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��THE
SYRIAN WORLD
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
104
GREENWICH STREET, NEW YORK,
N. Y.
3y subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies
Entered as second-class matter, June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. II.
JULY, 1927
No. 1.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Vital Industry for Syria
3
PROF. HAROLD CLOSE
\An Effective Argument
12
Syrian Folk Songs — Across the Bridge, O Come
13
AMEEN RIHANI
\The Great Lyric of Al-Farid — (Sufiism)
DR. N. A. KATIBAH
On Fatalism (poem)
J. D.
14
20
CARLYLE
Everybody's Book Shelf —/— Books for Babies
21
BARBARA WEBB BOURJAILY
i Many-Gifted Arab
26
7
27
amous Cities of Syria — Tyra and Sidon
�CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
Why I Wrote a Syrian Play
33
HARRY CHAPMAN FORD
Anna Ascends — Act One
'
35
HARRY CHAPMAN FORD
The Tournament
44
FUAD AL-BUSTANI
The Justice of Touloun
47
Alone? No, Not Alone (poem)
DR. N. A. KATIBAH
4$
NOTES AND COMMENTS— By
Our First Anniversary
What Ails Syrian Industry?
Politics Again
"Son of an Immigrant"
A Reminder
A Regular Contributor
For Your Sumtner Reading
THE EDITOR
4Q
SO
52
52
53
53
5
Spirit of the Syrian Press
5 .
About Syria anJ Syrians
5^
Political Developments in Syria
...£2
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE
'Umar Ibnu H-Farid—A Conception by Gibran
The City of Sidon
The Citadel by the Sea
A Relic of Old Glory
The Beginning of her Ascent
A Garden Spot in the Upper Reaches of Lebanon
A Natural Wonder
—i
! {'
�k
THE
SYRIAN WORLD
VOL. II.
No. 1.
JULY, 1927.
\
A Vital Industry for Syria
By
HAROLD CLOSE
Professor of Chemistry in the American University of Beirut.
*>
The most fundamental problem facing an individual is that
of providing those material necessities without which life is impossible His stomach demands his first attention and it gets it.
Those poor unfortunates who do not know where their next
meal is coming from cannot be expected to show much interest
in questions of education, social ethics or philosophy, buch a
man may even have to do without the services of the doctor
or the dentist if he sees no prospect of being able to pay the bill.
It is exactly the same with a nation. Granted a reasonable
amount of public security, economic conditions must be the nation's first concern. If a nation is to prosper it must be selfsupporting. If it is not able to support its population the situation will remedy itself in one way or another. Large numbers
of the people may die or leave the country, thus reducing the
number of mouths to feed. The standard of living may fall
until it reaches a point where the population can be supported.
Both processes may go on at the same time. The danger is that
the poor who do not run away to seek their fortune elsewhere
will become steadily poorer until they find themselves little better
than serfs in the employ of the few rich.
Emigration may relieve the situation temporarily, but it is
not solving the problem. It is evading it for those who go and
adding to it for those who stay. Likewise, reducing the stand-
.
�4
.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ard of living does not mean that the people have overcome their
difficulties. Neither process is consistent with national pride.
Both close the door to future advancement and prosperity.
The only genuine and effective way to attack the problem
is to make every effort to increase production. This can be done
by developing the mining and agricultural possibilities on the
one hand or by taking the raw materials which Nature provides
and working them until they become more valuable. This is
the object of the various industries. Syria and Palestine will
never become great industrial countries because of the lack of
fuel. But there are some industries in which the fuel problem
does not play such an important part, and the most should be
made of these, if these countries are to prosper. It is proposed
in the present article to make a brief survey of the situation confronting the soap manufacturers, with a view to pointing out
some of the problems which must be faced and estimating the
possibilities for the future development of the soap business.
Before doing this it will be necessary to outline in a few words
the process of manufacture of soap as it is practiced here and in
other countries where it has reached a somewhat higher stage of
developmnt.
Soap is made by treating a fat or an oil with some kind of
alkali. Fats are compounds composed of glycerine combined
with an acid. When the fat is treated with sodium hydroxide,
for example, the glycerine is set free and the sodium combines
with the acid to form a soap. The result then of the action of
the alkali on the fat is the formation of soap and the liberation
of glycerine.
In Syria the only oil that is used is olive oil, because
it is the cheapest and makes very good soap. The result is that
there is only one variety of soap made. In other words, soap
is soap. The only difference between soaps made by different
manufacturers is because some use a cheap grade of alkali or
adulterants. This latter point will be dealt with later. The
fact to be noted at present is that all the soap made in Syria is
olive oil soap. In contrast with this in Europe and America a
large variety of oils are used and consequently many kinds of
soap are produced. In general these may be classified into two
main groups, kudry soaps made from cheap oils, and toilet soaps
made from the more expensive oils.
Although in general no distinction is mad* ia Syria be-
Ll
�JULY, 1927
*
tween soaps for laundry purposes and soaps for toilet purposes it
is best to consider the two separately as they present somewhat
different problems. Soap which is to be used for washing one s
face must not only be a good cleansing agent} it must lather
freely without being too wasteful, and it must also not be irritating to the skin. If it is clothes that are to be washed these
requirements, do not differ except in the last instance It doesn t
matter very much if the soap is a little harsh. If the soap is to
be delicate and mild it must be made from the best ingredients
and must not contain excess of alkali, as it is the free alkali
which is chiefly responsible for the irritating action on the skin.
With laundry soaps this is of much less importance, while the
cost is relatively more important than in the case of toilet soaps
Hence the practice in Europe and America of reserving the best
ingredients for toilet soaps and of taking great care in the manufacturing processs to prevent excess of alkali. With laundry
soaps the most important points are cleansing power and cheapThe situation in Syria and Palestine may be described in
general by saying that the manufacturers use toilet soap ingredients and laundry soap methods of manufacture. Thus the
product is more expensive than foreign laundry soap and yet
not carefully enough made to compete in an open market with
foreign toilet soap.
If local soap is to compete as a laundry soap it must be
cheapened. A glance at the cost sheet of any manufacturer reveals at once that the oil is the main item of expense. Reduction in other cost items would not materially affect the price 01
the soap. This is the. reason why the soap business should logically be located in oil-producing countries. This fact should also
make it obvious that the practice of using a poor grade of alkali
or of adding adulterants does not pay. The use of lime, soda
containing large amounts of common salt and other extraneous
matter should be strongly condemned. It not only results in
a low-grade soap but it is not worth it. The controlling factor
is the price of oil. It is doubtful whether other 01 Sj can be produced here or brought in from outside which would be cheaper
than olive oil, but the question is worthy of careful study. It
the problem resolves itself into that of lowering the cost of production of olive oil it becomes an agricultural problem, lhis
point will be discussed more fully at the end of the article.
�.... I..
6
THE SYRIAN WORLD
While it is true that the main item of expense in the manufacture of soap is the oil, there is another point which should be
brought out here. One reason why foreign laundry soap is cheap
is because it is manufactured in very large quantities. In this
country the soap factories are all small and many of them are
not working to their full capacity. Machinery cheapens cost of
production but only when the output is sufficiently large to keep
the machinery working steadily. The writer knows of no soap
factory in Syria or Palestine large enough to make it profitable
to introduce machinery;-for the making of laundry soap. If several soap manufacturers could combine into one big company it
is possible that the introduction of machinery would be profitable and would result in a lowering of the cost of production.
Such a combination would in any case have the advantage of
reducing the overhead expenses.
In the preceding paragraphs we have been looking at the
question from the point of view of soap for laundry purposes
and the principal objection to the local soap as a laundry soap
is that it is too expensive. But if we consider the local soap
as a toilet soap the situation is different. Foreign toilet soap has
the advantage over local soaps in various points, which, however,
could to a large extent be overcome by local manufacturers.
SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE CAKES
I. The local soap is cut into square pieces which are very unhandy to hold. They are too large and of a most inconvenient
shape. This is because they are cut by hand. Soap presses have
not come into general use partly because of expense, but the main
reason is because no differentiation has been made between soap
for laundry purposes and soaps for toilet uses. Once this distinction is made the desirability of putting out a cake of toilet
soap of convenient size and shape would be apparent to all. The
majority of the people buying local soap have not been accustomed to making any distinction between laundry and local soap,
and the manufacturers no doubt feel that it is not worthwhile to
try to change century-old customs. But the fact of the matter
is that foreign toilet soap is in the meantime driving the local
soap from the market slowly but surely. The local industry is
losing ground and this is one of the reasons. As the people become acquainted with foreign soap they gradually acquire the
�JULY, 1927
habit of buying it, largely because it is more convenient to handle.
II. A second reason why foreign soap is gradually displacing local soap is because it is wrapped up in an attractive
form. Experience has shown that it pays to advertise. If you
want to sell an article make it look attractive. Most of us judge
very largely by appearances — we have to because we don't
konw anything about what is under the surface. The merchant
who displays his goods in an attractive way will get the business.
III. Attractive exterior appearance of an article may get
business for its manufacturer but it won't keep it unless the quality of the object is good throughout. Very good soap may be
done up in a very attractive wrapping. The most important
thing is the soap. Some kinds of local soap are better soap than
many of the foreign varieties. You can't make good soap out
of poor ingredients. Most of the local soap purports to be
made from sodium hydroxide and olive oil. These are excellent. But when lime, a cheap grade of soda and other adulterants are used the value of the soap is much decreased. For
example, lime makes a soap which is insoluble and hence useless.
It doesn't lather and it doesn't clean.
If good sodium hydroxide and olive oil only are used the
soap is good soap, but it doesn't1 lather as good as soap containing
mixed oils. A relatively small amount of palm oil, cocoa-nut
oil, or castor oil increases the lathering properties. The different
oils make soaps with somewhat different properties. By carefully experimenting with varying proportions of different oils,
the foreign manufacturers have worked out formulas for soap
which vary greatly in solubility, firmness, smoothness of texture,
lathering qualities and lasting properties. The local product
could be considerably improved by mixing other oils with the
olive oil. Most of these other oils come from tropical or semitropical countries, and should be procurable here cheaper than
in Europe and America. The question of introducing a greater
variety of oils in the soap manufacture here is worthy of consideration.
IV. Another point in which foreign soap has the advantage
over much of the local product is in the care with which the
soap is made. It is not an uncommon occurrence to find all sorts
of foreign matter embedded in the cake of soap, such as sticks,
stones, lumps of lime and even nails. This sort of thing is, inex-
�;_;...
,
.
,...
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8
mmm
THE SYRIAN WORLD
cusable and can be easily avoided with a reasonable amount of
cleanliness and care.
V. The best grades of toilet soap are the so-called "milled"
soaps. Different kinds of soaps are made from different oils.
These are then shaved into small pieces by machinery and after
thorough mixing are put through a mechanical press which compresses the soap and moulds it into the desired .shape. By this
process the soap is rendered of a finer texture and more uniform
throughout.
The local soap is inferior as regards texture because all the
work is done by hand, and hence is not as fine or as uniform.
The introduction of a small amount of machinery for mixing
and moulding the soap would greatly improve it, but this would
scarcely pay in such small factories as most of the existing ones.
Consolidation of several factories into one would make the introduction of machinery profitable.
VI. Another way in which large factories have an advantage over small ones lies in the fact that in large factories it
pays to recover the glycerine which is a by-product in the soap
manufacture. At present this glycerine remains in the soap. It
does no harm, and in fact helps to make the soap less irritating
to the skin. The only reason for extracting it is because it is
valuable. The recovery of the glycerine, however, involves expensive machinery and is out of the question unless several small
factories were to be consolidated, in which case it would be a
profitable undertaking. Large quantities of glycerine are used
for making explosives, besides what is used in the preparation
of medicine.
VII. Local soap is for the most part sold by weight,
whereas foreign soap is sold by the piece. After soap is made'
it loses a good deal of water by evaporation. If a purchaser
buys soap by weight he buys more or less water, and unless he
has had experience he cannot tell how much is soap and how
much is water. To be fair to both buyer and seller the price
must vary with the dryness of the soap. This cannot be accurate, so someone always loses, and it is more often the buyer
than the, seller, because the latter knows more about it. It would
therefore seem to be an advantage to the purchaser to buy his
soap by the cake because then he could be sure how much he
was buying. For this assurance he ought to be willing to pay and
thus the higher price which soap by the piece brings is justified
�<J
: I
The manufacturer gets a little more profit and the purchaser
gets the assurance that he is not paying for water when he thinks
he is buying soap.
. i • • i
VIII. In purchasing soap or any other article it is always
a satisfaction when one can be sure that the article he purchases
is genuine, and the quality is uniform. When a manufacturer
succeeds in establishing a reputation for genuineness and uniformity in his product he has gone a long way towards success.
Thus it is a big asset to both parties. It is because men realize
this that they put their names, or trade-marks on their goods. A
trade-mark is intended to be a guarantee of the good quality of
the article, but it may prove to be an indication of the poor quality rather than the good quality. A soap manufacturer who is
not ready to vouch for the genuineness and uniformity of his
soap would do well to leave his name off because a bad reputation is much worse than no reputaion at all. And when a manufacturer succeeds in establishing a good reputation it is the height
of folly for him to begin to add adulterants to his soap. A
good reputation is a wonderful asset and should be most carefully guarded as it is hard to win and very easy to lose.
What can be done to develop the soap industry in Syria
and Palestine? Along what lines should the efforts of soap
manufacturers be directed?
I. Co-operation:— The soap factories are all small, and
as a result the manufacturers cannot afford to put in improvements which would be possible where large amounts of capital
were at hand. Machinery for the most part does not pay unless
the output of the factory is large. A manufacturer of small
quantities of soap hesitates to put on the market any novelties
in the soap line for fear they will not be popular, whereas a
large firm can much more easily run the risk of failure without
endangering the whole business} in union there is strength.
Consolidation would be a great advantage.
Next best to consolidation would be co-operation between
manufacturers. The first aim for soap manufacturers to set before themselves is to drive out foreign soaps. They cannot hope
to do this by individual effort — it requires team work. The
first step then would seem to get together and lay out a plan of
action. Does it seem strange to suggest that men who are rivals
in business could get together in a friendly and co-operative
spirit to consider their common good? If they can not they
�10
THE SYRIAN WORLD
must expect their business to shrink as it gradually gives way to
pressure from outside.
II. Different Kinds of Soap:— If the local soap is to drive
the foreign from the market it must be made in more than one
grade. Foreign laundry soap will inevitably win out over local
soap for laundry purposes sooner or later, unless the local soap
can be cheapened. The local soap cannot hope to compete with
the foreign toilet soap unless more care is used in making it.
The local soap attempts to be both a laundry soap and a toilet
soap at the same time, and it falls short of both. Specialization must come.
III. Standardization:— Great improvement could be made
in the local soap if more cleanliness and accuracy were used.
Sticks and stones and all sorts of rubbish have no business in a
cake of soap. Excess of alkali is a great draw-back, particularly
in toilet soap. The use of adulterants cannot be too strongly
condemned.
Standards of purity must be set up and rigidity held to.
Uniformity of product is essential if a soap is to meet the keen
competition of the present day.
IV. Appearance and Form:— Would it not be worthwhile
to try the experiment of putting out soap in small cakes of convenient size and shape, stamped with a neat trade-mark and
wrapped in an attractive paper wrapper or in a cardboard box?
V. The Olive Oil Crop:— The reason for the existence
of the soap business here is the olive culture. The oil is the
main item of expense. In fact business is good or bad depending on the oil crop. The key to the situation is the oil. One
year the crop is good and the next it is poor. A uniform supply
of oil at a reasonable price is essential to the soap business. In
other words the problem is largely an agricultural one.
The yield of olives could doubtless be considerably increased by the introduction of modern scientific methods. If
an olive tree is to bear well it must receive sufficient nourishment
in plant food and water. If the top is allowed to grow too large
for the roots there is a tendency for the olives to start to develop
faster than can be adequately nourished by the available food.
