# XL explained — Seven Pillars of Wisdom > Chapter companion for Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence. ## What happens Lawrence and his party continue their arduous journey through the desert, navigating difficult terrain and dealing with the complexities of leadership among the Arab forces. They encounter a pair of young Ageyl, Farraj and Daud, who join Lawrence's service after a punishment incident. ## Themes in this chapter ### Suffering and Endurance Lawrence endures fever, boils, and the physical hardships of the desert journey; the group loses camels and faces difficult terrain. ### Honor and Deception The elaborate rules of march and the need for a unifying figure (the Sherif) to combine disparate factions; the conceit of the Arab movement. ### Culture and Otherness Lawrence's Arabic lessons and the mingling of dialects; the contrast between Bedouin and town sensibilities; the eastern boy-boy affection described. ## Character check-ins ### T.E. Lawrence Narrator and participant; suffers from fever and boils; takes on Farraj and Daud as servants. ### Auda abu Tayi Guides the party through the night with his chanting; a child of battle who has never known a master. ### Sherif Nasir Commands the group; gives Lawrence Arabic lessons; decides to halt and camp; accepts Farraj and Daud into service. ### Mohammed el Dheilan Auda's cousin; helps teach Lawrence Arabic. ### Nesib el Bekri One of the punctilious houses in the group; described as jealous and hostile to merit. ### Farraj Young Ageyli; burned a tent with Daud; soft-framed and girlish; joins Lawrence's service. ### Daud Young Ageyli; Farraj's friend; shares punishment; eager and anxious; joins Lawrence's service. ### Sherif Sharraf Expected to return from an expedition; severe in discipline; not yet arrived. ## Key lines > To townsmen this garden was a memory of the world before we went mad with war and drove ourselves into the desert: to Auda there was an indecency of exhibition in the plant-richness, and he longed for an empty view. For city dwellers, the garden reminded them of peacetime, but Auda found the lushness obscene and preferred barren landscapes. _Contrast between urban and Bedouin perspectives on nature and war._ > The fluency had a lack of grammar, which made my talk a perpetual adventure for my hearers. Newcomers imagined I must be the native of some unknown illiterate district; a shot-rubbish ground of disjected Arabic parts of speech. Lawrence's Arabic was fluent but ungrammatical, leading listeners to think he came from a remote, uneducated area. _Lawrence's linguistic journey and the eclectic nature of his Arabic._ > For this army of Feisal's the conceit was that an Emir of Mecca, a descendant of the prophet, a Sherif, was an otherworldly dignitary whom sons of Adam might reverence without shame. This was the binding assumption of the Arab movement; it was this which gave it an effective, if imbecile unanimity. The Arab army's unity was based on the belief that a Sherif of Mecca was a holy figure worthy of reverence, a notion that was both effective and foolish. _The ideological foundation of the Arab Revolt's cohesion._ > They were an instance of the eastern boy and boy affection which the segregation of women made inevitable. Such friendships often led to manly loves of a depth and force beyond our flesh-steeped conceit. The close bond between Farraj and Daud exemplified a type of male friendship common in the East, sometimes deepening into love, which Westerners might misunderstand. _Observation on same-sex relationships in Arab society._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/seven_pillars_of_wisdom_se/chapters/xl - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/seven_pillars_of_wisdom_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/seven_pillars_of_wisdom_se/chapters