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VOL. IV. No. 6.
FEBRUARY, 1930
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THE
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SYRIAN WORLD
A
MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
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AR-RAZI AND HIS MILLENIAL CELEBRATION
DR. F. I. SHATARA
II
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A DISCIPLE IN NOMADISM AND WISDOM
AMEEN RIHANI
THE OLD CRIMINAL
RAJAH F. HOWRANI
1
FROM THE DOG RIVER TO THE CEDARS
SALLOUM A. MOKAKZEL
MAGGIE AND JOE (A SHORT STORY)
LABEEBEE A. J. HANNA
THE COPY 50c
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�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
Tublished monthly by
SALLOUM
A.
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies 50c.
Entered as second-class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
FEBRUARY, 1930
VOL. IV. No. 6.
CONTENTS
PAGE
A r-Razi and His Millenial Celebration
DR.
F. I.
7
SHATARA
While Mortal (Poem)
13
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
A Disci-pie in Nomadism and Wisdom
14
AMEEN RIHANI
Song of a Homesick Man (Poem)
21
NAT LA SABE
The Old Criminal
RAJA
;
F.
HOWRANI
Tears (Poem)
29
R. A.
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22
NICHOLSON
�urn inn wini,
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CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
From the Dog River to the Cedars
SALLOUM
A.
30
MOKARZEL
CO
Maggie and Joe (Short Story)
LABEEBEE
A. J.
39
HANNA
To My Father (Poem)
LABEEBEE
S
44
A. J.
HANNA
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Editorial Comment
45..
Spirit of the Syrian Press
47
Political Developments in Syria
51
About Syria and Syrians
54
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ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
General View of the Dog River
Showeir and its Heights
The Dog River Park
The Solitary House at the Dog River
A General View of Beit Shabah
The Hub of Ehden
The Spring of St. Sarquis
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�IN THIS ISSUE
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V
DR. FUAD SHATARA should prove most helpful to
contributes to this issue an ap- those who would be initiated
preciation of the eminent Arab into the intimate life of the
physician Ar-Razi apropos of country, or those contemplating
the proposition to celebrate his a future visit to that interesting
millenial anniversary. It is re- land. * * * LABEEBEE A. J.
freshing to learn through the HANNA contributes an origbiography of Ar-Razi of the inal short story that deals with
substantial contributions of the a phase of Syrian life in AmerArabs to medical science even ica and is quite original in its
as far as a thousand years back, treatment. Her additional conAnd the account is by no means tribution of a poem will be
scientifically dull—on the con- found of extremely tender aptrary, it is of a happy, facile peal. * * * RAJA F. HOWRAstyle and abounds with anec- NI translates from the Arabic
dotes. *** AMEEN RIHANI a treatise entitled "The Old
gives us another delightful Criminal" by the foremost
chapter of his eventful travels Arabic woman writer, Mary Ziand describes in his present con- adah. The theme is based on a
tribution some of his rare ex- radical method of reasoning and
periences in Jeddah. The read- affords much material for
er is here introduced to a novel thought. Mr. Howrani is at
Prayer Club, the like of which present a student at Columbia
is possible only in Arabia. The University. * * * DR. SALIM
author further gives a most en- ALKAZIN gives various reatertaining account of a conver- sons for enjoying being mortal
sation he had with the Arab in a charming poem.* * * NAJKing, in which His Majesty LA SABE, a new contributor of
cites many heretofore unknown Brooklyn, echoes the song of a
reasons for 'Allah's especial fa- homesick man in the delicate
vors to Arabia. *** THE EDI- feeling of a young girl. * * *
TOR takes us on another leg of Other departments will be
his travels in Lebanon. In this found unusually interesting.
installment he covers the disJOIN
tance from the Dog River to
THE GREAT
the Cedars and describes many
SYRIAN WORLD
interesting places on the way.
CONTEST
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Great Syrian
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�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
FEBRUARY, 1930
VOL. IV. No. 6.
Ar-Razi and His Millenial
Celebration
I
By
DR.
F. I.
SHATARA
AL MUKTATAF, one of the leading Arabic magazines published in Egypt, has arbitrarily set January 30, 1930, as a date
for celebrating the passing of one thousand years since the death
of the famous Arab physician Ar-Razi, and has called upon the
Egyptian Medical Society, the Arab Academy of Damascus, and
other scientific and medical organizations throughout the Arabicspeaking world to consecrate that date in memoriam of Ar-Razi,
and to send in scientific contributions describing his life and works.
In the December issue of the same magazine is published a splendid lecture on Ar-Razi delivered before the Arab Academy of
Damascus last October by Dr. Joseph Faraj Hiraiz.
In view of this, the Editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD has accorded me the honor of asking me to review the life and accomplishments of this famous physician. I do this gladly but with
the understanding that I am unable to contribute anything original to what has already been written, and with the hope that his
life may be another reminder to the Syrians in America of their
rich heritage, and a stimulus to them to emulate his by contributing their share to the upbuilding of culture, learning and civilization of the land of their adoption.
Abu Bakr Mohammad ibn Zakariyya was born at Ray, near
Taharan in Persia, so that he, like many of the scholars of his
day, was an Arab culturally though not racially. The surname
Ar-Razi or Rhazes is derived from the name of his birthplace.
He was probably the greatest and most original of all the Moslem physicians and one of the most prolific as an author. He
stands in sharp contrast with Avicenna, for Avicenna was a better
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
philosopher than physician, while Ar-Razi was a better physician
than philosopher. (Browne).
There is some uncertainty about the date of his birth and it
can only be guessed at by computing from the date of his death,
which is somewhat less uncertain, occurring probably in the year
923 A. D.
Ar-Razi spent most of his life in Persia and was first interested in music, finance and other pursuits and did not take up
medicine until the age of 40. His interest in medicine was aroused
by visits to the Adudi Hospital in Bagdad, and conversations with
an old druggist who informed him that the first herb medicinally
used was accidentally discovered along a river bank by a descendant of Aesculapius who had suffered from inflammation of
his arms. On a subsequent visit to the Hospital, he beheld a fetal
monster with one head and two faces, and this aroused his curiosity and interest in medicine.
One of his principal teachers in medicine was Ali ibn Rabban
of Tabbaristan, whose father Rabban was either a Christian or
a Jew, probably the latter. Ali, according to Al-Qifty, embraced
Islam after he entered the service of the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil.
He is the author of Firdaws-ul-Hikmat—the "Paradise of Wisdom", a treatise on medicine and philosophy which was probably
used as a text by Ar-Razi.
Shortly after completing his medical studies his ability was
recognized and his fame spread rapidly. He was made physician
in chief to the hospital at Ray, where large clinics were held by
him and his pupils, and his pupils' pupils. Every patient who
reported to the clinic was first examined by the latter, and if the
case proved too difficult for them it was passed on to the Master's immediate pupils, and finally, if necessary, to the Master
himself.
Subsesuently Ar-Razi became physician in chief to the Adudi
Hospital in Bagdad, which received the name of the great Adudu'd-Dawla. Here exists some confusion, for this ruler's reign
extended from 949 to 982 A. D., long after the probable date
of Ar-Razi's death. Ibn Abi Usaybia states that when Ar-Razi
was asked to select the most suitable site for the Bagdad Hospital
he caused pieces of meat to be hung in different quarters of the
city, and selected the section where they showed the least signs
of decomposition. Another writer, Kamal-ud-Din Abi-Turab,
states that in selecting the physician in chief to the Bagdad Hos-
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FEBRUARY, 1930
pital, Adudu'd-Dawla resorted to a process of elimination and
had a list prepared of about one hundred of the most famous
physicians. Out of this list he selected fifty according to ability
and skill, and out of the fifty he picked fifteen, and then three,
and out of these chose Ar-Razi.
It is agreed by all biographers that Ar-Razi's code of medical ethics was of the highest standard. Thus Ali Ibn Ridwan, an
Egyptian, states that the most befitting description of his standard of ethics is that contained in the Hippocratic Code, namely
"that the physician shall be more interested in curing disease than
in obtaining reward; in treating the poor more than in treating
the rich; and that he should diligently pursue learning and devote
himself to the benefit of others."
Ibn Abi Usaybia, in describing Ar-Razi, says:—"He was intelligent, kindly to the sick, diligent in curing their ailments,
persistent in his search into the mysteries of medicine and other
sciences, and spent most of his spare time in reading and having
a friend read to him the writings of Hippocrates, Galen and
others."
The Editor of the Fihrist states:—"He was the man of his
day and age, who possessed the knowledge of the ancients,
especially in medicine. He traveled about the country and was
very friendly with Al-Mansur, in whose honor he wrote his
book Al-Mansuri."
He was described by a native of Ray as "an old man with a
large drooping head, who sat among his pupils to whom patients
reported, and never interrupted unless the case was too difficult
for them. He was generous, virtuous and sympathetic."
He became blind toward the end of his life from a cataract
and refused to undergo an operation on the ground that he desired to see no more of a world with which he was disgusted and
disillusioned. (Browne). As contributing causes to his blindness
it is stated by some that he was hit on the head by a patron to
whom he dedicated one of his works on alchemy when he refused
to put his theories into practice by the actual production of gold.
Others ascribe his blindness to the excessive eating of beans of
which he was very fond. For this there is no medical justification.
There is less uncertainty about Ar-Razi's writings than about
other phases of his life. The Fihrist enumerates 113 major and
28 minor works by him, besides two poems. Browne states that
of his many monographs the most celebrated is his well-known
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
treatise on small-pox and measles first published in the Arabic
original with a Latin translation by Channing (London, 1766).
Of this a Latin translation had already appeared in Venice in
1565 and an English version by Greenhill was published by the
Sydenham Society in 1848. This tract was formerly known as
"de Peste" or "de Pestilentia" and, as Neuberger says, "on every
hand and with justice, it is regarded as an ornament to the medical
literature of the Arabs."
Other monographs of Ar-Razi were on stone in the bladder
and kidney, on gout and rheumatism, and on colic. He gave a
description of spina ventosa, spina bifida, hernia and its treatment, and other surgical topics, borrowing largely from Hippocrates, Aetios and Paulos of Aegina. For cancer he advised
against excision unless the disease was limited, in which case the
entire mass affected should be removed. For bites of rabid animals he prescribed the cautery.
He added several chemical preparations to the category of
official medicines. Among these were orpiment, blue and green
vitriol and borax. (Wilder).
He wrote an entertaining work on the success of charlatans
and quacks in securing a popularity often denied to the competent and properly qualified physician.
Of his major works on medicine, the best known are the Jami
or compendium, the Kan or sufficient, the Lesser and Greater
Madkhal or introduction, the Muluki or royal, the Fakhir or
splendid, the Mansuri or Liber Almansoris, dedicated to AlMansur, one of the kings of Khorasan, and the Hawi or Continens. Unfortunately, the Hawi has never been published in the
original and what exist are translations of some of its volumes,
three of which are in the British Museum, three in the Bodleian,
four or five in the Escorial and others at Munich and Petrograd.
The Fihrist enumerates 12 volumes while the Latin translations
contain 25. On account of its enormous size, and the mass of details it contained, The Hawi appalled the most industrious copyists and was beyond the reach of all save the most wealthy bibliophiles, so that Ali Abbas tells us that in his day he only knew of
two complete copies.
There are many accounts and various valuable observations
by Ar-Razi depicting his skill in the art of medicine. The following case reported in Kitabul Faraj ba'da Shedda (book of
relief after distress) is typical.—A young man of Bagdad came
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FEBRUARY, 1930
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to him seeking relief for vomiting blood. After careful examination no cause for this malady could be determined and the patient
was in despair, believing that where Rhazes failed no one could
succeed. Rhazes, touched alike by his faith and his distress, proceeded to question him carefully and found that he had drunk
water drawn from a stagnant pool, whereupon he said to the
patient:—"When I come to-morrow I will treat you and not
leave you until you are cured on condition that you order your
servants to obey me in all that I command them concerning you."
The patient consented to this. On the following day Ar-Razi
returned with a large quantity of moss (tuhlub) which he ordered
the patient to swallow. The patient obeyed until he was unable
to take any more, whereupon Ar-Razi ordered the servants to
hold him flat on his back and force more and more of the weed
down his throat. This induced severe vomiting, and on examining the vomitus a leech was found. This had attached itself to
the patient's stomach and sucked his blood until it transferred
itself to its usual and more congenial medium—the water weed,
and thus the patient was cured. Numerous case reports similar
to the preceding could be cited. These show the unusual skill,
intuition, and power of observation of Ar-Razi.
The following are a few of the edicts he announced:—"Treatment of disease according to book instructions is dangerous unless
controlled and supplemented by the judgment and opinion of the
skilled physician."
"The physician should foster in his patient the belief in ultimate recovery even where the physician is in doubt as to the outcome, for the vital processes of the body are greatly influenced
by the status of the patient's mind."
"Stick to one physician in whom you have confidence. The
possibility of his error is negligible. In changing from one physician to another you are likely to suffer by the mistakes of all."
"If the physician is able to treat by natural means instead of
drugs he is pursuing the right course."
"The physician should be of moderate circumstances neither
too wealthy and tempted to attend to material pursuits, nor too
poor and obliged to be distracted from his scientific endeavors."
An Evaluation of Ar-Razi:
No medical Hall of Fame would be complete that did not
dedicate a liberal space to a statue or some other concrete way
of commemorating Ar-Razi. If it were possible to resurrect all
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
the dead Masters of Medicine from the time of Hippocrates up
to the present day and assemble them on a stage for the present
generation to view, Ar-Razi should be, and rightly belongs, in
the front ranks. If we possessed a yardstick for medical achievements and a scale to weigh ability, the achievements and ability
of Ar-Razi would hardly be outweighed or outmeasured by, any
of the greatest physicians in history
And what is the secret
of his greatness: Was it because of his unusual skill, his high
code of ethics, and the wisdom of his edicts? Was it because he
was one of the most prolific writers or was it because "he walked
with kings and yet did not lose the common touch" and thus won
the respect and admiration of the highest and the lowliest of his
day and age? While he possessed all these unusual qualifications,
any one of which alone entitles a man to distinction among his
fellow men, the secret of his greatness lay elsewhere. It lay in
his ability to use his five senses to better advantage than any
other physician of his day and age or any other day and age. He
resolved every medical problem to simple fundamentals and then
found and applied a simple remedy. He was not awed, or dazzled. His insight was clear, his observation keen, and his reasoning precise. He went right to the heart of a problem and did
not permit incidentals to befog his vision or detract his attention.