Many will not mature and will fall off as the dry summer weather
advances. The tree exhausts its vitality in an effort to bring its
fruit to maturity. The result is that the following year it has
to devote all its energies to recuperating and bears only a small
*l
�JULY, 1927
9
ll
crop. This situation is unfortunate and results in a smaller
average yearly yield than the tree should produce. One remedy
is to be found in more pruning, so as to prevent the tree from
growing a larger top than its roots can nourish. Another is to
provide more food in the form of fertilizer, and still another
to plant the trees a little further apart. These and similar points
in connection with olive culture should be carefully studied. If
improved methods of cultivation, pruning, etc., were introduced
they should also be accompanied by a reform in the method ot
gathering the olives. Striking the trees to knock off the olives
results in many of the young shoots falling off which would otherwise bear fruit the following year. This is probably not the
principal reason for the poor yield in alternate years at present
but rather undernourishment is the main trouble. However, if
the trees could be adequately nourished then this factor would
assume considerable importance. Picking by hand is far better
than knocking the fruit off by sticks, because in the latter case
many olives are not recovered from the ground, a good many
are trampled on and crushed, and the trees are injured. Hand
picking takes more time and consequently adds to the cost of
labour, but the additional cost of labour would be more than
made up for in increased yield. If the pickers were paid by the
day rather than by the job, there would be no temptation to injure the trees or to be careless in other ways in gathering the
fruit.
.
. .
A question which naturally occurs to one in connection with
the olive oil business is whether the oil is bringing the biggest
possible returns. Olives command higher prices as pickled olives
or as oil than they do as soap. The best grade of olive oil is not
necessary for making soap and it is more profitable to sell the
best grade as an edible oil and preserve only the poorer grades
for making soap. The oil should be pressed out in fractions and
that which is obtained at lower pressures put up in small bottles
ready for the retail market if the highest returns are to be secured A large quantity of good oil is at the present time being
used for making soap, and thus the maximum profit from the
olives is not being realized. Olive culture should be extended
and the oil graded in several qualities. The best grades should
be sold for edible purposes and only the poorer grades used for
the manufacture of soap.
Would not the best way of attacking these problems be
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
through an Association of Oil and Soap manufacturers. The
purpose of such an organization would be to unite the efforts
of the members for the advancement of their common interest,
the development of the oil and soap businesses. They could collect and disseminate information on the best methods of olive
culture, the best form in which to place the oil on the market,
establishing contacts in oil-purchasing countries, the best kinds
of soap to manufacture, finding foreign markets for the local
soap, establishing and maintaining standards of purity for oil
and soap, advertising, developing public sentiment in favour of
using local products, etc. These things cannot be done satisfactorily by individuals; the co-operation of all who would profit
from it is necessary. In this way great progress could be made
which would not only be profitable to the individual producers
but would help greatly in the economic reconstruction of the
country.
AN EFFECTIVE ARGUMENT
Following a drought in Arabia which brought in its wake
great famine and misery, a delegation from some destitute tribes
waited on the ruling Emir, 'Umar Ibn Abdu 'l-'Aziz, and chose
for their spokesman a fearless young man who was eloquent of
speech and direct in his approach.
When in the presence of the Emir, the spokesman, upon
receiving permission to speak, addressed the Emir as follows:
"O Prince of the Faithful: We have suffered from a succession of most desolate years. One year reduced the fat, another wasted the lean, and a third gnawed the bone, while in
your treasury there is a surplus of funds which, if they belong
to us, we should receive the benefit therefrom in this time of
our dire need; and if they belong to God, they should be distributed among His worshipers; and if they belong to you, then
this is the time of all times when you should give alms to the
needy and win the grace of God."
Upon hearing this, the Prince of the Faithful turned to
his advisers and remarked: "Verily, this Arab has worded his
plea in such a manner as to exclude any possibility of excuse.
Let the sufferers be relieved from the surplus of funds in the
treasury."
JU
�WH
13
JULY, 1927
Syrian Folk Songs
ACROSS THE BRIDGE, O COME
Translation by
AMEEN RIHANI
W
^,,-JI ^^-x *»Jj L
L_.'- f*
^v-
Across the bridge, O come,
Beloved, from thy home!
Come let us walk and dream;
In the cool morning roam.
The soft winds kiss her robe,
Al-hobe, al-hobe, al-hobel
Why hasten, my gazelle,
To Dummar's * distant cell?
Beside this crystal spring,
O listen to love's spell.
The soft winds kiss her robe,
Al-hobe, al-hobe, al-hobe!
* Dummar — a Convent.
(In the coming August issue will be 'published a Syrian Folk
Song translated by Gibran K. Gibran.)
�14
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Great Lyric of Al-Farid
Sufiism
AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE
By DR. N. A. KATIBAH
In order fully to understand Ibnu '1-Farid, and to appreciate the significance of his highly impassioned verse, it is necessary to have some conception of the history and tenets of Sunism.
Of course it would be impossible to give this subject adequate
treatment in an introductory note, and I must, therefore, limit
myself to the barest outline.
_
Sunism, (from the Arabic word suf, wool, in reference to
the woolen garments usually worn by its devotees} or, perhaps,
from the word safa, purity) corresponds to mysticism in English,
and, in common with it, treats of the doctrine that the divine
essence may be known by intuition, differing from ordinary sensation and reason. Mystics in general claim that they attain this
insight in visions, trances and ecstasies. During these moments
they are said to be absorbed in, or in union with, the divine spirit.
Briefly recounted, the tenets of Sufiism, or so-called Mohammedan mysticism, as it now stands, are as follows:
1. God alone exists, visible and invisible beings are mere
emanations from Him.
2 Since God is the author of all acts of mankind, man is
not a free agent, and, therefore, there can be no real difference
between good and evil.
,
3 The soul existed before the body in which it is confined,
and its liberation (death) should be man's chief concern in order that it, the soul, may return to the bosom of the Divinity.
4 That religions are matters of indifference — conventional garbs — though some (for instance Islam) are more advantageous than others.
* The germs of this philosophy may be traced back to the
* What follows is adapted from the article on Sunism by R. A. Nicholson in the Encyclop«dia Britannica, 11th edition.
inmwiTTiriaiiiwanimiir ^iwiTiTmninmmiiini a iiMfiiiBiiiiifwm*ii Miiiiiii(ijftiliiiifilfciiWulwwil*ilia<t^ iiiriw*wiriTm
TI
miii MI
MI
I
I
�JULY, 1927
15
life and teachings of the founder of Islam himself, and in this
sense and to this extent, may be said to be latent in Mohammedanism. This is borne out by the trances into which Mohammed
used to fall, the stress he laid upon the efficacy of ascetic exercises, such as prayer, vigils and fasting, and also by certain texts
of the Koran which can be interpreted only in a pantheistic sense.
But, historically speaking, it was not until two centuries later
that Suiiism made itself appreciably felt in Islam. Evidently it
came as a reaction to, and perhaps as a revolt from, the concomitant evils of a cyclonic conquest: murder, internecine wars,
despotic military rule, the unrestrained license and luxury of the
upper classes, and the mechanical piousness of the orthodox creed.
It was, as it were, a passive protest against these, finding expression
in a life of asceticism, quietism, spiritual feeling, and emotional
faith. At its inception, therefore, Sufiism was merely practical
religion — a mode of life; and the Sufis could be recognized
only as Mohammedan "monks" whose spiritual convictions led
them to break their family ties, renounce the vanities of the
world, and wander about from place to place preaching. They
lived by alms or by their own labor. However, these Dervishes
(as they are better known) emphasized certain Koranic terms,
such as dhikr (repetition of the name of the Deity) which they
regarded as superior to the five canonical prayers, and tawakkul
(trust in God) which they interpreted as renunciation of all initiative.
With the spread of rationalism and freethought toward the
end of the second century of the Mohammedan era, (undoubtedly greatly influenced by Christianity, Buddhism and Neoplatonism) Sufiism ventured out into the field of systematized theory.
As such it began to depart radically from the orthodox faith.
But it was, as yet, not strong enough to assert itself openly, and
was forced into adopting covert means and methods to ingratiate
itself with the sympathies of the prevailing faith. About this
time appeared Rabi'a of Basra, the first of a long line of saintly
women, who first set forth the doctrine of mystical love. Henceforward the use of symbolical expressions, borrowed from the
vocabulary of love and wine, became increasingly frequent as a
means of indicating holy mysteries which must not be divulged,
and gave birth to some of the most beautiful poetry in the world.
In the course of the third century Sufiism evolved into a
more decided character. While still retaining its devotional mys-
�1
THE SYRIAN WORLD
16
ticism, it now developed into a speculative and pantheistic movement, essentially anti-Islamic, and rapidly came into conflict with
the orthodox culema.
We cannot dwell long on the sources of this system or its
modus operandi. Suffice it that, at present, it draws upon the
teachings of the Koran, the traditions of the Prophet, and the
sayings of its well-known Sufi teachers. To these Al-Ghazali,
its foremost Arabian exponent, had established that kashf (revelation) and (aql (reason) should also be considered as sources of
fundamental principles of faith. Sufiism expatiates on the discipline of the soul, and describes the process of purgation which
it must undergo before entering on the contemplative life. A
Sufi is a pilgrim journeying towards God and passes through a
series of ascending "stations" maqamat, viz: (1) repentance, (2)
abstinence, (3) renunciation, (4) poverty, (5) patience, (6) trust
in God, (7) acquiescence in the will of God. These lead to a
parallel scale of spiritual feelings (ahwal), such as fear, hope,
love, etc., which terminate in contemplation (mushahadat) and
intuition (yaqin).
The reader of Ibnu '1-Farid's Love Lyric is urged to bear
in mind that the author is a Sufi — in fact the greatest mystic
poet in the Arabian world — and to interpret his language in
the sense that he himself undoubtedly meant it.
THE GREAT LYRIC OF AL-FARID (Continued)
V.
Pretending dullness, seeing me love-smit,
My people say, dissembling wild amaze:
"Alackaday! Unpoised sits his wit!
"Who gave our youth this luckless touch of craze?"
Mere slanderers all! — They would me thus deride,
And gossip low: "His business is with Noam."
— Aye, occupied with her — preoccupied!
Declare it thus abroad and e'en at home.
Care I should all the women now cry, "Fie!
"Name not the one who has our charms deserted,
"Who once in honor moved, but now must lie
"With,fallen crest, his former state inverted?"
;
�'UMAR IBNU 'L-FARID
A conception by Gibran.
;
�99=
�JULY, 1927
Suffice me but one glance of Noam's dear glances,
And naught are Suda's smiles or Juml's advances.
My eyes on other forms I once let fall,
And foreign scales my erring vision blurred;
The earth she touched, I touched my lids withal,
Departed thence the scales and ne'er recurred.
And yet, all know, her glances, light as air —
At will, at random, should these weapons waft —
Alighting, pierce me here and pierce me there:
Poor martyred me! — Each member bears a shaft.
My theme of love for her, though wondrous strange,
Is ancient, constant, true, entire — nay more!
— She knows how deep, how high, how wide its range No "after" can it have and no "before".
Unmatched in love, to me no rival seek,
As she in beauty stands alone, unique.
Entitled to my life is she alway,
And I contented am with my dear lot;
O, let me pine, and let me waste away,
Though able she, I would she cures me not.
A paradox of feelings plays in me:
The more I ail, the more I seem t' improve;
The lower, too, my standing seems to be,
To greater heights its soaring flight doth move.
My suffering for her sake, my keen love-plight,
And all my plaints in truth and meekness made,
Are summed in that I'm vanished to all sight—
Protracted wasting, wasted e'en my shade.
How can my friends my wasted body see,
When lo, not e'en a shadow 's left of me?
Those eyes! — Those lovely, wide,, bewitching eyes —
Have left of me no mortal trace whate'er;
Invisible in form, none me espies,
For I'm dissolved from transient dust to air.
But, ne'ertheless, my spirits if depressed,
With her in mind, to rarer heights would soar;
My soul likewise, to hear her name expressed,
Would mend in virtue ever more and more,
17
�I
, 1
I
18
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Her love within me flows, and, in my veins,
Commingling with my blood, sustains my breath j
Engrossed by her, her love its sway maintains,
And keeps me charmed in her alone till death.
I would that other lovers taste this bliss,
And live t' enjoy no other love but this.
I
p
VI.
Come, pride thyself, my fellow-lover, pride
In vying for her sake thy life to cede;
Should she accept thy gift, however tried
In yielding it, thou wouldst enjoy thy meed:
Far, far beyond thy dreams 'tis worth the deed.
He who for Noam his soul would not surrender,
And free to give his life be not his creed,
Though all the world be his alone to squander,
A miser he remains — the last of all his gender.
Uneasy jealousy keeps warning me
To keep above reproach her spotless name,
Or I, to every beauty's devotee
(However few or many), would proclaim:
"Desert your paramours, and her acclaim j
"Her name alone would bring you to your knees,
"Her face would set your frigid hearts aflame,
"For, facing her, your conscience she would seize,
"And make you pay your orisons in ecstasies."
VII.
Enwrapped by love, my fettered mind begirt,
A life of ease for misery I sold,
And bade my reason keep its reins inert,
Serene cell-life its curbing vows withhold,
And piousness in cooler hearts grow cold:
I bade them stay away, nor me impugn,
Nor twixt my love and me their counsel hold;
Sincere I kept my heart, from self immune,
So that, alone with her, we might in love commune.
\
�JULY, 1927
19
My eager steps, impatient, speed to greet
The one who seeks our tender cause t' improve;
And, sad at heart, I would as lief not meet
The tongue that censures and maligns my love.
And yet, 'tis strange, I find me quite at ease
When biting liars tattle to and fro',
For this conveys to her how e'en from these
I suffer too — though none need let her know.
And e'en to those whose blame my bosom rips,
I find me drawn to hear her theme discusst;
I love to hear her name, e'en from their lips,
As if our errands carried they in trust:
All ears am I, should they her topic seek;
And fluent tongues become, if I should speak.
VIII.
Now idle gossip, varied and indign,
Suspicious-born and groundless, flies about;
Maligning her, some say her self divine
To me she gave to soothe my heart devout;
Some cast about that I, now gratified,
Should solaced be, and cease to pine and rue.
Misjudged we are; and they ignobly lied.
Unhappy me! — Would that their lies come true!
What hope have I for such a wondrous boon
From her whose attributes belie the hope?
Encastled thus, her will is her's alone,
And for that will's approaches still I grope.
Her word of promise long delays succeed;
And ere she speaks her threat, done is the deed.
IX.
0 promise me thy favor, and delay
Fulfillment of the promise at thy will;
To me a happy love would want a day
That has a morrow's hope its hours to fill,
And on that morn, another morrow's thrill.
1 swear to thee by our enduring vow,
And by our solemn pledge of hand, thou'rt still,
�E—III
THE SYRIAN WORLD
20
(Though absence clouds, or love illumes my brow,)
With me — through every hour within my heart art thou.
X.
Comes there a day, I wonder, when my eyes
Would gaze again on faces I love so?
Comes there a day when our dissevered ties
Again assemble on this earth below?
Are! they indeed now gone, who in my heart
I feel their presence ever here with me?
— My eyes see not their forms, but then, apart,
Their forms my inner eyes arising see.
— Behold I see them now along the road,
A-going slowly on their winding wayj
Anon they stop to pick their night's abode j
Abiding then, within my heart they stay.
And should they e'en forget that I am I,
A tender yearning still my heart would strain;
And should they tire of me, I would but try
To nurse my yearnings and to yearn again.
ON FATALISM
By
IMAM SHAFAY MOHAMMED IBN IDRIS
Translation by J. D. CARLYLE
*
Not always wealth, not always force
A splendid destiny commands j
The lordly vulture gnaws the corse
That rots upon yonder sands.
Nor want, nor weakness still conspires
To bind us to a sordid state j
The fly that with a touch expires
Sips honey from the royal plate.
