Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846Richardson, James
History
Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846
Richardson, James
Sahara -- Description and travel
characterizes Europeans, and especially the children of Europeans. Here
children may be seen holding the animal whilst its throat is most
barbarously cut! and not flinching a step, or blinking the eye. Apropos
of killing and eating meat, I had a long polemical discussion with my
taleb upon the respective rites and ceremonies of Christians and
Mussulmans. I told him what distinguished the religion of the New
Testament was, that it prescribed no rules for eating and drinking, or
dress; that the whole Christian religion was based upon two great
commandments: "Thou shalt love God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour
as thyself." This, however, only drew from him the observation, "Before
the time of Sidi Mahomet, this was the religion of the world." I
rejoined, "This was the religion--still is the religion--of all the
English, who eat and drink everything that is good, and dress any way
they please; and such is the will of God." The taleb observed, "You wear
braces, which is unlawful." I could not find out the why and the
wherefore, unless it were that it tightened men-folks up too much for
modesty. I told him the Rais and all Turks had braces to their
pantaloons. He simply replied, "Braces are not permitted by our
marabouts."
North Africa, or this region of The Sahara, more particularly, is
essentially the East, (the Syrian, Arabian East,) and the religion
of Mahomet has indissolubly bound in ideas, manners, and customs,
the inhabitants of these countries with those of the East. It is,
therefore, very satisfactory to read the _Arabic_ New Testament in
these countries; for, besides presenting all the ideas and
metaphorical adornments, such reading often gives you the very words
and idiomatical expressions of the people. This correspondence is
certainly a strong proof, both that the latter Biblical writers were
natives of the East, and that the inhabitants of North Africa and
The Sahara were originally emigrants, or colonies from Syria and
Arabia. This is the opinion of my taleb, and all the literati of the
oasis. My taleb also treated me to-day with writing the famous
Mohammedan prophecy, respecting the destinies of the East, and the
world in general, and everybody in particular. It runneth according to
this mighty import: "_The Dajal_, (الدجال,) whose name is the
Messiah, and who is the son of Said, and who is a monstrous fellow,
with one eye, shall come upon the earth, or rather, go abroad upon
the earth, and all the Jews shall flock around him, and enrol
themselves under his standard, for he is their expected Messiah; and
then, armed with their prowess and gold, he shall slay all
Christians and Mohammedans, and shall reign upon the earth, after
their destruction, forty years. This time outran, there shall then
appear Jesus, the son of Mary, (the Messiah of the New Testament,)
in the clouds, who shall descend upon the earth with flaming
vengeance, and destroy _The Dajal_. This done, then shall come the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account