OP - Forgotten Books · NEW YORK CHlCAGO TORONTO. DEDICATED To TH E BO YS AND G IRLS ... A horse or a camel or a ... You read a book from left to right but in Arabia everybody

TOPSY-TURVY LAND

ARABIA P ICTURED

F O R C H I LD R E N

EYv

SAM UEL M . ! WEMERAND

AMY E . ZWEMER

Fl eming H . Revel ! CompanyNEW YORK CH lCAGO TORONTO

DEDICATEDTo TH E BOYS AND G IRLS

WH O ARE H ELP ING TO TURN TH E WORLD

U PSIDE DOWN

PREFACE

THIS i s a book of p ictures and stories for big children andsmal l grown-up fo lks ; for a l l who love Si nbad the sa i lo rand h is strange country . I t i s a topsy-turvy book ; thereis no order about th e chapters ; and you can begin to readi t anywhere . I t is i ntended to give a b i rd ’s-eye view tothose who can not take bi rds ’ wings . The stories a re notas good as those of the Arabian Nights but the mora ls a rebette r—and so a re the pi ctures . Moreover the stories aret rue . You must not ski p any of the chapters o r the p icturesbut you may the preface , i f you l i ke .

Ba/zrez'

n ,Ara bia .

CONTENTS

WHY I S ARABIA TOPSY-TURVY LAND ?

A LESSON IN GEOGRAPHY

TH E S ! UARE-HOUSE WITH TH E BLACK

OVERCOAT .

SABBACH-KUM BI L KHE I R !

AT THE CORNER GROCERY

BL IND FATIMAH

DATES AND SUGAR-CANE

THE SHEPHERD OF TH E SEWING-MA

CH INE

THE CH ILDREN OF THE DESERT

NOORAH’

S PRAYER

PICTURES WITH WORDS ONLY

THE ! UEER PENNIES OF OMAN AND

HASSA

ARAB BAB IES AND THE I R MOTHERS

BOAT-BU ILDERS AND CARPENTERS11

C O N T E N T S

ARABIC PROVERBS AND ARAB IC HU

MOUR

GOLD , FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH

SLAVES AND SLAVE TRADERS

ABOUT SOME L ITTLE MISSIONARIES

TURNING THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN ,

TURNING THE WORLD DOWNSIDE UP,

12

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

ARAB BOYS Fa cing

MODES OF TRAVEL

EUROPEAN V I S ITORS ON DONKEYS .

MAP OF ARABIA

READY FOR A CAMEL RIDE

THE S ! UARE HOUSE WITH THE BLACK OVER

COAT

SABBAGH-KUM BIL KHE I R !

ARAB GROCER

ARAB BOY IN A CROCKERY SHOP

How A MOSLEM BOY PRAYS

WOMEN SELL ING SUGAR-CANE

DATES GROWING ON A DATE PALM

F I RE WOOD MARKET, BUSRAH

ARAB RIDERS WITH LANCES

PEARL MERCHANTSARAB IAN WATER-BOTTLE*

DESIGNS MADE OUT OF ARABIC WRITINGFrom th e Sunday School Times, by permission .

13

L I S T O F I L L U S T R A T I O N S

ARABIC LETTER FROM A POOR CRIPPLE

OMAN CO IN

HASSA CO INS

DATE-STICK CRADLE

WOMEN -GRIND ING AT THE MILL

BEDOU IN WOMEN EATING THE IR BREAKFAST

CARGO BOATS, BAHRE IN

RIVER BOAT BUSRAH

SAWING A BEAM

AN ARAB CARPENTERS TOOLS

PUZZLE OF THE TH IRTY MEN

BRANCH OF THE INCENSE TREE

SLAVE GIRL IN ARABIA

L I BERATED SLAVES AT BAHRE IN

MISSION HOUSE AT BUSRAH

THE SULTAN ’S SOLD IERS

MUSCAT HARBOUR

AN OLD FRIEND IN A NEW DRESS

14

WHY I S ARAB IA TOPSY-TURVY LAND ?

ON th is big round earth the re are al l sorts of countri es andpeoples . Men walk on i t on eve ry s ide j ust l ike fl i es craw li ng over a watermelon and they do not fa l l Off ei th er . Onthe next page you can see how they trave l a l l around th eworld ; some i n steamsh i ps , some i n carriages o r on horses ,some i n j i n ri ckshaws and some in th e ra i lway coaches . I nTopsy-turvy Land they have no rai l roads and not even “

waggon-roads o r waggons . A horse o r a camel o r adonkey i s used for passengers and the came l caravan is afre ight tra i n .

O r i f you wish , the came l is a topsy-turvy sh i p whi ch Vsai ls i n the sand instead of i n the wate r . I t i s ca l led theSh i p Of th e desert . The masts point down instead of up ;there are four masts i nstead Of th ree ; and although thereare ropes the desert-sh i p has n o sai ls and no rudde r—unlessthe rudder be the ta i l . When the sh i p l i es at anchor tob el oaded i t feeds on grass and the four

.

masts a re a l l snuglytucked away under th e hul l . I n Arab i a you genera l ly seethese sh i ps of the desert i n a long l in e l i ke a nava l process ion , each battlesh i p towing i ts mate by a p iece o f ropefastened from ha lter

‘

to ta i l ! But not on ly i s th e mode oftrave l strange in Topsy-turvy Land , even the time of th eday i s a l l upside down . When the boys and gi rls Of Ameri ca are going to bed the boys and gi rl s of A rabi a a re th ink

15

T O P S Y T U R V Y L A N D

R A B I A

i ng of getti ng up . AS early as four o ’c l ock by western t imethe muezz in ca l ls out l oud from the top of the m i naret (fo rMoslem churches have no steeples and no bel ls) to comeand pray . Arabs count the hours from sunrise . I t is noon

MODES OF TRAVEL.

at six o ’clock and they breakfast at one ; at th ree O’clock i n

the even ing a l l good boys and gi rls a re as leep .

I n Topsy-turvy Land a l l the habits and customs are exactly opposite to those i n Ameri ca or England . Fo r i nstance

16

P I C T U R E D F O R C H I L D R E N

A R A B I A

when a boy enters a room he takes off h is shoes but leaveshis hat on h i s head . I do not know Whethe r we should cal li t a ha t, however. H is hat has no rim and is not made offelt o r straw , but i s j ust a fo lded handkerch ief of a la rge s izeand bright colou r wi th a p iece of cord to hold it wound roundh i s head—a sort of a hat i n two pieces . The gi rls go W i thoutShoes but c a reful ly cover the i r p retty (or ugly) faces with ablack ve i l .At home you eat w ith a spoon or use a kn i fe and fork .

Here the Arabs eat with the i r fingers ; nor do they use anyp lates o r butter d ishes , but a la rge p iece of flat bread servesas a p late unti l i t i s a l l eaten . So you see i n Arabia the ch i ld ren not only eat the i r ri ce and meat but the i r p lates a lso .

You read a book from left to right but i n A rabi a everybodybegins at the right-hand cove r and reads backward . Eventhe l ines read backward and i n Arabi c writi ng there are nocommas or capi ta l s a nd the vowels a re wri tte n not next tothe consonants but stuck up above them . Pota to i n Arabi cwould be wri tten with Engli sh lette rs this way : {3!f 8.

Can you read i t ?In your country a ca rpente r stands at h is bench to work ,

b ut here they S i t on the ground . With you he uses a v ise tohold the board or sti ck he i s p lan ing ; here he uses h i s ba retoes . With you h e pushes the saw or

,especia l ly

,the p lane

away from him to cut o r to smooth a p iece of wood,but i n

Topsy-turvy Land h e pul l s h is tools towards h im . Buttonsa re on the button-hole s ide and th e ho les are where you putthe buttons . Door keys and door h inges a re made of wood

,

not of i ron as i n the Occident . The women wear toe-ri ngs17

T O P S Y —T U R V Y L A N D

A R A B I A

and nose-ri ngs as Wel l as ea rri ngs and bracel ets . Everyth ing seems diffe rent from What i t 15 I n a Chri sti an country .

One strange s ight is to meet people out rid i ng . Do youknow that the men ride donkeys side-saddle, but the womenride as men do i n your country ? When a m iss i onary ladyfirst came to Bahrei n i n Eastern Arabi a and the boys sawher rid i ng a donkey th ey ca lled out : Come a h a see, come

and see I The l a dy ha s nofeet I Because they saw on ly

EUROPEAN VISITORS ON DONKEYS

one s ide of her. Then another one ca l led out and said“Yes she has, a h d they are both on this sz

’

a’

e

Another Odd custom is that Arabs always turn the fingersof th e hand down as we turn them up i n beckoning o r cal li ng anybody . Many other gestures seem topsy-turvy as Wel l .I n your country boys learn the lesson of pol iteness—ladi es

18


A R B I

fi rst ; but i t i s not so over here . I t i s men first i n a l l gradesof soci ety ; and not on ly men fi rst but men last, i n the middle

,and a l l the time . Women and gi rls have a very smal l

p la ce given them i n Topsy-turvy Land . The Arabs say

that of al l an imal k i nds the fema le is the most va luable except i n the case of manki nd ! When a gi rl baby is born theparents a re thought very unfortunate . HOW hard theBedoui n gi rls have to work ! They a re treated just l i kebeasts of burden as i f they had no souls . They go ba refootca rry ing heavy loads of wood o r sk i ns of water, grind themeal and make fresh bread eve ry morn i ng or s pi n thecame l ’s hai r o r goat ’s ha i r i n to one coarse ga rment . Theya re Very ignorant and supe rsti t i ous , the ch ief remedies forsickness . b eing to brand the body W ith a h ot i ron o r wearcharms—a verse from th e Koran sewn up i n leather o r astring of blue beads , which are supposed to d ri ve away ev i li nfluences .How very thankful gi rls shou ld be that i n a l l Christ ianlands they have a higher p lace and a better lot than thepoor gi rls a nd women of Arabia ! For th e greatest contrast i s the re l igi on Of th e i nhabitants of Topsy-turvyLand . That i s a l l ups ide down too . The Lord jesusteaches us to p ray i n secret not to be seen of men ; weare to go qui etly a lone and tel l God eve ryth ing . ButMohammed , the p rophet of Arabia , taught h i s fol lowers top ray openly on any street corne r, or on the deck of a sh i p , i npubl i c, j ust l ike the Pha risees whom Jesus condemns . Andwhen these people fast, as th ey are supposed to for a wholemonth , they do not rea l ly go without food , but each day at

19

T O P S Y - T U R V Y L A N D

A R A B I

sunset they begin to eat i n la rger quantity than usual l—b ecause th ey th i nk by such fasti ng to ga i n favour with Godand do not know that to fast from si n and evi l h abits is thefast God wants . Anothe r th i ng very sad i n th is l and ofTopsy-turvy is that there a re no Sunday-schoo ls— theydo not observe our Sabbath—and the boys and girls do nothave bright Sunday-schoo l lesso n leaves o r a p icture-rol l .They spend Sunday and every other day i n learmng a l l theevi l they see i n those that are grown up . Poor child ren !They have neve r hea rd the sweet words of Jesus , “ Suffe rl ittle ch i ld ren to come unto me and forb id th em not for ofsuch is the k ingdom of God . We tel l you a l l th is about .

them that you may p ray fo r them that God may soon sendmore miss iona ri es to preach to th em these precious words .We want you al l by praye r and offeri ngs to he lp put as i lver l inIng i n the da rk c louds of thei r l ives .The other chapters i n th is l i tt l e book wi l l te l l you moreabout the land and its peop le and as you read them do notforget to pray for them .

I f you are faithful and true , always sh in ing for Jesus ,your bright l ight wi l l reach as far as da rk Arabia , and wi l lhe l p to turn that land of Topsy—

bturvy right s ide up . When

joy and gladness wi l l take the p lace of sorrow and sadness ,and ignora nce gi ve way to the knowledge of the Truth . In

one place i n the Bible i t tel ls h ow to make these topsyturvy lands right s ide up again . Do you know where thatis ? Acts I 7 : 6, 7.

“ Th ese th a t h ave turned the worl d

upside down a re come h ither a l so say ing that

there is another King, even JESUS20

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join


R A B I A

mi les of coast and yet on ly six harbours where steamersca l l . There are bette r maps of the North Pole and of Marsand of the moon than Of southeaste rn Arabia . The reasonis that men have s pent m i l l i ons of dollars to find the NorthPole and telescopes are al l the t ime looking at the moon ;but no one has ever spent t ime or money to explore th ispart of Arabia . The Greek geographers had a betterknowledge of Arabi a than we have to-day .

There are no lakes i n Arabia , but there is a large sea of sandcalled A l Ahhaf , i n wh ich the trave l ler Von Wrede threwa lead and l ine and found no bottom ! No one has beenthere si nce to see whether his story Was true . At Bah rei n ,i n eastern Arabia , there are sa l t-wate r wel ls on shore andfresh-water springs i n the m idst of the salt sea fromwhi ch Wate r is brought to shore . Arabia has no postagestamps and no po l i ti ca l cap i ta l and no telegraph system .

D ifferent coins from diffe rent parts of the world a re used i nd ifferent provinces . I t is a land of contradi ct i ons and eventhe waters that bound i t a re mis named . The Red Sea isblue ; the Persian Gulf has no Pers ian sh ips and should becal led an Engl is h lake ; and the Stra its of Hormuz a recrooked . This topsy-turvy land has no pol i ti ca l d i vis ions .Some say i t has five and some seven provi n ces ; no on eknows what i s i ts population as no census was ever taken .

In nearly al l countri es the mountai n ranges run north andsouth

,but i n Arabia they run nearly east and west. There

are desert sands six hundred feet deep and mountai n peaksn i ne thousand feet h igh . On the coasts i t is fearfu l ly hotand the cl imate is often deadly . On the h igh lands i t is often

22

P I CTU R E D F O R C H I L D R EN

A R A B I A

ARABIA.

23


R B I A

bitterly co ld ; and yet the people are a l l of the same raceand speech and custom and language and re ligion .

There are no pumps i n Arabia, but p lenty of wel ls . Thereare no woods i n Arabia,but p l enty of trees . The camel is a

READY FORA CAMEL RIDE .

topsy-turvy sh i p and the ostrich a topsy-turvy bi rd . TheArabs ca l l the former the sh i p of the desert ; and th elatte r they say is ha l f camel and ha lf bi rd . I n some parts ofArabia horses and cows are fed on boi led fi sh because thatis cheaper than grass ! In other parts of the country donkeysare fed on dates . A rabia has more sultans and prin ces thanany other country Of the- same size and yet i t i s a land wi th

24

P I C T U R E D F O R C H I L D R EN

A R A B 1

out a settled government . The peop le never meet oneanothe r without say ing “ Peace to you yet th ere hasneve r been any peace over the Who le land

'

since Christ ’sbi rth o r even si nce the days of Ishmae l .Every one carries a weapon and yet th ere a re very fewW i ld an imals . I t is more dangerous to mect a Bedoui nthan a l ion when you a re a strange r o n the '

road . TheArabs are a nation of robbers . NOW you wi l l wonder howWe can also say that O rie nta ls a re the most hosp itable ofany people i n th e world fo r the Arabs are O ri entals . Andyet it i s stri ct ly true that thes e robbe rs are more hospi tab le,i n a way, than you people of Western countries . Theyhave a p roverb whi ch says that “ Every strange r is ani nvi ted guest and another which says , “ The guest Wh i lei n the house i s i ts lo rd . I f a n Arab gets after you to robor kil l you , i t i s on ly necessary to take refuge i n his tent forsafety . He is bound then , by the rules of Ori enta l hosp ita li ty , to treat you as h is guest. But you must not stay theretoo long and you must be ca refu l h ow you get away ! Youwi l l fi nd i nstances of th i s respect fo r th e duty of hospi ta l i tyal l th rough the Bib le sto ry . I t w as i n th e earl i est B ib l etimes , as late r and as now , a grievous sin to be i n hospitable .

