From Our Heritage: Yusuf Agha al-Shintiri

In the year 1840 a cry rang out through Lebanon, calling the men of patriotism and gallantry to revolt... The Egyptian commander, victorious over the Astana, was trampling on the traditions and independence of the Lebanese: stripping them of their arms, conscripting their young men for forced labor, imposing taxes upon them... And the Emir of Lebanon, his ally against the Turks, was upholding his reckless policy.

Ibrahim Pasha had blundered, and Emir Bashir followed him in his blunder, and the Astana exploited the blunder... And the powers that coveted the "Sick Man" stretched out their hands, to curb Egypt's tyranny and to keep her away from "the gate of the East." It was natural, then, that the cry of the Lebanese rebels should find supporters at home and abroad.

And in the forefront of those who sent up that resounding cry were the two heroes of Lebanon in that day: Abu Samra Ghanem al-Bkassini, and Yusuf Agha al-Shintiri.

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Yusuf al-Shintiri was born in Bikfaya in the year 1808, and inclined to horsemanship from his tenderest years. He hated coddling and "pampering" in the arms of his family and kin... He wanted to be a hero... to gird on the sword, carry the rifle, ride the horse, and defend homeland and right... And when he felt sure of his ability to do so, he entered the service of Emir Bashir.

The first deed he performed, and in which his heroism showed itself, was his entry into Mukhtara at the head of a company of his men, taking it by force — in the Emir's name — after he had slain with the sword the chief of its defenders, Ali Hilal. That was in the year 1825, when he was still in his seventeenth year.

From then on his star shone, his fame spread, people talked of him, and to belong to him and rally beneath his banner became the ambition of every horseman.

Our hero was not a man of learning; yet he loved history and loved listening to its tales, especially the tales of the French Revolution — and those tales were then on every lip. He would strain his ears toward them, comparing the causes that had roused the French people with their like in his own homeland, and wishing that in this homeland there were a people ready for revolt, that he might lead them to the field of liberation and glory.

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The first signs of discontent with Ibrahim Pasha's policy, and with Emir Bashir's support of that policy — as has been said — began to appear, and our hero saw that the time had come for a decisive act... Abu Samra Ghanem al-Bkassini was the horseman of horsemen of that age, so he approached him secretly and said to him:

— Lebanon is in danger, O father of horsemen... Does anything prevent you from coming to its aid?

Abu Samra was in the service of Emir Bashir, and he said:

— But I am in the Emir's service, as you know, Abu Qublan.

Yusuf said with heat:

— Service to the Emir is a duty so long as it serves the country, and it becomes treason when it conflicts with the national interest.

Abu Samra was no less patriotic and zealous than Abu Qublan, and he had wanted to test his comrade; when he was assured of the sincerity of his resolve, he said firmly:

— Had you not come to me, Abu Qublan, I would have gone to you... Here is my hand... and let us march to life or to death.

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And the two heroes blew the trumpet of revolt.

And the Mountain poured forth its men to rally beneath their banner.

And they made the general headquarters of the revolt in the plain of Beirut.

Ibrahim Pasha learned of this and sent to reproach Emir Bashir for the appearance of that movement in his lands, calling on him to put an end to it by his wisdom and firmness. The Emir sent to threaten the rebels, and their answer was:

— We do not fear threats. We have demands from which we shall not swerve. We set you up as ruler to spread justice: if you are for us, then be just; if not... blame us not if we let the sword decide.

And when he asked them their demands, they answered:

— We will pay no more than a single miri tax... You will dismiss Boutros Karameh from your diwan...

...You will set up a consultative council with two members from every sect... You will lift the corvée from us, and leave us the arms of which Ibrahim would strip us.

And our hero added to that, saying to the men of the Emir's delegation:

— And let the Emir know, further, that the swords shall not be sheathed, and the horses shall not be stripped of their saddles and bridles, so long as there is an Egyptian in the country... The country is ours and we are its masters, and we will not suffer any foreigner's head to be raised beneath its sky, whatever that foreigner's worth and station.

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And the fire of revolt blazed up under the command of the two heroes: Abu Samra in the north, and Abu Qublan in the center... And the cauldron of rage burst in Ibrahim's breast, and he set about hunting down the rebels and fighting them; and the more he persisted, the more stubborn they grew, saying:

— Let Ibrahim do as he pleases... We stand by our pledge, and we shall fight him with our teeth when our swords are shattered, and with the very cores of our hearts when our bullets run out.

