foes
].
Spenser,
Faery Queen
, iv. 9 (1596).
Druses (Return of the). The Druses, a semi-Mohammedan sect of Syria, being attacked by Osman, take refuge in one of the Spor'adês, and place themselves under the protection of the Knights of Rhodes. These knights slay their sheiks and oppress the fugitives. In the sheik massacre, Dja'bal is saved by Maä'ni, and entertains the idea of revenging his people and leading them back to Syria. To this end he gives out that he is Hakeem, the incarnate god, returned to earth, and soon becomes the leader of the exiled Druses. A plot is formed to murder the prefect of the isle, and to betray the Island to Venice, if Venice will supply a convoy for their return. An'eal (2 syl.), a young woman stabs the prefect, and dies in bitter disappointment when she discovers that Djabal is a mere impostor. Djabal stabs himself when his imposition is made public, but Loys, (2 syl.) a Brenton count, leads the exiles back to Lebanon. Robert Browning.—The Return of the Druses.
Historically, the Druses, to the number of 160,000 or 200,000, settled in Syria, between Djebail and Saïde, but their original seat was Egypt. They quitted Egypt from persecution, led by Dara'zi or Durzi, from whom the name Druse (1 syl.) is derived. The founder of the sect was the hakêm B'amr-ellah (eleventh century), believed to be incarnate deity, and the last prophet who communicated between God and man. From this founder the head of the sect was called the hakêm, his residence being Deir-el-Kamar. During the thirteenth or fourteenth century the Druses were banished from Syria, and lived in exile in some of the Sporadês but were led back to Syria early in the fifteenth century by Count Loys de Duex, a new convert. Since 1588 they have been tributaries of the sultan.
What say you does this wizard style himself—
Hakeem Biamrallah, the Third Fatimite?