous to many that this
man whose iconoclastic tirades against conventional sectarianism,
which would limit and monopolize the grace of God to an initiated
few, aroused the animosity of some religious officials in high places,
should finally receive the obsequies and approved funeral rites of a
sectarian church. But in truth there was nothing incongruous or improper about it. Like all great mystics, Gibran was intensely religious. And it was because he was intensely religious that he rebelled against all bounds and limitations which would estrange the
soul from its legitimate and free share of participation of the divine.
The same wrath that burned in Jesus who drove the traders and
money-changers from the Temple, burned in Gibran who, in one
of his parables of "the Wanderer" makes a lightning fall on the
head of a bishop who repulsed a non-Christian woman who came to
him asking if there be salvation for her from hell-fire. And as Jesus
justified the poor tax-gatherer who humbly confessed his sins before God and condemned the proud Pharisee who vaunted his righteousness, so also Gibran counted among the saved many millions of
all races, languages and creeds who had never been baptized by the
water and the spirit. Hundreds of years before him the great Arab
mystical poet, Ibn al-Farid, of whose mystical Taiyyah he was so
fond, had sung:
"And if to a stone a Buddha worshiper doth bow,
His fellowship in faith I still forsooth avow."
And with an equal majestic sweep of universal love also Ibn
al-Arabi, perhaps the greatest Arab mystic of all time, also sang:
"My heart is capable of every form;
A cloister for the monk, a fane for idols;
A pasture for gazelles, the votary's Kaaba,
The tables of the Torah, the Qoran.
Love is the faith I hold, wherever turn
His camels, still the one true faith is mine."
�-TTP—h,
:,
JtPRIL, 1932
-
.._
29
Both of those mystics were Moslem, but there was more kinship and affinity between their souls and that of Gibran than between
his and those of many Christians.
But if those mystics, Sufis, could sincerely call themselves Moslem, so could Gibran sincerely call himself a Christian, as indeed so
called themselves innumerable Christian mystics before him, like
Meister Eckhart, Boemhe, Sausa Tanler and the anonymous author
of Theologica Germanica, who were equally bold and radical in their
pronouncements, equally universal in their conception of salvation
and faith.
There can be no doubt that Gibran was truly Christian, and if
he were a xMoslem he would be truly Moslem, or a Hindu he would
be truly Hindu. For to such, and not to priests and clerics, as
it was to Jesus and not to the Pharisees and Scribes of his day, that
it is given to interpret religion properly, and transmit it sympathetically and understanding^ to their fellow men and women.
But Gibran was not only a Christian. In a beautiful sentimental way he was a Maronite. There was something in the associations and memories of that church that attracted him to it It
meant so much to him. It symbolized his early childhood, memories of his father and mother, sisters and brother, dear relatives and
friends who enveloped him with their love and tender care in the
early years of his life in that beautiful village on the edge of the
Qadisha Valley in Northern Lebanon. Its ceremonies and festivals
mingled in his treasured memories of joyous crowds in colorful
festive clothes, solemn moments, impressive processions of blackrobed priests, and an occasional visit of a bishop, or perchance the
Patriarch himself which turned the village into a veritable carnival.
Io be a Maronite, to him, meant not merely or necessarily subscription to certain definite creeds and dogmas, but to belong to an ancient and historic people who shared the same memories, the same
aspirations, the same baptism of suffering and blood, the same rejoicings and the same sorrows. The chanting of its Syriac litanies,
the smell of incense, and the elaborate rites of its priesthood conveyed a certain mystic significance to him that no literalist can understand.
In short his association with the Maronite Church was
what the American philosopher Josiah Royce called "group loyalty"
and which transcends in spiritual value all adherence to creed or
dogma.
So much then for Gibran's particular sectarian attachment. But
in truth Gibran belonged to the whole world. Some of his books
�—
30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
have been translated into as many as twenty languages, including the
Japanese. If it is incongruous that he was a Maronite, still more
incongruous is the fact that his writings are read by Buddhists and
Shintoists, and that his Arabic translator is a Greek-Orthodox archimandrite!
Many memorial services were held for Gibran—services which
illustrated the variety of people who held him in high esteem, who
revered his spirit, although most of them had never seen his face
in life.
The first of these memorial services was the one held in the
East Hall of Roerich Museum, 103rd Street and Riverside Drive,
New York, on April 29.
It was an intimate group of American and Syrian friends and
admirers of the great dreamer, wanderer and prophet. Dr. Charles
Fleischer introduced the various speakers who included Barbara
Young, Salloum Mokarzel, Claude Bragdon, Syud Hossain, Leonora Speyer, Mischa Naimy and others. It was a beautiful blend of
East and West coming to do honor to one who, perhaps more than
any other, succeeded in interpreting one to the other. It was also
fitting that a Christian and a Mohammedan, a Syrian and an Arab,
supplied the music for the occasion. Prince Mohiudin played "Du
bist die Ruh", on the 'cello, and Anis Fuleihan, who had set some
of Gibran's pieces to music, sat at the piano while Hubert C. Linscott sang.
About a month after, May 24, ar-Rabitah al-Qalamiyyah, the
literary circle which Gibran himself had founded, and in which he
had always been the guiding spirit, held another memorial meeting
for him in the building of the American-Syrian Federation at 123
Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn. At the same time Gibran's friends
and countrymen in Boston were holding another memorial meeting
in the Municipal Building on Shawmut Avenue. The eulogistic
articles and poems in Arabic which poured from every quarter of this
country, and for which al-Hoda had opened wide its columns, are
too numerable to mention. The local American press printed obituaries of him, some of which gave an account of his life and works
at length, and the Associated Press carried the news of his death
to all parts of the world.
Of especial interest are two memorial meetings held in two
cities separated by thousands of miles.
The first of these took place in Sydney, Australia, and was attended by the consuls of the United States and France, four mem-
\
�\APRIL,1932
\
31
bers of the Australian Parliament, and the Minister of the Interior.
m Senator in
j' r "„
'
the New South Wales Parliament,
and a fellow Syrian, was one of the speakers.
The other was held in Johannesberg, Transvaal, South Africa,
and took the form of an elaborate service in the local Maronite
church of Our Lady of Lebanon. Rt. Rev. David Orley, Bishop of
1 ransvaal, delivered the eulogy in which he declared that Gibran's
Message to Young Americans of Syrian Origin" was "of the stuff
ot immortal literature, and should apply to the younger generation
or Syrians and Lebanese in every part of the world."
Among the many American admirers and devotees of the Syrian mystic was the Rev. Dr. William Norman Guthrie, pastor of St.
Mark s on the Bouwene. Often did he read selections of the Prophet
and other works of Gibran from his pulpit, as supplementary to the
Bible reading and often did he present them in pantomime and
tableaux on the stage of his church. It was, therefore, fitting and
proper that Dr. Guthrie should hold a special memorial service for
PrnXf"1 fu4anlagain °n N0V'8- ImPressive scenes from "The
Prophet" and "The Wanderer" were presented in that historic little
church in the heart of Manhattan. The church was crowded with
American and Syrian friends of the great departed spirit
But more impressive than all was the final scene of this moving
drama which took place in the homeland of the Syrian seer and
spiritual hero-in Lebanon the home of the Cedars, where the Poet
ot the Cedars first opened his eyes to the light of day.
The steamship Sinaia, of the Fabre Line, sailed from Provihv ZTY1AgA
T u6t A
f
wL N A M r* |\
Whkh the b d
.
and °
y of
Gibran Ka
Wil Gibran
Lebanese flags. At the pier
were N. A. Mokarzel, the able editor of al-Hoda, a man of action
SinCC ined Gib
wlr fidd'r0^ hiS r^
^
J°
S?mtU
develo me
^ne
Sitor of fh/s
*t
*}
P ^ S. A. Mokarzel,
Fabre Line
^°f "J^ of
*Z "Character
^ SyHan
^ent of the
^
^abre
Line, JI fT
G. Raphael,
editor
Magazine"
Rev Mansur Stephen of New York, Barbara Young, Marfana' he
poe 's sister and many other friends and relatives from Boston as
well as a delegation of Syrians and Americans from Providence'kOn the other side of the Atlantic extensive and impressive nre
parations were being taken to receive the body in a mS fitti^
the greatness of his spirit, and the unique place whicTL occupied
in the literary and spiritual history of our little country Ddegl
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
tions came to Beirut from all parts of Syria, from ancient Damascus, from Aleppo, from Horns, Hama, Antioch, Sidon, Tripoli,
from the Holy Land, and from every little town and hamlet in
Lebanon. Especially prominent in their picturesque native dresses,
and the genuine expression of sorrow on their proud faces, were the
men and women who came down from Becharre, the hometown of
Gibran Kahlil Gibran in Northern Lebanon.
The body was received with official pomp and ceremony. Government representatives in official dress were present at the pier,
priests and high church dignitaries in their clerical • robes, and a
large multitude of just plain men, women and children, who were
dearest and nearest to the tender heart of the dead poet.
The body was landed in Beirut on August 21, and from there
removed in ceremony to the Maronite Cathedral of St. George,
where the Rt. Rev. Ignatius Mobarak, Maronite archbishop of Beirut, and his clergy received the body with the chanting of Syriac
songs for the dead.
On the same evening a great civic memorial meeting was held
for Gibran in one of the largest theatres of the city. Hon. Charles
Dabbas, President of the Lebanon Republic, presided in person. The
speakers who eulogized Gibran Kahlil Gibran on that memorial occasion were: Ameen Rihani, poet and scholar, Khalil Mutran, famous Arabic poet, Khalil Kussayyeb, President of the Press Association of Beirut, Mohammed Jamil Beihum, President of the Young
Men's Moslem Society, Representative Michael Zakkour, poet and
editor, Ameen Taki ud-Din, poet, and many others representing
civic and religious bodies.
And then the triumphal march to Becharre, the touching scenes
of mourning women singing sorrowful dirges before the bier, like
the old mourners we read about in the Bible j the different stops on
the way, particularly at Jubail, the ancient Byblos, where a company
of maidens with flowing hair and gowns, sang paeons in praise of
the dead hero, as though he had been alive and was received in
triumph by those who awaited his "home coming."
And when the noise of all this pomp and ceremony had died
away, the body of the mystic who was so fond of silence and solitude
was laid quietly in the little Monastry of Mar-Sarkis (St. Serjius),
of which Gibran was so fond, and in which he often expressed the
wish to Spend the last years of his life. Now his earthly remains
rest there as long as anything in this mutable world of ours may
rest. In a little crypt in the chapel of that monastery, a visitor to
�M. Fromkes, A.N.A.
Copyright 1932, by Marie el-Khoury
GIBRAN
KAHLIL GIBRAN
Collection Madame Marie el-Khoury
Who contributed the engraving in memory of our great artist and p.et and
through whose courtesy it is included in this issue of the SYRIAN WORLB
in commemoration of the first anniversary of his death.
�_j
••"•
-
'
'
".• -
-
-.
to-
,,
,
.
___
-i -
--
;
!
<
'
-
'
'
9 f
-
�cAPRIL, 1932
33
that picturesque town that overlooks the awe-inspiring Valley of
Qadisha, and lies at the foot of the serene grove of Cedars at the
top of the mountain, may read on a small tablet at the entrance
these words in Arabic:
"Here Repose the Remains of the Prophet Gibran Resting under the Wings of the Angel of Peace."
And thus the drama of the young dreamer and reformer who
as a young lad raised his voice in angry protest against the injustices
and cruelties of the social system under which he lived, who migrated to a new country where his genius could bud and develop undisturbed, whose star rose in the West, who returned in triumph like
a conquering prince to his own country and people, came to an end.
And the land which ever stoned its prophets and turned its
back against its seers received with a great display of love and appreciation one of its greatest and sweetest prophets.
ON FIRST VIEWING GIBRAN'S
"THE PROPHET"
Today I clasped God's hand
And evermore shall walk
Within the shadow of His Majesty.
It was a picture on a wall;
A bit of paper and a few drawn lines.
It was a face
Of misty outline and suggested form.
I stayed my step and gazed
And bowed my soul,
Before this shrine of genius.
Only a pictured face upon a wall,
But I well knew
That I had touched God's hand.
GERTRUDE MAGILL RUSKIN
�9HMNMNNI
34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Gibran The Artist
Exhibition of His Works in America Attracts a Distinguished
1 hrong of Admirers—Permanent Exhibit to be in Lebanon
By
E
DAGNY EDWARDS
fHE ART OF living beautifully} being, rather than doing, was
m St es sential thin
ur> -,i
°
.
& in life to Gibran, and in his words:
Build your own ivory .tower and let the rest of the world take care
t
' \e S^a standard f°r himself, as well as for others, while
on this earth Reticent about his work he refused to exhibit publicity his countless paintings and sketches for fear that his "people"
would want to buy them". But one of his dearest dreams was that
alter his death,.some fifty or seventy-five of the paintings would be
hung m some gallery in a large city where people might see them,
and perhaps love them!" This dream has materialized under the
loving guidance and tireless effort, of his friend, Miss Barbara
Young who acting as his literary executor, has held an exhibition of
the works of;GIbran m the Studio at 51 West Tenth Street, New
York City, where he lived and worked for eighteen years.
th before the
ai penin whkh to k
TJanuary
i
,
^
° ^
° p*«* °n
anu3r9r°r.
