Page 230 - Neglected Arabia Vol 2

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M NEGLECTED ARABIA
Sudden cultural contacts in the past have always brought a train of evils
in their wake, to which port cities have been especially liable. Specifically,
though not as a solitary clanger, one’s mind turns to one un-Arabic curse,
—the drink traffic, that which in the words of Lord Morley is “India’s
new, deadly and additional plague”; or to problems arising out of a possible
intellectual renaissance,—the subversion of religion with loss of faith in •
Allah and his governing power; the loosening of social controls; secular- .
istic tendencies. Will history repeat itself in this respect in Arabia’s j
ports? However small the scale, such a turn of events would only make 1
the present task more difficult. And against such a contingency there is *
no law. The only prophylactic can be priority of possession on behalf of I
Jesus Christ. There is a real sense in which this for Arabia is “the de­
cisive hour.” i

A Memorable Service

Dr. C. S. G. Mylrea, Kuweit, Arabia
B ASRAH, November 8th, 1929. A perfect autumn day, with just !
enough clouds in the blue sky to suggest that rain might soon be
expected. A fresh breeze emphasized the fact that one more hot
season had passed and that Iraq’s glorious winter was approaching.
No leaves were falling in the gurdens, fur ibis is the land of evergreen* J
where most plants keep their foliage all the year round and the dying leaf !
simply gives way to a new and living successor. The golden autumn tints \
of northerly latitudes are no feature of Mesopotamia’s landscape, but there •
is a symbolism in her ever blossoming gardens which whispers, “An
eternity of peace.” “The tree of life yielded her fruit every month.’*
My heart echoed and re-echoed with these and similar thoughts as we
entered the portals of Basrah’s beautiful war cemetery. Not a sound broke *
the stillness save the rustling of the breeze. The few gardeners at work
seemed to toil noiselessly at their tasks. We walked past the serried rows
of rigid tombstones, standing at attention in perfect alignment just as
though in all their exquisite simplicity and neatness they would typify to
their utmost the splendid warriors who slept beneath them. “The Cross
of Sacrifice” was there facing us and bidding us never to forget those “who
loved not their lives unto the death.” And at the far end of the central
pathway lay the great “Stone of Remembrance.” It seemed to await our
approach and to be saying softly to us, “Their name liveth forevermore.”
All round us the date palms waved their graceful fronds. Flowers made
splashes of bright color along the borders of every path and only served
to bring out the beauty of the green shrubs which flourished above them.
We, an advanced guard of three, passed out of the War Cemetery
proper into the Civil Cemetery and in a moment were standing beside the
grave of Henry Bilkert. The new tombstone was in its place, a rough
slab of grante polished as to its front surface and carrying the record:
HENRY A. BILKERT
1892-1929
Member of the Arabian Mission v-'
”//« Antlwsmlur of Christ” i*
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