The crad le of the Mohammedan rel igi on is Arabia , and yeti n no country a re they more ignorant of thei r re l igi on .

How sad to th i nk that when they do worsh i p God they doi t i n such a n ignorant ‘and ido latrous way ! I n our nextchapter we sha l l see more about th is .Arabi a has no nati onal flag , no nati ona l hymn and no

nati ona l fee l i ng . Every one lives fo r h imself and no one25


A R A B I

cares for h is n eighbour. Thi s does not sound strange ofrobbers but i t does of people Who are so hosp itable . Thisqueer country we are about tovis i t together and talk overwith each other .You wi l l

,not grow weary by the way , we hope . I f the

desert t racks are long and ti resome th rough the fol l owingchapters , j ust refresh yourse l f i n the oasis o f a p icture .

II I

THE S! UARE—HOUSE WITH THE BLACK OVERCOAT

YOU th i nk I am maki ng fun but i t i s rea l ly true that i nwestern Arabia the re is a house that a lways Wears an overcoat. This is a la rge , squa re stone house without windowsand with on ly one door to let i n the l ight and the ai r ; i t isempty i ns ide , a lthough crowds gather a round i t as you seei n the p ictu re . Yet th is house always has on an overcoatof black s i lk , very heavy and ri ch ly embroidered . Everyyea r the o ld coat i s taken Off and a new one put on . Afew days ago a Mos lem p i lgrim showed me a p iece of thecloth Of l ast year’s overcoat and he was very p roud of it .I t was i ndeed a fine p i ece of heavy s i lk and the names ofGod and Mohammed were p retti ly woven i nto th e cloth .

This man had just come from v is i ti ng the square-house andI wi l l te l l you what he saw .

-The place he v is i ted with hundreds and thousands ofother pi lgrims is ca l led Mecca and the square-house is theBeitA l l a h or house Of God to a l l Mohammedans . I t i s a lsocal led the Kaaba , whi ch i s th e Arabi c word fo r a cube .The Moslems bel i eve a l l sorts of fool i sh th i ngs about theKaaba . They say Adam bui l t i t as soon as he fel l down onthe earth out of Paradise, and that Abraham repai red i tafter i t had been ruined by the flood in the days of Noah .

They even Show a large wh ite stone on whi ch Abrahamand Ishmael s tood when they p laste red the wal ls ; th e stone

27


R A B I Asti l l bears the impress of Ab raham ’s feet, they say . D i dyou ever hear such a topsy-turvy story PThe bui ld i ng i s about twenty-four cubits long and wideand nearly twenty cubits h igh . I t“ has no ornaments orbeauty except one ra i n-spout to carry the water off the flatroof ; you can see i t o n the right s ide of the Kaaba on thep icture . This spout is said to be of pure gold . I n onecorner of th e bui ld i ng i s a large bla ck stone which is a lsoan Object Of worship . The Mohammedans say i t came downfrom heaven with Adam and w as once pure wh ite . By themany kisses of sinfu l worsh ippers i t has turned black . Notonly is i t black but broken . For about th ree hundred yearsafte r Mohammed ’s death th e stone rema ined imbedded inthe wal ls of the Kaaba , but then some wild Arabs from thePersi an Gulf came, sacked Mecca and stole the black stone .I t w as carried to Kati f, a place near Bahre i n , right acrossArabia , and they kept i t a long time unti l the peop le ofMecca paid a large sum of money and carried i t back . Onthe long j ourney i t must have fa l l en from the camel because

,

at‘ present, i t i s c racked and the broken p ieces are heldtogether by a si l ve r band . There once were a great manyof these stone idols In the Kaaba , but Mohammed destroyed them a l l except th is one when he became masterof hdecca .

At present th e stone house is empty of idols and yet a l lthe Moslems turn i n th e d i rect ion of th is o ld heathen templeto pray . The cloth that covers i t comes every year as apresent from the Khedive of Egypt, who is a Mohammedan .

I t is '

very. costly and is sent on a special camel,beauti fu l ly

28



A R B I A

decked with trappi ngs of gi lt, and a la rge th rong of p i lgrims go along to escort the overcoat .When the wind sti rs the heavy fo lds of cloth , the p iousboys and g i rls Of Mecca say i t i s the ange ls that watcha round the Kaaba , whose wings l i ft the covering. I t mustbe a wonderful s ight to see thousands of Moslem pi lgrimsstand a round th i s p lace and knee! and pray .

Bes ides running around the Kaaba,“kissi ng the black

stone and dri nking water'

from a ho ly wel l ca l led zemzem,

they have one day on wh ich they sacrifi ce sheep or otheran imals . One curious custom on th is day of sacrifice I mustte l l you of . I t IS cal led “ ston ing the great devi l . Ea rlyi n the morn ing thousands of p i lgrims go to a p lace i n theva l ley of Mina where there are th ree white p i l la rs made ofmasonry ; the fi rst and la rgest i s ca l led the Great Devi l .The pi lgrims cast stones at th i s pi l la r. Each one muststand at the distan ce of not less than fi fteen feet and say

,

as he th rows seven pebbles: “ I n the name Of God theAlmighty I do th is , and in hatred of the devi l and h i sshame . The Moslems fai l to reali se that Satan i s i n thehearts of men and not beh i nd a p i l la r

,nor that he can be

driven away with prayer better than by pebbles .For thi rteen hundred years Moslems have come everyyear to Mecca , and gone away, with no one eve r to te l lthem of the Son of God , the Saviour of th e World . Thi rteen hundred years ! Don ’ t you th i nk it is time to go andte l l them ? And w il l you not p ray that even th is p lace mayopen i ts doors to Jesus Christ, and crown Him Lord Of a l l ?

30

IV

SABBACH-KUM BIL KHE IR !

THAT i s to say , Good-morning ! And the Arabs i n th ep icture do not add , “ have you used Pea rs ’ Soap ? but,have you had your cup of Mocha coffee ? Soap is al uxury i n most parts of Arabia and the vast majority of i tsi n habi tants neve r use i t ; mi ll i ons wou ld not know it i f theysaw it . Perhaps th e o ld Shei kh , howeve r, used a b it ofsoap to wash h is hands and feet early before sun rise whenhe went to the mosque to p ray . Now he has returned ands i ts in the coffee-shop ready to take a s i p of coffee andd ri nk tobacco from the long p i pe . The Arabs a lwaysspeak of drinking tobacco when they mean to smoke ; Isuppose one reason is because they use the pecu l ia r waterp i pes with the l ong stems i n which the smoke passesth rough the wate r a nd bubbles out to the mouth . Haveyou t ime to stop and study th e picture w ith me ?What a pretty W i ndow i n the co rner ! The Arabs ca l l aW i ndow sh ibaah , whi ch means network , because thei rwindows are very much l ike a fish-net . Glass is se ldomused i n Arabi a except b y Europeans and Arabs who havebecome civi l ised ; and so th e ca rpente r o r jo i ne r fi ts l i tt leround bars , one into the othe r. l i ke marbles o r beads on astri ng and the resu lt i s Often very beauti ful . L ight and a i r

31


A R A B 1 A

come i n (not to speak of c louds of dust) whi le no onecan look th rough from the outs ide ; and you know howafraid Arab gi rls and women are to show thei r fa ces tostrangers .Under the a rch is the Open fi rep lace where th e big coffeepots and w aterfi kettles s immer al l day on a charcoal fi re .The old man looks quite cheerfu l seated on h is uncomfortable stool made of date-st i cks . You wi l l read later aboutour old friend the date-palm and how the tree is, used fornearly every purpose . I W i s h I cou l d show you how theytake the th i n branches and punch holes i n them and thendeftly

, b efore you can count n inety , bui ld togethe r a chai ro r

,a b edstead . I have often s lept sound ly and safe ly on

bedsteads made of these th i n leaf-sti cks no bigger aroundthan a ch i ld ’s finger. The sti cks are ful l of “ spri ng ”

so

one does not need a wi re mattress , nor have I eve r knownone of them , i f made honestly , to become a fol d ing bedunder a restless s leeper as they say happens sometimes i nNew York hotel s 'Although

,th e old man

,i n our p i ctu re is waited on by the

younger Arab (who i s perhaps th e keeper of th e cafe) , yetI know he is not ri ch .

‘

Do you notice his to i l-worn handsand the patch on the shoulder of h i s long overcoat ? I fancy

too h is p retty vest , so careful ly buttoned by more than adozen cloth buttons , i s a l i ttl e torn on one s ide ; nor has h ea fine,_gird le l i ke the rich shopkeepers .Extremes meet i n th e p i cture and three countri es wide lyapart on the map are brought c lose together. Of “ course

,

you know the coffee is the rea l coming32

SABBAGH -KUM BI L KH E IR !


A R A B I Afi rst from Mocha on the Red Sea, i s sti l l cal led by thatArabi an name . The curi ous p i pe with i ts round bottom ,

ca rved head-pi ece and long stem , i s used everywhere i nArabi a and is general ly ca l led “

nargeel ie, Which i s th eI nd ian name for cocoanut . The bowl of the pi pe is i n fa ctan empty cocoanut shel l ; th e stem once grew i n the jung leand perhaps tigers brushed past i t ; now it is p ierced todraw smoke .The curious p ipe i s from India , the tobacco fi rst camefrom America but the coffee i s Arabian . Let us l i sten to thestory of the ”

cup;

Of coffee : I n a book publ ished i n I 566 byan Arab scho la r on th e v i rtues of coffee i t i s stated that aknowledge of coffee was fi rst brought to Arabia fromAbyssi nia about the year 1400 by a pious man Whose tombis sti l l venerated i n Yemen . The knowledge of coffeeSpread from Yemen In south Arabi a over the Whole world .

I n 1690 Van Hoorne , a genera l of the Dutch East I nd i acompany, rece ived a few coffee seeds from the Arabs atMocha and p lanted them i n Batavia o n the i s land of Java .

I n th is way Mocha coffee has become the mother o f Javaand of al l othe r ki nds of coffee sold at your grocers ’ . Nothi ng can be more beauti ful than the green h i l ls and ferti l egardens i n theArabian coffee country . The coffee berrygrows on an evergreentree of about e ighteen feet , high ; i tsleaves are a beauti ful da rk

,sh in i ng green and the b lossom of.

!

the treei s pure wh ite with a most del i cate and fragrant odour .“Each tree bears an enormous number of coffee-berries ; -as i ngl e tree i s sai d to h ave yielded sixteen pounds ! Arabianot o nly p roduces the fi nest coffee i n th e world, but

‘

I th i nk34

P I C T U R E D F O R C H I LD R E N

A R A B I

the Arabs know how to p repare a good cup of coffee bette rthan other peoples . The raw bean is roasted j ust before i ti s used and so keeps a l l i ts strength ; i t i s pounded fine

,

much fine r than you can grind i t, i n a mortar, with an i ronpestle ; lastly two smel l i ng he rbs , hey ! and saffron are addedwhen i t i s boi l ed just enough to give a flavour. Some fibresof palm bark are stuck i nto the spout of the coffee—pot toact as a stra i ne r and then the c lear brown l iquid is pouredi nto a ti ny cup and handed to you i n the coffee-shop . Nowonder the Arab derv ishes smack the i r l i ps ove r th is

,the i r

on ly luxury .

But how d id the tobacco get i nto our p i cture ? You canhunt up the story fo r yourse l ves i n your school h istori es .Had not Si r Walte r Ra leigh i n I 586 i ntroduced the weed tothe court of ! uee n E l i zabeth from V i rgi n ia , our pi cture andsocia l l i fe i n Arabia wou ld be very d iffe rent . The customof puf fing tobacco has s pread l ike a p ra i ri e fi re and i t is nowso common i n the East that ve ry few rea l ise i t w as nota lways

,found the re . There th ey a re al l togethe r, an I ndian

p ipe,Arabian coffee and Ameri can tobacco ! HOW much

faste r and further tobacco has trave l led than the B ible ; howmany people had begun to d ri nk Mocha befo re Arabia hada m iss iona ry !But, of course , noth i ng can trave l fo r noth i ng ; and somebody must pay the trave l l i ng expenses . America paysmany mi l l i ons more for tobacco i n a year than it paysfor m iss i onari es . I t i s not surpris i ng, th erefo re , that a l lArabians smoke and on ly a very few have eve r h eard of th eSon of God, the Saviour of the world . As Jesus H imself

35

T O P S Y“

T U R V Y L A N D

A R A B I A

sa id , “ the ch i ldren of th is world are w iser i n the i r generation than the ch i ld ren of l igh t . When people learn to lovem iss ions as much and as often as they do a good c igar anda cup of coffee there wi l l be no need of mi te boxes . Godhasten day .

36



R A B

ARAB. GROCER.

38


A R A B I A

purchaser . I ndeed i t i s becoming somewhat customaryto group th e shops i n th is way i n some of your Westernci ti es . Occidenta l civ i l i sation can learn some things

’

from

th e Ori ent !Our shopkeeper has a mixed lot o f groceries i n his shop ;many th ings whi ch you would find at your grocers ’ he hasneve r heard of . Everyth ing i s topsy-turvy . J ust fancyhow strange to hang up the sugar i n a row of cones onstri ngs l i ke sausages ! Do you see them on the cei l i ng ofthe Shop i n our p icture ? That is the way Wh i te sugar comeswrapped from Fran ce a nd is so ld i n Arabia . A sugar barrelwould soon be ful l of ants i n th i s country ; but when i thangs up on a stri ng the ants have a hard time getti ng i taway . Maybe there is a suggestion he re fo r your homes i fyou a re troubled with ants .I n those big Arab baskets the groce r keeps h is carrots andother vegetables ; carrots are wh ite i n Arabia and there arecuri ous vegetables of wh i ch you have never heard .

Do you see th e bottl es a nd t i n boxes on h is shelves ?Those are for sp i ces ; peppe r, c i nnamon , nutmegs , currypowder and such th ings of wh i ch Arab housewives a re veryfond .

The big bowl on the le ft p robably has ol ives i n i t o r otherk ind of p i ck led vegetab les . On the right you can see thebig pai r of o ld fashioned scales o n w h ich he w eighs hiswares . I hope he is ! a‘n honest man , although I do not th inkhe l ooks ve ry honest, do you ? The scale hangs true I haveno doubt ; but i t is i n the weights that decepti on lu rks . I nArabia we can every day see i l lustrations of the words of

39


A R A B I ASolomon i n the book of Proverbs about “ dive rs weights ”

and “ fa lse ba lances . The most of the shopkeepers donot have proper Weights of i ron or brass , but use ord i narycobbles tones and pebbles . On ly a few days ago I boughtsome walnuts and the grocer weighed them so many stones ’

Weight ! Do . you know what a“ stone ! weight i s .

Maybe you had bette r look i t u p i n your dictiona ry .

