PREFACE.
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 shown 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 their approbation, and
relying
upon their judgment, I immediately determined to follow
their
advice, and, by the earliest opportunity, again
departed to Egypt. After
another residence of more
than a year in the metropolis of this country,
and half
a year in
Upper Egypt, I have now accomplished, as well as
I
am able, the task proposed to me
*.
* It gives me much pleasure to find,
that, while I have been
attempting to preserve memorials of the manners
and customs of
the most polished modern Arab people, one of my learned
friends
(M. Fulgence Fresnel) has been occupied, with eminent
success,
in rescuing from oblivion many interesting notices of the
history
of the early Arabs, and that another
(Mr. Wilkinson) has been
preparing to impart to us an account of the
private life, manners
&c., of the Ancient Egyptians.
It may be said, that the English reader already possesses
an excellent and ample
description of Arab manners
and customs, in Dr. Russell's
account of the people
of Aleppo. I will not forfeit my own claim to
the
reputation of an honest writer, by attempting to detract
from the
just merits of that valuable and interesting
work; but must assert, that it
is, upon the whole, rather
an account of
Turkish
than of
Arab manners; and that
neither the original
Author, nor his brother to whom
we are indebted for the enlarged and much
improved
edition, was sufficiently acquainted with the Arabic language
to scrutinize some of the most interesting subjects
of inquiry which the
plan of the work required them to
treat: nor would their well-known station
in Aleppo, or
perhaps their national feelings, allow them to assume
those disguises which were necessary to enable them to
become familiar with
many of the most remarkable
religious ceremonies, opinions, and
superstitions, of the
people whom they have described. Deficiencies in
their
remarks on these subjects are the only faults of any
importance
that I can discover in their excellent and
learned work
*.
* Among the memoirs in
“the great French work” on Egypt
is one entitled
“Essai sur les maeurs des habitans modernes de
l'Egypte;” but its author appears to me to have fallen
into an
error of considerable magnitude, in applying, to the Egyptians
in
general, observations which are, in truth, for the most part
descriptive
of the manners and customs of their naturalized rulers,
the
Memloo'ks. It is probable that the Egyptians in some
degree
imitated, when they were able to do so, the habits and customs
of
this class: I may, however, venture to affirm, that the essay
here
alluded to does not convey a true notion of their present moral
and social state. Its author,
moreover, shows himself to have
been often extremely careless both in
his observations and inquiries:
this is particularly evident in his
singular misstatement
of the correspondence of French and Mohhammadan
hours, and
in the first two pages (in the 8vo. edition) of the section
on public
fêtes. He has given many just philosophical
observations; but
these occupy too large a proportion of a memoir
scarcely exceeding
one third of the extent of the present work. To show
that
these remarks are not made in an invidious spirit, I most
willingly
express my high admiration of other parts of “the
great work”
(especially the contributions of M. Jomard),
relating to subjects
which have alike employed my mind and pen, and
upon which I
shall probably publish my
observations.—Burckhardt's “Arabic
Proverbs” and their illustrations convey many notions of
remarkable
customs and traits of character of the modern
Egyptians;
but are very far from composing a complete exposition, or,
in every
case, a true one; for national proverbs are bad tests of the
morality
of a people.—There is one work, however, which
presents
most admirable pictures of the manners and customs of the
Arabs, and particularly of those of the Egyptians: it is
“the
Thousand and One Nights,” or Arabian
Nights’ Entertainments:
if the English reader possessed a
close translation of it with sufficient
illustrative notes, I might
almost have spared myself the
labour of the present undertaking.
I have been differently circumstanced. Previously
to my first visit to this
country, I acquired some knowledge
of the language and literature of the
Arabs; and
in a year after my arrival here,
I was able to converse,
with the people among whom I was residing,
with
tolerable ease. I have associated, almost exclusively,
with
Moos'lims, of various ranks in society: I have
lived as they
live, conforming with their general habits;
and, in order to make them
familiar and unreserved towards
me on every subject, have always avowed
my
agreement with them in opinion whenever my conscience
would allow
me, and in most other cases, refrained
from the expression of my dissent,
as well as
from every action which might give them disgust;
abstaining
from eating food forbidden by their religion,
and drinking wine,
&c.; and even from habits merely
disagreeable to them; such as
the use of knives and
forks at meals. Having made myself acquainted
with
all their common religious ceremonies, I have been able
to escape
exciting, in strangers, any suspicion of my
being a person who had no right
to intrude among
them, whenever it was necessary for me to witness any
Mohhammadan rite or festival. While, from the dress
which I have found most
convenient to wear, I am
generally mistaken, in public, for a Turk, my
acquaintances,
of course, know me to be an Englishman; but
I constrain
them to treat me as a Moos'lim, by my
freely acknowledging the hand of
Providence in the
introduction and diffusion of the Mohhammadan
religion,
and, when interrogated, avowing my belief in
the Messiah, in
accordance with the
words of the
Ckoor-a'n, as the Word of God, infused into the womb of the
Virgin Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him.
Thus, I believe, I have
acquired their good opinion,
and much of their confidence; though not to
such an
extent as to prevent my having to contend with many
difficulties. The Moos'lims are very averse from giving
information on subjects connected with their religion or
superstitions to
persons whom they suspect of differing
from them in sentiments; but very
ready to talk on
such subjects with those whom they think acquainted
with them: hence, I have generally obtained some
slight knowledge, of
matters difficult for me thoroughly
to learn, from one of the most lax, and
of the least instructed,
of my friends; so as to be able to draw into
conversation, upon the desired topics, persons of better
information; and
by this mode, I have invariably succeeded
in overcoming their scruples. I
have had two
professors of Arabic and of Mohhammadan religion and
law
as my regular, salaried tutors; and, by submitting
to them questions on any
matters respecting which I
was in doubt, have authenticated
or corrected, and
added to, the information derived from conversation
with ray other friends. Occasionally, also, I have applied
to higher
authorities; having the happiness to
number among my friends in this city
some persons of
the highest attainments in Eastern learning.
Perhaps the reader may not be displeased if I here
attempt to acquaint him
more particularly with one of
my Moos'lim friends, the first of
those above alluded
to; and to show, at the same time, the light in
which
he, like others of his country, regards me in my present
situation.—The sheykh Ahh'mad (or
seyd Ahh'mad;
for he is one of the numerous class of
sheree'fs, or
descendants of the Prophet)
is somewhat more than
forty years of age, by his own confession; but
appears
more near to fifty. He is as remarkable in physiognomy
as in
character. His stature is under the middle
size: his beard, reddish, and
now becoming grey. For
many years he has been nearly blind: one of his
eyes
is almost entirely closed; and both are ornamented, on
particular
occasions (at least on the two grand annual
festivals), with a border of
the black pigment called
kohhl, which is seldom used but by women. He boasts
his descent not only from the Prophet, but also, from
a very celebrated saint,
Esh-Shaara'wee
*; and his complexion,
which is very fair, supports
his assertion, that
his ancestors, for several generations, lived in the
northwestern
parts of Africa. He obtains his subsistence
from a
slender patrimony, and by exercising the trade
of a bookseller. Partly to
profit in this occupation,
and partly for the sake of society, or at least
to enjoy
some tobacco and coffee, he is a visitor in my house
almost
every evening.
* Thus commonly pronounced, for
Esh-Shaara'nee.
For several years before he adopted the trade of a
bookseller, which was
that of his father, he pursued no
other occupation than that of performing
in the religious
ceremonies called
zikrs; which
consist in the repetition
of the name and attributes, &c., of
God, by a
number of persons, in chorus; and in such performances
he is
still often employed. He was then a
member of the order of the
Saadee'yeh durwee'shes,
who are particularly famous
for devouring live serpents;
and he is said to have been one of the
serpent-eaters:
but he did not confine himself to food so easily
digested. One night, during a meeting of a party of
durwee'shes
of his order, at which their sheykh was
present, my friend became affected
with religious frenzy,
seized a tall glass shade which
surrounded a candle
placed on the floor, and ate a large portion of it.
