The Return of the Druses - Robert Browning


Details
The Druze faith is a theology native to the Levant, which originated from a belief in the divinity of the Caliph al-Ḥākim. Its eclectic canon includes the Old and New Testaments, the Quran, and the Epistles of Wisdom, incorporating elements of Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, and other philosophies. While devotees consider al-Ḥākim to be an incarnation of God, "the ideal supreme ruler, divinely ordained and chosen, whose every action was just and righteous," to his opponents, he is known as the "Mad Caliph" and the "Nero of Egypt."
The Return of the Druses (Robert Browning, 1843) centers on Djabal, a Druze initiate who pretends to be the reincarnation of al-Ḥākim. The poem involves a disparate cast of characters--Frankish Hospitallers, Lebanese Druzes, and Venetians--at the intersection of different cultures, ethnicities, and faiths, East and West. The play is a meditation on the use and misuse of power, especially in a hegemonic colonial setting.
The scholar S.C. Baker has proposed that The Return of the Druses was Melville's most important source for the character Djalea (the Druze initiate) in Clarel.
The Return of the Druses:
- Google books
- Gutenberg Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works p.197
- Telelib
Supplemental:
- The Book of Clarence (2023) movie trailer
Extracts:
- "’Twas Hakeem’s deed, / Mad Caliph (founder still of creed / Long held by tribes not unrenowned) / Who erst the pastoral hight discrowned / Of Helena’s church." (Clarel, 1.35)
- "A turban ’tis, Djalea’s, aloof / Reclining, as he used to do / In Lebanon upon proud roof— / His sire’s. And, see, long pipe in state, / He inhales the friendly fume sedate. / Yon turban with the snowy folds / Announces that my lord there holds / The rank of Druze initiate— / Not versed in portion mere, but total— / Advanced in secrets sacerdotal; / Though what these be, or high or low, / Who dreams? Might Lady Esther learn?" (Clarel, 3.15)
This meetup is part of a series on The Crescent and the Cross.

The Return of the Druses - Robert Browning