21, all the actual work of preparation,.which included selecting, framing, and arranging the portraits, was accomplished by
a group of young people who assisted Miss Young, without thought
of recompense, but amply as a token of the honor and love thev held
lor Gibran. It had been planned to hold the exhibit open until Feb-
thTLt' thT^ *ft Uu "*i PUblidty fr°m the P-s> and ^spt
eached he S?T ^ 1^ had t0 be dimbed befo^ one
XtfX
?K ' ^.^ly.more than one thousand persons
v twed the exhibit with mingled feelings of appreciation, awe and
pleasure so that the time was,extended until April 10.
Visitors
a W
hfe
d6Claring there
if
Fd
wM
\°K
T*
> exhibition a"
it Edwin Markham who recently celebrated his eightieth birthday
stood before a portrait of himself, drawn by Gibran many years ago'
and proclaimed with spirit, "There's something in that picture tf at'
I know is in me but that no one else has ever seen!" So with the
other sketches and paintings, Gibran, with vivid imagination, vital
force, and a few deft strokes, created a beautifully vibrant picture
of poetic imagery, profound in its fundamental depth. People came
�UPRIL, 1932
35
again and again, reverently, as to a rite, seeking they knew not what,
and found spiritual contentment, emanating from the godly serenity of the silent portraits on the walls. The place had acquired the
tremendous consciousness of Gibran, and as one poorly dressed, rather uncultured woman wonderingly exclaimed, "You know thev all
mean something! They're not just pictures, are they?"
As a child, his tiny fingers modelled in snow and stone. He
needed no master, he had no master, and it is a remarkable fact creditable only to his rare genius that Gibran was entirely self-taught in
art When he painted, he drew with most unbelievable rapidity.
Uften, when he was drawing, he had a habit of standing off at a distance getting down on his knees, gazing at,his work for minutes,
then back again at the canvas, he would fly at work,until finished!
Une of his most beautiful drawings, the first "Prophet", (a face he
had carried in his mind for years, before he could give it life with
draWn
half an h Un
Gibran the artist
unlike"?'
V Wl
° inseparably
> linked in> his
waspernot
unlike Gibran
the poet, "l
the two being
sonality ; yet Gibran the man, though utterly different from other
people, was a delightfully charming, always gracious, most loving
PerS n
SeSSed Wkh a
rand seilse of
Pelrlleaving !K
' Ef at his feet, walked
S
humor?
People,
their °troubles
from him
with
light heart and step, comforted, relieved,,exalted, but left Gibran
sore at heart worried with their worries, piled before him in a heap
so high that he could see nothing else!
RvHe?-arph ^hafdt> 4? 9eorge Ru^ell, Debussy, Rodin, Albert
Sdn R^
Klet\Mar?am> Masefield, Ruth St. Denis and
Abdul Baha,are but a few of the notables whom Gibran sketched at
his Studio, and a number of these paintings will be presented to va-
r^d theH8- \he,Mr?Puolit- Museum of Arthas already ac-
S A K JVA hfd °f J°hn Masefie^> poet laureate of England j Albert Ryder, American Painter; "Toward the Infinite", (Gibran s mother in death) ; "I Have Come Down the Ages", and the
smallest pencil drawing taken from his book, "Tesus the Son of
6 LIf£ GrCle
SeVeral
2?£\
^
M^
"of his parting wm go
to the Boston Museum; two or three to the Fogg Museum at Cam
bridge, as well as one each to the Brooklyn Museum, Z Sk
Museum, and International House on Riverside Drive
The exhibition attracted many persons well known in the realm
of art and letters, including Rose O'Neill, American illustratorand
poet; Frederick Diehlman, of the National Academy and Cooper
Union; Bryson Burroughs, Curator of Art, MetropoliL Museum
�—__
.
-.
.-
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..
. .1.1 II
THE SYRIAN WORLD
36
Dr. Serafini, Vice-Consul of Italy; Signor Paolo Abbate, sculptor;
Edwin Markham, "dean of American poets"; Floyd Starr, Director
of Starr Commonwealth, Albion, Mich.; Dr. Fischer, Curator of
Astronomy at the Museum of Natural History; Paul Stirneman,
Eastern Mystic; Mr. and Mrs. Harry Edmunds, founders of International House; James Oppenheim, American poet; Mrs. Alice
Hunt Bartlett, American editor of the Poetry Review of London;
Dr. Douglas Wild, of Rutgers University; John S. Eland, English
painter and etcher; Mrs. James Lees Laidlaw; the Princess Matchabelli; and the Princess Sava-Goiu.
The last day of the exhibit, Sunday, April 10, also marked the
first anniversary of Gibran's passing, and an informal group of about
thirty persons paid loving tribute to his memory, with Miss Young,
at the Studio. Softly lighted candles, sprigs ,of laurel, and roses
graced the room, while the remainder of the beautiful paintings and
exquisite drawings made an appropriate setting for the occasion. The
silvery patter of dripping rain, and a grey, cloud-swept sky outside,
proved a fitting accompaniment for the opening poems read by Miss
Young who told of Gibran's innate love for the rain, which, in his
own words: "seems to release something within me."
In a brief resume of the last days and hours spent with Gibran,
Miss Young declared that he never mentioned his approaching death
to the friends about him, thus lessening their sense of loss before
the final curtain-fall. Miss Young read several of Gibran's earliest
works, written before he was fourteen, while but a student at the
Madrasat Al-Hikmat in Syria (School of Wisdom). These unpremeditated writings show fascinatingly and clearly the remarkable
philosophy, the rare genius of the true artist, unusual in one so
young, yet indicative of the genius of Gibran we know today. Following the short interlude of selected poems, parables and thoughts
of the youngster Gibran, Miss Young concluded the reading by giving a few pages of the introduction and conclusion of his last book,
"The Garden of the Prophet", and also the last few, beautiful pages
of "The Prophet".
In parting, Miss Young suggested to the group that the friends
of Gibran who join that "inner circle" of those who love him, meet
from time to time to read from his works, to discuss and to remember
Gibran, our well-beloved friend; thus to perpetuate the memory of
him who has so enriched this world with his life and works.
-
•- '
-
,.:
�5.S«Mi*'B5»E
UPRIL, 1932
37
American Poet to Live in Leban on
'Barbara, Young, Friend of Kahlil Gibran, to Make Her H...
ome in
Becharre and Write a Biography of the Poet of the Cedai s
Plans Annual Dramatization of "The Prophet" in English for tht
Benefit of Pilgrims
By
ALICE MOKARZEL
JN HER STUDY of Kahlil Gibran, Barbara Young has written:
"In Becharre, a half a world away, near the Cedars of the Lord,
the body of Gibran is lying—he who was more than any other the
Poet of the Cedars." And it is near these hallowed elements of
Beauty and Truth that Miss Young has chosen to make her permanent home.
Although the decision to live in Lebanon was made after Gibran's death, Miss Young cherished the hope of such a thing years
before, and now, almost coincident with the first anniversary of the
poet's death, Barbara Young will take leave of these Western shores
and after a short sojourn in Europe will settle in the little town of
tfecharre There, where Gibran as a precocious child drew and modelled, and where the youthful Gibran fully determined to carry out
his artistic career, Miss Young will live, a Lebanese among Gibran's
own people.
"I feel that I am returning home to stay", she said. "The fact
that often, unconsciously, I say, 'When I go back to Lebanon,'
proves my love and desire to live there. It is absolutely the most
wonderful thing that has happened to me. In Becharre I will have
my own little Syrian home with its vineyard and olive tree The
house will have a flat roof-top, so that sleeping there on a warm
night, I can reach up and pluck a star and tuck it 'neath my pillow."
"So many people have prophesied that I will return in a few
years she continued, "but I am sure I won't. I have never been in
sympathy with the Western code of existing, with its gadgets and
devices, whereas the beautiful and simple Lebanese life has always
fascinated me."
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
'
There is a lovely Eastern warmth in Barbara Young's voice
that spells of Lebanese tranquility and contentment. What a beautiful picture she would make in Lebanon, in native robes that would
beautifully emphasize her height and stateliness.
She went on to relate how completely at ease she feels among
Syrians and Lebanese and how she loves to hear them call her Barbara in the Arabic way with the accent on the second syllable. Even
now she has a vocabulary of Arabic words which she can say with a
good accent and without the difficulty the average American experiences with Arabic. As Gibran used to say to her, "I feel that you
will burst into Arabic any moment."
It will not be as spontaneous as that, Miss Young is assured, but
will take a few years of serious and conscientious study which she
intends to proceed with as soon as she is settled in Lebanon, so that
she will be able to translate the Arabic works of Gibran into English.
(Only portions of these works have been translated but the translation is not Gibran and the lover of his English will not accept it as
being true Gibran.) What makes Barbara Young especially qualified
as the translator of Gibran is that she has the perfect conception of
his English. Gibran himself has told her, "If anyone can translate
my Arabic works into English, it is you." Even when he was dictating "Jesus, the Son of Man," in feverish ecstasy, he would pause
now and then and recite his parables in Arabic and then translate
them freely into English. Fearful at the time lest she break the
spell of his inspiration, Miss Young refrained from asking him to
repeat them so that she could make note of them. But they are remembered in her heart and wrill find expression upon the leaves of
the volumes of translation.
However, the whole time will not be spent in studying and
translating. For it is for the perpetuation of Gibran's name and the
revelation of his works to those who still do not know him that Barbara Young has so unselfishly pledged her life. To this end she
has planned, among other things, to reproduce in Becharre the Studio
in which Gibran lived and worked in New York for eighteen years.
There will also be in Mar-Sarkis a museum for the purpose of displaying his works—pencil sketches, portraits, oil paintings, woodcarvings and the wealth of art treasures and relics that Gibran collected and cherished throughout his life.
As a perpetual and beautiful tribute to the memory of the "Poet
of the Cedars", Miss Young is putting her most ardent hopes in the
future dramatization of "The Prophet". This to be performed an-
�*APRILy1932
39
BARBARA YOUNG
Friend and Literary Executor of the
Poet of the Cedars
�______£___!
-
40
'.'*? '
THE SYRIAN WORLD
nually, upon his native Lebanon soil and by his own people. The
dramatization will be in English for the benefit of the pilgrims and
because of the universality of the English language. The countless
followers of Gibran all over the world will welcome the opportunity
of witnessing the "Prophet" under such auspicious circumstances.
Whatever profits accrue will go to the materialization of the hopes
and dreams that Gibran constantly cherished for his country. He
dreamed of immense agricultural improvements for Lebanon and
other developments which Barbara Young has also noted in her heart
and which will find release in their realization.
As a youth, Gibran travelled on horseback to every place in the
Holy Land that Jesus is said to have visited. Miss Young hopes to
follow the same path and to visit the favorite places that Gibran
frequented. She plans also to visit his college, "Al-Hikmat", where
Father Haddad taught and whom Gibran described as "the only
man who ever taught me anything." There is a plate in the college
proudly bearing the inscription that Gibran had been a student there.
So many of Barbara Young's numerous admirers here have expressed the fear that she would abandon her own work entirely in
the execution of her unselfish plans, and thus deny them the beauty
and inspiration that pervade her poetry and prose. But Miss Young
is sure that she will not neglect her own writing. The peculiar beauty and climate of Lebanon, she feels, will inspire her to still greater
mediums of inspiration and thought. Her recent book, "Judas, the
Man Who Could Not Die", which had its setting in Lebanon, is a
powerful and stirring dramatic poem and is particularly remarkable
because she has written so vividly of a land she has not known. How
much more then, will be her "Book of Adam" and other works that
she has in mind and which are concerned with the Holy Land.
The energy of Barbara Young is tireless and knows no satiety.
The remarkable thing is that it is always in the interest of others.
Aside from the works of Gibran and her own, she will write a
series of articles about the people, culture and traditions of Lebanon
to convey to the Western world, and about which she believes nothing informative has been written since the middle of the nineteenth
century. The discovery was made by Miss Young after thorough
research in the libraries and institutions and is appalling when one
considers that almost no subject is overlooked by the countless writers of the English language.
On May 4th, Miss Young will sail for England where she and
her daughter will be the guests of Sir Henry and Lady Japp in Lon-
�'*APRIL, 1932
41
don. The "short vacation" she will have while there will be utilized, as usual, in arranging a small exhibit of seventy-five of Gibran's pencil drawings in London. In Paris, where Gibran is known
and esteemed essentially as an artist, the drawings will also be displayed. No oils are being taken to Europe but are being shipped
directly to Lebanon.
A strange and incomplete world it will be for the many friends
of Barbara Young, some of whom have known her for many years
and others for only a short while, but all of whom have been fortunate enough to have known and to become effused by her beautiful and unselfish spirit.
"There is a richness in remembrance and an assurance of eternity that we may not question", she has written, and it is with this
beautiful consolation and the hope that we, too, may be with her in
Lebanon that we bid Barbara Young farewell, rich in the remembrance of her friendship and with the assurance of our devotion for
her which distance cannot dim or diminish.
NEW IRAQI CURRENCY
One sign of sovereignty is the power to issue national currency.
It is, therefore, not surprising to learn that the government of Iraq,
whose complete independence and sovereignty have been recognized
lately by the League of Nations and other international conventions,
has at last taken the step to issue its own legal tender.
