Chapter IV: Part 4

In some parts of Arabia, Bedouin women when they travel ride on a camel saddle called a _howdij_, which protects them from the gaze of strangers. Sometimes they play peek-a-boo, as the camel trudges along. In many respects their life is most unhappy. Doughty and other travellers believe that over one-half of the nomad population seldom know the blessing of a full meal. When they hear from the lips of Western travellers of countries where there is bread and clothing and peace, and water in great abundance, they are surprised, and contrast the condition of other nations with their lives of misery. One of them, after listening to Doughty’s description, threw his hands up, and uttered this prayer, “Have mercy, O Allah, upon Thy creature whom Thou createdst! Pity the sighing of the poor, the hungry, the naked. Have mercy, have mercy upon them, O Allah!” Who can help saying “Amen” to the nomad’s prayer? We cannot judge them harshly when we remember that they have never had a fair chance, and that for centuries warfare and plunder have been their daily life. I remember with much interest a Sunday I spent in the black tents of Kedar, with a crowd of nomads sitting around. They were most hospitable, and brought in great wooden bowls of fresh milk, with butter floating in it, dried dates and bread baked on the coals; then, when our appetites were satisfied, they listened, oh, so eagerly, as I told them for the first time the old, old story of Jesus Christ’s birth, and death and resurrection. Some of them were so ignorant that they had never heard of a cross, and I remember taking two twigs from the ground and showing them how our Saviour was crucified for our sins, according to the Scriptures. No one has visited that tribe in Oman since my journey eight years ago. How long must they and others wait for Christian teachers? Shall the Bedouin babies have a better chance than their mothers had?

The kingdoms and governments of this world have frontiers which are guarded and must not be crossed without permission, but the kingdom of Jesus Christ has no frontier. It has never been kept within bounds. It has a message for the whole race, and the very fact that there are millions of people in the heart of Arabia who have never heard, becomes the strongest of reasons why we must carry that message to them. Difficulties and dangers should not hold us back. They did not hold back Jesus Christ when He made the long journey to our lost world. He depends on us to finish His work. As it is written:

“They shall see to whom no tidings of Him came,
And they who have not heard shall understand.”

* * * * *

“O Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling,
To tell to all the world that God is Light;
That He who made all nations is not willing
One soul should perish, lost in shades of night.

“Publish glad tidings;
Tidings of peace;
Tidings of Jesus,
Redemption and release.”

ARABIA

F.F. FLORIS FERWERDA

[Musical score]

A-ra-bi-a! A-ra-bi-a! For thee our pray’rs as-cend,
That soon the ful-ness of God’s love, And light on thee de-scend.
From O-man’s cliffs to Ye-man’s strand, Thy truth from sea to sea.
Make known to ev-’ry A-rab band, O Lord! and make them free.

Go! her-alds of the gos-pel, go! Urged by your Mas-ter’s love,
Let ev-’ry A-rab cap-tive know; He lives—the God of love.
His truth proclaim, His man-dates name, Sal-va-tion’s offering bring;
Till ev-’ry soul shall learn His fame, And crown the Saviour-King.

Go! her-alds of your Sa-viour, send The mes-sage far and near,
Till ev-’ry Moslem heart shall bend In ho-ly, reverend fear.
Speed! mes-sen-gers of peace, speed on! God’s promised truth make known;
Chil-dren of Ishmael, Ha-gar’s son, Go! claim them as God’s own.

A-ra-bi-a! A-ra-bi-a! Up-on thy dark-est night,
The Sun of Righteousness as-cends; He comes to give thee light.
Be-fore Him shall the cres-cent wane. Him ev-’ry king shall bless;
The wild-er-ness shall praise His name, The isles His love con-fess.

Transcriber’s Note: A MIDI file of the music is available with the HTML version of this e-text at Project Gutenberg.