* The author of this poem was a hermit of Syria, equally celebrated
for his talents and piety. He was son to a prince of Khorasan, and born
about the ninety-'sevnth year of the Hegira. This poem was addressed to
the Ealiph upon his undertaking a pilgrimage to Mecca,
�1
21
JULY, 1927
Everybody's Book Shelf
-l—
BOOKS FOR BABIES
By BARBARA WEBB BOURJAILY
They sat down quietly together after a smile of greeting.
There was an air about the way they settled themselves that
seemed to shut out the world, to declare them lovers. But a
listener who could not see them would have found no clue to
their passion in their casual bantering words.
" 'The time has come—', (1) " the boy began. I call him
'boy' tho he would undoubtedly have claimed a quarter of a century with dignity, had he read my thoughts.
"Oh, if you're going to speak of 'shoes and ships and sealing
wax' (2), how do you like these?" She held forth a slim, trim
foot, newly shod.
He glanced at her bright shoes a moment, shrugged, and
went back to a contemplation of her eyes.
"Admire them—," she commanded, still intent on her slender pumps.
"I'm no 'man Friday' (3) when it comes to compliments,"
he said with a grin.
"You look at me as tho I were the famous 'purple cow', (4)"
she pouted.
"Oh, I don't know about that, it isn't quite that bad, but I
do know you ought to wear a 'curl in the middle of your forehead' (5)."
They laughed together.
I quote this purely imaginary and very pedantic conversation at the beginning o% my article by way of proving that many
of the ordinary phrases in American everyday speech, particularly that of the social variety, can be traced back to the tales and
rhymes that form a part of the background of most middle and
upper class American children. If you are a slave of the question
P'
�...
22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
and answer craze see how many of the numbered phrases you
can recognize and place before turning to the end of the article
where they are all identified.
None of them has any serious import, but they are part and
parcel of the speech of our lighter moments and they trip awkwardly from the tongues of those who come upon them late in
life. They form the backbone of a habit of bantering, casual
speech by which many of us disguise our emotions, and are most
useful in the semi-humorous intercourse of day to day living.
But this type of typically American vernacular—and I believe
its possession and facile use distinguishes pretty clearly the American child whose American culture is bred in the bone from the
one who must acquire all his Americanisms from school and comrades-—this vernacular, like charity and good works, has its beginning at home.
It begins when the children are babies, just able to lisp,
and the entranced mother sits the baby gleefully before her and
repeats:
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, bakers' man, (Clapping her
hands together)
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
Pat it and roll it
And mark it with T (Making a <T' on the palm of
her hand)
And T-O-S-S it in the oven
For baby and me. (Tossing her arms above her head.)
There is jubilation in the family the first time the baby
solemnly pats his pudgy hands together and throws his fat arms
upward in imitation of his mother.
It is of course to Mother Goose, the patron saint of Englishspeaking childhood, that we are indebted for the rhyme quoted
above and for most of the rhymes of babyhood. There has been
much hue and cry of late by, the left wing, the extreme radicals,
in child training against Mother Goose. But I can imagine her
smiling in her pagan paradise and being quite content with the
new army of recruits she gathers as each year's baby crop is harvested, worrying not a whit over her detractors. And until some
new body of folk lore and rhythm fitted to baby lips is gathered,
I fancy Mother Goose is quite secure.
Of course there are almost numberless editions of Mother
.'.
-
..
�JULY, 1927
23
Goose Some of them contain matter that is unquestionably cruel
and crude, and the wise parent will look through the edition he
is buying, choosing one that has been edited with care and with
an eye to attractive pictures and decorations. The linen books
with the standard rhymes, Boy Blue, Little Bo Peep, Simple
Simon, Bye Baby Bunting, Little Miss Muffet Jack and Jill,
are fine for the very young baby people. These books cannot be
torn, they can be washed, and best of all they can be taken to bed
and looked at interminably without a great deal of damage being done.
,
For the two to four year olds there is a charming book published by Raphael Tuck and Sons, called Nursery Rhymes. The
pictures are unusually attractive, and each page is mounted on
boards, strongly bound and able to withstand much rough handling. My smallest son has one of these books and takes it jealously to bed with him each night, tho it could hardly be called
a comfortable bed-fellow.
. u u
But whatever edition you choose for the very first book,
Mother Goose in some form should'be the unquestioned treasure
of every child.
From Mother Goose we progress to the simple tales the
two to four year olds love. Little Black Sambo (Get the edition with the original Helen Bannerman illustrations if you can
afford it. This may also be had in a linen book altho the pictures are rather awful and Black Sambo has a suspiciously
American look about his 'beautiful little red coat); Peter
Rabbit (Be sure to get the Beatrix Potter stories, they are
the best, altho the character of Peter Rabbit occurs in
many other books as well); The Three Little fcttens; The Three
Little Pigs; and The Cock, The Mouse, and The Little Red
Hen (This last to be had in abridged, form as the original story
by Felicite Le Fevre is rather long for very young audiences.)
There are many others, of course, and an hour in the childrens' department of any good book store will leave you almost
bewildered by the wealth of books and pictures offered you in
choosing books for children, however, I would lay down three
cardinal rules: The story should be simply told in good English.
The pictures should have a real decorative value. The elements
of cruelty and horror should be absolutely missing
With Mother Goose and the tribe of Little Black Sambo
and the Little Red Hen for a foundation the day soon arrives
IBHH^BBMMBBMI
�24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
when fairy tales come into their own. Cinderella, Jack and the
Beanstalk, The Ugly Duckling, The Sleeping Beauty, Snow
White and Rose Red—their name is legion and the choice is
almost endless. But here as in the nursery rhymes and tales it
is well to step warily, weeding out the vicious and the ugly, taking care that the story be one which will not bring nightmares
and bad dreams to the child of tender years.
Almost at the same time the fairy tales are begun may come
a first reading of that great classic of childhood, Alice in Wonderland. I say a first reading, because it is a story which may
be read and re-read, over and over, always with delight for both
reader and listener. I have read it four times in the last eighteen
months to my boys, and I should be afraid to put down how
many times I myself read it as a child for fear I should not be
believed. The older people will have many a chuckle, or for
that matter many a thoughtful moment, over the sly humor of
the book. But toi the child, until he arrives at the age of discretion, it will be only an entrancing tale, one of which he will never tire.
The books I have mentioned so far have been the possession of generations of children. But for the special delight of
the present kingdom of small folk a new minstrel has appeared
to offer us song and story. I refer to A. A. Milne whose "When
We Were Very Young" strikes a new and altogether delightful
note in the literature of childhood. Scarcely less to be praised
is the recently published "Winnie-the-Pooh", the story of a teddy
bear whose whimsical and adventurous doings along with Christopher Robin make lively reading.
I feel this article would be incomplete without some mention of the books which have brought more happiness to my own
children than any others I can mention, altho they have all of
those I have named above and many others as well. But these
particular books are the real treasure of our bookshelf. They
are a collection of stories, rhymes, folk tales, and poems bound
in six volumes and called "My Bookhouse."
"My Bookhouse" has material collected from all over the
world, carefully written and edited for children by an editor
who knows and loves children intimately. The pictures and
decorations are of real artistic value, and I do not believe there
is such a wealth of literary material presented from the child's
own point of view to be found in any other collected set, excel-
�JULY, 1927
25
lent as most of these sets for children are. "My Bookhouse"
is published by the Bookhouse Publishing Company in Chicago
and is not sold in stores. Its price may seem rather a large investment, it sells now I believe for around fifty dollars for the
six volumes, but it can be purchased on the deferred payment
plan, and is well worth buying.
In this article I do not wish to touch on the guidance of
those children who are old enough to read to themselves. If
your editor permits me I shall speak in another article about the
eight-to-twelve books your children should know. I am writing now for the small people who must depend on us for mental
food as they do for meals and clothing. This means of course
reading aloud to the children and cultivating their love/ of books.
With my own family this reading-aloud-hour is just before
bedtime and is an inevitable part of our household schedule. I
wish I might bring home to you the immense joy you can gain
from reading aloud daily to< your children. It is a custom which
will do more to bind you and your children together in a permanent world of imagination and fun and spiritual insight than
any other I can call to mind. I believe with all my heart that
as parents we have no more right to starve the unfolding minds
of our babies than we have to deny them food. In the world of
rhyme and story we meet our children on a plane where we are
equals, where we can all speak the same language, and where
we can at one bound leap the barrier of the heavy years that lie
between us.
Sometime between the second and third year it is time to
begin telling, very simply, the story of Jesus, the Friend and
Brother. There are some splendid stories of His life, written
especially for children, but this is a story which falls so well
from the mothers' own lips, interpreted by her own heart that
I believe it is best told for the first time at least, from memory.
Just now we are getting great pleasure from a book by Frances
E. Boulting called "The Beautiful Childhood". This paints in
the background Jesus' early life in fine vivid colors and is
beautifully written. I recommend, too, the Arthur Mee Children's Bible. This is an edition from the Bible from which all
the tedious genealogies have been removed and only the material left which is suitable for children. What remains is given
in the same words as the King James version and will be found
especially good for reading aloud.
�26
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The library which you choose for your pre-school children
may be as large as your pocketbook and your inclination permit.
But as essentials, as a beginning if you have not already bought
books for the babies, I suggest these five books. I have just
telephoned my book store and can quote prices on good, but
cheap, standard editions.
The Nelson Mother Goose
$2.00
Stories for Little People
1.25
Alice in Wonderland
50
When We Were Very Young
2.00
The Arthur Mee Children's Bible
3.00
Total
$8.75
There you are! For eight dollars and seventy-five cents
and the taking of half an hour a day for reading aloud you can
lay a foundation in American culture the equal of many dollars
spent in later years on preparatory and finishing schools. And
incidentally you will be acquainted yourself with ideas and customs traditionally American.
Every expert in child training will tell you the early years
at home are the formative years. Do not lose them. Buy a
book, and another, and another. They are quite literally worth
their weight in gold many times over in the Americanization of
your babies.
* This book contains Little Black Sambo and most of the nursery tales
mentioned in my article, as well as a number of fairy tales.
(1) Alice in Wonderland.
(2) Alice in Wonderland.
(3) Robinson Crusoe.
(4) Gillette Burgess' Nonsense Rhymes.
(5) Nursery Rhyme.
A MANY-GIFTED ARAB
It is related that Abdullah Ibn Muslim al-Hudhalli competed before the Caliph Al-Mahdi among the Koran reciters
and won a first prize of ten thousand dirhams; then he competed
among the lance throwers and won first prize; then among the
singers and won first prize; then among the story-tellers and
won first prize.
"Never have I seen," said Al-Mahdi to the winner, "so
many gifts represented in one man as God granted to be represented in thee."
_
�27
JULY, 1927
Famous Cities of Syria
Tyre and Sidon
"And Dionysius rejoiced when he beheld the city which
Neptune had bounded with the humid girdle of the sea. And
he beheld what seemed a double wonder, for Tyre lies in the
sea, being bounded by the waves, yet belongs to the land. She
is like a maiden floating motionless, half hidden in the* waters
"Never have I seen more beauty, for the lofty trees murmur
beside the waves. The near-by wood nymph listens to the ocean
nymph speaking in the sea, and the mid-day breeze breathing
from Lebanon on the Tyrian waves, and on the maritime fields,
with the same breath that ripens the fruits, fills the seaman's
sails, at once cooling the brow of the husbandman and filling the
mariner's sails
"O City, famous throughout the world, image of the earth,
figure of heaven, thou holdest the triangular sword-belt of thy
fellow, the sea."
In these beautiful words does the Christian poet of the 5th
century, Nonnus, describe the city of Tyre, which even in his
own days had not lost the laurel of greatness which it had won
in the past history of its heathendom. Tyre and its twin sistercity Sidon are* among the greatest cities not only of Syria, but of
the whole world. They were centres from which a great civilization was propagated in distant lands across the Great Sea.
From Tyre sprang the great city of Carthage, which at one time
challenged Rome and almost won the victory.
So intimate is the history of Tyre with that of Syria that
the word Syria itself is derived from Tyre. In the English form
of the word, this, of course, does not seem likely, but the Arabic
name^ Sur, still retains the Semitic origin from which it is derived, and which easily explains the relation. The Assyrian form
of the name was Sur-ru, the Hebrew Sur, or Sor, while the
Egyptian Dara or Tar and the Greek Turos are nearer to the
English form. The conjecture of Herodotus that Syria is an
abbreviated form of the noun Assyria is not countenanced by
�.* "—
28
THE SYRIAN WORLD
serious scholars. Strictly speaking, Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician cities, and their glory was that of Phoenicia, but to the
world abroad, — to the Greeks in particular, who were, next
to the Phoenicians, the greatest sea-faring people in ancient times,
and some believe even greater, Phoenicia was synonymous to
Syria.
Little of the old splendor of Tyre has remained today to
tell the story of its extensive maritime empire j of the thousands
of merchant ships and war vessels which plied the seas and ventured as far as the Atlantic Ocean, beyond the bounds of the
end of the earth, according to the conception pi the ancients,
the Pillars of Hercules, where today the British heavy guns
guard the narrow strait of Gibraltar.
The present city is almost completely disconnected from its
historic mooring, being so since 1766 when the Mitwalis,
its present population, occupied it. Before that it had been deserted by the Christians after the destruction of Acre by the
Moslems in the 13th century. Tyre had been a Christian stronghold which gave a strong resistance to Saladin, who besieged it
in vain. After the flight of the Christians the1 city was completely destroyed and remained unoccupied until the advent of the
Mitwalis. Comparatively, the modern Tyre is not a great Syrian city, but holds its own as a city of the third rank; Sidon
fared better at the hands of time, and is today a more important
city than its twin-sister. The population of the former is about
5,000, that of the latter being about 15,000.
In its general contour, Tyre differs little today from what
it was thousands of years ago in the days of the Assyrians and
Egyptians. That little difference consists of a narrow: ,neck,
about % of a mile wide, which makes the city look like a man
stretching his head way out into the sea. This neck is an artificial one, and at one time Tyre was an island city. Or, more
strictly, there were two cities, one on the main land called Palae
Tyrus, or old Tyre, and Tyre proper, the island. As the name
implies, Palae Tyrus was supposed to be the more ancient of
the two, but modern scholarship, which is always fond of putting a damper on our cherished traditions, throws doubt on this
one, too, and holds that Palse Tyrus was the more modern of
the two.
The neck of land or "mole" which joins the two cities
goes back to the Greek period, and commemorates one of the
•<&l
�JULY, 1927
'* IB
29
most tragic days in the history of the Queen of the Seas, Tyre.
It is a permanent memorial of a valiant and bitter battle, in
which the Macedonian conqueror was victorious, despite the almost superhuman courage and defiance of the Tyrians. Alexander besieged the city 7 months, during which a mole which
Alexander had constructed to reach the city was destroyed, and
another immediately built in its place. Towers were built on
this mole to enable the Greek soldiers to ram the besieged city
and throw their javelins protected from the darts of the Tyrians.
We quote from Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography a succinct description of this historic conquest:
"The Tyrians annoyed the soldiers who manned the towers, by throwing out grappling hooks attached to lines, thus
dragging them down. Nets were used to entangle the hands
of the assailants} masses of red-hot metal were hurled amongst
them, and quantities of heated sand, which, getting between the
interstices of the armour, caused intolerable pain. An attempted assault from the bridges of the towers was repulsed, and does
not appear to have been renewed. But a breach was made in
the walls by battering rams fixed on vessels} and while this was
assaulted by means of ships provided with bridges, simultaneous
attacks were directed against both the harbors. The Phoenician
fleet burst the boom of the Egyptian harbor (the harbor on the
southern side of the city), and took or destroyed the ships within it. The northern harbor, the entrance of which was undefended, was easily taken by the Cyprian fleet. Meanwhile Alexander had entered with his troops through the breach. Provoked
by the long resistance of the Tyrians and the obstinate defense
still maintained from the roofs of the houses, the Macedonian
soldiery set fire to the city and massacred 8,000 of the inhabitants. The remainder, except those who found shelter on board
the Sidonian fleet, were sold into slavery, to the number of 30,000; and 2,000 were crucified in expiation of the murders of
certain Macedonians during the course of the siege. The lives
of the king and chief magistrates were spared."
