"Lord of the desert is Ali Higg!
Akbar! Akbar! *
Lord of the gardens of grape and fig.
Akbar! Akbar!
Lord of the palm and clustered date.
Mishmish,** olive and water sate
Hunger and thirst in Ali's gate!
Akbar! Akbar! Akbar Ali Higg!
"Lion of lions and lord of lords!
Akbar! Akbar!
Chief of lances, prince of swords!
Akbar! Akbar!
Red with blood is the realm he owns!
Bzz-u-wzz-uzz the blood-fly drones!
Crack-ak-ak-ak! The crunching bones!
Akbar! Akbar! Akbar Ali Higg!
"Jackals feed on Ali's trail!
Akbar! Akbar!
Speed and strength and numbers fail!
Akbar! Akbar!
Swooping along in a cloud of sand,
Killing and conquering out of hand
Hasten the slayers of Ali's band!
Akbar! Akbar! Akbar Ali Higg!
"Camel and horse and fat-tail sheep,
Akbar! Akbar!
Ali's kite-eyed herdsmen keep!
Akbar! Akbar!
Gold and silver and gems of the best,
Amber and linen and silks attest
What are the profits of Ali's quest!
Akbar! Akbar! Akbar Ali Higg!
"Fair are the fortunes of Ali's men!
Akbar! Akbar!
Each has slave-women eight or ten!
Akbar! Akbar!
Ho! Where the dust of the desert swirls
Over the plain as his cohort whirls,
Oho! the screams of the plundered girls!
Akbar! Akbar! Akbar Ali Higg!"
——————- * Akbar means "great."
** Mishmish—apricot. In that land of drought and desolation the highest compliment you can pay a man is to call him lord of water and ripening fruit. ——————-
There was any amount more of it, but most of the rest was not polite enough for print, because the Arab likes to enter into details. It sounded much better in Arabic, anyhow. And more and more frequently as the song grew lurid and they warmed to the refrain they made their point by changing the third Akbar into Jimgrim:
"Akbar! Akbar! Jimgrim Ali Higg!"
It suited their sense of humor finely to announce to the wind and the kites that Grim, the strict, straight, ethical American was a ravisher of virgins and a slitter of offenseless throats, who knew no mercy—a man without law in this world or prospect of peace in the next.