That covered kettl e near th e scale-pans ‘on top of thel ittle box contai ns semn, which i s th e Arab i c name fo rsheep ’s fat . You would hard ly bel i eve me i f I to ld youw hat a lot of th is greasy ye l low stuff the boys and . gi rls eaton thei r rice , and how much is used in an

'

Arab kitchen . Iti s sold by weight, j us t as wel l a s a l l other th i ngs , even milki n Arabia . I f we wait long enough you wi l l “

see Fatimahand Mirjam and th e othe r gi rls come

'

with empty bowls tobuy so many pennies

’ worth of grease .Do you noti ce that the shop has queer l ittl e doors on thelower part of the front open ing ? The other pa rt of the shopis closed by a flap-door that does not show on the p i cture .This IS hinged from the top and i s used when the shop isOpen as a sort of bl i nd to keep off th e sun o r the ra i n .

When the shopkeeper leaves h i s shop for a hal f hour o rso he hangs a sort o f fish-net over the open i ng of h is shopand neve r needs to lock i t . This is a curi ous custom,

and Ihave often wondered how the shops were safe from stea l ingboys or robbers i n su ch cases . I t i s one more i nstance ofhow differen t the East i s from the West .The shopkeepers general ly c lose thei r shops at sunset

,

and on ly i n a very few places a re there people who buy and40


A R B I

se l l o r go about to do shopping by lampl ight . Our groceron the co rner has provided for emergencies

,and the large

Arabian lante rn ought to l ight up a l l his l i tt le shop .

Across the street i s th e p la ce w h ere they sel l c rockery .

The sa lesman is out,but h i s boy , as yousee, has taken the opportunity to eat someapples . I wonderwhether he got themat the groce r ’s ?H i s f a t h e r se l lswater-j ugs and jarsmade of porous earth .

Oh what a b less i ngthose jars a re m a l lthe people o f th is hotand dry country . Wehave no i ce i n Arabiaand so no refrigerators ; the wel ls a renever very deep andthe water comes along d istance . So i fi t were not for the

ARAB BOY IN A CROCKERY SHOP.

crockery man and h i s wate r-j ugs we could never dri nk col dwate r. But j ust pour the water i n one of these ea rthen potsand hang i t i n the W Ind and then i n a few minutes thewate r gets cold . We missi onari es a lways have such

41


R B I AWate r-j ars hanging or standi ng i n our windows to catch thebreeze . Perhaps th is ki nd of water-coo le r Is very old

,and

So lomon h imsel f looked at one when h e wrote the words :“ As cold waters to a th i rsty soul so i s good n ews from afar country .

”

42

Vl

BL IND FATIMAH

IT was on a Sunday afte rnoon that I fi rst met B lindFatimah a nd greeted her wi th Sa l a am a l eihunz and she

answered a l eikum es sa l a ani .’ “ Peace be to you and on

you be peace . I asked if She could read . She sai d she

could read by heart, but cou ld not see anyth ing . She atthat time cou ld repeat twenty-six chapters of the Koran

,the

sacred book of the Mohammedans . Now l th ink she canrepeat i t nea rly a l l ; i t conta i ns one hundred and fourteenchapters . Some are very short and others are very long ;some parts of the book are very good , but most of i t is aj umble of events and of th i ngs that never happened—a l lm ixed up topsy-tu rvy .

A slave woman w as Fatimah ’s teacher a nd now she i she l per i n the school of th i s teache r. She is the prompter,and always begins each sentence of the recitation , and theother ch i ld ren fo l low on . I f any m istakes are made, shewi l l i nstantly Correct-them .

She is a pecu l ia r looki ng gi rl a nd she i s not pfetty. Herclothes consist of cast off garments gi ven her by others .Her head i s gene ral ly covered and wrapped up i n a blackmusl i n vei l ; then she has an a bba o r Arabia n c loak ofvery green-black cashmere ; then under that a manycoloured garment ca l l-ed a thobe ; i t i s square i n patte rn

43


R A B I Awith armholes and s leeves nearly a yard wide . The endsof these wide S l eeves are deft ly taken and th rown over thehead to form a so rt of tight-fitting cap . Underneath th isgarment is a k i nd of dressi ng gown w i th tight-fittings leeves . Such is Fatimah 's ward robe . She wears no shoes ,not even sandals . Would you l i ke to walk i n the hot sandwith no coveri ng for your feetSometimes I v is i t the school where Fatimah teaches thesmal le r gi rls A

, B,C . I t is a topsy-turvy school i ndeed .

The objec t seems to be to make as much noise as poss ibl e ;the pupi ls sit on the floor with

'

a smal l stand or trestle (l i kea saw-buck !) infront of each one

‘ to ho ld thei r Korans outof which they read .

! The fi rst pupi l begi ns a sentence at thetop of h is

,or her, voice and then in a sort of refrai n i t i s

taken up by al l the others . The teacher s i ts outs ide theschool very often

,

sewing or p reparing a mea l or enterta i n ingv is i to rs ; fo r the schoo lhouse is an ord i nary mat hut dwel li ng. I f however a pupi l makes a m istake i n read ing shehears i nstantly and corrects i t .When the hours of prayer come around (the Moslems youknow pray five t imes a day) lessons are d ropped . One dayI ca l led at the school at th e t ime of afte rnoon prayer . Al lthe ch i ld ren had run down ! to the sea , to wash the i r facesand . hands 'and feet, so as to be qu i te pure outwardly, whenre peating Mohammed ’s p rayers .In

“ “th e accompanying p i cture of a Mosl em boy p rayingyou zwil l see what pthose forms a re and how much formthere is to go th rough . Bl ind Fatima h stood with her handsclasped

,looking upward with those s ightless eyes

,her l i ps

44


T O‘

P S Y T U R V Y L A N D

A R A B I Amoving . Then she fe l l on her knees , with the l ittle , th inhands sp read out ; then she bowed down unti l h e r foreheadtouched the earth, conti nu i ng i n that pos iti on for a l i ttletime ; then she got up , and with another upward l ook andmotion of the l i ps , the devotions were ended .

I p rayed there , too, that her eyes might be opened to seeJesus as her own Saviour, and that she might know H im asthe Son of G od ,

and not merely as one of the many prophetsmentioned i n the Koran . I t seemed such a sad sight to seeth i s . bli nd ch i ld , doubly bl i nd because her re l igi on is false ,and she is resti ng on a fa lse hope .She always li

k

stens when I tel l he r, or read to her aboutGod

, and Jesus Christ the Sav iour. And i f you would helptogether by your dai ly p rayers , perhaps soon God w il l givethe answer . Would i t not be b lessed for you and me i fsome day bli nd Fatimah should have opened eyes ; not tosee the date groves , and the sea , and the beauti ful sunsetsof Bahre i n , but far more—to

'

see J esus ’ face a nd to fol lowHim by leading others to H im ?

For thousands and thousands who wander and fal l,Never hea rd of that h eaven ly home ;I should l ike them to know there is room for them a l l ,

And that Jesus has bid them to -come .

I long for the joy of that glori ous time ,The sweetest and brightest and best,When th e dear l i ttle ch i ldren of every c l imeSha l l crowd to H is a rms and be blest .

46

VII

DATES AND SUGAR-CANE

THIS i s the sweetest chapter i n the book . The pi cturesare enough to make one ’s mouth wate r and give one an appetite fo r Arab ian dates . I do not suppose there i s a boy o rgi rl i n England or Ameri ca that has not eaten the frui t ofthe Arabian palm tree ; but how many of you know thetaste of sugar-cane ?I n many parts of Arab ia , espec ia l ly at Busrah and a longthe river Tigris , you can see the sugar-cane sel le rs si t by thewayside and d ispose of th i s Arabian sti ck-candy to the boysand girls i n exchange fo r coppe rs . The woman i n th epicture has chosen the she lte r of a date tree and beside thetal l bund les of cane she has o ranges for sale as we ll . Thesugar-cane i s cut i nto p ieces and so ld “ by the knot thati s , by the length of the st i ck from one knot to the next. I ti s not expens ive and l have seen even the very poorest ch i ld ren suck thei r cane on the way home as happy as sugarcan make them . The sugar-cane is a k ind of grass but i tgrows to twice th e height of a boy and i s over two i nchesi n ci rcumferen ce . The stems a re smooth

,sh i n i ng and hard

on the outs ide , but i ns ide th ey are porous and th e pores areful l of sugar sap . The sugar-cane fi rst came from India

,

but the'

Arab s sp read i ts cult i vati on as far as Morocco andSi c i ly ; so that i t is no wonder that the word sugar itse lfcomes from the Arabic . Yet i t Show s how ignorant the

47

T O P S Y T U R V Y L A D

R A B A'

WOMAN SE LLING SUGAR-CANE .

48


A R A B I

Arabs a re to-day because,a lthough they have sugar-cane ,

their sugar nea rly a l l comes from Europe .

! They d o notknowh ow to manufacture i t and th erefore eat the sugarcane raw .

Sweete r tha n sugar-cane and much more p lenti ful i s th edate . There i s no p lace i n a l l Arabia wh ere you do not seethe date palm growing, and se ldom can you eat a mea l i nany part of the country but dates are pa rt of the bi l l-of—fa re .I n fact thousands of people i n Arabi a have noth ing but datesto eat from January to December ! So plenti ful a re theythat even donkeys and camels are fed on dates i n somed istri cts .Many of the dates you buy i n you r own country comefrom Arab ia . On the best ki nd of dates wh i ch come i nwooden boxes you wi l l find Muscat o r Bus rah stamped toshow from what p lace th ey were sh i pped . There are verymany ki nds of dates i n A rabia

,and on ly a very few sorts a re

sent abroad . Some of them are too del i cate to stand thelong voyage and others a re found on ly i n smal l quantiti es .I do not th i nk any of th e dates th at reach Ameri ca equa lthose we pick from the pa lm tree ourse lves here i n Arabiano more than dried

g

app le ri ngs taste as good as ri pe ju i cysweet apples from the o rchard . When the dates ri pen i nSeptember they a re picked , sorted , and then packed in layersby the Arab women and boys w ho get paid for th is work .

Large steamsh i ps are’

loaded down with these boxes andmany of them leave Bus rah every year with no other cargothan dates .The date tree i s very beauti fu l . I th i nk i t i s the most

49


A R A B I A

beauti ful of a l l the palms . I t i s no wonder that a palmbranch is the symbol of v ictory i n the B ible and that th epsalmist compares the l i fe of ' a righteous man to a palm

DATES GROWING ON A DATE PALM .

tree ! How straight and beauti ful ly proportioned i s the ta l ltrunk of the tree . It is

'

an evergreen and is a lways flourish50


R B I

i ngWi nte r and summer . I t i s a lovely sight to see the hugecluste rs of ri pen ing frui t, golden-yel low or reddish-brown,

am i d the bright green bran ches . Along the rivers i n thenorth of Arabia

,at Hassa and i n Oman , date orcha rds

stretch for m i les and m i les as far as you can see. Some ofthe Arabs have such large date gardens that they do notknow the n umber of thei r trees . How do you supposethey cl imb the tree ? The Arabs have no ladders and indeed it would be hard to make a ladder long enough toreach to the top of a ta l l pa lm tree . So they use a rope bandwhich goes around the trunk of the tree and around the i rwaist ; i t i s . shoved up l ittle by l i ttl e a nd the Arab puts h i sbare feet o n the rough bark of the tree a nd so c l imbs up aseas i ly as a monkey . The palm tree is pe rhaps the mostusefu l tree i n the world . Every part of i t i s used for someth i ng or other, and I do not see how Arab ia could get alongwithout pa lm trees . The frui t i s p repared i n many d iffe rert ways for food . The date stones a re used by the Arabch i ldren i n p laying checkers and other games on the smoothsand . They are a lso ground up i nto a coa rse k ind of mea land th i s i s good cattle-food . The branches of the date treeare long and strong and th i n just l i ke a p iece of rattan .

From them the carpenters make beds , tables , cha i rs , c rad les ,bi rd-cages

,read ing—stands , boats , crates , k ites and a dozen

other usefu l th ings . The leaves are woven into baskets , mats ,fans and stri ng . From the bark excel lent fibre makes rope ofa l l s i zes . Not a bi t of the tree is wasted . Even the blossomsare used to make a k i nd of dri nk and the o ld musty frui t thatcannot be eaten is made i nto date sy rup o r date Vi nega r.

51


A R A B I A

In on e of the p ictures you see the fi re wood market atBus rah . The long branches you see are sold for ki ndl i ngwood and they make a sp lendid fi re . The heavie r parts ofthe tree are also used fo r fuel a nd the donkeys are loadedwith these date knots and date st icks i n baskets . I t i s abusy scene and , what with braying of donkeys and shouting of th e wood—merchants , th e re

’ i s enough noise too .

There is one more bless i ng that comes from the pa lm

F IRE WOOD MARKET, BUSRAH .

tree and which we have forgotten . That i s shade . Arabi ai s’ a hot and dry country . The summer sun is much morepierci ng than i n America and th e summer is much longer .When you travel a

' l ong camel j ourney across th e desert , ohhow good it is to come to a grove of pa lm trees and rest !Such a place is ca l l ed an oa sis and unde rneath th e palmsthere a re always springs of water . I can wel l understandhow happy the ch i ld ren of Is rae l were afte r thei r journey i nthe desert

,when they came to E l im where “ there were

52


VIII

THE SHEPHERD OF TH E SEWING MACH INE

IN the blue waters of the Pers ian Gulf there l ies a coralis land cal led Bah rei n . At a few hundred yards to thenortheast of i t is a sti l l smal ler i s land shaped l i ke a packsadd le

,where pa lm trees and white cora l rock houses are

reflected i n the r sa lt Water at h igh tide . The little i s landtown is called Moharrek , that is , the “ Burn ing Place ,because i t i s very hot there i n summer. Afte r sa i l i ngacross i n a boat one day , and wending our way through adi rty bazar ful l of fl i es and Arabs , we were di rected to thehouse of the man cal led “ The Sheph erd of th e SewingMach i ne . H is rea l name is Mohammed bin Sooltaan,

butnobody knows h im by any othe r name or ti t le than Ka‘

ee

el harhhan, which l i teral ly means shepherd of the sewingmach i ne . Let me tel l you h is story and how he got-thatqueer name .Years ago , as pil ot on the native boats that sai l fromBahre i n to Bombay , Ca l cutta, Zanzibar and J iddah , he hadexpe ri ence of a wider world than the l i ttle i s land Where hewas born . But the l i fe w as a hard one and h is wageswere smal l . Moreover, the coming of steamshi ps up theGulf took away the profit of th e sai l i ng craft and so Mo‘hammed fared from bad to worse . He loved an Arab lassw ith p laited, wel l-greased locks of hai r and a p leasant face ,

54


R A B I Abut her father asked a la rger dowry than he coul d ever

pay.

An Arab young man must a lways pay a good pri ce tothe fathe r of h is sweetheart befo re he i s a l lowed to marryher. But th is Mohammed was too poor to pay the priceasked . What a quee r topsy-turvy custom it is fo r a manto buy h is wi fe just as he buys a horse o r a camel ! TheArabs often ask how much a wife costs i n America andwonder that we are not a l l owed by the Ch risti an l aws tosend away our wi ves and marry others .Mohammed could not stay at home so he on ce morewent i n a sh i p to J iddah , th e port to Mecca, where p i lgrimsfrom all the Mos lem world exchange thought and moneyfor bad bread and fanati c i sm . And yet even here th eciv i l i sation of the West tri es

'

to enter. Wanderi ng th roughthe bazars Mohammed fo r the fi rst time saw a sewingmachi ne i n the hands of an I nd ian ta i lor. A marvel to thesai lo r fisherman , i ndeed ! Almost as great a mi rac le to h imas the Koran . The more he looked the more h e coveted

,

and he could not pass th e p lace without reckoning up thepossible profi ts of such an i n vestment should he return withit to h i s nati ve is land . The result w as that h e forswore thesea and preferred anothe r k i nd of whee l to that of the p i lot .With many mutual wa l l a h s the bargai n w as concluded andthe mach in e reach ed Bah re i n . I t was the fi rst on thei s lands , and a l l th e sheikhs came to see its marvel lous bui ldand wonderfu l work . Mohammed has a Western head onEastern shoulders , and there was not a screw or tensionfrom treadle to shuttle , which h e d id not lea rn th e use of.