Thus, after a siege of seven months, Tyre came into the
possession of the Greeks in July of the year 332 B. C.
How old is the history of Tyre?
According to Herodotus, who visited the city about 450
B. C, the priests of the temple of Melkart, the deity of the
Tyrians, told him that their temple was built when their city
�30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
was founded, 2300 years before, which makes the date of the
founding of Tyre, according to the informants of Herodotus,
2750 B. C.
This seems rather likely, for we read in the Tel-Amarna
letters that Tyre was then a great and well-defended city. As
the Tel-Amarna letters were written in the 15th century B. C,
it is only natural to assume that the city must have required a
thousand years to have become a famous city.
The history of Tyre does not differ materially from the
history of other Syrian cities, except that its isolated position
gave it a certain amount of safety from the assaults of the conquerors, and sometimes, as in the case of Alexander, brought
upon its own head the redoubled calamity of their vengeful
wrath.
In one of the latter instances we are told by Josephus that
Tyre resisted Nebuchadrezzar, the Babylonian king, thirteen
years, from 585 B. C. to 572.
It is of this siege that the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel speaks:
"Behold I will bring upon Tyre Nebuchadrezzar, King of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses and with chariots,
and with horsemen, and with a company, and with much people.
He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field; and he
shall make forts against thee, and raise up the buckler against
thee."
Wallace B. Fleming, in his "History of Tyre", dates the
waning of the power and maritime leadership of Tyre to this
long siege, and says that Phoenician leadership passed for a time
to Sidon.
The golden age of Tyre was at the time of King Hiram,
friend and contemporary to King Solomon. It is not necessary
here to repeat the story of the alliance of these two monarchs
since it is fully related in the Bible. At this time the fleet of
Tyre was the greatest and most far-flung in the world, and
Solomon built a fleet of his own with the assistance of Tyrian
shipmen "who had knowledge of the sea."
Tyre was the most prolific city in ancient history in its
colonies. Dr. Fleming declares that "ancient historians credit
Tyre with having founded Sabarth in Africa, Lesser Leptis,
Hamdrumentum", and, according to the same historians, 300
cities on the Mauritanian coast beyond the Pillars of Hercules.
Doubtless, as this historian remarks, this is an exaggeration, but
I
1:
* "
�JULY, 1927
31
it indicates the extent of the commercial and colonial activities
of Tyre.
The most renowned of these colonies, however, was Carthage, the city which challenged Rome in the famous Punic
Wars, and which produced one of the greatest war generals in
the history of the world, Hannibal.
No records, we are told, have come down to us from Carthaginian historians, and but a brief statement, preserved by
Josephus, from Tyrian sources. The most famous account is
that of Virgil, in his Aeneid, Book I.
The Tyrian statement is to the effect that in the seventh
year of Pygmalion, King of Tyre, his sister fled from him and
built the city of Carthage in Lybia.
A longer account is given in Justin Martyr, the Christian
apologist of the 3rd century.
According to this authority, as quoted by Dr. Fleming, when
the king (Matgenus) died he left his son Pygmalion and his
daughter Elissa as joint heirs. "But the people delivered the
rulership to the boy Pygmalion. Elissa married her uncle Acerbas (Sychseus of Virgil), priest of Hercules, whose place was
second only to the king. This man had great but hidden riches.
Through fear of the king he hid his wealth not in buildings but
in the ground. Pygmalion, moved by avarice, slew his uncle.
Elissa was turned against her brother for a long time because
of this crime, but at length she dissimulated her hatred and
planned a secret flight. Certain princes who were in disfavor
with the king entered into league with her." By a clever ruse
Elissa escaped with her followers on board ships, carrying with
her the hidden treasure of her uncle. Her brother Pygmalion
was inclined to follow with a hostile fleet, but, it is said, he was
dissuaded by his mother who told him that she was moved by a
prophetic dream to see that the city was going to be the most
prosperous city of all the world.
The exact date of the founding of Carthage, discounting
the above half-mythical story, is not known. Dr. Fleming scouts
the tradition represented in Virgil that the founding of Carthage
antedates the Trojan war, but does not hesitate to carry it as
far back as the founding of Gades, the modern Cadiz in Spain,
and Utica, by the Tyrians, in the 12th century B. C. The reign
of Pygmalion came about 100 years after that of Hiram, which
makes the two dates not irreconcilably apart.
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Whether in the days of the Tel-Amarna letters, or the
days of the Persian and Greek supremacies, or in the times of
the Romans, Tyre maintained itself, sometimes superceded by
Sidon, as a great maritime city. It was also famous for its industries, chief of which was the dyeing of silk and other cloth
with purple, the famous Tyrian purple, from the murex, a marine gastropod. Pliny tells us that the Tyrians caught the murex
with traps baited by mussels or frogs, and after catching it removed the sack which contained the precious dye while the animal was still alive or after it had been killed by a blow. For
slow death, said Pliny, injured the color. Strabo informs us
that Tyrian purple was acknowledged to be the best, and that
the large number of dyers' workshops in Tyre make residence
in the city "incommodius", referring to the unpleasant smell
which accompanies this industry. So crowded was Tyre in the
days of the Romans that its houses rose frequently to five and
six stories.
Long before the Roman period, Tyre was a leading, perhaps the most leading city, in commerce and industries. When
other cities of Phoenicia, Israel and Syria were in ruins, ravaged
by the Assyrian conquerors, the Prophet Ezekiel chides Tyre
for its pride. He takes up a lamentation against her, but in it
he enumerates the glories of the great city. "Thou, O Tyre,
hast said, 'I am perfect in beauty'. Thy borders are in the heart
of the seas; thy builders have perfected thy beauty." The whole
chapter 27 in which this quotation occurs is worth reading, as
it is, perhaps, the most colorful description of Tyre we have
from ancient contemporary writers.
Tyre remained for a long time under the rule of the Crusaders. William of Tyre describes the siege of the city, then
under Moslem rule, which ended in its surrender in 1124 A. D.
From that time on it remained in the hands of the Franks to the
end of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Its archbishopric was given
to William of Tyre, prior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
at Jerusalem, "an Englishman reputed for learning and piety."
Beware of laziness or weariness; for if thou wert lazy thou
wouldst have no patience for thy duty; and if thou wert weary,
thou wouldst be impatient with those who have a duty towards
thee.
Al-Ahnaf.
o
c
0*3
fa
o
i—»
U
w
a
H
h
�THE CITY OF SIDON
View of the city and plain of Sidon taken from a cloister on one of the foothills of Southern Lebanon. Sidon is now famous for its orange groves and has lost its prominence as a
commercial seaport.
�THE CITADEL BY THE SEA
) I
The old Crusaders' Fortress built by the sea in Sidon on the ruins
of the former Phoenician quays.
�,
—
A RELIC OF OLD GLORY
..
">
Vf
1
t
Sarcophagus of a Phoenician king, found in the ruins of the old city of
Tyre, on which is in bold relief a Phoenician merchant ship, symbol
of the glory of the two Phoenician sister cities, Tyre and Sidon.
�NMPHHMH
THE BEGINNING OP HER ASCENT
With characteristic Syrian willingness, Anna is not averse to hard work,
and the American "Gents" watches her sympathetically and admiringly.
wiMimitaf sriiffimfwil
�33
JULY, 1927
Why I Wrote a Syrian Play
By
HARRY CHAPMAN FORD
Author of "Anna Ascends" etc.
The idea of writing "Anna Ascends" came first into my mind
during the winter of 1912, when I met and finally knew very
intimately a Syrian family living in Washington, D. C. Their
family life, their clean way of living impressed me and I decided
that the Americanization of such a race was a big factor in making "the melting pot" one of the greatest nations of history. I
figured here is a people who could read and write probably six
thousand years before the northern "blue eyes". Here is a race
who had a fine culture along with the great Egyptian dynasties,
and as criminology seems to be a statistical fad at the present
writing, here are a people who have less, en ratio, in prisons,
than any other in the world. Hence, I figured, why not write a
Syrian drama, a virgin field, anent the Syrians? I revolved the
subject around in my mind for some years. As a matter of fact,
women stars in the theatrical world pay an author much better
in royalties than male stars and I could not find an actress properly fitted to assume the role I had in mind.
In the spring of 1918, I think it was, I was in Boston and
happened to be strolling down Washington St., one Saturday
night, when I saw a moving picture billed at a small movie house.
I gazed only casually at the lithographs, but the star's name—
and face—attracted me. I went in the theatre and saw the picture and it was terrible, terrible, but the leading woman was
divine. At last, I felt sure, here is the woman to play my Syrian
girl. I left the theatre with my head full of a dozen first acts.
By the time I had walked a block I had a dozen more acts. I
turned into a side street which happened to be called "Beach"
Street and, lo and behold! there before me, in a deep and dingy
cellar was a Syrian restaurant. Considering it good locale and
atmosphere, I entered and ordered a meal. Providence must
have guided me, for there I met Anna Ayyobb, who waited on
me. I fancy I was the only Anglo-Saxon who had ever entered
the place. The proprietor was kind—and Anna was kinder, so
�«f-
34
I
THE SYRIAN WORLD
I checked out of my four-dollar-a-day room at The Adams
House, and took a room over Anna's dining room for three fifty
per week. Anna and I became very fast friends—that friendship
has lasted. She was wild for knowledge. A few cuss words were
her English vocabulary, along with yes and no. With the aid of
Poe's Metamorphosis, the novel Cranford and Gulliver's Travels, (Anna had selected them herself, willy nilly from a book
stall on Scollay Square) I taught her English. Every evening after
the customers had finished their water bottle smokes, we sat in
the kitchen, where Anna absorbed all three books with remarkable
quickness. By the time I had finished my play Anna had a fine
flow of the American language.
When it was time for me to market my play and I was compelled to return to New York to do so, Anna was working in
White's Store. One job led to another, up and up all the time,
until at last she took on the hardest, most worthy and honorable
job of the lot—that of being a wife and a mother and taking her
place in life. She now has four of the most beautiful children
I ever saw and, strange as it may seem, she did marry her boss's
son, just as she did in the play. So, as we have Anna happily
married, we will leave her.
The beautiful and talented star I saw in the very awful picture was Miss Alice Brady. I sent the script to her father, Mr.
William A. Brady, and inside of a week the play had been read,
accepted, contracted for and in rehearsal, and—the rest is history.
AS IN THE PRESENT SO IN THE PAST
Present day judges and juries have no monopoly on partiality to the fair sex. It is related of an Arabic poet that he
had a difference with a comely woman, which was. taken to court.
The judge, seeing the lady fair, decided in her favor, whereupon the poet composed a satire of the judge which in a very
short time was on the tongue of the whole city, and when finally
it reached the ears of the judge he had the poet brought before
him and ordered him flogged.
Modern judges would well like to emulate their illustrious
Arab colleague Ash-Sha'bi, who is the judge in question, if instead of sending the offenders to jail, thereby incurring the risk
of overtaxing present-day detention facilities, they could have
recourse to the simple expedient of flogging.
�,'—
JULY, 1927
331
Anna Ascends
By
HARRY CHAPMAN FORD
1
PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME AS ORIGINALLY
?
PLAYED ON THE NEW YORK STAGE.
ACT ONE.
Scene represents a Coffee House and general store in the
Syrian Quarter on the lower Westside, New York City— There
is a store counter running on the rake up and down stage at left.
Up extreme left is a ^straight staircase that leads to the sleeping
rooms. The room is four steps down from the street and is entered from up center, through opaque double doors. Windows
are right and left of steps, through which pedestrians can be seen
occasionally walking to and fro. On the windows are painted in
oriental letters the name of the proprietor and his business.
Along the wall at right are four ordinary restaurant tables at
which are four chairs each. Behind the counter are stacked all
kinds of strange dried fruits, nuts, cans of oil, strings of garlic,
Turkish candies, foreign beans and vegetables, cigarettes and
tobacco, etc., etc.
At rise of curtain Said Coury is behind counter setting things
in order after the rush supper hour which has supposedly just
passed. "Gents" is discovered at lower table sipping coffee and
smoking cigarette. He is a young man of about twenty-six, with
a studious face and charming and frank manner. He is a mystery to the habitues of the place, and is generally considered an
absconding clerk in hiding. He is really the scion of a wealthy
uptown family and is spending his time in the Syrian district to
a serious purpose.
SAID COURY—the owner of the place is a small fat Syrian full of good nature and is liked and respected by all his patrons. He is a thorough American and great patriot, continually
declaring his allegiance to the country and he means it. He has
been in the country for eighteen years, yet he speaks with a
strong accent. He has a bitter contempt for his fellow countrymen who have come to America and failed to take out their
naturalization papers and refers to them as foreigners.
�—..-^
36
---
,-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
SAID — More cafe, Gents?
GENTS — If you please. It's excellent.
SAID — (Starts to -prepare coffee) No
JUL
'Mer
such cafe where—
where you come from, Eh?
GENTS — I should say not.
SAID — You aint got La Ha Wish Me (Laham Mishwee)
or Laban or such, where—where you come from, either? No
such good things to eat. La? (no)
GENTS — No such good things, Said.
SAID — And the cigarettes, you like 'em, too?
-GENTS — The best ever.
. SAID — Them cigarettes, they come from my own old deestrict in Syria. The tobac are the finest grown in the world. You
know that?
GENTS — I am sure of it, Said.
SAID — I bet you it are. Rose water this time. (Indicating
coffee)
GENTS — Just a drop or two—and no sugar.
SAID — Das fine. You soon become a real Orential. You
drink arrac pretty soon and smoke Argila.
GENTS — Not a chance of either.
SAID — La? (no)
GENTS — No. That pipe is as strong as a bunco steerer's
nerve and as for that drink, Arrac, there is nothing in this country with the kick.
SAID — So?
GENTS — I tried that Arrac a couple of days ago and it
made me see sights that Barnum never saw.
SAID — Barnum. I member das fella. Fool da people alia
time.
GENTS — Yes, and he made them like it, too.
SAID — (Bringing over coffee) I guess Anna, she fall asleep
in dat store room ovathere.
GENTS — You mean your waitress?
SAID — Yes, I sent her down twenty minute ago to fill an
order for a good customer. I bet now she sits on a oil tin and
studies.
GENTS — Studies what?
SAID — 'Merican books.
Anna's a good girl. Been in
'Merica 'leven month and spek United States nearly lak me.
Study school book alia time. No work, Alia study. But she good
Bette
my r
can't
crool
the '
you
yet.
Der
on t
prol
cent
hon
�JULY, 1927
'Merican.
37
Fine.
GENTS — (As Said places coffee on table) Thank you, Said.
Better giveme a couple of packages of those cigarettes to take to
my rooms.
SAID — You live near here, yes?
GENTS — (Very indifferently) Quite near.
SAID — Out of job, yes?
GENTS — At present, yes.
SAID — All peeple say lots of things 'bout you 'cause dey
can't find nothing 'bout you.
GENTS — I don't care what they say.
SAID — Oh, I know you alia right. Good boy.
GENTS — How do you know I'm good, as you call it?
SAID — Oh, I know da crook when I see. Bunch Derry he
crook—He come in here once in a while. I tell him a crook
the way he looks at Rizzo da cop. Fearfully, you know. Now
you never look at Rizzo. So you no crook.
GENTS — You're right. The Police arn't looking for me—
yet.
SAID — (Crossing and getting the cigarettes) Dat Bunch
Derry, he's a "Duster" they tell me. Bad, bad boy.
GENTS — Don't believe I ever saw him.
SAID — I show you some time. (Brings over cigarettes.)