When Adudu'd-Dawla asked him to select a site for the hospital
in Bagdad, he knew that the driest section of the city would be
the healthiest. He did not possess, as we do now, an instrument
of precision to measure the degree of humidity, but did not permit this handicap to thwart his efforts, and therefore contrived a
simple but efficient method of hanging pieces of meat and watching for putrefaction.
When the young man who vomited blood was brought before
him he diagnosed the condition with startling accuracy and applied the remedy with equally startling efficiency. No X Rays,
stomach tubes, blood tests or any of the numerous modern diagnotic aids were available to him. If that young man were to
present himself to-day before a group of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of modern times, it is doubtful if after a
very exhaustive study they could arrive at the diagnosis as quickly
and as accurately as did Ar-Razi alone and unaided, and if they
did succeed in making the diagnosis it is doubtful if they could
prescribe such a simple and efficient remedy.
Modern scientific discoveries and inventions have been a great
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FEBRUARY, 1930
boon to humanity, but they have had the tendency of benumbing
and rendering dull the greatest gifts that a physician has—his
five senses.
It is a matter for pleasant speculation to conceive of a physician possessing all the native ability of Ar-Razi combined with
all the modern scientific methods of diagnosing and treating disease. History as yet has not produced such a physician. He is
a superman.
While Mortal
By
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DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
To Fortune's smile I will respond
With rapture and with pleasure;
And when her brow is overcast,
With pain I fill my measure,
For still I am a mortal.
And in the silver throat of song,
I find the secret thrilling}
But in the gloomy house of death,
I am a mourner willing,
For still 1 am a mortal.
In Beauty's castle I submit
To signs of magic power,
And either laud the golden fruit,
Or sing the crimson flower,
Just like a humble mortal.
To drug the passions of my soul,
Or still its silent voice,
Or drive it like a thrall in chains
Will never be my choice.
Nor will it lead me at its will,—
But governed by concern,
Like friends, the mutual goblet fill,
And each will quaff in turn
Till I no more am mortal.
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
14
A Disciple in Nomadism
and Wisdom
By
AMEEN RIHANI
THERE is no need in ordinary hospitality for a liaison officer
between the host and his guest. You may ask for what you
want, you may refuse what is offered, you may even have an
especial desire, without any messengers, between you and your
host, except good taste and common sense. But royal hospitality
is different. The first rule is that you must not refuse anything
offered you or conferred upon you.
The kings of Arabia, despite what is attributed to them of
clannishness and coarse taste, are, in this respect, like all other
kings. They never surprise a guest, lest he become confused in
speech or conduct. Therefore, in addition to the servants, they
appoint a special person as companion to the favored one,—a
sort of liaison officer between him and Majesty,—whose business,
like a lightning rod, is to absorb desires and spontaneities, and
conduct them in mild form from one end to another.
My friend Constantine Yanni was this lightning rod; and
on the third day after my arrival on Arabian soil, he came to me
with a flow of speech which flashed with titles and decorations.
This would have been annihilating had it fallen upon me direct
from the lips of Majesty. But I reminded Constantine of the
hermit of Freike and of twenty years the said hermit spent in
America, a pitifully democratic country, without even a reminiscence of any title or decoration. And then, impressing the matter
strongly: "I am at thy mercy, O Constantine. Be quick to intercept the boon before it falls." Whereupon he said: "What about
presents?"—"Of presents I will accept anything that comes."
On the following day one of the black slaves of the Palace
came carrying upon his two hands, from His Majesty the King,
a bundle wrapt in cloth of silk, on top of which was a Meccan
dagger in a scabbard of filigreed gold; and in the bundle was a
kiswah—a suit of Arab garments—and a piece of the cUftaiii- of
the Kaaba, on which In the name of the Most Merciful God is
elaborately designed in what looks like a bas-relief in gold. My
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�FEBRUARY, 1930
15
friend Constantine's mission was a great success. He must have
said to His Majesty: This Rihani is a hermit, and sacred things
are more worthy of him than a title. Of a truth, the Kaaba curtain-piece is the most sacred and precious thing that ever comes
out of the Holy City, and is seldom presented to a Christian.
I was as happy too in my change of clothes. I put on the
white cotton smock with the long tapering sleeves, embroidered
in red around the collar and down the opening on the breast;
girded myself with the Meccan dagger, judmiyah (V); slipped
my bare feet into sandals; covered my head with a richly wrought
Indian sumadah and an ighal of gold thread, and went straightway to thank His Majesty. He opened his arms, when he saw
me in this guise, and exclaimed: "O, my dear one, O, my own
eye!" embracing me, pressing me to his heart. Needless to say
that I too was moved, so much so, that I felt something forming
in my eye; and I hastened to where I usually kept my handkerchief, but not finding even a pocket in my new garment, I dried
my tear with the end of my sleeve. His Majesty laughed and
said: "Verily thou art now of the Bedu."
We then sat down to a political discussion, which did not
last long. For the French Consul and some Jeddah worthies came
in to say salaam, and His Majesty, changing the subject, spoke
to us, for the benefit of the new beduin, methinks, about the Bedu
and their unwritten law of protection and hospitality.
***"Three have the right to khewvcah (brotherhood) and
protection; the temporary guest (2), the moving tent (3), and
the rafiq, or traveller's companion. When a temporary guest
comes into a town or a dirah, the first house or tent he passes by
claims him, having the first right to offer him hospitality—I say,
O my dear one, the first right. If the traveller goes to the next
door neighbor, the people in the first house consider it an offense
and ask the neighbor to give back the guest.—'He passed first
by our door, billah! and are we not Arabs, and have we not, of
the bounty of Allah, the wherewithal to receive a guest?' If they
f-
/
(1) A dagger is called in Al-Hijaz qudmiyah, a front-piece, because it is
worn in front. The q in Al-Hijaz and in Najd is pronounced j—judmiyah. In Al-Yaman it is called jambiyah, a side-piece, because it is
worn on the side.
(2) A passing traveller.
(S) He who enters the dirah seeking its protection, sets up his tonb or
booth of hair in its pasture land. By the tent or tonb is meant the
nomad himself, even though he has none.
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
do not make this protest, at least, they are looked upon with disdain. Some of them will even insist upon their right, clutching
at the guest and forcing him back to save their honor
He who
entertains a passing traveller, O brilliant one, has to offer him
protection for twelve hours after his departure, even if he has
to travel with him, or send someone to accompany him the distance of a day's travel
To ask for assistance of kinsmen against
a foe, has its limits. The right ceases beyond the fifth degree;
—that is, I have the right to ask my cousins only from the fifth
down—I say, from the fifth only
No, there is no difference
in this respect between Arabs and ashraf (sherifs=descendants
of the Prophet). But in case of a murder premeditated, the life
of a sherif is entitled to a double diah, that is two lives."
In adjudication all Arab rulers continue to observe certain
customs of the Bedu, because the Koranic law is not always accepted in the desert. Of the traditions of the Bedu, for instance, is
that any Arab can be and has to be judge, when he is called upon.
But when the difference is between two tribes, the case is heard
in the private majlis of the King.
His Majesty, relating of the trial, said: "Each party selects
twelve men to prove his case, the plaintiff selecting his from the
tribe of his opponent, and vice versa. Of the twelve men four affirm, four inform, and four adjudicate. The first four, O thou brilliant one, state the case; the second prove or disprove it; the third,
decide it. Says the affirmer: The case is thus and thus. Says the
informer. I saw or I heard thus and thus. Says the adjucator:
The decision is thus and thus."
\\
'
/
%
How approximately come the Bedu in their litigations to the
judicial system of civilized nations. They are even more certain
of discovering the truth and achieving the highest justice. For
do not the plaintiff and the defendant choose their men, that is
their lawyers and witnesses and judges, each from the tribe of
his opponent? And do not the adjudicators or judges resemble
the jury in Europe?
When I mentioned this to His Majesty, he said: "Allah,
praised be he, did not signal out the Europeans for all the human { v[
virtues. We Arabs have a few. And thou, O my dear brilliant
one, art better informed of this. Not everything that comes from
Europe is free from fault or flaw—is perfect. The Europeans
may still be ignorant of certain things, the knowledge of which
we possess and can impart. Take medicine, for example, ThoU
I')
i
�GENERAL VIEW OF THE DOG RIVER
Let. ponls du fleuve du Chien
of which has been rebuilt or repaired by Seleucids, RoA panoramic
view showing the three bridges, the upper
P
mans and Arabs since as far back as 250 B. C
�HHHM&.-.
THE SOLITARY HOUSE AT THE DOG RIVER
to
This is a sort of a wayside inn that an enterprising returned emigrant built
at the farthest settled point on the Dog River towards the source.
THE DOG RIVER PARK
The clearing on the southern bank of the Dog River makes an ideal setting
for Kaif connoisseurs.
�SHOWEIR AND ITS HEIGHTS
<
This is one of the principal summer resorts in Lebanon. The town proper
is spread on the mountain side while the new development on the heights
appears in the left background.
A GENERAL VIEW OF BEIT SHABAB
This town was once the foremost industrial center in Lebanon and is situated at an elevation overlooking the canyon dividing Al-Kateh and Kisrawan.
�THE HUB OF EHDEN
FEB
hast!
May
pain;
from
The public square of Ehden, North Lebanon, as it appeared teeming with
humanity on the Sunday afternoon of The Syrian World editor's visit.
THE SPRING OF ST. SARQUIS
A partial view of the cafes clustered around the spring which is given the
name of 'the patron saint of Ehden. Standing under the branches of the
big tree to the extreme left, is Representative Kabalan Frangei, who was
our host.
tur«
wor
bou
�FEBRUARY, 19 SO
17
hast seen, O dear one, the best doctors; but they did not cure thee.
May Allah, through the medium of our doctor, rid thee of thy
pains. Thou wilt then say to them, "Recovery has come to me
from the vicinity of Mecca, from Allah and his Prophet."
\
\
i
u
He then said: "It may be hallucination, O dear one—I say,
hallucination—imagination. Animals are also subject to it like
human beings. I will cite an example among camels. When a
certain one refuses for physical or temperamental reasons to
suckle her foal, we take him to another. But she too, for even
a better reason, withholds her milk. She will not suckle a strangfer. Now, what does the Arab do, the Arab of short-wit? He is
not always short-witted, O brilliant one. He blindfolds the beast
and then gags her, thus driving the wind inward and causing her
stomach to swell. Whereupon, with a sharp knife he performs a
slight operation, makes a few incisions in her genitals, deep
enough to be felt—I say, deep enough to be felt. The foal is
then brought near her and the bandages are removed. Instinctively, she turns her head to the region of pain, smells blood, sees
the foal, and is duped. She yields her udder with motherly tenderness. No, the Arabs are not slow-witted, O my dear one.
I They are also as quick with their eye and hand. Hast thou seen
khc boy that comes to the lagoon every day about sunset carrying
ia basket and a stick in his hand? I watch him often with amusement from this window."
|
I had indeed seen that boy the day before from closer vantage, from the opposite side of the lagoon, when he was knee-deep
in the water, prying about, peering through it. At small intervals he would stop, strike something at the bottom with his stick,
place his foot quickly upon it, and stoop to pick it up. He had
caught something, which he placed in his basket. Slowly wading
through the clear blue water, slowly with his keen eyes penetrating to the bottom, and every time the stick went down, some' thing was brought up. Not once did he miss, so trained was his
hand, so quick his stroke, so keen his eye. He was catching crabs.
His Majesty was so pleased that, like himself, I had also
observed this object of wonder. And he went on, from one subject to another, holding forth on the strange and interesting features of a country which he knew as good as the Holy Book.
***"No, Allah hath not deprived us of all the virtues, O
worthy one, nor hath he deprived us of all the fruits of his
bounty. There is a wadi near At-Taief, wadi Liyah by name in
�I—— —,
—
18
———
ii
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
which the pomegranate grows. Big pomegranates, some as big
as the head of a man, and with seeds that have very little of the
hard matter in them—full of the sweet juice. Excellent remedy
for the lungs. Some of the fastidious take it like a sherbet
squeezed into a glass. But a pomegranate should be eaten, not
drunk; for half its taste is in the pleasure of exerting the teeth
upon it. Our young men have pomegranate competitions, in
which a prize is given to him who eats the whole fruit first and
without dropping a single seed on the ground
Yes, yes; it is\
a competition. Young men everywhere, methinks, will have their
games
We have also a plant that grows in the late summer;
it has a white flower, on which the bees feed; and they produce
a honey unsurpassable in the whole world. I say so upon the
assurance of a distinguished traveller, the Khedive Abbas. For
when he came here a-pilgrimaging, he ate of our honey and
added to the two Testimonies (1), saying: 'And I testify that the
honey of Al-Hijaz is the best honey in the world.' As for our
pomegranates of wadi Liyah—'From wadi Liyah,' the hawkers
cry. 'Good for hediyah* (present)!—When I sent some to the
Sultan Abd'ul-Hamid, he exclaimed on beholding them: 'Praised \
be Allah and Peace upon his Prophet! These fruits are not only
the best of their kind in the world, but they come from the best
spot in the world.' Of a truth, O my son, we have a few good
things, and we are therewith content. Our pomegranates and \,
our honey, here be a proof that Allah, praised be he, hath not
forgotten us Arabs, the Arabs of Al-Hijaz."
That they might be forgotten one day is not morally conceivable since they have in Jeddah a form of piety and wisdom
the like of which I have not seen anywhere else in Arabia. It is
a club of seven members only, all sages;—a small circle of light,
without a line of darkness to define it;—a unique institution.
The founder is the Mayor of Jeddah, who is one of those
Oriental sages that are rare in the public life of Europe and America. He is a simple soul with an ingenious mind, who realizes
that even in India, where he spent many years, civilization has
a few things that Jeddah might well envy. But he will not concede that man in a desert waste can not order the world to him. '
\ v.'
He defines civilization as man's right relation between God and
Nature, and finds the right means to such, an end in a prayer
<v
(1) The two Testimonies of the Muslem are: I testify that there is no God
but Allah and that Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah.
wmmmmm
�—
FEBRUARY, 1930
19
rug and a hand-ball. He is the organizer and the moving spirit
of the Prayer Club of Jeddah.
i \
But it is more than a Prayer Club, for it combines its exercises so they include the body and the mind as well as the soul.
