RISE OF FATHERRIGHT 7 



Shiite sectary going on pilgrimage to Mecca frequently 

 contracts one of these temporary marriages either for 

 a certain number of days or for the duration of the 

 visit. At the end of the time all relations between 

 him and his temporary wife cease, both parties re- 

 suming their liberty. A child born of such a 

 connection is regarded as a blessing for his family ; 

 "he will be venerated as a saint, for he has been 

 begotten in the land of the Imams." 1 



Sometimes the husband, instead of residing with 

 the wife during the marriage, is a mere visitor who 

 comes and goes from time to time. Passages cited by 

 Robertson Smith from Arab literature appear to show 

 that this arrangement also was not very uncommon 

 among the Arabs. The marriage of Samson at 

 Timnah, which had such tragic consequences for his 

 wife and her father, is also an example. It was 

 obviously not intended that she should follow him, but 

 that she should remain with her own kindred and he 

 should visit her there. When he goes away in a rage, 

 having cause to complain of her treachery, she comforts 

 herself with another man, perhaps under the im- 

 pression that he has deserted her for good, but in any 

 case in the exercise of a woman's rights in that stage 

 of nuptial evolution. The husband's visits in a marriage 

 of the kind I am referring to are sometimes open, 

 sometimes secret. In either case they are well under- 

 stood ; and the secrecy, when they are secret, becomes 

 more and more nominal. In some cases it continues 

 until the birth of a child, or for a definite period. 

 Where a lasting tie is formed the relation tends to 

 become open and avowed, and the husband is found 

 1 Anthropos, ii. 418; iii. 186. 



