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 BAHRAIN
The Tao of the Dhow
By Jheri St. James
All
things are produced by the Tao, and nourished by its outflowing
operation. They receive their forms according to the nature
of each, and are completed according to the circumstances
of their condition. Therefore all things without exception
honor the Tao and exalt its outflowing operation. This honoring
of the Tao and exalting of its operation is not the result
of any ordination, but always a spontaneous tribute. Thus
it is that the Tao produces all things, nourishes them, brings
them to their full growth, nurses them, completes them, matures
them, maintains them, and overspreads them. It produces them
and makes no claim to the possession of them; it carries them
through their processes and does not vaunt its ability in
doing so; it brings them to maturity and exercises no control
over them; this is called its mysterious operation.*
The
Souck (Marketplace)
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Bahrain’s history goes back as far as civilization itself.
It has always been a focal trading point in the Middle East
with Dilmun, an ancient trading empire that lasted for 2,000
years, based here from around 3200 B.C. From that time on,
the locals have always been known as traders. And while these
days much of that trade is in the lucrative oil industry,
Bahrain is also a center for banking and finance. Bahrain
holds a subtle blend of old and new, east and west, conservative
and . . . more conservative. A Muslim country, Bahrain is
an unlikely tourist destination, but upon arrival on the 30
mile long by 10 mile wide island, visitors are usually surprised
by the atmosphere. Far more liberal than its near neighbors,
Bahrain has many natural attractions and historical sites.
The capital is Manama, a new city with gleaming government
buildings, museums, mosques, the souq consisting of 60-year-old
shops and dwellings. Away from Manama, there are 16th
century forts, pre-oil mansions, the astonishing 16 mile King
Fahad Causeway linking Bahrain to Saudi Arabia across the
Gulf of Bahrain and the mysterious and symbolic Tree of Life.
This broad, flourishing tree stands alone, surrounded by 1.2
miles of desert. Although there is a steady supply of fresh
water beneath Bahrain, this tree symbolizes Bahrain’s strength
and success against the odds and is revered by locals.
The Tree of Life |
The tree which fills the arms grew
from the tiniest sprout;
the tower of nine storeys rose from
a small heap of earth;
the journey of a thousand li commenced
with a single step . . . *
Bahrain has been populated by humans since prehistoric times,
and has even been proposed as the site of the Biblical Garden
of Eden. Its strategic location in the Persian Gulf has brought
rule and influence from the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks,
Persians, and finally the Arabs, under whom the island became
Muslim. Bahrain was in the ancient times known as Dilmun,
Tylos (its Greek name), Awal, as well as the Persian name
Mishmahig when it came under the imperial rule of the Persian
Empire. “Bahrain” is an Arabic word meaning “Two Seas,” and
is thought to either refer to the fact that the islands contain
two sources of water, sweet water springs and salty water
in the surrounding seas, or to the south and north waters
of the gulf, separating it from the Arabian coast and Iran,
respectively.
There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than
water, and yet for attacking things that are firm and strong
there is nothing that can take precedence of it;--for there
is nothing so effectual for which it can be changed.
Everyone in the world knows that the soft overcomes
the hard, and the weak the strong, but no one is able to carry
it out in practice.*
A strategic position between East and West, fertile lands,
fresh water, and pearl diving made Bahrain a center of urban
settlement throughout history. Some 2,300 years BC, Bahrain
became a center of one of the ancient empires trading between
Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and the Indus Valley (now the region
near India). This was the civilization of Dilmun that was
linked to the Sumerian civilication in the third millennium
BC. Bahrain became part of the Babylonian empire about 600
BC. Historical records referred to Bahrain as the “Life of
Eternity”, “Paradise”, etc. Bahrain was also called the “Pearl
of the Persian Gulf”.
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The
Pearl Monument and a Picture of Manama, Capital of
Bahrain |
Nowadays, Bahrain is called “The Golden Island”. Its small
size and central location among Persian Gulf countries require
it to play a delicate balancing act in foreign affairs among
its larger neighbors. Facing declining oil reserves, Bahrain
has turned to petroleum processing and refining and has transformed
itself into an international banking center. The amir installed
in 1999 has pushed economic and political reforms and has
worked to improve relations with the Shi’a community. In
February 2002, Amir Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa proclaimed himself
king.
Great, it passes on. Passing on, it becomes remote. Having
become remote, it returns.
Therefore the Tao is great; Heaven is great;
Earth is great; and the King is also great.
In the universe, there are four that are great,
and the King is one of them.
Man takes his law from the Earth;
the Earth takes its law from Heaven;
Heaven takes its law from the Tao.
The law of the Tao is its being what it is.*
 Bahrain
is sometimes described as the “Middle East Lite”: an Arab
country that mixes thoroughly modern infrastructure with a
definite Gulf identity, but unlike other countries in the
region its prosperity is not solely a reflection of the size
of its oil wealth, but also related to the creation of an
indigenous middle class. This unique socio-=economic development
in the Gulf has meant that Bahrain is generally more liberal
than its neighbors. While Islam is the main religion, Bahrainis
have been known for their tolerance, and alongside mosques
can be found churches, a Hindu temple, a Sikh Burudwara and
a Jewish synagogue. The country is home to several communities
that have faced persecution elsewhere.
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Two
Bahraini Mosques |
* * *
Julie Berquist was the soil collector for Bahrain’s
contribution to Common Ground 191. Living in Manama, Kingdom
of Bahrain, she had this to say about her site, which was
the . . . “Bahrain Fort, Seef, Bahrain. A restored fort surrounded
by date palms and veggie gardens on the northwest coast.
