Leg over Leg: Volumes Three and Four

CHRONOLOGY: AL-SHIDYĀQ, THE FĀRIYĀQ, AND LEG OVER LEG

Though it is not suggested that Leg over Leg should be read primarily as autobiography, it may be of interest to readers to know at what points the Fāriyāq’s life as described in the work coincide with what is known of al-Shidyāq’s; the following table therefore attempts to correlate the two. Much about al-Shidyāq’s life (especially his earliest years) is the subject of debate, and the work itself is studiously unspecific where dates, for example, are concerned, just as it obfuscates the identity of individuals by using coded names. The following table relies to a great extent on information kindly supplied by Geoffrey Roper, who has studied contemporary primary sources, including those of the missionary organizations for which al-Shidyāq worked.⁷⁷⁸ I have also consulted the work of Muḥammad al-Hādī al-Maṭwī⁷⁷⁹ and of Simon Mercieca.⁷⁸⁰ Material not in square brackets derives from the work itself; the material in square brackets comes from other sources, as do the dates. Numbers in the format (1.1.13) refer to the numbered sections of the text and translation.

Event

Year

Volume One

The Fāriyāq [Fāris al-Shidyāq] is born [probably in his ancestral village of ʿAshqūt in the Kasrawān district of Mount Lebanon] (1.1.13).

1805 or 1806⁷⁸¹

He attends school (1.1.13 (end), 1.1.14, 1.1.20) [probably in the village of al-Ḥadath, near Beirut, to which the family is said to have moved in 1809].

Second decade of the 19th century

His father joins a revolt against the ruler of Mount Lebanon [Bashīr II ibn Qāsim al-Shihābī, reigned 1788 to 1842] which is crushed, leading to the father’s flight to Damascus; his house, where Fāris and his mother are living, is looted [by troops under the command of Ḥaydar ibn Aḥmad al-Shihābī, the ruler’s cousin] (1.4.4).

1820

His father dies in Damascus (1.4.8).

1821

He works mainly as a copyist, both at home (1.4.8) and for an emir (1.5.2) [the same Emir Ḥaydar whose troops looted his home], but also [seeking employment] visits one of his brothers [presumably the eldest, Ṭannūs], who is working for a Druze emir (1.6), and later, with a partner, tries his hand first at selling cloth as an itinerant merchant among the villages of Mount Lebanon (1.7), then at innkeeping (1.8). Subsequently, he becomes tutor to an emir’s daughter (1.10) but later resumes work as copyist for an emir (1.11); he also tries, and fails, to make money by writing a eulogy for an emir (1.18.15).

ca. 1820—25

He meets his first “Bag-man” [an American Protestant missionary working for the Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, in Beirut, referred to in the text as a “peddler. . [who had] hot-footed it over bringing with him a large saddlebag”] (1.18.19) and eventually declares his adherence to Protestantism (1.19.5). [His elder brother Asʿad, a convert to Protestantism, is arrested and eventually imprisoned by the Maronite Patriarch at his residence at Qannūbīn; Asʿad will die there in 1830 (cf. 1.19.11–14).]

1826

He leaves Lebanon for Alexandria (1.19.6) [embarking at Tyre, from which he is smuggled by the missionaries amid fears for his safety.]

December 2, 1826

Volume Two

First stay in Alexandria (2.2).

December 1826 to early 1827

He moves from Egypt to Malta (2.3) where he works for [American and subsequently British] missionaries [in the latter case, those of the Church Missionary Society (CMS)].

Early 1827

He returns from Malta to Alexandria (2.3.19), where he stays with a missionary (2.4.1).

Mid-October 1828

Subsequently he moves to Cairo (2.4.2) [where he is employed by the CMS].

November or December 1828

He quarrels with the missionaries (2.4.16) and decides to find other employment (2.8.1). He is directed (2.8.2) to a Christian poet [Naṣr al-Dīn al-Ṭarābulusī] (2.8.3), whom he eventually meets and who suggests he work for the “Panegyricon” [Egypt’s official gazette, al-Waqaʾiʿ al-Miṣriyyah] as a translator of eulogies in praise of a “rich prince” [the viceroy, Muḥammad ʿAlī] (2.11.5).

December 1828

He leaves the employ of the missionaries (2.12.1) and enters that of the “Panegyricon” (2.12).

January 1829

[He continues to lodge with a German missionary, Theodor Müller, and presumably continues to work for al-Waqāʾiʿ al-Miṣriyyah; in May 1829 he approaches the CMS with a proposal to reenter its employ at a higher salary but is refused; finally he is evicted by Müller.]

1829 to October 1830

During this period, he studies the linguistic sciences with Egyptian scholars in order to better perform his duties at the Panegyricon (2.18.1) and suffers a series of illnesses (2.18.1–7) [including tuberculosis, contracted in Malta, and a venereal disease (the latter the reason for his eviction by Müller)]. Eventually he takes a job teaching Arabic to the son of a French physician in return for treatment (2.18.7 and 2.19.8). [It is unclear whether this last is in parallel to or replaces his employment by al-Waqā’iʿ al-Miṣriyyah.]

