634 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Spain, passed on to France, were defeated by Charles Martel, ruled for 

 centuries in Granada, lived luxuriantly, fostered literature and art, 

 were at last driven back whence they came, and are now as nothing 

 in the world's life. We need to discover the natural place and func- 

 tions of the Arabian people in history. We must know this people as 

 a growth on the common tree. Any detailed examination of the kind 

 indicated is foreign to the purpose of this paper. While, however, 

 nothing but the merest outline can be drawn, it should consist of liv- 

 ing lines i. e., of those features which represent the causes at work 

 in this given historic unfolding. It is well understood that Arabia is 

 physically one of the most peculiar of all countries. It seems pre- 

 established to make tribes, to prevent nationality. Its shape is that of 

 a triangular peninsula, limited on the west by the Red Sea, on the south 

 by the Indian Ocean, on the east by the Persian Gulf, on the north 

 it joins Syria. The most remarkable feature of the country is the 

 almost impassable separation between the exterior and interior, be- 

 tween the coasts and the central land. This separation is made by 

 a broad belt of desert, yet beyond the sand-wastes is the Arabia of 

 the Arabians, the most productive and healthy portion of the entire 

 country. 



Not only is the land itself peculiar, it is peculiarly placed. Alex- 

 andria lies upon the left, Jerusalem and Damascus in front, Persia and 

 the Orient upon the right. The remark is familiar that almost all the 

 philosophical and religious systems of the known world would meet 

 here in passing. We need a few sentences as to the people themselves 

 and their condition before the appearance of Mohammed. The origin 

 of the Arabians is lost in tradition. There is no question, however, 

 that the division of this people into classes obtained from earliest 

 times. There were the pure Arabs and the Mostarabs ; the former 

 lived in cities, the latter were the true sons of the desert and led always 

 the nomadic life. Here we find the origin of the present w T ell-known 

 separation of the people into Ahl-Bedoo, or dwellers in the open land, 

 and Ahl-Hadr, or dwellers in fixed localities. We find the complete 

 expression of the nomadic Arab existence in the clan, the family. 

 While the residents in cities show such modifications as would be ex- 

 pected from closer and more permanent intercourse, still here also the 

 family, the tribe, was matter of chief consideration. Arabian land 

 had severed the Arabian people at the same time it had developed im- 

 mense physical endurance. 



We need some characterization of the Arabian nature, that indi- 

 vidual and primary constitution which, produced by no climate or cir- 

 cumstances, developed as external conditions might necessitate, yet 

 always as itself. The Arabian nature has been said to have the fol- 

 lowing characteristics in remarkable degree and intensity : " Serious- 

 ness and pride, veracity, generosity, hospitality, passionateness and 

 ardor in love and hatred, vindictiveness running on and on through 



