The Haj - Leon Uris [0]
Leon Uris
For
MARK
Contents
Prelude: 1922
Part One: The Valley of Ayalon
1. 1944
2.
3.
4. Rosh Pinna—1882
5. 1924
6.
7.
8. 1925
9. Autumn 1929
10. 1931
11. Jaffa—April 19, 1936
12. Summer 1937
13. October 1937
14. 1940
15. 1944
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Part Two: The Scattering
1. 1946
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Late 1947
8.
9. January 10, 1948
10.
11. April 1948
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Part Three: Qumram
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. January 1949
Part Four: Jericho
1. Late Winter 1949
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. Early Autumn 1950
14.
15.
16.
17.
Part Five: Nada
1.
2.
3. July 1951
4.
5. 1953
6. 1954
7. 1955
8.
9.
10.
11. Monday, October 29, 1956
12.
13.
14.
A Biography of Leon Uris
In order to spend the years necessary to travel, research, and write a novel such as The Haj, the writer must necessarily become a self-centered creator and is apt to test the strength of his relationships. My wife, Jill, embraced this project with no less devotion than myself. She unselfishly gave everything: compassion, loyalty, love. She took care of me, often in dark and dangerous places. And importantly, she made a major contribution by her astute and wise advice during the writing. These pages could scarcely have been written without such a partner at my side.
I was already aware from writing Trinity that my research associate, Diane Eagle, possessed a mystical quality of understanding what I was trying to say and what the story required. The Haj was a ponderous challenge for any researcher. She answered by pulling a thousand and one brilliant reports. Each day when I went into battle at the typewriter, the facts in these reports were close at hand and immediate assistance was only an office away. She not only added considerably to the background and authenticity of the novel, she lightened my work load immensely. Mostly, I want to thank Diane as a buddy for her unfaltering friendship to Jill and me.
Many of the events in The Haj are a matter of history and public record. Many of the scenes were created around historical incidents and used as a backdrop for the purpose of fiction.
There may be persons alive who took part in events similar to those described in this book. It is possible, therefore, that some may be mistaken for characters in the novel.
Let me emphasize that all the characters in The Haj are the complete creation of the author, and entirely fictional.
The exceptions, of course, are the recognizable public figures who were associated historically with this period, such as David Ben-Gurion, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Abdullah, Yigal Allon, and others.
Arabic and Hebrew words often have many different spellings when translated. I have settled on the easiest and most recognizable spelling for the reader.
Prelude
1922
YOUNG IBRAHIM QUIETLY TOOK his place at his father’s bedside, watching the old man wheeze out his final scene.
The glazed eyes of the sheik gave his son an inkling of recognition and he rallied his remaining strength. Reaching beneath the pillow, he withdrew the jeweled dagger and, trembling, handed it to Ibrahim, enacting the ancient rite of the passage of power.
‘This belongs to Farouk,’ Ibrahim said. ‘He is my elder.’
‘Your brother is a dog with no teeth,’ the father rasped. ‘Already the others are conspiring to select a new muktar. The power must remain with us, the Soukoris,’ he said and thrust the dagger into his son’s hand. ‘It is small, as weapons go,’ the sheik said, ‘but it is the weapon by which we rule our people. They know the meaning of the dagger and the courage of the man who can drive it in to the hilt.’
The old sheik died and the village wailed, and true to his dying thoughts, the four other clans had selected a new muktar for Tabah, breaking the Soukori hold of a century. An hour after his father was buried, Ibrahim invited eight of the leading members of the other clans to his home. In the center of the room stood a crude wooden table. Ibrahim suddenly produced eight knives