Description:Observations made upon 11 cases in the asylum of Ibn Sina and of 4 cases residing with their families. From the detailed analysis of these cases it appears that the immediate cause leading to an outbreak of delirium is emotional. In general the patient begins by believing that some one is stealing his thoughts. Then follow retrospective interpretations, interpretations of actual facts, which lead to auditory hallucinations with agitation and rebellion, all in verbal form without overt violence or attack. These reactions gradually diminish, but the delusion maintains its unity. The principal characteristic is the absence of violence on the part of the patients. The authors attempt to explain this absence of violence which is in contrast with the findings in analogous cases in the Occident. It is necessary to note that of the 15 patients 14 were Musulmans and one was a Greek Catholic. All had the same attitudes of resignation and of confidence in God. The authors seek the explanation of the attenuation of the defense reactions in two types of causes, one geographic, historical, ethnic, and the other religious. They believe that the reactions of the normal inhabitants of Syria toward their conquerors and persecutors have been very much attenuated in the course of centuries and that in the same way the Syrian, when mentally ill and exposed to imaginary persecutors, defends himself without violence or persecution. He does not attack but resigns himself and seeks Allah for protection. One question arises. Assuming the actual tendencies of that class of emancipated Syrian which is instructed in the interpretation of the Musulman religion as activity and combat rather than as fatalism, will not the reactions of the persecuted patients change and become more active?