55


R B I

I t i s unnecessary to state at the cost of how many brokenneedles he became profi c ient . Amid cries of aj eeb, aj eeb,the fi rst Arab sh i rt w a s sti tched together, and even theyoungsters on the street im itated the whirrr-cl i c-whirrr ofthe machine . AS for Mohammed, he sewed on , and whi lehis sanda l led feet worked the t readle h is m ind worked outa p roblem someth i ng l i ke th is : Th ree l ong—sh i rts a dayand an a bba , at one kran per sh i rt and two for the abba ,th i rty-five krans per week , how long wi l l i t take to pay th edowry ? An abba i s a large over-garment worn by bothmen and women i n Arabi a . l t

‘

i s l i ke a cape o r overcoatbut has no sleeves nor buttons . The Arabs i n Bah rei n puta great dea l

_

of pretty embroidery work on these garmentsand some of them are worth twenty or thi rty dol lars . Butthe sewing is done very ch eap ly . A kran i s a Pers ian coi nworth about ten cents ; can you figure out how much Mohammed earned in a month PThe Shepherd of the Mach in e kept working away andwhen his hopes grew strong he sang at h is work . I n a fewmonths he paid a vis i t to th e Mul lah (the Mos lem pri est o rteacher) , and that same n ight the Arab fidd les and drumsrang out merry musi c around the palm-l eaf hut of h is beloved bride . But th e muS Ic of the machi ne sounded sti l lsweete r . next morning . Da i ly bread , with rice, fish anddates, and on rare occasions even mutton , al l came out ofthe mach ine . He loved the v ery i ron of i t and , as he to ldus, read a p rayer over i t every morn ing : Bisnu

'

l l a h i er rah

nian er ra heem. His‘

was the on ly machine , and a smal l .monopoly soon makes a capi ta l ist . H is palm branch but

56


A R A B I

was exchanged for a house of stone ; and Al lah b lessed himgreat ly . No shepherd w as even more te nder to his l i ttlelambs than Mohammed to the o ld mach i ne .When we entered the house on our fi rst v is i t, there stoodthe machine ! Not much the worse fo r wear, and withPfafi . C . Theodos ius , Constan ti nop le, sti l l legIb le on then icke l—plate . But the o ld mach i ne had found a ri va l . Byits s ide stood another make of mach in e w h i ch lookedstrangely fam i l i ar to Ameri can eyes . I t was whi le compari ng the mach i n es and dri nk ing Arab coffee that w e l ea rnedfrom Mohammed why he prized the o ld one as better .Wallah , he Said , “ I would not se l l i t fo r many times itsorigi na l p ri ce . There i s b less i ng i n it, and al l I have comesfrom that mach i ne , pra is e be to Allah . And so we s i ppedh i s cups and heard h is story and ceased to wonder why h ew as ca l l ed the Shepherd of the Sewing mach i ne . Theshepherd has a brother w ho wants to l earn Engl ish andgoes to Bombay every yea r— but that i s another story .

There are many othe r sewing mach ines i n Bahrei n now ,

but Mohammed ’s was the fi rst , and he i ntroduced the others .Do you not th i nk that h e should be cal led the ChristopherColumbus of Bahrein ta i lors ?

57

IX

THE CHILDREN OF THE DESERT

ABOUT one-th i rd of Topsy-turv‘y Land is desert and is th ehome of those Arabs that wander about from place to p laceand are cal led nomads o r Bedouin . The word Bedoui nmeans a desert-dwel ler. But you must not th in k that adesert i s a flat country covered with a deep layer of sandwithout trees o r sh rubs . Oh no ! There are such desertsi n Arabia too , but the greater part of what is called desert ismuch more attract ive and is only desert because i t has nosettled population and no v i l lages . The so i l is often verygood and i n spri ngtime after the ra ins the whole ofnorthern Arabia (where most of the nomads p itch thei rtents) i s one vast pra i ri e of wi ld flowers and green grass .The Arabs of the North are ri ch i n flocks and herds . I amsure you can sti l l fi nd some who, l i ke Job, have seventhousand sheep and ‘

three thousand camels and a very greathousehold . They a l l 11ve I n tents a nd the tents of Arab i aare not white and round l ike ci rcus tents but jet black andsquare or oblong . You remember th e B ible a lways speaksof the bl ack tents of Kedar. They are b lack because theyare Woven from goat ’s hai r whi ch is used also for the i rgarments and i s a lmost as good a waterp roof coveri ng asindia rubber . But when you have to spend a long hot dayunder such a roof as I have

'

done you feel sorry for theArabs that they have no better protection aga i nst the blaz ing

58


A R A B I Asun. Everyth ing is home-made and clumsy , but sha l l I te l lyou what I have found ? There is no warmer hosp ital i tyi n a l l the wide world than In these tents of Kedar . . A fewWeeks ago I s pent a Sabbath day resti ng by the way i n oneof these tents . The women brought water to cool my head ;a great bowl of camel ’s m i lk w as our dri n k even before theyasked our e rrand ; and at n ight they ki l led a fat k id andmade a guest mea l fi t for an epi cu re .

The Arabs of the desert a re more ignorant than those ofth e towns , but they are much ki nder to strangers and treatthei r wives and ch i ld ren better. Thei r l i fe i s rather monotonous, but they enj oy i t . L i ke the Ameri can Ind ians theyp refer a tent to a house , and would rather change thei r homeevery day than settle down as fa rmers . When pastu re fa i lsfor thei r flocks of sheep the ch ief gives noti ce and on themorrow the whole camp has moved away . Some tribesmove every month and go for a long d istan ce to find freshpastures .The Bedouin are d iv ided i nto many tribes and clans .Some of them are fri endly to each other but nearly a l l a re atw ar with one another al l th e yea r round . Robbery andmurder are very frequent . Every one goes armed with along spear o r with a gun , and many carry a war c lub and asword as well . The la rgest Arab tribes and the wealth iesta re th e Anaeze and th e Shora h za r. They have

‘

many finehorses . In th e p icture you see a group of them armed withthei r long spears . The spear o f th e leader is o rnamentedwith a tuft of ostri ch feathers ; these s pears a re often ove rtwelve feet long and have a Sha rp steel lance at the end .

59



A R B I

Johnthe Baptist . But I have a lso seen them eat th e b igl izards of the desert and the jerboas— a sort of desert rat.An Arab once stood am idst a c i rc le of j ewel lers at Bus rahand said : “ On . one occasi on I had m issed my way i n thedesert, and having no road-p rovis i on left, I had given myself up for lost , when a l l at once I found a bag of pearls

.

Never sha l l I fo rget that rel ish and delight so l ong as I mis

PEARL MERCHANTS .

took them for parched wheat ; nor that bitterness and disapa

pointmen t when I d iscovered that they were rea l - p earls !”

This story i s told by a Pers i an poet and although i t may notbe true yet it teaches a l esson . To a hungry man a handfu lof wheat is bette r than al l the pearls of th e ocean .

In h is tent the Arab i s very lazy . H is on ly occupation isfeedi ng h is horses or mi lk i ng h is camels . The Arab gi rls

62


A R B I A

go out to take ca re of th e flocks whi le the wi fe perfo rms al lthe domesti c dut ies . She gri nds wheat i n th e hand-mil l ;kneads and bakes bread ; makes butte r by Shak ing the m i lki n a leather bag ; fetches water i n a sk i n ; works at theloom and i s busy a l l the t ime . The Arab smokes his p i pe ,dri nks coffee and ta lks to h i s friends ; un less h e is on the

ARABIAN WATER—BOTTLE .

march o r on a robbery excurs i on h isl i fe seems ve ry lazy .

Sca rcely any of the Bedoui n canread , a nd they have nei the r schoolsnor

'

mosques . The Bedoui n somet imes say ,

“ Mohammed ’ s rel igi o ncannot have been i ntended fo r us ; i tdemands wash ings , but we have nowater ; a lms , but we have no money ;p i lgrimage to Mecca , but we area lways wanderi ng and God is everywhere . Yet outward ly they oh

se rve th e Moslem re ligi o n of whichthey know so l ittl e . I n our n extchapte r you wi l l read how ea rnestlyeven the nomad ch i ld ren pray i n the

desert . And I be l i eve God loves th ese sons of I shmae land wi l l yet bring them back to Abraham ’s fai th . Don ’tyou th ink so too ?

63

X

NOORAH'

S PRAYER

FOR many days the sa i l i ng craft from Bah rei n had beenun load ing I ndian wares at th e port of Ojeir on the Hassacoast

,and for many hours th e busy th rong of Bedoui n

drivers and merchants and on lookers were loading the caravan

,emphasis i ng thei r task or the i r impati ence with great

oaths, a lmost as guttura l and angry as the noise of thecamels . At length , with the p ious cry of Tawaha lna , we

have trusted i n God , they a re off.A caravan is composed of compan ies , and whi le thewhole host numbered seven hundred camels , with merchants and trave l lers and d rivers , our company from Ojeirto Hofhoof counted on ly s ix . There was Sal ih and Nasi r

,

a second son of the desert, both from Riad ; a poor unfortunate lad with stumpy hands and feet, w ho l imped about onrag shoes and seemed quite happy ; there was Noorah andher sister,_ and lastly , the m iss i onary .

But for the shuffl i ng of the desert sand and the whack ofa drivi ng sti ck the ca ravan marched i n s i l ence . The sunshone ful l i n ou r faces as i t s low ly sank i n th e west, i ts lastrays coloured th e clouds hangi ng over the lowlands ofHassa a bright red , and when i t d isappea red we heard th eshe ikhs of th e compan ies

,on e after the other

, ca ll to prayer.Only a part of the caravan responded . The Turk ish sold i e rson horseback kept on theirway ; the most pious of the mer

64


R A B I A

chants had a l ready urged the i r beasts ahead of the rest andhad fi nish ed a duty that i nte rfe red with a speedy journeyand the fi rst choice of location at the n ight en campment ;some excused themse lves by quoti ng a Koran text, andothers took no notice of the cal l . Not so the Bedouin ch i ldNoorah and her younger s iste r . They had trudged on footfour long hours , armed with sticks to u rge on that lazywhite camel, always lo iteri ng to snatch a bite o f desertthorn with h is giant j aws . A short t ime before sunset I .saw the two chi ld ren mount the an imal by cl imbing up i tsneck , as on ly Arabs can , but now, at ca l l to praye r they dev outly s l i pped down . Hand i n hand they ran ahead a shortd istance

,shuffled asi de some sand with thei r bare feet

,

rubbed some on the i r hands , (as do a l l p i ous Mos lems i n th eabsence of water) , faced Mecca , and prayed .

As they d id then , so at sun rise and at noon and at fouro ’

c lock a nd sunset and when the even ing sta r d isappearedfive times a day— they prayed . I t i s not true

,as i s general ly

supposed , that women i n Moslem lands do not pray . On lyat Mecca , as fa r as I know , of al l Arabia , a re they al lowed ap la ce i n th e publ ic mosques, but at home a la rger per cent .observe the times of prayer th an do the men

.

When Noorah had ended her prayer and resumed the taskofi belabouring the wh ite camel , She turned to me w i th aquestion , “ La ish ma tesul ly a nta ?

” which with Bedoui nbluntness means , You , w hy don

’ t you pray ? ” The question set me musing ha l f the n ight ; not, I con fess , about myown prayers , but about hers . Why did Noorah pray ?What did Noorah pray D i d she understand that

65


A R A B 1 A

Prayer is th e burden of a sigh , the fa l l i ng of a tear,The upward glanci ng of the eye when on ly God is nea r,

as well as the dead fo rmal ism of the mosque ? How could Ianswer her questi on i n a w ay that she might wel l understand ? And i f hers , too , was a s i ncere p rayer, as I be l i eve,—the prayer of an ignorant ch i ld of the desert, —d id shepray words o r thoughts ? What do Noorah and he r morethan two mi l l i on Bedoui n s i ste rs ask of God five times dai ly ?Leav ing out vai n repeti t ions

,th is i s what they say :

In the name of God the Merciful,the Compassionate ;

Pra ise be to God w ho the two worlds made ;Thee do we entreat and Thee do we suppli cate '

Lead us in the way the stra ight,The way of thos e whom Thou dost compassi onate,Not of those on whom is hateNor those that dev i ate . Amen .

I t i s the fi rst chapter of the Koran and is used by Moslemsas we use the Lord ’s Prayer. The words are very beauti fulI th i nk , don ’ t you ?WhetherNoorah understood what she asked I know not ;but to me who saw and hea rd i n the desert twi l ight, (asunder l i ke condi tions to you) , the p rayer was full of pathos .The desert ! where God is, and where but for H is mercyand compassi on death and sol i tude would re ign alone ; thedesert, a world of its own kind , a sea of sand , w i th no l ifei n i t except the L i v i ng One ,

“and over i t on ly H is canopy ofsta rs—God of the two worlds ! And to that God,

thanwhom there i s no other, and whom they ignorantly wor

66

P I C TURE D FOR C H I L D R E N

A R A B I A

sh ip,these sons and daughters of outcast Ishmae l how the i r

faces i n the dust and five times dai ly entreat and suppl i cateto be led aright i n the way of truth .

They ask to be d i rected i nto the stra ight way , but ohhow crooked is the way of God which Mohammed taughti n h i s book ! Sadder sti l l, what a crooked way i t i s tha tth e Moslems walk ! Impure words, ly i ng li ps , hands thatsteal and feet that run afte r crue lty—these a re what ch i ld ren i n Arabia possess . But I dare say that some o f themare rea lly sorry fo r thei r s i ns and when they pray l i keNoorah i n the desert they want to have peace and pardon .

Are they looking unconscious ly perhaps fo r the footp ri ntsi n the desert of One who said , “ I am the Way , t he Truthand the L i feAlas , Noorah and her many s iste rs (you r siste rs , too)have never see n H is beauty nor heard of H is love ! Theydo not know that the “ way of those whom Thou dostcompass i onate i s th e new and l iv i ng way through Christ ’scross and death . They are ignorant o f th e awful word

,

He that be l i eveth not o n the Son shal l not see l i fe,but

the wrath of God abideth on h im . Has God the Merc ifulthen not heard Noorah ’

s p raye r ? Wil l He not answeri t ? I s H i s mercy to these ch i ld ren of Abraham clean gon eforever ? How long they have waited and how many ofthe desert ch i ld ren a re .now sleep ing i n l i ttl e desert graves !Do you not th i nk God wants y ou to carry the gospel tothem and send them teachers to lea rn the w ay of Jesus ?

'

Thi nk of Noorah ’

s question , “ You, why don ’ t youpray ? ” Think of Ch ri st ’s words , “ G o tel l quickly .

67


A R B

ARABIA THE LOVED.

There ’s a land si nce long neglected ,There ’s a peop le sti l l rejected ,But of truth and grace elected

,

I n H is love for them .

Softer than thei r n ight W i nd ’s fl eeting,Richer than thei r starry tenting

,

Stronger than the i r sands protecting,I s H is love for them .