1829 to April or May 1832

He resumes work with the missionaries [being employed at the CMS seminary] (2.19.9).

April or May 1832

Volume Three

He courts the daughter [Wardah al-Ṣūlī] of a Syrian Roman Catholic merchant (3.2.1–6); during this process, he is inspired to write verses in a “strange new style” (3.2.9–10; also 3.2.27–48).

1832–35

He is invited [by the CMS] to return to Malta and teach Arabic there and to work as a “dream interpreter” [translator] in the “Oneiromancer’s Chamber” [the premises of the CMS translation project] (3.4.4). [Leg over Leg presents some of the events outlined in this and the following segment in reverse order.]

November 1835⁷⁸³

Eventually, the courtship of Fāris and Wardah is discovered and, despite attempts by the family to thwart their union, the couple marries, after he agrees to convert to Roman Catholicism for one day (3.2.24–26). After a brief stay in Alexandria (3.5.1), they leave on a steamship for Malta, where, on arrival, and after thirty days in quarantine, they find lodgings [in Marsamxett in Valletta] (3.5.22).

December 1835⁷⁸⁴

The Fāriyāq works as an interpreter of the dreams of the master of the Oneiromancer’s Chamber (3.8–10). [i.e., translates texts in collaboration with the head of the CMS office in Malta, Christoph Schlienz. Starting in 1838, Schlienz employs the author principally on the project for the translation of the Bible, though at times the work is suspended due to Schlienz’s intermittent bouts of mental illness due to having been hit on the head by a bargepole in Egypt in 1838.]⁷⁸⁵

1836–May 1842⁷⁸⁶

In tandem with his work for the CMS, the Fāriyāq is hired by the island’s ruler [the British Governor] to “physic the foul of breath” [to teach Arabic to Maltese students at the University of Malta, at the Lyceum, and at a primary school] (3.11.1–2).

1836–38⁷⁸⁷

The master of the Oneiromancer’s Chamber [Schlienz] invites the Fāriyāq to accompany him and his wife on a trip to Syria, he obtains permission from the university to do so (3.12.1), and they set sail for Beirut.

April 1840⁷⁸⁸

The travelers arrive in Beirut, which is in a state of upheaval due to an uprising against Egyptian rule [which began in 1831 when Ibrāhīm Pasha invaded the Levant as part of his campaign against the Ottoman Empire] (3.12.14). From there, the Fāriyāq makes a visit to his family in Mount Lebanon (3.12.14–25) [either in the village of ʿAshqūt or al-Ḥadath].⁷⁸⁹

After April 1840

Later, the party leaves Beirut to stay in a Greek Orthodox monastery [probably that of Mār Ilyās at El Qraye] (3.14.1). Against a background of danger and starvation caused by the presence of Egyptian troops and in the face of his wife’s infidelity, the master starts to show renewed signs of insanity (3.14.5).

October 1840⁷⁹⁰

Following the withdrawal of the Egyptian troops, the master recovers and decides to set off for Damascus via Baalbek (3.14.5). Between Damascus and Baalbek, the Fāriyāq is injured in a riding accident (3.15.1). In Damascus, he convalesces, staying at a caravanserai (3.15.3). Recovered, he travels with an unnamed companion to Beirut and thence to Jaffa, Alexandria, and finally Malta (3.15.6) [where he resumes his work on the translation of the Bible].

October 1840?⁷⁹¹

During the university’s summer vacation, the author makes a trip to Tunis (3.18.3–5). [Leg over Leg presents the events outlined in this and the following segment in reverse order.]

Summer 1841⁷⁹²

The master [Schlienz] has a particularly bad relapse into madness, during which he incites his fellows to discard their clothes (3.17.2).

December 1841⁷⁹³

On February 5, 1842, he writes a eulogy in praise of the ruler of Tunis (3.18.6; the letter is dated in the text). Machinations by Metropolitan Atānāsiyūs al-Tutūnjī result in the latter’s taking over the Bible translation project; this leads to the closure of the CMS office in Malta, leaving the Fāriyāq with no income apart from that from his “physicking” [Arabic teaching] (3.18.1). [Representations to the Committee in London by Metropolitan Atānāsiyūs al-Tutūnjī, a Greek Melkite bishop, in early 1842, to the effect that the Fāriyāq’s translation style is “too high” result in him being dismissed from the Bible translation project and the work being assigned to al-Tutūnjī instead.⁷⁹⁴ He is assigned to translate another work. In May 1842, the CMS closes its operations in Malta due to a financial crisis and in June the author is dismissed.]⁷⁹⁵

February to June 1842⁷⁹⁶

The author complains to the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (SPCK) (3.18.7). He renews contact with Sāmī Pasha, an Ottoman official and former head of al-Waqāʾiʿ al-Miṣriyyah, who visits the island (3.18.8) and takes him on a trip to Italy (3.18.17).

