William of Tyre [1130-1186] describes in vivid terms the simoom of the Arabian Desert and how men have to lie flat on the ground at the time of its passing…he dilates on the terrors of drought in the desert…he goes on to assert that fish are found in the Sand Sea…if we remove the halo of fable surrounding all this…the descriptions of them are wholly fanciful.
-Geographical Lore at the Time of the Crusades, John Kirtland Wright
William wrote of Arabs caught in wind storms so fierce they had to dig their hands deep into the sand to anchor themselves to the ground lest they fly away…more of that nonsense about sand seas, dune waves, and camels as ships of the desert. The wind blew plenty hard on our trip but you wouldn’t want to lie flat in it. Turn your back to it, cover your tea glass with the palm of your hand between sips and imagine being someplace else. Hajj Bashir’s majlis. The kushary joint in Bab al-Luk. Papa Costa’s on Jumhuriyya Street. Anywhere the desert didn’t get into your food or drink or mouth or eyes.