BOOK OF THE MARVELS OF THE TIME CONCERNING THE MASSACRES IN THE ARAB COUNTRY.

(P. 2) In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate! Praise to Him who has no equal in dignity and perfection, in greatness and majesty, and passes judgment upon the conduct of our lives at their appointed term; who changes the seasons and alters circumstances! But Himself He does not change in the space of all time from generation to generation. We thank Him for the gifts and favors He bestows upon us. And we pray Him for His assistance in everything we say and do. Proceeding: The one in need' [of the grace of God), who hopes for the mercy of his very holy Lord, Iskander, the son of Ya'qūb Abkarius, begs to say that, when the affliction came to pass which befell the Christians from the nation of the Druzes in Mount Lebanon, its report spread in all districts and countries, and the people spoke of it in every place until in length of time it turned their tears to anger. (P. 3) I have opened this book with an exposition of what I have ascertained [to be true] of it and have added a narrative of the events at Damascus and what happened there in the matter of devastation. And I have taken great pains, putting my soul into this business, and I have been very careful in the selection of my material, endeavoring to sift it carefully. And I offer what I have been able to verify by means of inquiry and investigation in order that whoever comes after me, may learn the truth about these troubles and disturbances; and that he may know the design and intention of the evil purposed with them. Therefore, supported by the power of Him who be supremely exalted, I have produced a book, completing [that which I intended in the best manner [I could]. And this I did in the city of Bayrut, the protected, of the province of Syria. And when it was all finished and it seemed good, I called it Marvels of the

An epithet inspired, like the Christian author's initial formula, by his Muhammadan environment if not antecedents; of Qurân, XXXV, 16. In the following pages many such expressions will be found, redolent of Islamic convictions and modes of thought, which often form a curious mixture with an acquired Christian phraseology as a vehicle for imperfectly assimilated Christian ideas.

The "white" or "whitish," a name said to be derived from the brightness of the limestone walls that line the mountain range and give it a distinctive, radiant appearance.

Time concerning the Massacres in the Arab Country, and I divided it into nine chapters, inserting into them what they contain of causes and effects.

(P. 4) First Chapter.

Statement regarding Mount Lebanon and the acts of injustice and iniquity there committed.

Second Chapter.

Narrative of the troubles and disturbances which occurred in al-Matn and as-Sahil.

Third Chapter.

Narrative of the treachery and deceit suffered by the people of adDubbiyah and Mu'allaqat ad-Dāmūr.

Fourth Chapter.

Narrative of the heart-rending trials that befell the people of the district of Jazzīn and of at-Tuffāḥ and al-Kharnūb.

(P. 5) Fifth Chapter.

Concerning the carnage at Ḥaşbayya, which was followed by the massacre of Rāshayyā.

Sixth Chapter.

Concerning the siege of Zaḥlah, which forced its inhabitants to emigrate.

Seventh Chapter.

Concerning the massacre at Dayr al-Qamar, which was pitiless and did not [seem to] cease.

Eighth Chapter.

Concerning the carnage at Damascus and the part played in it by the 'Amir 'Abd'al-Qadir, the Algerian, who, prompted by exceeding

The last two words of the title here repeated and half erased and rewritten in the Arabic text, bear the guilty look of a pun on the geographical term 'Arabistan, viz., “Arab Country" or "Land of the Arabs," used to designate both the Persian province of Khuzistan and the provinces of the Ottoman Empire where Arabs and their descendants or Arabic speaking peoples form the bulk of the population; of Note 49 to the Introduction. As finally written, they may be read by the lover of such plays on words, "Arabs of the Garden (of Syria)."

kindness and solicitude, did the right thing with regard to the Christians.

(P. 6) Ninth Chapter.

Concerning the advent of the companion of Empire and high consideration and dignity, Fu'ad Pasha, and his honoring [visit to] Bayrut on the part of his Majesty the Sultan 'Abd'al-Majid Khān for the purpose of restoring order in the affairs of Mount Lebanon.

