The chief charm of an Oriental woman is her _hishmat_ (modesty). But modesty in a stricter sense than that accepted in the Occident. Feminine timidity (_jubn_) is very extensively sung by the Arabian poets. A charming woman, especially a maiden, is she who is timid, shy, retiring, of a few words. "She has a mouth to eat, but not to speak," is a high tribute paid to a maiden. For a woman to take a leading part in conversation in the presence of men is boldness. I do not know how they manage to do it, but, _as a rule_, in the presence of men the women of { 333} Syria exercise marvelous control over their organs of speech.
Do you understand now why Paul says, in the fourteenth chapter of his First Epistle to the Corinthians, the thirty-fourth verse, "Let your women keep silence in the Churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience"? To Oriental ears, as perhaps to Puritan ears of the good old type, such words are poetry set to music. They do not degrade, but honor woman by not making her common.
It would, perhaps, throw further light on the Easterners' regard of woman as a sacred being when it is known why they call the wife _hûrmat_. This term is derived from _heram_--a consecrated and wholly sacred object. _Heram_ is the name of the Mohammedans' most sacred shrine of Mecca. The wife is the husband's most sacred possession, therefore she is called _hûrmat_. The plural of this is _harem_, a term which to Westerners has a most obnoxious connotation. But not so to Orientals. In the West { 334} _harem_ simply means sensuality and polygamy in their worst form. In the East it means simply and purely the women of a household, or of a clan, whether it be Christian or Mohammedan. It does not necessarily mean plurality of wives. A man's mother, wife, sisters, and daughters constitute his _harem_; for they are all sacred to him.
Now it will not be difficult to understand, I believe, why it is that the man in the East takes precedence of the woman in all social affairs, and why the sexes are segregated at public feasts and on other similar occasions. It is for the same reason that we find no women disciples at the Last Supper. In the parable of the prodigal son, the father meets the returning penitent, the father bestows "the best robe" on the son, the father orders the feast, and doubtless presides over it. So it was also when Abraham entertained the angels, and Zacchæus entertained Jesus--the man was the entertainer. However, in these two cases the women might have acted as hostesses,--because the { 335} guests were holy persons. We have a striking example of the freedom which is permitted to women in such cases in the story of Mary and Martha. They entertained Jesus, first because apparently they had no parents living, and their brother was young, and second because Jesus was no mere guest, but a holy person.[2]