To the host o f Is lam ’ s lead i ng,

To the slave i n bondage bleed i ng,

To the desert dwe l le r p lead ing,

Bring H is love to them .

Through the prom ise on God ’s pages,

Through H is work in h istory ’s stages ,Through the cross that crowns the ages ,Show H is love to them .

With the prayer that sti l l ava i lethWith the power that p reva i l eth ,Wi th th e love that n ever fa i leth

,

Tel l H is love to them .

Ti l l the desert ’s sons now a l iens ,Ti l l i ts t ri bes and thei r dom in ions

,

Ti l l Arabi a ’ s raptured m i l l i ons,

Praise H is l ove of them . J . G . L .

68



A R A B I A

with the Arabs that they began from the earl i est times touse the i r a l phabet to make arabesques . Arabesque is a bigword and i t rea lly means an Arab picture . But these p i ctures of the Arabs (which you fi nd on the arches of o ldmosques , i n books and on tombstones ) are ornaments o rdes igns made out of the beauti ful ly curved letters of thea lphabet . The old Arab copyists and th e i r s cul ptors wroteand carved the words of the Koran , or th e names of God ,etc . , i n a l l sorts of ways to make p i ctu res out of word s only ,

lest they break the law of thei r prophet . Here are twoexamples of how p ictures can be made out of letters .

DESIGNS MADE OUT OF ARABIC WRITING .

You have al l doubtless h eard of a “ wordless book andsome of you have b ooks without words and ful l of p i ctures . Here is a p i cture made out o f the Arabi c a lphabet,and every curve and dot belongs to th e words so cu riouslywri tten . I copied them out of an Arab i c t reat ise on penmansh i p, for you . The face is not at a l l pretty , and yetMoslem lads th ink it i s very c lever to bri ng th is l i keness ofman out of the four names , A l l ah , Mohammed , A l i andH a ssan . These words you noti ce a re wri tten twice, both

70


A R B I A

to the left and to the right . What a disgrace to the ho lyname of God to put that of th ree Arabs with i t i n a monograph ! I t i s very sad to hea r some Mos lems say that theytrust i n these people to i n te rcede fo r them with God . I fyou have read what s i nful l i ves these people led when theywere th e ch i ef rulers i n Arabia , you wi l l a lmost agree wi thme i n cal l i ng th i s fi rst p i cture a Mos lem idol .There are many Mos lems i n Bah re i n who have hangingup in the i r rooms these monograms or des igns . Onefavourite I have often seen contai ns only five namesA l l a h , Mohammed , A l i, H a ssan a nd H ussein . The peop lew ho make so much of these descendants of Mohammedare ca l led Shiahs ; th e othe r Moslems who th ink they a remo re orthodox are cal led Sunnites .

What do you th i n k of our second pi cture ? Is notth e design very pretty fo r an embro idery patte rn ? Themotto i s writte n twice ; once from the right and onceba ckwa rd from the l eft, the same as i n the other p i cture .Thewords are taken from the Koran and are as true as theya re beautiful . Man yattawakil a l a A l l a h f a hooa hasba hoo;which means , “Whoever trusts i n God wi l l find H im suf

ficient. That surely contrad i cts th e other p i ctu re , does i tnot ? And yet they a re both from the same copy-book .

There are many contrad ictions i n the re l igi on of Mohammed .

I on ly hope that when Christ ’s gospel has conquered Arabia ,the -name of Jesus wil l be wri tte n on every mosque and i nevery heart ; th en contrad ictio n wi l l give way to the truth ,a nd whoever trusts i n Christ wi l l fi nd H im sufficient .Would i t not be n i ce to make someth i ng p retty for use i n

71


R B I A

the home or i n th e Sunday-school , and embro ider theArabi c words on i t ? I t would be a constant rem ind er ofArabia and of th e beauti fu l motto— on ly an Arabi c vers ionof Paul ’s words , Our suffi ciency is of G od .

Our last i l lustration to c lose th is chapter is an example ofArabic every—day penmansh i p . I t w as written i n th e mounta i ns of Oman , and is a letter from a poor c ri pp le asking fo ra copy of the Psalms and other books . I t w as sent to ourbrother Pete r J . Zwemer a year before -he d ied

,when he w as

on a missionary j ourney i n Oman .

ARABIC LETTER FROM A POOR CRIP PLE .

72

XII

THE ! UEER PENNIES OF OMAN AND OF HASSA

IF Jesus H Imsel f, on one occas i on , sa id , “ Show me apenny

,

” and preached a se rmon from it, sure ly we mayfol low h i s example and learn someth ing from these strangecoi ns whi ch you see i n the pi ctures at th e begi nn ing and endof th i s chapte r. The co i n on th is page comes from Oman ,the home of the Arabian came l and one of its most ferti l eprovi nces . Perhaps some of th e boys and gi rls can te l lwhere Oman is and gi ve i ts boundari es w ithout look i ng i nthe geography

,but I am sure none of you can read the

inscri ption on the pen ny , and te l l W hat i t a l l means . Whois Fessul bi n Turkee ? What is an Imam ? How much i s

OMAN COIN.

one-quarter of an Anna ? And when d id th is queer coi ncome fresh

’

from the m int ?Let us begi n at the begi nn ing. Fessul bi n Turkee,the present ru le r of Oman

,l i ves i n a la rge, tumble-down

old castle i n Muscat , and h i s b ig red flag waves ove r thetown every Friday , the Mohammedan Sabbath . He is not

73


R A B 1 A

much bette r nor worse than hi s father, Turkee ,or than

other rul ers i n Arabia, but he certa i nly i s fa r more enterp ris i ng, and is general ly l i ked by the Arabs of M uscat. Heis not however i n a l l respects a merci ful ruler . When IVi s i ted Muscat a few years ago th is p etty ki ng had a rea ll ion ’s den , l i ke Nebuchadnezzar, and the story goes that hesometimes used i t i n th e same way to get ri d of his enem ies .He once had a steam- launch , and even put up an electri cl ight on the top of h is castle, but both of these modernimprovements came to grief. He also started a small icefactory to suppl y h is househo ld with co ld water when thethermometer rises to ove r one hundred degrees ; but theexpense w as too great and so the p roject melted away l i keWise . H is last venture i s more successful, and ever s in cethe i ce factory added a P to its s ign-board and became apice factory , ” copper coi ns have been plenti fu l i n Oman .

A pice i s the I ndian name for a small copper coi n , and theArabs borrowed the word , with many other w ords , fromthe H indu traders . The Sultan has p lenty of wives andhorses and reta i ners ; h is castle is wel l-suppl i ed with oldcannon and modern rifles ; huge coffee-pots pour out cheaphospital i ty every day ; but wi tha l I do not thi nk he is veryhappy, forhe is i n debt and his power is not as extensiveas it w as once . Fessul

’

s proper ti tle is not Su l tan , a lthoughhe is often so cal l ed , but Imam, which sign ifies rel igiousleader. I t i s th e o ld title given to the po l i ti ca l ch i efs ofOman and Zanzibar .The word means one who stands before , and was fi rstused as a title for the leader of prayer i n the mosques . In

74


A R A B I A

Oman the re l igi ous ch i efs soon took hold of po l it i cs , and sothe ti tl e has a s ign ifi ca nce now i n th i s part of Arabia that i tnever had elsewhere .

Let us get back to the penny . Its face (although bei ng aMohammedan coi n i t rea l ly has no humanfa ce because thei rre l igion forbids p ictures) bears an Englis h as well as an Arabici nscri ption . The oppos i te s ide on ly has the Sultan ’s namei n Arabic On the side that has the English words is thelegend Struck at Muscat i n the yea r Yet thepenny is only th ree years o ld , for the Mosl ems begin to datethei r years from the H egira , or fl ight of “the i r p rophet fromMecca to Medi na . This took place i n th e yea r 622 A. D.

But we must a lso remember that the i r,yea r is severa l days

shorte r than ours , because they have lunar months a l l o fequal length and on ly 360 days i n a year .How strange i t i s to read such an old date for such arecent yea r as 1899, s i nce w e count t ime from the bi rth ofChrIst ! But you must remember that th e Fa lse Prophet hashad i t a l l h i s own way i n Arab ia fo r th i rteen hund red years ,a nd that the mi ss i onari es i n th is country are very fewindeed . On ly for a very few years and i n a very few placeshas Christ bee n p reached .

Now,however, even th i s queer l i ttl e penny can bear

witness to th e fact that the gospel has come to Oman . I ti s worth one-quarter of an anna ; the re are s i xteen annas i na rupee

,and a rupee i s worth about th i rty-th ree cents . Not

a big va l ue , i s i t ? But fo r four of these coins th e poorestboy i n Muscat can buy a complete gospel of Matthew . Theshopkeeper must take i n a great many of them , for last

75


A R “ A B I Ayear one thousand four hundred and th i rty—th ree such gospelsand other porti ons of the B ib le were sold i n th is part ofArabi a and pai d for by these coppers .Anothe r i nte rest ing fact to notice '

is that part of thei nsc ri pti on on the coin is Engl ish . Coming events castthei r sh adows before . England 's power i n check i ng thecruel s l ave trade and rooti ng out p i racy on the coasts o fArabia has made i ts i nfluence fel t. An Engl ish primer issure to fol low a penny with an Engl ish motto

, and‘

some

day our m issi on wi l l have a school at Muscat for Arab boysand gi rl s, as wel l as for rescued s l aves . Your Ameri canpenn ies and your p rayers w i l l h el p to bri ng i t about.Moreover, do you not thi nk that i f they keep on buyinggospel s and read ing them , Jesus Christ wi l l some time bethe true Imam of Musca t a nd Oman

The other coin i sthe on ly ol d coi nthat i s at presentcurrent i n Arabia

,

and I leave you todecide whether i t i snot the oddest andqueerest penny youhave eve r seen .

The fi rst time I sawthese queer black

sm ith-nai l co i ns was i n 1893, when I made a v is i t to Hofhoof, the capita l o f th e p rovi nce of Hassa , i n E asternArabia . The peop l e used them , as we do pennies , fo r al l

76

HASSA CO INS.



A R A B I AThey obeyed without a murmur. Relate , conti nued thegenera l , “ w hat you have just seen ; befo re eveni ng yourl eade r shal l be chai n ed among my dogs . No wonder thatwith such abso lute obed ience, the Carmathians te rrified a l lArabi a with thei r army .

As I hand le thei r o ld coin s and th i nk of the past , I sometimes wonder how much Our Great Captai n

,Christ Jesus

would accomplish had H e so ld i ers equal ly obedient andbrave as did the Carmathian general

,i n redeem ing Arabia

from its long darkness and bloodshed; I t i s n i neteen hundred years ago . that He commanded us : “ Go ye i nto al lth e world and preach the gospel .But even now there i s n o one preach i ng the gospel i nHassa nor i n al l the i nte rior of Arabia . Why ?

78

XIII

ARAB BABIES AND THE I R MOTHERS

AN Arab baby is such a funny l i ttle c reature ! I n Christia n lands babies , as soon as poss ible , a re given a warmbath and dressed with comfortable cloth i ng . But i n Arabiathe babies are not washed for many days , only rubbed ove rwith a brown powder and the i r ti ny eye l ids pa i nted roundwith col ly rium. Th ey are wound up i n a p iece of ca l i coand tied up with a stri ng, j ust l i ke a package of sugar .Thei r a rms a re fastened by the bandage so tha t they cannotposs ibly move them . The Arab moth ers say that i f thearms and legs of babi es were left hanging loose the poorth i ngs would neve r s leep . A smal l , tight bonnet fo r thehead completes the baby ’s wardrobe . A few blue beads orbuttons are sewn on th e front of th is cap to keep off theevi l-eye , fo r Moslem women a l l bel i eve that i f a strangerlooks at a baby i t may turn s i ck a nd d ie .On the day when the baby is named a sacrifi ce is s lai nand eaten and S i l ve r offe rings are gi ven to the poor, equa lto the weight of hai r on the i n fant ’s head . The poor baby ’shai r i s a l l shaved off to be weighed i n th e balan ce . Poo rpeople who cannot afford th i s offe ri ng omit the custom .

Charms a re p laced on‘ th e a rms or a round the neck ofthe ch i ld . A few verses from the Koran are written outand put i n a leath er or s i lve r case and a lso ti ed around thearm or neck of the baby . I f the ch i ld s hows signs/ of i l l

79


A R B 1 A

ness the mother makes it swal low some of th e Koran .

That is,a portion IS written out and the ink IS washed off

with water and th is d i rty water i s taken by the patient . Aprescri pti on was sen t to me once when I was i l l by a Moslem mul l a h , or teacher, of th is chara cter and he was qui tecertai n I would recover i f I d rank i t . I am glad to say I gotbette r w ithout th e i nk med i ci n e .When the baby i s forty days old and has recei ved itsname a new date-sti ck crad le i s tri umphantly brought home

DATE—STICK CRADLE .

from the market and the new baby p laced in i t . And thenMaster or Miss Arab wil l get such a v iolent rock i ng that noChristian baby could stand . The ground is uneven , forthere are no wooden floors. i n Arabia , and the rockers a renearly stra ight so that you can imagin e i t is not the pleasantest th i ng I n the world to be rocked i n an Arab c radle . I nthe p i cture you can see j ust what a date—sti ck crad l e i s l i ke .

80


A R B I A

Arab babies cry a great dea l ; what with san d storms andfl i es and other i nsects they gene ra l ly have so re eyes a ndapparently need strong treatment to make them qu i et an dgive their mothers and si ste rs time to gri nd the wheat andchurn the butte r. Everythi ng i s made fresh each day i n anArab household . The rice must be cooked for th e da i lymeal

,the wheat ground fo r bread , and the m i lk put i nto

the leathe r churn . These people have no ice chest, not evencupboa rds , many of them , so th e coffee i s fresh ly roastedand pounded i n a mortar fo r breakfast . The flour i s takento the hand-mi ll and butte r comes out of th e churn everyday fresh . Then the mothe r wi l l have to d raw the dai lysupply of wate r and wash the few c lothes at th e wel l .The bette r c lasses have thei r s laves to do the hard work butthe Bedoui n women and the poor have to do a l l the toi l andnever get a rest . Rich and poor a re a l i ke in not hav i ng anyi nte l l ectua l p l easures . Few can read and even those whocan read

,a re able to read on ly the Kora n and the Mos lem

traditions . The ch i ld ren have no primers or p i cture-books ,and no Arab mothe r eve r has a newspaper o r a magazine .

She has neve r heard of such th i ngs . Arab women do notknow anyth i ng of the many i nterests and pleasures thatoccupy the time of women i n Christi an lands .Would you l ike to know how they make bread i nArab ia ? F i rst th e wheat is s i fted and cleaned and theni t is put i nto one of ‘ the hand-mi l ls . I t cons ists Of anupper and nether m i l lstone with a hole i n the uppe r oneand a wooden handle . Two women usual ly sit a ndgrind because th e stone i s heavy and they love to talk

8 1


A R B I A

while they work . One swings i t hal f way and th e otherpul ls i t a round . Then th e coarse flour , i s taken out and puti nto a bowl wi th wate r and salt and m ixed to the right con

WOMEN GRINDING AT

'

THE MILL.