The smallest denomination in the new Iraqi coinage is the "fils",
which corresponds to our "cent". It bears en one side the likeness'
and name of King Feisal, and on the obverse the Arabic numeral 1,
to the right of which are inscribed the words in Arabic, "The Iraqi
Kingdom", and to the left the date of issuance in the Christian and
Moslem eras.
The grades of the coins include issues of two, four, ten, twenty,
and fifty fils, the last two being of silver. The paper issues start
with a quarter of a dinar up to 100 dinars. The paper used is said
to be of the best, and the inscriptions, besides the picture of H. M.
King Feisal, are in Arabic and English.
�,. „
Hi
m-Tl--—i
42
THE SYRIAN WORLD
TRVE ARABIAN TA
IYV H-A«£
Tfe Reward of Kindness
Like so many words in the Arabic language the word ma'rouf is very
hard to translate into English. Literally it means "the thing that is known",
and signifies that a good act should be proclaimed by its recipient.
Sometimes the word jamil, or the "beautiful act", is g;ven as a synonym.
The
Druzes in Syria and Jebel-Druze call themselves Bern" Ma'rouf", or "sons
of kindness", implying that they devote themselves to kind deeds, or that
they value this virtue above all others. But the Arabic word has a wider
and subtler connotat:on than the English word "kindness". It means not
only a kind act, but one which entails some sacrifice and magnanimity on
the part of the doer, an altruistic deed wlrch may involve the doer in some
trouble or danger.
The following story is a classical illustration of the highest exemplification of ma'rouf, which was rewarded in no less magnan'mous and chivalrous manner. With some modification it is taken from a collection of Arabic wisdom literature wlrch, it is hoped, will appear in English sometime
in the near future.
Ed.
{T IS RELATED of old that in the reign of the great and noble
Caliph al-Mamoun, illustrious son of Haroun ar-Rashid and the
greatest patron of Arabic culture and literature, there was a chief of
the royal constabulary by the name of Abbas. One day this chief of
constabulary was called to the Caliph's palace, and on his arrival and
appearance before the Caliph, behold! he saw a prisoner securely
bound by hand and foot. As soon as Abbas entered and made his
obeisance to the Prince oi the Believers, the latter called out to him,
saying: "Oh Abbas!" And Abbas replied: "Behold! here I am at
your service O Prince of the Believers."
"Take this prisoner", commanded the Caliph, as he pointed to
the man lying helplessly on the, floor, "and keep him in your personal custody till tomorrow. Take special care of him, and beware lest
tht
�UPRIL, 1932
^
he escape, for I shall surely request him at your hands »
At once Abbas called for some of his men and commanded them
to carry the prisoner away, for he was so heavily bound that he could
not move. Then the chief said to himself: "Since the Caliph is so
anxious to guard this prisoner, there is no securer place for him than
m my own house", and so he gave orders that the prisoner be carried
to his own house.
When this was accomplished and tht prisoner was resting in a
LTZ
th£ Chief S h USe Abbas went to hl
' ° >
d
inquired of
him about the nature or the accusation against him and from whence
nc C3.IX1C
«I am from Damascus", replied the prisoner.
•
i 7 ^!kh r£Ward Damascu« and its people with goodness"
ejaculated Abbas. "Of what part of the city do you come and to
what people do you belong?"
'
"
The prisoner looked at the chief quizzically and saidUi whom ask you in particular?"
<|Know you so and so", inquired Abbas anxiously.
And how did you happen to know that man?" ttaB
asked
the prisoner in turn.
'
-cu- LUC Prii>
long;ISe\SSaSLWith
him Whi
* '
M1
— forget as
«he m efis::„d %£&*?guard te"of h!s—•*
"° m**t unfortunate one! a long time ago I was in the service
of the governor of Damascus when one day "a rebel! on broke out"
carious that the governor was smuggled out of al-Haj jai's Palace
Zl ajamong ^ "« "*" ^ * ^ -P-nfaid rettS
"Then while scurrying forth in one of the narrow streets of the
hidi
i
^itra T&zr - - * £=»^Help me, may Allah help you!", I cried out to him
stirringWhirsSr7 ^' * ^ U*P—bably, not even
"When I entered, the man's wife led me to the inner court of
P
g OUt PriVate
Said: <G into
"Pr^ntlv
H a 'commotion
^^^
S?had
"
Presently T^
I heard
outside. My°pursuers
�44
THE SYRIAN WORLD
entered the man's house, and he was accompanying them as they demanded in angry voices: 'By Allah he has surely taken refuge in
your house!' "
" 'Behold the house before you', the man retorted, 'go in and
search for yourselves.'
"They searched everywhere and could not find me. There
was no part of the house left save that inner room in which I was
hiding, and the man's wife was there with me. They stood at the
door hesitating, as they said to one another:
" 'Verily he must be in there, for he could not have left the
house.'
"As I heard them I trembled with fear, for I realized that my
doom had come. But as they made a motion to enter the room, the
man's wife cried out from inside that it was the harem, and commanded them to leave at once.
"They went away immediately without much ado, and the woman comforted me and told me to sit down and compose myself, for
my legs were shaking with fear, and were not able to carry me anymore. As for the man, he went out to the gate and sat watching.
After an hour's time, he returned and said to me:
"Fear not, for Allah has diverted away their evil from you,
and with Allah's permission you are in safety and security now.'
"I thanked him profusely, saying: 'May Allah reward you with
goodness.'
"Four months I stayed with this man, during which time he
treated me genially as a boon companion, setting aside one room in
the house for my use, and never suffering me to miss anything of
my daily needs, and asking after me all the time. Then when the
rebellion had subsided and conditions returned to their normal
course, I said to the man:
" 'Will you permit me to go out to see what has become of my
men?'
"He consented, but only after extracting from me a promise on
oath that I would return to him.
"I went out into the city, but found no trace of my men, and so
returned to my host, who had done all this to me without knowing
my name or asking any information regarding me, addressing me
only by my filial title (Abu so and so.) But on my return he asked
me what I had planned to do, and I told him that I had set my mind
on leaving for Baghdad. He said:
�I
lAPRIL, 1932
,ou >" 'ThC
45
CaraVan Wij] leave after three d
*ys>
be
hold, I have told
"Again I thanked him warmly, saying: 'You have been very
considerate and generous to me, and I shall never forget vour kindness which some day I hope I will be able to repay as best I can '
ihen my host called to one of his black slaves and ordered
him to groom a steed and prepare it for a long journey, and everybody in the house was set busy buying and preparing the necessary
provisions for the journey. I thought to myself that the man was
about to visit one of his villages in some neighboring district. But
when the day arrived for the Baghdad caravan to leave, my host
came to me in the early dawn and said:
" 'Arise, for the caravan will leave in an hour's time.'
"I was taken by surprise and knew not what to say, for I had
not the wherewithal to buy the necessary provisions or to hire a
mount But when I had risen, behold, I saw my host and his wife
come to me carrying a big bundle of the most gorgeous clothes, with
two new pairs of shoes, and all necessary articles for a long journey.
Then the man brought me a sword and belt and girded my waist
therewith After that he showed me a mule over-loaded with two
wooden chests and a bed. Then he delivered to my hand a bill of
the contents of the chests, which included five thousand dirhams
and leading me to a steed already saddled, he said:
'
" .'Ride and this black slave will serve you on the way and
groom your mount', apologizing at the same time for his and his
»ife s shortcomings toward me. And not content with all this, my
host rode out a long distance to bid me farewell, and I proceeded
with the caravan to Baghdad.
proceeded
renort^f lbeh°ld' t ?T* ^V haVe been on the watch for s°
maU
mSy rCdeem Part f
to him.''
° ^ debt of gratitude
When the prisoner had heard all this, his countenance brightened up, as he said: "Verily Allah has enabled you to repay andreward your man without any effort or cost on your part "
How sor" asked the chief of constabulary in surprise
ma y U are seeki
th, A- 7°' T
T °
"&"> the prisoner replied, "but
the distress I am in and the hardships I have endured have obscured
my appearance from you, so you do not recognize me "
_
Ihen the prisoner related several details which left no doubt
in the chief's mind of his prisoner's identity.
At this Abbas could no longer control himself. He rose up and
I*
i
�46
/
THE SYRIAN WORLD
kissed the head of his prisoner, saying: "What has brought you to
such a pass?"
"Another rebellion, like the one which broke out in your days",
related the prisoner, "took place in Damascus, and it was attributed
to me. The Prince of the Believers dispatched a force thither which
pacified the city, while I was arrested and beaten to the brink of
death. Then I was bound and-sent to the Prince of the Believers,
and behold, my case is a grave one, and my guilt towards him is accounted great. Surely he shall put me to death, and I had come out
of my house without making my will. If, therefore, you wish to
reward me, go to such and such a house (naming the house of a certain man in Baghdad) and fetch me my slave who has followed me
secretly from Damascus, that I may convey my will to him. If you
do so you would have discharged all your obligation towards me."
To this Abbas replied: "Allah will manage what is best."
Then when night fell he called for a blacksmith and ordered
him to remove the chains from the prisoner's hands and feet. After
that Abbas comforted the prisoner and bade him enter a bath, and
gave him suitable clothes to wear. Then he dispatched someone to
fetch the prisoner's slave. And when the latter arrived he fell at
his master's feet, and the prisoner wept, as he dictated his will to his
slave.
As for Abbas, he lost no time, but called for one of his slav«s to
prepare such and such horses and such and such mules, naming ten
of each. Then he ordered ten chests of clothes and provisions, all
that was necessary for a long journey, and when everything was
ready, Abbas brought out a bag of ten thousand dirhams and another
of five thousand dinars and delivered them to the prisoner. Then,
turning to one of his trusted men, his lieutenant in the service, he
said:
"Take this man and see him safely off to the borders of alAnbar."
But the prisoner would not have it thus. He turned to his host
and keeper and said:
"My guilt with the Prince of the Believers is great, and my
calamity is unbearable. And if you excuse yourself to the Caliph
that I have fled he will dispatch after me all the men at his gate and
they will not rest till they bring me back and I shall surely die."
"Escape with your soul", insisted Abbas, "and I will fix the
matter with the Caliph my own way."
The prisoner refused, saying:
�<APRIL} 1932
47
come?/ A1Iah'p Sha,]1 n0t kaVe Baghdad til] l know what will bewiS comeT'
^ y°U ^ m6' y°U may Send after me ««i I
Then Abbas, addressing his lieutenant, saidCarry him to a place of safety since it is his wish to stay, and
would
wTth hi
of hi
TT^V
But
' u
!??ue
ded hi
r
Wkh my life
'
1 Sha11 let him
h my own life as he
T Charge
r
uCafe *
y°U ^
>
Alkh th
know!'then
^^
*t not a dirham
^a^^dS^^ th" ^ Wil1 d° ^ *"»« » "
safety1" ^
lkutmant
Prcm''^d, and led the prisoner to a place of
On the morrow Abbas said his morning prayer scented himself
with balm and prepared for himself a shroud' m'aki>gd the "e e
sary preparations of one going to certain death.
his door^dSsaidfaWn ^
mCSSengers of the
Caliph knocked at
<avs flTlnffT-^ '^ ^^
* Y at this very hour, and
says for you to bring your man and proceed to him at once "
Abbas rose and went alone with the Caliph's messengers carrv
mg his shroud under his arm. And when they reached the Calinh's
palace behold, he was already dressed and sitting in hi usual seat
at
awaiting their arrival.
>
without WhCn
thC C
fPh
SaW that his Chief of
Xtls^urm^" ^ ^
Cnraged and Cned
constabulary came
«* "W°e * *»>
treated AbbIasy°U * ^ * ^ ° **« °f the
°
>" ~
"I pledge my word to Allah", swore the Caliph, interrupting,
your head?
n
'°
^ ^^ ^
fled ! sha11 stri
^ off
Abbas assured the Caliph that the prisoner had not fled and
proceeded to tell all that had passed, and how the prisoner had aved
his life ,n Damascus years back. Then he added in conclusion
"Behold, I and my lord the Prince of the Believers are between
two alternates: either that you pardon me, and in that case I wluld
have repaid my debt of gratitude to that man, or that you give your
command for my execution, and thus would I have defended him
with my own life as he defended me with his. Verily I have alretdv
scented my body with balm and brought mV shroud with me »Y
When al-iMamoun heard this he was greatly moved, and said:
�KB..
48
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"Woe to you, and may Allah not reward you with goodness.
Has he done all that to you, and you only reward him with that
little after having recognized him! Why have you not told me of
him that I may have rewarded him properly in your behalf, and not
have stinted in our reward."
When Abbas heard this, he replied with joy: "Lo, O Prince
of the Believers, for he has sworn that he will not move from his
Dlace till he is assured of my safety."
"Verily", exclaimed the Caliph, "this is even a greater sacrifice
than the first one. -Go to him and calm his spirits, then bring him
hither that I may take charge of his reward."
Abbas was prompt in carrying out the command of the Caliph
and proceeded directly to where the prisoner was hidden and said
to him:
"Be done with fear! The Prince of the Believers has said thus
and thus", recounting to him what the Caliph had said in pardoning
him.
