Mogreb-el-Acksa: A Journey in Morocco

This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler.
BY R. B. CUNNINGHAME GRAHAM
“Show me Sohail and I will show you the moon”
LONDON: DUCKWORTH & CO. 3, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN
Published by William Heinemann in 1898. Revised Edition issued by Duckworth and Co. in 1921.
All rights reserved
TO HAJ MOHAMMED ES SWANI EL BAHRI I DEDICATE THIS BOOK
Not that he will ever read , or even , being informed of it , ever comprehend its nature , except in so far as to think it some “ Shaitanieh ” or another not to be understood .
But I do so because we have travelled much together , and far , and it must have been at times a sore temptation to him , in lonely places , to assure himself of Paradise by “ nobbling ” an unbeliever . Still , I would trust myself with him even to go the pilgrimage to Mecca ; therefore , he must trust me when I swear not to have cast a spell on him ( as Christians will upon occasion ) by writing his name here for unbelieving men to wonder at .
TO WAYFARING MEN .
Sirs, the Holy Scriptures, which, as we know, were written for our learning, seem to imply that some of us are fools.
This may be so, and when I moralise, wrapped in the frequent contemplation of my travels, upon lost opportunities, lack of discernment, and on the general folly incident to all mankind, but which each man deems centred in himself, I think so too. But still a traveller in this travelling world, going perhaps to nowhere, or to some place that he would rather never visit, cannot but find his most congenial public amongst wayfaring men. Therefore to you who, like myself, have crossed, or even now are crossing, desert or pampa in the night; riding towards Capella, if in the southern hemisphere (Sohail in Africa), keeping the wind a little blowing on your right cheek, dismounting now and then to smoke and slack the girths; then camping on some river, sleeping fitfully and rising oft to view your horses feeding so quietly under the southern stars; or you who in the liner, ocean tramp, or even “windjammer” are going somewhere for no special reason, I now address myself.