The Gazette

TRANSLATION OF

Buonaparte's Proclamation!

Which he issued in the Arabic language,

To the PEOPLE of EGYPT.

In the name of the Gracious and Merciful God! There is no God but one God! He has no son nor associate in this kingdom. The present moment, which is destined for the punishment of the Beys, has been long anxiously expected. The Beys coming from the mountains of Georgia and Djaghar, have desolated this beautiful country—long insulted and treated the French Nation with contempt, and oppressed her merchants in various ways.

Buonaparte, the General of the French Republic, according to the principles of Liberty, in war arrived. He is here; and the Almighty, the Lord of both worlds, has eased the destruction of the Beys!

Inhabitants of Egypt! when the Beys tell you the French are come to destroy your religion, believe them not—It is an absolute falsehood believe it not! Answer these deceivers, that they are only come to rid the rights of the poor from the grasp of their tyrants! and that the French adore the Supreme Being, and honor—the Prophet and his holy Koran!!

All men are equal in the eyes of God. Understanding, talents, and science alone make a difference between them: As the Beys therefore do not possess any of those qualities, how can they be worthy to govern the country? Yet they are the only possessors of extensive tracts of land. Beautiful female slaves! excellent horses, magnificent palaces! have they; then, received an exclusive privilege from the Almighty—If so, let them produce it! But the Supreme Being, who is just and merciful toward all mankind, wills that in future none of the inhabitants of Egypt shall be prevented from attaining to the first employments and the highest honors. The administration, which shall be conducted by persons of intelligence, talents and foresight, will be productive of happiness and security. The tyranny and avarice of the Beys have laid waste Egypt, which was formerly so populous and well cultivated!

The French are true Muselmen! Not long since they marched to Rome, and overthrew the throne of the Pope, who excited the Christians against the professors of Islam (the Mahometan religion.) Afterwards they directed their course to Malta, and drove out the unbelievers, who imagined they were appointed by God to make war on the Muselmen! The French had at all times been the true and sincere friends of the Ottoman emperor, and the enemies of his enemies. May the empire of the Sultan be eternal! but may the Beys of Egypt, our oppressors, whose insatiable avarice has continually excited disobedience and insubordination, be trodden in the dust and annihilated!

Art. I. All places which are no more than three leagues distant from the route of the French army, shall send one of their principal inhabitants to the general, to declare that they submit, and hoist the French flag, which is blue, white, and red!

2. Every village which shall oppose the French army shall be burned to the ground!
3. Every village shall submit to the French flag, and that of the Sublime Porte, their ally, whose duration be eternal!

4. The Sheiks and principal persons of each town and village shall seal up the houses and effects of the Beys, and take care that the maltreated article shall not be lost.

5. The Sheiks, Cadis, and Imams shall continue to exercise their respective functions, and put up their prayers, and perform the exercises of religious worship in the mosques and houses of prayer. All the inhabitants of Egypt shall offer up thanks to the Supreme Being, and put up public prayers for the destruction of the Beys!

May the Supreme God make the glory of the Sultan of the Ottomans eternal! pour forth his wrath on the Mamelukes, and render glorious the destiny of the Egyptian nation!!

(Signed)
BUONAPARTE.