Sharif

“ The Pasha heads the Turkish, now the ruling party. The Sharif has in his interest the Arabs and the Badawin. Both thwart each other on all possible occasions; quarrels are bitter and endless; there is no government, and the vessel of the State is in danger of being water-logged, in consequence of the squabbling between her two captains. When I was at Meccah all were in a ferment, the Sharif having, it is said, insisted upon the Pasha leaving Taif. The position of the Turks in Al-Hijaz becomes every day more dangerous. Want of money presses upon them, and reduces them to degrading measures. ”

“ I will do thy bidding, Inshallah!' So on the next morning I donned my richest clothes, mounted my she mule with trappings of gold and rode to the Haymarket where I asked for the Sharif's shop, and finding him there seated, alighted and saluted him and seated myself beside him"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. ”

“ The Sharif families affect marrying female slaves, thereby showing the intense pride which finds no Arab noble enough for them. Others take to wife Badawi girls: their blood, therefore, is by no means pure. The worst feature of their system is the forced celibacy of their daughters; they are never married into any but Sharif families; consequently they often die in spinsterhood. ”

“ Until the Egyptian invasion in 1814 the Sharifs of Mecca were the recognized rulers of Hejaz, and though the Turks have attempted to suppress their importance, the Sharif still executes justice according to the Mahommedan law in the holy cities, though, nominally, as a Turkish official. In Yemen and Hadramut many villages are occupied exclusively by this religious hierarchy, who are known as Ashraf, Sada or Kudha (i.e. Sharifs, Seyyids or Kadhis) ; the religious affairs of the tribes are left in their hands; they do not, however, interfere in tribal matters generally, or join in fighting. ”

“ Nadir Sharif casually adjusted the jewel on his turban. "It has been stopped so far."
"But if the fleet lands? And if the heretic English king has sent new gifts for His Majesty?" Pinheiro tried to maintain his dignity as he nervously wiped his face with the black fold of a sleeve.
"If the English do make landfall, and dispatch more gifts for His Majesty, I fear no power in Agra can stop him from signing the firman.'' Nadir Sharifs face assumed an expression of conciliatory resignation. "The English will undoubtedly make the trading firman a condition of further presents." ”

“ On every side eyes burned with religious zeal, and excited faces were turned towards the Effendina. At a certain point there were little groups of men with faces more set than excited. They had a look of suppressed expectancy. Kald neared them, passed them, and, as he did so, they looked at each other in consternation. They were Sharif’s confederates, fanatics carefully chosen. The attempt on Kaid’s life should have been made opposite the spot where they stood. They craned their necks in effort to find the Christian tent-maker, but in vain. ”

“ Nadir Sharif rolled the document and replaced it in the bamboo sleeve. "Jadar has refused to march to defend Qandahar unless his horse rank is raised to thirty thousand, and unless the jagirs in Dholpur, those that were granted to Prince Allaudin, are returned. What will you do?"
"There can be no bargaining with an Imperial order," Queen Janahara interjected. "How many times will you be intimidated? Remember he refused to undertake this campaign—which, I should add, he has apparently bungled—until his suwar rank was elevated, and his elder brother Khusrav was sent out of Agra. ”

“ All through the early part of 1916 we were keeping in touch with the Sharif of Mecca by means of envoys, whom we landed where they listed, away from the Turks, picking them up at times and places indicated by them. ”

“ A distance requiring a full day for a runner could be covered by a pigeon in one pahar, three hours, given good weather. Arangbar kept pigeons all over India, even in Surat—but then so did everyone else at court. Recently, it seemed, everyone was training pigeons.
Next to the date was the seal of Nadir Sharif, prime minister and brother of the queen. Mukarrab Khan knew Nadir Sharif well. A dispatch from Nadir Sharif, though it always reflected the wishes of the Moghul or the queen, could be relied upon to be reasonable. ”

“ The king wore a white cotton coat, with a turban on his head, and a painted calico of Guzerat about his middle, being little whiter than the rest. He was very lean, with a round thin black beard and large eyes. His stature was short, and he was a man of few words, having some knowledge of Arabic, which he had learnt when on a pilgrimage to Mecca, on which account he had the name or title of Sharif. [402] At this place they chiefly desire money, or Spanish dollars, rather than commodities. ”