The
sheykh and the other durwee'shes, looking at him with
astonishment, upbraided him with having broken the
institutes of his order;
since the eating of glass was not
among the miracles which they were
allowed to perform;
and they immediately expelled him. He then
entered
the order of the Ahhmedee'yeh; and as they,
likewise, never ate
glass, he determined not to do so
again. However, soon after, at a meeting
of some
brethren of this order, when several Saadee'yeh
also
were present, he again was seized with frenzy, and,
jumping up to
a chandelier, caught hold of one of the
small glass lamps attached to it,
and devoured about
half of it, swallowing also the oil and water which
it
contained. He was conducted before his Sheykh, to be
tried for this
offence; but, on his taking an oath never
to eat glass again, he was
neither punished nor expelled
the order. Notwithstanding this oath, he soon
again
gratified his propensity to eat a glass lump; and a brother
durwee'sh, who was present, attempted to do the
same; but a
large fragment stuck between the tongue
and palate of this rash person; and
my friend had
great trouble to extract it. He was again tried by his
Sheykh; and, being reproached for
having broken his
oath and vow of repentance, he coolly answered,
“I
repent again: repentance is good: for He whose name
be
exalted hath said, in the Excellent Book, ‘Verily,
God loveth
the repentant.”’ The Sheykh, in anger,
exclaimed,
“Dost thou dare to act in this manner, and
then come and cite
the Ckoor-a'n before me?”—and
with this
reproof, he ordered that he should be imprisoned
ten days; after which, he
made him again swear
to abstain from eating glass; and on this condition
he
was allowed to remain a member of the Ahhmedee'yeh.
This
second oath, he professes not to have broken.—
he person whose
office it was to prosecute him related
to me these facts; and my friend
reluctantly confessed
them to be true.
When I was first acquainted with the sheykh Ahh'mad,
he had long
been content with one wife; but now
he has indulged himself with a
second
*, who continues
to live in her parents’
house: yet he has taken care to
assure me, that he is not rich enough to
refuse my
yearly present of a dress. On my visiting him for the
second
time during my present residence in this place,
* He professes to have had more than
thirty wives in the course
of his life; but, in saying so, I believe he greatly exaggerates.
his mother came to the door of
the room in which I
was sitting with him, to complain to me of his
conduct
in taking’ this new wife. Putting her hand within
the
door, to give greater effect to her words by proper
action (or
perhaps to show how beautifully the palm,
and the tips of the fingers,
glowed with the fresh red
dye of the
hhen'na), but concealing the rest of her
person, she
commenced a most energetic appeal to my
sympathy.—“O
Efen'dee!” she exclaimed, “I throw
myself
upon thy mercy! I kiss thy feet! I have no
hope but in God and
thee!” “What words are these,
my mistress?
“said I: “what misfortune has befallen
thee? and what
can I do for thee? Tell me.” “This
son of
mine,” she continued, “this my son Ahh'mad,
is
a worthless fellow: he has a wife here, a good creature,
with whom
he has lived happily, with God's blessing,
for sixteen years;
and now he has neglected her and
me, and given himself up to a second wife,
a young,
impudent wench: he lavishes his money upon this
monkey, and
others like her, and upon her father and
mother and uncles and brother and
brother's children,
and I know not whom besides, and abridges
us, that is,
myself and his first wife, of the comforts to which we
were before accustomed. By the Prophet! and by thy
dear head! I speak truth. I kiss
thy feet, and beg
thee to insist upon his divorcing his new
wife.”—The
poor man looked a little foolish while his
mother was
thus addressing me from behind the door; and as soon
as she
was gone, promised to do what she desired.
“But,”
said he, “it is a difficult case. I was in
the habit of sleeping
occasionally in the house of the
brother of the girl whom I have lately
taken as my
wife: he is a clerk in the employ of
'Abba's Ba'sha;
and rather more than a
year ago, 'Abba's Ba'sha sent
for me, and
said, ‘I hear that you are often sleeping
in the house of my
clerk Mohham'mad. Why do you
act so? Do you not know that it is
very improper,
when there are women in the house?’ I said,
‘I am
going to marry his sister.’ ‘Then
why have you not
married her already?’ asked the
Ba'sha. ‘She is only
nine years of age.’
‘Is the marriage contract made?’
‘No.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘I
cannot afford, at present, to
give the dowry.’ ‘What
is the dowry to be?’ ‘Ninety
piasters.’
‘Here, then,’ said the Ba'sha,’ take
the
money, and let the contract be concluded immediately.’
So you see I was obliged to marry the girl; and I am
afraid that the
Ba'sha will be angry if I divorce her:
but I will act in such a
manner that her brother shall
insist upon the divorce; and
then, please God, I shall
live in peace again.”—This
is a good example of the
comfort of having two wives.
A short time since, upon his offering me a copy of
the Ckoor-a'n,
for sale, he thought it necessary to make
some excuse for his doing so. He
remarked, that, by
my conforming with many of the ceremonies of the
Moos'lims, I tacitly professed myself to be one of them;
and
that it was incumbent upon him to regard me in
the most favourable light,
which he was the more
willing to do because he knew that I should incur
the
displeasure of my King by making an open profession
of the
Mohhammadan faith, and therefore could not do
it
*. “You give
me,” said he, “the salutation of
‘Peace be
on you’.” and it would be impious in me,
being
directly forbidden by my religion, to pronounce
you an unbeliever; for God,
whose name be exalted,
hath said, “Say not unto him who greeteth
thee with
peace, Thou art not a believer
†: therefore,” he
added,
* It is a common belief among the
Egyptians, that every
European traveller who visits their country is an
emissary from his
King, and it is difficult to convince them that this
is not the
case: so strange to them is the idea of a man's
incurring great
trouble and expense for the purpose of acquiring the
knowledge of
foreign countries and nations.
† Ckoor-a'n, chap, iv.,
ver. 96.
“it is no sin in me to
put into your hands the noble
Ckoor-a'n: but there are some of
your countrymen who
will take it in unclean hands, and even sit upon it!
I
beg God's forgiveness for talking of such a thing: far
be
it from you to do so: you, praise be to God, know
and observe the command,
‘None shall touch it but
those who are clean
*”’.—He once sold a copy of
the
Ckoor-a'n, on my application, to a countryman of mine,
who, being disturbed, just as the bargain was concluded,
by some person
entering the room, hastily put the sacred
book upon the seat, and under a
part of his dress, to
conceal it. The bookseller was much scandalized
by
this action; thinking that my friend was sitting upon
the book, and
that he was doing so to show his contempt
of it: he declares his belief
that he has been
heavily punished by God for this unlawful
sale.—There
was only one thing that I had much difficulty in
persuading
him to do during my former visit to this
country; which
was, to go with me, at a particular
period, into the mosque of the
Hhasaney'n, the reputed
burial-place of the head of
El-Hhosey'n, and the most
sacred of the mosques in the Egyptian
metropolis. On
my passing with him before one of the entrances of this
* Ckoor-a'n, chap. lvi.,
ver. 78.
building, one afternoon during
the fast of Rum'ada'n,
when it was crowded with
Turks, and many of the
principal people of the city were among the
congregation,
I thought it a good opportunity to see it to the
greatest advantage, and asked my companion to go in
with me. He positively
refused, in the fear of my
being discovered to be an Englishman, which
might so
rouse the fanatic anger of some of the Turks there as to
expose me to some act of violence. I therefore entered
alone. He remained
at the door, following me with his
eye only (or his only eye), and
wondering at my audacity;
but as soon as he saw me acquit myself in
the
usual manner, by walking round the bronze screen
which surrounds
the monument over the spot where the
head of the martyr is said to he
buried, and then putting
myself into the regular postures of prayer, he
came
in, and said his prayers by my side.
After relating these anecdotes, I should mention, that
the characters of my
other acquaintances here are not
marked by similar eccentricities. My
attentions to my
visitors have been generally confined to the common
usages of Eastern hospitality; supplying them with
pipes and coffee, and
welcoming them to a share of my
dinner or supper. Many of their
communications I
have written in Arabic, at their
dictation, and since
translated, and inserted in the following pages.
What
I have principally aimed at, in this work, is correctness;
and I
do not scruple to assert, that I am not conscious
of having endeavoured to
render interesting any
matter that I have related by the slightest
sacrifice of
truth.
Since writing the above, it has occurred to me, that I
should offer some
apology for the unusual mode in which
I have written Arabic words in the
following pages.