I say: These [headings of the different] chapters are the substance of the contents of this book. But I have mentioned in them [still] more important events as appended to every subdivision.

FIRST CHAPTER

Statement about Mount Lebanon and the acts of injustice and iniquity there committed.

We, before we enter upon the narrative of the disturbances and of the occurrence (P. 7) of horrible and abominable actions, deem it proper to consider the aspect of the affairs of the Mount and to [state to] which confessions and nations' its inhabitants belong in order that more satisfaction and greater advantage be [derived from this book]. We say [therefore] that Mount Lebanon [is one] of the most famous mountains that exist and that its inhabitants have their origin in the most remote ages, preceding the epochs and times of the peoples who clung to vain beliefs. And now they [the peoples of the Lebanon, divided according to their creeds, are principally] Christians and Druzes, and among these [live] a few Moslemin and Mutawalies.

I. e. religious communities, to the patriarchs or other recognised heads of which welldisposed Ottoman rulers have granted, by successive firmâns, certain rights and privileges that actually give them the status of separate nations, differences of creed dividing the people like or even more strongly than differences of nationality. Only the Maronites among the Christian denominations are without such a firmân. But, to quote Dr F. J. BLISS, op. cit., p. 23, "the fact that ever since 1516 they have enjoyed all the privileges of a "nation" recognised by the sultans, is considered to be sufficient. Precedent takes the place of formal authorisation."

The Mutawalies are Shi'ites who, in the Lebanon, greatly exceed the Sunnites in number. To the North they extend as far as Homs (Pliny's Hemesa of ancient renown), to the South as far as the Bahr Tabariya (Sea of Galilee). Counting some 120.000, they are said to

As regards the Christians in the aforesaid Mount Lebanon, their number reaches about ninety thousand males and most of them are of the Maronite persuasion. Among them, however, are also who belong to the Orthodox Greek Church and to the Greek Catholic [United Greek] Church." As regards the Druzes, their number reaches, roughly speaking, fifteen (P. 8) thousands and more.' They deny the resurrection [of the body] and believe in the transmigration of the soul. They consider everything permitted if [only] it is done in secret. They assert the divinity of Adam whom they call Shaţnil,10 and they say that his soul has migrated from one to another from generation to generation until it entered the Imam 'Aly Ibn Abū Talib, the Eminent, and then" [one of] the issue of his daughter12 be the descendants of Persian settlers in the time of 'Umayyad rule, have an ugly reputation and show themselves very suspicious of strangers. Their religious chief resides at Jabā'ah near Jazzin. Their leading family is that of the Ḥarfūsh.

6

• According to a Table of the Statistics of Mount Lebanon, already mentioned, the number of Christians capable of carrying arms was 190.055 of whom 102.105 were Maronites. As regards those Maronites, "ils résidèrent longtemps dans le Nord du Liban (Batroun et Djebail) sans dépasser le Nahr Ibrahim. Ils se sont graduellement avancés dans la direction du Sud et de l'Est, poussés par les Ansariah et poussant eux-mêmes les Druses; ils ont ainsi occupé les districts de Kesrouan, Meten, Djezzin. Leur prise de possession du littoral phénicien et de la Bekaa se continue encore à l'heure actuelle." A. BERNARD, op. cit.

The members of the Orthodox Greek and the Greek Catholic or United Greek Churches, are, after the Maronites, numerically the strongest among the Christians of the Lebanon. The number of Protestants, Roman Catholics, Syrian Catholics (United Syrians) and United Armenians is very small in that region, not to mention the Gregorian Armenians, Jacobites, Orthodox Nestorians and United Nestorians or Chaldaeans.

8 Males understood.

Rather more: the table again referred to in Note 6, gives 56.035, a number which has considerably shrunk in consequence of the Druze exodus to Hauran that followed the events of 1860 and European intervention.