GENTS — How much, tonight, Said.?
SAID — Sixty-five cents, counting cigarettes.
GENTS — (Producing change) Cheap enough. (Puts money
on table) You evidently haven't as yet heard of the H. C. of L.
SAID — Wats dat?
GENTS — H. C. of L?
SAID — Yas.
GENTS — That means the high cost of living. It's a serious
problem,.
SAID — Oh, I know what das mean. Wid Garlic at eighty
cents a pound.
GENTS — The Garlic market is strong then, at present?
SAID —'
Damn strong.
GENTS — Then the only remedy for that is to use it in
homeopathic doses.
SAID — Homeo—what?
GENTS — Homeopathic—Means small doses.
SAID — Ho-meo-path-ic. I must sprung that on Anna.
�38
JULY,
THE SYRIAN WORLD
GENTS — On
SAID — Yas*
Anna?
Anna, she has a what you call it. 'Merican
word book
Dictioc
Diction
GENTS — Dictionary?
SAID — Das it, das it. Everytime Anna hear a big 'Merican word she look him up in the Diction
GENTS — Dictionary.
SAID — Dictionary.
Tanks. Anna good girl, alia right.
Good 'Merican. She carries flag too. Alia time carries 'Merican
flag.
GENTS — Sort of Georgie Cohen effect, eh?
SAID — Wat? I gas so.
GENTS — Well, she must have the right spirit.
SAID — Did I tell you? Anna, she a good girl. She studies
and some day she be fine 'Merican lady, like you.
GENTS — (Laughs) Like me, eh?
SAID — Yas. No, not dat. You see who I mean?
Mens
and womens mix wit me some time. My tongue goes wrong.
GENTS — Oh, it's all right, Said. Men and women always
have mixed, somehow, since the world began.
SAID — Damfino what you talk. You allus say one thing
and mean odder.
GENTS — Study the dictionary like er
whats her name
Anna and you'll understand me.
SAID — It tak me eighteen minutes to learn how to count
the money when I land in dis country. See, I count change in
eighteen minutes, but I here eighteen years, and can't spek
'Merican.
GENTS — Oh, I think you do very well.
(A man appears on sidewalk through window. He whistles
a soft signal and stands waiting expectantly for someone.)
SAID — (Indicating man on sidewalk) See, looka, Gents,
der das Bunch Derry, now. He whistles for hes pal. (An answering whistle is heard a short distance away.) You hear
Now hes pal come see. Dere up to some fine tricks.
GENTS — Tough looking fellow.
SAID — Tough, very tough, and ver' bad. ("Beauty" Tanner joins Bunch.) Dere, now, I tol' you. Das his pal, Beauty
Tanner.
GENTS — Another fine pug-ugly.
SAID — Das it.
that d
Bi
S;
B
heart...
&
none o
so cut
B
look 1
S
out.
I
Two £
I
one.
glish ?
<
i
drink
)
i
count
Chee
i
Whc
t
now
plea
�—
JULY, 1921
&
(Bunch and Beauty enter quickly and take seats at table
that Gents has vacated.)
BUNCH — Come on whop. Two arrac.
SAID — Don't call me das Wop.
BUNCH — Aw, hell, Ginnie, dago, what your greasy little
heart
.
SAID _ Say now. No trouble I want wid you. I am t
none of dose1 what you call. I'm from da Oreint, not from Italy,
so cut it out. Cut it out. I am an 'Merican.
BEAUTY — No? We thought you was a Eyetalian.
You
look like one.
And as an 'Merican I say cut it
SAID _ Well I ain't
out I ain't any of dose foreigners you call me.
BUNCH — Aw, don't get so peeved. Come on, come on,
Two arrac and put repeat marks on the order.
SAID — Repeat marks?
.
BUNCH — Sure, double O on it. Two kisses instead ot
one. In other words the same. Say can't you understand EnglS
SAID
_ Sure
Dictionary English.
(Pours out four
drinks.)
— Well get a move on.
(Who has moved over to, and is leaning on
counter) Use dispatch, proprietor. The gentlemen are in a hurry.
SAID — Wot gentsmen?
- m
BEAUTY — (to Bunch) That skirt
she aint around?
BuNCH _ Naw, I'll point her out when the time comes.
BEAUTY — Maybe some guy beat us to it?
BUNCH — No chance. As she looks now she don t fit.
Cheese it, here's her boss.
(Said has crossed with the drinks and places them on table.)
Where's your waitress, chief?
SAID — (Suspiciously) Why you ask dat?
BUNCH — Oh, well I see you waiting on table, lnat s all.
safe. Forty cents, please
and
SAID _ She's alright
BUNCH
QENTS
nOW
' BEAUTY — Say do you take us for a couple of crooks?
Just forty cents
SAID _ I don't tak you as nothing
please—and now.
BUNCH — Aw, give the old "can of rancid oil' the money.
BEAUTY — Sure I will. (Hands over change) He s liable
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
40
to stick us with a date pick, if we don't.
BEAUTY — (Indicating Gents) Who's that guy over there?
SAID — Das Gents.
BUNCH — No bull is he?
SAID — How I know. Wot you care. Yar afraid of bull?
BUNCH — I aint afraid of nobody.
SAID — (Crossing to behind counter) Yas, I know you both
var' brave
with women.
(Bunch takes drink with a gulp. Beauty follows suit.)
BEAUTY — Let's beat it and come back.
BUNCH — No. She's up stairs or on an errand or something. Wait a minute. (Business of drinking is repeated) I
want you to see this Moll. She's worth twenty a night to us.
GENTS — (to Said) Wrap me up a pound of pistachio nuts,
Said. I'll come back later for them.
SAID —• I sure will. You'r not going?
GENTS — Just for a few minutes.
BUNCH — Say, young fellow, have a drink?
GENTS — No, thanks. I don't drink.
BUNCH — Wots the matter with you. You ain't sick or
nothing?
GENTS — Not at all. Only I don't drink.
BEAUTY — Then he ain't no bull.
BUNCH — Two bowls of Laban with bread and one of
your bum salads.
SAID — In a minute. Anne will be here and she will get
it from the kitchen.
BUNCH — (to Beauty) Didn't I tell you? She's still here.
(to Said) All right, Chief, take your time. We'll wait.
GENTS (Starts up) I'll return later for the pistachio.
(Three loud raps are heard from the cellar.)
SAID — Das Anna. She is through at last. Look out.
GENTS — What?
SAID — Git away from dare.
(Gents steps few paces to the left and the trap door is pushed by Annans head. She carries a two-gallon olive oil can in
each arm. Strings of garlic are around her neck. A small pocket
dictionary is under the pit of her left arm and a sheet of paper
with an order written on it in Syrian is in her mouth. In her
blouse pocket is a small American flag. She pushes the trap door
up with her head and stands half revealed to the house. She is
'..--.
-
JL
dr
Ai
cat
op
at
fir
wi
to
ha
Sa
th
Ai
Ai
yo
�JULY, 1927
..
' i
i
I
41
dressed in the same costume that she wore on her arrival in
America. And though it is old and -patched, it shows signs of
care and brushing. Bunch grabs Beauty's arm.)
BUNCH — Here she comes. Lamp her now.
ANNA — Here's da Hell Damn order.
(She spits out the order from her mouth before she speaks.)
SAID — Did you' go back home to Syria to fill it?
(Anna pushes the trap door back until it falls all the way
open.) (She struggles to the top.)
GENTS — (Comes quicly down to Anna) Allow me.
(Gently takes cans that are very heavy from her. She looks
at him in a strange, but fascinating manner as it is probably the
first kind act ofered to her since she has been in this country.)
ANNA — Thank you. You kind mans.
GENTS — Rather heavy for a little girl like you.
BUNCH — Well, what do you think of her?
BEAUTY — Great. Slap up that hair of hers. Doll her up
with some glad rags and you have a winner. But she looks hard
to handle.
BUNCH — Naw, they're all easy, if you know how. I'll
have her "on the walk" in a week. You see?
SAID — Two orders of Laban and a salad, Anna.
GENTS — (Who has carried the cans to the counter and
Said prepares to wrap up the order.) Allow me to relieve you of
these. (Takes strings of garlic from her neck.)
ANNA — Thank
again.
SAID — You'll have to get a, crate for dis from the kitchen,
Anna.
BUNCH — Yes, and hurry that order of Laban and salad,
Anna.
ANNA — How you know my name Anna?
BUNCH — Ain't I just heard it four or five times?
ANNA — Well keep on hearing it, but das all.
BEAUTY — Fresh Moll.
BUNCH — I'll knock that out of her.
ANNA — I'll get that box, boss. And da Laban an' salad.
SAID — You weigh dat Garlic Anna. / get the box. Keep
your eye on the drawer, Gents.
GENTS — Of course.
BUNCH — (As Said crosses to door) Rush that order, Chief.
SAID — Sure, yas. (Exits.)
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
42
— You know what das is? (She refers to the garlic
which she starts to weigh.)
GENTS — It is an edible.
ANNA — A edible? (Takes dictionary from focket) How
you spell das ed-dee-bull?
GENTS — E.D.I.B.L.E. Edible.
ANNA — Waz das mean, edible?
GENTS — Oh, something good to eat.
ANNA — Das a new one. I must remembef das. I see you
lots here, wot your name?
BEAUTY — She'll fall for that dude, sure.
GENTS — They call me Gents.
ANNA — Gents? Was das mean?
GENTS — Oh, it is an abreviation for gentleman.
ANNA — For gentleman? Yes, das true. You gentleman.
I se
a gentleman is a man das gentle, yes?
GENTS — Well, that is about as good a definition as any.
ANNA — Defi
what? What das word mean?
GENTS — A description
an explanation.
ANNA — (Thumbing the book) One word as hard as the
other. But I learn, sure. I learn to be a gentlemans, too.
GENTS — No, you are to be a lady, you know.
BUNCH — (to Beauty) Sure, a walking lady.
GENTS — Of course, you are a lady now, but the more you
learn the better lady you become.
SAID
(Entering with the box) No Laban left. All gone
at supper hour. Can give you a good salad.
BUNCH — (Rises) Aw, never mind, never mind. Lets
beat it, Beaute.
BEAUTY — Aint yer going to broach the jane?
BUNCH — Not with that guy hanging around. I'll come
ANNA
Dciclc.
BEAUTY
— Righto. We've got no chance wid a guy wid a
white collar.
BUNCH — I'll muss it up for him, sometime, if I get a
chance. (Walks over to Anna, who is standing at counter. Gents
is above her. Said has crossed to left of counter.).- Say, I've got
something very important to say to you when there aint nobody
around to butt in on our conversation.
ANNA — Yas? Where you get das word—conversation?
BUNCH — Aw, out of the Journal.
�sss
JULY, 1927
43
ANNA — Was it mean — conversation?
BUNCH — Talk
speil, gift of gab, chewing the rag
ANNA — Chewing das rag. How you spell das conversa-
tion?
BUNCH — Damfino.
ANNA — (Looking through
book) How it starts, with a K
or C?
BUNCH — Don't know.
ANNA — If you don't know
even so little you don't have
much conversation to chew with me. Yas?
BEAUTY — Come on, Bunch.
BUNCH — (Puts his left arm around her waist and brings
his hand dangerously near her left breast.) Sure, I got something swell to tell you.
ANNA — (Looks down at the familiar and disgusting attempt of his hand.) Well, have your hands in your pockets
when you tell it.
BUNCH — Sure, baby doll.
ANNA — Yas, I think you had better put them in your pockets now.
BUNCH — Now don't get peeved.
(He brings his hand
nearer to the danger mark.)
ANNA — Stop das, you.
BUNCH — Aw rats.
GENTS — Better do what the lady tells you.
BUNCH — Aw, go to hell, you.
(He suddenly attempts
to draw Anna close to him. Gents makes a start to stop him, but
Anna takes Bunch's hand in her two, raises it to her mouth and
gives it a vicious bite.) Ouch, my God, don't.
ANNA — You keep 'em in your pockets, yas?
SAID — Get out of here.
BUNCH — Damn you, you little
GENTS — I say. Just a moment.
(Bunch stops dead in
his action and speech.) What were you going to call her?
BUNCH — Aw.
BEAUTY — Hand him one, Bunch.
GENTS — What were you about to call her? Little what?
Little lady, wasn't it? That is what I called her a moment ago.
BEAUTY — (Moves threatenly) Say
SAID — Stay as you are, or I bunch das Argila over das
bean.
(To be continued.)
�f~
JU
THE SYRIAN WORLD
44
The Tournament
by
FUAD AL-BUSTANI.
An account of Lebanese prowess in the 19th century.
Translated from the hook, "In the Days of the Emir",
It was eventide of a springday in the year 1829. The sun
had set in the west, bathing the hilltops of Lebanon with its
golden hue, and spreading over its dales and valleys a sheen of
thin particles, dancing and sparkling on the slanting rays of the
sun, a sheen of exquisite, changing colors of rose, purple and
yellow. Emir Bashir had finished his work and left his "pillar
chamber", the richly decorated diwan in which he transacted
his government affairs, followed by his trail of courtiers at the
head of whom was Mu'alim Butrus Karameh.
The procession went through the harem to the "Eastern
Pavilion", the little annex at the rear of the palace, overlooking
the beautiful valley which extends from Al-Mu'asir to the Mediterranean Sea. In that pavilion the Emir used to hold social
court after his day's work was done. With his nargilah or chibouk before him, he would listen now to the romantic tales of
chivalry from Wihbi Agha al-Jazzini or to choice selections of
poetry from Butrus Karameh, the special poet of the Emir after
the death of Nicola al-Turk.
That night he was listening to some war ballads when one
of the guards at the gate entered and, bowing low before the
Emir, announced that a man from Mardin sought to present
himself to His Excellency.
The Emir nodded, as much as to say "let him come in."
Presently a huge, tall man, with square shoulders and a
large head, topped with a tall turban, filled the doorway. He
had a short, sparse beard, and long, curled moustaches tapering
to a sharp point, terraced on the sides with stocky side-burns.
He bowed, and wrapping his gilt-striped 'aba over; his right arm,
he approached with steady and slow steps.
"May Allah bless thy evening, Excellency," said the man
in an accent which betrayed his Kurdish origin.
"And thine," replied the Emir.
I
�JULY, 1927
45
The man, still standing, continued:
"I am a man from Mardin, my lord, and am known in my
country as Al-Dalati. Allah, may His name be praised, has
granted me supremacy in feats of arms and chivalry over all
my challengers in those districts, and I have come here to challenge in tournament the knights in the service of Thy Excellency."
The Emir listened attentively as he played with the tip of
his beard and scrutinized the man from head to foot. When
the man had finished, the Emir raised his head and said in slow
deliberation:
"To-morrow, Allah willing, we shall see."
Then, calling Salim, his bursar, he told him to take good
care of Al-Dalati, and resumed his smoking.
When Al-Dalati had turned his back and started towards
the door, all realized, as they followed with their eyes the slender legs of this challenging stranger, his light steps, the way
he deftly wrapped his1 caba on his arm, that they were up against
a gallant knight not to be lightly dismissed. The Emir turned
to the captain of his knights and inquired:
"Whom of your men would you send against him, O Wihbi?"
Wihbi was silent for a while as he gazed into space and
stroked his chin as if trying to recall the qualities of each of his
men, then replied:
"What says Your Excellency of 'Ali al-'Imad?"
The Emir paused a little and said:
"Such cake comes not from such dough! O Wihbi. £Ali
is a clever horseman, and dexterous in the tricks of chivalry, but
is not the man for this Mardinite."
Then none is left us but Shaykh Abu Sa'b," put in Wihbi.
"Yes," consented the Emir, "I was first afraid for 'Ali's
life from the Mardinite, but now I am afraid for the Mardinite
from As'ad, lest, if hard-pressed, he would pierce him through
with one of his famous hurls!"
"We will warn him to be careful," said Wihbi.
