442 ARABS REPOSING AT A FOUNTAIN. 



Of ruin'd walls, that had survived the names 

 Of those who reared them; by his sleeping side 

 Stood camels grazing, and some goodly steeds 

 Were fastened near a fountain; and a man, 

 Clad in flowing garb, did watch the while, 

 While many of his tribe slumbered around, 

 And they were canopied by the blue sky, 

 So cloudless, clear, and beautiful, 

 That God alone was to be seen in Heaven."* 



Such are the Arabs of to-day and as such they are 

 known to have existed practically unchanged in habits, 

 customs, dress, or appearance since the time of Abra- 

 ham and of most of them it may still be said, as it was 

 said of the patriarchs of 3000 years ago, that the stranger 

 was always certain of welcome at his tent, where he 

 is regarded as "the guest of Allah." Hospitality, 

 therefore, in its largest sense, has always been looked 

 upon as a species of religious duty among the Arabs, 

 who in morals, habits, and religion, may be considered 

 the Puritans of the desert. As among the Puritans, 

 the name of God is constantly on their lips, and 

 religion is mixed up with almost every act of their 

 daily life. 



All of them, we need hardly say, are Mohammedans 

 of the strictest sort. It would, however, be foreign to 

 the purpose of this work to enter into a detailed 

 description of Arab life we shall therefore confine 

 our observations to a few extracts from works of 

 authority on such subjects, with a view to illustrate 

 its most striking features as briefly as possible. 



The following is a translation of some portions of 

 a set of verses made by a Marabout (a species of 



* The Dream Lord Byron, part iv., lines 8 to 21. 