“ Most Meccans have black concubines, and, as has been said, the appearance of the Sharif is almost that of a negro. I did not see one handsome man in the Holy City, although some of the women appeared to me beautiful. The male profile is high and bony, the forehead recedes, and the head rises unpleasantly towards the region of firmness. ”

“ Cole. Though established at Jeddah since 1838, the French and English Consuls, contented with a proxy, never required a return of visit from the Governor. If the Turks be frequently reduced to such expedients for the payment of their troops, they will soon be swept from the land. On the other hand, the Sharif approaches a crisis. His salary, paid by the Sultan, may be roughly estimated at £15,000 per annum. ”

“ The wild men of Al-Hijaz still sing songs in honour of this Sharif. NOTE TO SECOND EDITION.Early in 1856, when the Sharif Abd al-Muttalib was deposed, Mohammed bin Aun was sent from Constantinople to quiet the insurrection caused by the new slave laws in Al-Hijaz. In a short space of time he completely succeeded. [FN#13] The 12th of Rabia al-Awwal, Mohammeds birthday, is here celebrated with great festivities, feasts, prayers, and perusals of the Koran. These Maulid (ceremonies of nativity) are by no means limited to a single day in the year. ”

“ The said envoy had bestowed on him 500,000 dām, equal to 7,000 or 8,000 rupees, and I resolved to send the Sharif the equivalent of 100,000 rupees of the precious things of Hindustan. On Thursday, the 10th of the month, a piece of the Subah of Multan was added to the jagir of Mīrzā G͟hāzī, though the whole of the province of Thattah had been given to him in jagir. He was also promoted to the rank of 5,000 personalty and 5,000 horse. The government of Qandahar and the protection of that region, which is the frontier of Hindustan, were assigned to his excellent administration. ”

“ The Sharif received it with a hopeless glance, and, to my satisfaction, would not put forth his hand to be kissed. Then the attendants began to demand vails I replied by opening my empty pouch. When let down from the door by the two brawny Meccans, I was expected to pay them, and accordingly appointed to meet them at the boy Mohammed�s house; an arrangement to which they grumblingly assented. When delivered from these troubles, I was congratulated by my sharp companion thus: �Wallah, Effendi! thou hast escaped well! some men have left their skins behind. ”

“ There are no fewer than fifteen hundred Indians at Meccah and Jeddah, besides seven or eight hundred in Al-Yaman. Such a body requires a Consul. [FN#21] By the representation of a Vice-Consul when other powers send an officer of superior rank to Al-Hijaz, we voluntarily place ourselves in an inferior position. And although the Meccan Sharif might for a time object to establishing a Moslem agent at the Holy City with orders to report to the Consul at Jeddah, his opposition would soon fall to the ground. ”

“ So they bore Attaf away and led him to the gallows-foot whither he was followed by a world of folk in number as the dust; and, as they set him under the tree Ja'afar the Wazir, who was riding by with his suite at the time, suddenly espied a crowd going forth the city. Thereupon he summoned the Sobáshí371 who came up to him and kissed his knee. "What is the object of this gathering of folk who be manifold as the dust and what do they want?" quoth the Wazir; and quoth the officer, "We are wending to hang372 a Syrian who hath murthered a youth of Sharif family." ”

“ The camels were hired by the job, twelve days, so it would not pay them to dawdle.
We had told the sultans how Saleh had behaved and asked them to keep him under their eyes till our return, and this is how we managed without him as interpreter. We talked English to Imam Sharif, he talked Hindustani to his Afghan servant Majid, Majid talked his own tongue to an Afghan whom we annexed at Sheher, and he could speak Arabic. We got on very well, but as such a party had to be assembled to say important things, we had to struggle to express simple things ourselves. ”

“ In the evening the sultan came back, telling us that the Tamimi wished to bring 400 soldiers unpaid (?) and to take us through their country, but the Kattiri were too strong for them. They said, 'One man came disguised to see us (Herr von Wrede) , one man came undisguised (Herr Hirsch) , and now a party has come. Next time it will be a larger one still, and then it will be all over with the sacred valley of the Hadhramout.' Saleh, meanwhile, was doing all he could to annoy us. When we were talking over our difficulties with Imam Sharif, he strutted in with a bill for the camels. ”