It might be better called the Koran-Athletic Club. Even then
the name is not inclusive. A triangle of practical wisdom, balancing the three purposes of life, without anything to hold it
together;—a unique conception;—a Club without a club house,
without a president, without by-laws, without dues. There is but
an understanding, an article of faith, and a pledge to attend the
daily meetings. The understanding is based on the article of
faith, which is the Mayor's definition of civilization, and the
article of faith is made a living principle at least an hour each day.
Bring your prayer rug and meet us on the sand outside the
city at sundown. There, on an elevation, beyond the citadel, I
joined these good people one day, and in spite of a deficiency,
an irregularity rather, in my Triangle, they took me into their
blessed circle. But I was beaten by their elder in throwing the
ball, and by their cadet in a poetic tilt. The meeting was always
started by standing in a line facing Mecca to say the sunset prayer;
and the member who led in prayers as imam would be the first
afterward to dctff his jubbah and start the ball game. They use
a cannon ball about the size of what we use in bowling, which
they hold in both hands, swinging it in a half-circle between the
legs and above the head, preliminary to the throw. He who
throws farthest scores. After the games, a few movements in
callisthenics are executed, and then the discussion, the intellectual
exercise, to complete the Triangle.
Having taken you, O worthy one, to the Club, allow me now
to introduce the members. Here is Hajji Zainal, the octogenarian who beat me at throwing the ball. He is brother to the Mayor
Abdullah Zainal, and is fond of quoting from the Persian poets,
Hafez and Sa'di and Jalal'ud-Din Roumi. The Zainals are of
Persian origin, and Hajji Zainal quotes in the original which
his brother translates. Here is one of his favorite quatrains from
Jalal'ud-Din Roumi the Sufi poet:
"When first my lips cajoled the flute, it moaned
i\.nd told the secret of the world's ill:—
It said: When I was severed from Love's Tree
I wrept, and all the world is weeping still."
�—
20
1
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Collector of Customs, Sheikh Muhammad Tawil, is the
Beau Brummel of Jeddah. His jubbah, which he changes every
day, tells of a variety in his wardrobe that ranges from striped
cashmere to flowered silk. Under the jubbah is a waistcoat equally
radiant in design;—one of light green material, with green buttons of a lighter shade, I particularly remember;—and under
the waistcoat is a robe of pongee silk or of barred Damascus weave,
which comes down to a little above the ankle upon which peeps
the famous linen pantaloons, whose lace or open work graces a (
pair of patent leather pumps. His turban alone is like that of his
fellows,—a regular Hijaz turban, which is a bonnet of green
and red and yellow cloth woven together in mosaic fashion, and
around which is wound, not too heavy, a white sash. But this
Arab Beau Brummel is also a man of business, the most practical
and the most energetic member of the Hijaz Government. He
collects and he pays out with a conscience and an accuracy unexcelled in Arabia, except it be by the Parsis of Aden.
The Ghabel brothers, Sulaiman and Abd'ul-Qader, most sincerely flatter the Honorable Collector, but they do not always
succeed in imitating him. The lace upon their linen underwear
is always more evident, however, and their perfume announces
them before they approach. All Arabs love perfume; but the
Ghabel brothers are artists in the composition of essences. I have
always imagined East and West flowing from their robes, without any particular spice or flower intruding itself, without even
noticing in the swooning effusion a waft from a Paris bottle. But
they are nontheless extremely pious. If they pay five pounds
gold for a bottle of French perfume, they pay their homage
five times a day to Allah and the Prophet. Sheikh Sulaiman seems
to think that it is necessary to train oneself in mortal ease preliminary to an immortality of it.
But Sheikh Naser of Najd, who thirty years ago shook the
sand of the Nufoud from his sandals, remains a Wahhabi both
stern and serene. He yields not to the luxuries of the people
of Al-Hijaz, but he frowns not upon them. He has learned tolerance in his travels, and is a true Brother, disdaining not to pray,
as a Wahhabi of South Najd, with Muslems of other sects.
Opposite to Sheikh Naser in belief is the Persian Mulla Husein of Shiraz, he who is a master in mechanics and a disciple
of Jalal-ud-Din Roumi. He supplies the lux lights to Jeddah,
repairs its sewing machines, and airs his Sufism in the bazaars. But
,
I
*
V
/
�FEBRUARY, 1930
I
21,
the Prayer Club is non-sectarian. Bring your prayer rug and meet
us on the sands. If you have a new book of verse, bring it also
with you. But Mulla Husein carries his book in his head; and
it is a rare joy to hear him intone in opulent Persian accents the
couplets of our Master Jalal'ud-Din.
I
"I am a piece of wood,
Cut from the Tree of Love,
And made into a flute:—
The flute forevermore pines for the grove."
±41
\ <•
Although I was but a passing traveller, a moving guest, I
too feel that I am a piece of wood cut from that blessed tree—
the tree of the Prayer Club of Jeddah—and made into a flute
And the flute forevermore pines for the grove.
Sang of a Homesick Man
.
By
NAJLA SABE
My heart's in the hills,
The Lebanon hills.
Where I first learned that beauty dwells;
And bliss sublime
In the sunniest clime
The peace of the world foretells.
How I love the pine
And cedar trees
That shadow the Lebanon plains;
And Mount Sannin
In her immaculate sheen
As a monarch of beauty, she reigns.
My eyes are dim
And my hair is gray,
Yet my joy has banished my ills,
For they promised, you see,
They'd bury me
With my heart on the Lebanon hills.
�as
22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Old Criminal
A PORTRAYAL OF LIFE THROUGH ITS
TRAGIC ELEMENT
By MARY ZIADAH
Translated from the Arabic by RAJA F. HOWRANI
Translator's Note—The following article is a translation, more or less
free, from an Arabic Monthly Review, Al-Muktataf, (February, 1928) under the title "Al-Mojrim-ul-Kadeem", The Old Criminal. The author of the
Arabic text, Mary Ziadah (pen name, Mey) is the leading woman-literarywriter in the Arabic-speaking world, and her style is among the best of
modern Arabic literature. Mey, however, is not original in this literary
piece. She has adapted it from a play written by a Gei-man poet—a certain.
Reinhardt?
This play, or better tragi-drama, centers around a historic figure, the
Ephesian Herostratus, who lived around the middle of the 4th century B. C.
The following account of Herostratus is given in Smith's "Dictionary of
Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology."
"Herostratus, an Ephesian, set fire to the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, which had been begun by Chersiphron, and completed by Demetrius
and Paeonius. It was burnt on the same night that Alexander the Great
was born, B. C. 356> whereupon it was remarked by Hegesias the Magnesian, that the conflagration was not to be wondered at, since the Goddess
was absent from Ephesus, and attending on the delivery of Olympias: an
observation, says Plutarch, frigid enough to have put out the fire. The
stroke of Genius in question, however, is ascribed by Cicero, whose taste
it does not seem to have shocked, to Timaeus of Tauromenium. Herostratus
was put to torture for his deed, and confessed that he had fired the temple
to immortalize himself. The Ephesians passed a decree condemning his
name to oblivion, but Theopompus embalmed him in his history, like a fly
in amber."
In the present article Herostratus is justified in his deed. The article
itself, I take it, is an artistic expression, every part of which when analyzed, admirably coincides with the theory of Aesthetic appertaining to literature (prose) as Art and especially to that tragic element which is the
solution for the problem of evil in Aesthetics. In spite of its so-called pathetic element—and pathos indeed is essential in a tragedy—this picture
of human destiny affords us the proper purgation of emotions not only
through pity and fear but also through admiration for the hero as portrayed
by the artist.
The writer is sensibly aware of the difficulty of the task which he has
undertaken. He duly confesses that the Arabic text at certain culminations
la immeasurably superior to what he can put into English. Every language
has its own 'genius' and translation becomes a hazardous matter to that
I*
VjV
�FEBRUARY, 1930
23
genius. This is especially true in this case because of the very limited
knowledge the writer has of the philosophy of Art whether in Arabic or
any other language.
DOETS sometimes show mercy. It was Reinhardt whose heart
was touched by compassion, and who composed a dramatic
tragedy around this historical episode, whose hero was the un| lucky, ill-fated Herostratus.
Around the middle of the fourth century B. C, Greece was
at the zenith of her glory. Nay, even more—by virtue of her
attainments she creates in us that sense of greatness itself which
perturbs our souls whenever Greece and her glorious history are
recalled. If it be true that such an effort is produced in us after
so many centuries, how much more true in the Greeks themselves,
and it was they who made live their greatness and created it day
after day in the exuberance of pride and the love of competition
and excelling.
Apropos of this, history records Themistooles' reputed statement, "The wreath which crowns Miltiades drives sleep from
me," which is an indication of their competitive spirit.
Every unfolding of their supremacy they immortalized in
the form of a brilliant poem, and objectified through an artistic
medium. It was by this means that men learned to become heroes,
and heroes aspired to become gods.
Moreover, the land with its beautiful location and its clear
azure-blue sky shone with a radiance greater and brighter than
that of the sun—namely the radiance of life and exquisite beauty
created at the hands of the Greeks. But Athens among the Greeks
was the pinnacle of greatness and the climax of posterity, for it
was Athens of the Genius, of the Parthenon, of Wisdom, of Democracy, with Pericles at its summit.
And there, across the sea in Ephesus, arose another man, Herostratus by name, destined to perform the role of despair along
with happiness and defeat along with victory.
Instead of seeing in that criminal a crazy fool, the German
poet created in him another aspect of defeated greatness. Through
a person immortal in his defeat and despair he brings to us emotions indigenous to the human heart. For who of us has not, at
least once in his life, tasted the bitterness of defeat and the fruitlessness of hard work? "In this ultimate sense, most of human
life is tragic." (Parker). The poet sensed that remote crime, and
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
24
extracted from it the essence of life. Herein lies the greatness >
of the artist: his ability to see through the walks of the soul and
probe into the innermost of consciousness disclosing what others,
can not see. He then falls back to his special tools by the aid of I. L
which he shows us, through his own eyes, the secrets of life. We
then stamp our immediate approval interfused with a little astonishment, and with him we are moved to comprehend what he
has sensed. Indeed, Browning has sung the fame of such an artist
in
Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise
From outward things, what'er you may believe.
There is an inmost center in us all,
Where truth abides in fullness; and around,
Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in,
This perfect, clear perception—which is truth.
A baffling and perverting carnal mesh
Binds it, and makes all error; and to KNOW
Rather consists in opening out a way
Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape,
Than in effecting entry for a light
Supposed to be without.
—Browning, Robert, Paracelsus. L 726-37. \
Or Parker when he wrote: "The artist will try to reveal the j
hidden unities that so delight the mind to discover. He will aim \
to penetrate beneath the surface of experience observed by comman perception to its more obscure logic underneath. In this way
he will go beyond what the mere mechanism of imitation requires"... Or again, "Out of the infinite fullness of nature and
of life, the artist selects those elements that have a unique significance for him.
Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory,
Odors, when sweet violets sicken;
Live within the sense they quicken;
Rose leaves, when the rose is dead;
Are heaped for the beloved's bed;
And so thy thoughts when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.
Observe how, out of the countless things which he knows,
the poet has chosen those which he feels akin to his faith in the
immortality of love."
/
1
�FEBRUARY, 1930
ess
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25
Herostratus in this tragi-drama possesses a poignant, artistic,
temperament, true in its aspiration and pain, nevertheless one
with its irregularities—perhaps weaknesses. Surely he deserves
compassion and mercy, for he is a hero in his reactions and aspirations; meagre in his work and production, he aspires to chisel the
magnificent statues and to create masterpieces of beauty, but succeeds only in being an insignificant apprentice who accomplishes
mediocre monuments and small idols of worship. How could
he endure this humiliation and feeling of impotency while he is
living in the shadow of the great temple Artemis?
George Moore in "Confessions of a Young Man" says: "How
terrible are the languors and yearning of impotency! how wearing! what an aching void they leave in the heart! And all this
I suffered until the burden of unachieved desire grew intolerable."
It was Paeonius who erected that riddle in marble, the temple
of Ephesus, the center of admiration and envy of both the Greek
and the Barbaric worlds. Foreigners, Athenians, Spartans and
multitudes of pilgrims nocked from every direction to that temple
for religious worships and aesthetic enjoyment. But he, Herostratus, while looking at the walls and high friezes of the temple,
is reminded of the immortal genius, of the old artist who has
embodied the last work of undying fame. As he recalls all this,
Herostratus becomes increasingly aware of his impotency.
Around the temple throbs the rich and varied life of the
people. Here is the day destined to dedicate Artemis. The people
raise their voices high unto heaven, unto their gods. Ships embark multitudes of worshipers. Processions of priests, Greek notables, and young men and women leave the temple with music
and songs—an exaltation of life that envisages the Greek world
in its fervor and happy religion and in its devotion to real beauty.
Amidst this exaltation Herostratus alone stands disappointed,
and weeping, waives the consolation of his beloved mother who
creeps out of her mean dwelling in a vain attempt to heal his
drooping spirit. Thus he answers her: "Remember! it was none
but you who, once, led me to this temple and with burning zeal
uttered in my ears: 'My son! let the love of fame envelop you.
Be a model of your father who shed his blood in the pursuit of
greatness and glory. Let your impelling motive be world-widefame'. I then knelt down before the altar of the temple and my
tender lips whispered fervently the prayer: 'Grant me fame, Ye
great gods'".
�*t m
ms*
26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
His mother disappeared like a 'drunkard staggering toward
home', leaving her son in a state of mental destitution.
Then came Agasias, dealer of the statues of Artemis, rebuking him and calling him to resume his 'mean, unpleasant' task. He
heard him not, nor did he hear the voice of the Ionian maiden,
the pretty Cilisea, the descendant of Paeonius. For, although he
had reciprocated her love, his hunger for perfection made him J
cruel and fierce and locked his heart to every tender and sweet \,
sentiment. While young Cilisea, the incarnation of youth, who
knew nothing of life save love and its paths, who comprehended
not the significance of perseverance and sorrow, and whose main
concern was a "friendly dwelling with life itself," turned to him
and said: "Listen, Herostratus! but we are guilty if we succumb
to sorrow and grief in our bright moment. Let us avail ourselves
of the most in life while at the prime of youth and envy not
even the builder of the temple himself. He has passed away to
his destination, but we are the children of this life."