82

P I C T UR E D F O R C H I L D R EN

A R A B 1 A

s istency . A piece of th i s dough is then taken between thehands and gradua l ly beaten unti l i t i s about the th ickness ofa book coverand twelve i nches In d iameter—a round

,flat

cake of dough . The oven i s usual ly under ground and isshaped l ike a large j ar w ith the mouth above the ground al i ttl e . A fi re i s bui lt inside the oven and when the s ides ofthe oven are quite hot the fi re i s a l lowed to die out . Thenthe large pan cakes of bread are deftly clapped on to theside of the oven unti l the space is covered and one by onethe cakes are taken out when done . I n some houses theyhave a shal low oval pan which is p laced over an open fi reand on thi s the cakes are baked . The pan is put on the fi reups ide down , so even here we are again i n Topsy-turvy Land .

Twenty or th i rty of these flat loaves are baked at one time,

for a hungry Arab can eat five or six at one meal .Now the men come i n to eat the food that the housewifehas prepa red . With a short p rayer ca l led

'

bismil l ah theybegi n and then shove the rice and meat or the b read andgravy into thei r mouths as fast as they can . Whatever isleft when the men get through is for the women . You cansee a group of Arab women i n the picture eat i ng thei r mea lfrom one common dish i n front of thei r tent. They usethe i r hands i nstead of s poons or forks but get a long! verywel l and a lways wash before and afte r thei r s imple meal .Now the women a lways have to wait on thei r husbandsand eat by th emse lves . When th i ngs get right s ide up i nth is dark land we hope to see the whol e fam i ly s itti ngdown together and tak ing thei r meal wi th j oy and thanksgivi ng .

'

8 4



A R A B 1 A

shaped oars th e Arabs use in these boats . They cons ist o fa round pole wi th a sort o f ba rre l-head or s poon shapedboard ti ed to one end . The boat bui lders a lways use twineand rope rather than na i ls or s crews to put the i r boats togethe r. The boys of Bahrei n can make beauti ful sa i l i ngboats to p lay with out of b i ts of date-stick and strings .

RIVER BOAT, BUSRAH.

Each fish ing boat has a sort of figure—head and th is i sgeneral ly Covered with th e sk i n of a Sheep or goat . Th isanimal i s sacrifi ced *

on th e day when the boat i s fi rstlaunched , j ust as we give th e boat a name and put flags onit. I t is a very o ld custom to offer a blood sacrifi ce when aboat is fi rst put i nto -the water .

8 7

T O P S Y —T U R V Y!

L A N D

R A B I

Not only i n the Vi l lages on the coasts of the Red Sea andthe Pers ian Gulf a re there boat bu i lders and sai l ors ; Arab iahas two large ri vers th at help to make its northern boundaryand they are h ighways of traffi c .Our p i cture shows a ri ver boat on the cana l at Bus rah . It

goes the long journey from Bus rah to Bagdad over fivehundred m i les or even to H i l lah and the other towns on theEuphrates river . This ki nd of boat has a cabin i n th e bowand can carry a large cargo of wheat o r wool . It sa i ls byal l the i nte resti ng country which was once the home ofAbraham and is stil l cal l ed Mesopotam ia .The la rgest boats used by the Arabs are cal led d hozos or

bugga lozos. You wi l l hea r someth ing more about theseboats i n the chapter o n the s l ave trade .The carpenters of Arabia , l i ke the boat bui lders , work i na very old-fash ioned w ay . But they a re much less sk i l lfu li n thei r work . You often see well-buil t boats but never awell—made door o r a W i ndow that shuts properly . Perhapsthe fau lt is with the i r too ls and perhaps they are not asski l l fu l as they once were i n usi ng them .

The Arab carpen ter uses no bench or vise ; he squats uponthe ground i n th e shade of some old bui ld i ng or tree andcarries al l h is tools in a smal l basket with h im . He hasfour hands ’

instead of the two hands of an Ameri cancarpente r, for h is feet are ba re and he can work as wel lwith his toes as you can with your fingers . I t i s wonderfulto see how an Arab carpente r can hold a board with h istoes whi le h is hands are busy sawing or p lan i ng i t !I never see one of these carpenters us i ng his toes so

8 8


R A B I A

cleverly without th i nki ng that we who wear shoes andstockings and on ly use our feet for walki ng have lost one ofthe powers that th e Arabs sti l l possess . A carpenter’shandsome hand iwork i n Arabia should be cal led his toesometoey

-work ; don’ t you th i nk so ? I n the p i cture at the end of

th is chapter you see an Arab carpente r ’s too ls . H is saw i sexactly oppos ite to an ord i na ry saw as the teeth a l l pointthe wrong way ! But you know he pul l s the too l so i t is

SAWING A BEAM.

al l right . The p lane has four handles i n stead of one . Thegimlet is l i k e ours but i nstead of a brace a nd bit to makehol es , the Arab uses a fiddle-stri ng stretched on a bow

8 9


R A B I A

which he twists once or twice around his borer, or augerbit. Then he fiddles away unti l he has made a ho le .I t i s very “strange to see two Arab carpenters sawing abeam as you find them in the pi cture .Time is not va l uable i n the East because the days are longand l i fe is easy and the people are never i n a hurry . Neverdo anyth ing to-day that ca n be don e to-morrow is thei rmotto . So they spend a half hour i n fi x i ng the beam on atri pod ; then they pul l and push and push and pul l the greatclumsy saw !-b lade up and down and i n a n hour o r so thebeam is cut i n

.

two . What would such carpenters say i fthey were to Vi s i t a n Ameri can sawmi l l and -see the gangsaw cut six boards outOf a log at once j ust as easy as yourmother cuts a cheese ? Arabi a and its carpenters are veryfar beh ind us i n civ i l i sation . The whole country is i n needof schools and i ndustria l m iss ions so that the Arab boysmay learn to handle tools and make furn i ture and bui ldhouses .I n Ameri ca there is hard ly a boy l ivi ng but he can drive a

AN ARAB CARPENTER’S TOOLS .90


A R A B I

nai l and saw off a board and put up a shelf. In Arabia on lycarpente rs ’ son s Can do these th ings ; th e ord i nary boy doesnot even know how to use a j ack-kn i fe ; he never had one .

A short defin i tio n of Arabia wou ld be “ a land withouttoo ls . Ritte r, th e great geographe r, cal l s Arabia “ theanti-i ndustria l centre o f the world , whi ch is onlv the samedefin i ti on i n other wo rds .

91

XV

ARABIC PROVERBS AND ARABIC HUMOUR

THE people o f Topsy-turvy Land , l i ke al l o rienta ls, arevery fond of p roverbs and short, bright say ings . You knowthat even to-day there a re menwho go about i n the coffeeshops of Arabi a to te l l stori es , j ust as you have read i n theArabian N ights . Some of thei r stories a re very i nterestingand some of thei r p roverbs a re wise . Others are not i nte resti ng and many of the i r stories are too bad to repeat . E vensome of the i r p roverbs bear the mark of thei r topsy-turvyre l igion and a re on ly hal f t rue . J udge them for yourself .Here a re fi fty examp les ; which do you th i nk is th e bes tp roverb among them ? Are they a l l good ?Fi rst seek your neighbour, “then bui ld your house .F i rst get a compan ion , then go on the road .

Whoever d i es i n a strange land , d ies a martyr.When the j udge is oppress i ve

,the very a i r i s , too .

Don ’t cut your head off with your tongue .Keep your dog hungry and he wi l l fol low you .

Leave off sin, then ask fo rgi veness .Every horse knows its rider.Ta l k is fem inine , but a good answer is mascu l i ne .With l i ttl e food a bed tastes good .

A trotti ng dog is bette r than as leep ing l ion .

Every gi rl is beauti ful i n her father ’s eyes .92



A R A B A

One nett l e seed wi l l ru i n a garden .

Who speaks the who le t ruth wi l l get a broken head.

What ’s the good of a house without food ?Ask experi ence but don 't neglect the doctor .She wears seven ve i ls but has no modesty .

He fasted a year and breakfasted on an onion .

A false fri end is an open enemy .

They gave me no food , but th e smoke from the i r k itchenblinded

;

me .When the l ion i s away , th e hyenas p lay .

They said to the bli nd man , th row away your sti ck ; herepl i ed , why desert an o ld friend ?Haste i s of the dev i l ; del iberation , of God .

They put the dog ’s tai l i n th e p ress forty years , and wheni t came out i t sti l l had a curl .Lucky days do not come in a bunch .

Look for a th ing where you lost i t .Some of these resemble our own proverbs and others mayperplex you at fi rst . Of course they a re a ll better i n Arabi cthan i n the translat ion . The people of Arabia se ldom ornever engage i n practi ca l j okes , but th ey are often verywitty i n thei r remarks . The Cal i ph Mansur once met anArab on the desert and said to h im :

“Give thanks to Godwho has caused th e p lague to cease that ravaged thy country .

God i s too good , the Arab answered , “ to pun is h uswith two Such scourges at the same time as the p lague andthy government .An Arab poet sent h i s book to a famous author . Dost

94


R A B I Athou want fame ? sa i d the latte r, “ then hang thy book upi n the market-place where al l can see i t .

“ But how wi l l they know the author ?Why , j ust hang yoursel f c lose to the book !Here i s another sto ry that is to ld about a Moslem preache r.One Friday when the peop le were gathered i n the mosqueto p ray and to hear the sermon , he got up i n the pulpi t a ndasked the aud ien ce i f they knew what he i ntended to p reachabout

“ No,they repl i ed .

Well , then , I shal l not te l l you , and he stepped down .

The next Friday he asked the same question,and now

,

taught by experience , they answered :Yes , we know .

”

Well , then , I n eed not te l l you , and agai n he steppeddown .

The th i rd Friday when the same questi on wa s put, thepeople sa id , “ Some of us know and some don ’ t know .

”

In that case , sa id th e p reache r-wag, let those of youwho know te l l th ose that don 't know . And agai n the rewas no sermon .

And now to close th i s chapter here i s a very topsy-turvystory with a puzzle i n itThe Arabs re late that when the p rophet Jonah fled fromJoppa to Tarsh i sh , there were th i rty passengers , a l l to ld , i nthe sh i p . The storm grew very fierce , and out of fear, thecapta i n dete rmined to throw half the crew overboard , that i s ,fi fteen men . But he knew that fi fteen of the th i rty weretrue bel ievers , and fi fteen were infidels, and among them ,

95


R B I A

Jonah also . To avoid suspic ion and accompl ish h is pu rposehe put the th i rty men a l l i n a row in such a w ay that bycounti ng out every n inth man, the be l i evers a lone remainedand the unbe l ievers were a l l of them one by one cast i ntothe sea .This is the way he arranged them ; every dot stands foran unbel iever, and the strokes for bel ievers— th i rty a ltogether.

0

PUZZLE OF TH E TH IRTY MEN.

You begi n to count from the left,as the capta i n d id

,and

i f you mark out every ninth man you can keep on countingout the n inth men unti l on ly upright strokes a re left .From you r knowledge of arithmetic , can you tel l me thereason of th is puzzle ?The Arabs remember the puzzle by some verses i n wh ichevery dotted letter stands for an unbel i ever and those thathave no dots stand for Moslems .You see that even the story of Jonah and the whale i stopsy—turvy out i n Arabia !

96

XV I

GOLD, FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH

IN o lden. t imes Arabia was a much more importantcountry than i t i s to-day . Before there were la rge seagoing shi ps

,al l the trade between I ndi a, Pers i a , even Ch i na ,

on the east, a nd Egypt on the west, was ca rri ed on camels .The caravans at that time used to cross Arabia i n a l ld i rec tio ns , and the men w ho d rove these came l-trai ns grewwea lthy

,as ra i l road magnates do to-day . We read about

th is early traffi c on these h ighways of the desert i n the O ldTestament as wel l as i n the o ld Greek h isto ri es . The p rovi nce of Yemen w as ce lebrated fo r i ts wea lth and civi l i sat io nas ea rly as the t ime of Solomon . I t was then ca l led Shebaand the o ld cap ita l was ca l led

’

Marib , a l i tt le northeas t o fthe present c i ty of Sanaa . There are stil l many extens iveruins and inscri ptions which testi fy to th e height of thei rc iv i l i sation . We read of one o f the queens of Sheba (theArabs say she was named Bz

’

l kis) who came to proveSolomon

i

w ith hard quest i ons . She came with a la rgecaravan of camels bea ring sp i ces a nd gold i n abundance ;her p resent to Sol omon - cons isted of “ an hundred andtwenty ta lents of go ld , and of sp ices great abundance , andp recious stones . ” Gold i s n o longer found '

in Arabi a but i twas undoubtedly once ve r-y p lenti fu l there . All the oldwrite rs speak of Arabi a as a gold country . One of theGreek geographe rs speaks of a st ream i n which la rge

97


A R B I A

nuggets of gold were found . Some people th i nk Ophi rwas i n Arabi a . However that may be , the travel l e r Burtonexplored the northwestern pa rt of th e pen insula and foundol-d mines and even traces of gold dust. I f Job l i ved in theland of Mid ian we can w el l understand how he cou ld desc ribe m in i ng operations so wel l as he does i n the twentyeighth chapter of h i s book .

Frankin cense and myrrh were a lso carri ed across Arabiaby the caravans , and both of these

'

precious gums camefrom Arabia itse lf a nd are sti l l found there . One of theoldest a rti cles of commerce w as i ncense . The gum was

BRANCH OF INCENSE TREE .

used i n sacrifices and i n al l the h eathen temple worsh i p aswel l as by the Jews i n the i r worsh i p . One thousand talents'

weight of franki ncense w as brought eve ry year to Darius ,the Persi an k ing, as tribute from Arabia . The presentincense country i s southern Arabia

,especia l ly Hadramaut.

98

P I C T U R E D F O R C H I LD R EN

A R B IHere the i n cense tree (of which you see a smal l b ranch i nthe p icture) grows . The young trees are cut with a kn i fe ,and from the i ncis i ons made i n the ba rk a m i lk-l i ke ju icecomes out . When it has had time to ha rden , the la rgeclea r globules a re scraped off i nto baskets and the i nferio rk ind that has run down th e bark i s col lected separate ly .

I t i s sh i pped from Arabia to Bombay or goes out fromAden and sti l l commands a good pri ce . In some RomanCatho li c churches th is i ncense is burnt every Sunday andi f you wi l l go to a la rge d ruggist he may be able to showyou p ieces of Arabian i n cense .Myrrh and fra nki ncense a re frequently menti oned together . Both are sweet-smel l i ng gums and both cameoriginally from Arab ia . Accord i ng to a Greek legend ,Myrrha was the daughter o f one of th e ki ngs of Cyprusw ho angered her father and when he attempted to stab her,fled to Arabia . Here she was changed i nto a tree cal ledmyrrh ! A few of these trees a re sti l l found i n Yemen

,but

myrrh is not at a l l as plenti fu l as i t once was i n Arabia . I ti s a low , tho rny , ragged—l oo ki ng tree w ith

‘bright green

leaves . The gum exudes from cracks i n th e ba rk near theroot of the plant . When dry i t i s of a rich brown colourand has a bitter taste . The ‘ word “ myrrh i n Arabicmeans bitte r, and I th i nk that i s th e origi n of th e namegiven to the tree‘ and not the fool i sh story of th e G reekmythology . You must look up a l l the references i n th eB ible to myrrh . I wonder whethe r the myrrh which Nicodemus used to emba lm the body of our Sav i our for H isburia l came from Arabia ? In Matthew ’s gospe l w e read of

L. ofC.

99


A R A B I Athe wise men who came from the East to worsh i p Jesus .And when they had opened thei r treasures they p resentedunto H im gifts ; gold and frank i ncense and myrrh . Doyou not th i nk that these wise men came from Arabia

,even

as the queen of Sheba d id, to see th e king of the Jews ?Perhaps Isa iah prophes i ed of the i r coming when he w roteconcern ing Arabi a : “ The multi tude of camels shal l cove rthee the dromedari es of M id ian and E phah ; a l l they fromSheba shal l come : they shal l bring gold and i ncense ; andthey shall sh ew forth th e p ra ises of the Lord . At any ratewe are quite sure that th e franki ncense they brought camefrom Arabia . There is a great deal i n th e B ibl e about th iscountry and there are many beauti ful p rom ises for th e redemption of i ts peop le . Arabs were present at Pentecostand the fi rst m iss i onary to Arabi a was the Apostle Pau l .God has not forgotten H is promises and we must a l l praythat soon they may be fulfi l l ed . No one has yet been totel l the ch i ldren of Hadrama

’

fl t, who gather the i n censegum , the story of Jesus

’

b irth and of His death on the cross .There is not a S i ngl e m iss i onary i n al l that country ; no onehas been to te l l the news that the Babe of Beth lehem i s theKing of Glory .

