The Brightness

Recite, then, as much of The Koran 

as may be easy to you. 

God knoweth that there be some among you sick...

while others travel through the Earth 

in quest for the bounties of God. 

Others do battle in His cause. 

Recite, therefore, as much as may be easy. 

And observe the prayers. 

This will be best and richest in the recompense. 

Seek ye the forgiveness of God. 

Verily, God is forgiving, merciful... 

 

Greetings, Ali. 

My lord. - Sherif Ali. Lieutenant Lawrence, you have met Sherif Ali, I think. 

 

Yes, my lord. 

 

And now, Selim, 

"The Brightness." 

 

Selim :

"By the noonday brightness... 

and by The Night when it darkeneth 

Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee...

neither hath He been displeased. 

And surely The Future shall be better for Thee than The Past." 

Lawrence :

"And in The End shall Your Lord be bounteous to thee... 

...and Thou be satisfied." 

Sir? Yes, colonel.

I want a decision, sir. 

You want me to fall back on Yenbo. 

Well, you're not doing much good here, sir. 

I'm sorry to rub it in, sir, but we can't supply you here. 

You could supply us through Aqaba! 

Aqaba! If you can get ahold of Aqaba, we can supply you.

But you can't! 

You could. 

You mean, The Navy? 

The Turks have 12-inch guns at Aqaba, sir. 

Can you imagine what that means? 

Yes, I can imagine. 

Put that out of your mind, sir. 

The Navy's got other things to do. 

Oh, yes. 

Protecting the Suez Canal. 

The one essential sector of this front is and must be the canal. 

You can see that, sir, surely. 

I see that the canal is an essential British interest. 

It is of little consequence to us. 

I must ask you not to speak like that. 

British and Arab interests are one and the same. 

Possibly. 

Upon my word, sir, 

you're ungrateful. 

Fall back on Yenbo and we will give you equipment. 

Give you arms, advice, training, everything.

Guns? 

A modern rifle for every man. 

No. Guns. Artillery. 

Guns like the Turkish guns at Medina. 

Yes, give us guns and keep the training. 

Your men need training far more than guns, sir. 

English will teach Bedu to fight? 

We will teach them, Sherif Ali, 

to fight a modern mechanized army. 

Yes, Lieutenant? 

What do you think about Yenbo? 

I think it is far from Damascus. 

We'll have you in Damascus, sir. 

Never fear. 

Have you been in Damascus, Mr. Lawrence? 

Yes, My Lord. 

It is Beautiful, is it not? 

Very. 

That will do, Lawrence. 

Dreaming won't get you to Damascus, 

but discipline will. 

Look, Great Britain is a small country, 

much smaller than yours. 

Small population compared with some. 

It's small, but it is Great. 

And why? 

Because it has guns.

Because it has discipline. 

Because it has A Navy, 

because of this, 

The English go 

where They please,

and strike 

where They please. 

This makes them Great. 

Lawrence :

Right. 

Mr. Lawrence, that will do! 

Lawrence is not your military adviser. 

...But I would like to hear his opinion. 

Col. Brighton :

Damn it! Who do you 

take your orders from? 

Selim :

From Lord Feisal, 

in Feisal's tent. 

Sherif Ali :

Old Fool! 

Why turn from him to him?

 They are Master and Man. 

Lawrence :

My Lord, I Think... 

I think Your Book is right. 

The Desert is An Ocean 

in which no oar is dipped. 

On this ocean, 

the Bedu go where they please 

and strike where they please. 

This is the way the Bedu 

has always fought. 

You're famed through the world 

for fighting this way. 

And this is the way 

you should fight now. 

I don't know.... 

Lawrence :

I'm sorry, sir, but you're wrong. 

Fall back on Yenbo, 

The Arab Rising becomes one poor unit in the British army.

What is this to you? 

You're A Traitor. 

No, Colonel — 

He A Young Man, 

and Young Men are Passionate. 

They must Say their Say... 

But wiser people must decide….

I know you are right. 

Very well. 

When shall we move, 

the sooner the better. 

You'll lose another 50 men tonight. 

You tread heavily... 

But you Speak The Truth. 

I will give you 

My Answer tomorrow. 

And now... it is late. 

Colonel Brighton means to put my men under European officers, does he not? 

Lawrence :

In effect, my lord, yes. 

And I must do it — because The Turks 

have European guns. 

But I fear to do it... 

Upon my soul I do. 

The English have a great hunger for desolate places. 

I fear they hunger for Arabia. 

Lawrence :

Then you must deny it to them. 

You are An Englishman. 

Are you not loyal to England? 

Lawrence :

To England.

And to Other Things. 

To England and Arabia both? 

And is that possible? 

I Think you are another of these 

Desert-Loving English :

Doughty, 

Stanhope... 

Gordon of Khartoum. 

No Arab loves The Desert. 

We love Water and Green Trees. There is nothing in The Desert. 

And No Man needs nothing. 

Or is it that you think we are something you can play with... ...because we are a little people, a silly people...

Greedy, Barbarous and Cruel? 

Or do you know, Lieutenant, 

in the Arab City of Cordoba,

were two miles of lighting in the streets, when London was a village

Lawrence :

Yes, you were Great. 

Nine centuries ago. 

Lawrence :

Time to be Great again, 

My Lord. 

Which is why My Father 

made This War upon the Turks. 

My Father, Mr. Lawrence, 

not The English. 

But My Father is old, and I... 

I long for the vanished gardens 

of Cordoba...

However, before The Gardens 

must come The Fighting. 

To be Great again, it seems

We need The English, or... 

Lawrence :

Or..? 

What No Man 

can provide, 

Mr. Lawrence. 

We need a Miracle.