/
At this the prisoner uttered a sigh of relief, as he exclaimed:
"Praised be Allah, save whom none is praised for good or evil
alike!"
Then he rose and knelt twice in prayer, after which he rose in
company with Abbas and proceeded to the Caliph's palace.
And when the two arrived there, and the man was ushered to
the presence of the Prince of the Believers, the latter went over to
him and drew him near to his own seat and engaged him in kindly
conversation. And when it was time for dinner they ate together,
and al-Mamoun bestowed on him robes of honor and offered him
the governorship of Damascus. But the man humbly declined the
honor, at which the Caliph commanded that ten steeds with their
saddles and bridles, ten equipped mules, ten bags of gold, and ten
slaves with their mounts be bestowed on the erstwhile unfortunate
prisoner. Besides, the Caliph wrote his agent in Damascus to show
him special consideration and free him from all taxations in the
future. Then, turning to the man himself, the Caliph commanded
him to write him reports of the affairs of Damascus.
And so it came to pass that whenever the bag of mail arrived
from Damascus and in it a letter from this man, al-Mamoun would
turn to his chief of constabulary and say:
"O Abbas, here is a letter from your friend of Damascus."
�\APRIL, 1932
49
EDNA
K.
SALOOMEY,
Editor
According to Dun
|^
G. DUN and Company, the nationally renowned credit research firm, has compiled some interesting facts on fundamentals of credit. Of the many vital subjects discussed, we quote two
because they are particularly important to us.
"Illiteracy is a serious handicap to overcome and while higher
education is not an essential in business life, an illiterate person cannot expect the same consideration from a credit standpoint as one
with a fair education."
On first thought it may seem unfair to base one's judgement
of an individual's merits on illiteracy. The idealists among us may
argue that a man's worth should be determined by his morals. The
materialists may contend his worth should be determined by brawn
and native talent. Both groups disregard, but cannot deny, the importance of illiteracy as a determinative of a man's worth.
Illiteracy does not indicate lack of morals, intellect, or physical endurance any more than literacy implies the possession of these'
dualities. Yet, it is true and iust to consider illiteracy as heincr a
«enous handicap to one who desires to receive hif>h consideration
from a credit standpoint. It is self-inflicted handicap. The contention is this: an illiterate nerson has a more difficult time "mitring
himself across." He may be Shakespeare for wit. or have the salary of a financier: but unless he express himself, the talent in
him is entirelv lost. The undaunted ones who nrove bv their final
success that they will not be deterred by their illiteracy, onlv prove
�50
THE SYRIAN WORLD
fi
even more vividly that their illiteracy is a handicap for it is only
after years of struggling that they receive the consideration which
was rightly theirs from the start. Success only revealed the ability
We believe the same as did Priscilla, beloved of John Alden, that
a man should speak for himself and write, too.
At present illiteracy, in any case, can scarcely be justified for
there are many opportunities of overcoming it, such as night schools,
libraries, study clubs, and home study courses offered by universities
One needs but to choose discriminatingly, and to determine to pursue as far as possible whatever course is chosen. We have used the
words illiteracy and literacy, in a wide sense. By literacy, we mean
not only the ability to read and write buf also the constant use of
that ability. We firmly believe that the darkness of ignorance be
it our own or the ignorance of others regarding our character,'can
be dispelled by knowledge.
If this problem of illiteracy is faced at the beginning, it shall
solve itself in the end. It is a river which flows in one predetermined course, whereas, literacy is a river with many branches. In the
case of illiterates circumstance in the form of a helpful townsman
or a relative usually determines the career for illiterates. Thev are
prevented from selecting the career best suited to their native ability
havag started in one path, be it factory labour or keeping shop
mav Zll
V t0 thf Cnd " * l0St Th°U^h illiterate*
may be the most exemplary persons, no one in this machine age
with its; hurrying and scurrying, is willing to take time to unearfh
the candle of fine character under the bushel of illiteracy Selfexpression in word as well as deed is a modern requirement Is not
his the age of communication? Recall the radio, telegraphy, wirelessed telephone, all of which prove that this is the age
of 7Ze
mumcation.
wh^Y mSy aSk'-^ WC wHte ab0Ut ilIiteracV
these pages
*hich shall remain a void to illiterate persons. We speak here to
those who are literate, hoping that they shall make an effort to entourage all of the younger e-eneration to take advantage of everv
yto uire
kin f knowied e which
sT^rrm
r
T
,, make
° their *days happier
^ «* on£
serve them in business, but will
June m approaching and the spring term examinations are probably working havoc this verv minute in the minds of some of the
grammar and h,rfi school pupils. Some of them are debating whether it ,s worthwhile to go on.
A word of encouragement may
h
�^APRIL, 1932
51
mean much to these students. Some of them, for lack of a more
convincing reason, will use the need of employment as an alibi for
leaving school It is usually the ones who actually leave because
of a real need for aiding the family's finances, who are spurred on
to night schools and libraries because deprivation whets their appetites for knowledge. But those who use employment as an alibi
need to be shown how the world looks on inadequate knowledge A
sympathetic understanding will show them that four years in high
school or college are not the four centuries that seem to loom on
their horizon.
We crave literacy in its fullest sense for all our people, not so
much that we may be rated highly from a credit standpoint, or a social one, but that life may be meaningful to us. For, just as the
stars reveal their secrets to the astronomer, so shall they reveal
themselves to whoever shall follow the astronomer's course.
Knowledge is a pathway leading to the stars.
"The Nationality of the members of a concern sometimes has
an important bearing on the credit
the standards of business
morality of various nations decidedly differ from ours."
During the course of several years we have known many business men, and we can truthfully say that our nationality merits
highest consideration by virtue of the conduct of the maioritvJ of
our business men.
Men of moderate means prevail among us. T'>ev have won
for themselves honorable names, if not great fortunes." Now and
then we find there is one who has amassed a fortune, but is honored
neither with respect nor confidence which many less affluent persons
k
•
As we are comparatively very few in number, the slightest
shortcoming on the part of even one individual is made to reflect on
our national standing. It behooves each individual to be careful
lest by his action he may jeopardize the welfare of all.
On the whole our people have been bearing the brunt of the
present economic distress with phenomenal strength. Thev are
keeping not only the word of business law, but also its spirit
We salute our business people. To date, in spite of the very
trying situation prevailing our business mortalitv has been as low as
our business morality has ever been high.
�52
THE SYRIAN WORLD
WE HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT
LONG YEARS ago when the earth was in its infancy, the donkey
was considered to be the wisest of animals.
An old sheik owned a great herd of these, beasts, and their sagacity was the joy of his old age. Other sheiks came to listen and
marvel at the intelligence of the herd.
At such a time there came the prophet himself, the most learned of all the wise men of the East. He was welcomed by the old
sheik with due respect, who immediately led him out to see the
herd, saying, "Behold, O Prophet, these wise and talented donkeys
Converse with them, and judge if they are not truly wiser than all
other animals."
Then, the Prophet addressed the donkeys, saying, "Let us
test your wisdom. Answer this question: what does a donkey require tor a three days' journey?"
They replied, "For a three days' journey, O Prophet, any
donkey should have six bundles of hay plus three bags of dates "
"Very well," said the Prophet. "That sounds like a fair price "
Whereupon, the sheik broke out into loud chuckles, and said,
iJid I not tell you they are truly wise?"
The Prophet answered him, "Wait." Again he addressed the
donkeys.
I will not give you six bundles of hay and three bags
stlnd forth!"""
C
yS
' J°Urney-
Let Wm Wh
°
Wil1
S°
for le
-
And, behold, they all stood forth and commenced to talk at
once One would go for six bundles of hay and two bags of dates:
another, for five bags of hay and one bag of dates. So they argued
until, finally one donkey, whose ears were particularly long, agreed
to go for only one bundle of hay.
Then spoke the Prophet, "Fool, you cannot live for even three
days on one bundle of hay, much less profit by the journey."
THE"oRDEReSlied ^
long earcd
~
011e
' "BUT
l
WANTED
Since that far-off day to this, when earth is no longer in its infancy donkeys have been deemed stupid, and price-cutters have
been known as donkeys.
-
�<JPRIL, 1932
53
"AL-JIRN."
A
^S^TJn t0 US ab°Ut thG
Unha
PPy kddent of the hold-
able OMT
f uY tW°y°UnS NCW Y°rkers' sons of * ^spectaS t0 the
a^ for
for'such"
^committed
^ ^ °Ur
cause
such an actM''
being
by "P
these boys, whoseP-^le
father
had tried so hard to give them the benefits of a public 2Z educa"holier ldn?h° ^igh infentAof this sort> we
* cast aside the
holier than thou" attitude. Our older generation is so proud of
acts w^h hSeymnSHhaVe ^outstanding for their infrequent conacts with the guardians of the law), and now the younger generation threatens to besmirch that record.
It is LOTLl ~
youth, regardless of nationality, has been found to be increasing
its percen age of wrongdoing. Recently reports from Great Brkan
and the New |ork City Police Department showed that delinque K"
Q
among j uveniles is greatly on the increase.
*
It is true indeed, that if the younger generation would follow
the precepts of its elders, respect traditions, and benefit by the wisdom of parents, the police records would be far different.
1 he world in which we are living is such that a parent has to
be more than a devoted and self-sacrificing father; he must be a
lawyer, doctor, sociologist, psychologist and saint... and then some
The average father, though he may be a perfect example of all
that ^excellent in manhood, can scarcely prevent the infinite harm
wrought by bad associations, trashy literature, harmful movies, and
the demoralizing present day disregard for doing the right thing
for its own sake. It is no easy task for any parent to combat the*
influences.
On the other hand, the child finds it no less easy to cope with
the times. Like these two boys, who committed a series of rob-
^Sil^dtSSrous spirit'which is greatest durmg add—>
sion 0^^' ^H ^ *" °f US these ^ is our misapprehension of the meaning of higher standards of living. It has signified
to many that one must have money, plenty of it. Some think that
the more expensive the car, the higher the standards of a person
Some want expensive clothes, a lavishly furnished home: and all
want money.
'
�54
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The father of the two Syrian boys was content in his youth
to earn his meagre living, and his chief aim was to preserve his selfrespect. The sons, blinded by false ideals—rather, we should sayideas—craved money, and being unable to earn it fast enough, did
what so many of their age have done they resorted to robbing
their fellowmen.
It is, as far as we can understand this case, just another case
where the environment outside the home was stronger in influencing
the boys than the goodness of their father.
But, we are not in despair. For every one, who is so weakwilled as were the two brothers, there are a thousand who cherish
honour and self-respect as highly as do their parents.
* * *
IN SPRING A YOUNG MAN'S FANCY
Sing a song of springtime j
In 1932.
Had to go, fall in love;
And don't know what to do.
Can't buy a Wool worth ring;
So, here's farewell to you.
It's no joke to be broke—
My heart's now broken too!
* * *
We hear and read constantly about reasons for being proud of
our ancestry. Let us put aside for awhile our ancestors' achievements, and do something ourselves.
In 1933 at the Chicago World Fair, there shall be an international exhibit of the homelife of people abroad. Other people are
preparing to take part in that program.
How, if at all, shall we be represented? Where are the leaders amongst us, and what are they doing to make Syrians better
known? Why not make a concerted effort to be represented?
We should like to hear from organizations and individuals,
who have any suggestions as to whether we should avail ourselves
of the opportunity offered by the World Fair next year.
�wmsmmm-- m
UPRIL, 1932
55
The Portrait
A MODERN SHORT STORY
By
THOMAS ASA
JN THE comfortably appointed rooms on the second floor of a
_ fashionable brown stone apartment house in the Rue Romondre,
withm short walking distance of the Quartier Latin, two students
who were in their early twenties, and both enrolled for the second
term in the Medical College, sat one evening in the utter solitude
or their study.
Maurice Barany, who was seated at the right of the long mahogany table, looked up from his tract on bacterioscopy and stared
languidly at the high ceiling.
The other student, Eugene Armand, who was somewhat shorter and less robust than Barany, did not notice his friend's lapse into
abstraction, but continued in his close application to the book before
him.
Barany's eyes drifted from the ceiling downward to his companion s face, where they rested with peculiar tenseness.
friPnH?"f^^ ^ TuT^ suddenly> "^ you know your
inend?"
he murmured, half-dreamily.
Eugene Armand started up from his book and looked in surprise across the table.
questioY11^ d° y°U
mean
'
MaUrice?
"
was the
somewhat bewildered
pearanS"6 ^ "" ^^ * ^^ *" ^'-^
my aCti ns
° - aP~
Armand's bewilderment vanished at this more lucid inquiry.
His attractive features relaxed into a pleasant smile. He was weH
acquainted with his friend's romantic moods.
hnlH Tdl' yScholarl
c\ a, T7ascom
Plete happiness seems to have taken
ir
fhT K iT
yr P ations, perhaps, or, as spring is at hand,
the absolute conquest of some pretty soubrette, so charmingly de
scribed by our French novelists," he jested, in good humor.* Y
hi
s
companion
d
TO ZL^4^
~>*^
B
With7dgtd Wty!°
Seri US
° ' ^
friend?
" **"* ^tioned,
�iirnnirririTTiiiriiirmaiifii rut i>f~irrr ,iwiinmf::
\
56
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"You have my word, Eugene," Barany affirmed, rousing himself from his dreamy stupor.
