But At Al-Madinah He Cut
Me Pitilessly, As A "Town Man" Does A Continental Acquaintance
Accidentally Met In Hyde Park; And Of Course He Tried, Though In Vain,
To Evade Repaying His Debt.
He had a tincture of letters, and appeared
to have studied critically the subject of "largesse." "The Generous is
Allah's friend, aye, though he be a Sinner, and the Miser is Allah's
Foe, aye, though he be a Saint," was a venerable saying always in his
mouth.
He also informed me that Pharaoh, although the quintessence of
impiety, is mentioned by name in the Koran, by reason of his
liberality; whereas Nimrod, another monster of iniquity, is only
alluded to, because
[p.165]he was a stingy tyrant. It is almost needless to declare that
Salih Shakkar was, as the East-Indians say, a very "fly-sucker.[FN#2]"
There were two other men of Al-Madinah in the Wakalah Jirgis; but I
omit description, as we left them, they being penniless, at Suez. One
of them, Mohammed Shiklibha, I afterwards met at Meccah, and seldom
have I seen a more honest and warm-hearted fellow. When we were
embarking at Suez, he fell upon Hamid's bosom, and both of them wept
bitterly, at the prospect of parting even for a few days.
All the individuals above mentioned lost no time in opening the
question of a loan. It was a lesson in Oriental metaphysics to see
their condition. They had a twelve days' voyage, and a four days'
journey before them; boxes to carry, custom-houses to face, and
stomachs to fill; yet the whole party could scarcely, I believe, muster
two dollars of ready money.
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