"No! No!" answered Herostratus, "We do not belong to
this life! nor are we living! because we did not excel. Life is
but victory and conquest, or it is death, yea more bitter than
death. The children of life are Phidias the ideal sculptor, Homer
the peet, and a host of outstanding 'men of genius'. They are
and will continue to be living, enjoying a beauty of godly youth
which does not wither, notwithstanding the wind that scatters
their ashes into the four corners of the earth. We might just as
well have been unborn—I wish we were."
Herostratus, the criminal, fully realizes the worth of the
Message that great men leave to posterity. Those who, owing
to their imaginative power, have created a disingenuous, complete
world, have realized it through their art, thus enriching the wealth
of the world by their creations which became a part of the real
world—be they philosophers, politicians, leaders, artists, or poets.
In fact, were it not for their intuition, decades and centuries would
have passed and the world have been less rich, less noble, and
less beautiful; nations, like animals, would have fallen into an
abyss of utter insignificance.
It is this message, which is the guarantee for the compensation of the genius and his radiancy, that Herostratus' tragedy lies.
He is the man who fully comprehended the significance of
that Message, yet failed. He had aspirations, but lacked technical skill—his art would not obey him.
i'
�stam
FEBRUARY, 1930
I*>
[•
i
27
Now his chance lies before him. The City of Ephesus determined to replace the old wooden statue of Artemis by a marble
one with which to decorate the temple. Herostratus, because
he was a citizen and because he was a sculptor, was intrusted
with this task.
Like an electric shock, genius and intuition challenge Herostratus, "Blessed be Ye Artemis," he cried, "Ye who responded
to the prayer of the child who was reared at your feet—now is
the time that people should know him as a creator." He confined himself to his room, closing his eyes to Cilisea and to any
talk of love. He burned his midnight oil in imagination, working persistently and untediously, now measuring and then remeasuring, trying and erring, carving, building and destroying,
and rebuilding anew; disappointment turns out to be his product.
He could picture and visualize a great image, but alas! the hand
would not obey the inventive mind.
His people grew impatient with him. They announced a
competition between their Herostratus and the celebrated Athenian, Praxiteles. The latter arrived on board an Athenian ship,
and was greeted by multitudes of people who flocked to meet
him: processions of priests, elders, and young men, led by the
pretty Ionian maidens who were playing their guitars, singing
their songs of merriment and welcome, and posing their beauty—
and beauty is intensified before those who appreciate it—to the
new artist who might pass for a conqueror.
While proceeding toward the majestic temple, Praxiteles
appeared to be the carrier of Athens' greatness and its Genius.
There was hardly a measure of comparison between Herostratus
and his rival. The latter loved life sympathetically, free from
sorrow—life to him meant the enjoyment of the passing moment.
Work for him was play. He would neither give heed to, nor
would he crave for unsubstantial and hypothetical immortal
glory. Through his character (nature) he spanned the chasm
which lay between Herostratus and beloved Cilisea, and soon,
with her, a mutual understanding was reached of problems of
life and ecstasy of love.
Herostratus, the unsuspecting, became an enemy to life
through his art which disobeyed him, while Praxiteles, the happy
conqueror, created his goddesses from the very girls whom he
saw. To him girls and goddesses were one, and in the charming
looks of the former, divinity and humanity were combined, and
art and life became one.
�I ,.... I... * —
28
.BWIIUMLTWH....
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Beauty is the bridge which connects earth with heaven. In
Athens, inspired by an Athenian maiden, Praxiteles craved his
Aphrodite, and in Ephesus his Artemis shall be inspired by an
Ephesian beauty. Around him gathered the Ionian girls singing
and dancing, and among them he caught sight of Cilisea. Soon
his eyes glistened with inspiration; isn't this Artemis declaring
herself to the Artist? Her beautiful, yet fading, youth, and her
looks over-laden with love, Praxiteles shall reap and immortalize
in the beautiful marble. How wouldn't Cilisea love the Athenian
and be inclined toward him after her long experience of bitter
loneliness and misery? But how wouldn't the tragedy flame
in the soul of Herostratus, the defeated, both as a man and as
an artist?
For a second time, he was experiencing a new defeat. The
Athenian sculptor, having completed his admirable work which
emphasizes the Praxitelian conception, the human-divine conception, objectifying the beauty and the grace of the body of
Cilisea, exposed it to the onlookers, among them Herostratus,
who became an inculcation of fruitless effort. There he stood
lamenting the love of which he did not avail himself, and the
glory which passed from his hands. The demon of jealousy and
hatred overwhelmed him as he thought of that stranger who
robbed him of everything 'lightly'. Looking at the magnificent
statue, he felt the unrealization of his dreams and the futility
of his aspirations—yea, more than that, he felt an inferiority in
his personality. In view of all this, and under the stress of emotional disturbance, he picked up the chisel of his rival which lay
beside the statue, and went back home; and with one stroke he
smashed the incomplete statues and cut down the disobedient
marble, in which he tried his Art, and his luck, and his aspirations. And, coming out of his home, he caught sight of Cilisea
weeping for her lover who, having completed his monumental
work, was ready for departure to Athens, where a new glory
awaited him, and the Athenian maidens invited him for a new
love. Thus he addressed her: "With this chisel I have smashed
my statues and models; my failure is complete and to my rival is
due all the laurel crowns of victory. Come now to me, Cilisea,
you girl of the moment! Grant me the joy of the fleeting 'happy
festival of life', for which I cared not hitherto. Will you remain
true to him! he who left you without sorrow—unhesitatingly?"
"But I love him," answered Cilisea, "and I shall remain true
to him."
i.
/
�29
FEBRUARY, 1930
"Ye beautiful world!" cried Herostratus, "Are you created
to be in your entirety subservient to this man? Wouldn't you
grant me the crumbs which fall from his table, not even the withering flower that falls from his laurel crown? Do the gods so
unjustly distribute their gifts? And I, the fool, trust in their
justice and mercy?" Despair overwhelmed him and the tragedy
was inevitable. Fire and smoke pierced through the darkness
which enveloped the earth. The great temple was burning and
in front of it Herostratus was standing dishevelled, with eyes
fixed, holding a torch in his hand and crying like a madman in
,' the phantasy of his delirium.
He was incapable of creating anything, but he destroyed
/ everything. No temple, no statues, no columns, nor any immortal
remains do we have after this day.
Would they imprison him and condemn him to death, and
his name to oblivion? Yea! death is far better than life which
deceived him. If fate has thus decreed to him, he has demolished everything else: Cilisea, under the afflication of love (to
Praxiteles) threw herself into the sea; the temple is gone forever—in vain did Praxiteles come and useless was his art, and
his love, and his inspiration.
Similarly, the spirit of evil, of jealousy, of hatred, and of
repugnance had corrupted the enigmatic ancient world. But Herostratus is justified—as the German poet sees him—by his great
pain and sacrifice in loss and suffering.
It is but an Imitation of life—a true one representing defeated humanity and its subdued, though struggling, Genius.
"It is a picture of human destiny with all its significance," as
Aristotle expresses it.
I
Tears
Translated from the Arabic of Al-Khansa
by R. A.
py .
lin
?»
i
NICHOLSON
Tears, ere thy death, for many a one I shed,
But thine are all my tears since thou art dead.
To comforters I lend my ear apart,
While pain sits ever closer to my heart.
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
From the Dog River to the
Cedars
A CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF THE
EDITOR'S TRIP ABROAD
v
V
By
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
I EBANON claims many places of historical interest. The ruins
of its famous cities of old are among the wonders of the world.
They dot the coast of what was formerly old Phoenicia all the
way from Tyre and Sidon in the south to Byblos and Tripoli in
the north; while the majestic ruins of Baalbeck are reminiscent
of the glory that was once the great city of the central plain.
But all these are dead relics, representing a glory that has
passed and a civilization that exists only in memory. The pulse
of life does not throb in them, nor do they possess any inherent
virility that could defy time and insure their continuity. They
were destroyed when the civilization which they represented
came to its end. They existed so long as the race which reared
them was able to defend and preserve them. They were a flare
which illumined the horizon and diffused the light of culture
and knowledge while they lasted, but when they were consumed,
only the cinders remained, mute evidence that man's mightiest
physical achievements are subject to his own fate, that mortal
cannot build anything eternal, that only that which is native to
the soil, and is an integral part of mother nature, can lay claim
to any degree of perpetuity.
But there is in Lebanon two living witnesses to its hoary
civilization and ancient glory that have withstood the ravages of
time and defied and challenged the actions of elements. They
are records imperishable. They are an integral part of the history of man's progress on the road of culture and his ascent to
the heights of human power and achievement. Their virility is
inherent, making them self-perpetuating. In his reckoning of
his future by the study of his past, man will find these two living
memorials conspicuous milestones on his road toward progress.
Such is their quality that not only will they retain their distinc-
K
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tion, but grow in comparative importance as man realizes his
primitive beginnings for the proper evaluation of his gradual
advance toward his ultimate ends.
The living rocks at the mouth of the Dog River, and the
seemingly everlasting Cedars of Lebanon, are the two silent, yet
unimpeachable witnesses of this march of human progress since
earliest recorded history. The two huge piles of rocks forming
the gorge through which the waters of the river Lycos flow into
the Mediterranean are forbidding in their bareness, inhospitable
in their aspect, awing in their approach. But engraved in their
flanks are evidences of the greatest articulate expressions of man's
power,—and vanity. They bear inscriptions in hieroglyphics, in
cuneiforms, in Roman alphabetical characters, in Arabic, in English and in French. They tell the story of the great exploits of
world conquerors in pictures as well as in words. Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Arab and European have all left their mark
of passage on this immutable rock. Why was it that throughout
succeeding centuries the great of the world passed through this
place, and took pride in recording their deeds on its barren rocks,
for the edification and admiration of posterity? Can it be any
reason other than that this place is the pivot of the world, the
imperishable tome of history, the observation place of all generations to come? What an honor for a country to boast of being
the perpetual repository of such an historical treasure?
A little further north, in the same small, serrated territory,
are other living witnesses to a hoary age and to the steady march
of human progress. They are not as mute as the rocks, because
they have the faculty of growth, and for that reason are more
eloquent. Their virility was the subject of lyrical praise both
in the Bible and in pagan literature. Their hardihood is proverbial, and their quality of inherent youth is held forth as a
symbol. We need but mention the Cedars of Lebanon to evoke
admiration for a thing that is at once old and young, whose roots
are imbedded deep in the earth and branches reaching high toward
the heavens; trees that are as old as man's earliest recorded history; that have furnished beams for the Temple of Solomon
| as well as for the temples of pagan gods; that have served to
build the great navies of the Phoenicians and of the Egyptians;
that have stood at their vantage point, overlooking the sea and
the plain, reviewing the passage of some of the mightiest armies
and navies ever marshalled throughout history marching to
certain destruction, while they, the great Cedars, defied time and
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
the elements. These are the Cedars reverently called by the
natives of Lebanon the "Cedars of the Lord," because they proclaim His glory and His mark of eternity, and both through
pride and as a good augury have been chosen the emblem of
the young republic of Lebanon.
It is the privilege of the tourist to visit these two great, natural monuments of Lebanon in a single day, while at intermediate
points en route many other places of immense historical interest
may be passed.
We spent the night of August 2nd at Dhour or Heights of
Showeir, one of the principal summer resorts of Lebanon, situated
at an elevation of 1200 meters and at about an hour's drive
from Beirut. The resort may be said to be the growth of ten
years, during which the lonely, pine-covered hills were almost
magically transformed into a bustling little city where one would
scarcely find accommodations in its score of hotels, especially during week-ends, without advance reservations. Its attractions are
many and varied, chief among which is its dry climate, and the
bracing air of its pine forests which exhilarate intoxicating fragrance. At night it is a scintillating cluster of a myriad of lights,
pulsating with the strangeness of a highly cosmopolitan life, to
which the Egyptian not only contributes his presence and all
his natural gaity, but adds to that his musical and entertaining
talent. At the time of our visit two famous Egyptian singers
were giving recitals, coincident with the appearance of a theatrical company. Nor was the purely native touch lacking, for in
one of the principal open-air cafes hundreds of devotees of the
fine art of improvised poetry in the Arabic vernacular had gathered to hear one of the leading exponents in the country of this
rapidly waning art.
We made the rounds of all the principal hotels in quest of
accommodations, but without success. A courteous hotel-keeper,
a former emigrant who had returned to invest his acquired fortune in home industries, offered us his family quarters for the
night, but the offer was declined. Instead, we chose to put up
in a hastily arranged room on the ground floor opening on the
gardens, which corresponds to attic accommodations in America.
I suggested that we seek some secluded spot to spend the
evening; a place of quiet and repose where we would have thej
companionship of the pines, and the entertainment of the scintil-
�I
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FEBRUARY, 1930
33
lating stars of the clear Lebanon nights. It would be well to
evade for a time the Broadway atmosphere of this lively Lebanon resort, especially that our time was limited, and we were
touching on the high spots of the country with little opportunity
for sharing the many natural advantages it affords the true vacationist.
A companion suggested a drive through the "Bois," so named
after the famous Bois de Bologne of Paris. And it proved an
enchanting place: miles of pine forests so thick in places that
they completely hid the sky, while here and there they permitted of some apertures for the shiny stars to peep through on the
roadway.
We had driven up from Beirut that afternoon, and in the
sweltering heat of the city we had failed to provide for the
change of altitude. How we wished then to be in a closed car,
or to have some sort of warm covering!
We finally halted at a cafe deep in the woods. Everything
was still and peaceful. Only a few small parties were in the
clearing among the pines engaged in quietly sipping their arak
and nibbling at their maza. The gentle murmur of running
water was all that could be heard. But seeing us approach, and
realizing we were strangers, the obliging proprietor hastened to
treat us to some lively music, and he began to play one screeching
American jazz record after another!
In the morning we had a fuller opportunity to appreciate
the unique advantage of location which gained for this resort
its deserved popularity. It is situated on a central ridge of the
Lebanon range, commanding at once a superb view of both land
and sea. Sannin stands at close proximity, and the picturesque
valleys to the East form a kaleidoscopic panorama of endless
variety. While to the West a succession of hills and valleys,
dotted with thriving villages, gently slope down to the vast expanse of the sea. Crowning the crests of most of the hills in this
section are massive churches or monasteries which project their
bulk forcibly into the landscape.
