Saïd the Fisherman · Chapter
Endnotes explained
The endnotes provide historical and contextual annotations, including an anecdote about the exiled Khedive Ismaìl Pasha, explanations of Ottoman classifications and taxes, a prophecy about the fall of Islâm, and details about the Damascus m
What happens
The endnotes provide historical and contextual annotations, including an anecdote about the exiled Khedive Ismaìl Pasha, explanations of Ottoman classifications and taxes, a prophecy about the fall of Islâm, and details about the Damascus massacre of 1860.
Themes in this chapter
Religion and Superstition
The endnotes discuss religious classifications, a prophecy about Islâm's ruin, and the role of religious identity in the Damascus massacre.
Violence and Chaos
The endnotes describe the violent suppression of the Damascus riot and the massacre of Christians.
Characters to notice
- Ahmed Pasha
Mentioned in the endnote about the Damascus massacre; ordered troops to fire on the mob.
Key passages
“It has been told me for a fact that when the exiled Khedive Ismaìl Pasha (known to London street-boys of the period as old Ishmel Parker) was at Naples, one of the officers in attendance on him challenged an Italian in a café for having dared to insult a Prophet of his (the Egyptian’s) religion.”
A story is told that while the exiled Khedive Ismaìl Pasha was in Naples, one of his officers dueled an Italian who had blasphemed against the Prophet.
Anecdote illustrating religious honor and conflict.
“It was predicted in the beginning of the present century by a much-revered sheikh that when the first of the sevens falls the ruin of Islâm will commence, and when the second falls it will have been completed.”
A revered sheikh predicted that the fall of the first seven would begin Islâm's ruin, and the second seven would complete it.
Prophecy influencing fatalist tendencies among Muslims.