Mithqal Al-Fayez

[2] Mithqal Sattam Al-Fayez was born into the family of the leading shaykhs of the Bani Sakhr tribal confederacy around the year 1885.

By that point the tribe was already one of the largest and strongest nomadic tribal groups in the Syrian Desert, with an unbroken chain of leadership being passed down from father to son since his third great-grandfather Thiab bin Mohammad Al-Fayez in the 1760s.

[4] Like his grandfather Emir Fendi Al-Fayez, Mithqal would have 14 sons that had children of their own: Akef, Zayd, Talal, Tayil, Trad, Mohammad, Sultan, Mashour, Mansur, Sami, Ali, Nayif, Rakan, and Al Nashmi.

William eventually reaches Mithqal's encampment, and writes his first impressions of him: “So this was the man of whom my princely friend has told me so many fascinating things, which now flashed through my mind in a jumble as I stood facing him- the overlord of fifty thousand flocks and twelve thousand fighting-men, a multi-millionaire even in terms of American dollars- the owner of six villages and many miles of cultivated land, and a palace”"In any company in the world Mithkal would have stood out as a born aristocrat.

He was a man of scarcely forty, medium height, slender, with beautifully formed hands, smooth, olive-tanned complexion, features of classic regularity, small pointed black beard and a small moustache, with deep brown eyes remarkable for their kindliness and intelligence- but which I learned later could turn black and flash fire.”William would spend months with Mithqal and the Bani Sakher, ride in battles with them, and retell famous tribal stories such as "The Eyes of Gutne" and Haditha's benevolence in his book Adventures in Arabia (1927).

[11] Mithqal himself was born from a calculated strategic alliance between the Beni Sakher and the Ruwalla, and over the course of his lifetime he built strong mutually beneficial relations with other important figures in Arabia and abroad.

With the support of Mithqal and his father-in-law Mayor Saeed Pasha Khayr, Amman turned into the Hashemites focal point in Jordan.

This was due to Mithqal's contribution and increasing involvement in protecting the emirate's borders from its eastern flank against the Wahhabi's expansionist aggression.

[14] Mithqal would publicly support Abdullah in his attempt to unify the country,[16] this helped cement the Emir's position in Jordan which was still governed tribally at the time.

This secret contact with Ibn Saud marked a departure from Mithqal’s cautious approach since 1937–38, reflecting his concerns over growing state power encroaching on his traditional autonomy.

By 1939, Transjordan had acquired many traits of a modern state, including a government monopoly on coercive power, exemplified by the expansion of the Desert Patrol to three hundred men.

His significant investments in cultivated land in Transjordan ultimately made him stay, as the immovability of this property was crucial to his decision.

[21] The Alawiyya dynasty of Egypt and the Al-Fayez have long-standing cordial relationships going as far back as Mithqal's grandfather, Fendi, sending his son Sattam with gifts of rare horse breeds to Ismail Pasha in the 1840s.

Of Jordan's merchants and businessmen, Mithqal was a focal point of agriculture in the region and had the support of his friend and trusted financier Abdul Hameed Shoman.

Mithqal inherited his father's, Sattam Al-Fayez, interest in agriculture, and further developed and cultivated the lands in Jordan for barely, wheat, lentils, olives, and other vegetables.

This increase in production has also tripled Jordan's food exports during those years, which opened the much needed revenue for the poverty stricken Transjordan of that time.

His escort tied a piece of cloth around his bleeding shoulder, pulled him over his mare, and rode on quickly to seek aid.

They arrived in the nearby camp of a Bani Sakhr tribesman and asked for his help in fetching a car to take Mithqal to a hospital.

However, Mithqal choose to stay in his family's headquarters in Um Al Amad, which then prompted Peake to approach him unarmed to avoid a large conflict.

Although he received superb medical treatment in Cairo, Beirut, and Europe, diabetes and other age-related illnesses brought about his death in his late eighties in April of 1967.

Mithqal riding in 1924, taken by W.B. Seabrook
Emir Emin Arslan
From left to right: Mithqal Pasha, King Saud bin Abdulaziz , King Abdullah I of Jordan , in the 1930s
King Abdullah and Sheikh Mithqal at Crown Prince Talal's wedding in 1934.
Mithqal Pasha smoking his waterpipe in 1939 in Jerusalem.
Mithqal in Jerusalem, 1933.
Al-Fayez with his favorited camel