Narrative of the residence of Fatalla Sayeghir among the wandering Arabs of the great desert

by Alphonse de Lamartine

The next day the Drayhy called me and said, “Oh, Abdallah! your master is a god!” “No,” replied I, “but rather a prophet: what you witnessed yesterday is nothing compared to the power he has acquired by his profound science; he is the remarkable man of the age. Learn that, if he would, he is capable of making you king of all the Bedouins: he discerned that the comet which appeared some time ago was your star, that is, is superior to that of the other Arabs, and that if you will follow his advice in every point, you will become all-powerful.” This idea pleased him extremely. The desire of command and of glory sprang up with violence in his breast; and, by a coincidence truly extraordinary, I had divined the object of his superstition, for he exclaimed, “Oh, Abdallah, I see that you speak truth, and that your master is really a prophet. I had a dream some time ago, in which some fire, separating from a comet, fell upon my tent and consumed it, and I took this fire in my hand and it did not burn me. That comet surely was my star.” He then called his wife, and begged her to relate herself the dream as he had told it her on awaking. I availed myself of the circumstance to confirm still more effectually the superiority of Sheik Ibrahim, and the Drayhy promised me to follow all his advice for the future. M. Lascaris, delighted at this fortunate commencement, selected from his goods a handsome present, to give to the Drayhy, who accepted it with the greatest pleasure, and perceived in it a proof that it was not to enrich ourselves that we were endeavouring to counsel him. From that time he made us eat with his wife and daughters-in-law, in the interior of their tent, instead of eating with strangers in the rabha. His wife, a descendant of a great family, and sister of a minister of Ebn Sihoud, is named Sugar: she enjoys a high reputation for courage and generosity.

Whilst we were establishing our influence over the Drayhy, a minor enemy was working in the shade to destroy our hopes and ruin us. There is in every tribe a pedler, who sells to the women various articles he brings from Damascus. The one belonging to our tribe, whose name was Absi, filled besides the office of scribe to the Drayhy; but ever since our arrival he had lost both his office and his custom. He naturally felt a great antipathy for us, and sought every possible means to calumniate us before the Bedouins, beginning with the women, whom he persuaded that we were magicians; that we wanted to carry off their daughters into a far country, and throw a spell round the women that they might have no more children; that thus the race of the Bedouins would become extinct, and that Frank conquerors would come and take possession of the country. We soon felt the effects of his calumnies, without knowing their cause. The girls fled at our approach; the women called us opprobrious names; the elderly ones even threatened us. Amongst an ignorant and credulous people, where the women possess great influence, such a danger might have become serious. At last we found out these intrigues of Absi, and acquainted the Drayhy with them, who would have put him to death on the spot. We had great difficulty in getting him only dismissed from the tribe, which in fact only gave him further opportunity to extend his malice. A village called Mohadan, hitherto tributary to Mehanna, had become so to the Drayhy since his victories. This chief having demanded a thousand piastres that were due to him, the inhabitants, at the instigation of Absi, maltreated the Emir’s messenger, who punished them by carrying off their flocks. Absi persuaded the village chiefs to come with him to Damascus, and declare to the Capidji Bashi that two Frank spies had gained the confidence of the Drayhy, had made him commit all kinds of injustice, and were endeavouring to make him withdraw the Bedouins from their alliance with the Osmanlis. This denunciation was made before the Vizier Solyman Pacha, who sent a chokedar to the Drayhy, with a threatening letter, concluding with ordering him to deliver up the two infidels to his officer, that they might be led in chains to Damascus, where their public execution would operate as an example.

The Drayhy, enraged at the insolence of this letter, said to the Mussulman officer, “By Him who has raised the heavens, and lowered the earth, if thou wert not beneath my tent, I would cut off thy head, and tie it to my horse’s tail; and thus should he bear my answer to your vizier. As to the two strangers who are with me, I shall never deliver them up while I live. If he wants them, let him come and take them by the power of his sword!”

I then took the Drayhy aside, and entreated him to compose himself, and leave it to me to settle the affair.

I knew that M. Lascaris was intimately connected with Solyman Pacha, and that a letter from him would produce an effect that the Drayhy little expected. M. Lascaris, whilst with the French expedition in Egypt, had married a Georgian, brought with the women of Murad Bey, who proved to be cousin to Solyman Pacha. Subsequently he had occasion to go to Acre; his wife made known her relationship to the pacha, and was loaded by him with kindness and presents, as well as her husband.

M. Lascaris therefore wrote to Solyman Pacha, informing him that the pretended spies were no other than himself and his dragoman, Fatalla Sayeghir; that all that had been said against the Drayhy was false; that it was, on the contrary, for the interest of the Porte to cultivate his friendship, and to favour his preponderance over the other Bedouins. The chokedar, who was trembling for his life, hastened to bear the letter to Damascus, and returned in two days with a most friendly answer to Sheik Ibrahim, and another for the Drayhy, of which these are the contents.—After many compliments to the emir, he adds: “We have received a letter from our dear friend, the great Sheik Ibrahim, which destroys the calumnies of your enemies, and gives most satisfactory testimony regarding you. Your wisdom is made known to us. Henceforward we authorize you to command in the desert, according to your good pleasure. From us you shall receive only acts of friendship. We rate you above your equals. We commend to you our well-beloved Sheik Ibrahim, and Abdallah: their satisfaction will increase our regard for you,” &c. The Drayhy and other chiefs were greatly astonished at the great credit of Sheik Ibrahim with the pacha. This incident crowned their consideration towards us.