1844

Eventually, the Fāriyāq’s complaints to the SPCK bear fruit, al-Tutūnjī is exposed, and the Fāriyāq is invited by the SPCK to go to England to work on the translation of the Book of Common Prayer there [the date given is that of the minutes of the SPCK meeting at which this decision is taken]. He prepares to travel and his wife rejoins him in Malta (3.20.6).

January 28, 1845

Volume Four

Leaving his wife in Malta, the Fāriyāq travels via Italy, Marseilles, and Paris to London, and thence to a village [Barley, in Hertfordshire, close to Cambridge, where Samuel Lee, the author’s collaborator, is rector; the work is carried out at the rectory]⁷⁹⁷ (4.3.9–11). After two months,⁷⁹⁸ the Fāriyāq moves to Cambridge (4.4.2). During his stay there, he visits London for a month (4.5.7). He returns from London, via Paris and Marseilles, to Malta (4.6.1) and resumes, unhappily, his “physicking” of “the foul of breath” [his teaching Arabic to Maltese].

January to November 1845⁷⁹⁹

The Fāriyāq is invited by the ruler of Tunis to visit that country (4.8.1) with his family (4.8.2) [in response to a second eulogy of its ruler, written on the occasion of the latter’s visit to France (November 5 to December 31, 1846)]. They go, are entertained generously by the ruler (4.8.3), and return to Malta (4.8.11).

January or February 1847⁸⁰⁰

The Fāriyāq plans to return to Tunis (4.9.1), but is forestalled by an invitation from “the Committee” [of the SPCK] to return, this time with his family, to England [to work on the translation of the Bible] (4.9.15). They travel to London via Leghorn, Genoa, Marseilles, and Paris, where the Fāriyāq meets Lamartine (4.10.1). After a day in London, they move to the countryside [the village of Barley, as before]. During their stay in that village, they lose their two-year-old son [Asʿad] to illness (4.14.4–5). To escape the memory of this tragedy, they move to Cambridge (4.15.1). The Fāriyāq finishes the translation of the Bible, (4.16.1). Loath to return to Malta, he seeks employment at the University of Oxford (4.16.2) [and other institutions] but is unsuccessful and returns to London, from where he resigns his post in Malta (4.16.3).

September 1848 to December 1850⁸⁰¹

The Fāriyāq and his wife, both of whom have succumbed to illness in England, move to Paris for the sake of their health (4.16.4). In Paris, the author [works primarily on the correction of the proofs of his translation of the Bible though he also] establishes a language exchange arrangement with a French student and writes a poem in praise of Paris at the behest of an unnamed French scholar (4.18.11).

December 1850 to June 1853⁸⁰²

Eventually, the Fāriyāqiyyah is ordered by her doctors to leave Paris for Marseilles (4.18.15). Al-Tutūnjī, however, who is visiting Paris, once again attempts to blacken the Fāriyāq’s reputation with the SPCK and is once again foiled (4.19.2). The Fāriyāqiyyah leaves for Marseilles and from there goes to Constantinople (Istanbul) where she is welcomed and hosted by Ṣubḥī Bayk, Sāmī Pasha’s son (4.19.3). The Fāriyāq moves into a room on his own in Paris, meets ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jazāʾirī, makes the acquaintance of leading French Orientalists, and becomes involved in gambling (4.19.4); he may also have worked as a cook (see the fifth and sixth poems in 4.20.46). [During this period, al-Shidyāq’s wife apparently died.]

Same time period

[Having visited London on several occasions during the preceding period, he becomes a permanent resident there starting in June 1853.] The author ends by describing how a poem of his dedicated to the Ottoman sultan and expressing his support in the face of the looming war with Russia [the Crimean War] finds favor in the sultan’s eyes and how the author is then offered a post with the Imperial Translation Bureau in Istanbul (4.20.2). He delays his departure, however, to oversee the last stages of the production of Leg over Leg and makes a trip to Paris, where the book is being printed; due to the machinations of a selfish acquaintance he returns to London prematurely, resulting in a delay in the book’s publication. As the book ends, he prepares to leave on a steamer for Turkey (4.20.3). [In the event, his departure for Turkey is thwarted by the outbreak of the Crimean War (1854–1856) and he remains in London (until June 1857, when he departs with his family for Tunis).]

June 1853 to summer 1857⁸⁰³

As an appendage to the above, we note that the date of 1857 or 1858 that is sometimes given for al-Shidyāq’s conversion to Islam⁸⁰⁴ appears to be contradicted by language used in Leg over Leg, such as the author’s comment regarding a Christian woman, that “she had converted to Islam, praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds” (Volume Two, 2.4.16) (unless this is meant ironically, which seems unlikely: nowhere else does the author use language in any way derogatory of Islam).