text: Appendix D
  7. Treat the sub-chiefs of your force quite easily and lightly. In this way you hold yourself above
  their level. Treat the leader, if a Sharif, with respect. He will return your manner and you and he
  will then be alike, and above the rest. Precedence is a serious matter among the Arabs, and you
  must attain it.
  8. Your ideal position is when you are present and not noticed. Do not be too intimate, too
  prominent, or too earnest. Avoid being identified too long or too often with any tribal sheikh, even
  if C.O. of the expedition. To do your work you must be above jealousies, and you lose prestige
  if you are associated with a tribe or clan, and its inevitable feuds. Sharifs are above all
  blood-feuds and local rivalries, and form the only principle of unity among the Arabs. Let your
  name therefore be coupled always with a Sharif's, and share his attitude towards the tribes. When
  the moment comes for action put yourself publicly under his orders. The Bedu will then follow
  suit.
  9. Magnify and develop the growing conception of the Sharifs as the natural aristocracy of the
  Arabs. Intertribal jealousies make it impossible for any sheikh to attain a commanding position,
  and the only hope of union in nomad Arabs is that the Ashraf be universally acknowledged as the
  ruling class. Sharifs are half-townsmen, half-nomad, in manner and life, and have the instinct
  of command. Mere merit and money would be insufficient to obtain such recognition; but the
  Arab reverence for pedigree and the Prophet gives hope for the ultimate success of the Ashraf.
  10. Call your Sharif 'Sidi' in public and in private. Call other people by their ordinary names, without
  title. In intimate conversation call a Sheikh 'Abu Annad', 'Akhu Alia' or some similar by-name.
  11. The foreigner and Christian is not a popular person in Arabia. However friendly and informal the
  treatment of yourself may be, remember always that your foundations are very sandy ones. Wave
  a Sharif in front of you like a banner and hide your own mind and person. If you succeed, you will
  have hundreds of miles of country and thousands of men under your orders, and for this it is worth
  bartering the outward show.
  12. Cling tight to your sense of humor. You will need it every day. A dry irony is the most useful
  type, and repartee of a personal and not too broad character will double your influence with the
  chiefs. Reproof, if wrapped up in some smiling form, will carry further and last longer than the
  most violent speech. The power of mimicry or parody is valuable, but use it sparingly, for wit
  is more dignified than humor. Do not cause a laugh at a Sharif except among Sharifs.
  13. Never lay hands on an Arab; you degrade yourself. You may think the resultant obvious increase
  of outward respect a gain to you, but what you have really done is to build a wall between you
  and their inner selves. It is difficult to keep quiet when everything is being done wrong, but the
  less you lose your temper the greater your advantage. Also then you will not go mad yourself.
  14. While very difficult to drive, the Bedu are easy to lead, if— have the patience to bear with them.
  The less apparent your interferences the more your influence. They are willing to follow your
  advice and do what you wish, but they do not mean you or anyone else to be aware of that. It
  is only after the end of all annoyances that you find at bottom their real fund of goodwill.
  15. Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do
  it perfectly. It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them. Actually, also, under
  the very odd conditions of Arabia, your practical work will not be as good as, perhaps, you think
  it is.
  16. If you can, without being too lavish, forestall presents to yourself. A well-placed gift is often most
  effective in winning over a suspicious sheikh. Never receive a present without giving a liberal
  return, but you may delay this return (while letting its ultimate certainty be known) if you require
  a particular service from the giver. Do not let them ask you for things, since their greed will then
  make them look upon you only as a cow to milk.
  17. Wear an Arab head cloth when with a tribe. Bedu have a malignant prejudice against the hat,
  and believe that our persistence in wearing it (due probably to British obstinacy of dictation)