"So I am to felicitate you," Armand continued, with awakened
interest. "Who is the fortunate lady, my dear Maurice?"
"Henriette Ronsard, of good family and substantial fortune,"
was the enthusiastic reply.
"Ah! a lady of fortune,—of twice your age, perhaps. You are
mercenary, my friend; a quality I thought unknown to you," Armand added, in his jesting vein.
"Enough, enough, Eugene!" his companion protested, laughing m his joy. "Mademoiselle Henriette is not yet twenty and
the most beautiful girl in Paris. I met her at a reception given in
honor of the lately returned Countess de Camdon, who, as you
know, is a distant relative of mine. She was attended by her aunt
Madame Ferrande, with whom she is visiting, a charming lady who
seems to be well disposed towards me. Ah, you will love her yourself, Eugene," he added, relapsing in his dreams
"Don't move, Maurice!" exclaimed Armand, arising from his
chair with considerable alacrity. "In a moment I shall have the immortal lover on canvas."
He walked to a near-by closet and, opening it, withdrew an
artist s easel, a tight y drawn canvas, and a box of sketching pencils. He immediately placed the easel in position so that it faced
his companion's profile.
"Maurice, fancy that you have just come from your beloved "
he instructed, smiling at his friend, who readily adopted his sueee'stion without apparent difficulty.
With the sure stroke of the practiced draughtsman, Eugene Armand commenced to fill in the blank canvas before him with his pen' and> with the passage of ten minutes or more, the perfect likeness of Maurice Barany lay revealed on the canvas
Barany's curiosity finally compelled him to partly rise from his
chair and gaze intently at his inanimate features as created by the
truly remarkable talent of his companion.
"Eugene! you flatter me. Am I so distinguished?" he asked
simulating a gratified air. i
'
M JH°- Lif ^?U Brumn3e11 beware- No one could possibly blame
Mademoiselle Henriette for throwing herself at you " Armand
mocked inwardly pleased with his efforts at portraiture
,' Eugene' \*&« the time you waste in the morbid atmosnU
done
ffi
A extravagantly,
J
" m?dlCexamining
°- Le°nard
° Csketch
°uld have
added
the
more closely better," he
�D
UPRIL, 1932
l-
^A\ "Y«- know.my father's wishes, Maurice," Armand said, halfsadly His surviving parent, Monsieur Alphonse Armand, was the
•e
s?
son ^T P YuCmn V\C ?r°VinCe °f Norm^dy, and wished his
son to continue his established practice at Rouen, where he resided."
Honor his wishes, Eugene; but do not neglect your talent.
Capricious fate may yet turn your future in the predestined path "
Barany spoke m the manner of an elderly counsellor, which he
belome W
** •**** ^ ^^ ^
which did not
^
;„ P Y°" eXa?S.f ale m>' ability, Maurice. There are a dozen as good
InTV T S ,Ec°le,^t. Did I not see the deformed Ray
mond Bergault, who really looks as if he lived on nothing but bread
and cheese, draw a line that surpassed Martini's in its perf ectness?"
Eueene It }! Suh°rd)n^ m^lY a Piece de resistance, my dear
Eugene. It is no work of art. Your acquaintance Bergault commands more technique than heart, which is the soul of aft "
t0 ics of no les
terestbut
«tthe
I hour
h
^
f^Vf
'° the
°ther
P
interest but as
was already
late,
two friends,
a half *hour
or so later, retired for the night.
th* 'JheJ°nowfS
da
y
was Sunda
y- The slowly rising sun flooded
ltS
rayS
e^of WhfaTh H "I"
I
' f°rminS "rable patch
es of light and shade along the tree-bordered pavements As it was
still quite early, the street was almost desertedof any mting objlct
gHmmere f the sun
etrateteui^
""*"•
!! *" of
H*
£~
etrated
through the open
windows
the chamber.° His companion, who slept m the same room, was still soundly sleeping The
dressed quietly, not wishing to disturb him
The beautiful morning did not appeal in vain to Armand for
P0CketS
mergS
itT"
7°" "?
^
' ^immediately
Thortiy emerged from
the apartment
house
into "the^street. He
turned his footsteps east towards the Place de la Con orl in the
LuL^neElySCeS'
WhCre hC t0 k
°
^ «*«
baro
^e to the Bois de
Arriving at his destination, he dismissed the carriage after mv
ing the fare The section of the Bois in which hTZnT^i
wa provided with numerous benches, and one of these, which flank
ed the smooth roadway he selected with a keen sense of enjoyment
The immense park, with its forest-like stillness and placid lakTaJ'
ways reminded him of the valley of the Orne in No^mTndy which
explained the strong fascination the Bois held for hinT
For a half hour or more he sat almost motionless ^azine- il
ternately at the lucent sky and then at the crysj^^llt
�58
THE SYRIAN WORLD
rored the vast blue firmament. A heavy peace prevaded him.
y
r otte
He
hat he Was to attend
ChJu f J° #
V .
^ormng services at the
Church of St. Eustache with his friend. The boundless dome of
heaven held mute communion with him, and imbued in him a spirit
P
of sublimity that the Church could never hope to inspire.
I he staccato hoof beats of carriage horses awakened him from
ceive^Z' "K g/ancing somewhat confusedly about him he perceived that a bench near him was occupied by a grave, elderly inB^vardkr0
*
atte tlVely reading an illus
"
^ted edition of the
A gust of wind, that came with fitful suddenness, blew through
the park and passing by them greedily snatched a loose section of
the paper that the man was reading and carried it whirling
to the
s
roadway, a few feet away.
At that moment a handsome carriage, drawn by two coal-black
horses, rounded the curve in the road and swiftly approached the
th£ Sheet
^ardLTf?
^d listlessly
rTf in
• SuddenJy
'rthfBout
vardier, that stirred
the middle of the road,
was caught
It* C*{nCl0US Wn!d and whirled daringly in front of the car^T /l SU/pnsed Jorses reared in bright at the unknown menlv tn t
tUPu 'thC Camage aS they SWUn& mad]y and violently to the right the mutinous paper still supported by the breeze
against their quivering legs. Subdued gasps of nervous fear soun^
ed from the back of the vehicle as the coachman was partly
thrown
y Lnruwn
from his seat by the plunge.
Eugene Armand instantly came to life and bounded towards
the carriage. With a quick upward thrust of his arm, and at cont0 h
hmbS h
SSt aPnd Jerked
' 5 gfaSped the bHdle 0f the horseon
t L
downward
"S
s with all his strength
d Wn!
respondThi*^^ °
" h? shouted> « he felt the horse
respond to his straining arm, and almost instantly the other animal
ceased its plunging, which enabled him to pick up the sheet of nws
paper from under them and crumble it in his hand
Perceiving that the coachman had regained control of his chareS e hlS h
th£ bridle and Ste
£d back t0
men?
t he intention
t f °%
*c pavfment, ;th
with the
of resuming his seatPP
Avoice, however, from the carriage arrested him
Oh, monsieur! be so gracious as to permit us to thank von for
S^f the efe 0f *« - octants, a hfndtriad0;
tone "turn W STST '**• madame'" said A and, « an embarrassed
tone, turning to the carnage and removing his hat; "the service was
�'tAPRILy.1932
59
nothing."
"Indeed, monsieur, I am sure that you saved us from a very
likely'accident, and find myself unable to thank you enough/'
the elderly lady continued, smiling at the attractive Armand, who
bowed in a somewhat diffident manner at this further acknowledghnrJ^i/i^ monsieVr> why y°u shouted 'Guichard' at the
horse you held?" mquired the other occupant of the carriage a
young woman who was extremely lovely in her early maturity
1 own a horse by that name, and it came unconsciously to my
ma em
lk
Ww
H and
Tsmiling
', ^atanSWCred
' dwdlin
g With
^certainty on me
last
word,
the lovely
face of
the girl
sistedlf eld^y" ^ ** ^ "^ ~'" P*
returl^wlng^n * * °f *"*
t0
^ ^^'
the lady said in d
mg EZ&gsr-*
A
rd
«d
~> ° -
"Good-morning, mesdames," Armand said, with another bow
but this belied his mental agitation.
1
'
h*d nl^ f^^ Wh° °CCUpied the bench a ]ittle distance away
hk SUr rise at the swift
of
"T^
or e^entfthTf
events that almost/resulted
in ^
an accident.P He arose from^
his
seat and^proachedArmand, nervously rolling his papTr tocher
Ah! to think that it was due to my carelessness, monsieur " the
elderly gentleman said, striking the newspaper lightly again'st Ss
"You were scarcely to blame, monsieur," Armand protested
smiling in sympathy at the old man, who was evidentlyy taking'the
incident quite to heart.
<-iK.mg me
"Indeed, I hold myself responsible, monsieur. Your brave
actions alone averted a serious mishap," and nodding, with an <Z
pression of gratitude on his thin, deeply lined face, he passed
on to
P
wards the other side of the lake.
Eugene Armand immediately forgot the old man as he disappeared from view, for the beautiful features of the younger of the
two occupants of the carriage were envisioned before htdream n*
eyes, as he imagined that she was again speaking to him drCammg
�I
\
60
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Still dreaming, he withdrew the sketching pad from his pocket,
and, taking a pencil from another, he began to draw with feverish
haste, as if fearful of losing his inspiration.
It was almost midday when Eugene Armand returned to his
rooms in the Rue Romondre. Maurice Barany was out, as he expected. The excursion to the Bois had so sharpened his appetite
that he almost decided to visit the "L'Ecole," a restaurant in the
Latin quarter that catered to students exclusively, without waiting
for his companion's return. But an inner prompting dispelled this
feeling, and, as he removed his jacket and boots to employ the more
comfortable lounge-jacket and slippers, his eyes centered on the
pencil-sketch of his friend which he had not as yet removed from
the easel.
Armand replaced the finished canvas in the closet and withdrew one which was still untouched. He then withdrew an artist's
palette and a wooden case in which he kept his pigments and brushes. He adjusted the canvas on the easel and immediately began to
spread the pigments on the palette. He remembered the sketchbook in the discarded coat, but he felt that he had no need of it. His
hands trembled slightly as he applied the base to the canvas. Gradually, however, his nerves settled under the habitual instinct of the
artist, and soon he was working with the earnestness and ease of one
familiar with his medium.
At two o'clock that same afterncvn, Maurice Barany walked
into the study with a barely perceptible smile on his lips.
His
thoughts so prevailed over his perceptions that he did not at first
notice his friend, still very much immersed in his work.
"Oh! a Gargantuan worker thou art becoming, O desecrator
of the Sabbath," he greeted in his airy fashion.
Eugene Armand looked up from his canvas and gave his friend
a somewhat embarrased smile.
"Explain your running off this morning, my dear Eugene?"
demanded Barany, with assumed severity.
"Your offence was
doubly rude, for this ^norning it was my intention to introduce you
to the best and most beautiful girl in the world."
"Being ignorant of your kind intentions, I hope you will forgive me," answered Armand, smiling again, and reflecting that there
were at least two queens of beauty in the world.
"Well, being unfortunately both poet and artist, you could
hardly be blamed for succumbing to the beautiful morning, so you
are excused, my friend," Barany pronounced graciously, as he advanced towards his companion.
1
�V
^APRIL, 1932
61
«j
Not now; some other time, Maurice," Eugene Armand said,
holding his hand up as if to stop his friend's advance. His voice
quivered slightly and his face flushed uncomfortably
"Ah! something unusual, Eugene?" Barany questioned, his interest awakened.
"Yes; you shall see later," the other said, evasively, forcing
his attention to his work, and all the while uncomfortably conscious
ol the piqued curiosity of his companion.
The following week proved to be very exacting for the two
friends m the Rue Romondre. Several foreign professors and lecturers were scheduled to appear at the Medical College during the
week which necessitated extra hours of annotative work. It was
therefore not strange that Maurice Barany grew alternately despondent and djsgusted because he could not devote more of his time
to Mademoiselle Ronsard, who, to his further chagrin, did not al-
iJr '° T ,an *rr
fr m WS W rL
°,
°
His
companion, on the
other hand, developed a peculiar reticence that so differed from his
generally equable disposition that even Barany, in mental anguish
at the short separations from his betrothed, noticed the changef and
remarked about his frequent absences from the college
environs
6
during recess periods.
During these absences, Eugene Armand would either hurry to
his rooms to devote a feverish hour or two to the near-completed
canvas, or have himself driven to the Bois, where he wandered about aimlessly, peering anxiously at the numerous carriages and
witTtheyh
,T,nd' nStqUfntly' had fallen ^sperately in love
with the beautiful girl he had met under so unusual circumstances,
and visited the park with the hope of seeing her again. But in thf
teZST"" ' "** "" *"" ^^ " ^ ^Ve**^
h. m?\e/ftern°t?n' returning from ^e Bois to the lecture hall,
he met Maurice Barany m the corridor, and greeted him with foreed cheerfulness.
Barany frowned as he recalled that he had not seen his comvtn!T A°V I
^ tW° hJ°UrS °r m°re- But this sentiment instantly
vanished when he noticed the flushed features of his friend, and the
nervous movements of his lips and hands
he J^W6' T 3/e T T11'" hC Said> his uneasiness increasing as
he felt his friend's forehead, which was hot and dry. "Come with
me, he commanned, taking Eugene Armand's arm with the intention of returning to their rooms in the Rue Romondre
Oh, I am quite well, Maurice; you are mistaken," Armand
�\
62
THE SYRIAN WORLD
protested, mildly; but under the vigorous persistence of his companion he went along, without will enough to resist.