1
f
The fortnight I had spent in Lebanon so far had been confined to Beirut and its immediate vicinity. But now was to begin
my extensive trips to the outlying sections of Lebanon and Syria.
Our itinerary called for covering the stretch from the Dog River
to the Cedars in a single day. The Dog River is mid-way on the
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Lebanon littoral being only eight miles from Beirut, and although
we did not carry out our program to the letter, we can truthfully
claim that we covered half the length of Lebanon in a single
afternoon.
The descent from the Heights of Showeir was begun early
on August 2nd through beautiful Bikfaya, to the once foremost
industrial town of the countrv, Beit Shabab. In times past the town
was an important center of pottery and textile manufacturing
and brass and iron foundries; the bell-casting industry is a monopoly of the NafFah family. Not so prosperous are its industries
at present, however. It is maintained, as many other towns in
Syria and Lebanon, by emigrants' remittances.
We breakfasted at the house of Ibrahim Rahhal Mokarzel,
the mukhtar, or mayor of Beit Shabab, who, although in his
early fifties, has retired from the active management of his
extensive business interests in South Africa, which he has left
to his sons, and has chosen to spend the rest of his days in the congenial surroundings of his homeland. He built himself a large
modern house on the highest crest in the town and surrounded
it with extensive vineyards and fruit orchards. The large court
commands a magnificent view of the countryside, and it was in
this court that the board was spread for breakfast. Life in Lebanon is almost totally in the open air during the summer.
Milhem, the son of Ibrahim, was then on his bi-annual visit
to the parental home. He was young and adventurous, and waxed
enthusiastic about joining us on the trip to the Cedars. When his
father could not dissuade him from his hasty decision, he decided
to come along too. And it was well that he did, for he proved a
vernacular poet of no mean talent, offering us no end of entertainment by his copious improvisations.
Being, furthermore, the mayor of his town, he had the privilege of carrying weapons, and he brought along his double-barreled hunting rifle. A quail or a rabbit might prove a delicious
addition to a meal, and he would use the privilege of his office
to our benefit. On the way he stopped for some cartridges, but
when, later in the day, he spotted a quarry and wanted to load,
he discovered that the storekeeper had given him cartridges of
a wrong calibre! For the three days that we were together, his
honor, the mayor, every time he looked at the gun which he
was toting as useless extra weight, forgot the dignity of his
office sufficiently to curse the idiotic storekeeper in some of the
most original expressions I ever heard.
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�FEBRUARY, 1930
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35
We took hasty leave of the Hayeck family in Beit Shabab,
and made swiftly for the neighboring town of Freike, there to
bid farewell to the family of the distinguished author Ameen
Rihani, now in the United States. Half an hour later we had
reached Antilyas by the sea, whence we turned northward in the
direction of Nahr El-Kalb, or the Dog Rfver.
Except to passing tourists, the great historical importance of
the inscriptions at the Dog River gorge seem to be little appreciated. The most modern of the inscriptions, that which is commemorative of French occupation, is the most legible and conspicuous. With some effort one can locate the Assyrian inscription which remains in a remarkable condition of preservation
-'
considering that it dates back to almost three thousand years.
But the rest of the great record of the marsh of human history
seems to be in a deplorable state of neglect. This spot should be
second in importance, if not equal to, the ruins of Baalbeck among
Lebanon's historical shrines, and one would think that the government would show its appreciation of the singular honor of
being the custodian of such invaluable relics, by taking some
action to protect them and make them more accessible to tourists
of limited time.
As it is, a modern road has been built about half a mile
through the gorge to a little clearing used for a popular cafe.
It fails even to reach the old Roman bridge, only a short distance
further inland (1).
It almost borders on the profane to speak in the same breath
of these sacred relics of the ages and of the modern trivialities
that are now made their close associates. Nahr El-Kalb is now
visited for the attraction it has been lent by an enterprising and
yet romantic Lebanese emigrant who has chosen to be an amateur
botanist and naturalist, and who is an addict of the sport.
Sab4 Rouhana, a former resident of Drumright, Okla., is
the proprietor of the so-called casino at Nahr El-Kalb. He returned to Lebanon after the war and was attracted to this historic place for its sport possibilities. He built himself a house
on leased land, and when not catering to picnickers he indulges
in the chase. He was proud in showing me his menagerie of a
/
(1) An article by Dr. Philip K. Hitti in description of the Dog River and
its inscriptions and strategic importance during the ages was published in a former issue of The Syrian World, a few copies of which
are still available.
�"-
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36
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
corend, a hyena, a fox, a deer and a wolf. He even has a young
eagle in a cage, perhaps, like the Greek philosopher of old, to
ascertain personally his longevity. Whenever he cannot engage
in the hunt he finds diversion in fishing. We were his guests
until 3:30 that afternoon and we discovered that he had retained
a good deal of his American business acumen, for he charged us
Oklahoma prices.
The drive north along the seashore towns of Lebanon is
fascinating. At times the waves almost lap the road which runs
along the even level of the beach; at others the road is hewn
in the rock and almost perches over the breaking waves. Before
we reached the outskirts of Tripoli we came to the rock of Mesailaha, through which the road winds in sharp curves until it
reaches what formerly was an unnegotiable pass. Now they have
carved a tunnel through the high rock, overlooking the sea, and
the thrills of the passage are the delight of the adventurous.
We did not stop long at Jebail, ancient Byblos. But we tarried sufficiently to contemplate with reverence the abundant
waters of Nahr Ibrahim, to which the ancients gave the name of
Adonis. What memories the name invokes! For here were laid
the scenes of the most famous love episode in history—the tragic
love of Venus and Adonis. To the present day the waters of
the river turn red in the spring flood, because of the red earth
formation of the neighboring hills, and mythology ascribes the
phenomenon to the desire of the gods to commemorate annually
the flow of blood of Adonis when gored by the wild boar.
Futher north is the town of Batroun, known in times past for
its sponge fisheries. We stopped there to take some refreshments.
We were treated to the experience of having a drink of running
water—from a stationary barrel. Before dusk we reached the
outskirts of Tripoli, but instead of continuing to the city we
took the road leading to the mountain. We had an oppottunity
to admire the beautiful plain of Al-Koura, a duplicate in miniature of Al-Bika' plain, resplendent in its dark-green of olive
groves. Then began the steep ascent of the mountain in the
gathering dusk. We could feel the labors of the engine negotiating the steep climb. But night was merciful in having spread its
cloak over the countryside while we made the ascent. We reached
the town of Al-Hadath where we spent the night, and when we
rose in the morning to view the scene of the previous night's
climb, we thanked both the night and the able chauffeur in the
person of our courageous cousin, Milhem ibn Ibrahim.
)
I
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�FEBRUARY, 1930
S
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37
The morning of August 3rd found us again on the march on
the way to the Cedars. But we could not pass by Al-Diman without a halt. Fo Al-Diman is the summer residence of His Beatitude the Maronite Patriarch, the spiritual ruler, as well as the
political leader, of the Maronites. We were detained as his
guests for lunch, and only permitted to proceed after considerable
entreaties.
From the vantage point of Al-Diman we could behold the
imposing panorama of Wadi Kadisha, or the Sacred Valley.
From an elevation of seven hundred meters we saw as small
specks clinging to the sides of the valley, the old monasteries
that served for many centuries as the seats of the Maronite
Patriarchs, when they and their adherents stood in constant fear
of persecution and sought for refuge the most inaccessible spots
in the rugged mountain.
We were maintaining a furiously fast pace, as no sooner were
we permitted to leave the precincts of Al-Diman, in the early
afternoon of August 3rd, than we tore along the road leading to
the Cedars. We passed through Hasroun, birthplace of the most
famous of Oriental scholars, Assemani, who was at one time the
Librarian of the Vatican; thence to Bcharri, home of our famous
contemporary author, Kahlil Gibran, author of "The Prophet,"
the literary masterpiece which has been translated into more than
twenty languages; thence to the Cedars, our ultimate goal, where
we spent the night of Saturday and the forenoon of Sunday,
meeting experiences that make one live the life of a thousand
years or more back. Truly, after one's experience in traveling to
the Cedars, and beholding their majesty, one cannot fail to exclaim that they are Lebanon's crowning glory (1).
Sunday noon found us again at Bcharri, there to meet Archbishop Antoun Arida and the Board of Directors of the Nahr
Kadisha hydroelectric project, the enterprise which spells the
indomitable native spirit of enterprise and initiative, and then to
partake of the bounteous hospitality of the mayor, Sheikh Najib
Daher.
That afternoon found us in the neighboring town of Ehden,
famous as the birthplace of the Lebanese hero, Joseph Bey Karam, and as the town of the free and the home of the brave of
Lebanon. We waived formalities to first pay homage to the re(1) The visit to the Cedars of Lebanon will be described independently in
a eoming issue.
\
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38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
mains of the great patriot and hero, reposing in state in the principal church. To one familiar with the history of Lebanon in
the nineteenth century, the sight of the body of Joseph Bey Karam, lying as if in restful sleep after the lapse of more than
seventy years, cannot fail but inspire admiration for the great
leader whose patriotism, piety and courage upheld the Lebanese
tradition of sacrifice to the extreme in the cause of liberty.
Our entry into Ehden was by the southern route known as
Dawaleeb; otherwise the wheels. They are a succession of cafes
terraced one above the other and all thronged with merrymakers.
The roads also were congested for a mile or more from where we
first entered the precincts of the town until we reached the public
square. And the square, as well as its cafes, was also congested. Where do all these multitudes come from?
In the square we were received by the newly-elected representative of the Northern District, Kabalan Bey Frangie. He
insisted that we be his guests at the spring of Nahr Sarquis. There
prohibition is not in force, and the few hours we spent at the
cool, refreshing spring left no room for doubt as to the hospitality
of the people and their leader.
The abundant spring which takes its name from the neighboring monastery of St. Sarquis, gushes from the heart of a rock.
Last year, when Rev. Simon Akle, who was at one time a prior
of the monastery and is now in America, visited his home town,
he contributed several thousand dollars towards the creation of
a public park by the spring. The improvement was already noticeable.
| • -i u jfj
That night our whole party, composed of Ibrahim, Milhem
and Joseph Mokarzel, John Trabulsi of New York and myself,
were guests of Sheikh Joseph Estephan, member of the Representative Assembly, who had been in the United States the year
previous. His home town, Kfar Sghab, is midway between Ehden
and Bcharri, and he had anticipated our coming. This should be
sufficient explanation for the elaborate preparations. The two
cakes which the hostess had prepared could have aroused the
envy of the most expert New York chef. On the chocolate
coating, in beautiful Arabic script, were the words: "Long live
the Lebanese Emigrants" and "Long live the Mokarzels."
It was with a great effort that we were able to get leave of
our hosts to depart the next morning, crossing country by the
most roundabout ways, to reach the city of Tripoli and regain
our way to the northern cities of Tartus, Latakia and Aleppo.
FE<
J
thrc
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ing
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,
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�FEBRUARY, 1930
39
Maggie and Joe
A SHORT STORY
By
s.
re
ic >
i-
LABEEBEE
A. J.
HANNA
"Y^HERE did I hit her with the snowball?" asked the boy—
confidentially.
The girl looked at him, took his arm, and dragged him
through the snow and around the corner.
"It was some blow! Eh, sis?"
"Well, Joe," said the girl, hesitatingly, "you hit her on the
neck and the snow must have gone down inside her clothes."
"Serves her right. What do you think she'll do now, Maggie r
"Gosh, I don't know! She'll tell her mother."
"Yeh, girls always tell their mothers everything."
Maggie wasn't sure but what girls ought to tell their mothers everything, but kept still. She had her reasons for not wishing to appear dogmatic at this moment.
"Let's hurry on to the library! We must get that book! Poor
Aggie. You had no reason for hitting her that way!"
"Well, I did it just for fun!" and to the boy (and every boy)
this was final in any argument.
Maggie had no desire for an argument, but couldn't refrain
from exclaiming, "You're always having fun hurting someone!"
"Yeh!" and he turned to leave her.
"Oh!" and she caught his coat, "you're all right, only, you
must be careful. You're perfectly all right, but I don't want
you to get into trouble."
"What kind of trouble? Good grief! You girls!" and he
turned quickly.
"All right. It's all right. Only, come with me!" and Maggie
held on to Joe's coat for dear life. He didn't dare to leave her
for fear his coat would tear—and then! Why the dickens didn't
she hold his hand? He could easily wriggle away then. But
Maggie knew his strength and her weakness. She knew she could
best hold him by his coat with her left hand. She knew, as others
to their sorrow, that those fingers were strong from constant
practise on the violin, and she held him!
"Are you gonna let me go?"
�-=1*
40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"No!"
"Well, I won't go, if you don't!"
"If I let you go, will you come?"
"All right."
They went on Down Brookline Street to the doors of the
library. Her left hand was ready in case he changed hs mind
J.m stopped Maggie looked at him menacingly
"Don't forget!" she warned.
"Oh, all right!"
taxi
6 11
b k
y
bspecial
renn^'in
' school
f*7°°*
°° ^ >'0U'J1 ^ PreP^ed for your
report
tomorrow."
Peciai
"But you said you'd help'"
miJ
'qf^f/T,? f ShTall~h' remembe^ self-reliance!"
Ir you don't help, I won't do it'"
That night, Maggie and Joe worked together. Toe was so
pleased with his oratorical attempt, as practised on hisristeTth*
wo
TEN YEARS LATER.
gaj
Margaret (she no longer allowed the name Masael
hSH
g
her hand on Joe's. It was growingg dark but he
hm
JI
2
made no attem t
to put on the light.
'
P
"Don't say that again, Joe'"
bUt
3 hUm di ger
Pd Slam her
said"tte!"
" "'"
" '
^Remember, Joe, she's your wife I"
W
<&* » she
ing hKS °',e mMher- She h- - b—s bring"Do you love Mae?"
"No."
She knew he lied.
"Even so, you must go back to her.
no woT'"11
y0U1 Hfe!
"
And liSten t0 h£r knocki
"g because I have
bbeMd e
Margaret arose and walked to the window
c?jtz
ca
sh
SI l
i 5
* - * -Ma £**£ S
w
;
»1
�___»^—
RLD
FEBRUARY, 1930
wrme**
'
mmm
41
"Joe!" she exclaimed suddenly.
