Alia Frances

A Lebanese heroine, a contemporary of Emir Bashir the Great. She was known for her horsemanship, her daring, and her skill in the arts of war. Here is her life story in a few lines, together with a collection of delightful anecdotes about this extraordinary human being!!...

I heard much about her in my childhood; our mother told us of her many times, and recounted to our ears curious tales that are scarcely to be believed. Alia was born in the town of Hasbaya in southern Lebanon in 1842, of pious parents: Sheikh Youssef Frances and Shahina Yamin. Her father was a notable and a great champion who learned horsemanship with the sons of Emir Bashir the Great, and was famed for his courage, his boldness, and his generosity. His children grew up in his mold in courage, boldness, generosity, and love of the good. Nor was Alia in any way behind her brothers in horsemanship and daring. From her father she acquired the art of riding and of using sword and rifle with surpassing skill. She would ride her steed, wear the abaya and the headband, take her weapons with her on her journeys, and travel by night and by day, heedless of dangers and enemies. She grew up in a notable house that was a resort for strong and weak alike; they came to it from every quarter, laying out their problems and complaining of the wrongs done them. How many an emir came for consultation, a chieftain to seek an opinion, a weak man for help. Yet a life of ease, plenty, and prestige bred in Alia nothing but a humble spirit. She loved the poor as she loved the rich, the weak as the strong, and lived with great and small alike.

Alia grew up and found the sons of her homeland split into factions and parties, for ignorance had overwhelmed them and corruption had seeped into their souls; there was misery and wretchedness, there was oppression and horror. Innocent souls fell victim to circumstances and conditions. As for Alia, pained by the state of her people and of the sons of her homeland, whom she loved as she loved life itself, she resolved to resist oppression and to stand against misery. She breathed into her people a breath of her own spirit, aflame with devotion, faith, and love, and revived in their souls confidence and belief in the good; and in the clear sky of her soul there flashed a gleam of hope for delivering her people from oppression. For this she led companies of men and fought many battles, and in all of them she was a model of heroism, daring, and gallantry.

Alia was not known only for her warlike stands; like the members of her family, she was known for her courage and boldness. From the charming stories and tales still told to this day one may gather what boldness the members of the Frances family possessed, and what a high station they held among their contemporaries. It is related that Rida al-Solh held a meeting shortly before the First World War at Tamra, a farm of his in the south, and invited to it the notables of that region. It so happened that war was declared a few months after that meeting. No sooner had the war broken out than Rida al-Solh's opponents exploited the situation and denounced him to Jamal Pasha, claiming that Rida al-Solh had held a political meeting at which he incited to revolt. At once Boutros Karama was charged with investigating the matter. He questioned the notables of that region, and all of them denied having attended the meeting — except Salim Frances, Alia's brother, who confessed and said: Rida al-Solh is a friend of the family, and I went to visit him. The file of the investigation was sent to Aley, and thereupon all the notables who had been questioned were summoned before the martial-law court — except Salim Frances, whose boldness proved his ally in that situation.

And here is another example showing what frankness and boldness Alia had in dangerous situations.

On a flying visit, Jamal Pasha the Younger, Mohammad Ali Bey, and the Miralay Dia Bey passed by the house of Sheikh Youssef Frances, and Mohammad Ali Bey expressed a wish to make the acquaintance of Alia, the friend of his mother, of the Arqawiyya family. No sooner had Alia entered the reception hall than Ali Bey stepped forward and kissed her hand, and the Pasha followed suit. Then she began to entertain them with charming talk — for she was an accomplished conversationalist — and she said to Jamal Pasha, with boldness and sincerity, "His Majesty our lord the Sultan has misjudged Rida al-Solh, for Rida and his son Riad are among the best men of the country." Mohammad Ali Bey did not dare translate this to Jamal Pasha, for freedom of speech was not permitted in those days. But the Pasha insisted that what Alia had said be translated for him, and he had his way. He nodded his head and said, "I am of your opinion in that," and admired her boldness.

Alia used to guard the rights of the weak and rise up against the strong when they did wrong.

