ZIARAS OR PIOUS VISITS. 449 



spots being 1 regarded as peculiarly efficacious: Nor 

 are these shrines without their practical utility among 

 the wild tribes of the east for instance, when an 

 Arab conceives himself to have been wronged by a 

 neighbour, instead of threatening "to put the matter 

 into the hands of his solicitor " as people do in Europe, 

 if his adversary persists in refusing justice, and he feels 

 that he is the weaker party and unable to enforce his 

 claim, he forthwith makes one of these Ziaras to the 

 grave of the local Sheikh: there he erects a small pile 

 of stones: he places these one upon another upon the 

 grave, as an offering or memorial, testifying to the 

 wrong that has been done to him. The injured man 

 then seeks another interview with his adversary, and 

 again urges him to grant redress, and tells him of his 

 visit to the tomb. But if justice is still denied, the 

 interview ends by his saying that " it is well, " " and 

 that he leaves his cause in the hands of Allah, " for 

 in the Koran " the perspicuous Book, " " the Book which 

 cannot be doubted, M it is written that the just alone 

 shall prosper. 



We are not aware that this custom is universal, but 

 there can be no doubt that it is common among many 

 of the wilder tribes, and it is said to be rare to find 

 anyone who ventures to disregard such an appeal. If 

 the wrongdoer knows that the injured party has right 

 upon his side therefore, he generally ends by giving in 

 " lest some evil should befall him " and hands over the 

 money, or whatever it is, that was in dispute and in this 

 way a rude but substantial justice is often obtained. 



We cannot, of course, be blind to the many faults of the 

 Arab character, such as their oftentimes grasping and 

 VOL. I. 29 