And they fought him with their teeth and the cores of their hearts.

In the end he prevailed over them, and arrested forty of their chiefs — our hero al-Shintiri among them — and banished them to Egypt, and from there to Sennar, in the land of Nubia.

Ibrahim wished to exploit the situation and to win Yusuf over to his side before ordering his banishment, and said to him:

— Have you seen, Abu Qublan, how I am able to crush every opposition you raise?... My sword is longer than you imagine, my arm is not stricken with palsy, and I am, moreover, forbearing, and I love men like you. Will you not cast off your pride and stand at my side, and yours shall be whatever reward you wish?

Our hero's eyes flashed sparks of defiance and anger, and he answered:

— I am not one to turn traitor, Pasha... A commander of your standing ought to have been above proposing such a thing to me.

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Ibrahim won a battle, but he did not win the war.

Events developed... The rebels

— under the command of Abu Samra — pressed on with the war stubbornly, and the Turks, the English, and the Russians supplied them with arms, until at last Emir Bashir was forced to surrender, and Ibrahim Pasha to withdraw and accept the rebels' conditions, foremost among them the return of the exiles to their homeland.

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After Emir Bashir II, there sat upon the seat of the emirate Bashir III, nicknamed Abu Tahin... Then he was arrested and exiled to the Astana... and a Turkish governor was appointed over Lebanon, Omar Pasha the Austrian... Word reached al-Shintiri that this governor intended to appoint him and Abu Samra commanders of the army, and he said, scornful and angry:
— I have never been a foreigner's servant.

His words reached Omar Pasha, who sent to him secretly, saying: "I am not Turkish by origin. I have come to Lebanon to put an end to the disorder, and duty requires that you stand at my side, so that when my mission is done I may leave the government to whomever of the patriots you choose."

Yusuf was persuaded by this... He shook the Turk's hand and returned to the service of his homeland.

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The revolt shook Omar's seat, and international policy saw fit to divide the country in two: a qaimaqamate for the Christians, and another for the Druze... And over the Christians' qaimaqamate — with its seat at Bikfaya — was appointed Emir Haydar al-Lam'i, who thought to enlist the help of our hero — his comrade in struggle and exile — in consolidating the foundations of his rule, and set him at the head of the administration of security and the collection of the miri revenues.

Yusuf performed his task admirably: he would strike hard and show forbearance, and he quelled every sedition... His enviers and enemies multiplied, poisoning the Emir's heart against him:
— Al-Shintiri is proud of his past... he scarcely acknowledges that the Emir stands above him... and in his doings he conducts himself like an absolute master.

The Emir believed the slanderers and dismissed him from his service... This grieved our hero, and from that time on he turned away from public service to his private affairs.

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Then came the ill-omened "year sixty"... the year of the civil war contrived to destroy national rule... Yusuf tried at first to take no notice of it, but the course of events drove him out of his seclusion, and he set about calling "the two warring brothers" to reason, to the sparing of blood whose shedding was in no way in the interest of the national cause.

More than once he was forced to fight — not to widen the range of the revolt, but to soften its fury and its evil... But "the arm of evil" was longer than his arm, and fate decreed for his homeland what it decreed, so he returned to his seclusion, sad and despairing... Sadness and despair told upon him, and he was stricken with an incurable disease that robbed him of his sight and paralyzed the fingers of his hands.

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And he fell into poverty... his friends abandoned him... and nothing remained to him of his world but memories of the past and his self-respect.

It was the era of Rustum Pasha... and among the influential Lebanese notables of that era was Sheikh Eid Hatem, president of the Administrative Council... Sheikh Eid held that a hero like al-Shintiri must not be humiliated in his old age, and worked to secure him a pension — and succeeded in his effort.

Rustum Pasha desired to see our hero. When he entered his presence, in the company of Sheikh Eid, the Pasha could not keep from exclaiming:
— Are you Abu Qublan?

It seemed to Yusuf that the Pasha was mocking his weakness, his illness, and his old age; the blood rushed to his head, he reached his hand to his sword, defiant in his turn, and answered:
— I am he, Your Excellency the Pasha, and you will find me ready to do battle with any horseman you please, despite the weakness, illness, and old age you see.

The Pasha soothed his feelings, saying:
— I meant only to express my admiration for you, Abu Qublan.

And he overwhelmed him with his welcome and his kindness...