In their rooms, Maurice Barany assisted his friend in removing
his clothing, after which he gave him a mild paregoric to alleviate
the fever. He then forced Armand in bed. During all this time
he 'chattered incessantly, scolding his companion for abusing his
health with his mysterious absences, for he ascribed his condition to
that source.
"No reading, no meditating," he ordered his friend, who could
not resist a weak smile at these precise instructions. "This-will be
difficult, Eugene, for man is essentially a meditating animal," Barany
continued, in his prosy way. "Relax as our eminent countryman
Delsarte has taught us and you will be as well as ever in no time."
After Barany had left to return to his lecture periods, Armand
relaxed in bed as best as he could, but as to stop meditating, he not
only found it difficult, but impossible. For a half hour or more he
moved about restlessly, for as soon as his thoughts would dwell on
the ever-persistent memory that haunted him, he would determinedly change his position in bed in an effort to forget. Realizing the
utter futility of his intentions, he finally arose from his bed, and,
clad in his robe de chambre, he made his way slowly to the study.
He unlocked the door of the closet in which he kept his supplies
and withdrew the almost completed canvas. For several minutes
he gazed with passionate longing at the beautiful features that were
delineated in the pure lines of maidenhood. An ethereal fragrance
seemed to emanate from the lifeless face, and he trembled as he
visualized the proximity of his infatuations.
With an effort he aroused himself from the enervating stupor.
Methodically, he adjusted the canvas on the easel, and, taking the
palette and brush in his hands, he began without pause to apply the
careful sympathetic touches that mark the perfect finish.
The time passed so swiftly under the dominant influence of
the work before him that he was almost startled to hear the deskclock strike the hour of four. With a last, barely perceptible touch
of his brush, he hurriedly replaced the evidences of his labors and
returned to his bed in the next room.
He did not realize his utter exhaustion until he had pulled the
bed covers over him. A great weariness, accompanied by a benumbed sensation of his limbs, enveloped him. As he felt himself succumbing to a lethargic drowsiness, he heard the outer door open.
Maurice Barany rushed into the study, threw his books aside
on a table, and entered the bedchamber with a smile on his hand-
M
u
II
�^^/Z, 1932
63
some face.
large'^v^'fro^t"^: "If* m^"^ withdrawing a
bedsid
"Never^e
Man'rice> tjT'^
VS '"^
erT Mau
his old
spirit.
Eugene rephed,
with a touch *-of
T
? W°ndered> •*"»»
whatlZed'lr^t^^r-
tographers, wh"e 1 had eft Zt
T ff my lb r PhsSy's> the Ph°P
ment The s,Vh?nf (,
li L
'° °
« othed for enlarge0
0
he added, ncintfofa^le^J
^' > am P°sit»<'
aS he "^
hdrw
ments from the envekpe
'
<
of the enlargeuprigh? h,nbyedmiled
a8am
"
hC h3nded h
<°
his
*<=nd, who now sa,
paUorESlfffu:ed a„ird\teekPsh0tdTPh, ^ ha"dS'
ed with fever-strickXestthrplctu;: ^ "^
A d
^y
aS he
^
her Wdi
friend," excrmed%
w^hVeThelmed With
"-> Y
Kis a entio from
other photographs which he 1 """""I
"
"
*e
Do you wjsh to see the rest, Eugene ?»
Pardon, Maurice j I feel tired "
P
ed and^ef ZeotXS ^ *> ""** "* ^
fa
« -rt-
xiety"Irk"" ^ ^"^ E^>" Ba J -id, his anI
f r a m Unti f
took
L^cSk
Mdtf
Mrs
T
^
° „ ° "« »«
from him. As the hour of d
'
"8 " °"ght of rest
d,Spe,1,
I;
If
1
a
th
had become so rri al tha, he tl apP ached> Ar "d>s condition
sieur Alphonse K^£ 'Sto"^ 3 ,d**n * M°-
h
se
5
rushed from the apart
">«ttte
Si»ce
:ra
Sv^
r
I doctotoZf. Physaan.
h
summons for the
Loving a hurried
the nearest tel^aph office wheT^ P'^TT'^ PTOeeded to
to Monsieur Armand
d,spatched a detailed message
|-*&?Xtt3»JM; n
had responded somewhat to his treatment
ound th doc
P
°°r
? ;
fnend
�64
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Towards noon, Barany received a laconic telegram from Monsieur Armand to the effect that he could be expected to arrive by
motor at the earliest possible hour.
Having by this time recovered a degree of his wonted composure, and knowing that his companion was in good hands, he left
for the Medical College, where he explained his friend's absence
and obtained for himself temporary leave of absence from his lecture periods. Finding that he could spare a little time from his
friend's bedside, he paid a hurried call at Madame Ferrande's residence, where his betrothed was visiting.
Late that night, an expensive motor sedan stopped suddenly
before the apartment house in the Rue Romondre. A tall, distinguished-looking man emerged from the tonneau and immediately
ascended the short series of concrete steps that led to the apartment
entrance. Before he could ring the bell, however, the door was
opened, and to his surprise and evident pleasure he was admitted by
Maurice Barany, who had been patiently waiting for his arrival.
"My dear boy, I am indeed glad to see you," Monsieur Armand greeted, embracing Barany with fatherly affection. "But my
son—how is he?" he broke off, a worried look in his eyes.
"As well as could be expected, Sir," Barany answered, leading
his friend's father up the carpeted stairs. "The fever is checked,
and he is resting quietly."
The meeting of father and son, after the later had awakened
and with difficulty recognized his parent, was tender, and to Barany's
sentimental nature almost unbearable to witness.
Under the skillful care of his father and the local physician
who first attended him, and who was still nominally in charge of
the case, Eugene Armand was out of bed in a week's time and apparently on the way to complete convalescence.
Monsieur Armand, with the usual acumen of medical men,
had in part guessed the real cause of his son's illness, for though
Eugene seemed to improve rapidly his spirit and former jovial disposition was very evidently affected by some secret burden. To his
further enlightenment, it did not require much persuasion to get his
son to return with him to Rouen.
Maurice Barany missed his friend's presence very deeply, but
being under an even more potent influence, that of Mademoiselle
Ronsard, whose stay in Paris was drawing to a close, he did not feel
his companion's absence as he might have.
The following Sunday Maurice Barany assisted his fiancee from
Madame Ferrande's carriage, which was driven to his apartment-
i
i.
Ii
li
�g^wnwiiiiijjmi', aim xmu
-APRIL, 1932
65
house after church services, where they had gone without Madame
Merrande, who, because of a slight indisposition, had been unable
to accompany them. Getting Henriette's approval, Barany dismissed the carnage with instructions that they would follow later.
Maurice had promised his fiancee that he would show her the
penal portrait his friend had executed some time ago, and had
chosen the present occasion to fulfill the promise. They were both
relieved that the hall-ways were deserted, for both laughingly realized their utter disregard for propriety.
Reaching his rooms on the second floor, Barany unlocked the
outer door that led into the study, which they entered, leaving the
door open. After drawing a chair for his companion, he went to
the closet in which Eugene kept his supplies. He withdrew what
he thought to be the canvas he was looking for, but to his surprise
it proved to be two canvases tightly bound together. With a small
pocket knife he cut the cord as he walked back to where Mademoiselle Ronsard was seated.
As Barany parted the canvases, a sheet of folded stationary
paper dropped to the floor. He bent over and picked it up, and
seeing his name written in his friend's handwriting on the paper
knew that it was intended for him. Placing the canvases on the
mahogany table, he began to read the letter, for so it proved to be,
while his companion regarded him with questioning eyes.
A look of astonishment and pain overspread his fine features
as he continued to read, as if fascinated by the intelligence that was
being revealed in the letter.
The sheet of paper suddenly dropped from his nerveless fingers.
"What is it, Maurice?" Mademoiselle Ronsard cried, her
beautiful face becoming pale.
Without replying, Maurice took up in his hands the uppermost canvas and turned it over. His incredulous eyes stared blankly at the exquisitely painted delineation of Henriette Ronsard
Meeting the bewildered gaze of his betrothed, he handed the canvas to her without uttering a word. As she examined her portrait,
her bewildered comprehension growing on her, Barany went to the
next room and returned immediately with a recent photograph
of
to
Eugene Armand.
_
"Do you know him, Henriette?" he asked, in a voice not entirely under control.
Mademoiselle Ronsard's face tensed as she took the photograph in her hand.
�66
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"Yes, I know him, Maurice," she answered slowly, with dawning understanding. "It is the young man who bravely came to our
assistance in the park." Her breast rose gently and her eyes filled
with tears.
"Then it is to him, unknown to me all this time, that I owe
your precious life," Barany exclaimed with tender passion, taking
his sweetheart in his arms and clasping her to him.
After a while Barany regained possession of the letter from
the floor and gave it to Henriette.
_ "My dear Maurice," she read silently, her bosom still heaving
with emotion, "be not astonished when the full meaning of this
letter dawns upon you. Through a capricious turn of fortune I
was happily able to render a slight service to Madame Ferrande and
her niece Henriette Ronsard, of whose identity at the time I
was totally 111 ignorance. In a lighter mood, you will remember,
you predicted that I should fall in love with your fiancee, and so it
proved. Losing my head completely, I fell madly in love with
f Cr.'ua t°v j ?!?,nger' U"erly unknown to me, but apparently, even
to the blind Milton, an angel of goodness and beauty. It was during that chance meeting in the park that I conceived the idea of preserving her likeness on canvas, the morbid perseverance of which
was the ultimate cause of my illness. Being unable to possess the
original, I cherished, with ever-increasing passion, the form and
spirit that I had transposed to the lifeless canvas. Learning her
identity, on that fateful day, I was levelled to the earth with remorse and pain and, being already in a weakened state, succumbed
to the fever. The memory of the pure love that was inspired by
her, your future wife, has finally cleansed all taint of my passion.
It is because of the supreme joy that I now feel in the most
deserving happiness that has come to both of you, the finest of women and the best of men, my friend, whose friendship I value above
everything else, that I have written this confession to you "
Henriette was crying softly as she finished the letter, and lookSSnovS*0
C mpanion S face saw that
°
'
motion had not left him
&JS »S PlightC(i US aS ?° Priestly father could h*ve done,
Henriette," Barany said in a soft voice, clasping his sweetheart again
her hlw7 /? f°r Y°Z S!k£' Maurice>" his betrothed murmured,
ineffable
" ^^ ^^^^~^thcr^l-l
Is
I i
i
Ifi
I mon
I the <
�*4PRIL, 1932
67
EDITORIAL COMMENT
NAOUM A. MOKARZEL
The editor of the SYRIAN
V\ ORLD mourns in the editor of
AJ-Hoda not only a beloved
brother but the pioneer and dean
of the Syrian journalistic fraternity m America. His loss is irreparable. He not onlv built a
great institution but was himself
a Jiving one in the life of the SyrS18 and ^^ese immigrants.
He was first and foremost in
nnfV ^°Vrement of social and
political reform, of spiritual or
Ju
^,ckeni»g, of charity
and benevolence, of moral uplift
and guidance. He was as brave
as he was kind. If ever he succumbed to human weakness, his
readiness to make amends, even
his Augustinian humility in making public confession, constituted
sufficient atonement. The pages
of Al-Hoda, though masterpiece*
I or Lterary creations, are even
r t0 be ad
I
\
red for reflecting
II cruZdmgandunrele^nginhis
a usades against corruption, yet
t.reless_ m his prosecution and
promotion of those causes which
redounded to the benefit and
I happmess of his fellowmen.
To mourn a relative is human,
but it is equally within the sphere
or the higher human concept to
sense the loss of one who was
near and dear to the heart of the
greater humanity. N. A. Mokarzel was such a man. He be Wto
imme°Hre,t0 ^mily
?f°ple than
He toiJehis
that his public might rest: he
suffered that they might enjoy"
he exposed himself to danger
hT h
5
" is who? ,"?ight
-
d
be
P
Jiis whole life was an epic of devofcon to the public weal. Such
men are rare, and their lofty example is a guiding beacon for
those who follow in the arduous
*ay of public service. Their
Jives are an inspiration.
Thev
supply the influence that shapes
he destinies of nations and spSr
^o worthler and higher achieve
Sltuatlo
suW
»s, the family
submerges lts personal feelingl
m the greater gHef wh.ch g_
euJf a nation. There is consolaJ.on m the fact that the sense of
loss is universal.
N
ay, there can even be a
contentment and elation in the
realization of having giVen £
Wwild such
a worthy man Be
who T °f *? men' those men
ptsist
rlndSerVeandachieve
Persist on the earth by their in
s-dered ever hvmg. Such public
g«attenuates the persona" lo
of the immediate family
Perhaps it is not for the edi-
�II IIIMIIMill I
\
68
tor of this publication to acclaim
N. A. Mokarzel the greatest
public figure yet produced by the
Syrians in America, but historyis bound to render such a verdict.
