LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

THE present edition of the “Modern Egyptians: is printed in the same manner as the companion-volumes of the “Thousand and One Nights,” from the text of Mr. Lane's last edition, with the additions and alterations which he has, from time to time, made in a copy fo the work.1

The duty of correcting the press I undertook because important studies rendered it impossible for the Author to do so: and my endeavour has been to produce, by careful collation, a faithful text of a book which I feel it is not in my power to improve. In superintending a new edition of the “Thousand and One Nights” I was conscious how little might be added of use or relevance. What was then difficult I found in the “Modern Egyptians” to be impossible, and determined to insert nothing in the text, even as a foot-note. The notes I wished to make are therefore confined to an Appendix, and even in that form I have doubted the propriety of printing them. But though not necessary to the completeness of an account of manners and customs, they touch on subjects relative to the Muslim inhabitants of Egypt, and may therefore be found of interest. What I have said in them, I have endeavoured to say as briefly as 1 These have been, in some portions, considerable, and such as render this the Standard Edition of the work.

DURING a former visit to this country, undertaken chiefly for the purpose of studying the Arabic language in its most famous school, I devoted much of my attention to the manners and customs of the Arab inhabitants; and in an intercourse of two years and a half with this people, soon found that all the information which I had previously been able to obtain respecting them was insufficient to be of much use to the student of Arabic literature, or to satisfy the curiosity of the general reader. Hence I was induced to cover some quires of paper with notes on the most remarkable of their usages, partly for my own benefit, and partly in the hope that I might have it in my power to make some of my countrymen better acquainted with the domiciliated classes of one of the most interesting nations of the world, by drawing a detailed picture of the inhabitants of the largest Arab city. The period of my first visit to this country did not, however, suffice for the accomplishment of this object, and for the prosecution of my other studies; and I relinquished the idea of publishing the notes which I had made on the modern inhabitants: but, five years after my return to England, those notes were shewn to some members of the Committee of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, at whose suggestion, the Committee, interested with the subjects of them, and with the novelty of some of their contents, engaged me to complete and print them. Encouraged by

SINCE the publication of the first edition of the present work, the studies in which I have been engaged have enabled me to improve it by various corrections and additions; and the success which it has obtained (a success very far beyond my expectations) has excited me to use my utmost endeavours to rectify its errors and supply its defects.

In reading the Kur-án, with an Arabic commentary, I have found that Sale's version, though deserving of high commendation for its general accuracy, is incorrect in many important passages; and hence I have been induced to revise with especial care my abstract of the principal Muslim laws: for as Sale had excellent commentaries to consult, and I, when I composed that abstract, had none, I placed great reliance on his translation. My plan, in the execution of that portion of my work, was to make use of Sale's translation as the basis, and to add what appeared necessary from the Sunneh and other sources, chiefly at the dictation of a professor of law, who was my tutor: but I have found that my foundation was in several points faulty.

I am indebted to a gentleman who possesses a thorough knowledge of the spirit of Muslim institutions1 for the suggestion of some improvements in the same and other portions of this work; and observations made by several intelligent critics have lessened the labour of revision and emendation.

IT is generally observed that many of the most remarkable peculiarities in the manners, customs, and character of a nation are attributable to the physical peculiarities of the country. Such causes, in an especial manner, affect the moral and social state of the modern Egyptians, and therefore here require some preliminary notice; but it will not as yet be necessary to explain their particular influences: these will be evinced in many subsequent parts of the present work.

The Nile, in its course through the narrow and winding valley of Upper Egypt, which is confined on each side by mountainous and sandy deserts, as well as through the plain of Lower Egypt, is everywhere bordered, except in a very few places, by cultivated fields of its own formation. These cultivated tracts are not perfectly level, being somewhat lower towards the deserts than in the neighbourhood of the river. They are interspersed with palm-groves and villages, and intersected by numerous canals. The copious summer rains that prevail in Abyssinia and the neighbouring countries begin to shew their effects in Egypt, by the rising of the Nile, about the period of the summer solstice. By the autumnal equinox the river attains its greatest height, which is always sufficient to fill the canals by which the fields are

IN the rearing and general treatment of their children, the Muslims are chiefly guided by the directions of their Prophet, and other religious institutors. One of the first duties required to be performed on the birth of a child is to pronounce the adán (or call to prayer) in the infant's right ear; and this should be done by a male. Some persons also pronounce the iḳámeh (which is nearly the same as the adán) in the left ear.1 The object of each of these ceremonies is to preserve the infant from the influence of the “ginn,” or genii. Another custom, observed with the same view, is to say, “In the name of the Prophet and of his cousin2 'Alee!”

