Seven Pillars of Wisdom · Chapter
Departure from Rabegh explained
Lawrence departs Rabegh under the cover of night, guided by Tafas el Raashid and his son Abdulla, after receiving orders from Sherif Ali ibn el Hussein.
What happens
Lawrence departs Rabegh under the cover of night, guided by Tafas el Raashid and his son Abdulla, after receiving orders from Sherif Ali ibn el Hussein. The journey through the Tehama desert is described, along with reflections on the Pilgrim Road and the Arab Revolt. Lawrence also provides character sketches of Sherif Ali, Nuri Said, and Zeid.
Themes in this chapter
Honor and Deception
Lawrence travels in disguise to avoid detection by hostile tribes; the guide's fidelity is a matter of tribal honor.
Culture and Otherness
Lawrence reflects on the Pilgrim Road and the cultural significance of the journey, contrasting Arab and Western perspectives.
Characters to notice
- T.E. Lawrence
Narrator and protagonist; departs Rabegh under disguise and escort.
- Sherif Ali ibn el Hussein
Provides Lawrence with a camel and guide; described as bookish, consumptive, and dignified.
- Tafas el Raashid
Hawazim Harb guide chosen to escort Lawrence to Feisal's camp.
- Sherif Zeid
Ali's young half-brother; present at Lawrence's departure, described as shy and calm.
- Nuri Said
Bagdadi staff officer and friend of Lawrence; second in command of the regular force at Rabegh.
Key passages
“The guide had to answer to a sentimental public with his life for that of his fellow.”
A guide was held personally accountable by the tribe for the safety of his charge, on pain of death.
Explains the strict code of responsibility among Arab road-companions.
“My thoughts as we went were how this was the Pilgrim Road, down which, for uncounted generations, the people of the north had come to visit the Holy City... and it seemed that the Arab Revolt might be in a sense a return pilgrimage, to take back to the north, to Syria, an ideal for an ideal.”
Lawrence muses that the ancient pilgrimage route now serves as a path for the Arab Revolt, carrying a new ideal of liberty northward.
Connects the physical journey to the ideological purpose of the revolt.