He lifted his head.
"What is it?"
"Have you still your driving license?"
"Yes."
"Is it true that any one having a car may join an independent
taxi company, providing he paints it with the colors and stripes?"
"That's right!"
"Well, look here! Wouldn't my car make a good taxi?"
"It's too old."
"I've had it two years, but it's only gone fifteen thousand
miles! And I've taken good care of it."
"Perhaps. Well, what do you want to do?"
"I'll turn it into a cab and you can be my chauffeur!"
"That means I must get a chauffeur's license. I'm broke."
"I'll get it for you."
"All right. If you'll give me the car. Too much trouble
working for someone else."
"I won't give it to you, but I'll sell it. You can have a mortgage on the car."
"I don't care. You'll never get the money either way."
"How well I know it!"
He laughed.
"Well, you know, sis, if ever I can, you'll get your money.
Whether I sign or not, my word is just the same."
"Yes, I know—just as bad."
He laughed again.
She turned away from the window and sat down.
"You know, sis, there's a lot of expense to turn a car into a
cab. Paint job. Meter. Partition. Special license. Membership."
"How much all together?"
"Over seven hundred dollars."
"Good grief! That's terrible! You know I haven't been
;
working long."
"Well, it's up to you. I'm not forcing you!"
"All right. Only don't tell Uncle Abe. You know nobody
approves of my helping you."
"They're dumb!"
"Well, back to your wife you go!"
She gave him her car, and nobody knew.
�40
FE
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"No!"
"Well, I won't go, if you don't!"
"If I let you go, will you come?"
"All right."
They went on. Down Brookline Street to the doors of the
library. Her left hand was ready in case he changed his mind.
Jim stopped. Maggie looked at him menacingly.
"Don't forget!" she warned.
"Oh, all right!"
"We'll get your book and you'll be prepared for your special
report in school tomorrow."
"But you said you'd help!"
"Yes, of course I shall—but, remember, self-reliance!"
"If you don't help, I won't do it!"
That night, Maggie and Joe worked together. Joe was so
pleased with his oratorical attempt, as practised on his sister, that
he waxed enthusiastic, and the next day received a high compliment from his teacher.
taxi
miJ
wo
gal
TEN YEARS LATER.
Margaret (she no longer allowed the name Maggie) laid
her hand on Joe's. It was growing dark, but she made no attempt
to put on the light.
"Don't say that again, Joe!"
"My, but it was a hum dinger! I'd slam her again if she
said that!"
"Remember, Joe, she's your wife!"
"Yes, but I have only one mother. She has no business bringing her into our affairs!"
"Do you love Mae?"
"No."
She knew he lied.
"Even so, you must go back to her.
"Not on your life! And listen to her knocking because I have
no work!"
"Of course, it was wrong of you to marry so early in life,
but after all she's your wife and you've got to stick together."
Margaret arose and walked to the window. She looked out,
and at the curb beheld the car in which she had just brought her
brother home.
W
cal
sh
/
;
W(
ap
�FEBRUARY, 1930
ft
)\
J
I
41
"Joe!" she exclaimed suddenly.
He lifted his head.
"What is it?"
"Have you still your driving license?"
"Yes."
"Is it true that any one having a car may join an independent
taxi company, providing he paints it with the colors and stripes?"
"That's right!"
"Well, look here! Wouldn't my car make a good taxi?"
"It's too old."
"I've had it two years, but it's only gone fifteen thousand
miles! And I've taken good care of it."
"Perhaps. Well, what do you want to do?"
"I'll turn it into a cab and you can be my chauffeur!"
"That means I must get a chauffeur's license. I'm broke."
"I'll get it for you."
"All right. If you'll give me the car. Too much trouble
working for someone else."
"I won't give it to you, but I'll sell it. You can have a mortgage on the car."
"I don't care. You'll never get the money either way."
"How well I know it!"
He laughed.
"Well, you know, sis, if ever I can, you'll get your money.
Whether I sign or not, my word is just the same."
"Yes, I know—just as bad."
He laughed again.
She turned away from the window and sat down.
"You know, sis, there's a lot of expense to turn a car into a
cab. Paint job. Meter. Partition. Special license. Membership."
"How much all together?"
"Over seven hundred dollars."
"Good grief! That's terrible! You know I haven't been
working long."
"Well, it's up to you. I'm not forcing you!"
"All right. Only don't tell Uncle Abe. You know nobody
approves of my helping you."
"They're dumb!"
"Well, back to your wife you go!"
She gave him her car, and nobody knew.
�*2
THE SYRIAN WORLD
TWENTY YEARS LATER.
"Say, ma, Aunt Maggie is coming in!" A young girl turned
away from the window into an untidy sitting room.
"Who did you say?" answered the older woman, stout yet
pinched looking.
"Aunt Margaret!*' and the girl laughed in derision.
"Well, Joe isn't home yet!" and the woman continued with
her cooking.
v
"Did papa want her for something?"
"Well! Guess she wants some more help, trying to keep us
broke!"
"Where's John?"
"Out, goodness knows where—just like his father!"
The door bell rang. Bertha ran to let her aunt in.
"Why, Aunt Maggie!"
"How are you, Bertha?" answered the woman frowning at
the "Maggie." "Is your mother in? I see. And where's Joe?"
"Oh, he isn't home yet. Mother says you must excuse the
appearance of the sitting room."
"That's all right."
"Mother says you'd better not ask for money for you always
keep us broke."
"Keeping you broke: Is that so? Where is your mother?"
"You just sit down. She'll be right in."
"How's your brother John?"
"Out."
"I should have liked to see him. I don't often get a chance
to come here—and you people never think to visit me."
"We're always busy."
When the mother finally came in it was to make one long
continuous excuse for keeping her sister-in-law waiting. Then
she went on to tell how hard times were and how badly in need
of money they were. After that she began to admire her visitor's
clothes and to inquire the price of each article. There had been
a time when Margaret had pleased herself to hurt the other by
telling the exact price of articles. Now, however, she had become
more careful and said little concerning expense. She had learned
to direct the talk into other channels, for envy did not please her
any longer—nor ever had to any great extent.
The young girl sat in the corner of the room, listening to all
that passed—and certainly agreed to all her mother said and did
�FEBRUARY, 1930
'(
j:
43
—and disapproved of her aunt.
It was some time after that Joe came in. He threw his hat
on the hatrack and saying, "Hello, Maggie!" dashed into the
kitchen.
fj j
When he came back, he sat down and stretched out his long
legs lazily.
"Oh," he said to his wife, "there's something burning in the
kitchen!"
She rushed in.
"You go in, Bertha, and help her." The girl went.
Margaret sat silent, looking straight at Joe. Her brother!
She didn't belong here, no matter the blood.
"Joe," she finally said, "I need money."
"I was just gonna ask you for some. John needs a new tire
on his roadster. He's got some snappy car!"
"How's your cab company going?"
"Oh, I've got about seven cabs—all going now, but the expense is terrible. I've got so many bills to pay."
"You usually have. Well, what am I to do? I've been giving you money for years."
"What can I do? Times are tough, you know."
"They usually are," she said, drily.
"Say, why don't you get a husband? Don't you think it's
about time?"
"Get a husband? For what?"
"Then you won't have any more worries and you'll have all
the money you want."
"That is an idea—and just like you. But, as I have always
said to you, I can't marry for money, and besides, I have had no
time to think of marriage with so many family aifairs occupying
my mind. On top of that, I'm too old now."
"No," but he looked at her. Margaret was old. True, her
hair hadn't turned nor had her face become wrinkled over much
. —but her eyes, when she looked at you, how old they were!
Of course, they had always been old eyes, but they were extremely
so now, especially since they didn't seem to laugh at you any
more. Queer how time had changed his sister. Was this the little
Maggie who had rushed him along to do his homework when he
was still at school? Was this the pretty Margaret who had given
up so much that he might be with his wife always? And she had
never complained. He would call her Margaret to please her.
�rtl
44
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"Margaret," he began. She looked up, surprised. "Why have
you done so much for me? I didn't deserve t."
"You are my brother," she said simply.
"My God!" he exclaimed. He hid his head in the palms of
his hands.
"Joe, for goodness' sake, don't!" She arose and came to
him, and placed her hands on his head.
"I didn't deserve it! I didn't deserve it! How can I ever
repay you!" he repeated over and over.
"You can't. I'll go on like this."
"You're alone and we've never given you a thought. Oh,
my God!"
Joe's wife appeared suddenly. "Come in, Joe," she called.
"How long do we have to wait for you?"
Margaret tightened her coat about her. She had kept it on.
She drew herself up to her greatest height, but her sister-in-law
ignored her. She knew she was dismissed.
Joe rose and quickly followed his wife.
Margaret let herself out, to walk home alone.
To My Father
(February 12, 1880—July 17, 1923)
By LABEEBEE A. J. HANNA
Nothing but the sky
So large, so firm, so fine —
And trees with tiny leaves, so new,
Open spaces —
And my thoughts turned to you.
Nothing but the sea
So green, so blue, so deep —
The waves, each movement ever new,
And the sand dunes —
And my thoughts turned to you.
Nothing but black walls
So hot, so firm, so sure,
My soul that tires and is through
And agony
And my thoughts turned to you.
I
/
�D
45
FEBRUARY, 1930
/e
EDITORIAL COMMENT
lo
jr
QO FAR the contest for a free
trip to Syria has produced
more enthusiasm than actual
results. There has been an addition this month to the number
of registered contestants, but
none has so far attained results
anywhere approaching the minimum goal. The fact, however,
that the contestants are enthused holds forth good promise. It is to be hoped that before
the date set for the closing of
the contest the leaders would
have far exceeded the mark.
We wish to again call attention to the important concession that gift subscriptions are
credited as direct subscriptions.
* Uur
Our recor
records show that scores of
M j sympathii
izers with the cause of
/ THE S^
SYRIAN WORLD have
made gift subscriptions ranging
from five up to twenty. This
fact indicates a commendable
disposition to help circulate the
magazine because of its patent
service to the Syrian cause.
Undoubtedly there are many
more who could be brought to
share this disposition, and a few
such would help swell the list
of any contestant materially.
Why not try for them? There
are any number of wealthy Syrians and Lebanese throughout
the United States who, once the
1
fact is made plain to them,
would welcome the opportunity
to make such a valuable gift, at
low cost, to their American and
Syrian
friends.
Contestants
should find it comparatively
easy to arouse the racial pride
of their wealthy friends to the
extent of availing themselves
of such a suggestion.
It is our ambition to ultimately have THE SYRIAN WORLD
reach every Syrian home in
America and the Free Trip
Contest we have inaugurated is
but one means to that end. No
doubt the prize is large and
seemingly out of proportion
with the limited means of a
small publication, but this only
goes to show the extent of our
determination.
And let it again be said that
in the publication of THE SYRIAN WORLD we are not simply
striving to exploit a popular
need. In truth, although such
a publication seems to be a need
indeed, we are struggling
against almost insuperable odds
for its bare maintenance. It is
rather our conviction that the
service is indispensable in its
ultimate benefits of arousing
among our race a consciousness
for the best that is in them,
that we are hoping for a grad-
�46
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ual awakening to the appreciation of the true value of the
publication. And on the strength
of that hope we shall continue
to strive, to the end that THE
SYRIAN WORLD and its benefit
will in time be adequately appreciated.
READERS of THE SYRIAN
WORLD will notice that our
material covers a broad latitude and is designed to give
the widest possible variety of
reading consistent with the nature of the magazine. History,
travel, literature, poetry, fiction, politics and general news
are to be found in almost every
number. Our contributors comprise practically every known
writer of standing in the United
States, and we are happy to
state that we are discovering a
good deal of new talent, some
of whom show distinct promise.We believe we are justified
in the pursuance of such a policy, inasmuch as THE SYRIAN
WORLD is the only publication
of its nature extant, and as
such it has to cater to all manner
of needs and tastes. As often
stated, it is in a class by itself,
creating its own standard, and
can by no valid reason be held
up to comparison with the general run of English periodicals.
These enjoy an extensive field
which permits of a high degree
of specialization.
s
As matters now stand, THE
even with its
cosmopolitan nature and its
general appeal, has good reason to complain of its limited
circulation.
SYRIAN WORLD,
would, nevertheless, welW]Ecome
our readers' opinions
r
on the general policies of THE
SYRIAN WORLD. Not that we
invite commendation and approval only, rather, we would
be most anxious for constructive
suggestions and advice on methods of betterment and improvement. We wish our readers to
fully and frankly give us the
benefit of their reactions, and
every practical suggestion making for improvement in the
magazine will be cheerfully
acted upon.
^HILE on the subject of
readers and their reactions,
may we not also invite their
appraisal of our various material? We would be gratified to
learn that they appreciate and
approve of this article or department, or condemn the other. Perhaps they might have
a little more information to add
to some particular subject under
discussion, which would be welcome for publication. Whether
the opinion be in praise or in
criticism, we feel confident that
all our contributors would welcome an expression of opinion
on the part of the readers.
/
A,
9
!
'•I
�FEBRUARY, 1930
47
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcosmic
picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever Arabic
dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking writers
who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabic-speaking
world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take no part in
the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our task will
simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and with utmost
sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed
in these editorials.
Editor.
RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE
IN THE EAST
Tho misinformed on true conditions among Eastern peoples and in
Eastern countries take it for granted
that public opinion, as represented
by the press, is the controlling power,
in the shaping of Eastern affairs.
This is an illusion which should be
corrected. The only influence in the
East that should be reckoned with
is that of the clergy. The whole
political structure seems to be still
raised on religious foundations.
Taking the Arabic-speaking countries, we find that the governments
of King Ibn Saoud, of Imam Yahya,
of King Faisal of Iraq, are all based
on religious influence and governed
along religious considerations. Even
the Constitution which the Syrians
had drafted for a republican form of
government in their country was
impregnated with the religious
spirit. While in Lebanon itself, and
in Egypt which is noted for its
modernism, and in Turkey which is
apparently adapting itself by a revolutionary process to Western
methods, the real influence governing the peoples in all walks of life
is paramountly religious.
For this reason we cannot escape
the conclusion that all our ills and
misfortunes, whether in the mother
country or abroad, can be traced to
religious beginnings and to the
harmful influence of the clergy. We
would even state unequivocally that
political and social leaderships
are but nominal figures which bow
in impotence to the great prestige
of religious influence.