It was a custom very common in Egypt, as in other Muslim countries, to consult an astrologer previously to giving a name to a child, and to be guided by his choice; but very few persons now conform with this old usage: the father makes choice of a name for his son, and confers it without any ceremony: a daughter is generally named by her mother. Boys are often named after the Prophet (Moḥammad, Aḥmad, or Muṣṭafá3), or some of the members 1 For the words of the adán and the iḳámeh, see the pages referred to after these two words in the Index. 2 Literally, “the son of his paternal uncle.” 3 This name is pronounced “Muṣṭafà,” or, more commonly, “Muṣṭaf'è.”

As the most important branch of their education, and the main foundation of their manners and customs, the religion and laws of the people who are the subject of these pages must be well understood, not only in their general principles, but in many minor points, before we can proceed to consider their social condition and habits in the state of manhood.

A difference of opinion among Muslims, respecting some points of religion and law, has given rise to four parties, or persuasions, which consider each other orthodox as to fundamental matters, and call themselves “Sunnees,” or followers of the Traditions, while they designate all other Muslims by the term “Shiya'ees,” or “Shee'ahs;” and collectively, the “Shee'ah;” signifying, according to their acceptation, “Heretics.” The Sunnees alone are the class which we have to consider. The four parties, or persuasions, into which they are divided are the “Hanafees,” “Sháfe'ees,” “Málikees,”1 and “Hambelees;”2 so called from the names of the respective doctors whose tenets they have adopted. The Turks are of the first persuasion, which is the most reasonable: the inhabitants of Cairo, a small proportion excepted (who are Hanafees), are either Sháfe'ees or Málikees; and it is generally said that they are mostly of the former of these persuasions, as are also the people of Arabia: those 1 Commonly pronounced “Mál'kee.” 2 Pronounced “Hambel'ee.”

EGYPT has, of late years, experienced great political changes, and nearly ceased to be a province of the Turkish Empire. Its present Báshà (Moḥammad' Alee), having exterminated the Ghuzz, or Memlooks, who shared the government with his predecessors, has rendered himself almost an independent prince. He however, professes allegiance to the Sulṭán, and remits the tribute, according to former custom, to Constantinople: he is, moreover, under an obligation to respect the fundamental laws of the Ḳur-án and the Traditions; but he exercises a dominion otherwise unlimited.2 He may cause any one of his subjects to be put to death without the formality of a trial, or without assigning any cause: a simple horizontal motion of his hand is sufficient to imply the sentence of decapitation. But I must not be understood to insinuate that he is prone to shed blood without any reason: severity is a characteristic of this prince, rather than wanton cruelty; and boundless ambition has prompted 1 As the political reforms effected by Moḥammad 'Alee will always be extremely interesting, and as the changes made in his institutions by his successors have been inconsiderable, and generally the contrary of improvements, I retain here, without any essential alteration, an account of the government of Egypt written in the years 1834 and 1835, during the best period of his rule. 2 Though his territory was greatly lessened since the above was written, his power in Egypt remained nearly the same.

HAVING sufficiently considered the foundations of the moral and social state of the Muslims of Egypt, we may now take a view of their domestic life and ordinary habits; and, first, let us confine our attention to the higher and middle orders.

A master of a family, or any person who has arrived at manhood, and is not in a menial situation, or of very low condition, is commonly honoured with the appellation of “the sheykh,” prefixed to his name. The word “sheykh” literally signifies “an elder,” or “an aged person;” but it is often used as synonymous with our appellation of “Mister;” though more particularly applied to a learned man, or a reputed saint. A “shereef,” or descendant of the Prophet, is called “the seyd,” or “the seyyid” (master, or lord), whatever be his station. Many shereefs are employed in the lowest offices: there are servants, dustmen, and beggars, of the honoured race of Mohammad; but all of them are entitled to the distinctive appellation above mentioned, and privileged to wear the green turban:1 many of them, however, not only among those of humble station, but also among the wealthy, and particularly the learned, assume neither of these prerogatives; preferring the title of “sheykh,” and the white turban. A man who has performed 1 Men and women of this race often contract marriages with persons who are not members of the same; and as the title of shereef is inherited from either of the parents, the number of persons who enjoy this distinction has become very considerable.