Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1870-10-06
Vii srellaueuas.
ARAB PeLITENEss..

at least in fine phrases-among the ma
tions of the earth; for about three @
four thousand years or sothey have gon
on twisting anew their cultural langua
ges into all varieties of complimentar.
and stately forms of speech, into al
kinds of sugared expressions for bene
diction, for flattery, and for solicitation
till the quantity of small coin the.
possess which in way of compliment
is unparalleled in any other tongue.
Those who have spent much tim,
among the Arabs can recite hundre'
ways of giving benediction, from th'
aAllah increase thy substance, dowr
to the lower form of "May thy stomach
never know hunger.n It is true, indeed
that these forms of benediction are gen
orally used to precede a arequest;for th'
crafty Arab is great solicitor, and wei
knows how to fiatter and cajole the pos
sible benefactor. "To him who is noun
ter. on an ass,"' says an Arab sproverb
say, 40, my lord, may thy horse fart
well,u and "kiss the dog on the mouth,
enjoins another, till you have got al
from him that you require To compre
hend the pleasant energy of which lat
ter saying we must remember that the
dog is an unclean beast for an Arab, land
that he cnnnot even touch him without
incurring the necessity of ablution be-
fore his next prayer, out of the five daily
prayers which the Monaddin calls upon
him to perform.
Nevertheless, prodigal as the Arab
may be of fine phrases such as MAY
Allah give thee thousand-and-one
camels, - before you grant him what he
wants, you must not be altogether un-
prepared to hear him say, ifshe should
meet you in after time, and have no need
of you-sMy horse may know you, but
dent. p .-..,s-. -;
However; such cases, it is said, are not
common, although, as rule, the Arab
thinks himself little bound by any obli-
CATION to an infidel. ~ -1Z ist4
One of the most noticeable character
istics of Arab manners is that politsness
is not mainly confined, as with US, to
certain classes; but that its most refined
rules are known equally to all, to rich
and to poor, to noble and to peasant,
from the borders of Mesopc tamia to the
Atlantic.
AS NJ. Renan has observed, there are
no men in the world among which there
is SO little difference in mental culture
andfn dignity of bearing as the Arab.
The loves Arab, when he approaches
the sultan; the pasha,or the shiek, in
the form of a suppliment, looks his su-
perior straight in the face, and
is not. ashamed. "Allah" he says,
regards with the same eyes the cedar
and the hyssop,p and Allah is the un-
seen witness whom the Arab considers,
or Ought to consider, as present at every
action of his life. Whether he eats,
drinks, sleeps, or goes on journey, he
mentally refers everything to Allah;
Allah, in fact, is the real. fountain of
good manners and allthe of. Arab polite
ness y i
Arab good manners, then, require
that q man shall be decently dressed
and pious in every action of his life. He
must, to begin with, be careful in all the
abIutions prescribed by his religion; he
must have bis head shaved once week
keep heard, not cut, but carefully trimm-
ed, and that to point; he must keep,
also, his upper mustaches clipped to the
level of his upper lip, except at the cor
ners, so that he may not soil his dress in
eating, and he must not omit to keep his
nails in good order, never biting them,
but pairing them carefully; and even
the partings ale not TO be thrown into
the fire, or buried in the earth, for the
nails are. in fact, sacred, according to
Arab superstition.
When you speak of the weather, you
will take care not to say, dogmatically,
"The weather will be fine or bad to NOR
row. you, poor infinite mortal, should
should not have the insolence TO opredict
anything absolutely about the weather.
God alone can do that. All you can say
is, "It viii be fine TO morrow, Inshalla.'
If it please God; and you must not
even say. Tomorrow will go to mar
ket,' without the Inshalla. The Arabs
affirm that the lion one day took tol
counting.over the animals who were at
his mercy. 'Inshalla,' he said, Il can
carry off a horse without hurting me.
Inshalla, can carry off heifer, and
gallop no wit the less FAST But when
he came to the sheep, he. disdained to
use the Inshalla; therefore, so at least
report the Arabs, the lion is not able to
carry off the sheep [the fact being, it is
said, that the lion does not like to feel
the wool of the sheep in his MOUTH
Every exclamation of surprise or Won
der must be accompanied by the express
sion, GLORY be to God,' Sebahan AIIa.n
And no decent Arab will undertake an
expedition, 60 on a hunting party, or
begin any serious affair whatever with
out saying first Bismillah!
If you speak of any respectable per-
son no longer living, be sure whenever
you mention his name to say, MAY
God be merciful to me, Allah inhmon.
Similarly, likewise, if inquiries are
made of you about any person who has
died unknown to you interrogation, do
not by ay means cay in coarse way
'Abdallah ben So and-so is dead,' but
May Allah be merciful TO him. Your
companion will understand you.
You must avoid. moreover, to speak
of death at all if you can help it, ex-
ceptof death by battle in the holy war.
T,,a yord 10 rot a nIa@sont opn Mora