It is a very peaceful place to visit with lovely views and
one of the few historical sites remaining. (Threw out the
soil from ‘Tree of Life’. Not a nice place to visit—tree
full of graffiti and rubbish—drive there not worth it.)”
Thank you, Julie, for making two trips to collect meaningful
soil for our project.
Therefore
the sage desires what other men do not desire, and does not
prize things difficult to get; (s)he learns what other men
do not learn and turns back to what the multitude of men have
passed by. Thus (s)he helps the natural development of all
things and does not dare to act with an ulterior purpose of
his(her) own.*
* * *
A dhow is a traditional Arab sailing vessel
with one or more triangular sails, called lateens.
It is primarily used along the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula,
India, and East Africa. A larger dhow may have a crew
of approximately 30, while smaller dhow have crews
typically ranging around 12.
For celestial navitation, dhow sailors have
traditionally used the kamal. This observation device
determines latitude by finding the angle of the Pole Star
above the horizon. Up to the 1960’s dhows made commercial
journeys between the Persian Gulf and East Africa using only
sails as a means of propulsion. The freight was mostly dates
and fish to East Africa and mangrove timber to the lands in
the Persian Gulf. They sailed south with the monsoon in winter
or early spring and back again to Arabia in late spring or
early summer.
10
Dinar Note with Picture of a Dhow
The kamal was used primarily by the Chinese and Arabs
in the 18th and 19th century. It consists
of a rectangular wooden card about two inches by one inch,
to which a string with several equally spaced knots is attached
through a hole in the middle of the card. The kamal
is used by placing one end of the string in the teeth while
the other end is held away from the body roughly parallel
to the ground. The card is then moved along the string, positioned
so the lower edge is even with the horizon, and the upper
edge id occluding a target star, typically Polaris because
its angle to the horizon does not change with longitude or
time. The angle can then be measured by counting the number
of knots from the teeth to the card, or a particular knot
can be tied into the string if traveling to a known latitude.
The knots were typically tied to measure angles of one finger-width.
When held at arm’s length, the width of a finger measures
an angle that remains fairly similar from person to person.
This was widely used (and still is today) for rough angle
measurements, an angle known as issabah in Arabic,
or a chih in Chinese. By modern measure this is about
one degree, 36 minutes, and 25 seconds, or just over 1.5 degrees.
Due to the limited width of the card, the kamal was
only really useful for measuring Polaris in equatorial latitudes,
which perhaps explains why it was not common in Europe. For
these higher-latitude needs somewhat more complex devices
based on the same principle were used, notably the cross-staff
and backstaff.
The Tao is like the emptiness
of a vessel; and in our employment of it we must be on our
guard against all fullness.
How deep and unfathomable it
is, as if it were the Honoured Ancestor of all things!
We should blunt our sharp points,
and unravel the complications of things;
we should attemper our brightness,
and bring ourselves into agreement with the obscurity of others.
How pure and still the Tao
is, as if it would ever so continue!*
Picture
of a dhow at Muharraq, Bahrain
Modern, urban Bahrain, floating on one of the earth’s oldest
human proving grounds, combines a yin/yang of elements: two
seas, east/west, old/new, spiritual/material, water/soil or
maybe sand, nature/mankind—and does so with the wisdom of
the sage. Bahrain itself is like a ship, a dhow, sailing
in the middle of Persian Gulf, but with its long bridges to
other countries, it sails not alone, and its fortunes will
affect the rest of the world.
 
As a pole star, the principles of the *Tao Te Ching (prounounced
dow tay ching) of Lao Tze, written in China in the 6th
century, give guidance on the nature, origin and purpose of
human life. It is one of the world’s great books, the most
translated in all of Chinese literature. Like the Tao (the
way), its central precept, the origin of the Tao Te Ching
and its putative author, Lao Tzu, is rather elusive. By one
account, possibly legendary, the book was written in its entirety
2,600 years ago by Lao Tzu (old master or master Lao), the
chief archivist in the royal court during the Chou dynasty.
A revered sage—Confucius reportedly sought his counsel—he
abandoned the court during the decline of the dynasty and
traveled westward; at Hsien Ku pass the gatekeeper, Yin His,
detained him and bade him compose a treatise on the “way”
(tao) and “virtue” (te). In two sections of five thousand
words each he produced the Tao Te Ching, thereafter
wandering off, never to be seen again, although some legends
claim that Lao Tzu reappeared as the Buddha. Recently scholarship
views the text as the work of several hands, with a probably
origin of about 300 B.C. The kamal was used by both Chinese
and Arabic sailors as a navigation tool. All people could
use the Tao Te Ching as navigation through the sometimes rough
waters of human life. The word for peace in Arabic is “Salaam”.
  
The Tao which originated all under the sky is to be
considered as the mother of them all. When the mother is
found, we know what her children should be. When one knows
that he is his mother’s child, and proceeds to guard the qualities
of the mother that belong to him, to the end of his life he
will be free from all peril. Let him keep his mouth closed,
and shut up the portals of his nostrils, and all his life
he will be exempt from laborious exertion. Let him keep his
mouth open, and spend his breath in the promotion of his affairs,
and all his life there will be no safety for him. The perception
of what is small is the secret of clear-sightedness; the guarding
of what is soft and tender is the secret of strength.
(Thanks to Brian J. McMorrow and www.pbase.com
for the great photos of Bahrain.)
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