'Correspondence with the Grand Sherif of Mecca' [‎5v] (10/16)

10
that our lot in this war will be either a success which will guaiantee to the
Arabs a lifr becoming their past liistory, or destruction in the attempt to
attain their objects. Had it not been for the determination which I see in
the Arabs for the attainment ol' their objects 1 would have preferred to
seclude myself on one of the heights of a mountain ; but they, the Arabs,
have insisted that I should guide the movement to this end. •
May God keep you safe and victorious, as we devoutly hope and desire.
(( nsigned)
Dated 27 el Hijj 1333.
(5th November 1915.)
13.—From the High Commissioner, Cairo, to the Sherif of Mecca.
The Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. ,
Cairo.
After customary greetings and acknowledgment of previous letter.
I am gratified to observe that von agree to the exclusion of the vilayets
of M ersina and Adana from the boundaries of the Arab territories.
I also note with great pleasure and satisfaction your assurances that the
Arabs are determined to act i.i coniiormity with the precepts laid down by
Omar Ibn Khattab and the early Caliphs, which secure the rights and
privileges of all religions alike.
lu stating that the Arabs are ready to recognise and respect all our
treaties with Arab Chiefs, it is of course understood that this will apply to
all territories included in the Arab Kingdom, as the (tovernment of Great
Britain cannot repudiate engagements which already exist.
With regard to the vilayets of Aleppo and Beyrout, the Government of
Great Britain have taken careful note of your observations, but, as the
interests of our Ally France are involved, the question will require careful
consideration and a further communication on the subject will be addressed
to you in due course.
The Government of Great Britain, as I have already informed you, are
ready to give all guarantees of assistance and support within their power
to the Arab Kingdom, but their interests demand, as you yourself have
recognized, a friendly and stable administration in the vilayet of Baghdad,
and the adequate safeguarding of these interests calls for a much fuller
and more detailed consideration than the present situation and the urgency
of these negotiations permits.
We fully appreciate your desire for caution, and we have no wish to
urge you to hasty action, which might jeopardise the eventual success of
your projects, but in the meantime it is most essential that you should
spare no effort to attach all the Arab peoples to our united cause and urge
them to afford no assistance to our enemies.
It is on the success of these efforts and on the more active measures
which the Arabs may hereafter take in support of our cause, when the
time for action comes, that the permanence and strength of our agreement
must depend.
Under these circumstances I am further directed by the Government of
Great Britain to inform you that you may rest assured that Great
Britain has no intention of concluding any peace, in terms of which
the freedom of the Arab peoples from German and Turkish domination does
not form an essential condition.
As an earnest of our intentions and in order to aid you in your elTors in
our joint cause 1 am sending bv vour trustworthv messenger a sum of
20,000/.
(Customary ending.)
17th December 1915. (Signed) A. If. McMahon.