Thou w ho i n a mangerOnce hast lowly la i n ,Who dost now in gloryO ’er a l l k i ngdoms reign

,

Gather i n th e heathenWho i n lands afa rNe ’er have see the brightnessOf Thy gu i ding star.

100



A R B I A

moved away and began to travel towards Arab ia . Thepoor ch i ldren were kept i n the bottom of the boat , a l lhuddled together, and gi ven very l i tt l e to eat and dri nk .

Sometimes the seawas rough and

they were s ick , soaltogether thei rvoyage i n an openboat was not apleasant one ButSome One wastaking noti ce o f

these ch i ld ren andHe was going todel iver them . Doy ou know who

w a s w a t c h i n goverthem ? Aftermany days at seathe boat camenear Muscat . Aservan t of theB r i t i s h Consu lsaw the boat and

SLAVE G IRL IN ARABIA. knew there weres lav es in i t . Then

the Consu l got ready i n a smal l boat and went after the bigone . They had to fol low nearly al l n ight and at l ast overtook the s lave-dhow . The Consul pul led alongs ide i n a

102


A R A B 1

Bedden (nati ve boat) and demanded the fi rearms of theArabs . Then he bound them and put h is own sa i lo rs onboa rd,

and brought th e p rec i ous ca rgo of souls i nto Muscatharbour.The owner of the s lave-dhow was sen t to prison

,and the

boys and gi rls were given away to Ch ristia n people to tra i n ,th e m iss i onary i n Muscatgetti ng the la rgest share .Th is was the origin of th e rescued-s lave s chool at Muscat.Other s laves are caught from time to time and l iberated .

Sometimes they a re sent to Bombay or other p la ces i nI nd ia ; a la rge number were once l iberated at Aden and arenow i n a schoo l at Lovedale i n Africa . When these poors lave ch i ldren fi rst come from the s la ve sh i ps they a re veryignorant and a lmost l ik e wi ld an imals . They need to learneveryth ing , and even thei r language is of l ittl e use to them ,

as they need to learn Arabi c before they can get a long i nArabia . The Muscat boys fi rst lea rned English from them iss ionary , but i t was not easy for them .

They on ly knew a few words when I fi rst went to Muscat . For i nstance , they cal led a l l l ights , such as l amps ,cand les , etc . , fire. Well , one n ight we were s i tting on theverandah with the lam p

,read ing

,and Sul iman came and

sai d “ big fire I We jumped up and said “ where ?Looking a l l a round we cou l d not see a S ign of fi re . Thenhe said , “ big fi re on tab le . We ran i nto the d i n i ng-room—sti l l no fi re . Sul iman then po i nted to the lamp and sa idagai n “ big fi re so we learned by that t ime he wanted thelamp for the table , as d i nner w as ready .

Would you l ike to hea r how a day was spent i n th i s Mus

103

T O P S Y T U R V Y ’ L A N D

R. A B I Acat school when the boys were beginn i ng to learn ? Nowthe boys are al l b ig and have s cattered ; they are work ing as

LIBERATED “SLAVES AT BAHRE IN.

servants i n d ifferent places and some are lea rn ing a trade .But here is a desc ri ption of the ea rly days-of thei r tra i n i ngWe are up before dawn a lmost, and yet the boys are up

104



A R B I A

thei r hearts ? You see they a re on ly just begi nn ing to learnabout God . Before they came to us they were qui teheathen . Praye r -ended we al l march i nto another room

,

you may come too , and begi n lessons . The ‘big boys arelearn ing sentences now ; th e li ttle ones are st i l l at A ,

B,C

, I ,

2 , 3. At the end of two hours of spel l i ng, reading andwriti ng, a l i ttl e S imple d ri l l and th e morn ing school is ended .

Some of the boys help pre pare the i r fish and ri ce for d inner,

and others make baskets . At three o ’clock al l march upagai n for sewing. And let me tel l you a secret ; the smallestboy of al l sews the neatest . After th is the boys get readyto go for a bath i n th e sea , or fo r a walk . When wereturn we have even i ng p rayers , and then the boys eat thei rsupper of ri ce and fish, take thei r mats i nto the garden andgo to s leep .

That was the way i n which eighteen rescued s lave boysbegan to l ive a l i fe with more l ight , and therefore a lso moreresponsib i l i ty than thei r fo rmer l i fe as savage ch i ldren i nAfrica .But what of the thousands who are not rescued , but aretaken to places a long the coast of Arabia and sold Thei rlot i s m ise rable . I n Mecca there is a s lave market whereboys and gi rls a re sold to the h ighest bidder . At Sur, i nSouth Arabia , there are sti l l many Arabs who make moneyby buying and sel l i ng poor negro ch i ld ren . Onlylast month

“

a l i ttle negro lad cal led “ D i amond told me how he hadbeen captured and so ld to a merchant i n Pers ia . I am veryglad that I can tel l you that the l i ttl e lad escaped to a Britishshi p and i s now free .

106


A R A B I AA writer who travel led i n th e Red Sea says that he passedhundreds of s lave-dhows . What a lot of m isery that means ;not on ly misery to th e pa rents o f these sto len ch i ld ren inAfri ca , but to th e ch i ldren themse lves . There may be manys laves i n Arabi a w ho get enough to eat and have goodcloth ing to wea r, but they a lways remai n s laves at the best ,and are taught a fals e re l igion by thei r masters . I th i nknearly a l l of th em were happ ie r at home i n Afri ca than indark Arabia .I t is hard to love th e crue l s lave trader, i s i t not ? YetJesus to ld us to “ l ove our enemies . The w ay to root outthe s l ave trade i s to evange l i se the slave trader. The enti rewest coast of Arabia has not a s ingle m iss iona ry ; no wonderthat here the s lave trade is ca rried on without h i ndrance !Will you not pray for weste rn Arabia , and a lso for th e Arabs lave dealers that God may soften thei r hea rts and makethem stop thei r bad work ? And wi l l not a l l the gi rls prayfor thei r ens laved b lack s iste rs i n Arabia, whose lot is verymiserable ?

107

XV I I I

ABOUT SOME L ITTLE MISSIONARIES

SOME l i ttl e m iss ionari es came to Arabia a few years beforeany of the Ameri can miss ionari es d id , and have been comingever s i nce . Most of them were born i n a country not farfrom Arabia, and yet on ly one Of them vis i ted Arabia beforeMohammed was born . Although thev n ever wri te reportsof thei r work i n the papers , yet I have seen a few Sp lendi dl i tt le accounts of thei r work written on tablets of flesh withtears for i nk . I t is just because thei r work is done so muchi n secret and i n out-of—the-way p laces , that they are genera l ly overlooked and often underestimated . They receiveonly bare support and no sala ry

,and get a long i n the most

se l f-deny i ng way by fasti ng and l iv i ng al l together, packedl ike herri ng i n a dark , close room , except when they go outi nto the sunsh ine on thei r journeys .Most of them came out i n the steerage of the b ig sh i psfrom London , but none of them were seasi ck at a l l th roughout the enti re voyage . They do not go about two and twoun less i t i s that one of the o ld ones goes hand i n hand witha younger brother for support . General ly a score o r moretravel together . They never comp la i n of be ing ti red or discouraged, and never get fever o r cho le ra , a lthough I haveta l ked and s lept with them at Bah re i n when I had fever myse lf . Never yet has one of them died on a s i ck-bed

,a l

though they often h ide away and disappea r for months .108



R A B I

ri ch man , but there was no pride about them , and they puton no ai rs i n thei r ta lk .

How many are there of these l ittle m iss ionaries , do youask ? Over th ree thousand e ight hundred and forty v is i tedand left the th ree stat ions of the Arab ian M issi on i n thePers ian Gulf last yea r. But, as I to ld you, they are so

modest that only a'

score of them perhaps sent i n any

M ISSION HOUS E AT BUSRAH.

account of the i r work , and that even was sent th rough ath i rd party by word of mouth . I have heard i t whisperedthat a fai th fu l record of a l l th ei r j ourneys and speeches i skept, but that these a re put on fi l e to be publ i shed a l l atonce on a certai n great day , when miss i ona ri es a l l get thei rpermanent d ischarge . What a quiet, pati ent , fa ithful , l ov i ngbody of workers they a re . Even when i t is very

,very hot

,

and after a hard day ’s work , they never get out of temperas other mISS IOnarIes sometimes do when i n hot d iscuss i on

110


R B I A

with a bigoted Moslem . And yet h ow p la i n ly they tel l thetruth—they do not even fea r a Turkis h Pasha ; but that i sbecause they have very cunn ingly a l l obtai ned a Turk is hpassport and a permi t to p reach anywhere unmol ested .

Of course, you ha ve guessed my ridd le , or e lse you wi l lwant to know what these mi ss i ona ries cost and why we do

not employ more of them ; and who sent them out, and towhat Board they are responsi ble ; and who buys them newclothes of leather a nd Cloth ; and what happens to themwhen thei r backs a re bent wi th age and thei r faces furrowed

with care,and when only they themse l ves can read thei r

t it le c lear?I th i n k no one wi l l have to he l p you guess my riddle o rte l l you that the four m iss ionari es who go‘ about the mosta re Matthew , Mark , Luke and John , and that the two lad iesare Esthe r and Ruth . Now you have guessed that th eL ittle Miss iona ri es a re the Books of the Bib le . Do youknow how many there a re ? How many i n th e O l d Testament ? How many in the New Testament ? Perhaps someof you know the names of a l l th e s ixty-s i x ! But i t i s n otenough to know the names of these Books that we haveca l led L i tt l e Miss i onari es . We must know what is i n them ,

we must know th e message they bear to th is s i n ful a nd ‘

t roubled world . And we must a l l do our part to send outth i s blessed message of peace , comfort , and eterna l l i fe .

I tmay not be your work to go to Arabia

,but yet you have a

work to do of one k i nd o r anothe r fo r A rabia.The B ible

must be sen t there . And now may I ask al l th e boys andgi rl s who read th is to p ray for the L i ttl e M iss ionari es ?

111


R A B I APray that they may go ahead and prepare the way of th eLord al l over th is dark pen insu la , from th e pa lm grovesof Busrah to the harbour of Aden , and from the sea of Omanto the unholy ci ties—Mecca and Med i na .

J esus , tender ShepherdThou hast other sheep

Far away from she lte rWhere dark shadows c reep .

Seeking Saviour,bring them home

That they may no longer roam .

Jesus , tender ShepherdWhi le Thou leadest me,AsThy l i tt le helperFaith ful may I be .Seeking others fa r a nd wideD rawing lost ones to Thy s ide .

112



A R A B A

TH E SULTAN’S SOLDIERS.

P I C T U R E D . F O R C H I L D R E N

A R A B I A

the i r ga rments wrong s ide out because they knew no bette r,

and then some one came weari ng hi s clothes p roperly a ndtryi ng to teach these ignorant peop le , would they not th i nkh im mad and say why do y ou not turn your coat i ns ide out ?That i s th e very w ay Mos lems rega rd the m iss i onary .

They often te l l us , “ You are so good and ki nd whydon ’ t

.you accept the true re l igion and become a b e

l i ever ? You must not th i nk that th e heathen o r theMohammedans a re anxious to hea r th e gospel . They donot know of i ts value and so do not know w hat theym iss . When they hear that the gospel demands a ho ly l i feand forbids a l l sweari ng and ly ing and uncleanness, theyth i nk such a re ligion too d iffi cu lt and prefer thei r own .

All thei r topsy-turvy ways and thoughts seem perfectlycorrect to themselves unti l God ’s Spi ri t en l ightens them .

I t i s n o wonder therefore that the re is a lways oppositio nand trouble when m issi ona ries (even such qui et l ittl emiss i onari es as w e read about) , come to a v i l lage . Whenyou want to put a th ing stra ight that i s ups ide down therei s su re to

.

be an overtu rn i ng . The farmer is not so rrybecause h i s rude p low breaks the hard soi l a nd bru ises th eweeds and turns a l l th e greensward under . Oh no ; hedoes that to make some better green grow . Wait th reemonths and you wi l l see th e who le fie ld covered with awaving harvest of wheat . Plough ing is p retty rough workon weeds . Open i ng a‘ new missi o n stati o n is pretty rough ,I adm it, on a false re l igi on . And the wise m en cannot helpknowing th is and so they repeat the words of the

‘

oldGreeks when they see a m issi onary sett l e down i n thei r

115


A R A B I

vi l lage : “ Those that have turned the world upsi de downare come h ither a lso sayIng that there is anotherKing

, j esus.

The ki ng of all hearts i n the Mohammedan world i s thei rp rophet Mohammed . They love h is n ame and im itateh is acts to the least parti cular. Much more fai thful ly , Ifear

,than we im ita te J esus , our example . The great ques

ti on i n Arabia i s whether Mohammed or Jesus is to rule thecountry . Mohammed has had i t ve ry much h i s own wayfor thi rteen hundred years, but now his domin ion is beingdisputed . Godis providence is working i n many ways tohe lp H is gospel . I sometimes th i nk that we might ca l l H isprovidence the p low and H is gospe l the good seed . Forexample

,what a strange th ing i t is for the Arabs to find

Christian governments i nterferi ng with thei r s lave trade .

Does not th e Koran approve of slave ho lders and d id notMohammed buy and sell s laves ? And then when the bigmerchant sh i ps Come to the coasts of Arab ia and theignorant Arabs learn of other lands and peopl es and civ i l isat ion they cannot help los i ng some of the i r p ride andprej udice . They compare th e government of England i nAden with that of the Turks i n Sanaa and then—wellthey feel l ike turn ing the world upside down themse lves !The Mohammedan re l igi on has such a strong hold -in

Arabia that it wi l l not be overcome i n one day or by onebattl e . We must expect a long and ha rd fight . BeforeTopsy—turvy Land becomes a Christian land there w i l l bemartyrs i n Arabia . Every Moslem who a ccepts Christ doesso at h i s peri l , and yet there are those who dare to confess

116


XX

TURNING THE WORLD DOWNSIDE UP

THE story of missi on work in Arabia i s not very long, buti t i s ful l of i nterest . From the day when Mohammed pro !

c laimed h imself an apostle i n Mecca unti l about s ixteenyea rs ago when Ion Keith Fa l coner came to Aden as a missionary, al l o f Topsy—turVy Lan d lay i n darkness as regardsthe gospel . For th i rteen hundred years Mohammed had i ta l l h is own way in Arabia . Now his dom in ion over thehearts of men , i s i n d ispute , and there is no doubt that thefinal , ful l v i ctory wi l l rest wi th Jesus the Son of God, theSaviour of the world .