When Shaykh Abu Sa'b was brought before the Emir, he
was told of the challenge of the Mardinite, and charged to be
careful with him on the field of combat. Abu Sa'b bowed and said:
"By thy head I swear, O Emir, that I will hit him seven
times, and will not touch his body once!"
�46
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The Emir smiled contentedly and counseled Abu Sa'b to
rest and be ready for the ordeal.
The sun shone brilliantly on the vast outer midan, the, tournament field, as Al-Dalati and Abu Sa'b approached from a distance towards the Emir, who was with his courtiers, before the
large gate, waiting anxiously for the charge. The Emir remained standing and would not sit on the rich carpets which were
brought out and spread by the servants.
Al-Dalati was leading a grey steed, with a wide breast,
showing beneath the forelock a beautiful, white spot, while Abu
Sa'b lead a bay charger with a graceful narrow body. Shaykh
As'ad Abu Sa'b .wore a Kufite silk head-kerchief, held in place
by a gold-woven 'akal, and its free ends gathered behind his back.
Al-Dalati's headgear was a long, conical turban, of the kind
known by the name of kawook.
Slowly the two approached the dais of the Emir and, bowing to him in greeting and seeking his permission for the combat, in accordance with»the rules of tournament, they returned in
opposite directions. There was complete silence among the spectators, broken by the neighing of the horses, and the shouts of the
two combatants as they closed upon each other in a cloud of dust.
Everyone held his breath, fixing the nearing combatants
with their strained eyes. Presently a thundering voice of warning was heard.
"Your face, O Dalati! Your face, O Dalati!" It was Abu
Sa'b. He had no sooner given this warning than he hurled his
lance, which hissed with a strange noise and hit the kawook of
Al-Dalati broad-side. It flew in the thick of the dust and fell
to the ground.
"Long live Abu Sa'b!" cried the Emir, who had been standing all this time. Then he called for his nargilah and sat down
on a carpet-covered cushion. He resumed his observation of the
tournament as he puffed beamingly at his nargilah.
Again the horsemen parted and again they closed, and for
the second time the kawook of the Mardinite was hurled to the
ground. As this was repeated for the third and fourth times,
the wrath of Al-Dalati knew no bounds. He grit his teeth and,
bellowing like a wounded bull, he charged his opponent, but Abu
Sa'b, like a supple, lithe panther, always managed to be out of
danger of Al-Dalati's lance. Now he would slide beneath his
horse, clinging to his belly, now he would bend paralleled to its
;
�JULY, 1927
47
back with the swiftness of the wind, now he would alight from
his horse, race by its side on foot, then jump on its back again.
After seven charges had been run, and seven times the kawook of Al-Dalati had fallen to the ground, the Mardinite, reverting to his Kurdish, tongue, picked his kawook as he spoke indignantly to Abu-Sa'b:
"Janum, dushman int wahdha-l-kawook?" which, translated,
means:
"My good friend, are you an enemy of this kawookr"
Then he charged with his whole might against Abu Sa'b and
hurled his lance towards him with a might which, if it had hit
him, would havq surely killed him. But Abu Sa'b intercepted it
with his own lance, and Al-Dalati's lance went whizzing on a
tangent and plowed the ground where it struck.
Then, like lightning, Abu Sa'b rode his horse after AlDalati, and as he closed upon him he jumped from his horse to
the back of Al-Dalati and, taking the reins from his hands, led
him captive to the palace of the Emir. When they reached the
gate, Al-Dalati shouted out in submission:
"In all the world there is none like Abu Sa'b."
The Emir smiled and ordered that two prizes be given the
contestants, then, turning to Al-Dalati, he said:
"Go now and recount what you saw of the valor of the
Emir's horsemen."
THE JUSTICE OF TOULOUN
Ahmad Ibn Touloun was the governor of Egypt when his
son 'Abbas had a man brought to trial for having intercepted
one of his female musicians and broken her instrument.
Ibn Touloun asked the offender what prompted him to
his action and he replied: "O Emir, I did so to discourage excesses
which are undermining the people's morals."
"But," retorted Ibn Touloun, "do you not know that 'Abbas is my son and you should respect him at least for my sake?"
"Respect for the laws of Allah should take precedence over
respect for man, no matter how great he may be," replied the
man.
Ibn Touloun reflected for a while in silence, then he said:
"My good man, go and break man-made laws in the upholding
of the laws of Allah as much as you wish, and you will find
in me a staunch defendent of your action."
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
48
Alone7. No, Not Alone
By
DR.
N. A.
KATIBAH
(The epic flight of Co I Chas. Lindbergh from New York to Paris was
the inspiration for Dr. N. A. Katibah to write the following poem on the
afternoon of May 21st, 1927, which we are happy to publish as an expression of the feelings of all Syrians in America over the unparalleled air feat
of the intrepid young American which has fired the imagination of the whole
world. Dr. Katibah's poem was published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle by
whose courtesy it is here reproduced.)
Editor.
•
Alone? — No, not alone!
A mother's heart in anxious care,
A mighty nation bowed in prayer,
A youthful bosom true and fair,
— My engine's gladsome drone —
All rise above both earth and sea,
And fill this blank eternity;
Sweet voices all, and dear to me,
Ne'er cease to urge me on.
Alone? — No, not alone
I cleave the air with main and might,
And ride upon the wing of night,
And watch the fleeting stars in flight.
Alone? — No, not alone,
Though silence awes my daring heart,
And space eternal plays its part
To chill my hope — behold I start
To hear my engine's drone.
Alone? — No, not alone!
The glorious pen of history,
The voice of men and memory,
A feat of worth and bravery,
And, too, my engine's drone,
Do make me brave both wind and rain,
To lift the Stars and Stripes amain
In glory o'er the clouds to reign
Alone! — Is this alone?
�GARDEN SPOT IN THE UPPER REACHES OF LEBANON
:
<:W
*
f thtk tnwn of Hasroun in Northern Lebanon, almost completely rebuilt in modA panoramic view of the town ot Hasroun, » ""«
„„„.„ rp«nrt and is but a short dis-
�A
NATURAL
WONDER
A natural bridge in Lebanon whose great arch can be judged by comparison with the size of the
man standing on the extreme right.
CD-I" at, tin cr qf.*fl £.» j| rvi
GO
Pt rt rt rf »"i
c* o
Hi
s- o jx" fcr \=r *" gr
�JULY, 1927
49
NOTES AND COMMENTS
By
THE EDITOR
OUR FIRST ANNIVERSARY
Measured by ordinary standards, a single year is but a
short span of time in the life of an individual or an enterprise.
A lone candle in the birthday cake can signify not much more
than the implied hope of the parents or the sponsors that the
child or the enterprise shall continue to live and to grow. Where
there is life there is hope, is the popular saying, and hope is in
continual need of being buoyed up and nurtured until the nursling is raised up to maturity.
Not so the case with our yearling "SYRIAN WORLD". We
feel that this publication should not, for many and various reasons, be judged by common standards of age. A year, the first
trying and crucial year, negotiated safely and with a plentiful
reserve of physical stamina and an inexhaustible supply of cheering hope, may well be considered a positive sign of virile maturity. It is proof of the adequacy of the machinery employed for
the production of the publication, as well as of the urgency of
the cause it seeks to serve. It may be truthfully said of it now
that it is on the high road to a career of fuller achievement and
service with a commensurate consciousness of vigor and security.
It is the consensus of opinion that the publication of THE
SYRIAN WORLD was undertaken at the psychological moment.
Undoubtedly many of our leading thinkers had for a long time
reasoned on the necessity of such a publication which would
serve as a vehicle for the dissemination of fuller knowledge
about Syrian history and culture and a means of establishing
points of contact and understanding between the different factions of the race now forced to be gradually drifting apart, and
between our race and other races. Consequently, when the publication made its appearance, the minds were ripe for its reception, and the rallying of our best talent, both in America and
abroad, to its support contributed to render it the scholarly,
dignified informative organ fit to represent our highest racial
traditions and culture. The passing of the first year only served
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
50
to strengthen our able contributors and collaborators in their
conviction that the publication is deserving of continued encouragement and support, and it is on the strength of this
renewed assurance that we are able to make the promise of
added improvement in the future.
The importance of this attitude on the part of our contributors cannot be sufficiently stressed. In their liberal collaboration, gratuitous all, they are fully contributing their share towards the cause of service to which THE SYRIAN WORLD is
dedicated. We know of no other Syrian literary undertaking
into the support of which has been brought together so much
racial talent of the highest rank. It is the expression of the
consciousness of our intellectual class to the necessity of collective effort in the promotion and service of a worthy public cause.
Our only hope is that the public will awaken to the fuller
appreciation of this fine display of the spirit of public service
.and respond to these efforts in a way to prove that they are more
generally recognized. In other words, this publication which
is intended to serve should be made to reach the maximum number of people for whom the service is intended. Our present
friends who have been witnesses to our past efforts could assist
materially in enlarging the circulation of the publication, thereby
insuring the widening, proportionately, of its sphere of service
and usefulness.
WHAT AILS SYRIAN INDUSTRY?
In his analysis of the problems besetting the soap industry
in Syria, Prof. Harold Close may well be credited with having
discovered the vulnerable points of native industry in general.
He has also prescribed an efficient remedy, and we would recommend, not only to our readers in Syria, but to our readers in
America as well, the careful study of the recommendations embodied in this timely article.
Industry in Syria is still carried on in the haphazard fashion
prevalent from time immemorial. It is crude and primitive and
takes little or no account of the strides being made by its sister
industries in the West. Science in Europe and America has
changed the basis of the old order of things both in manufacture
"".'
.
~ ?m:*c --'.!" mt^«**v.
-< -
/--":—
-
.
�JULY, 1927
51
and management, but in Syria and the East in general the inherited order seems to be governed by an immutable law, and
because no consideration is taken of changing conditions, the inevitable result of total failure in the struggle for supremacy
even in home market would seem to be a foregone conclusion.
In these times of quantity production and intensive
methods, commodities manufactured thousands of miles
away from a given market can be offered to consumers after
payment of transportation costs and custom duties at much less
than they can be produced by home industries. The reason is
all too obvious: it is quantity production by means of machinery
and economy in manufacture and management through collective effort. Both these elements are sadly lacking in Syrian industry.
Inaptitude for co-operation in any form seems to be one
of the great national vices of the Syrians. Hence the limitation
of all enterprises to individual efforts. Even Syrian emigrants
have not yet outgrown this deficiency in their national characteristics, for which reason we strongly urge upon our readers in
America the careful pondering of the recommendations of Prof.
Close.
What also cannot be sufficiently condemned is the apathy
of the Syrians towards home products. For decades preceding
the World War there was manufactured in Lebanon a certain
strong cotton fabric of distinctive design known as "Deema", a
sort of extremely durable gingham, which, while it lasted, proved a steady source of profit both to weaver and trader. But
being a native product, it was of course not good enough for
even those who made it, although the markets of Anatolia and
Greece could not be sufficiently supplied.
Another case in point is that of Syrian silk which, in quality,
ranks even higher than the Italian. Under ordinary circumstances one would expect the Syrian market to be the best customer for the' native product, but the Syrian mind does not seem
to, be able to perceive it in that light.
Only a few years ago the late Naoum Labaky, a sincere
patriot who had studied Western methods and sought to apply
them in his native country, which honored him by electing him
to the presidency of the Legislative Council of Lebanon, initiated
a movement whose ultimate aim was the rehabilitation of the
economic independence of the nation. He advocated pride in
�50
THE SYRIAN WORLD
to strengthen our able contributors and collaborators in their
conviction that the publication is deserving of continued encouragement and support, and it is on the strength of this
renewed assurance that we are able to make the promise of
added improvement in the future.
The importance of this attitude on the part of our contributors cannot be sufficiently stressed. In their liberal collaboration, gratuitous all, they are fully contributing their share towards the cause of service to which THE SYRIAN WORLD is
dedicated. We know of no other Syrian literary undertaking
into the support of which has been brought together so much
racial talent of the highest rank. It is the expression of the
consciousness of our intellectual class to the necessity of collective effort in the promotion and service of a worthy public cause.
Our only hope is that the public will awaken to the fuller
appreciation of this fine display of the spirit of public service
and respond to these efforts in a way to prove that they are more
generally recognized. In other words, this publication which
is intended to serve should be made to reach the maximum number of people for whom the service is intended. Our present
friends who have been witnesses to our past efforts could assist
materially in enlarging the circulation of the publication, thereby
insuring the widening, proportionately, of its sphere of service
and usefulness.
WHAT AILS SYRIAN INDUSTRY?
In his analysis of the problems besetting the soap industry
in Syria, Prof. Harold Close may well be credited with having
discovered the vulnerable points of native industry in general,
lie has also prescribed an efficient remedy, and we would recommend, not only to our readers in Syria, but to our readers in
America as well, the careful study of the recommendations embodied in this timely article.
Industry in Syria is still carried on in the haphazard fashion
prevalent from time immemorial. It is crude and primitive and
takes little or no account of the strides being made by its sister
industries in the West. Science in Europe and America has
changed the basis of the old order of things both in manufacture
�f
JULY, 1927
M
51
and management, but in Syria and the East in general the inherited order seems to be governed by an immutable law, and
because no consideration is taken of changing conditions, the inevitable result of total failure in the struggle for supremacy
even in home market would seem to be a foregone conclusion.
In these times of quantity production and intensive
methods, commodities manufactured thousands of miles
away from a given market can be offered to consumers after
payment of transportation costs and custom duties at much less
than they can be produced by home industries. The reason is
all too obvious: it is quantity production by means of machinery
and economy in manufacture and management through collective effort. Both these elements are sadly lacking in Syrian industry.
Inaptitude for co-operation in any form seems to be one
of the great national vices of the Syrians. Hence the limitation
of all enterprises to individual efforts. Even Syrian emigrants
have not yet outgrown this deficiency in their national characteristics, for which reason we strongly urge upon our readers in
America the careful pondering of the recommendations of Prof.
Close.
What also cannot be sufficiently condemned is the apathy
of the Syrians towards home products. For decades preceding
the World War there was manufactured in Lebanon a certain
strong cotton fabric of distinctive design known as "Deema", a
sort of extremely durable gingham, which, while it lasted, proved a steady source of profit both to weaver and trader. But
being a native product, it was of course not good enough for
even those who made it, although the markets of Anatolia and
Greece could not be sufficiently supplied.
Another case in point is that of Syrian silk which, in quality,
ranks even higher than the Italian. Under ordinary circumstances one would expect the Syrian market to be the best customer for the' native product, but the Syrian mind does not seem
to, be able to perceive it in that light.
Only a few years ago the late Naoum Labaky, a sincere
patriot who had studied Western methods and sought to apply
them in his native country, which honored him by electing him
to the presidency of the Legislative Council of Lebanon, initiated
a movement whose ultimate aim was the rehabilitation of the
economic independence of the nation. He advocated pride in
�52
THE SYRIAN WORLD
manual labor as a principle, and willingness to give preference
to home products as a means. He couched his plea in eloquent
and forceful words, but all his vehemence could not rouse his
countrymen out of their lethargy.
Perhaps when there is a recurrence of advice on native industry from able and sincere foreign specialists, such as that
coming from the American professor, we would be sufficiently
aroused to consideration. And it may be, as a good many observers hold, that the application of new methods will be forthcoming first from the emigrant sons of Syria by virtue of their
fuller appreciation, through more intimate contact, of the benefits derived from the application of modern methods. Progress
in matters political, educational and social are bound to come in
the same manner.
POLITICS AGAIN
Mr. Joseph Mawad of Dallas, Tex., takes exception to our
comment on his letter published in the June issue wherein he
states that there is a "class of Americans who resent the intrusion of any foreigner into the sacred portals of that American
institution—Politics." If any other impression was gained from
our comment we are glad to make the correction. But conceding there is a "class" we entertain serious doubts as to its ability
to shape the course of the whole American nation in the pursuance of such a policy. "Do Syrians in America find their racial
extraction a hindrance to their entry into politics" is a question
that we feel is deserving of an answer, and we again invite our
readers to express themselves on the subject with a view to elucidating the issue.