Had I found it necessary only to insert a few of such
words, already found in the works of many of my
countrymen, I might have
expressed them in the same
manner as most of those authors have done;
writing
“Mahomet” or
“Mohammed”
for “
Mohham'mad ” “Koran “for
“
Choor-a'n”
“ Caliph “for “
Khalee'feh, ”
“Sultan “for “
Soolta'n, ” “Dervise
“for “
Durwee'sh,
”
“Bedouin “for “
Bed'awee, ” “Divan
“for “
Deewa'n”
“
Harem” for “
Hharee'm, ” &c.; but since I have
been
obliged to employ a great number of Arabic words, and
many which
I have never seen in European characters
in any former work, I have thought
it better to write all
of them according to a particular system that
appears
to me best calculated to enable
an English reader to
pronounce them with tolerable correctness
*.
According
to this system,
* I should remark also, that I have
written “Ba'sha. ”
instead of
“Pash'a in conformity with the
pronunciation of the Egyptians.
a is pronounced as in our word bad:
a', generally as in father; but sometimes its sound approaches
to that of a in ball:
ck represents a guttural
k: most
of the people of the
metropolis of Egypt, and those of some provinces,
cannot pronounce it, and substitute for it a
hiatus;
while in
Upper Egypt, the sound of
g in
give is used
in its stead:
e is pronounced as in bed:
e', as in there:
ee, as in bee:
ei, as our word eye:
ey, as in they:
g, generally as in give; but in
some parts of Egypt, as
in gem, or nearly so:
gh represents a very guttural g;
the sound produced in
gargling:
hh represents a strong aspirate, very different from our
h:
i is pronounced as in bid:
kh represents a guttural sound like that produced in
expelling saliva from the throat: it approaches nearer
to the sound which I
express by hh than to that of k:
o is pronounced as in obey
(short):
o', as in bone:
oo, as in book:
oo', as in boot:
ow, as in down:
v, as in but.
An apostrophe denotes a guttural sound to which no
letter of our alphabet approximates: it is like that
which is heard in the
bleating of sheep. The usual sign of a diaeresis is
employed to show that
a final e, is not mute, but
pronounced as that letter
when unaccented in the beginning or middle of
a
word.
With regard to the engravings which accompany this
work, I should mention,
that they are from drawings
which I have made, not to embellish the pages,
but
merely to explain the text.
THE
MODERN EGYPTIANS.
INTRODUCTION.
THE COUNTRY AND
CLIMATE—METROPOLIS—HOUSES—POPULATION.
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,
excepting 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 which
prevail in Abyssinia and
the neighbouring countries
begin to show 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 irrigated,
and, generally, to inundate large
portions of the cultivable land: it then
gradually falls
until the period when it again begins to rise. Being
impregnated, particularly during its rise, with rich soil
washed down from
the mountainous countries whence it
flows, a copious deposit is annually
spread, either by the
natural inundation or by artificial irrigation, over
the
fields which border it; while its bed, from the same
cause, rises
in an equal degree. The Egyptians depend
entirely upon their river for the
fertilization of the soil;
rain being a very rare phenomenon in their
country,
excepting in the neighbourhood of the Mediterranean;
and as
the seasons are perfectly regular, the peasant
may make his arrangements
with the utmost precision
respecting the labour he will have to perform.
Sometimes
his labour is light; but when it consists in raising
water
for irrigation, it is excessively severe.
The climate of Egypt, during the greater part of the
year, is remarkably
salubrious. The exhalations from
the soil after the period of the
inundation render the
latter part of the autumn less healthy than the
summer
and winter; and cause ophthalmic and dysentery, and
some other
diseases, to be more prevalent then than at
other seasons; and during a
period of somewhat more
or less than fifty days (called
el-khum'a'see'n), commencing
in
April, and lasting throughout May, hot
southerly winds occasionally prevail
for about three days
together. These winds, though they seldom cause
the
thermometer of Fahrenheit to rise above 95° in Lower
Egypt, or, in
Upper Egypt,
105°
*, are dreadfully oppressive,
even to the natives.
When the plague visits Egypt,
it is generally in the spring; and this
disease is most
severe in the period of the
khum'a'see'n. Egypt is also
subject,
particularly during the spring and summer, to
the hot wind called the
semoo'm, which is still more
oppressive
than the khum'a'see'n winds, but of much
shorter duration; seldom lasting longer than a quarter of
an hour, or
twenty minutes. It generally proceeds from
the south-east, or
south-south-east, and carries with it
clouds of dust and sand. The general
height of the
thermometer in the depth of winter in
Lower Egypt, in
the afternoon and in the shade, is from 50° to 60°:
in
the hottest season it is from 90° to 100°; and
about ten
degrees higher in the southern parts of
Upper Egypt.
But
though the summer heat is so great, it is seldom
very oppressive; being
generally accompanied by a refreshing
northerly breeze, and the air being
extremely
dry. There is, however, one great source of discomfort
arising from this dryness, namely, an excessive quantity
of dust; and there
are other plagues which very much
detract from the comfort which the
natives of Egypt, and
visiters to their country, otherwise derive from its
genial
climate. In spring, summer, and autumn, flies are so
abundant
as to be extremely annoying during the daytime,
and musquitoes are
troublesome at night (unless
a curtain be made use of to keep them away),
and sometimes
even in the day; and every house that contains
much
wood-work (as most of the better houses do)
swarms with bugs during the
warm weather. Lice are
* This is the temperature in the
shade. At Thebes, I have
observed the thermometer to rise above
110° during a khum'a
'see'n
wind, in the shade.
not always to be avoided in any
season, but they are
easily got rid of; and in the cooler weather, fleas
are
excessively numerous.
The climate of
Upper Egypt is more healthy, though
hotter, than that of
Lower Egypt. The plague seldom
ascends far above
Cairo, the metropolis. It
is most
common in the marshy parts of the country, near the
Mediterranean. During the last ten years, the country
having been better
drained, and quarantine regulations
adopted to prevent or guard against the
introduction of
this disease from other countries, very few
plague-cases
have occurred, excepting in the parts above-mentioned,
and in those parts the pestilence has not been severe
*.
Ophthalmia is also more
common in
Lower Egypt than
in the southern parts. It generally arises from
checked
perspiration; but is aggravated by the dust and many
other
causes. When remedies are promptly employed,
this disease is seldom
alarming in its progress; but vast
numbers of the natives of Egypt, not
knowing how to
treat it, or obstinately resigning themselves to fate,
are
deprived of the sight of one or both of their eyes.
* This remark was written before the
terrible plague of the
present year (1835), which was certainly
introduced from Turkey,
and extended throughout the whole of Egypt
though its ravages
were not great in the southern parts. It has
destroyed not less
than eighty thousand persons in Cairo: that is,
one-third of the
population; and far more, I believe, than two hundred
thousand in
all Egypt.
When questioned respecting the salubrity of Egypt, I
have often been asked
whether many aged persons are
seen among the inhabitants: few, certainly,
attain a
great age in this country; but how few do, in our own
land,
without more than once suffering from an illness
that would prove fatal without
medical aid, which is
obtained by a very small number in Egypt! The
heat
of the summer months is sufficiently oppressive to occasion
considerable lassitude, while, at the same time, it
excites the Egyptian to
intemperance in sensual enjoyments;
and the exuberant fertility of the soil
engenders
indolence; little nourishment sufficing for the natives,
and
the sufficiency being procurable without much
exertion.
The modern Egyptian metropolis, to the inhabitants
of which most of the
contents of the following pages
relate, is now called
Musr; but was formerly named
El-Cka'hireh; whence Europeans have formed the
name
of
Cairo. It is situated at the entrance of the
valley of
Upper Egypt, midway between the Nile and the eastern
mountain range of Moockut'tum. Between it and the
river there
intervenes a tract of land, for the most part
cultivated, which, in the
northern parts (where the port
of Boo'la'ck is
situated), is more than a mile in width,
and, at the southern part, less
than half a mile wide.
The metropolis occupies a space equal to about
three
square miles; and its population is about two hundred
and forty
thousand. It is surrounded by a wall, the gates
of which are shut at night,
and is commanded by a large
citadel, situated at an angle of the town, near
a point
of the mountain. The streets are unpaved; and most
of them are
narrow and irregular: they might more properly
be called lanes.
