Part 33

AN ARAB CHAUNT.

My steed is black as a night without moon or stars; He was foaled in vast solitudes; He is an air-drinker, son of an air-drinker. His dam also was of noble race, And our horsemen of the days of powder have surnamed him Sabok. The lightning flash itself cannot overtake him: Allah save him from the evil eye!

His ears vie with those of the gazelle, His eyes are the eyes of a woman with wiles, His forehead resembles that of a bull, His nostrils the cavern of a lion. His neck, shoulders, and croup are long, He is broad in the seat, in the limbs and flanks, He has the tail of a viper, the thighs of an ostrich, And his vigorous heels are lifted above the ground. I reckon upon him as upon my own heart. Never has mortal mounted his equal.

His flesh is firmer than that of the zebra; He has the short gallop of the fox, The easy and prolonged running of the wolf; He accomplishes in one day a five days' march; And when he stretches out at full speed, he strikes the girts with his hocks. You would say that it was a dart hurled by fate,

Or a thirsty pigeon that precipitates itself Upon the water preserved in the hollow of a rock.

Yes, Sabok is a war horse! He loves the chace of savage animals, He sighs only for glory and booty, And the cries of our virgins excite his ardour. When I urge him into the midst of dangers, His neighing summons the vultures And makes my enemies tremble; On his back, death cannot overtake me, It fears the sound of his hoofs.

Aâtika said to me: "Come and be without a companion!" Docile as the sabre one draws from the sheath, Sabok hears my spurs, and divines my thoughts; He cleaves through space like a falcon regaining its nest, And when I arrive near her whose eyes are languishing, Alone, in the midst of peril, patient and immovable, He champs his bit until my return. By the head of the Prophet, this horse is the resource of caravans, The ornament of a tent, and the honour of my tribe.

I am an Arab. I know how to command and to combat, My name protects the feeble and the afflicted, My flocks are the reserve of the poor, And the stranger in my tent is named The Welcome One. The Almighty hath loaded me with his gifts, But time turns upon itself, and turns back, And if I must drink one day of the two cups of life, I will show that adversity cannot humiliate my soul. My virtue shall be resignation, My fortune, contempt of riches, My happiness, the hope of another life; And if poverty were to grasp me by the throat, I would not the less glorify Allah.

PART SECOND

THE MANNERS OF THE DESERT

THE EMIR ABD-EL-KADER ON THE HORSE.

It is certain that the Arabs are the most experienced horsemen in the world. They know a horse thoroughly and minutely, and can rear and train one better than any other people. It is also certain that the Arab horses are better than those of all other nations. A sufficient proof of this is that they always finish by overtaking the gazelle, the ostrich, and the wild ass, which they sometimes pursue to a great distance.

"He has chased the onager, the buffalo, and the ostrich, without once pulling up, and without a single drop of sweat moistening his coat."

The nature of the horses of the Sahara is a consequence of the life led by their masters. The Saharenes are obliged to accustom their horses to support hunger through the scarcity of food, and likewise thirst through the scarcity of water, which is frequently not to be found within a couple of day's march of the encampment. Endurance of fatigue and speed are the result of the countless quarrels of these Arabs, their incessant hostile excursions, and their fondness for the chace of the swiftest animals, such as the ostrich, the gazelle, and the wild ass, which some among them hunt the whole year round without interruption.

The Most High hath said: "Put on foot all the forces you can dispose of, and hold in readiness a large number of horses, to intimidate the enemies of Allah and your own, and yet others, whom you know not but who are known to Allah. Whatever you shall have expended in the service of Allah, shall be recompensed to you. You will not be forsaken."

And the Prophet never ceased to repeat:

"Whoso possesses an Arab horse and honours him, will be honoured of Allah."

"Whoso possesses an Arab horse and contemns him, will be contemned of Allah."

THE SAHARA

BY ABD-EL-KADER.

Glory to God alone!

O thou who takest up the defence of the hader

And condemnest the love of the bedoui for his boundless horizons!

Is it for their lightness that thou findest fault with our tents?

Hast thou no word of praise but for houses of wood and stone?

If thou knewest the secrets of the desert, thou wouldst think like me:

But thou art ignorant, and ignorance is the other of evil.

If thou hadst waked up in the middle of the Sahara, If thy feet had trampled this carpet of sand, Sprinkled with flowers like to pearls, Thou wouldst have admired our plants, The singular variety of their hues, Their grace, their delicious perfume;