"SON OF AN IMMIGRANT"
There was pride and sincere exultation ringing throughout
the speech of welcome which Mayor Walker of New York delivered on the occasion of the memorable reception tendered Col.
Charles A. Lindbergh upon his triumphal entry into the metropolitan city on June 13th. The climax of the Mayor's speech
was reached when, moralizing on the readiness of the world,
�JULY, 1921
53
especially the United States, to give honor and distinction in
recognition of worthy achievement, he referred to both himself
and Col. Lindbergh as sons of immigrants. The words of the
Mayor should be an inspiration to every son of an immigrant
and it is with that object in mind that we reproduce them for the
benefit of our readers:
"Here today," said Mayor Walker, "as Chief Magistrate
of this city, the world city, the gateway to America, the gateway
through which peoples from the world have come in the search
for liberty and freedom—and have found it—here today let it
be written and let it be observed that the Chief Magistrate of
this great city, the son of an immigrant, is here to welcome as
the world's greatest hero, another son of an immigrant."
A REMINDER
The management of THE SYRIAN WORLD is anxious to do
everything possible towards facilitating to subscribers the making
of gift subscriptions to their friends. It has inaugurated a policy
of making 20% reduction on all gift subscriptions. The purpose, as alluded to in the remarks on our first anniversary, is
to broaden the field of service by having the publication reach
the maximum number of readers possible. We expect our loyal
friends to respond to this patriotic call.
I
A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR
We welcome to the ranks of our regular contributors the
gifted American writer, Mrs. Barbara Bourjaily, who is so much
in love with Syrians that she married one. Mrs. Bourjaily is
of old American ancestry tracing her forbears to pre-Revolutionary days on both sides of her family. She has done extensive
newspaper work and has published two books, Mother Goose
Secrets and The Mothers' Cook Book. Her's is one of those
well-balanced intellects which is able to make a happy reconciliation between the home and a career, and we feel happy in
giving our readers the assurance that her articles will be found
brimful of entertainment and valuable information.
FOR YOUR SUMMER READING
Have THE SYRIAN WORLD as your companion over the
summer vacation. Write early and advise us where you wish
your copy mailed to and for how long.
�_—
THE SYRIAN WORLD
54
Spirit of The Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcosmic picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever
Arabic dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking
writers who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabicspeaking world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take
no part in the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our
task will simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and
with utmost sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed in these editorials.
Editor.
THE CASE OF RASHAYYA
We are with the Rashayyans in
the three following demands:
1—In compelling the Druzes to
evacuate Rashayya.
2—In punishing the leaders of the
Druzes, not their rabble.
3—In rebuilding their town and
compensating them for their
losses.
But we are against them in evacuating their home town themselves
for the Druzes to remain in sole
possession. This would be as if the
inhabitants of Ehden, Becharry,
'Ackoura, Deir el Kamar and Jezzine were to decide on evacuating
simply to be out of danger of attacks. We would, therefore, suggest that the Rashayyans return to
their home town, but insist on having it fortified as a frontier outpost,
similar to Verdun, where a strong
Lebanese garrison would be stationed at all times.
Al-Hoda, N. Y., June 20, 1927
THAT SENSITIVE CHORD
The heart of Syria does not beat
except to the tune of the sensitive
chord of sectarianism. That chord
is in Syria of the vitality of the
jugular vein: if it be severed, then
there is immediate danger on the
life of the country. No other deduction could be had from the news we
repeatedly read in the papers of
Syria, that most unhappy of countries through its religions.
Truth has become lost in the Old
Country because sectarianism is 99
per cent, of the volume and patriotism is the remaining 1 per cent.
And pray, what is the benefit of
patriotism in a conglomeration
where each one sees his patriotism
either in his Koran or Bible?
In spite of the prevalence of this
lamentable condition we find many
who blame France for having failed
to bring about the hoped for reform
in Syria, while others accuse the
High Commissioners of either laxity or favoritism or incapacity. The
truth of the matter is that the
trouble lies with ourselves. It is a
trouble that is inherent and chronic,
and it is none other than religious
sectarianism which disposes of our
patriotic hopes, throttles our natural gifts and prostrates the truth
in the nation to be trampled upon
under the feet of abhorrent fanaticism.
As-Sayeh, N. Y., June 6, 1927
mammae-
•
�tJLm
55
JULY, 1927
WHO BROUGHT FRANCE
TO SYRIA?
France's entry into Syria, as well
as England's entry into Palestine,
was by the will and consent of none
other than France and England
themselves. We all know the story
of the secret treaties, or, as the
Americans call them, the Black
Treaties, because they were written
in the darkness of night, by which
the Allies divided the bear's skin
before he was killed and drew up
plans for the division between
themselves of Ottoman territory.
What we see today in Iraq, Palestine and Syria is but the result of
those treaties, and if the occupation
has b:en given the deceiving name
of Mandate or supervision it is not
so in fact. These names are only of
a nature to deceive the peoples governed as well as the United States
which entered the war on the side
of the Allies on the famous points
of Wilson and principally that of
"self-determination".
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N.Y.,June 9, 1027
replacing the policy of force by that
of understanding with the Syrians
and Lebanese for the preservation
of the prestige of France and the
restitution of the love they formerly held for her.
What thwarted these High Commissioners in their laudable efforts
was the arrogance of the military
party and their associates of the
extremist colonizers. No sooner
would these officials be ready to return to Syria and Lebanon to put
into effect their programs of reform
than they would receive orders to
join their predecessors in the "storage house".
This is what is about to happen
to Ponsot, which is in keeping with
what happened to Gouraud, Weigand and De Jouvenel. This operation shall be repeated until the colonizers succeed in transfornrng the
mandate into a veritable colony at
the opportune moment.
Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N.Y.,June 11,1927
LAME JUSTICE
The mandatory authorities have
apprehended the murderers of Major
WORKING FOR COLONIZATION
Tiney, a Frenchman, and caused
They claim that France is in- them to be tried before a military
nocent of the blood that has been tribunal refusing to listen to their
shed in Syria, and innocent also of plea that they had surrendered
the numerous mistakes committed within the limits insuring amnesty
by her officials and representatives to insurgents.
The Government has done well
one after the other. The excuse
by
taking this stand aga;nst spilthat is offered is that the men who
were sent by France to Syria and lers of innocent blood because it
Lebanon were misfits who jumbled has proved by this action its readithe task entrusted to them. But in ness to deal justice to ruthless culrefutation it may be pointed out prits. But if the murder of one
that upon examination of the rec- person is punished by executing
ords of these officials, and especial- two of his murderers and sentencing
ly the High Commissioners, it be- several other accomplices to life
comes plain that almost everyone terms have we not a right to ask
used to return to Paris to convince the Government the reason for its
his government of the necessity of apparent clemency in dealing with
�56
THE SYRIAN WORLD
the sackers of whole towns and the
murderers of the inoffensive inhabitants ruthlessly and by the wholesale?
The Government must be aware
that there was a barbarous massacre of the inhabitants of Rashayya by the Druzes, but what has it
done to bring the murderers to
justice ?
Let those who are in charge of
the government reflect on their actions and how they are pursuing
the murderers of Major Tiney and
overlooking others who are equally
culpable and they will undoubtedly
feel ashamed of their lame justice.
The Syrian Eagle, N.Y., June 7, 1927
FOES RESPECT VALOR
MISAPPLYING CONTRIBUTIONS
The Druzes and Moslems of the
United States have collected $150,000 for the relief of their brethren
who suffered from the Druze revolution. Where did all this money go?
Was it spent in the cause for which
it was collected, or was it spent on
other ends not compatible with that
cause ?
Read the Druze paper, Al-Bayan,
which has published and still publishes long lists of contributors, with
the sums which each contributes.
Did these contributions reach the
sufferers, or were they spent by people whose conscience has been numbed, using it for their selfish, personal
interests ?
(Ash-Shaab, N. Y. Feb. 16, 1927.)
The action of General Valiers in
admiring the valor of his fallen foe,
SYRIAN CULTURE
young Emir Izzedin Jezairy, who fell
martyr in open battle with the
Love of knowledge as not foreign
French is touching to the extreme. to the Syrian race which, in the
The sorrow of this general over the comparatively Dark Ages, held the
loss of the noble Arab hero is am- torch of science and philosophy
ple proof that French generals re- high to the world. It was Syrian
spect heroism in us and appraise at scholars who, in the 8th and 9th
their full worth our valiant young centuries A. D., translated the
men who launch in the struggle for works of Aristotle, Archemides,
the liberty of their country and the Hippocrates and many other Greek
honor of their nation.
philosophers and scientists into
In view of this splendid action Arabic; and it was through Latin
what can the traitors among the translations that Europe became acSyrians have/ to say? Will they de- quainted with Greek learning, and
rive a lesson therefrom and under- thus was the way paved for the Restand that their French masters naissance.
themselves hold in high respect Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N.Y.,June 11,1927
those who oppose their domineering
attitude and unsheathe the sword in
THE LOGICAL SOURCE
their faces? Will they understand
that the French despise the cowards
Having gown the seeds of liberty
and the lowly, and condemn, openly
in Syria, Sultan Pasha Atrash has
and in secret, those who roll their
betaken himself to the desert in
faces in the dust before them, as
search of water to irrigate hig planmany of these traitorg do?
tation.
(Al-Bayan, N. Y., June 27, 1927.)
(Aa-Sayeh, N. Y., March 28, 1927.)
�JULY, 1921
THE COMING MASSACRE
57
a cruel massacre which will be
mainly due to the shameful tolerance
of France and the silence and inaction of the Lebanese government.
(Al-Hoda, N. Y., June 23, 1927.)
We make this statement in the
fullest spirit of loyalty and disinterestedness and with the object of
presenting a convincing argument,
but we doubt that other than those
who are free from prejudice will
COULD IT BE TRUE
support our view.
Our plain statement is that a
Could it be possible? Has French
massacre of Christians in Lebanon misrule in Syria reached the climax
and Syria is approaching.
which impels it to acts of common
We also wish to go on record that criminality ?
the conspirators who will bring
One could understand the state
about this massacre are the French of mind of French reactionarism
profiteers who receive bribes and which brought about the bloody civil
practice despotism, together with war in Syria; but the human mind
the Lebanese traitors who are wont staggers before the contemplation
to offer bribes so that they may re- of sordid vileness and abysmal wicceive bribes in turn.
kedness implied in the rumor that
It may be said that the mandatory French officials might have been reauthorities could not countenance sponsible for the recent conflagrabloodshed while their military forces tion which consumed about 15 milare the ones who bear the brunt of lion dollars worth of goods in the
the fighting. But to those whoi hold Customs Warehouses on the wharfs
this view we say that the tolerance of Beirut.
shown by the French is the major
Beirut is outside of the, revolution
factor in the coming massacre which zone, and goods stored in the Cusshall be brought about by the rising toms Warehouses belong to proof the Druzes and their accomplices French Syrians as well as to nationagainst the submissive, unsuspecting alists. The only motive behind this
Christians whose former experi- wicked act, if true, is to hide a long
ences in these tragedies seem to record of dishonesty of French offihave availed them naught.
cials in the Customs House. This
The Druzes who have lately de- record, if revealed and subsantiated,
stroyed Rashayya and Kowkaba and would not be surprising; it is permassacred the inhabitants of these fectly congruous with the general
Christian towns are now under the conduct of French officials in Syria,
impression that France is weak and before and after the revolution. But
incompetent and that the policy she the effort to hide petty larceny, said
is now pursuing in dealing with to be committed by these officials,
them gently and meekly is due sole- by the holocaust of stupid criminalily to her fear of their mig'ht and ty, is unconceivable. For the sake of
prowess and great feats of arms. common decency and the reputation
They further believe that the more of human nature we pray that the
they oppose her the more she show- accusation proves false, and that the
ers upon them her favors and be- fire was due to unforeseen natural
stows on them high offices.
causes.
The Christians of Lebanon and
(Meraat-Ul-Gharb, N. Y.,
Hauran may then well prepare for
June 25, 1927.)
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
58
About Syria and Syrians
report on methods of preservation
and restoration returned to Damascus early in May and submitted a
On May 12 the Senate of the plan whereby 320 dwelling houses
Lebanese
Republic
unanimously now built within the original conpassed a resolution tendering the fines of the city are to be demolishpeople of the United States its pro- ed and others erected at a considerfound sympathy over the disaster able distance at an approximate
resulting from the Mississipi flood. cost of 11,500 Turkish pounds. It
Mention was made in the resolution is then recommended that excavaof the sympathetic interest shown tion work should begin immediately
by the American Government and to restore the ruins to their original
people in the people of Lebanon dur- state which then would be a great
ing their severe trials both during attraction for tourists from all
and after the war, as well as of the over the world. Already there is
consideration and protection being in Palmyra an up-to-date hotel
enjoyed by Lebanese immigrants in equipped with all modern convenithe United States, which made the ences where overland travelers beLebanese nation "feel as one with tween Syria and Mesopotamia
the American nation in the present stop overnight, because Palmyra
calamity wh;ch has befallen it."
lies about midway between Beirut
Mr. Paul Knabenshue, American and Baghdad along the new autoConsul General in Beirut, made mobile route across the desert.
proper acknowledgment of this ten- Regular passenger service is now
der of sympathy and in his reply maintained between
Syria and
to t)he Lebanese Senate thanked the Mesopotamia, and the restoration of
Lebanese nation in the name of his the ruins of Palmyra should prove
Government for its courteous ac- not only an attraction for more
tion.
tourists, but an inducement for
travelers to spend more time in the
locality inspecting the famous ruins.
THE RUINS OF PALMYRA
LEBANON SYMPATHY WITH
AMERICA OVER FLOOD
Palmyra, the great capital of
queen Zenobia, lying on the edge of
the Syrian Desert to the northeast
of Damascus, has been found in
danger of being gradually engulfed
by the constant encroachment of
the sands of the desert which fact
prompted the Syrian Government
to take immediate steps to save it
from total obliteration.
A commission of experts having
gone to inspect the famous ruins and
CONSIDERATE OF HIS
TARBOUSH BUT NOT
OF
HIS
LIFE
A great conflagration broke out
in the customs warehouses of Beirut in the early morning hours of
May 24 which caused a loss estimated at about fifteen million dollars
and threatened for a time to spread
to the city. The fire, for one thing,
�JULY, 1927
proved that the fire fighting facilities in the city were inadequate.
Already a movement is on foot for
the acquisition of modern apparatus.
Newspaper reports of the fire
picture nearly the whole city turning out to witness the awe-inspiring
scene of huge buildings being enveloped in flames and scores of harbor craft, some laden with inflammable material, being in danger of
catching fire. Amidst this pandemonium an insipient fire was discovered breaking out in a building
adjoining the main warehouse by
the quay. A Syrian spectator, realizing the danger of the spread of
fire, hastened to drag a hose and
effectively ply a stream on the danger spot. While thus engaged and
in the excitement of his work he
felt 'h/'mself in danger of losing his
tarboush and managed to adjust it
with one hand while holding the
hose with the other. Another Syrian, who was wearing a hat, felt
amused at the gesture and remarked, in French, naturally, that the
fire-fighter appeared to be in too
much fear for his headgear, whereupon, a French officer who had been
watching with admiration the efforts of the gallant native gave a
piercing look at the one who had
made the slighting remark and said:
"But does he show any fear of losing his life?"
59
some Damascus papers and ascribed to some of these repatriated
prisoners are full of the most gruesome details. The English Consulate in Damascus took notice of
these rumors and hastened to deny
them, but for some reason or other
they would not down, and some
papers go to the extent of giving
supposedly authentic names of the
prisoners and their home towns in
Syria and Palestine.