It is told that at dawn one day Alia mounted her mare and set out to attend the Khan market near Hasbaya. When she reached the halfway point of the road, she saw a number of muleteers lying in wait at that spot for sunrise, wary of an attack by a notorious brigand who used to hold up the road and rob passersby of their money. When these muleteers saw Alia, they asked to accompany her for fear of the said brigand; so they all walked in her company, calling on her aid and feeling secure. No sooner had they reached Ain al-Hirmas than that brigand barred their way and tried to rob them. Alia rebuked him, and the moment he heard her voice and his eyes fell upon her, he came up to her and kissed her knee, saying, "By the life of your head, but for you I would have stripped them of their very clothes; but before your face all feats of daring are null." Then he left them and went his way.

How often she extended a helping hand to those in need of her aid and succor. And how often she performed deeds of charity and heroism in disguise, unrecognized. Father Boutros Basbous al-Maadi, famous for his stands in Marjayoun, related on the authority of the officer Fares Nimr al-Qahwaji, who said: "I was one day on a mission for the province, and when I came near the Litani River I wished to shorten the way and cross the river, not knowing the strength of its waters. No sooner had I gone down into the river than the waters began to hurl me along with their current — the waters were swollen, it being the season of spring — and while I was on the point of drowning, horse and all, behold, a valiant horseman came speeding toward me and held out to me the end of his lance. I clutched it, and he kept pulling me until I came out onto dry land. I thanked the horseman for his kindness and wished to know who had saved me from certain death, but the horseman remained close-mouthed, then left me and rode away. When he was far off, I inquired of the shepherds who happened to be there, and they answered me that this horseman was Alia Frances! How great was my astonishment, and how I admired her quick eye and her prowess."

One day some horsemen of the desert came to visit Sheikh Youssef Frances and asked him to compete with them at sword-play, for his fame in horsemanship had spread deep into the desert. He did not refuse them this request, but chose that his daughter Alia should compete with them. He set before her two glasses of water and laid a thin stick across them, and bade her strike the stick; Alia struck it and cut it through without the two glasses falling. Then she performed other feats with the sword that amazed the horsemen of the desert and all the onlookers. Alia was surnamed the heroine of Lebanon and the Joan of Arc of the East. Never in her life did she rise up except to defend right and justice; so all respected her, and she won their hearts.

And though her life was full of warlike stands and exploits, she was pious and devout, respecting men of religion and showing them kindness whatever their creed. She took the greatest interest in the building of churches and the aiding of mosques and shrines. Not a church in any town stood in need of help but Alia and her family laid its cornerstone. Thus she gave yearly relief to the mosque of Banias and to certain Muslim shrines in the Huleh, just as she extended help to needy sheikhs... With all her piety and religious devotion, her tolerance and her family's religious tolerance commanded the respect of all the communities. She believed that the sons of this Mountain are brothers, and that it is their duty to live in concord and brotherhood.

Alia loved the people of her region, Marjayoun, with a great love, and worked for their good and their concord. She hated disputes and strove with all her strength to remove every quarrel by means of her influence and her word, which carried weight. Many a time she quenched the fire of discord among the emirs of the Faour family, who trusted in her friendship and sincerity and consulted her in hardships and calamities.

In her piety Alia was an apostle of good to the wretched, the poor, and the sick, comforting humanity and supplying the poor with money. She distributed the greater part of the income of her estates among the needy, just as she treated the sick who came flocking to her house; she would receive them, host them for days and weeks, and treat them free of charge. She was physician and surgeon, performing operations of various kinds, such as drawing bullets from wounds, dressing sores, and the like.

And after years that were all struggle and heroism, Alia withdrew into a life of quiet, of meditations and prayers. In 1920 she came to Beirut, where she was received with every mark of veneration and honor. She spent her last years in the capital, where the great men of the country, governors and emirs, visited her out of respect for her great personality and in recognition of the deeds and glories she had wrought, in which the country takes pride. She died in 1923, leaving behind her a memory that the generations will not efface.