I have said that the Drayhy was surnamed the Exterminater of the Turks; I inquired the origin of this epithet. This is what Sheik Abdallah told me. The Drayhy having once plundered a caravan that was going from Damascus to Bagdad, the pacha was extremely enraged; but not daring openly to avenge himself, dissembled, according to the practice of the Turks, and induced him by fair promises to come to Bagdad. The Drayhy, frank and loyal, suspected no treachery, and went to the pacha with his ordinary train of ten horsemen. He was immediately seized, bound, thrown into a dungeon, and threatened with the loss of his head, if he did not pay for his ransom a thousand purses, (a million piastres,) five thousand sheep, twenty mares of the kahillan breed, and twenty dromedaries. The Drayhy, leaving his son as hostage, went to raise this enormous ransom; and as soon as he had discharged it, he resolved on taking his revenge. The caravans and the villages were plundered; and Bagdad was itself blockaded. The pacha, having collected his troops, came out with an army of thirty thousand men and some pieces of cannon against the Drayhy, who, supported by the allied tribes, gave him battle, which lasted three days; but finding that he was gaining no decisive advantage, retired silently in the night, turned the pacha’s army, and placing himself between it and Bagdad, attacked it unexpectedly on several points at the same time. Surprised by night, and on the quarter which was without defence, a panic seized the enemy’s camp. The confusion became general among the Osmanlis; and the Drayhy made a great slaughter of them, remaining master of an immense booty. The pacha escaped alone and with difficulty, and shut himself up in Bagdad. This exploit spread such terror among the inhabitants, that even after the peace, his name continued an object of dread. Abdallah recounted many other achievements of the Drayhy, and ended with saying that he loved grandeur and difficulties, and wished to subject all to his dominion.

These were precisely the qualities that Sheik Ibrahim desired to find in him: he therefore devoted himself more and more to the project of making him master of all the other tribes; but the Wahabees were formidable adversaries, who a few days afterwards fell upon the tribe Would Ali, and spread themselves over the desert to force the Bedouins to pay them a tenth. Alarmed at the approach of these terrible warriors, many tribes were about to submit, when Sheik Ibrahim persuaded the Drayhy that it was for his own honour to take the field, and declare himself protector of the oppressed.

Encouraged by his example, all the tribes, with the exception of that of El Hassnnée, and Beni Sakhrer, made alliance with him to resist the Wahabees. The Drayhy marched with an army of five thousand horse, and two thousand mardouffs. We were ten days without receiving any intelligence. The anxiety in the camp was excessive; symptoms of dissatisfaction against us were becoming apparent, for being the instigators of the perilous expedition; our lives might possibly have paid the penalty of our temerity, if the uncertainty had lasted much longer. On the next day, at noon, a horseman arrived at full speed, waving his white belt at the end of his lance, and shouting aloud, “God has given us the victory!” Sheik Ibrahim gave magnificent presents to the bearer of this good news, which relieved the tribe from serious alarm, and ourselves from no small peril. Shouting and dancing round lighted fires, cattle slain, and preparations for a festival to welcome the warriors, set the camp in an unusual agitation; and all this active arrangement executed by the women, presented a most original spectacle. At night, all the camp went forth to meet the victorious army, the dust they raised being seen in the distance. As soon as we met, the cries were redoubled. Jousting, racing, firing, and all possible demonstrations of joy, accompanied us back to the camp. After our repast we obtained a recital of the exploits of the warriors.

The Wahabees were commanded by a doughty negro, a half-savage, whose name was Abu-Nocta. When he prepares for battle, he takes off his turban and boots, draws up his sleeves to his shoulders, and leaves his body almost naked, which is of prodigious size and muscular strength. His head and chin, never being shaved, are overshadowed by a bushy head of hair and black beard, which cover his entire face, his eyes gleaming beneath the shade. His whole body, too, is hairy, and affords a sight as strange as it is frightful. The Drayhy came up to him three days from Palmyra, at a spot called Heroualma. The battle was most obstinate on both sides, but ended in the flight of Abu-Nocta, who removed to the country of Neggde, leaving two hundred slain on the field of battle. The Drayhy searched out among the spoils all that had been taken from the tribe Would Ali, and restored it. This act of generosity still further attached to him the affection of the other tribes, who were coming daily to put themselves under his protection. The report of this victory gained over the terrible Abu-Nocta was disseminated everywhere. Solyman Pacha sent the conqueror a pelisse of honour, and a magnificent sabre, with his congratulations. Soon after this exploit we encamped on the frontiers of Horan.