10 Cf H. GUYS, Théogonie des Druses: “Adam, l'Élu [to be distinguished from the two other Adams, the rebellious or partial and the forgetful or material one] a eu, d'ailleurs, plusieurs apparitions avant qu'il êut reçu le nom de Schatnil et on le fait naître dans une ville de l'Inde. Puis il est envoyé pour être adoré par les anges."

"After several other migrations; see SILVESTRE DE SACY, Exposé de la Religion des Druzes, 1838, still the standard work on its subject, to which and La Nation Druse by H. GUYS, 1864, we refer for clearer notions than those possessed by our author anent the Syrian unitarians, who claimed that the secret of their religion was better guarded from the uninitiated than the track of a black ant perambulating a piece of black marble on a black night. P. WOLFF, Die Drusen und ihre Vorlaufer, 1845; F. TOURNEBIZE, Les Druzes, in the Études des Pères de la Compagnie de Jésus, October 5, 1897; and C. F. SEYBOLD, Die Drusenschrift Kitāb al-Nogaṭ wal-Dawă'ir, 1902, may also be consulted. 12 Viz. the Prophet's daughter, who was 'Aly's wife.

Fățimah, who was one of the Fatimide Khalifs," called al-Manşür," and after his investment [with the Khalifate], received the surname of al-Hakim-bi-'amri'llah." Thereupon he surnamed himself alHakim-bi-'amri-hi,16 reposing confidence in his being He." And the first to believe in him [as such] was his wazir Hamzah Ibn 'Aly al-Majūsy, and then the Sheikh Ma'n Ibn Şafiyyah and the Sheikh Husayn ad-Darazy. And the latter is he from whom (P 9) of yore this community originated's because he was strenuous in its faith and in the furtherance of its success, always ready to urge people to the worship of al-Hakim above all [other] beliefs and religions. And the first place where he made his appearance was the Wady Taym-Allah Ibn Tha'labah in Mount Lebanon. And part of the people of the aforesaid Wady at-Taym and Iqlim al-Ballan put their trust in him. Thereupon these dissenting opinions spread to the Jabal ash-Shuf" and the Jabal ash-Sheikh" and the Jabal al-A'la" and the countries of Şafad and Hauran" where, however, they [who "Hakim, son of Aziz-billah Abū Manşûr Nazār and a Christian woman, sixth of the Fatimide Khalifs and third of the Fatimide rulers of Egypt.

"The Victorious because assisted by God.

"The one who exercises authority by the decree of God.

The one who exercises authority by his own decree. 17 1. e. God incarnate.

"Deriving its name from his cognomen ad-Darazy. Of Persian extraction, he was called Muḥammad Ibn Isma'il, not Husayn as our author has it, and in the books of the Druzes he bears the Turkish prænomen Nashtagin. Cf B. CARRA DE VAUX, Encyclopaedia of Islām, v. Darazi.

"In 1017. Cf F. A. MÜLLER, Der Islam im Morgen- und Abendland, 1, 632. But F. WÜSTENFELD, Geschichte der Fatimidenchalifen, puts the date some three years later, in the last year of Ḥākim's life.

20 Still revered as the cradle of the Druze religion.

"With Ba'aqlin, a focal point of Druze religious life, still a centre of Druze activity in the Lebanon.

Mount Hermon.

"The High Mountain.

"The Arabic form of Auranitis and therefore Ḥaurân, not the Hauran as we commonly find. King James's translators of the Bible, too, EZEKIEL, XLVII, 16 & 18, have the word without the definite article. Probably of inconsiderable extent in biblical times when it corresponded with Bashan, the famous King Og's territory, Haurān was enlarged under the Greeks and the Romans. Still farther increased since those days it "now includes not only Auranitis but Ituraca also, or Ittur, of which Djedour is perhaps a corruption, together with the greater part of Basan or Batanaea and Trachonitis.......From Strabo and Ptolemy we learn that Trachonitis comprehended all the uneven country extending along the eastern side of the plain of Haouran from near Damascus to Boszra....... The two Trachones into which Trachonitis was divided, agree with the two natural divisions