Hussein

“ They shall grind him into the earth and trample him under, as though he had not been. The uttermost parts have feared the gods of the English. They reach out, they destroy, there is no escape from them. Be warned; for I do not permit any to stand against me. The laws that I have given you, you shall keep; there shall be no other laws. Whoso murmurs shall know my wrath and the wrath of my gods. Take heed, I speak not twice. I spoke once to Hussein. Hussein heard not; and Hussein is dead, his ears are closed for ever. Hear, O people.
HAFIZ
O Shereef, we murmur not against you. ”

“ Today the world mourns one of its great leaders. A man of principle, a powerful force for good, His Majesty King Hussein was the embodiment of courage, dignity, and wisdom. Steadfast in his support for Middle East peace, he was admired by Americans and beloved by his country. King Hussein was an extraordinary statesman and a true friend of the United States. ”

“ It was intensely hot. Cheap European lamps flared and smoked against the canvas walls, casting an uncertain light upon the pink oleander flowers, the black-robed women, and the upturned faces of the men, streaming with sweat and tears, and all stricken and furrowed with cruel poverty and hunger—their sufferings would have made a longer catalogue than those of the Imam. The mollah tore his turban from his head and cast it upon the ground, and still he chanted on, and the people took up the throbbing cry: ‘Hussein! Hussein! ”

“ During the reign of Shah Sultan Hussein (1694-1722) , a weak and foolish prince, priests and slaves were elevated to high offices and the Sunnites suffered sore persecution. The result was that Afghan besieged the king in Isphahan. Hussein abdicated the throne in favor of his conqueror, who ultimately became insane and suffered deposition in 1725 at the hands of his brother, Ashrab. The atrocious tyranny of Ashrab was suddenly checked by the celebrated Nadir-Shah. Hussein and Ashrab belonged to the dynasty of Syydes, a holy sect, descendants of their prophet, Mohammed. ”

“ DAOUD
For years he had dreamed of the joy of killing Hussein.
JOHN
Well, he should have done it before I came. We don't hang over things and brood over them for years where I come from. If a thing's to be done, it's done.
DAOUD
Even so, master. Hafiz had laid his plans for years. He would have killed him and got his substance; and then, when the hour drew near, you came, and Hussein died, swiftly, not as Hafiz would have had him die; and lo! thou art the lord of the pass, and Hafiz is no more than a beetle that runs about in the dirt. ”

“ Masses of our glorious Arab Nation,
Peace be upon you and for you, the masses in the Arabic streets, houses and families.
Peace be upon every student, intellectual, solider, farmer, worker, women and men, youths and children. Peace be upon you and for, and upon the people of Iraq, both men and glorious women, the comrades of Saddam Hussein in the leadership, your brother and the son of your people and Nation: Saddam Hussein who is infected with the disease of your love: the disease without which any official in his nation will be sick. ”

“ JOHN BEAL
But Hussein is king here; he is Lord of the Pass, and that's everything here. I'm nobody.
MIRALDA
O, if you like to be nobody, of course that's different.
ARCHIE BEAL
I think she means that if Hussein weren't there there'd be only you. Of course, I don't know. I've only just come.
JOHN BEAL
But we can't kill Hussein!
[MIRALDA begins to cry.]
O Lord! Good heavens! Please, Miss Clement! I'm awfully sorry if I've said anything you didn't like. I wouldn't do that for worlds. I'm awfully sorry. It's a beastly country, I know. I'm really sorry you came. ”

“ Iraq's talented people, rich culture, and tremendous potential have been hijacked by Saddam Hussein. His brutal regime has reduced a country with a long and proud history to an international pariah that oppresses its citizens, started two wars of aggression against its neighbors, and still poses a grave threat to the security of its region and the world. ”

“ Over the last several days, the world has watched as the regime of Saddam Hussein began passing into history. We will always remember the first images of a nation released from decades of tyranny and fear. ”