By a stranger who merely passed through the streets,
Cairo would be regarded
as a very close and crowded
city; but that this is not the case, is evident
to a person
who overlooks the town from the top of a lofty house,
or
from the minaret of a mosque. The great thorough-
fare-streets
have generally a row of shops
along each
side
*. Above the shops are apartments which do not
communicate with them, and which are seldom occupied
by the persons who
rent the shops. To the right and
left of the great thoroughfares are by
streets and quarters.
Most of the by-streets are thoroughfares, and
have a large wooden gate at each end, closed at night,
and kept by a porter
within, who opens to any persons
requiring to be admitted. The quarters
mostly consist
of several narrow lanes, having but one general
entrance,
with a gate, which is also closed at night; but several
have
a by-street passing through them.
* A view of shops in a street of
Cairo will be found in this work.
Of the private houses of the metropolis, it is particularly
necessary that I
should give a description. The
accompanying engraving will serve to give a
general
notion of their exterior. The foundation-walls, to the
height
of the first floor, are cased, externally and often
internally, with the
soft calcareous stone of the neighbouring
mountain. The surface of the
stone, when
newly cut, is of a light yellowish hue; but its colour
soon
darkens. The alternate courses of the front are sometimes
coloured red and white, particularly in large
houses; as is the case with
most mosques
†. The superstructure,
the front of which generally
projects about
two feet, and is supported by corbels or piers, is of
brick;
and often plastered. The bricks are burnt, and of a
dull red
colour. The mortar is generally composed of
† This mode of decorating the houses
has lately become more
general, in consequence of an order of the
government, whereby
the inhabitants were required thus to honour the
arrival of
Ibrahee'm Ba'sha from Syria.
Private Houses in Cairo.—The street in this view is wider
than usual. The projecting windows on opposite sides of a street
often nearly meet each other; almost entirely excluding the sun,
and thus producing an agreeable coolness in the summer
months.
mud, in the proportion of
one-half, with a fourth part
of lime, and the remaining part of the ashes
of straw
and rubbish. Hence the unplastered walls of brick are
of a
dirty colour; as if the bricks were unburnt. The
roof is flat, and covered
with a coat of plaster.
The most usual architectural style of the entrance of
a private house in
Cairo, is shown by the sketch here
inserted. The door is often ornamented
in the manner
here represented: the compartment in which is the
inscription,
and the other similarly-shaped compartments,
are painted
red, bordered with white; the rest of the
surface of the door is painted
green. The inscription,
“He (
i. e. God)
is the Creator, the Everlasting”
(the object of which will be
explained when I treat of the
superstitions of the Egyptians), is seen on
many doors;
but is far from being general: it is usually painted in
black or white characters. Few doors but those of
large houses are painted.
They generally have an iron
knocker, and a wooden lock; and there is
usually a
mounting-stone by the side.
The ground-floor apartments next the street have
small wooden grated
windows, placed sufficiently high
to render it impossible for a person
passing by in the
street, even on horseback, to see through them. The
windows of the upper apartments generally project a foot
and a half, or
more, and are mostly formed of turned
wooden lattice-work, which is so
close that it shuts out
much of the light and sun, and screens the inmates
of
the house from the view of persons without, while at the
same time
it admits the air. They are generally of
unpainted wood; but some few are
partially painted red
and green, and some are entirely painted. A
window
of this kind is called a
ro'shan,
or, more commonly, a
Door of a Private House.
meshrebee'yeh, which latter word has another
application
that will be mentioned below. Several windows of
different
descriptions are represented in some of the
illustrations of this work; and
sketches of the most common
patterns of the lattice-work, on a larger
scale, are
here inserted
*. Sometimes a window of the kind above
described has
a little meshrebee'yeh, which somewhat
resembles a
ro'shan in miniature, projecting from the
front, or from each
side. In this, in order to be exposed
to a current of air, are placed
porous earthen bottles,
which are used for cooling water by evaporation.
Hence
the name of “meshrebee'yeh,” which
signifies “a place
for drink,” or
“—for drinking.” The projecting window
has
a flat one of lattice-work, or of grating of wood, or
of coloured glass,
immediately above it. Some projecting
windows are wholly constructed of
boards; and a
few have frames of glass in the sides. In the better
houses, also, the windows of lattice-work are now generally
furnished with
frames of glass in the inside, which
in the winter are wholly closed; for a
penetrating cold
is felt in Egypt when the thermometer of Fahrenheit
is below 60°. The windows of inferior houses are
mostly of a
different kind; being even with the exterior
surface of the wall: the upper
part is of wooden lattice-work
*,
* No. 1 is a view and section of a
portion of the most simple
kind. This and the other four kinds are here
represented on a
scale of about one-seventh of the real size. No. 6
shows the
general proportions of the side of a projecting window. The
portion
A is, in most instances, of lattice-work similar to No. 1,
and
comprises about twelve rows of beads in the width: the portion
B
is commonly either of the same kind, or like No. 2 or No. 3; and
the small lattice C, which is attached by hinges, is generally
similar
to No. 4.
* Commonly similar to No. 1, or No.
5.
Specimens of Lattice-work.—From the centre of one row of
beads to that, of the next (in these specimens) is between an
inch and a quarter and three quarters.
Court of a Private House in Cairo.
or grating; and the lower, closed
by hanging
shutters; but many of these have a little
meshrebee'yeh
for the water-bottles projecting from the lower
part.
The houses in general are two or three stories high;
and almost every house
that is sufficiently large encloses
an open, unpaved court, called, a
hho'sh, which is entered
by a passage
that is constructed with one or two turnings,
for the purpose of preventing
passengers in the
street from seeing into it. In this passage, just
within
the door, there is a long stone seat, called
mus'tub'ah,
built against the back or side
wall, for the porter and other
servants. In the court is a well of
slightly
brackish water, which filters through the soil from the
Nile;
and on its most shaded side are, commonly, two
water-jars, which are daily
replenished with water of the
Nile, brought from the river in skins
†. The
principal
apartments look into the court; and their exterior walls
(those which are of brick) are plastered and whitewashed.
There are several
doors which are entered
from the court. One of these is called
ba'b el-hharee'm
(the door of the hharee'm): it is the entrance of the
stairs which lead to the apartments appropriated exclusively
to the women
and their master and his children
‡.
†
Some large houses have two courts; the inner for the
hharee'm;
and in the latter, or both of these, there is
usually a little enclosure
of arched wood-work, in which trees and
flowers are raised.
‡ In the accompanying view of the
court of a house, the (loot
of the hharee'm is that which
faces the spectator.
In general, there is, on the ground-floor, an apartment
called a
mun'dar'ah, in which male
visitors
are received. This has a wide, wooden, grated window, or two
windows
of this kind, next the court. A small part
of the floor, extending from the
door to the opposite
side of the room, is six or seven inches lower
than
the rest: this part is called the
doorcka'ah
*. In
a
handsome house, the doorcka”ah of the
mun'dar'ah
is paved with white and black marble, and
little pieces of
red tile, inlaid in complicated and tasteful patterns,
and
has in the centre a fountain (called
fisckee'yeh), which
Fountain.
plays into a small, shallow pool, lined with coloured
marbles,
&c., like the surrounding pavement. I give, as
a specimen, the
pattern of the pavement of a doorcka”ah,
such as I have above
described, and a sketch of the
fountain. The water which falls from the
fountain is
drained off from the pool by a pipe. There is generally,
fronting the door, at the end of the doorcka'ah, a shelf
of
marble or common stone, about four feet high, called
* The view of a cka”ah,
opposite page 18, will serve to illustrate
the description of the
mun'dar'ah.
Pavement of a Doorcka”ah,—The width of this is
about eight feet.
a
soof'feh, supported by two or more arches, under
which
are placed utensils in ordinary use—such as perfuming
vessels,
and the basin and ewer which are used
for washing before and after meals,
and for the ablution
preparatory to prayer: water-bottles, coffee-cups,
&c.,
are placed upon the soof'feh. In handsome
houses, the
arches of the soof'feh are faced with marble and tile,
Soof'feh
like the pool of the fountain, as represented in the
sketch, p.
12; and sometimes the wall over it, to the
height of about four feet or
more, is also cased with
similar materials; partly with large upright
slabs, and
partly with small pieces, like the doorcka”ah.
