The Dawoudieh and the Eagles' Nest

Come, let us soar with our thoughts and reach "Abey," that lovely, tranquil town suspended between earth and sky...

Come with us to it, and let neither the length of the road nor its windings turn you from your purpose, for you will see there what will make you forget your fatigue: beautiful views, enchanting nature, and historic remains going back to the days of the Tanukhids and others!!

But more beautiful than all these sights, and the most important thing you will seek to know, is assuredly the "Dawoudieh" College.

There, at the entrance of Abey, stands the Dawoudieh with its mighty building!!

There, at the entrance of Abey, stands a verdant oasis in the midst of a desert in the mountains, supplying that desert with life, breathing into it a spirit of its spirit and a knowledge of its knowledge, filling it with spirit, life, and knowledge!

You will ask, of course: by whom? and when was this school built??

Let us go back a little, to the Ottoman era and the regime of the Mutasarrifate, when the new Mutasarrifate order began with the appointment of Daoud Pasha — a man of Armenian origin — as Mutasarrif of Mount Lebanon.

This Daoud Pasha was of high culture; he bore the title of doctor of laws and had written works on the history of legislation... When he came to Lebanon, the marks of his culture showed in his reforms and his projects: he founded a number of schools, the most famous of which is the "Dawoudieh" at Abey of which we are speaking. He organized its administration and settled endowments upon it around the year 1862, and gave it his own name, which it bears to this day....

To that era goes back the founding of the Dawoudieh... It went on striving and struggling, passing from hand to hand, until the Honorable Aref Bey al-Nakadi took charge of its endowments, and it reached what it is today and attained the summit it had set itself as a goal....

And now that we have had a glimpse of the history of this school's founding, come, let us enter it and roam through its precincts, for in it is what delights the beholder and fills those in charge of it with pride and strength...

Here is the eagle looking down on us from afar!! The eagle of the Dawoudieh, which it has taken as its emblem... Yes, it has taken the eagle as its emblem because it is a nest of eagles!!! And here are the pupils' dormitories, fitted out in the newest style.. Here are the classrooms, and there the laboratory and the reading room, and beside it the library stocked with the latest literary and scientific books for the secondary classes... As for the elementary section, a library has been set apart for each sex, containing such story books and humorous, scientific, and moral books as suit their knowledge and their understanding...

And the most important thing you will notice in the atmosphere of the Dawoudieh is its care for the Arabic language and its esteem for this language, unlike many schools.. The Dawoudieh regards this Arabic language as the tongue of our glorious Arab heritage and the treasury of our civilization, so it is only right to set it in the highest place and to keep it honored and esteemed...

For this reason the administration has founded various committees and many societies, foremost among them the Arabic Society, to strengthen the faculty of oratory in the pupils and to develop the Arabic language; and this society has yielded the best results in strength, boldness, and vitality!!

And now walk with us a little way outside, that we may enjoy the beauty of the Dawoudieh's natural setting...

Here are flocks of girls in their pretty blue dress, filling the air with gladness and joy! The playground, for all its breadth, has grown too narrow for them... And there is a cluster of the Dawoudieh's flowers, withdrawn to one side of the playground, singing the college anthem. Ah, how tender those voices, how sweet! They are full of strength and life!!

The Dawoudieh gathers us in, and to glory's summit raises us
And the free soul urges us on
Sovereignty, one and all, is our aspiration

How beautiful is that anthem which fills the breast with ardor!!

Truly the Dawoudieh gathers them together and gathers their hearts... for love is the most important thing you notice in the Dawoudieh's atmosphere.. On entering, you feel that family atmosphere which you feel only in your own home, among your kin and your people... Yes, love and tenderness are the chief marks of the pupils of this institute.. I drew this conclusion the moment I first entered the Dawoudieh: I had been thinking that I would be a stranger among pupils who did not know me and whom I did not know, but my thoughts quickly changed, and quickly — in a space of no more than a few hours — I had become a friend to the whole company...

How beautiful is the Dawoudieh's natural setting, and how splendid the views that surround it!! Here is the "Mtayr" of Abey crouching above it like a faithful companion... There, on the other side, a pine forest, as though it had risen expressly to perfume the Dawoudieh's air and purify it... And there is the murmur of the April brook, leisurely accompanying the pupils' songs like sweet music..

In this poetic atmosphere stands the Dawoudieh! And from this vast institute the homeland receives every year a flight of eagles, after the Dawoudieh has equipped them with the sound weapons it possesses... This flight soars through the skies of the country, spreading what the Dawoudieh has taught it and carrying out the mission it was charged to spread.!.

Yes, this is the Dawoudieh... an oasis in the heart of a desert!! A seedbed of inspiration and beauty!! And a nest for the eagles of the mountains!!