I am a Bedouin, a son of one of the Heads of the tribe of El-Sulût, whodwell in El-Lejât, in the Haurân territory. Like other sons of tribalChiefs, I entered the Tribal School at Constantinople, and subsequentlythe Royal College. On the completion of my education, I was attached tothe staff of the Vali of Syria (or Damascus), on which I remained for along while. I was then Kaimakâm of Mamouret-el-Azîz (Kharpout), holdingthis post for three and a half years, after which I practised as alawyer at Damascus, my partners being Shukri Bey El-Asli andAbdul-Wahhâb Bey El-Inglîzi. I next became a member of the GeneralAssembly at that place, representing Haurân, and later a member of theCommittee of that Assembly. On the outbreak of the war, I was ordered toresume my previous career, that is, the duties of Kaimakâm, but I didnot comply, as I found the practice of the law more advantageous in manyways and more tranquil.
I was denounced by an informer as being a delegate of a Societyconstituted in the Lebanon with the object of achieving the independenceof the Arab people, under the protection of England and France, and ofinciting the tribes against the Turkish Government. On receipt of thisdenunciation, I was arrested by the Government, thrown into prison, andsubsequently sent in chains, with a[Pg vi] company of police and gendarmes, toAalîya, where persons accused of political offences were tried. I wasacquitted, but as the Government disregarded the decisions given in suchcases, and was resolved on the removal and destruction of allenlightened Arabs—whatever the circumstances might be—it was thoughtnecessary that I should be despatched to Erzeroum, and Jemâl Pasha sentme thither with an officer and five of the regular troops. When Ireached Diarbekir, Hasan Kaleh, at Erzeroum, was being pressed by theRussians, and the Vali of Diarbekir was ordered to detain me at thatplace.
After twenty-two days' confinement in prison for no reason, I wasreleased; I hired a house and remained at Diarbekir for six and a halfmonths, seeing and hearing from the most reliable sources all that tookplace in regard to the Armenians, the majority of my informants beingsuperior officers and officials, or Notables of Diarbekir and itsdependencies, as well as others from Van, Bitlis, Mamouret-el-Azîz,Aleppo and Erzeroum. The people of Van had been in Diarbekir since theoccupation of their territory by the Russians, whilst the people andofficials of Bitlis had recently emigrated thither. Many of the Erzeroumofficers came to Diarbekir on military or private business, whilstMamouret-el-Azîz was near by, and many people came to us from thence. AsI had formerly been a Kaimakâm in that Vilayet, I had a largeacquaintance there and heard all the news. More especially, the timewhich I passed in prison with the heads of the tribes in Diarbekirenabled me to study the movement in its smallest details. The war mustneeds come to an end after a while, and[Pg vii] it will then be plain toreaders of this book that all I have written is the truth, and that itcontains only a small part of the atrocities committed by the Turksagainst the hapless Armenian people.
After passing this time at Diarbekir I fled, both to escape fromcaptivity and from fear induced by what had befallen me from some of thefanatical Turks. After great sufferings, during which I was oftenexposed to death and slaughter, I reached