THE FLIGHT FROM TAJ 227 



our lord Idris wills it!" is an oft-repeated phrase. The 

 Emir has a reputation for justice and patience. The 

 former is as stringent and as merciless as that of his 

 predecessor, but it is tempered with the infinite patience 

 always taken to ensure the whole of the case being 

 examined before judgment is given. This is essential in 

 a land where the justice of the Koran is the only code. 

 "An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth." Drunken- 

 ness is punished by flogging. The thief loses his right 

 hand. Treachery means death. Sidi Idris is too good 

 a Moslem and too great a mystic not to have secured 

 the whole-hearted devotion of his father's followers, 

 while his broad-minded and intelligent foreign policy has 

 secured him the respect of the modern element. The 

 accord at Regima was one of his greatest triumphs. It 

 showed his power in Cyrenaica. The tribal sheikhs of 

 the coast, almost without exception, announced, "The 

 word of Idris is om-s!" 



The closing scene of our day will always be con- 

 nected in my mind with the chanting of the Koran in 

 the zawia and the most brilliant clear starlight, as we 

 retm-ned to our house in silence, only broken by the soft 

 shuffling of our heel-less slippers in the sand. While 

 the cold white light warred with our candles and the 

 melodious words of "The Book" were still humming 

 in our ears, visitors would gradually make their appear- 

 ance: the judge, Osman Quadi, Mahmud el-Jeddawi, the 

 wakil, a few of the more advanced ekhwan, among whom 

 was JMohammed Tawati, "close friend of the Mahdi." 

 The last-named is partiality paralysed, and the Senussi 

 mind, always alert for signs and miracles, explains that, 

 in defiance of the direct orders of Sidi el Rifii, the 

 unfortunate man started to journey north. Before he 

 reached Hawari his camel died and he himself was 

 stricken with paralysis. 



