Where Old Ways Stay The Same
Where old ways stay the same
There’s usually a good reason
Ways don’t tend to disappear
When shown appreciation
Love, good manners, and kind regard
Tend to wither with neglect
Seasons change and pass with time
Transitioning unchecked
Until no longer remembered
Until unneeded anymore
Until with unfamiliar face
Love slowly closes the door
© 2015 Aisha Abdelhamid
;^)
"Hud Hud," The Hoopoe (Upupa epops)
This nice little guy is a frequent visitor around our farm. Most of the time, I hear him before I see him, because his colors make him blend in with his environment so well. “Hooooodhoodhoodhoodhood!” He announces his presence happily, not loudly, but subtly, serenely, wherever he goes. Usually five times in quick succession, and the first “hood” is drawn out, while the last four follow like quick drumbeats. I feel he’s a very peaceful bird, traveling calmly from here, to there, and on to the next place, with great interest in his surroundings. He never stays long, but his song remains always in my ears, hoping to catch it, and a glimpse of him, again!
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Excerpt from Chapter II: The general tendency of the original settlers of the First Crusade was undoubtedly towards amicable relations with their Moslem neighbors. …The early Crusaders, after thirty years’ residence in Syria, had become very much assimilated in character and habits to the people whom they had partly conquered, among whom they lived, and whose daughters they did not disdain to marry; …The Mohammedans, on their side, were scarcely less tolerant; they could hardly approve of marriage with the “polytheists,” as they called the Trinitarians; but they were quite ready to work for them and take their pay, and many a Moslem ruler found it convenient to form alliances with the Franks even against his Mohammedan neighbors.”
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The Storming of Antioch 1098- from a painted window, St. Denys, 12th Century
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The Taking of Jerusalem - from a painted window at St. Denys, 12th Century
Excerpt from Chapter I:…”(T)he infant whose first cries disturbed the preparations of the journey that night in the castle of Tekrit in the year of Grace 1138, was Yusuf, afterwards renowned in East and West under his surname of “Honor of the Faith,” Salah-ed-din, or, as we write it, SALADIN.”
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Saladin, (Incomplete) Map of Saladin's Empire in 1190, xxiv
Saladin, Part I, Introductory, pg. 1
Saladin, Part I, Introductory, pg. 2
"Battle Between Crusaders and Kurbugha"
Click Here for an overview of this book in my page, “Research”
I offer here a comprehensive and illustrated presentation of the history of The Crusades, divided into easy to read posts. This post covers the Preface, Table of Contents, and Tables of Illustrations, Maps and Plans.
You may read here, exactly as reading from the actual pages, the exciting story of the Crusades as documented by Dr. Stanley Lane-Poole. His book, Saladin And The Fall Of The Kingdom Of Jerusalem, was published in 1898 by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, London, and printed by The Knickerbocker Press in New York. It is in the Public Domain, being no longer under copyright protection, and is available free online in many locations, for example at archive.org. I find the online readers slow and cumbersome, but these posts are quick and clear. I’ve also digitally cleaned up the images found in this book to improve their clarity and enhance their beauty as they are fascinating historical documents, well deserving of our appreciation.
Excerpt from the Preface: “…(T)he chief sources from which the present Life of Saladin is drawn…are nearly all contemporary (to Saladin) and a large part of the story is told by actual eye-witnesses, whilst in no instance has an authority been relied upon who was more than one generation removed from the events he relates.”
Click Here to Jump to the Preface or Table of Contents or Tables of Illustrations, Maps & Plans
Aisha's Oasis 