The palace of Ukhaiḍir is not an isolated phenomenon. It belongs to a group of buildings which exhibit in varying proportions the characteristic features of the fortress and of the pleasure-house of princes. These buildings are scattered over the western frontiers of the Syrian desert; Ukhaiḍir is as yet the sole example of the type which has been discovered upon the eastern side. They are a logical outcome of the period of cultural transition during which they arose, the difficult and distasteful passage from nomadic to settled life; they attest the abiding call of the open wilderness, to which the poets and chroniclers of the first century after the Hidjrah are faithful witnesses. To the Arab the desert is more than a habitation; it is the guardian of traditions older and more deeply rooted than those of Islâm; of traditions which are sacred to his race; of his purest speech, and of his finest chivalry. It is for him the natural theatre of his actions, and there is no other stage on which he can play out his part. To this day I have heard the Beduin speak of themselves as the Ahl al-Ba’îr, the People of the Camel, just as they spoke of themselves in the early centuries as Ahl al-Ḍar’, People of the Udder.[49] The authority of the Prophet was powerless to stay the current of his race. ‘Periodically the Arabs succumbed to the allurement of the camel, to the need to drink of its milk. The Prophet himself was not exempt, since he prayed God to preserve him from it. For his nation, said he, he dreaded the diet of milk. When his companions expressed their astonishment at his fears, he replied: “The passion for milk will lead you to abandon the centres of reunion and to return to nomad existence.”‘[50] His immediate successors followed the example set by him, but the national inclination was not to be restrained, and the Umayyad khalifs returned to the habits of their forefathers. Their capital was Damascus, but their residence was the Syrian desert. They escaped to the bâdiyah, the spring pasturage in the rolling steppes, where the tents of the Ṣukhûr still cover the plain when the winter rains are past; they transported their courts to the ḥîrah, the palace camp.