stones of the earth became red carnelian. And those that remained alive of them were only a few. And when they [who had stayed at home] became aware of the misfortune which had befallen their companions, they were overwhelmed with grief and distressed by misgivings [concerning their own fate]. And they hastened to migrate, assembling (P. 56) at Jabal Turah, intending to direct themselves to Zaḥlah. And the news of their intention reached the Druzes and, pursuing them, they swooped upon them like sparrow-hawks and barred the roads and highways against them, and rushed upon them impetuously [attacking them] with sword-cuts and bullets. In this manner they killed two hundred and more of their men, and those that fled escaped to the Balad ash-Shaqif" where the Mutawalies met them like wolves and deprived them of their weapons and clothes. And the next morning, which was the second day of June, Qasim Yusuf went down to the monastery of the Savior100 with a party of young men, and they plundered the monastery and burned it down, and killed seventeen of the monks. And they carried off whatever rare and precious objects [they found] in the Christian churches. And it amounted to a considerable sum in money because [taken in by his assurances] they [the monks] (P. 57) cherished the illusion of Sheikh Sa'yd Janblat being trustworthy. So they did not divide any of [their belongings] but stayed all together in their monastery in tranquility of mind. And this was also the case with the monks living in the neighborhood of that place because they too [and for the same reason] mistook him for an honest man, but terror of the heart succeeded [their sense of security.

FIFTH CHAPTER

Concerning the carnage at Haṣbayyā, which was followed by the massacre of Rashayyā.

Before we enter upon an exposition of the conflict at Ḥaşbayya and Rashayya, it seems to us a good idea to mention one or two things pertaining to the subject of their previous government, which may

99 A mountainous district to the South, North of the Nahr al-Qasinīyah or Liṭāny. 100 In the Kharnub, North of the Nahr al-'Auwaly, the ancient Bostrenus.

serve as an introduction to what we are going to tell (P. 58) about their subsequent vicissitudes. So we [beg leave to] say that Ḥaşbayya101 and Rashayya102 are two neighboring towns, situated in the district of Wady at-Taym which belongs to the province of Damascus. And the larger of the two is Ḥāṣbayyā, a considerable city at the foot of a mountain with high rising summit. And this is the town of which the Sheikh 'Uthman aḍ-Darīr of Ḥamā said:

Ḥaşbayya, town of solid make, brings misery upon whoever approaches her,

Is divided into halves, ignominy and shame; ✩ bad luck from God upon the one who divided her!

And he said this because he had entered it by night and the 'Amir Qasim and the 'Amir Najam of the Shahābies shared its government, hospitality [to strangers] being exercised by those two in turn. Now at the sheikh's arrival he happened to go to the house of the 'Amir Qasim who refused to receive him because that night it was not his turn to exercise hospitality. (P. 59) So the sheikh apologised, saying that he was a stranger who did not know where to go in that darkness. [on such a dark night], but would be quite satisfied with only a place to sleep in, desiring neither anything to drink nor to eat. Yet the 'Amir ceased not to persevere in driving him away until he had chased him from his house. So the man departed, wandering between the houses of the town until at last one of the townspeople met him and took him to his dwelling and so dispelled from him [solved] that difficulty [of finding lodging for the night]. Then, when the morning broke, he flew upon the wing of the raven of separation [took his departure], leaving these two verses behind in the house of the man

101 Notwithstanding their altitude, both Ḥāṣbayyā and Rāshayya are sometimes identified with Baal-gad "in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon," JOSHUA, XI, 17. The greater part of the former town's population of about 8000 belonged to the Greek Church. Its sarai, which crowns the town, was built by the crusaders and became the family-seat of the Shihabies after they had taken it from those foreign invaders. URQUHART, op. cit., I, 361, says that it was afterwards rebuilt and repaired with mean workmanship; he found the walls dilapidated and the courts filthy. But PETERMANN, who visited it about the same time, in the 'fifties, called it, op. cit., I, 186, "ein prachtiges, noch immer sehr festes Schloss mit schöner Aussicht über die Stadt und Umgegend, . . . . . ." Later it was appropriated by the Turkish government.

102 Rashayya, somewhat smaller but as finely situated in the midst of its gardens and orchards, is also dominated by a imposing sarai which, of the same origin, shared the vicissitudes of the sister palace and fortress in Ḥāṣbayyā.

[who had sheltered him]. And they contained a conceit which does not hide itself from [seems plain enough to] the intelligent because the meaning it indicates and points in them is obvious, since disappointment on account of him who shared [the government of] the town, means in fact disappointment on account of the 'amir. But I say: we have swerved from our purpose (P. 60) and the rein of speech has lengthened [loosened] in our hands. And we shall now return from our digression to our main subject. So we say that of yore, from the remotest ages and times, the governors of this district were from among the Shihabite 'amīrs, who did not cease to adhere to the Islamic religion. And in those days [we are speaking of their governor was the 'Amir Sa'd ad-Din, and he resided in this town, most of whose inhabitants were Christians with a number of Druzes and but a few Moslemin among them. But in those days the province was not quiet as it had been in past years, because a rival from the nation. of the Druzes had risen against him, a rebellious man, called the Sheikh Salim Shams. He was not [a member of one] of the princely families (P. 61) like the other chiefs of the Mount, but this power [he enjoyed] had accrued to him and he had been incited to this audacity [by the fact] that the Sheikh Sa'yd Janblāt possessed a sister by the name of Na'yfah, who had married the Sheikh Amin Shams, a man of that [Druze] nation. And she gave birth to a daughter from [begotten by] him [Amin Shams], who married the aforesaid Sheikh Salim Shams. And the Sheikh Sa'yd liked him and raised him in rank and dignity until he had made him one of the principal lords, and he promised him that, when an opportunity presented itself in course of time, he would do his utmost to set him up as governor in the place of the 'Amir Sa'd ad-Din. So he trusted in this promise, relying upon the Sheikh Sa'yd's favor, and he talked incessantly to every one about his [future] exercise of authority. And some people of the Druze and Islamic communities attached themselves to him. (P. 62) And when the 'Amir Sa'd ad-Din heard of the Sheikh Salim boasting and of the Druzes and Moslemin taking his side, he drew to him [formed around him] a party of Christians in order that they might aid him [to ensure] his continuance in the office of governor. And in this manner began the discord and the conflict and the mischief between the Christians and the Druzes in this region. And this business developed until the 'amir found himself compelled to go