Al-Hoda, N. Y.. Feb. 28, 1930.
CLOSING SCHOOLS IN LEBANON
The reform and economy program
of Premier Eddy of Lebanon seems
to be overreaching itself. The need
for a dictator in Lebanon should not
extend to the point where the most
vital department of government,
that of education, would be demoralized in the interest of false economy.
The judicial department could stand
a good deal of retrenchment, but to
curtail expenditures on education is
an unpardonable crime.
What Premier Eddy has done so
far indicates that he is pruning the
small twigs and sparing the big
branches. Only those whose salaries
are insignificant have so far fallen
�,
48
under the knife, while those drawing fat salaries seem to be safe
from molestation.
What can the result of such false
economy in the closing of native
schools mean other than that our
children will now have to flock to
foreign
educational
institutions
where, to say the least, they could
not have an equal opportunity to
learn the rudiments of true citizenship. They will learn to respect the
foreigner and despise the native
and become on that account willing
tools in the hands of the colonizers.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb N.Y.,Feb. 18, 1930
PALESTINIANS FOREIGNERS
IN THEIR COUNTRY
The status of Palestinian citizenship came up for discussion lately
in the British Parliament and drew
from the under secretary of the colonies the explanation that the regulations in force apply equally to
Jews and Arabs without discrimination. "Any Palestinian who has not
forsaken his Turkish citizenship,"
explained the British official, "will be
permitted to return to Palestine if he
is sound of mind and body. A twoyears' residence will entitle the applicant to citizenship."
How strange are the workings of
English policy in Palestine. A foreign element of various nationalities
and tongues are permitted to enter
the country without restrictions,
while the original inhabitants of the
country are denied the right of
entry except under hard and almost
prohibitive conditions!
Such is the policy that the reputed
"British Justice" is pursuing in
Palestine to fedeem a pledge made
by Lord Balfour during the war, a
policy Which recks with injustice
in that it places a race of strangers
THE SYRIAN WORLD
on a par with the original people of
the land.
The net result of these regulations
is that the Palestinian Arab may return to his homeland if he has retained his Turkish citizenship, subject to medical examination, while
if he has become a naturalized
American he is confronted with all
manner of restrictions. But the Jew,
the wanderer who supposedly owes
political allegiance to any number
of countries, may enter Palestine
and have the right to settle in it
without the slightest restriction if
he but passes the physical examination !
It would be in order to extend to
Great Britain condolences over the
passing of what was known as
"British Justice". But it is well to
recall a famous Arab maxim which
warns that: "No tyrant but will
reap at some time the just reward
of his injustice."
Al-Bayan N. Y., Jan. 30, 1930.
FRANCE AND LEBANON
A rumor gained circulation that
the Ehdenites of North Lebanon
opened negotiations with the inhabitants of Deir El-Kamar, of South
Lebanon, with the object of the two
factions joining hands in demanding
for the country direct administration under a French governor.
The rumor proved to be false. It
was discredited by the Ehdenites
both at home and abroad. If it had
any foundation of truth the Ehdenites of the United States would have
known of it because one of the
characteristics of these Lebanese is
that they will undertake no public
action before a general consultation
among themselves, whether they be
at home or abroad. Some of their
prominent leaders in America have
f
;
/
�FEBRUARY, 1930
assured us that the rumor was a
pure fabrication. We have reason to
believe that some trafickers in patriotism engineered the rumor for
possible later benefits to themselves.
We cannot too often state that
while Lebanon loves France it will
not renounce its independence. If
France will agree to be Lebanon's
aegis and defender, without exploiting it to the personal benefit of the
profiteering among its colonizers,
then she will be the queen of Lebanese hearts and Lebanon will be
to her a more impregnable stronghold than Gibraltar. This should be
sufficient to eliminate any greed on
the part of France and any fear on
the part of Lebanon. But if the
profiteering among the French and
Lebanese should combine to pervert
this policy of amity then the two
nations are bound to lose, and the
Lebanese in that case would be the
more to blame.
We want France as a friend and
not as a domineering mistress. We
want her in that capacity for our
own honor as well as for hers. For
this reason we find no recourse but
to declare a moral war for the purging of our relations with France
from any influence that might corrupt these lofty motives.
Al-Hoda, N. Y., Feb. 27, 1930.
FAISAL AND ZIONISM
/
In support of their contention of
having a right to Palestine, the Jews
produced a ten-year-old document in
the form of a letter written in 1919
by Emir Faisal, now King of Iraq,
to Prof. Frankfurter in which he
approves of the Jewish aspirations
for the creation of a national home
in Palestine and states that the
Arabs harbor no ill-feeling towards
th» Jwwi in the latter'* prosecution
49
of this claim, "because the leaders
among the Arabs are in complete
sympathy with Zionism."
This document was produced by
the Jews as evidence in support of
their case before the Shaw commission of inquiry and was reproduced
textually by the Boston Transcript.
As would be natural, there arose
a heated controversy among the
Arabs as to the authenticity and the
propriety of the said document.
There were some who claimed that
at the time of its writing Zionism
had not reached its present acute
stage, while others defended Faisal
on the ground that his hands were
forced by political motives which he
could not well disregard.
We are of the opinion that both
contentions are wrong. It seems to
be the object of both factions to
defend Emir Faisal, overlooking the
all-important consideration that the
missive itself is of no inherent value
and cannot be entered as material
evidence. When Faisal wrote the letter he was not representing the
country in any logical form, while
on the other hand Palestine cannot
be considered an article of barter
which the Emir could trade for some
personal benefit to please the
Zionists or conform to the dictates
of whatever diplomatic considerations prevailed at that time.
On the date of the letter, Emir
Faisal was in Paris negotiating for
an Arab throne which he could occupy and for the sake of which he
was willing to make many concessions, the least of which would be
the approval of Zionist claims.
Even if Faisal, who is now King
of Iraq, were to approve the Jews'
claim to Palestine, of what weight
would be his opinion when he is but
a stranger who can claim no legal
right to represent Palestine when
the country does not authorize him
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
50
the Lebanese constitution in such
to act in such a capacity?
It would seem to us that whether manner that it became a mockery.
Faisal be the author of the afore- He deprived the Assembly of all
mentioned letter or not, or whether power and saw to it that the powers
or not he wrote it under political vested in the High Commissioner, of
pressure, none of these considera- whom he was the personal repretions could be seriously considered sentative, were well guarded. In view
because the life of a nation cannot of these facts, we feel justified in
be bartered by the mere letter of a the belief that the regrets expressed
stranger, nor can it be affected by at the departure of this French ofthe wrecklessness of a political ficial were not genuinely sincere.
schemer who exhausted every means We also would add our expressions
at his command to achieve his poli- of elation in view of the announcement that the gentleman is not to
tical ambitions.
As-Sayeh, N. Y., Feb. 20, 1930. return.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N.Y.,Feb. 15, 1930.
A GLAD FAREWELL
The Syrian press reports that on
the occasion of the departure of M.
Solomiac for France, the President
of Lebanon, as well as the Premier
and many ministers and representatives bade him farewell on board
his ship and showed otherwise many
marks of esteem to the departing
French official.
The importance of the event is that
M. Solomiac was the "power behind
the throne" in the Lebanese government. He had held his office as special representative of the High Commissioner for four years during
which he performed his duties with
the utmost consciousness. He was
the bugaboo of the Representative
Assembly and took great pains in
safeguarding French influence and
French interests. Whenever covert
diplomatic suggestions failed to
have the proper effect he resorted
to overt acts of intimidation to make
the representatives think his way.
He often rose in the Assembly and
attempted to silence the resolute
and courageous members who opposed foreign interests in their defense of native interests.
M. Solomiac also helped frame
THE LESSER OF THE TWO EVILS
The two principal towns of Lebanon, Ehden in the north and Dair
El-Kamar in the south, are reported
to have entered into negotiations
on the advisability of asking for
direct French administration over
the country by the appointment of
a French governor who would supercede the present republican form
of government which has given rise
to many misgivings. This is said to
have been brought to a climax by
the application of the Eddy program which has wrought havoc in
the administrative regulation of the
country, depriving some of the principal centres of distinctive privileges
which they formerly enjoyed.
It is an incontestable fact that the
Lebanese have been driven to desperation by the successive administrative changes which have taken
place in their country since the
French occupation. The republic has
been more of a preparatory school
than a going concern. And while all
these changes were taking place the
high officials were fattening on their
salaries while the rest of the people
were in dire distress.
/
�FEBRUARY, 1930
Due to these disturbed conditions
many opinions have been advanced
for administrative changes in the
country. There were those Who advocated direct French administration, while others favored a dominion status or some sort of a condition which would place Lebanon on
the same basis as outright French
colonies. Still others clamored for
complete independence along the
same terms that our brother Syrians are demanding for their own
country.
Under present circumstances we
are of the opinion that the Lebanese
Republic should remain in its present form because it is the form of
government most suitable to the
needs of the country. The Lebanese
should seek neither a principality,
nor a monarchy, nor any other form
51
of government that savors of absolutism. Many other nations have
experimented with all sorts of government theories and discovered that
the republican principle is the best.
It is well for Lebanon to profit by
the experience of other nations.
We are not inclined to offer any
apology for present conditions in
Lebanon. The situation is of the
gravest whether from the political
or economic standpoint. But what
we would say is that when one is
confronted with two evils he chooses
the lesser one. Under the present
circumstances, the wiser course is
to let matters take their course under
the direction of the Eddy cabinet
until such time that we can see concrete results, otherwise the situation
will adjust itself at the proper time.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., Feb. 19, 1930.
Political Developments in Syria
/
PALESTINE
Peace seems to have returned to
Palestine—peace in the sense that
no further riots have been reported
and that the activities of both the
Arabs and the Jews are confined to
propaganda and political manoeuvres. In the battle of words the
Arabs appear to be having the
upper hand in that the public opinion
of the world is being won over to
their favor, a fact admitted by the
Jews themselves.
The most concrete result of the
post-riot period is that a noticeable
change is observed in the attitude
of world Jewry towards Zionism.
The stand of Dr. Magnes, President
of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has had the effect of dimming a good deal of the enthusiasm
characterizing the earlier stages of
the Zionist movement. Now the Jews
seem to be realizing that the Arab
element can be aroused to popular
action and that once such a condition prevails it becomes difficult to
deny a whole people an inherent
right.
It had been the hope of the Zionists to gradually populate Palestine
with their coreligionists, depending
for the success of this plan on Great
Britain's direct administration of the
country and the interpretation of the
Balfour declaration in a manner
favorable to their designs. Meanwhile their policy called for opposition to any form of representative
government because of the overwhelming Arab majority. Arab demands are naturally the direct op-
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
52
posite of any such plan.
Mufti of Jerusalem and reports that
At present both sides are anxiously when he asked him what Balfour had
awaiting the report of the Shaw in mind during the war when he
commission of inquiry which is ex- made promises to both Jews and
pected to be made public in the near Arabs, the Mufti replied: "He had
future. Recent dispatches from Lon- England in mind."
The proposal that an Arab commisdon stated that forecasts of the report suggest that it will be favorable sion go to London to further defend
to the Arabs. The Commission, it is the case of Palestine Arabs has not
further understood, will not confine yet been carried out.
its report to the causes of the riots
SYRIA
of last August but will deal extensively with the whole Palestinian
Conferences are still reported to
situation, offering many suggestions.
be taking place between High ComAccording to one account, the Commissioner Ponsot and his lieutenants
mission "considers the time not yet
ostensibly for the purpose of seeking
ripe for the Zionists to take control
a solution to the Syrian problem.
in Palestine." Furthermore, accordNot a word, however, has come auing to the same source, one of the
thoritatively from the High Commisrecommendations of the Commissioner as to his future plans. A
sion is likely to be that a wider inParis newspaper definitely announces
terpretation should be made of the
that M. Ponsot will soon return to
Balfour declaration on the establishFrance for further consideration of
ment of a national home for the
the Syrian question with the Foreign
Jews, and some consider that the
Office and perhaps for attending tb*
report may raise the whole question
coming session of the Mandates
of the future of the British mandate
Commission of the League of Nain Palestine.
tions.
In an article appearing in The
The latest rumor to gain circulaNew York Times, Emil Ludwig, the tion on a possible solution to tha
eminent German author who is mak- Syrian question is that High Coming a tour of the Near East, ex- missioner Ponsot has offered the
presses the belief that a parliament Nationalists what are supposed to be
in Palestine is inevitable and re- the maximum terms that France can
marks that "only by mutual under- give, which are reported by the
standing can the Arabs and the Damascus paper Al-Qabas to include
Jews live together in the country, the following concessions:
which both races possess by virtue
1—The Constituent Assembly, as
of tradition and by virtue of prom- at present constituted, to be given
ises given in recognition of their the status of a Representative Asconduct during the World War." No sembly with full powers to elect a
prudent Zionist, he continues, speaks permanent government which would
any longer of the Jewish State of enter into negotiations with the
Palestine, but all speak of a home French tending to the conclusion
in Palestine.
of a treaty.
The established right of the Jews
2—The State of the Alouites will
to Palestine which Mr. Ludwig seems be permitted to join the proposed
to concede to them is the very thing Syrian Republic on condition that
the Arabs deny.
the former retain a form of fiscal
Mr. Ludwig interviewed the Grand
~ ^
„ -.*•-**£*
autonomy similar to that now en-
/
�53
FEBRUARY, 1930
i
joyed by the districts of Alexahdretta and Antioch.
3—The city of Tripoli will be made
a free port to serve as a maritime
outlet for Syria, or perhaps it may
be definitely annexed to the State of
Syria.
4—France will waive its reservations concerning the six objectionable articles occurring in the first
draft of the Syrian constitution.
While this offer seems to be most
liberal on the face of it, there seems
to be special conditions which
Franee demands in the making of
the Treaty which the Nationalists
hesitate to concede. On the other
hand, the High Commissioner is said
to have warned the Nationalists
that in case his last offer is not
accepted he is ready to proclaim
Syria a monarchy and raise to the
throne the sherif Ali Haidar Pasha,
one of the lineal descendants of the
Prophet.