The
raised part of the floor of the room is called
leewa'n (a
corruption of
“el-eewa'n,” which signifies “any
raised
place to sit upon,” and also “a
palace”). Every person
slips off his shoes on the
doorcka”ah before he steps
upon the leewa'n
*. The
leewa'n is generally paved with
common stone, and covered with a
mat in summer, and
a carpet over the mat in winter; and has a mattress
* One of the chief reasons of the
custom here mentioned is,
to avoid defiling a mat or carpet upon which
prayer is usually
made. This, as many authors have observed,
illustrates passages
of the Scriptures,—Exodus, iii. 5, and
Joshua, v. 15.
and cushions placed against each
of its three walls, composing
what is called a
deewa'n, or divan. The mattress,
which is generally
about three feet wide, and three or
four inches thick, is placed either on
the ground or on a
raised frame; and the cushions, which are usually of
a
length equal to the width of the mattress, and of a
height equal to
half that measure, lean against the wall.
Both mattresses and cushions are
stuffed with cotton,
and are covered with printed calico, cloth, or some
more
expensive stuff. The walls are plastered and whitewashed.
There
are generally, in the walls, two or three
shallow cupboards, the doors of
which are composed of
very small panels, on account of the heat and
dryness
of the climate, which cause wood to warp and shrink as
if it
were placed in an oven; for which reason the doors
of the apartments also
are constructed in the same
manner. We observe great variety and much
ingenuity
displayed in the different modes in which these small
panels
are formed and disposed. A few specimens are
here introduced. The ceiling
over the leewa'n is of
wood, with carved beams, generally about
a foot apart,
partially painted, and sometimes gilt. But that part of
the ceiling which is over the doorcka”ah, in a handsome
house is
usually more richly decorated: here, instead of
beams, numerous thin strips
of wood are nailed upon
the planks, forming patterns curiously complicated,
yet
perfectly regular, and having a highly ornamental effect.
I give a
sketch of the half of a ceiling thus decorated,
but not in the most
complicated style. The strips are
painted yellow, or gilt; and the spaces
within, painted
green, red, and blue
*. In the example which I have
* See Jeremiah, xxii. 14.
Specimens of Panel-work.—Those are represented on a scale
of one inch to twenty-four or thirty.
Ceiling of a Doorcka”ah.—About eight feet
wide.
Ceiling of a projecting Window. The dimensions of this are about eight
feet by three.
A Cka”ah.
A portion of the roof of this saloon, the part which is
over the
doorcka”ah that divides the two leewa'ns, is a
little
elevated above the rest; and has, in the centre, a
small lantern, called
mem'ruck, the sides of which are
composed of lattice-work, like the windows before described,
and support a
cupola. The doorcka”ah is commonly
without a fountain; but is
often paved in a
similar manner to that of the
mun'dar'ah; which the
cka”ah also
resembles in having a handsome soof'feh,
and cupboards of
curious panel-work. There is besides,
in this and some other apartments, a
narrow shelf of
wood, extending along two or each of the three walls
which bound the leewa'n, about seven feet or more from
the
floor, just above the cupboards; but interrupted
in some
parts—at least in those parts where the windows
are placed: upon
this are arranged several vessels
of china, not so much for general use as
for ornament
*.
All the apartments are lofty, generally fourteen feet
or
more in height; but the cka”ah is the largest and most
lofty room, and in a large house it is a noble saloon.
* In the larger houses, and some
others, there is also, adjoining
the principal saloon, an elevated
closet, designed as an orchestra,
fur female singers. A description of
this will be found in the
chapter on Music.
In several of the upper rooms, in the houses of the
wealthy, there are,
besides the windows of lattice-work,
others of coloured glass, representing
bunches of flowers,
peacocks, and other gay and gaudy objects, or
merely
fanciful patterns, which have a pleasing effect. These
coloured
glass windows, which are termed
ckum'arce'yehs,
are mostly from a foot and
a half to two feet and
a half in height, and from one to two feet in width;
and
are generally placed along the
upper part of the projecting
lattice-window, in a row; or above that kind
of
window, disposed in a group, so as to form a large
square; or
elsewhere in the upper parts of the walls,
usually singly, or in pairs,
side by side. They are composed
of small pieces of glass, of various
colours, set in
rims of fine plaster, and enclosed in a frame of wood.
On the plastered walls of some apartments are rude
paintings of the temple
of Mek'keh, or of the tomb of
the Prophet, or of flowers and
other objects, executed
by native Moos'lim artists, who have not
the least
notion of the rules of perspective, and who consequently
deface what they thus attempt to decorate. Sometimes,
also, the walls are
ornamented with Arabic inscriptions,
of maxims, &c., which are
more usually written on
paper, in an embellished style, and enclosed in
glazed
frames. No chambers are furnished as bed-rooms.
The bed, in the
day-time, is rolled up, and placed on
one side, or in an adjoining closet,
called
khuz'neh,
which, in the winter,
is a sleeping-place: in summer,
many people sleep upon the house-top. A
mat, or
carpet, spread upon the raised part of the stone floor,
and a
deewa'n, constitute the complete furniture of a
room. For meals,
a round tray is brought in, and
placed upon a low stool, and the company
sit round it
on the ground. There is no fire-place
*: the room is
warmed,
when necessary, by burning charcoal in a
chafing dish. Many houses have, at
the top, a sloping
shed of boards, called a
mul'ckuf
†,
directed towards
* Excepting in the kitchen, in which
are several small receptacles
for fire, constructed on a kind of bench
of brick.
† See again the engraving opposite
page 11.
the north or north-west, to
convey to a
fes'hhah (or
open apartment)
below, the cool breezes which generally
blow from those quarters.
Every door is furnished with a wooden lock, called a
dub'beh; the mechanism of which is shown by a
sketch
here inserted. No. 1 in this sketch is a front view of
the
lock, with the bolt drawn back; Nos. 2, 3, and 4,
are back views of the
separate parts, and the key. A
Wooden Lock.
number of small iron pins (four, five, or more) drop
into
corresponding holes in the sliding bolt, as soon as
the latter is pushed
into the hole or staple of the doorpost.
The key, also, has small pins,
made to correspond
with the holes, into which they are introduced to
open
the lock: the former pins being thus pushed up, the
bolt may be
drawn back. The wooden lock of a street-door
is commonly about fourteen
inches long
*: those of
the doors of apartments, cupboards,
&c., are about seven,
* This is the measure of the sliding
bolt.
or eight, or nine inches. The
locks of the gates of
quarters, public buildings, &c., are of
the same kind,
and mostly two feet, or even more, in length.
It is not
difficult to pick this kind of lock.
In the plan of almost every house there is an utter
want of regularity. The
apartments are generally of
different heights—so that a person
has to ascend or
descend one, two, or more steps, to pass from one
chamber
to another adjoining it. The principal aim of the
architect is
to render the house as private as possible;
particularly that part of it
which is inhabited by the
women; and not to make any window in such a
situation
as to overlook the apartments of another house.
Another
object of the architect, in building a house for
a person of wealth or
rank, is to make a secret door
(ba'b
sirr), from which the tenant may make his escape
in case of danger
from an arrest, or an attempt at assassination—or
by which to
give access and egress to a
paramour; and it is also common to make a
hiding-place
for treasure (called mukh'ba) in some part of the
house. In the
Hharee'm of a large house, there is
generally a bath, which is
heated in the same manner as
the public baths.
Another style of building has lately been very generally
adopted for houses
of the more wealthy. These
do not differ much from those already described,
excepting
in the windows, which are of glass, and placed almost
close
together. Each window of the hharee'm has,
outside, a sliding
frame of close wooden trellis-work, to
cover the lower half. The numerous
glass windows are
ill adapted to a hot climate.
When shops occupy the lower part of the buildings in
a street (as is
generally the case in the great thorough-fares
of the metropolis, and in some of
the by-streets),
the superstructure is usually divided into distinct
lodgings,
and is termed
rub'ă. These
lodgings are separate
from each other, as well as from the shops below,
and
let to families who cannot afford the rent of a whole house.
Each
lodging in a rub'ă comprises one or two
sitting and
sleeping-rooms, and generally a kitchen and
latrina. It seldom has a
separate entrance from the
street; one entrance and one staircase usually
admitting
to a range of several lodgings. The apartments are
similar
to those of the private houses first described.
