ABSTRACT
AND now those wonderful days with the Ruala had come to an end. I had to say good-bye for a time, because I meant to visit the Fid’an and other Bedouin tribes then roaming the deserts of Mesopotamia and Northern Syria. Several of their chiefs were inveterate enemies of Amir Fuaz, and at odd moments they also fought among themselves. But I knew some of them from earlier days and for the rest I pinned my faith on the inviolable rules of Bedouin hospitality. On the Euphrates I also hoped to find a suitable rafiq (courier) who would be qualified by his knowledge of the country and his friendliness with the tribes to act as both guide and guard to me. To assist me, Amir Fuaz gave me a personal letter to Hajem Pasha, who was then in command of the major part of the Fid’an in the “Jesira” between the Tigris and Euphrates, while Ibn Meheyd contented himself with the lordship of the minority west of the Euphrates in Syria. Fuaz was closely related to Hajem Pasha, though these ties did not prevent the two chiefs from indulging in mutual pillage and warfare as opportunity offered.