Trained under his able guidance, and having served with him
for nearly two decades in the exacting and trying duties of publishing Al-Hoda, the editor of
the SYRIAN WORLD shall ever
cherish the memory of N. A.
Mokarzel, not only as a beloved
and only brother, but as a guide
and mentor in the bitter-sweet
duty of public service. The
means might be varied but the
goal is' the same. That which is
planted in the heart early in life
will continue as the controlling
motive throughout the years.
Self-dedication to public service,
in the cause of which the late editor of Al-Hoda laid down his
life, a voluntary martyr to selfimposed duty, should be the most
fitting testimonial to the love and
admiration for the unselfish patriot, the able leader, and the beloved brother.
?
B
THE SYRIAN WORLD
NO MARCH ISSUE
Insurmountable difficulties rendered
impossible the publication of the
March number of The Syrian World
on time. Under the circumstances we
had planned to issue a double number
combining these of March and April,
but it was discovered that Post Office
regulat;ons did not permit if such an
arrangement for publications enjoying second-class postal privileges,
and in conformity with these regulations the March issue had to be omitted, and the serial number of that issue "made applicable to the April issue, thus insuring the proper sequence.
For the loss of the March number
we have made an attempt to compensate subscribers by an increase in
the volume of the present number,
with the further intention of making
whatever additional compensation in
the future condit;ons will permit.
Our readers will realize that we are
straining every effort to live up to
our obligations despite adverse conditions. But we feel that in this there
must be some display of reciprocity.
We would be in a much better position to fulfill their highest expectations of punctuality were they equally
punctual in living up to their obligations. Even the stronger publications
are feeling the weight of the depression, and with a class publication like
The Syrian World, having only a limited appeal, conditions must be proportionately harder. But it is up to
A SAD DUTY
It was our intention to make this that class to vindicate its public spirit
issue a memorial number to Gibran and culture by adequately supporting
on the occasion of the first anniver- its public institutions in times of
Surely no public enterprise
sary of his death. Fate, however, or- stress.
dained that the same issue should can forever be maintained by the limserve as double memorial to the two ited resources of an individual, and if
distinguished Syrians who died with- the Syrians in America look upon
in a year of each other. We trust The Syrian World as a worthy pubthat the two portraits in color in- lic enterprise, they will realize that it
cluded in this issue will be especially cannot thrive on mere lip approbation.
appreciated by our readers.
�*APRIL,1932
69
Political Developments in Syria
SYRIAN NATIONALISTS
WIN DEFERRED ELECTIONS.
Conflicting reports have reached this
country about the Syrian elections
which took place on the 31st of March.
According to an Associated Press dispatch, riots broke out in Damascus,
several persons being killed and many
more wounded. But this seems to be
unfounded, or else must have referred
to later events, following on the fateful elections.
On the contrary, from the Damascus
correspondent of Lisan-ul-Hal (Beirut) it appears that the elections were
carried on peacefully, with no disquieting incidents to disturb the election day, despite the military precautions taken by the Mandatory government. Indeed, it seems that the government in control had anticipated
riots and bloodshed, as actually took
place on the deferred elections on the
20th of Dec. Soldiers in full arms
were stationed in groups at short distances in the different streets and
quarters of the ancient city; machine
gun detachments, mounted on armorplated cars moved through the crowded thoroughfares and bazaars, and
heavy guards surrounded the election
booths to protect the election officers
and prevent any violent interference
with the balloting.
Whether these extreme precautions
in themselves were an effective deterrent of violence and bloody disturbances, or were altogether exaggerated, if not unnecessary, cannot be determined at this distance. It should
be said, however, that M. Henri Pon-
sot, French High Commissioner in
Syria, declared more than once
through 'his representatives, and in an
official communique several days before the election, that the French authorities have no intention whatsoever
of interfering in the pending elections,
which it was solemnly promised will
be allowed to proceed freely, to determine the true wishes of the Syrian people.
The result was that, with the exception of five candidates, one of them a
thorcugh-going Nationalist on an independent ticket, the winners of the
Syrian election were all candidates of
the "Nationalist Block". The three
independent candidates who also won
are: Haqqi Bey al-Azm, Mohammed
All Bey al-Abed, Nazih Bey al-Muayyad, Farid Effendi al-Hajjar and
Fawzi Bey al-Bakri. Of these Nazih
Bey al-Muayyad was until less than
two years ago an exile in Cairo,
Egypt, being one of the leaders of the
revolution which raged in Syria for
two full years before it was finally
put down. He is also a brother-inlaw of Dr. Abdul-Rahman al-Shahbandar, the foremost civilian revolutionary leader often referred to as the
"brains of the Syrian revolution."
This in itself is evidence that the
French authorities were earnest in
their promise of impartiality.
Although there is also ample evidence
that representatives of the Mandatory
held numerous conferences, negotiations and pourparlers with leaders of
the Nationalist Block before such a
promise of impartiality was given out
in an unmistakable manner.
�70
-
-
A few days before the elections, a
Damascus correspondent of a Beirut
daily, announced "the good news" to
his paper that final and definite agreement between leaders of the Nationalist Block and representatives of the
Mandatory representatives in Damascus had been reached on the candidates
to be put in the field. On the basis of
this "agreement" the Nationalist
Block decided finally "to enter the
elections", and some of them at once
declared their candidacy publicly.
With nr'sunderstandings and difficulties thus removed, the candidates of
the Nationalist Block sailed into an
easy and triumphant victory.
One result of the elections wh'ch
occasioned some surprise was the ignominious defeat of Shaykh Taj-udDin al-Hasani, son of the influencial
religious leader of Damascus, Shaykh
Badr-ud-Din al-Hasani, sometimes
styled "the pope of the Moslems", a
title he has won as the foremost Muhaddith,
or
traditionist
and
authority on Moslem jurisprudence.
Shaykh Taj-ud-Din himself was chosen
by the French authorities, with the
supposed approval of the Syrian Nationalists, as head of the Syrian Government after the revolution. But his
equivocal position caused him to be
accused by the Nationalists as an opportunist anxious to be always on the
safe side with the French authorities.
It is almost unbelievable that this influential citizen of Damascus, whose
star of ascendancy was so 'high in the
political sky of Syria up to six months
ago, d:d not receive a single vote, not
even in his own electoral district. But
such 1S the report from Damascus,
which, it is said, "attracted attention
and amazed many."
Another who failed of election was
Riza Pasha al-Rikabi, a dubious character in Syrian politics, who, it was
declared on several occasions, was
THE SYRIAN WORLD
working for the monarchist cause, and
the placing of a member of the Sharifian family, presumably ex-King AH,
son of King Husein and brother of
King Feisal and Emir Abdullah, on
the Syrian throne. At one time it was
rumored that the French authorities
themselves were in favor of such a
solution to the Syrian question, but
later reports contradicted this rumor.
It is, however, quite poss:ble that the
French were and are still in favor of
such a solution which would win them
the powerful sentiment of pan-Arabism throughout the Arabic-speaking
world. But the Syrian Nationalists
have so far steered clear of monarchical entanglements, and declared emphatically for a republican form of
government in Syria. Even in Aleppo,
where the monarchical sentiment is
said to be strong, the Syrian monarchists are in a decided m'nority.
Now it remains to be seen what the
Nationalists will make out of their
victory in the secondary elections.
Will they come to another impasse
with the Mandatory Power, resulting
in another dissolution of the Syrian
parliament, or will they continue their
friendly understanding with it? Much
of the latter alternative depends as
much on the attitude of the French
Foreign Ministry in Paris as on the
attitude of the Syrian Nationalists
themselves. For the latter have not
renounced their fundamental purpose
of attaining complete independence for
Syria, on the basis of substituting the
mandatory form of control for an amicable treaty between independent Syria and the French Nation, a status
which is already in existence and operation in neighboring Iraq, formerly
under British mandate and now an independent state, recognized as such by
the League of Nations, with British
interests and prerogatives in Iraq
guaranteed by an iron-clad treaty.
�'<JPRIL, 1932
LEBANESE POLITICS CENTER
ON THE PRESIDENCY
71
group in that country and claim that
it is only right that a president should
be
chosen from among them. For alThe race for the presidency is monothough
church and state are supposed
polizing the field in Lebanese politics
to
be
separated
in that mandated rethese days. There are agitated, ferpublic,
sectarianism
still constitutes a
vous, almost frenzied activities which
center on one single idea, one single large and important factor in the fashand undivided purpose: Who shall be ioning and direction of political opinion where for untold generations polithe next president of the Republic?
tics
was recognized as a sectarian isSince its creation in 1926, the Lebsue,
and
where officials were chosen to
anese Republic has had one president,
Hon. Charles Dabbas, who has ful- represent their different sectarian confilled the functions of his office as stituencies instead of the people at
large.
best as can be done within the numerBesides these three in the circles of
ous hedges and limitations imposed on
Lebanese
politics there are others who
him from inside and outside—from a
might
be
termed
as "dark horses," and
constitution patterned on that of the
who,
in
case
of
a
deadlock, may turn
French which leaves little for the chief
the
balance
in
the
favor
of one if them.
executive to do, and from the ManTwo
of
these
dark
horses
whose names
datory Power which has not completehave
been
mentioned
oftenest
in the
ly relinquished its authority on that
1
little republic even in internal matters. press are Hon. Mohammed al-Jisr,
The original presidential term of the President of the Chamber of Deputies,
Lebanese Republic was three years, and Dr. Ayoub Thabit. The first is a'
in accordance with which Hon. Charles' Moslem with a powerful backing of
Dabbas was reelected in 1929. Now, the Moslem constituency in Beirut,
an amendment has been made in the Sidcn, Tripoli and other centers where
constitution extending the president- the Moslem population is large or preial term to six years, and the prem- dominates. The latter is a Protestant,
ium for that office has consequently representing minority groups in Lebrisen in the market of politics in a anon, an intelligent and progressive
country where "the office" has always gentleman who spent a number of
meant so much, and where a govern- years in the United States working for
ment official is vested with a halo of the cause of Lebanon and the French
dignity and importance foreign to our mandate during the war. As soon as
conceptions and ideas in this country the war was over he left for Lebanon
where business leads and politics fol- where he played an important role as
iov.'.
a minister of the interior a few years
ago.
According to the welter of political
And while the chances of Dr. Ayoub
articles incessantly pouring out from
ThaMt may be called at this writing
the editorial offices of the Beirut press,
only nebulous, those of Shaykh Mothree names loom out as those of the
hammed al-Jisr are taking more and
loading candidates. These are: Hon
more definite shape, which fact has
Emil Eddy, Hon. Bishara Khoury and
given much apprehension to the three
Habib Pasha al-Saad, all former premoriginal candidates.
iers and members of the Chamber of
That is how the situation stands
Deputies. All also happen to belong
among the Lebanese politicians themto one sect in Lebanon, the Maronites,
selves, and within the circles of the
who constitute the largest sectarian
members of the Lebanese Assembly
�I
If
I!
Si-
I
7.2
One may legitimately ask, "But what
is the popular opinion of the people
themselves?" And since the election
rests not on popular choice but on
that of the Assembly, following the
French system where the Chamber and
Senate choose the president, the question is merely an idle one. However,
one ingenious and progressive newspaper, al-Ahrar, taking a clue from
cur illustrious Literary Digest, undertook a popular or straw-vote campaign
in Lebanon to determine the degree of
popularity of the different candidates
among the Lebanese people themselves, with the following tabulated
results:
Candidates:
Number of Votes:
3781
Emile Eddy
1936
George Bey Thabit
139
Shaykh Mohammed al-Jisr
Dr. Aycub Thabit
279
Habib Pasha al-Saad
167
Shaykh Bishara al-Khoury
67
Jibran al-Tweiny
282
Scattered Votes
399
From which it is only fair to deduce that were it left to the people's
choice Hon. Emile Eddy would most
likely be the next president of the
Lebanon Republic. He has been the
choice of progressives not only in Lebanon but here in the United States
among the Lebanese immigrants who
still feel a strong attachment to, and
sympathy with, the little home of
their origin on the other side of the
Atlantic.
His candidacy was ably
championed by the late Naoum Mokarzel, lamented editor of al-Hoda,
who had never ceased up to the last
minute of his life to wage a bitter war
in his widely read paper against the
reign of chicanery, nepotism, unjustified extravagance and shameless graft
and favouritism that have held the
historic home of the "Maradites" in
the grip of their hands.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
An insight into the honest minds of
the poor tax-payers of Lebanon who,
like Atlas of old, carry the pompous
and onerous burden of what has rightly been called a farcical republic on
their bent shoulders, may be surmised from a casual conversation
which Shikri Bakhash, a progressive
journalist of Zahle and formerly a
resident of New York City, with a
former of al-Buka'.
"And who is your choice for president?", inquired the editor of the
Lebanese farmer.
The latter looked up quizzically and
said: "What have we poor farmers
to do with the choice of a president.
This is a matter in the hands of the
Assembly in Beirut."
"But suppose you were given a voice
in the coming elections, whom would
you vote for," insisted the editor.
"I will vote for the man who will
ease the burden of our heavy taxation, the man who has already demonstrated his solicitous interest for
the common farmer and labourer in
this Mountain, and who firmly carried
out a program of administrative reform and economy when he occupied
the office of premier—and who is this
man save Emile Eddy."