They are never let
ready-furnished; and it is very
seldom that a person who has not a wife or
female slave
is allowed to reside in them, or in any private house:
such a person (unless he have parents or other near relations
to dwell
with) is usually obliged to take up his
abode in a
Weka'leh, which is a building chiefly designed
for the
reception of merchants and their goods. Franks,
however, are now exempted
from this restriction.
Very few large or handsome houses are to be seen in
Egypt, excepting in the
metropolis and some other
towns. The dwellings of the lower orders,
particularly
those of the peasants, are of a very mean description:
they are mostly built of unbaked bricks, cemented together
with mud. Some
of them are mere hovels. The
greater number, however, comprise two or more
apartments;
though very few are two stories high. In one
of these
apartments, in the houses of the peasants in
Lower Egypt, there is
generally an oven (
foorn), at the
end farthest from
the entrance, and occupying the whole
width of the chamber. It resembles a
wide bench or
seat, and is about breast-high: it is constructed of
brick and mud; the roof arched within, and flat on
the top. The inhabitants of the
house, who seldom
have any night-covering during the winter, sleep
upon
the top of the oven, having previously lighted a fire
within it;
or the husband and wife only enjoy this
luxury, and the children sleep upon
the floor. The
chambers have, small apertures high up in the walls,
for
the admission of light and air—sometimes furnished
with
a grating of wood. The roofs are formed of palm
branches and palm leaves,
or of millet stalks, &c., laid
upon rafters of the trunk of the
palm, and covered with
a plaster of mud and chopped straw. The
furniture
consists of a mat or two to sleep upon, a few earthen
vessels, and a hand-mill to grind the corn. In many
villages, large
pigeon-houses, of a square form, but with
the walls slightly inclining
inwards (like many of the
ancient Egyptian buildings), or of the form of a
sugar-loaf,
are constructed upon the roofs of the huts, with
crude
brick, pottery, and mud
*. Most of the villages of
Egypt are situated upon
eminences of rubbish, which
rise a few feet above the reach of the
inundation, and
are surrounded by palm trees, or have a few of these
trees in their vicinity. The rubbish which they occupy
chiefly consists of
the materials of former huts, and
seems to increase in about the same
degree as the level
of the alluvial, plains and the bed of the river.
* The earthen pots used in the
construction of these pigeon-houses
are of an oval form, with a wide
mouth, which is placed
outwards, and a small hole at the other end.
Each pair of pigeons
occupies a separate pot.
In a country where neither births nor deaths are
registered, it is next to
impossible to ascertain, with
precision, the amount of the population. A
few years
ago, a calculation was made, founded on the number of
houses
in Egypt, and the supposition that the inhabitants
of each house in the metropolis
amount to eight
persons, and in the provinces to four. This
computation
approximates, I believe, very nearly to the truth;
but
personal observation and inquiry incline me to think
that the houses of
such towns as
Alexandria, Boo'la'ck,
and Musr
el-'Atee'ckah contain each, on the average, at
least
five persons: Rashee'd (or
Rosetta) is half deserted;
but as to
the crowded town of Dimya't (or
Damietta), we must reckon as
many as six persons to
each house, or our estimate will fall far short of
what
is generally believed to be the number of its inhabitants.
The
addition of one or two persons to each house in the
above-mentioned towns
will, however, make little difference
in the computation of the whole
population of
Egypt, which was found, by this mode of reckoning, to
amount to rather more than two millions and a half;
but it is now much
reduced. Of 2,500,000 souls, say
1,900,000 are males; and one-third of this
number
(400,000) men fit for military service: from this latter
number
the present Ba'sha of Egypt has taken, at the
least, 200,000
(that is, one-half of the most serviceable
portion of the male population)
to form and recruit his
armies of regular troops, and for the service of
his navy.
The further loss caused by withdrawing so many men
from
their wives, or preventing their marrying, during
ten years, must surely
far exceed 300,000: consequently,
the present population may be calculated
as less than
two millions. The numbers of the several classes of
which
the population is mainly composed are nearly as
follow:—
| Moos'lim Egyptians
(fella'hhee'n, or peasants, and townspeople) |
1,750,000 |
| Christian Egyptians (Copts) |
150,000 |
| 'Osma'nlees, or Turks |
10,000 |
| Syrians |
5,000 |
| Greeks |
5,000 |
| Armenians |
2,000 |
| Jews |
5,000 |
Of the remainder (namely, Arabians, Western Arabs,
Nubians, Negro slaves,
Memloo'ks [or white male
slaves], female white slaves, Franks,
&c.), amounting
to about 70,000, the respective numbers are very
uncertain
and variable. The Arabs of the neighbouring deserts
ought
not to be included among the population of
Egypt
*.
* The Moos'lim Egyptians,
Copts, Syrians, and Jews of Egypt,
with few exceptions, speak no
language but the Arabic, which is
also the language generally used by
the foreigners settled in this
country. The Nubians, among themselves,
speak their own dialects.
Cairo, I have said, contains about 240,000 inhabitants
†.
We should be greatly
deceived if we judged of the
population of this city from the crowds that
we meet in
the principal thoroughfare-streets and markets: in most
of
the by-streets and quarters, very few passengers are
seen. Nor should we
judge from the extent of the
city and suburbs; for there are within the
walls many
vacant places, some of which, during the season of the
inundation, are lakes (as the Bir'ket el-Ezbekee'yeh,
Bir'ket el-Feel, &c.) The gardens, several
burial-grounds,
the courts of houses, and the mosques, also
occupy a
considerable space. Of the inhabitants of the
metropolis, about 190,000 are
Egyptian Moos'lims;
† The population of Cairo has
increased to this amount, from
about 200,000, within the last three or
four years. Since the
computation here stated was made, the plague of
this year
(1835) has destroyed not fewer than one-third of its
inhabitants,
as before mentioned; but this deficiency will be rapidly
supplied
from the villages.
about 10,000, Copts; 3,000 or
4,000, Jews; and the
rest, strangers from various countries
*.
* About one-third of the population
of the metropolis consists
of adult males. Of this number (or 80,000)
about 30,000 are
merchants, petty shop-keepers, and artisans; 20,000,
domestic servants;
15,000, common labourers, porters, &c.:
The remainder
chiefly consists of military and civil servants of the
government.
The population of Egypt in the times of the Pharoahs
was probably about six
or seven millions
†. The produce
of the soil in the present age would
suffice, if none
were exported, for the maintenance of a population
amounting to 4,000,000; and if all the soil which is
capable of cultivation
were sown, the produce would be
sufficient for the maintenance of
8,000,000. But this
would be the utmost number that Egypt could
maintain
in years of plentiful inundation: I therefore compute the
ancient population, at the time when agriculture was in
a very flourishing
state, to have amounted to what I
first stated; and must suppose it to have
been scarcely
more than half as numerous in the times of the
Ptolemies,
and at later periods, when a great quantity of
corn was
annually exported
‡. This calculation agrees
with what Diodorus Siculus
says (in lib. i., cap. 31);
namely, that Egypt contained, in the times of
the
ancient kings, 7,000,000 inhabitants, and in his own
time not less
than 3,000,000.
† I place but little reliance on the
accounts of ancient authors
on this subject.
‡ It has been suggested to me, that,
if corn was exported,
something of equal value was imported; and that
the exportation
of corn, or anything else, would give a stimulus to
industry and
to population: but I do not know what could be imported
that
would fill up the measure of the food necessary to sustain a
population
much greater than that which would consume the corn
retained.
How different, now, is the state of Egypt from what
it might be; possessing
a population of scarcely more
than one quarter of the number that it might
be rendered
capable of supporting! How great a change
might be
effected in it by a truly enlightened government;
by a prince who (instead
of oppressing the peasantry
by depriving them of their lands, and by
his
monopolies of the most valuable productions of the soil;
by
employing the best portion of the population to
prosecute his ambitious
schemes of foreign conquest,
and another large portion in the vain attempt
to rival
European manufactures) would give his people a greater
interest in the cultivation of the fields, and make Egypt
what nature
designed it to be—almost exclusively an
agricultural country!
Its produce of cotton alone would
more than suffice to procure all the
articles of foreign
manufacture, and all the natural productions of
foreign
countries, that the wants of its inhabitants demand
*.