And

to Damascus and complain, laying his case before the Wazir. in the mean time [when lodging his complaint] he requested to be accompanied back by an army on the part of [to be furnished by] the Waly, promising to provide its expenditure [the expense of its maintenance] out of the money of the government assessed upon the people. So he [the Governor-General], granting his request, sent eight hundred men with him, half of them being ordered to Ḥaşbayya and the other half to Rashayya, and he [the 'Amir Sa'd ad-Din] travelled (P. 63) with them [returning] from Damascus. And he departed safely to Ḥaşbayya and wielded [there] his authority in peace. But only a short time elapsed before the army was required in Damascus on account of the pilgrimage103 and the 'amir was compelled to accompany them thither for fear that [otherwise] something unpleasant [might happen] to himself. And all the Shihabite 'amīrs went with him, knowing full well [what they had to fear from] the malicious spite of the Sheikh Salim and his rebellious companions. And after the departure of the 'amir from the country, the Druzes convoked those of the chiefs of the Christians whom they trusted, and desired of them [the Christians] that together with them [the Druzes] they should bring about his [the 'Amir Sa'd ad-Din's] removal from that region and the expulsion from those parts of all the 'amīrs of his family. And they [the Christian chiefs] said: Since the most remote times no harm has come to us from that family and we have experienced from it nothing (P. 64) but kindness and favor. So we answer you with respect to this matter: It would be an act of injustice and iniquity. But we will make a covenant with you that we shall withdraw ourselves and it is [up] to you and [incumbent] upon you [to decide]. You, [try to] compass what you wish and do what seems good to you. Then the Druzes wrote to the Governor-General at Damascus fully and circumstantially with seals and names attached, [stating] that they would not consent to any of those ‘amirs exercising authority over them, but the Waly took no notice of that letter. He ordered [on the contrary] the sending of eight hundred men under the banner

103 To Mecca. The yearly caravan is made up and starts on its voyage outside the Gate of God at the southern extremity of the suburb of al-Maydān, the event always occasioning such a concourse of people to Damascus that extraordinary precautions have to be taken for the preservation of order. Hence the recall of the troops detached to enforce the 'Amir Sa'd ad-Din's authority against the troublesome protégé of the Sheikh Sa'yd Janblät.

[command] of Aḥmad Bey with the 'Amir Sa'd ad-Din ash-Shihāb for the punishment of the culprits and the suppression of the seditious agitation and [its] causes. As regards the Sheikh Salim Shams, when [the news of] the 'amir advancing with an army reached him, he fled to al-Mukhtarah, imploring the protection of the Sheikh Sa'yd, and he remained there (P. 65) waiting for [further] tidings. And when Aḥmad Bey arrived in Ḥāṣbayya he seized a number of Druzes who had supported the rebellion and he threw them into jail, humiliating them and treating them with contempt. Now the Sheikh Salim had a Christian steward called Mikhail Ghabril, who adapted himself to all what agreed with his violent disposition. And the Sheikh Salim valued him highly and showed him great regard and consulted him in all his affairs. And when the Sheikh Sa'yd learned what the colonel of the army had done with respect to imprisonment and oppressive measures, he saw clearly that while the imperial troops remained there, he would not be able to accomplish his purpose in that country. He summoned therefore the aforesaid Mikhail to al-Mukhtārah and desired of him that he should present a petition recording upon it [attaching] the signatures (P. 66) of the Christians who sought the removal of the army from the Wady at-Taym seeing that it was no longer necessary. But he excused himself for the reason that the Christians had not agreed with him upon any such request because this thing would make trouble for them. And when he [the Sheikh Sa'yd] could not get him [Mikhail Ghabril] to do what he wanted, he began to employ other means and sent through his intermediary presents to the colonel, many precious gifts, among other things a mouthpiece of amber for a pipe and ten thousand piastres and four baskets of rice and sacks of wheat, and besides this rich clothes and carpets. And with it went a letter from him in which he took it upon him to effect a reconciliation, making himself responsible for the Druzes in the most gentle speech and meekest possible mode of address. And when the letter had reached him [the commander of the army] and he had read it and understood (P. 67) what it gave him to understand, and beheld his [the Sheikh Sa'yd's] gifts and presents, he became one of the truest of friends who ever sought to please him. And from that moment on his attitude changed. And he began to despise the Christians and to show regard for the Druzes, both the initiated and uninitiated among them, and he averted his eyes from [overlooked]