Aleph-Ba, a leading daily paper of
Damascus and one of pronounced
liberal tendencies, reports a visit to
its office of one of these repatriated
prisoners whose name it gives in
full and describes as being in such
an emaciated condition as to hardly
be able to walk. It ascribes to hjm
statements to the effect that thousands of Syrian prisoners, taken by
the British while serving in the
Turkish army, were kept in Singapore for the last ten years where
they were put to hard labor and denied permission to communicate
with their home country or the outside world. A large number of these
prisoners, it is stated, perished like
galley slaves at their benches, but
the survivors are being sent iri
small groups to Bassora where they
are set at liberty and told to seek
their way home. The informant of
the paper, the report further states,
asserts that of his group a large
number perished en route through
exhaustion, while those who arrived
in Damascus are seeking aid to re20,000 SYRIANS
PRISONERS OF WAR turn to their home towns in Palestine and other parts of Syria.
One reading the Syrian papers of
From other papers it is learned
late comes across such lurid titles
that
these rumors about Syrian war
as "Twenty Thousand Prisoners
prisoners
spread throughout Syria
Rise from the Dead", "Syrian War
and
Lebanon
like a prairie fire so
Prisoners Kept by English Ten
that
the
inhabitants
of the remotest
Years", and others of similar purhamlet
must
have
heard
of them
port. The details published by
�60
THE SYRIAN WORLD
within a day or two of their ap- of vital statistics in Lebanon, 1,190,pearance. They have, for one thing, 008 unregistered Lebanese emiraised hopes among those whose grants who do not pay taxes which
sons and relatives were drafted in shows, if the figures prove correct,
the Turkish army during the war that there are nearly twice as many
that they might still be alive, and Lebanese emigrants as there are
seekers of information are flocking residents.
into the cities from all directions.
But the veracity of the reports LEBANESE MEMBER OF
CONGRESS IN COLOMBIA
seems to be everywhere questioned.
It is inconceivable, according to the
Al-Hoda of New York reports that
consensus of opinion, that a civiliz- during the election held in Salandar,
ed power like England who is ac- a State of the Republic of Colombia,
credited with the most humane
for a seat in the National Congress,
treatment of prisoners, should em- Dr. Gabriel Tarabay beat his oppoploy such uncivilized methods in the
nents by a large margin and was
treatment of its war prisoners. Othhailed as the youngest member ever
ers doubt that news of the existence
to be elected to the Congress, he
of such a large number of prison- not being over twenty-five years old.
ers could have been kept from the
Dr. Tarabay is of Lebanese desworld for such a length of time.
cent and besides being a physician
of note enjoys a national reputation
for eloquence and forcefulness as a
POPULATION OF LEBANON
public speaker.
What purports to be the result of
an official census was published by
THE CARAVANEERS
a Lebanese paper giving the populaThe Caravaneers of Boston seem
tion of the Lebanese Republic at the
to be traveling in the right direcend of 1926 in religious denomination. They are treking on the road
tions as follows:
to intellectual progress and good
Emigrants
companionship. Last year, as we
Residents paying road leam from a letter of the secretary
taxes
of this organization, Miss Theodora
Moslems—
Scoff, a number of young people
Sunnites
122,189
1,657
organized this club for the purpose
Shiites
101,777
1,327
of promoting better understanding
Druzes
38,940
2,468
between themselves and taking an
Maronites .... 178,257
19,415
active interest in the life of the comGreek Orthodox, 68,539
10,259
munity. Their membership is drawn
Melchjtes
40,414
3,567
from college graduates and students
Protestants ...
3,986
378
who live or go to school in Boston.
Armenians ... 33,538
These young intellectuals are not
Miscellaneous .
6,952
159
ashamed of being identified with
According to this table the total their racial extraction and the enresident population of Lebanon thusiastic spirit they show in prowould amount to 598,852, while moting things that rebound to the
registered emigrant tax payers are benefit of the Syrian race is worthy
to the number of 39,240. There are, of emulation and deserving of the
however, according to the records highest commendation.
�JULY, 1927
A. U. B. FUND REACHES $120,000
Announcement of $120,000 already pledged to the Alumnae Fund
of the American University of Beirut was made by President Bayard
Dodge of the University by cable
from Beirut to the American headquarters of the Near East College
Association, 18 East 41st Street,
New York.
The amount of the fund which is
being raised by Syrian alumni and
friends of the American University
of Beirut was made public at the
exercises of the University when
messages were received from Syrians in all parts of the world reporting pledges. The occasion was
notable as an international gathering. Two thousand people were
present including many alumni as
well as high French and Arab officials.
Ninety-four students, including a
number of women, were graduated
from the University and one hundred fifty-six from the Preparatory School.
The American University of Beirut, which was founded in 1866 by
Dr. Daniel Bliss, is setting educational standards for a large part of
the Near and Middle East. The new
automobile route across the Mesopotamian Desert has brought to it
over two hundred students from
Persia and Iraq and conservative
Moslem communities hitherto untouched by foreign influence.
That the Syrians themselves are
convinced of the value of the University of Beirut is shown by the
response to the Alumnae Fund which
represents the greatest educational
movement in Syrian history. The
fund which is expected to total
$150,000 is for the purpose of establishing and enriching the Oriental
Department of the University.
61
PLANT OF AL-HODA
DAMAGED BY WATER
On the afternoon of Friday, June
24, fire broke out in the bonded
warehouses at 52 Greenwich St.,
New York City, directly in the rear
of the building of Al-Hoda, the
leading Arabic paper in the United
States, and caused such damage to
the plant as to prevent the appearance of the publication for
about a week or ten days. The great
volume of water poured by the firemen on the burning building flooded
its cellar and caused so much pressure as to open a wide breach in
the wall through which it overflew
into the pressroom of Al-Hoda where
it rose to a height of 7 ft., submerged all machinery and damaged all
the paper stock and material. The
loss is believed to be fully covered
by insurance.
Mr. N. A. Mokarzel, editor and
publisher of Al-Hoda, in a statement mailed to his subscribers,
made the definite promise of resuming publication on or about the
Fourth of July.
A SYRIAN ASSISTANT CITY
ATTORNEY IN TEXAS
The Port Arthur News of Port
Arthur, Tex., in its issue of June 8,
carried on its first page the announcement that Mr. J. B. Holway,
a Syrian and an Arabic poet and
writer of note, had been appointed
assistant city attorney and entered
upon his duties on that date. Mr.
Holway had previously been in the
service of the Federal Government
as Immigration Interpreter and acquitted himself creditably. His appointment to his present position is
proof of ability recognized without
regard to his foreign extraction.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
62
SYRIAN YOUTH WINS
MEDICAL HONORS
Leo A. Elkourie, son of Dr. and
Mrs. H. A. Elkourie, of Birmingham, Ala., has had a remarkable
career while a student at the University of Alabama during the last
five years.
He received his B. S. degree last
year, and this year on account of research work, he received the degree
of M. S. in medicine. To 'him falls
the honor of being the first medical
student to receive the Phi Beta
Kappa honors at the U. of A.
His research work last year conducted under the guidance of Prof.
E. Larson and dealing largely with
the thyroid gland evolved some results which attracted wide attention.
A paper, entitled the "Role of Toxin
in Parathyroid Tetany," was presented before the American Federation of Biological Society in Rochester last April, received the 10
minute consideration which is the
maximum for scientific papers in
this body, which is composed of the
Society of Biological Chemists, the
Psychological Society, the Society
of Experimental Pathology, and the
Society of Experimental Therapeutics.
(The Birmingham News)
Political Developments in Syria
It was definitely announced in the
Temps of Paris that M. Ponsot, the
French High Commissioner in Syria,
would embark on the S. S. Mariette
Pasha for Beirut on June 14. No
intimation was given, however, of
his future plans or policies. M.
Ponsot has succeeded in keeping intimate counsel with himself and it
is expected that immediately upon
his arrival in Syria he will announce
definitely his program which will be
carried out in full as it would embody the maximum concessions
France is willing to give to the Nationalists and map out a comprehensive course for the future administrative policy in the country.
In view of M. Ponsot's reticence,
however, it is idle to conjecture on
the nature of this policy. From some
usually well informed sources it is
learned that the principal recommendations which M. Ponsot made
to the Cabinet and received its sanction thereof are: 1—The convoking
of a General Assembly to determine
the form of government to be adopted for Syria. 2—The authorization
of a plebiscite in the districts ceded
to Lebanon to determine whether
they would prefer their present
status or elect to revert to their
former condition of inclusion in the
Syrian states. 3—The granting of
full amnesty to the revolutionists.
4—All the above, however, to be
conditional on the immediate, complete and unconditional laying down
of arms by the revolutionists.
It should be borne in mind that
the above statement is not official
but bears all the earmarks of being
close to the program brought back
by M. Ponsot to Syria.
If the question of the plebiscite
should be true, it might give rise
to new difficulties in the French
administration of Lebanon.
Already there are signs of growing
dissatisfaction among the Christian
faction which had been hitherto the
staunchest supporter of France. In
a debate on the question of Leba-
/
i
�•JBMMMMM
JULY, 1927
)
\
nese citizenship in the House of
Representatives there was an acrimonious exchange of accusations between Sheikh Al-Kazin, a Maronite
member, and the representative of
the High Commissioner. One of the
remarks of the native member was
to the effect that the Lebanese consider themselves masters of their
own dest'ny and should have the
final and decisive say in such matters as citizenship. He also said,
in reply to a direct question from
the Frenchman, that he made the
above statement in full consciousness of the fact that he was representing his constituency and his coreligionists.
Grumbling against the French in
Mt. Lebanon is assuming more serous proportions. The restriction of
the freedom of the press is being
h-tterly resented. The fire at the
customs warehouses in Beirut, believed to be of incendiary origin and,
according to general belief, designed
to hide the suspected larceny of
French and native officials, has given added impetus to the display of
dissat-'sfaction. And if, as it is expected, Lebanon is to be deprived
of territory it considers falling
within its natural boundaries and
forming an integral part of the
country, then there is fear of the
dissatisfaction culminating in an
open break. An ominous forecast
of such an eventuality was contained ;n the bittor remarks of the Patriarch on the occasion of the visit
of the officers of the French fleet.
MILITARY OPERATIONS
The armed rebellion in Syria may
well be cons;dered to have been
definitely suppressed, judging by the
latest press dispatches. It is reported from London that Sultan Pasha
Atrash, the Druze leader of the revolution, has been exiled to Nejd, a
63
remote district of Arabia under the
rule of Ibn Saoud, while two thousand of his followers surrendered to
the French and were granted full
amnesty.
This information, coming at the
end of June, may be the outcome of
the efforts of the H;gh Commissioner upon his return to Syria. M.
Ponsot sailed from France on the
14th of June and allowing seven
days for passage, he should have
reached Beirut by the 21st, and between that date and the end of the
month must have brought about the
surrender of the Druze rebels and
the exile of their leader.
It 'had been previously known that
the revolutionists were reduced to
dire straits. A special appeal for
funds cabled by the leader to his
sympathizers in America made an
urgent appeal for funds. His exile
to Nejd may be due to his unwillingness to keep up a hopeless struggle
any longer and to his desire to secure amnesty for his followers. The
next mail from Syr,;a should throw
light on these new developments by
which the revolution was brought to
an end.
Previous to this latter information, there were reports in the Syrian press of a severe engagement
between a detachment of seventy
rebels which invaded the Ghuta,
close to Damascus, and a superior
force of native volunteers. The
rebels were commanded by the young
Emir Izzedin Jeza,-ry who stood his
ground in battle with thirty loyal
companions, after the others had deserted him, and met an honorable
death. He was accorded military
honors by the French.
Other than the above, there were
only the usual reports of small bands
of brigands and outlaws operating
in different parts of Syria, especially in the neighborhood of Homs.
�64
THE SYRIAN WORLD
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If you are unable to get
it from your grocer, order
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We have a complete line
of these very popular articles at the lowest prices.
We are also agents for
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�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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TSW1927_07reducedWM
Title
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The Syrian World Volume 02, Issue 01
Date
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1927 July
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 2 Issue 01 of The Syrian World published July 1927. The issue opens with an article by Harold Close which discusses the importance of the soap industry in Syria. Following the article there is a Syrian folk song that has been translated by Ameen Rihani. After the folk song there is an article by Dr. N. A. Katibah discussing Sufism which features a depiction of Umar Ibnu 'L-Farid done by Kahlil Gibran. The Syrian cities of Tyre and Sidon are also highlighted in this issue before a play by Harry Chapman Ford. This issue celebrates the publication's one year anniversary. The issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press and more information on the political developments in Syria.
Subject
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Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
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English
Creator
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1920s
Ameen Rihani
Harry Chapman Ford
Kahlil Gibran
Music
New York
Sufism
Syria
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https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/b6e0d8c3dc7d3b9c42639036efacf7d0.pdf
4444904ee4fdbfcd4984a6ab135b66cc
PDF Text
Text
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Ameen Rihani: Arabic Letters
Subject
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Rihani, Ameen Fares, 1876-1940
American literature--Arab American authors
Description
An account of the resource
The Ameen Fares Rihani collection contains the personal correspondence, English and Arabic manuscripts, papers, notebooks, articles, press clippings, and other documents of Ameen Fares Rihani (1876-1940), a formative and influential Arab-American author, poet, political activist, and intellectual who dedicated his life to promoting and advocating for Arab culture and history across the world.
This collection contains 271 letters, written in Arabic, addressed to Ameen Fares Rihani from friends, family, political leaders, and others. The letters were written between 1899-1941.
Source
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Ameen Rihani Organization
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
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1899-1940
Contributor
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Ameen Rihani Organization
Format
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Text/PDF
Language
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Arabic
Type
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Text
Rights
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Donor retains full ownership of any and all copyright currently controlled in agreement with Khayrallah Center. Nonexclusive right to authorize all uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA).
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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Rihani2018AR55_06_035
Alternative Title
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رسائل امين الريحاني العربية
Title
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Letter from Ameen Rihani to Louis Massignon, 1931 August 20
Description
An account of the resource
نسخة رسالة من امين الريحاني الى صديقه لويس ماسينيون بتاريخ 20 اب 1931. فيها يشكر الريحاني ماسينيون على اهداء الاخير لكتابه الى الريحاني حول "اقوال المتصوفين في البلاد الاسلامية". واخبره الريحاني ان هذا الكتاب سيكون ذا فائدة في مؤلفه الجديد باللغة الانجليزية حول العراق حيث سيسرد فيه "فصل او فصلين" عن التصوف في العراق. كما يسأله الريحاني ان كان وصله كتابه "الرحلة العربية". ثم يبين الريحاني سببا اخر للرسالة وهو طلب "التوسط" من اجل صديقه "نصري فارس فضول غصوب" نتيجة ظلم وقع عليه.
A photocopy of a letter from Ameen Rihani to Louis Massignon, dated August 20, 1931. Rihani thanks Massignon for dedicating his book on "Soufis sayings in Muslim countries", and indicates that this book will helpful on Rihani's next book on Iraq in English, where he will discuss Sufism in Iraq in "a chapter or two". Rihani also asks Massignon a favor to help another friend "Nassri Faris Fadhoul Ghassoub" for the injustice he was served in courts.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Rihani, Ameen Fares, 1876-1940
Correspondence
Letter writing, Arabic
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
اب 1931
1931-08-20
Creator
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امين الريحاني
Ameen F. Rihani
Coverage
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Freike, Lebanon
Language
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Arabic
Source
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Ameen Rihani Organization
Type
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Text
Format
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Text/pdf
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Donor retains full ownership of any and all copyright currently controlled in agreement with Khayrallah Center. Nonexclusive right to authorize all uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA).
1930's
Courts
Freike
Iraq
Judiciary
Louis Massignon
Nassri Faris Fadhoul Ghasoub
Sufism
التصوف
الصوفية
العراق
الفريكة
المحاكم والقضاء
امين الريحاني
كتب
لويس ماسينيون
نصري فارس فضول غصوب