* During the present year, 1835, more
than 100,000 bales of
cotton (each bale weighing a hundred-weight and
three quarters)
have been shipped at Alexandria. The price paid for
this quantity
by the merchants exceeded 700,000/. The quantity exported
last
year was 31,000 bales, which is considerably less than
usual.—The
policy above recommended is strongly advocated by
Ibrahee'm
Ba'sha.
CHAPTER I
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND DRESS OF THE
MOOS'LIM
EGYPTIANS.
MOOS'LIMS of Arabian origin have, for many centuries,
mainly
composed the population of Egypt; they have
changed its language, laws, and
general manners; and
its metropolis they have made the principal seat
of
Arabian learning and arts. To the description of this
people, and
especially of the middle and higher classes
in the Egyptian capital, will
be devoted the chief portion
of the present work. In every point of view,
Musr (or
Cairo) must be regarded as the first Arab city of our
age;
and the manners and customs of its inhabitants
are particularly interesting
as they are a combination of
those which prevail most generally in the
towns of
Arabia,
Syria, and the whole of Northern Africa, and
in a
great degree in Turkey. There is no other place in
which we can obtain so
complete a knowledge of the
most civilized classes of the Arabs. From
statements
made in the introduction to this work, it appears that
Moos'lim Egyptians (or Arab-Egyptians) compose
nearly
four-fifths of the population of the metropolis
(which is computed to
amount to about 240,000), and
just seven-eighths of that of all Egypt.
The Moos'lim Egyptians are descended from various
Arab tribes and families which
have settled in Egypt at
different periods; mostly soon after the conquest
of this
country by 'Amr, its first Arab governor; but by
intermarriages
with the Copts and others who have become
proselytes to
the faith of El-Isla'm, as well as by the
change from a life of
wandering to that of citizens or of
agriculturists, their personal
characteristics have, by degrees,
become so much altered, that there is a
strongly-marked
difference between them and the natives of
Arabia. Yet
they are to be regarded as not less genuine
Arabs than the townspeople of
Arabia itself; among
whom has long and very generally prevailed a
custom
of keeping Abyssinian female slaves, either instead of
marrying
their own countrywomen, or (as is commonly
the case with the opulent) in
addition to their Arab
wives; so that they bear almost as strong a
resemblance
to the Abyssinians as to the Bed'awees, or Arabs of
the
Desert. The term
'Ar'ab,
it should here be remarked,
is used, wherever the Arabic language is
spoken, only
to designate the Bed'awees, collectively: in
speaking of
a tribe, or of a small number of those people, the word
'Orba'n is also used; and a single
individual is called
Bed'awee
*. In the
metropolis and other towns of
Egypt, the distinction of tribes is almost
wholly lost;
but it is preserved among the peasants, who have retained
many Bed'awee customs, of which I shall have
to speak. The
native Moos'lim inhabitants of
Cairo commonly call themselves
El-Musreeyee'n, Owla'd
Musr (or
Ah'l Musr), and
Owla'd el-Bel'ed, which
signify people of Musr, children of Musr, and children
of the town: the
singular forms of these appellations
are
Mus'ree, Ib'n Musr, and
Ibn
el-Bel'ed
*. Of
these
three terms, the last is most common in the town
itself. The
country people are called
El-Fella'hhee'n (or the
Agriculturists), in
the singular
Fella'hh
†. The
Turks
often apply this term to the Egyptians in general in
an abusive
sense, as meaning’ “the boors,” or
“the
clowns;” and improperly stigmatize them with
the
appellation of
Ah'l
Far'oo'n
‡, or
“the People of
Pharoah.”
* In the feminine. Musree'yeh, Bin't Musr, and Bint el-Bel'ed.
‡ Thus, commonly pronounced for Fir'ow'n.
In general, the Moos'lim Egyptians attain the height
of about
five feet eight, or five feet nine inches. Most
of the children under nine
or ten years of age have
spare limbs and a distended abdomen; but, as
they
grow up, their forms rapidly improve: in mature age,
most of them
are remarkably well-proportioned; the
men, muscular and robust; the women,
very beautifully
formed and plump; and neither sex is too fat. I have
never seen corpulent persons among them, excepting a
few in the metropolis
and other towns, rendered so by
a life of inactivity. In
Cairo, and
throughout the
northern provinces, those who have not been much
exposed to the sun have a yellowish, but very clear
complexion, and soft
skin; the rest are of a considerably
darker and coarser complexion. The
people of Middle
Egypt are of a more tawny colour, and those of the
more southern provinces are of a deep bronze or brown
complexion—darkest towards
Nubia, where the climate
is hottest.
In general, the countenance of the Moos'lim
Egyptian (I here
speak of the
men) is of a fine oval
form: the
forehead, of moderate size, seldom high, but
generally prominent: the eyes are
deep sunk, black,
and brilliant: the nose is straight, but rather thick:
the
mouth, well formed: the lips are rather full than otherwise:
the
teeth, particularly beautiful
*: the beard is
commonly black and curly, but scanty.
I have seen
very few individuals of this race with grey eyes; or
rather, few persons supposed to be of this race; for I
am inclined to think
them the offspring of Arab women
by Turks or other foreigners. The
Fella'hhee'n, from
constant exposure to the sun, have
a habit of half-shutting
their eyes: this is also characteristic of
the
Bed'awees. Great numbers of the Egyptians are
blind in
one or both eyes. They generally shave that
part of the cheek which is
above the lower jaw, and
likewise a small space under the lower lip,
leaving,
however, the hairs which grow in the middle under the
mouth;
or, instead of shaving these parts, they pluck
out the hair. They also
shave a part of the beard
under the chin. Very few shave the rest of
their
beards
†, and none their mustaches. The former
they suffer to
grow to the length of about a hand's
breadth below the chin
(such, at least, is the general
rule, and such was the custom of the
Prophet); and
* Tooth-ache is, however, a very
common disorder in Egypt, as
it was in ancient times: this, at least,
was probably the case, as
Herodotus (lib. ii., cap. 84) mentions
dentists among the classes
of Egyptian physicians. It is, of course,
most prevalent among
the higher orders.
† A few of the servants, and some
others, shave their beards.
The respect which Orientals in general pay
to the beard has often
been remarked. They swear by it, and say that a
man disgraces
it by an evil action. The punishment recorded in 2
Samuel,
ch. x., v. 4, has frequently been practised in modern times,
but not
so often as the shaving of the whole of the beard.
their mustaches they do not allow
to become so long
as to incommode them in eating and drinking. The
practice of dyeing the beard is not common; for a grey
beard is much
respected. The Egyptians shave all the
rest of the hair, or leave only a
small tuft (called
shoo'sheh) upon the crown of the head. This
last
custom (which is almost universal among them), I have
been told,
originated in the fear that if the Moos'lim
should fall into the
hands of an infidel, and be slain,
the latter might cut off the head of his
victim, and,
finding no hair by which to hold it, put his impure
hand
into the mouth, in order to carry it; for the beard
might not be
sufficiently long
*. With the like view of
avoiding impurity, the Egyptians
observe other customs,
which need not here be described
† Many men of
the
lower orders, and some others, make blue marks upon
their arms,
and sometimes upon the hands and chest,
as the women, in speaking of whom
this operation
will be described.
* Persons of literary and religious
professions generally disapprove
of the shoo'sheh.
† They are mentioned in the
“Mishcat-ul-Masabih,” vol. ii.,
p. 359, and are
observed by both sexes.
The dress of the men of the middle and higher
classes consists of the
following articles
‡. First, a
pair of full drawers (in Arabic,
liba's) of linen or
cotton, tied round
the body by a running string or band
(called
dik'keh or
tik'keh), the
ends of which are embroidered
with coloured silks, though concealed by
the
outer dress. The drawers descend a little below the
knees, or to
the ankles; but many of the Arabs will not
‡ The fashion of their dress remains
almost the same during the lapse of centuries.
wear long drawers, because
prohibited by the Prophet.
