forbids me to draw it.

Fakhr al-Din al-Ma'ni ignored his words, and said: — And what is that? He said: It is the duty of regard for my father. The Emir murmured the murmur of one who assents to this, and said: — Then you shall go to your father and fight at his side. Then he said, in a resolute tone: — This house is our property; we bought it from the heirs of Emir Mansur ibn Assaf and bestowed it upon you, and we now have need of it. And he turned to his steward, Sheikh Abu Nadir al-Khazin, and said to him: — Show him the deeds of purchase, and take the house over from him, and let him go to his father at once... As for our daughter, Emira Fakhira, and her son, they shall proceed under the guard of a troop of horsemen to Sidon.

Then there came to him one who said that Mustafa Pasha had defeated the Shihabi emirs in Wadi al-Taym, and that they had fled before him to Majdal Anjar and fortified themselves in its war tower, awaiting his relief. He ordered the advance at once...

The men with him numbered five thousand in all, whom he divided into three bodies: the right wing under the command of his son, Emir Ali; the left wing with its banner entrusted to his brother, Emir Yunus; while he took command of the center himself. When he reached the Majdal, the Shihabis fortified in its tower joined him. Mustafa Pasha's army was twelve thou-sand strong, and it had reached Anjar and taken up its position there. When the Emir came within sight of it, he ordered the banners unfurled, and an attack

from which there would be no turning back; and behold, his horsemen fell upon the enemy like thunderbolts, and his foot soldiers closed on him from every side, while he himself, in the thick of the battle, cut through the ranks; and wherever he appeared his men cheered his name and pressed the enemy the harder with blow and slaughter.

The surprise was too great for Mustafa Pasha and his men to stand against it... They soon took to flight, with the Emir's men pursuing them, killing some and taking others prisoner... until there came to the Emir one who said: — A troop of horsemen has captured Mustafa Pasha on the Damascus road. Fakhr al-Din said gravely: — Has anyone done him harm? The bearer of the news answered: — Our lord Emir Ali would have nothing but that he be treated with honor. The Emir said: — And I ask that he be treated so... He is a prisoner of war... and whatever his case may be, he serves his state and his sultan, and sound policy requires that we do him no injury. And he went to receive him in person... When he met him, he paid him the honor due to him, and said: — Your pardon, Excellency the Pasha; we did not want war — you declared it, and it fell to us to defend ourselves, and self-defense is a duty. The Emir's tone moved Mustafa Pasha, and he said: — Nor did we, Emir, want war with you; our friendship for you is well known, but... God confound the mischief-makers... they pictured it to us that you were preparing to march on Damascus and occupy it. Fakhr al-Din laughed and said: — And tomorrow they will say that we are making ready to march on Constantinople...

Lebanon, Excellency the Pasha, has no room for all that... We want only to keep our emirate, within borders that assure us a life that serves our good and the good of the state. Said Mustafa Pasha: — And in that we confirm you... It was Kurd Hamza, and Emir Yunus, and the other talebearers like them, who set us upon you.

Fakhr al-Din seized the oppor-tunity, and said: — Those men are traitors. Said Mustafa Pasha: — It is yours to chastise them... and the sanjak of Safad, and the other sanjaks which the state has confirmed to you, shall be joined to your emirate at once. Fakhr al-Din had been waiting for this word. He called his son, Emir Ali, and said to him: — Ali... you will march this very hour with your men to Baalbek, seize the estates of the Banu Harfush, demolish the houses of Kurd Hamza, and subdue by the sword whoever dares to resist you. And Mustafa Pasha approved this, saying: — By the Emir's order, and mine.

Thus did our great Emir build, by sword and cunning, to con-solidate Lebanon's existence and its sovereignty...

Sultan Soap

Sultan