Would you l ike to hear someth i ng, before we c lose th isbook about the m iss ions that are now working i n th is country ? There are three miss i ons . The m iss i onari es of theChurch of England began work i n Bagdad about the year1882 . Bagdad is not at a l l a smal l town . I t has a population of one hundred and e ighty thousand people, and i t wasonce a very important c i ty . You can read al l about i tsan ci en t beauty and wealth and commerce i n the ArabianNights . Some '

of the palaces that Harouner Rash id vis i tedare sti l l standing. I n the ci ty th ere a re at p resent s ixty-fourmosques

,s i x churches and twenty-two synagogues . One

th i rd of the population are Jews , and there are over fivethousand Christi ans . Most of th e latter be long to the R0man Catholi c fa i th

,or to other twi light churches . The R0

118


A R A B I A

man Catho l i c cathed ra l, which you see i n the p i cture , i s th eon ly church i n a l l Northern Arab i a that has a be l l . Moslemsdo not l ike to hea r church-be l ls, and they were forbiddenby some rule rs of the Mos lem world long ago . The Protestant Chri sti ans meet for worsh i p i n a dwel l ing-house .The Bagdad m iss ion has a large d i spensary for the s i ckwhere thousands of Mos lems and Jews and Christi ans comeevery year for treatment. Books are so ld to the peop le , andthe re is a schoo l for boys and gi rls whi ch is also hel p i ng toturn down old prej ud i ces and turn up th e righ t s ide of ch i ldl i fe . The Mos lem ch i ldren a re begin n i ng to bel i eve that theworld is round and that Constantinop le is not the cap i ta l ofa l l Europe .The British and Foreign B ible Society i s a lso hel p ing toturn th is part of the world downside up . The gospe lwh i ch has been buri ed under many supersti t i ons and trad iti ons so l ong , i s agai n showing its power . Colporteursare men who ca rry the B ible about, offe r i t to the peopleand read and exp la i n i t to those whose hearts a re open .

They have a hard task , but i f i t were no t fo r them the L i tt le Miss ionaries would not get a long at a l l .On the w ay from Bagdad to Busrah , w e pass Amara , anenterpri s i ng v i l lage whe re the peop le o nce burned booksand th rew stones at the m iss iona ry , but where now the l i ttl eB ible-shop of the Ameri ca n M iss ion sh i nes unh i nde red ,

L i ke a l i ttle candle , burn ing i n the n ight .

At Busrah , Rev . James Canti ne began m issi on work i n189 1, and ever s i nce that time he and others have been

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A R A B I

p lough i ng and sowi ng seed and waiting for th e showersthat come before th e harvest . I t w as at Bus rah that Kam i lAbd el Mess iah , the Moslem conve rt from Syria, d ied a w itness fo r Christ . Have you read the wonderfu l story of h i sl i fe ? I t i s fu l l of pathos and shows how i n th e heart andli fe of at least one Moslem the Holy Spi ri t made topsy-turvythings straight . There a re othe rs l i ke Kami l i n Arabia, butmany of them are sti l l fo l lowing the Master afar off, becausethey fear the persecutions of men . At Bus rah , there is a lsoa dispensary, and here too the gospel i s sold and p reachedand l i ved before the people .

Bahrei n , you know , i s a group of islands , and i t is abouts ix years ago that the peop l e fi rst saw a m iss ionary . Nearlyth ree-fourths of the population are pearl-merchants or pea rlfi shers . Will you not pray that they may learn to value thePearl of Great Pri ceA vis i t any morn i ng i n the week to the d ispensary atBahre i n , would soon convi nce you that here too the Arabworld is s lowly but surely tu rni ng downside up . Womenlearn to the i r del ight that they have equal right to sympathyw ith men , and they need not wai t unti l the men are helpedfirst . The Arabs a re ve ry ignorant of medi ci ne and thei rremedies a re e ither foo l ish o r crue l . To “ l et out th epai n ” i n rheumatism , they burn the body with a hot i ron .

A l l the i r ideas are upside down , and very few know onwhich s ide of thei r body the l iver i s located . Now when ourmission doctors perform mi racles of surgery on the maimed ,and mi racles of mercy on the sufferi ng, th e resu lt i s to pre

pare th ei r hearts for Ch rist’s message . To the fanati c Mos120



A R A B I A

American Bible Soci ety i s send ing the Scri ptures a l l overEaste rn Arab ia .

The last m iss io n stati on i n Arabia w e mention, is the fi rst

that peop le generally v is i t . Aden is a coal ing stat ion aswel l as a m iss i onary centre and passengers trave l l i ng to theOri ent nearly a lways stop here on th e way . There a reCh risti an churches and hosp ita ls and government schools .At Sheikh Ottoman , a sho rt d istance from Aden , Ion Kei thFa lconer, the fi rst modern m iss iona ry to th i s land

,began h i s

work . He d ied he re a lso , but h i s l i fe w as so fu l l of loveand sacrifice that h i s work i s sti l l going on . The FreeChurch of Scotland m iss i on has medica l work , an i ndustria lschoo l for wai fs and a memoria l chapel . From a great d istan ce patients come to be cured , and Moslems to buy theB ible .The great l ighthouse on the is land of Perim , near Aden ,th rows its l igh t for ten mi les out on the dark sea and savessh i ps from the breakers . But the l ight of th e gospel i n theB ibl e depot at Aden

,sh i nes two hundred mi les to the north

as far as Sanaa,and th ree hundred mi les east to Makal la o n

the coast.Yet I dare say it costs more to keep up the l ight

house at Perim (not to Speak of bu i ld i ng i t) than i t does tokeep open a l l the B ible l ighthouses of al l Arabi a . PerhapsKeith Fa lconer thought of th is when h e sai d i n h is farewe l ladd ressWe Christia ns have a grea t and imposing war ofi ce, but

a very sma l l a rmy . Wh il e v a st continents are shrouded in

a lmost utter d a rkness a nd h und red s of mil l ions saf er the

horrors of hea thenism a nd Isl am, the burd en of proof l ies123


R B I A

upon y ou to show th a t the circumsta nces in wh ich G od ha s

pl aced y ou,were mea nt by H im to keep y ou out of the for

eign mission fiel d .

Before y ou l ay a side th is book , wil l y ou not a sk y ourself

why y ou shoul d not go out to Ara bia , or to some other l and

yet shrouded in d arkness, a nd sh ineforj esus

A n Ol d Friend in a New Dress .

ARABIC . L ITE RAL TRANSLAT ION.

S ey y id i-’ l -F a d i-

'l G a ni, Ou rLord , th e rich S a viour,

Ka l b eh oo y u h ib b oon i, H is h ea rt loves me ,

Fa l a h‘

oo k ool oo sa gh ier. A nd to H im a l l l ittl e ones

b e long.

Ya l ta jee w a h oo‘l k a d eer. H e p rotec ts us a n d is strong.

Ka d fa a k a b u b b a n . Ye s H is l ove e xc eed s a l lKa d fa a k a h ub b a n . Ye s H is l ove exc eed s a l l .Ka d fa a k a b u b ba n . Ye s H is l ove e x ceed s a l l .

Yuh ib b una Ya sooa . J es us l oves y ou.

124


B y A M Y L E F E U V R E

BUNNY’

S FRIENDSI 2mo, decora ted boards , 300.

1

Bunny is a little girl , and h er friends a re a rabbit, a ponya nd a la rk . E a ch one na rra tes h is experiences to th e child as sheis a lone with h im in th e open room . Children will listen ea gerly toth e rea ding of these little ta les, and wil l doubtless b e profi ted bythem.

”—N . Y. Observ er.

‘Bunny’ herself was not a rabbit, a s one might suspect. She

wa s a little lonely girl , a nd h er name wa s Dora . Sh e h a d a l ittle ,da rk , s ilky head , a nd b ig , blue eyes , which were a lwa ys staring outa t th e world with b ig thoughts behind them, a nd sh e wa s still onlywhen some one told h era story.” Wes tern Ch ristia n A d v oca te.

E RIC’

S G OOD NEW S

I llustra ted , 1 2mo, decorated boards , 30C .

E ricWa l la ce is a n inv a lid la d , delica te , sweet “

an d Winsome,who by precept a nd example lea ds erring a nd scoffing men to fa ithin Christ . Th e good work is done in a na tura l a nd perfectly child ishwa y , W i thout a ny pa inful exhibitions of precocity or good ishness .

Th e story is simply a g limpse here a nd there into th e life of a purehea rted , sweet na tured, ha ppy sou l wh o lea ds others into th e lightbecause h e is in th e light himself. I t is a tender an d bea utifu l storyof Christia n infl uence, conduct and example .

” —Cl zr z’stia n Work .

W H A T TH E W IND DID

I zmo, decorated boards, 300.

M iss Le Feuv re '

s stories a bou t child life a re cha rminglywel l written a nd suggestiv e .

! —Ch r z’

stia n A d e ca d e.

H er stories a re a s bright a nd interesting a nd touching as ifJ ulia na 1L

‘wing or I a ura Rich a rds h a d written them.

”—E 'oa ngel is t .

“A clev er ta le,written with a high purpose . A suc

cessfu l endea v or of one whose pen h a s found its h ighest employment in th e rea listic sketching of child life .

”—Ch r z's tia n A d v oca te.

BULBS A ND BLOS S OM SAn E aster Book let. With illustrations byE veline Lance , 1 2mo, c loth , 50C .

Many sweet lessons of fa ith and lov e drop from the lips of

these little ones , a nd how they brought forth fruit in th e hea rt ofone of the a unts is impressiv e ly brought out . Th e book is da intilybound a nd pretty illustra tions brighten it”—Lom

’

sw'

l l e Observ er .

An engaging E a ster story in rel a tion to two children wh oa re sent: from I ndia to their a unt in E ngla n d to a cqu ire strengtha nd v igor from a cool clima te a nd other benefi ts from a ssocia tionwith English people .

”—Ch ris tz'

a n I n tel l igencer


ROBA BLE S ONS [7oth t/zousa na'

.

I llustra ted , I zmo, c loth , 35C. New illustratededition . Sma ll 4to, decorated c loth , soc .

We do not know th e a uthor of this v ery touching ta le . I t isequa l to Fish in

’

J immy in its wa y , while a s a n illustra tion of thetext , ‘A little child sha l l le ad them,

’it is the most irresistibly pa

thetic ta le we remember to ha v e seen . Among th e brightest, mostcha rming a nd irresistible of ch ild-crea tions in ourrecent litera ture .

”

—T!z eOne of th e brightest, sweetest , most h elp ful little books

for young a nd ol d tha t we ha v e seen forma ny a d a y . I t is a liv ewith tha t sort of humor tha t is so close to pa thos tha t one la ughsa nd cries in th e same brea th . I t spea ks to the v ery hea rt, a nda ppea ls strongly to a l l

‘proba ble son s .

’in wha tev er sta tion or con

d ition , in a n irresistible wa y ; a nd with winning simplicity a ndconfidence shows the rea diness of the Fa ther to forgiv e a nd to

receiv e .

”—Ch ristz'a n Work .

TE DDY ’

S BUTTONI llustrated . Sma l l 4to, decorated c loth , soc .

“A ca ptiv a ting story . Teddy a nd Nancy win our hea rts .Tedd 'ys bra v e fight W i th himse lf comma nds a dmira t ion, a nd stouthea rted, hand some Na ncy, a rea l girl in a l l h er domgs , conquersth e hea rt . A v ery good story is this for the children . ! T/ze

Ch ristia n I n tel tz'

gen cer.

‘“ Teddy ’s Button ’ wa s ta ken from the coa t of h is dying sold ier fa ther, a n d in th e ha nds of the boy became a sort of ta l isma na nd a n incent iv e to v a lia nt serv ice a s a soldier of J esus Christ .

The story is one of fa scma ting interest, a nd th e mora l of it is not

fa r to seek . Th e little folks Will need no urging to rea d it.”

l e

E v a ngel ist.

TH O U G H TLE S S S EVENProfusely illustrated . Sma ll 4to, decorated

c loth , soc .

Thunder, ! “Li! (Lightning) , “Ta ters ,” Honey,” “Pa t,

!

Pixie,

!a n d

“Dood le-doo,” ma ke up the rollicking group whosea dv entures a nd cha tter a re here recorded . They a re mercuria la nd insurrectiona ry to the la st degree , and fly in a perpetua l “merrygo-round .” But a stra in of seriousness ea rly begins to dev eloplea ding up into la rge a nd noble Christia n exper ence a nd ambitionTh e inca rna tion of religion in da ily life where it is not too good forhuma n na ture ’

s da ily food,” is a dmira bly exemplified a nd commended .

”

“A b ig a n d a bright and interesting family is here set beforeus H ow one of them bega n to think , a nd then by a cting on h erthinking l ed th e others into the right wa y th e l ittle sketch tells .

—P ilgrim Tea c lzer .


ON TH E E DG E OF TH E

M O O R

I llustrated . I zmo, c loth ,

“A del ightfu l story of a quiet country life , of one who wa seager to do good to h er fellow-beings, a nd who improv ed every 0pportunity to do so. E specia lly ma y those whose home is in th e

q uiet country ,a nd who think tha t there is no Opportunities for doinggood to be found there, fi nd hints of ways in wh ich much good mayb e done. The liv es into which the lea st sunshine comes—thesea re th e ones which need our help th e most.” Ch r is tia n H era l d .

This is a nother of those cha rming an d hea lthy stories for

young people forwhich this a uthor h a s become distinguished I tI S a good book for the home or the Sunday-school library. ! —Zzo'z ’s

DW ELL DE E PI llustrated , I 6mo, c loth , 750.

A story o f a girl who, being l e ft without a home, went to liveWith h er guardia n

, who h a d a number of children. H ilda Thornwa s trying to b e a Christia n

, a nd h er a ssocia tes were v ery world ly ,which ma de it hard for h er. I t is a n interesting story, withth e rea lity of experience .

” H e Rel ig ious H era l d .

“An intensely interesting story. Th e a uthor pla inly illustra testhe

.

poss ibility of magnifying Christia n life a nd cha ra cter amid th ewh irl of ga yety a nd plea sure in socia l life . Cha ra cter speaks withe ffect iv eness , a nd th e world bows in a cknowledgment to pra ctica lChristia nity in a positive re ligious chara cter. Th e a uthor ev identlyh a s succeeded in ma king her chara cters seem to b e rea l a nd posstb le.

” —C1zristia n I n tel l igen cer .

H IS B IG OPPORTUN ITYI llustrated . I zmo, c loth , 750.

Aside from its liv ely interest, this story will b e good for boysto read . I t does not prea ch

, but its influence is strong for th e

right, a nd it lea v es a sma ck of hea rty encoura gement in th e youthfu l mind . —T/ze I n d ep end en t.Here is a ca pita l little story for boys , for girls, or for grownpeople . Of course , it is a story w ith a mora l, and the mora l is a l

wa ys obVious but it does not interrupt th e story, which is good . !—C/z nrc lz S ta nd a rd .

Th e story is a v ery pretty one, a nd nice to _giv e littl e childrenOr to p ut in a Sund a y-school libra ry. The sentiment is not mawkish nor the religious e lement overdone.

Documents

OP - Forgotten Books · NEW YORK CHlCAGO TORONTO. DEDICATED To TH E BO YS AND G IRLS ... A horse or a camel or a ... You read a book from left to right but in Arabia everybody