“ For this reason, you see Sharifs and other men of high family, riding or walking in their warm camel's hair robes on the hottest days. Another superstition of the Arabs is this, that thick clothes avert the evil effects of the sun's beams, by keeping out heat. To the kindness of a friend-Thomas Seddon-I owe the admirable sketch of an "Arab Shaykh in his Travelling Dress." [FN#20] Sharifs and other great men sometimes bind a white turband or a Cashmere shawl round the kerchief, to keep it in its place. The Aakal varies in every part of the country. ”

“ Sharif (a descendant from Mohammed) , 285. Sharr (Al-) (“the wickedness”) last city in Makran before entering Sind, 336. Shaykh becomes ceremonially impure by handling a corpse, 290. Shroff (Arab Sayrafi) , 298. Shubbák = lattice (also “Mashrabiyah” = latticed balcony,) 29. Si’at rizki-h = the ease with which he earned his livelihood (tr. “fortune”) , 282. Silk, Moslems may be shrouded in it, 26. Sindiyan (from the Persian) = holm-oak, 247. Sístán (Persian) Arab. Sijistán, 56. Slave become a King (no shame to Moslems) , 348. Soldiers serving on feudal tenure, 256. “Some one to back us,” 135. ”

“ Other Alid states rose in its place, and in 961 the dynasty of the Sharifs of Morocco was established by a Muhammad, a descendant of a Muhammad, brother of the same Abd Allah, grandson of al-Hasan. This family still rules in Morocco and claims the title of Khalifa of the Prophet and Commander of the Faithful. Strictly, they are Shi‘ites, but their sectarianism sits lightly upon them; it is political only and they have no touch of the violent religious antagonism to the Sunnite Muslims that is to be found in Persian Shi‘ism. ”

“ Answered the Minister, "He is the son of Sultan Shahriman and he is sore sick and lieth strown on his couch restless alway, eating not nor drinking neither sleeping night or day; indeed he is nigh upon death and we have lost hope of his living and are certain that he is dying. Beware lest thou look too long on him, or thou look on any other than that where thou settest thy feet: else thou art a lost man, and I also." He replied, "Allah upon thee, O Wazir, I implore thee, of thy favour, acquaint me touching this youth thou describest, what is the cause of the condition in which he is." ”

“ About the time of the birth of Hafiz, that is to say in the beginning of the fourteenth century, a certain Mahmud Shah Inju was governing the province of Fars, of which Shiraz is the capital, in the name of Abu Said, the last of the direct descendants of Hulagu. On the death of Mahmud Shah, Abu Said appointed Sheikh Hussein ibn Juban to the 9governorship of Fars, a lucrative and much-coveted post. ”

“ Lahore, May 7th.
I expect to be busy in catching a party of rascals who have been trying to pervert our Sepoys by bribes and promises. We have a clue to them, and hope to take them in the act. We are surrounded here with treachery. No man can say who is implicated, or how far the treason has spread. The life of no British officer, away from Lahore, is worth a week's purchase. It is a pleasant sort of government to prop up, when their head-men conspire against you and their troops desert you on the slightest temptation. ”

“ Mean while Shahryar commanded his Wazir to bring him the bride of the night that he might go in to her; so he produced a most beautiful girl, the daughter of one of the Emirs and the King went in unto her at eventide and when morning dawned he bade his Minister strike off her head; and the Wazir did accordingly for fear of the Sultan. On this wise he continued for the space of three years; marrying a maiden every night and killing her the next morning, till folk raised an outcry against him and cursed him, praying Allah utterly to destroy him and his rule ”

“ The Sultan took the note and read it, and he said, "True, Ali, you did sell dear, and not cheap."
And the Sultan arose and called the Vizir. And he said, "Here, sir." And he said to the people, "You who are at the audience, great and small, Banyan, and Arab, and Sheheri, and Comoro man, and Swahili, and all the people in the land. Now then, I have taken him away, he has neither the Vizirship nor the Sultanship, his condition is like that of the townspeople. And now this Ali has become my chief Vizir; every one, whatever he desires, be it man, or woman, Arab, or European, let all go to Ali ”