The book « Hafif Al-Arz » (The Rustling of the Cedars) was published by
Youssef Ayoub Hitti in Rio de Janeiro around 1920. It is a collection of
articles that Youssef had written during his 1916-1922 exile in Brazil. With
the onset of World War I in 1914, the Turkish Ottoman army abrogated the
Règlement Organique, abolished the autonomous Moutassarifiya (Mount
Lebanon Governorate), and re-invaded Lebanon. Many young men fled the
country to avoid their forced conscription into the Turkish Army, but a third
of the population also fled because of famine and the harsh measures taken
by the Turks against the Christian inhabitants of Mount Lebanon. With the
defeat of the Ottomans in 1918, Youssef published his articles in the form of
this book and returned to Lebanon.
The English translation of a first part of this collection is posted here.
حفيف الأرز
English Translation Part 1
English Translation Part 2
