Seven Pillars of Wisdom · Chapter
LXXIII explained
Lawrence and Sherif Ali encounter a hostile Beni Sakhr raiding party near Bair, which is resolved through negotiation.
What happens
Lawrence and Sherif Ali encounter a hostile Beni Sakhr raiding party near Bair, which is resolved through negotiation. They are welcomed by Mifleh, who agrees to join a raid on the Deraa district. The chapter contrasts desert hospitality with the pretensions of Abd el Kader, and ends with the distant sound of artillery from Palestine.
Themes in this chapter
Honor and Deception
The Beni Sakhr's treacherous attack is excused as a 'habit,' and Lawrence's party conceals the true objective of the Deraa raid to avoid dissuading allies.
Culture and Otherness
Contrasts between Bedouin hospitality, Sherifian manners, and Abd el Kader's peasant pretensions highlight cultural differences within the Arab camp.
Characters to notice
- T.E. Lawrence
Narrator and leader of the party; admires the defensive posture of his men and negotiates with the Beni Sakhr.
- Sherif Ali ibn el Hussein
Commands the party with Lawrence; handles the Beni Sakhr confrontation and later judges the Bisha masons.
- Awad
Bodyguard who bravely runs out to signal friendship to the approaching Beni Sakhr raiders.
- Sheikh Mifleh
Chief of the Zebn Sukhur clan; welcomes the party with a grand display and agrees to join the Deraa raid.
- Emir Abd el Kader el Jezairi
Makes a clumsy display of horsemanship and later offends Bedouin hospitality by rising early from the meal.
- Turki
Mifleh's son, a fair-faced boy eager to prove his manhood; given a silk robe by Lawrence.
Key passages
“My mind was as near stilled those days as ever in my life.”
Lawrence felt an unusual inner peace and quietness of mind during this period.
Reflects a rare moment of calm amid the chaos of war.
“The Beni Sakhr were a dangerous gang, not pure enough nomads to hold the nomadic code of honour or to obey the desert law in spirit, and not villagers enough to have abjured the business of rapine and raid.”
Lawrence describes the Beni Sakhr as a hybrid group lacking the full honor of nomads or the settled ways of villagers, making them prone to banditry.
Highlights Lawrence's nuanced view of Bedouin tribal morality.
“Three things are notably impossible: One, that Turkey win this war; one, that the Mediterranean become champagne; one, that I be found in the same place with Mohammed Said, and he armed.”
Ali Riza Pasha humorously lists three impossibilities, including Turkey's victory and being near a dangerous man with a weapon.
A wry comment on Ottoman prospects and local rivalries.