,
FRENCH BARGAIN FOR VOTES?
A Damascus correspondent of a
Beirut newspaper reports on what he
terms a "knowing authority," that the
French authorities have come to a preliminary agreement with the Syrian
nationalists of Damascus to allow the '
latter putting six candidates in the
field for the coming elections, one of
whom would be a Greek Orthodox
candidate, and that the French authorities themselves would name
four candidates, one of whom would
be the other Greek Orthodox candidate!
�tAPRIL, 1932
73
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
NEWS SECTION
VOL. VI NO. 7
SYRIANS RESPOND TO
APPEALS FOR CHARITY
It has been truly said that the present severe depression has been a
blessing in disguise. It has brought
out to the surface our charitable and
brotherly qualities, and made us feel
more keenly and intimately the sufferings of others. Everywhere we go we
see signs and manifestations of this
splendid spirit with which true Americans are combating depression, and
driving the hungry wolves from the
doors of unfortunate ones.
To this general showing of a truly
humanitarian and Christian spirit the
Syrians have made admirable response.
Several Syrian affairs and entertainments whose receipts were designated
for charity and relief purposes have
been held lately all over the United
States, two cf which were held last
month in Brooklyn.
Charity Ball of
American Syrian Federation
The principal affair in the interest
of charity and the creation of a Syrian relief fund, was that held under
the auspices of the American-Syran
Federation at the Elks Club, Brooklyn
on April 16. It was a charity ball and
entertainment, generously supported
by complimentary advertisements to
its souvenir program, and well attended by Syrians of Brooklyn, New York
APRIL, 1932
and the Metropolitan area. The sum
realized by this gala affair for Syrian charity has not been announced,
but it is expected to be commensurate
with the generous donation of time
and labor by the volunteer workers of
the organization.
St. Vincent Holds Dance
On May 1st the Virgin Mary's Conference of St. Vincent de Paul Society
will give a dance and entertainment
in the auditorium of the Knights of
Columbus building. An elaborate program of Syrian music will be supplied,
featuring the talented young singer of
Boston, Miss Najeebee Morad.
Al-Kalimat Entertainment
On the 10th of April al-Kalimat Society, Inc., held an entertainment and
dance at the ballroom of the Knights
of Columbus headquarters on 1 Prospect Park West. The affair was well
attended, the proceeds going to alKal-mat charitable projects in Aleppo.
SYRIAN POLITICIAN HONORED
Our friend George Dagher is a wellknown figure among the Republican
workers and politicians of the city.
He is recognized as a man of ability
and promise. He is the leader of the
1st. Assembly District, Brooklyn, a
high position in local ploitics, and re-
�74
THE SYRIAN WORLD
cently his Assembly District gave a
brilliant affair in Irs honor at the Elks
Club Auditorium in Brooklyn. But
more singular still was the honor tendered him by Republican electors of
his district when it was announced
lately that he has been appointed a
delegate to the Republican National
Convention to be held in Chicago for
the presidential nomination.
A SYRIAN SCIENTIST
-
Among the Syrians who distinguished themselves in the United
States is one who only a few years
ago came to the country as a simple
seeker of knowledge in its many institutions of higher learning. Today
he is a dispenser of knowledge in one
of its principal universities, a promising authority in his field of endeavor,
although still in his thirties.
Michael G. Malti, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at Cornell University, is an unassuming,
noiseless busy man, like most members of his scientific clan. That is why
little has been heard about him. And
we are happy to tell of some of his
achievements.
Chief of these is a book which he
had published in November of 1930,
called "Electric Circuit Analysis,"
and which in this short time has already been adopted as a text-book by
ten colleges and universities, including his own, Cornell. One authority
calles it "one of the best things in its
line that has ever come out."
It is not for us to tell of the contents of this bcok, for it is a technical one dealing with every phase of
electricity. But it has been well received by various reviewers and authorities in the field of electrical engineering, and is declared especially
adaptable to the needs of students.
DRUZE GIRL STUDENT
WINS FELLOWSHIP
Among announcements of the Vassar College faculty, published recently in the New York Times, is one in
which the name of Najla Izzeddin appears as the recipient of an Alumnae
Fellowship of that famous college for
women.
Although Miss Izzeddin is listed as
an Egyptian, she is known to us as a
Syrian by descent. She is the daughter of a Syrian official in the Interior
Department of the Egyptian Government at Cairo. A few years ago,
when she came to this country to continue her studies, American newspapers featured her as "the first Druze
girl to seek a college education." She
made a good record at Vassar, where
she was popular in the social and academic activities of the college. By
her accomplishments, Miss Izzeddin
has helped to dispel a lot of mollycoddle nonsense about the backwardness and helplessness of the women of
the East!
ARABS BOYCOTT
ZIONIST EXPOSITION
A proclamation addressed to "all the
Arabic-speaking peoples in East and
West,': appears in Filistin, an Arabic
paper published in Jaffa, and in other
papers of Palestine and Syria. It is
signed by Rasim al-Khalidi as President of the First Congress of Arab
Youth in Palestine, and contains an
appeal to Arabs everywhere to boycott a proposed exposition to be held
by Zionists in Tel-Aviv. Arab merchants and manufacturers in particular are urged not to enter samples of
their products in the anticipated exposition, nor visit it or hire any space
in it.
�f
-APRIL, 1932
CHARLIE CHAPLIN CAN'T
MAKE SPHINX LAUGH!
On March 10 Charlie Chaplin, dean
of the fun-makers in the movies, paid
his first visit to Egypt., and was "as
'happy as a child," according to his
statement to the newspaper reporters
who met him at Alexandria.
Wherever Charlie went he attracted
big crowds of Egyptian admirers and
curious on-lookers. So much so, the
^gyptian press reports, that he had
to enter Shepherd Hotel, where he
stopped in Cairo, by a ruse, through
-e bac*-door, after climbing a fence.
Somebody told Charlie that there
was one feUow in Egypt who had
never laughed at his jokes, and never
WiH. Charlie did not believe it, and
75
The tragic note in this bankruptcy
;s that investors of large sums had
their loans to the bank secured by
heavy liens, while small investors
had placed implicit trust solely in the
integrity and business ability of the
bankers.
INDUSTRIAL, AGRICULTURAL
EXPOSITION IN BAGHDAD
The Iraq Government contemplates
holding in Baghdad during April according to press reports, an extensive
exposition said to be the largest ever
held m the Near East.
The proposition is said to have been
received with enthusiasm by native
k
v Zas„made- Then th*y t«ok merchants, industrialists and proCnarhe to Giza, made him ride a docile camel, as all tourists do, and ducers, and extensive preparations
were made to insure its success. As
brought him in front of the Sphinx!
an
encouraging sign, of cooperation
Moral: Charlie lost his bet'
among Arabic-speaking countries, it
is further stated that the agriculturists and industrialists of DamasSYRIAN BANK BANKRUPT
cus have given hearty approval of
the Baghdad exposition, and announcWhat is regarded as the "biggest
ed their intention to participate in it.
bankruptcy in Beirut in a long timeOne interesting feature of this exhas been disclosed lately in reports
position will be a baby parade to
coming from that city.
choose the most handsome and healMore than 900 depositors, a large thy specimen of Iraqite babyhood and
proportion of whom of limited means,
crown it "King of Iraqite Babies."
are involved in the sensational bankWho said that Iraq is behind in the
ruptcy of Kiryakos and Zuhair a
race of progressiveness and modernnative bank which had enjoyed the ization ?
confidence and trust of the business
And if Iraq holds a Baby Health
circles of Beirut and other Syrian
Contest, it still has some distance to
cities.
go to catch up with Turkey, nominally
Many of these investors are Syrian
a Moslem country, but which last year
emigrants who had amassed what held a ueauty contest to determine the
would be considered in Syria modest most beautiful girl in the country for
fortunes, and were confident that the
entry in the International beauty conincome from the native bank will en- test.
able them to spend the rest of their
There is no telling what the East
Jives m comparative affluence and secL
is capable of doing now that it has*
urity.
started on its forward march
�76
THE SYRIAN WORLD
gpawaBnaajs^^
Gibran's Message
To Young Americans of SyrianOrigin
By G. K.
GIERAN
Author of "The Trofftel,"
"Jnus ike icn of JSian"
1 believe in you. and I bcliei'e in your destiny.
I believe that you are contributors to this new civilization.
I believe that you have inherited from your forefathers an ancient dream, a song, a prophecy, which you can proudly lay as a gift of gratitude upon the lap of America.
1 believe you can say to the founders of this great nation. 'Here I am. a youth, a young
tree, whose roots were plucked from the hills of Lebanon, yet I am deeply rooted here, and I would
be fruitful."
And I believe that you can say to Abraham Lincoln, the blessed. "Jesus of Nazareth
touched your lips when you spoke, and guided your hand when you wrote; and I shall uphold
all that you have said and all that you have written."
I believe that you can say to Emerson and Whitman and James. "In my veins runs the
blood of the poets and wise men of old, and it is my desire to come to you and receive, but I shall
not come with empty hands."
I believe that even as your fathers came to this land to produce riches, you were born
here to produce riches by intelligence, by labor.
And I believe that it is in you to be good citizens.
And what is it to be a good citizen?
It is to acknowledge the other person's rights before asserting your own. but always to be
conscious of your own.
It is to be free in thought and deed, but it is also to know that your freedom is subject
to the other person's freedom.
It is to create the useful and the beautiful with your own hands, and to admire what others
have created in love and with faith.
It is to produce wealth by labor and only by labor, and to spend less than you have produced th3t your children may not be dependent on the state for support when you are no more.
It is to stand before the towers of New York, Washington. Chicago ?nd San Francisco
saying in your heart. "I am the descendant of a people that builded Damascus, and Biblus, and
Tyre and Sidon. and Antioch, and now I am here to build with you. and with a will."
It is to be proud of being an American, but it is also to be proud that your fathers and
mothers came from a land upon which God laid His gracious hand and raised His messengers.
Young Americans of Syrian origin. I believe in you.
:>/. «•«!
FREE TO SYRIAN WORLD SUBSCRIBERS. This beautiful message by
Gibran 13x17 inches, printed in large type on heavy paper with ornamental border suitable for framing. Every PAID subscriber whose term begins
with Sept. 1931 is entitled to a copy, mailed in heavy cardboard tube. Subscribers whose term begins before Sept. 1931 may secure a copy by renewal.
1
/
�^PRIL, 1932
77
w
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Telephone—MAIN 1398-1399-8130-3655
s:
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73
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�THE LINOTYPE
IN TURKEY
The spirit of progress that is permeating the thought and action of
modern Turkey is nowhere better illustrated than in the decision of the
Turkish government to use the Linotype for type composition. The government's lead in installing two Linotype machines in its printing office
was quickly followed by the leading publishers of the country, so that
within the course of a year, twelve Linotypes were put in operation in
four of the principal printing establishments in Istanbul. In one particular instance, a battery of eight machines are now in operation, the
first unit having been bought in 1928, followed by the addition of four
machines in 1929, and three in 1930-eloquent proof of the thorough
satisfaction of the publishers with the operation of the Linotype.
The following is the significantly imposing list of Linotypes now in
operation in Istanbul, which is a sure indication of the Eastern nations'
awakening to the most potent means of accelerating progress by the
spread of culture through the printed word:
Government Printing Office
Yunus Nadi Bey, "Cumhuriyet"
Journal D'Orient
Kazim Chinassi Bey and Necmettin Sadik Bey "Journal
Akcham"
Hamit Matbaasi
2 Linotypes
8 Linotypes
2 Linotypes
i Linotype
l Linotype
^TRADE ^| f^ DTYPE MARK*)
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An illustrated descriptive catalog
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of the Ambjc Unotype Mnf
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t-l« /«jl c--lT
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Ji •<LJ\
• oO^U o^ix ^jXi* L Ojpjaj" -15 Jj^'bj
h>
So^»j ^ j,
pUV,
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o^i! \ ^ Y^ ^ J L^Cj JU^YI J—
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IERGENTHALER LINOTYPE COMPANY
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Coble:
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Representatives in the Principal Cities of the World
Set in Metro No. 2 Family
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
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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
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
TSW1932_04reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 06, Issue 07
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1932 April
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 6 Issue 07 of the Syrian World published April 1932. The issue opens with an apology for the absence of a March issue, and an explanation that as a result the April issue is longer. The first article featured is by H. I. Katibah in which he discusses the challenge to the younger generation, specifically in relation to Western ideals and philosophies. This is followed by poetry edited by Barbara Young. This issue specifically features several articles related to the death of Al-Hoda editor Naoum A. Mokarzel, who is described as a great Syrian leader for his literary and political accomplishments. Following a number of tributes and a poem by Alice Mokarzel dedicated to her uncle, N. A. Mokarzel, there is an article that discusses the anniversary of Kahlil Gibran's death, followed by a number of other articles that discuss Gibran and his works. Following a classic Arab tale, there is more of Edna K. Saloomey's discussion about the younger generation. Thomas Asa closes out the issue with a short story titled "The Portrait." The issue concludes with more on political developments in Syria and excerpts from Syrian world news.
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
Alice Mokarzel
Barbara Young
Edna K. Saloomey
Habib I. Katibah
Kahlil Gibran
kk
New York
Poetry-English
Thomas Asa