File 705/1916 Pt 2 'Arab revolt: Arab reports; Sir M Sykes' reports' [‎30v] (58/450)

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British Museum, together with a poor Latin translation which has
completed. In 1904, through the friendship with ^ c ef pi lest . va j
purchase a copy for the sum of twelve po»^. ^’L^r^mon^trution
should never sell the same. Even then, the nex ay , r 0 ®hare m e return the
by all the Sabeans, and earnest endeavours were mac e ^ th® h feature 0 fl^
booh. The book in question is now bemg translated m- laced over
this book is that half of each page is reversed to allow ot the «>C£K w g i sid „.
narrow channel of running water, and to be rea thir d s c/which consists of
Another of their books ,s the “Book of Souls, ot> ' ^ ^
prayers for the living and one-third of prayers or t e i ca . ‘‘ i ,
history of the death of Adam, who, to them, is one of the great pro - marriage
A third book contains the liturgy for the priests, and oth f ® for
ceremony, the life of John the Baptist, a treatise of astrology, and various lot mu
Their belief is that the world originated from what is called a ^
something like the Orphean theory of the world egg and that the gieal W Iwo »
forth life from this great egg, from which life again emanated a-ther hfr who was
Jesus Christ, but that the latter endeavoured to usurp the power of the f°™er a”
was therefore placed among the planets as Mercury They believe ^ the h ®y®
consist of the purest water, so hard that not a diamond can cut it, in which Ao a
heavenly bodies as well as this earth. They also believe that the earth is surrounded
on three sides by seas, but on the fourth there is a turquoise mountain the reflection
from which gives the blue colour to the sky. They also believe that the Queen of
Darkness married Fire, and brought forth 24 sons of whom 7 were the planets,
including the sun, 12 were the signs of the zodiac, and the remaining o are not know
These planets are sources of evil and of curse to mankind The 1 ole Stai is situated
at the very dome of heaven, and therefore they pray toward it, and for this reason they
are called the “ star-worshippers. . . , a j
They practice Baptism, which by the pious among them is received every bunday ;
they also observe a sort of supper, which apparently is an imitation of the Christian
Communion. . .
They have places of worship, which, however, are only large enough to contain two
or three priests, and through these places of worship run tiny streams of water oyer
which prayers are said. There is no furniture in their churches, save a shelf on which
books and other articles are kept. Their priesthood is open to both men and women.
The first grade is that of the novice, after which the grade of priest, thereafter a bishop,
and the highest official of the church is the chief priest. The present chief priest is
named Shaykh Mahi, and resides at Suk-esh-Sheyukh. No priest may have the slightest
blemish in his body, and the consequence is that the chief priest is one Optfie most
striking fiomres 1 have ever seen anywhere. Even women may attain to the rank of
priesthood, but only on the condition that they marry a priest. It is against their
reliodon for them to" wear dark clothes, and for their women to wear anything blue. ^ _
^ One wonders how this curious growth will fare in the new 7 soil of British adminis
tration. They are unquestionably pro-British-, for the reason that they have always
been anti-Turkish. , . , ,,
They never cut their hair, and both men and women may be called decidedly
handsome ; in fact, so handsome, that a Sabean can be at once recognised.
They were taken into the army by the Turks, but were again excused, because of
the utter impossibility of meeting any of their religious, demands with respect to being
always near running water.
APPENDIX (E).
Feom the Press.
Arabs and Turks.
(From the “ Kibla,” No. 25, Moharrem 15, 1335.)
The Indian newspaper “Mashreq” published an article from the pen of a very
influential Indian, Mawloi Abdul-Aziz Ornek Ahady, which we have pleasure in
translating in full for the benefit of our readers