Meanwhile, sheikh Tajeddin remains in control and is apparently
as distant as ever from the Nationalist bloc. A great cry has been
raised against his application of the
strictest censorship to the press and
his causing the imprisonment of an
opposition editor and the fleeing of
several others from the country to
escape persecution.
The Paris correspondent of the
Beirut newspaper Al-Ahwal reported that Jaberi and Arslan, who
claim representation of the Syrian
nation in Europe, have entered into
an agreement with Italy for transferring to it the mandate over Syria
on condition that it place ex-Khedive
\
Abbas Helmi of Egypt on the Syrian
throne. The report was vehemently
denied by Emir Shakib Arslan, one
of the two concerned.
Rumors that Sultan Pasha Atrash,
leader of the Druze revolt, had been
warned by the government of Trans-
jordania to leave the country by the
end of winter, and that he intended
to seek refuge in Persia or sail for
Europe, have been authoritatively
denied. The self-exiled leader announces that he intends to remain
in Wadi Sirhan within the boundaries
of Nejd falling under the jurisdiction of King Ibn Saoud.
LEBANON
The Lebanese Cabinet is still engrossed in the task of enforcing the
economy program which Premier
Eddy insisted should be carried out
before he accepted administrative
responsibility. The pruning of sinecures is proceeding steadily and
material economies have been effected.
Naturally, objections are being
raised by the sufferers and their
sympathizers, but the Premier seems
to be enjoying the support and the
confidence of an overwhelming majority of the people. Where the application of the program caused the
the greatest objection was when it
cut deeply into the appropriations
for public schools. The Moslems being the largest beneficiaries under
the eld system, their losses were
naturally the most felt and they
were not unfailing in rising to protest. They claimed that discrimination was being applied owing to
religious considerations, but the
Premier refuted this accusation by
the citation of statistics and the
enumeration of flagrant cases where
teachers drawing pay for several
years were in some cases illiterates
and in others constant absentees.
What appeared for a time as a
serious move on the part of the
Ehdenites to voice their protest on
present conditions in Lebanon was
their reported negotiations with the
inhabitants of Dair El-Kamar tend-
�mat
THE SYRIAN WORLD
54
ing to the taking of action to demand
direct French administration in the
country. Bishop Augustine Bistani,
to whom the Dairanians submitted
the matter, counseled patience before
deciding on such a drastic step. The
Ehdenites later denied that they had
authorized any such move. The significance of the matter is that Ehden
and Dair El-Kamar are respectively
the most important Maronite towns
in north and in south Lebanon.
A committee of prominent citizens
, of Tripoli sent telegraphic protests
to the Lebanese Government and to
the High Commissioner on the Eddy
policy of curtailing educational facilities, accusing the Premier of improper motives and of desire to
kill the native language in an effort
to raise a generation of Lebanese
knowing only French. Legal action
was brought by the Premier against
the signers of the petition and when
they refused to appear in court by
reason of the Ramadan fast, they
were tried in their absence and sentenced to a short jail term.
About Syria and Syrians
PASSING OF BUSTANI,
GREAT ARABIC SCHOLAR
Sheikh Abdullah Bustani, concededly the greatest Arabic scholar of
the age, passed away in Beirut on
February 16 at the age of seventysix. His body was taken to Dair ElKamar for interment, while the
funeral services, held in the city of
Beirut, were attended with such
pomp and marks of reverence on the
part of the clergy, the government
and all classes of the people that
newspaper reports agree that no
other funeral of recent times approached it in ostentation.
The deceased scholar was famous
throughout
the
Arabic-speaking
world for his mastery of the language and for his gifts as a poet.
His works comprise numerous plays
in both poetry and prose. But his
greatest contribution to the language
is Al-Bustan, the new Arabic dictionary which has revolutionized the
method of word classification. It i3
published in two volumes by the
American Press of Beirut.
Perhaps the outstanding distinction of Sheikh Abdullah is his halfcentury of teaching advanced Arabic
in various colleges of Beirut, principally the Maronite College. Some
of his pupils are among the foremost Arabic scholars of the day.
The Syrian-Lebanese community
of New York is planning a memorial
meeting for the deceased scholar to
be held early in April. A committee
has been elected of which N. A. Mokarzel, editor of Al-Hoda, is chairman, Sheikh Abbas Shakra, secretary, and A. K. Hitti, treasurer.
The loss of Sheikh Abdullah Bustani is more keenly felt because it follows so closely on the death of Prof.
Jabr Dumit, who died on January 20,
and who held the chair of Arabic
literature in the American University
of Beirut for over half a century.
LEBANON NAT'L BANK
ELECTS VICE-PRESIDENT
William Catzeflis of New York
City has been elected a Vice-Pres-
1/
�FEBRUARY, 1930
ident of the Lebanon National Bank
of New York.
Mr. Catzeflis was general manager of the firm of Mallouk Brothers of New York for a period of 12
years. He is a college graduate and
thoroughly conversant with the English, French and Arabic languages.
His long business career and wide
popularity eminently fit him for his
new post.
55
city's prominent Syrian lawyers.
The entertainment was preceded by
short exercises in which the present
incumbent of the Presidency, Said
J. Akel, lauded the services of his
predecessor and his untiring activity in the intei^est of the organization. Mr. Ferris followed by a short
speech in which he outlined the purposes of the Federation and stressed
the intention of creating of the
splendid building of the Federation
a civic centre for the Syrian community at large.
PALESTINIAN WOMEN
THANK RIHANI
The women of Palestine broke
traditions to the extent of holding
public demonstrations and engaging
in many other activities in support
of the Arab cause which were unprecedented among women of the East,
especially Moslems. They also called
a convention for the public discussion of means to further their ends
and gave by their display of aggressiveness and determination great
courage to the workers for the Arab
cause.
The Syrian World has learned that
one of the first acts of this first
congress of Palestinian women was
to send a cable of thanks and appreciation to our eminent author and
lecturer, Ameen Rihani, for his effective defense of the cause of Palestine Arabs in America, reports of
which caused great rejoicing among
the Arabs of Palestine.
AS-SAYEH RESUMES
PUBLICATION
As-Sayeh, formerly one of New
York's Arabic dailies, which had
suspended publication temporarily,
has resumed publication as a weekly
magazine. The announced purpose
of this change is to reinvest the publication with its distinctive literary
character which it had largely disregarded while appearing as a daily.
As-Sayeh is the organ of Ar-Rabitah, the literary society of which
our famous author Kahlil Gibran is
president, and which counts among
its members such known literary
figures as Mischa Naimy, Nasib Arida, William Catzeflis, Nadra Haddad,
Richard Ayyoub and others.
POPULATION OF LEBANON:
FEDERATION HONORS
FORMER PRESIDENT
The American Syrian Federation
of New York held an entertainment
and dance on the evening of February 22 in honor of its former president Joseph W. Ferris, one of the
The census Bureau of the Lebanese
Republic announces that at the end
of 1929, the registered population
of the country was 840,650. These
figures comprise only Lebanese citizens and do not include foreign residents.
�56
THE SYRIAN WORLD
NEW FIND CONFIRMS
ORIGIN OF ALPHABET
CRISIS IN ELECTION OF
ORTHODOX PATRIARCH
Fourteen Sinaitic inscriptions on
stones dating from about 2000 B.
C, which are expected to establish
conclusively that Egyptian hieroglyphs furnished the basis for the
Phoenician alphabet, the ancestor of
our modern scripts, have just been
discovered on and near the plateau
of Serabit-el Khaden, in the Sinai
desert, by an expedition sponsored
jointly by Harvard University and
the Catholic University of America,
according to a dispatch to The New
York Times from Sinai dated March
13. The discoveries were made near
the site of the ancient turquoise
mines in Wadi-el-Maghara and in
the ruins of the Egyptian Temple of
Hathor, goddess of love and beauty,
on the plateau itself, which were first
explored by Sir Flinders in 1904 and
1905.
Among the Egyptian hieroglyphs
then photographed by the English
scholar were certain crudely executed
inscriptions which, although resembling hieroglyphs, defied translation
as Egyptian. It was not until 1918
that two English Egyptologists,
Professors Peete and Gardiner, announced these mysterious inscriptions were not Egyptian at all but
an adaptation of the picture-writing
of the Pharaohs into arbitrary signs
forming consonants of the Semitic
tongue.
On this basis Professor Gethe, a
German scholar, deciphered the majority of the inscriptions and illustrated their kinship with various
late Semitic alphabets. Thereupon
another German Egyptologist, Professor Grimme of Munster, made
the sensational announcement that
the names of Moses and the Egyptian Princess who rescued him from
the Nile appeared in the Petrie documents.
Ever since the death of the Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox
Church, well over a year ago, futile
attempts have been made to choose
his successor. Several conclaves
have been convened but they invariably resulted in failure, at times
accompanied by physical violence
owing to the interference of laymen
in the deliberations of the clergy.
The latest news to reach the
United States from Syria indicates
that a convention of laymen was held
in Beirut at which it was decided to
call on the bishops to elect a Patriarch within a fortnight from Jan.
29, otherwise the laymen's convention will bring the matter formally
to the attention of the mandatory
power and to that of the native governments of the Syrian States, and
will further disclaim all representative authority of the bishops in
church matters.
This decision was precipitated by
a call issued by the Patriarch of
Constantinople to an ecumenical
congress to be held in Saloniki,
which is said to be the first of its
sweeping nature to be convened since
the division of the Eastern and Western Churches.
..
FAMOUS ORIENTALIST
DIES MOHAMMEDAN
The Syrian press reports the death
in Paris (date not given), at the
age of 68, of the famous French
Orientalist Etien Dene who had embraced Islam and performed the pilgrimage to Mecca. He was especially
noted for his paintings of North
African scenes.
His funeral took place at the
Mosque of Paris and was attended
by the Minister of Marine and many
I
in
�57
FEBRUARY, 1930
French officials and notables, as well
.B by many Moslem sultans of North
African countries visiting in Paris.
His body is to be sent to Algeria
for burial in a special grave lie had
prepared before his death.
LITERACY IN SYRIA
AND LEBANON
According to official figures made
public by the French Commissariat,
illiteracy in the different states of
Syria and Lebanon is as follows:
Country
LOCUSTS IN PALESTINE
A special cable dispatch to The
New York Times from Beershaba
dated February 27 states that Arabs
and Jews have drowned their differences and joined hands in fighting
He dread locust invasion which has
ppeared in the Jordan Valley. The
J
alestine Administration has appropriated $250,000 to combat the
menace and already more than 3000
men have been enrolled to carry on
the fight. The latest scientific devices
known are to be employed to check
the invasion, including flame throwers and poison.
In olden times the natives attempti to check locust invasions by beat.\g drums.
\
AUTOMOBILES IN SYRIA
According to the latest census,
automobiles in Syria at the close of
the year 1929 were as follows:
Lebanon
3,670
Syria
4,150
Alouite State ... 795
Jebel Druze
275
Some Lebanese newspapers complain that the number of automobiles
in Lebanon far exceeds the needs of
the country, inasmuch as its population is only eight hundred thousand souls. They remark that lack
of gainful occupations has driven
large numbers to exploit the automobile traffic.
Percentage of
Illiterates.
Lebanon
40 per cent.
Syria
77 per cent.
Jebel Druze
93 per cent.
Alouite State
85 per cent.
These figures include the whole
population of both sexes and all
classes and ages.
LEBANESE HIGHLY RESPECTED
IN URUGUAY REPUBLIC
The Arabic press of South America reports that the Lebanese colony
of Montevideo, Uruguay, has presented the government of that country with a portrait of General Otiva,
the liberator of Uruguay, woven in
threads of silver and gold and true
in every detail to nature. The woven
portrait, equalling in artistry the
finest European tapestries, was executed by native artists of Zouk in
Mt. Lebanon. The presentation was
made on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the independence of the Uruguayan Republic.
PEACE AMONG ARABS
Through the good offices of Great
Britain, King Faisal of Iraq and
King Ibn Saoud of Arabia met on
board a British sloop on February
24 and signed a treaty of peace and
amity. The countries of both kings
are contiguous on Syria and peace
among them should affect stabilization of conditions on Syria's
frontiers.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
58
I
<***>«f,'**-*r-r*r<^
t
THE LEBANON NATIONAL BANK
3 19 FIFTH AVENUE,
COR. 32ND STREET
Legal Depository of
The United States — New York State — New York City
Member of
The Federal Reserve Bank — New York State Bankers
Association — American Bankers Association
*
*
4-^% INTEREST
We are pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has decided to raise the rate of interest on savings
accounts from 4% to 4J4%, computed every three
months, which raises the rate considerably above 4}4%
per annum.
On check accounts, interest will be paid at the rate of
2 ) for daily balances below $5,000, and 3% for daily
balances of $5,U00 and over.
l
The Lebanon National Bank inaugurates the return
of control to its original founders by this liberal policy
of sharing profits with its depositors. Out-of-Town accounts are solicited on the same basis. We shall be glad
to correspond with anyone, anywhere, interested in availing himself of our facilities and liberal terms.
BANKING BY MAIL is a conception of good business.
You can begin at once to enjoy the facilities of
our "Banking by Mail" department.
THE LEBANON NATIONAL BANK
"THE BANK OF FRIENDLY CO-OPERATION"
319
Corner
New York City
FIFTH AVE.,
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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
TSW1930_02reducedWM
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Volume 04, Issue 06
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930 February
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 4 Issue 06 of The Syrian World published February 1930. Dr. Fuad Shatara opens the issue with an appreciative account of Arab physician Ar-Razi. This article highlights the achievements of Arabs in medicine. Following a short poem about mortality by Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin, Ameen Rihani further details his travels through Arabia. This time Rihani covers his rare experiences while in Jeddah, and a particularly interesting conversation had with King Hussein. Najla Sabe's song, Raja F. Howrani's translated treatise "The Old Criminal," and R. A. Nicholson's poem "Tears" proceed another portion of Salloum Mokarzel's travels in Lebanon. In this issue he covers the distance from the Dog River to the Cedars. Finally Labeebee A. J. Hanna contributes an original short story that discusses a phase of Syrian life in America, followed by one of her poems titled "To My Father." This issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press and more on political developments in Syria.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1930s
Ameen Rihani
Fuad Shatara
Labeebee A.J. Hanna
Lebanon
Medical
Music
Najla Sabe
New York
Poetry-English
R. A. Nicholson
Raja F. Howrani
Rivers
Salim Alkazin
Saudi Arabia
Travel