The Emir Fakhr ed Din

Born in 1572, Fakhr ed-Din, Arabic for the Glory of the Faith, was the son of the Emir Qorqmas of the Arab tribe of Beni Ma'n, that followed the Druse religion[1]. The Turkish occupation did not extinguish the desire for independence in the Arab territories. Fakhr ed-Din thought to extend his emirate in Sciuf in Lebanon over to the Mediterranean coast and to make friends with the enemies of the Turks. Through money, diplomacy and arms he became the leader of Beirut, Baalbeck, Tyre, Sidon, Acre, Haifa and Banias. The pashas of Tripoli in Syria and of Damascus were afraid of him and alerted the Sublime Port of the Turkish government in Constantinople. The Sultan Ahmad I ordered the pasha of Damascus to attack the rebel. Fakhr ed-Din did not dare to resist and having left command of his forces with his brother Yunus and his son Ali, he went into voluntary exile in Italy. Received with great honor by Cosimo II de Medicis, he stayed in Florence from 1613-1618. From there he continued the attempts to get rid of the Turks from Lebanon, Palestine and later Syria. He also paid homage to the pope, Paul V. In the meantime he calmed Constantinople with acts of deference.

The Sultan finally permitted him to return as governor of only the district of Sciuf but Fakhr ed-Din, with elegant gifts, re-conquered his entire territory.

At the middle of the 16th c. due to the anti-Christian fanaticism of the people, which caused some victims, the Franciscans had to leave Nazareth, where they had been since the end of the 14th c. In 1620 the Druse emir, at the request of Thomas of Novara, the Custos of the Holy Land, supported by the French consul Baptiste Tarquet, conceded to the Franciscans permission to live in Nazareth, to restore the church over the grotto of the Annunciation and to build a friary. For the restoration, of his own will he gave a generous donation. At the request of another Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Diego of San Severino, seconded by the consul Francesco of Verrazano of the granduchy of Toscany, in 1631 Fakhr ed-Din granted to the Franciscans the property of Mt Tabor.

The pashas of Damascus, Tripoli and Gaza, with other emirs, accused Fakhr ed-Din to the Sultan for favoring the Christians to the detriment of the Muslims. This accusation, plus the fact that the Druse had opened the port of Sidon to European ships and had tried to unite all his subjects into one country and defend it against the Turks, drove Constantinople to intervene. In June 1632 the leader of the Ottoman army, the Albanian Kutciuk Ahmad, attacked the rebel on land with 45,000 men and by sea with 50 galleons. He was conquered, taken prisoner and deported with his family to Damascus. Condemned to death on March 14, 1635, Fakhr ed-Din knelt down and made the sign of the cross. After his death he was stripped and they found he was wearing a golden cross of Lorraine. It seems that the Druse emir was converted by the Capuchin father, Adrian of La Brosse.

The Custody of the Holy Land remembers with gratitude the Emir Fakhr ed Din who always extended great friendship and sympathy to the Franciscans. At the request of Fr. Tomas da Novara, he donated the ruins of the Nazareth Annunciation Shrine to the Franciscans. He also offered a donation to restore the church and build a small convent. In 1631 he also granted the Franciscans the ownership of Mount Tabor.

_________________

[1] G. Governanti, L'emiro Fakhr ed-Din, in TS, 37 (1961), 204-207. G. Levi della Vida, s.v.Fakhr ed-Din, in EI, vol XIV, Rome 1932, 730.

Tabor Main

Other Santuaries