text: Appendix D
  Twenty-Seven Articles of T. E. Lawrence
  T. E. Lawrence wrote that he expressed these notes, published in The Arab Bulletin,
  20 August 1917, "in commandment form" for clarity and brevity:
  They are, however, only my personal conclusions, arrived at gradually while I
  worked in the Hejaz and now put on paper as stalking horses for beginners in the
  Arab armies. They are meant to apply only to Bedu; townspeople or Syrians require
  totally different treatment. They are of course not suitable to any other person's need,
  or applicable unchanged in any particular situation. Handling Hejaz Arabs is an art,
  not a science, with exceptions and no obvious rules. At the same time we have a great
  chance there; the Sharif trusts us, and has given us the position (towards his
  Government) which the Germans wanted to win in Turkey. If we are tactful, we can
  at once retain his goodwill and carry out our job, but to succeed we have got to put
  into it all the interest and skill we possess.
  1. Go easy for the first few weeks. A bad start is difficult to atone for, and the Arabs form their
  judgments on externals that we ignore. When you have reached the inner circle in a tribe, you can
  do as you please with yourself and them.
  2. Learn all you can about your Ashraf and Bedu. Get to know their families, clans and tribes,
  friends and enemies, wells, hills and roads. Do all this by listening and by indirect inquiry. Do not
  ask questions. Get to speak their dialect of Arabic, not yours. Until you can understand their
  allusions, avoid getting deep into conversation or you will drop bricks. Be a little stiff at first.
  3. In matters of business deal only with the commander of the army, column, or party in which you
  serve. Never give orders to anyone at all, and reserve your directions or advice for the C.O.,
  however great the temptation (for efficiency's sake) of dealing with his underlings. Your place
  is advisory, and your advice is due to the commander alone. Let him see that this is your
  conception of your duty, and that his is to be the sole executive of your joint plans.
  4. Win and keep the confidence of your leader. Strengthen his prestige at your expense before others
  when you can. Never refuse or quash schemes he may put forward; but ensure that they are put
  forward in the first instance privately to you. Always approve them, and after praise modify them
  insensibly, causing the suggestions to come from him, until they are in accord with your own
  opinion. When you attain this point, hold him to it, keep a tight grip of his ideas, and push them
  forward as firmly as possibly, but secretly, so that no one but himself (and he not too clearly)
  is aware of your pressure.
  5. Remain in touch with your leader as constantly and unobtrusively as you can. Live with him, that
  at meal times and at audiences you may be naturally with him in his tent. Formal visits to give
  advice are not so good as the constant dropping of ideas in casual talk. When stranger sheikhs
  come in for the first time to swear allegiance and offer service, clear out of the tent. If their first
  impression is of foreigners in the confidence of the Sharif, it will do the Arab cause much harm.
  6. Be shy of too close relations with the subordinates of the expedition. Continual intercourse with
  them will make it impossible for you to avoid going behind or beyond the instructions that the
  Arab C.O. has given them on your advice, and in so disclosing the weakness of his position you
  altogether destroy your own.