“ JOHN BEAL
Well, whoever owns that pass is everybody. No one else counts.
ARCHIE BEAL
And who does own it?
JOHN BEAL
Well, it's actually owned by a fellow called Hussein, but Miss Clement's uncle, a man called Hinnard, a kind of lonely explorer, seems to have come this way; and I think he understood what this pass is worth. Anyhow, he lent Hussein a big sum of money and got an acknowledgment from Hussein. Old Hinnard must have been a wonderfully shrewd man. For that acknowledgment is no more legal than an I.O.U., and Hussein is simply a brigand. ”

“ One day Yussuf, hearing good reports from those who were training Hussein in thieving, took him to the top of a hill traversed by a road, where, seeing a peasant carrying a sheep on his back approaching, Yussuf Ben Ali asked of Hussein, now renamed Abou so that he might not be found: ‘How shall we get the sheep without the peasant learning that we have taken it?’ Trained by fear of punishment to use his wits, Abou, after some thought replied: ‘When thou seest the sheep alone, take it!’ Stealing from the thicket, he placed one of his shoes in the road and then hid. ”

“ Drawing their swords they came out and met an army of several thousand men. After a brief contest Hussein and his men were overcome. Hussein was captured alive. The Shiite Moslems of Persia say that when Hussein was taken before the chief captain for execution, he was very thirsty and asked for a drink of water before being beheaded. ”

“ Meanwhile their Arab guide, Hussein, himself a Bedouin, though of another tribe, addressed a pathetic appeal to the robber chief. "Arabs," said he, "you have stripped a man entrusted to my protection, and for whose safety I will stake my life; a man with whom I have eaten, who has slept in my tent, and has become my brother! ”

“ When the Khalifa had gone, I shook hands with Olivier Pain, and introduced him to Hussein Khalifa; but I confess to feeling considerably prejudiced against him by his offer to assist our enemies. However, I urged him to be most careful, and to say that he had been induced to come here rather out of love for religion than for political motives. Even Hussein Pasha, who was evidently very much annoyed, said in Arabic to me, "Is that what you call politics,—to offer money and arms to people whose only object is to kill others, rob them of their property, and enslave their wives and daughters? ”

“ Millions of Iraqis feel the same as their country is finally returned to them. The nightmare of Saddam Hussein's rule in Iraq is ending. Soon, the good and gifted people of Iraq will be free to choose their leaders who respect their rights and reflect their character. In all that is to come, they will have the goodwill of the entire world. ”

“ The woman was too handsome to be sacrificed: so Hussein, who had a special eye to female loveliness, saved her at once, by sabring one of his Majesty's soldiers and pistolling another, to cool the ardour of the rest; but now, a dozen or more of Turkish officers, flushed alike by blood, which is enjoined by the Koran, and by wine, which is forbidden by it, crowded into the apartment. ”

“ I have tried to support our President, believing at the time of the vote on the war in Iraq that we had been given good intelligence and knowing that Saddam Hussein was a menace to the world, a brutal dictator, a tyrant by any standard, and one who threatened our country in many different ways, through the financing and fomenting of terrorism. ”

“ On this side of sublime meanings and the true free stand were your people, you Arabs. It is your valiant army, you faithful freedom fighters. It is Iraq, you good people in humanity at large. It is the son of the immortal twin rivers, the bearer of the greatest mark in honour, character, principles, faith, stand, sword and banner. It is he whom you have known for the last ten years defending the principles of faith and humanity and defending the principles of his glorious Arab nation. ”

“ The British promised old King Hussein of Mecca that if he'd raise an Arab army to use against the Turks, there should be a united Arab kingdom afterward under a ruler of their own choosing. The kingdom was to include Syria, Arabia and Palestine. The French agreed. Well, the Arabs raised the army; Emir Feisul, King Hussein's third son, commanded it; Lawrence did so well that he became a legend. The result was, Allenby could concentrate his army on this side of the Jordan and clean up. He made a good job of it. The Arabs were naturally cock-a-hoop. ”

“ As diplomatic efforts continue, we must never lose sight of the basic facts about the regime of Baghdad.
We know from recent history that Saddam Hussein is a reckless dictator who has twice invaded his neighbors without provocation -- wars that led to death and suffering on a massive scale. We know from human rights groups that dissidents in Iraq are tortured, imprisoned and sometimes just disappear; their hands, feet and tongues are cut off; their eyes are gouged out; and female relatives are raped in their presence. ”

“ His father, Kar-Shem, having died and the wretched pretender, Bab-el-Bar, having failed after a revolution to attain to Kar-Shem’s seat, confessed to the adherents of Kar-Shem the story of the Prince Hussein’s abduction and sale into slavery to a rug-merchant in Baghdad. In consequence, heralds and a royal party were at once sent forth to discover Hussein. They came to Baghdad and found the widow of Yussuf, who told them of the many slaves Yussuf had owned, among them a child named Hussein to whom they had given the name of Abou. ”

“ Iraq’s future, your future, has never been more full of hope. The tyrant is a prisoner. The economy is moving forward. You have before you the prospect of sovereign government in a few months.
With the arrest of Saddam Hussein, there is a new opportunity for members of the former regime, whether military or civilian, to end their bitter opposition. Let them come forward now in a spirit of reconciliation and hope, lay down their arms and join you, their fellow citizens, in the task of building the new Iraq. ”

“ From the Kufa attackers at last came an arrow which opened that struggle of tens against thousands. One after another Hussein’s brothers, sons, nephews, and cousins fell near him. No enemy struck Hussein till tortured by thirst he turned toward the river, and Shamir cut him off from his people; then, stricken down by an arrow, he was trampled by horses. Hussein’s attendants were slain every man of them. Two sons of his perished and when the action was over, six sons of Aly were corpses, also two sons of Hassan and six descendants of Abu Talib, Aly’s father. ”

“ Mohammed is the prophet of God and Ali is his vicar." All the band repeats this creed. Immediately the leader smites his own brow with his sword, and this act is imitated by all his followers. Soon the faces and white clothing of the men are red with blood. Bleeding they go marching through the streets shouting: "Hassan Hussein," and waving their swords in harmony with step and voice. Their rout can often be traced by drops of blood in the streets. When zeal reaches a high pitch, the blows are repeated on their brows. ”

“ We, however, do not want Syria, but we do want to see a strong and settled Arab state in these strictly Arab regions, and I sincerely hope that our Statesmen will be wise enough, and energetic enough, to bring about such a desirable consummation. If we permit the Bolshevists and Turks to oust us from our friendship with the Jews and Arabs, and with King Hussein and his son the Emir Feisal (now the King of Irak) , upon whom we have alternately blown hot and cold, just as it pleased France to pipe the tune then we shall witness the beginning of the end of our power and prestige in the Orient. ”

“ I will say that the Arab nation is our nation. We belong to it and it belongs to us. It is our pride and our strength. It is our depth and Iraq is its depth. In its name was our call of chivalry, and in the name of its great ideals, our great ideals and its principles, we assaulted falsehood and knocked out its brain and caused it to perish. It is the nation of prophets, of martyrs and of holy men, it is our nation. ”

“ They curse and revile their enemies and their enemies' wives and daughters. The last night is called watch night, and many Moslems do not even slumber during the night. It is holy night in which Hussein and other martyrs were buried in their tombs. It is a dishonor, and even a sin, for them to go to bed without meditation on their prophets. In the mosque services the people shout: "O Hassan and Hussein, let my soul be a sacrifice for thee." They believe the observance of that night is absolute remission of sins; that the gates of heaven are open to all believers for the sake of martyrs. ”

“ If I have you cast into a well and take twenty of the fairest daughters of Al Shaldomir in your place, who can gainsay me?
MIRALDA
I will be crowned queen.
JOHN
O, do not be tiresome.
MIRALDA
Was it not my money that brought you here? Was it not I who said "Kill Hussein"? What power could you have had, had Hussein lived? What would you have been doing now, but for me?
JOHN
I don't know, Miralda.
MIRALDA
Catching some silly train to the City. Working for some dull firm. Living in some small suburban house. ”