Next is worn a shirt (
ckamee's), with very full sleeves,
reaching to the
wrist: it is made of linen, of a loose,
open texture, or of cotton stuff,
or of muslin, or silk, or
of a mixture of silk and linen or cotton, in
stripes, but
all white
*. Over this, in winter, or in cool weather,
most
persons wear a
soodey'ree, which is a short
vest of
cloth, or of striped coloured silk and cotton, without
sleeves. Over the shirt and the soodey'ree, or the
former alone,
is worn a long vest of striped silk and
cotton
† (called
ckufta'n,
or more commonly
ckoofta'n), descending to the ankles, with long
sleeves
extending a few inches beyond the fingers’ ends,
but
divided from a point a little above the wrist, or about
the middle
of the fore-arm; so that the hand is generally
exposed, though it may be
concealed by the sleeve
when necessary; for it is customary to cover the
hands
in the presence of a person of high rank. Round this
vest is
wound the girdle (
hheza'm), which is a
coloured
shawl, or a long piece of white figured muslin. The
ordinary
outer robe is a long cloth coat, of any colour
(called by the Turks
joob'beh, but by the Egyptians
gib'beh), the sleeves of which reach not quite
to the
wrist
‡. Some persons also wear a
benee'sh, or
ben'ish.;
which is a robe of cloth, with long sleeves,
like those of
the ckoofta'n, but more ample
§: it is,
properly, a
* The Prophet forbade men to wear
silk clothing, but allowed
women to do so. The prohibition is, however,
attended to by very
few modern Moos'lims, excepting the
Wah'ha'bees.
† The stripes are seldom plain: they
are generally figured or
flowered.
‡ See the foremost figure in the
accompanying engraving.
§ See the figure to the left in the
same engraving.
Men of the Middle and Higher Classes.
robe of ceremony, and should be
worn over the other
cloth coat; but many persons wear it
instead of the
gib'beh
*. The head-dress consists,
first, of a small,
close-fitting cotton cap (called
ta'ckee'yeh, or
'arackee'yeh),
which is often changed;
next, a
turboo'sh, which
is a red cloth
cap, also fitting closely to the head, with a
tassel of dark blue silk at
the crown; lastly, a long
piece of white muslin, generally figured, or a
Kash-mee'r
shawl, which is wound round the
turboo'sh.
Thus is formed the turban, or
'ema'meh. The Kash-mee'r
shawl
is seldom worn excepting in cool weather.
Some persons wear two or three
turboo'shes, one over
another. A
shcree'f (or descendant of the Prophet)
wears a green
turban, or is privileged to do so; but no
other person; and it is not
common for any but a sheree'f
to wear a bright green dress.
Stockings ore not in use;
but some few persons, in cold weather, wear
woollen or
cotton socks. The shoes (
murkoo'b) are of thick red
morocco, pointed and turning up
at the toes. Some
persons also wear inner shoes (called
mezz, or more
properly,
mezd
†), of
soft, yellow morocco, and with
soles of the same: the murkoo'b
are taken off on stepping
upon a carpet or mat; but not the mezz: for
this
reason, the former are often worn turned down at the
heel.
* In cold or cool weather a kind of
black woollen cloak, called
'abba'yeh, is
commonly worn(a). Sometimes this is drawn over
the head. In winter also
many persons wrap a muslin or other
shawl (such as they use for a
turban) about the head and
shoulders.
† From the Turkish, mest.
(a) See the next engraving, in which is represented a striped
'abba'yeh.
On the little finger of the right hand is worn a sealring
(
kha'tim), which is generally of silver, with a
cornelian, or other stone, upon which is engraved the
wearer's
name: the name is accompanied by the words
“his
servant” (signifying “the servant, or worshipper
of
God”), and often by other words expressive of the
person's trust in God, &c.
* The Prophet disapproved
of gold; therefore few Moos'lims wear gold rings; but
the women
have various ornaments (rings, bracelets,
&c.) of that precious
metal. The seal-ring is used for
signing letters and other writings; and
its impression is
considered more valid than the sign-manual
†. A
little
ink is dabbed upon it with one of the fingers, and it is
pressed upon the paper—the person who uses it having
first
touched his tongue with another finger, and moistened
the place in the
paper which is to be stamped.
Almost every person who can afford it has a
seal-ring,
even though he be a servant. The regular scribes, literary
men, and many others, wear a silver, brass, or
copper
dawa'yeh, which is a case with receptacles for
ink and
pens, stuck in the girdle
‡. Some have, in the
place of this, or
in addition to it, a case-knife, or a
dagger.
*
See St. John's Gospel, iii. 33; and
Exodus, xxxix. 30.
† Therefore, giving the ring to
another person is the utmost
mark of confidence.—See
Genesis, xli. 42.
‡ This is a very ancient
custom.—See Ezekiel, ix. 2, 3, 11.
The Egyptian generally takes his pipe with him
wherever he goes (unless it
be to the mosque), or has a
servant to carry it, though it is not a common
custom
to smoke while riding or walking. The tobacco purse
he crams
into his bosom, the ckoofta'n being large, and
lapping over in
front. A handkerchief, embroidered
with coloured silks and gold, and neatly
folded, is also
Men of the Lower Classes.
placed in the bosom. Many persons
of the middle
orders, who wish to avoid being thought rich, conceal
such a dress as I have described by a long black gown
of cotton, similar to
the gown worn by most persons of
the lower classes.
The costume of the men of the lower orders is very
simple. These, if not of
the very poorest class, wear a
pair of drawers, and a long and full shirt
or gown of
blue linen or cotton, or of brown woollen stuff (the
former
called
'er'ee, and the latter
zaaboo't), open from
the neck nearly to
the waist, and having wide sleeves
*.
Over this, some wear a white or red
woollen girdle.
Their turban is generally composed of a white, red, or
yellow woollen shawl, or of a piece of coarse cotton or
muslin, wound round
a turboo'sh, under which is a
white or brown felt cap (called
lib'deh); but many are
so poor as to
have no other cap than the lib'deh—no
turban, nor
even drawers, nor shoes, but only the blue
or brown shirt, or merely a few
rags; while many, on
the other hand, wear a soodey'ree under the
blue shirt;
and some, particularly servants in the houses of great
men, wear a white shirt, a soodey'ree, and a
ckoofta'n
or gib'beh, or both, and the blue shirt
over all. The
full sleeves of this shirt are sometimes drawn up, by
means of cords, which pass round each shoulder and
cross behind, where they
are tied in a knot. This
custom is adopted by servants (particularly
grooms),
who have cords of crimson or dark-blue silk for this
purpose.
In cold weather, many persons of the lower
classes wear an
'abba'yeh, like that before described,
but coarser;
and sometimes, instead of being black,
* The zaaboo't is mostly
worn in the winter.
having broad stripes, brown and
white, or blue and
white, but the latter rarely. Another kind of
cloak,
more full than the 'abba'yeh, of black or
deep-blue
woollen stuff, is also very commonly worn: it is called
diffee'yeh
*. The
shoes are of red or yellow morocco,
or of sheep-skin.
* A kind of blue and white plaid
(called mila'yeh) is also worn
by
some men, but more commonly by women, in the account of
whose dress it
will be further described: the men throw it over
the shoulders, or wrap
it about the body.
Several different forms of turbans are represented in
some of the engravings
which illustrate this work. The
Moos'lims are distinguished by
the colours of their
turbans from the Copts and the Jews, who (as well
as
other subjects of the Turkish Soolta'n who are not
Moos'lims) wear black, blue, grey, or light-brown turbans,
and
generally dull-coloured dresses. The distinction
of sects, families,
dynasties, &c., among the Moos'lim
Arabs, by the
colour of the turban and other articles of
dress, is of very early origin.
When the Ima'm Ibrahee'm
Ib'n
Mohham'mad, asserting his pretensions to
the dignity of
Khalee'feh
†, was put to death by the
Oom'awee
Khalee'feh Murwa'n, many persons of the
family of
El-'Abba's assumed black clothing, in testimony
of
their sorrow for his fate; and hence the black
dress and turban (which
latter is now characteristic,
almost solely, of Christian and Jewish
tributaries to the
“'Osma'nlee, or
Turkish, Soolta'n) became the distinguishing
costume of the
'Abba'see Khalee'fehs, and of
their
officers. When an officer under this dynasty was
disgraced, he was made to
wear a white dress. White
was adopted by the false prophet
Moockan'na', to distinguish
† Commonly written by English authors
“Caliph.”
his party from the
'Abba'sees; and the
Fawa'tim of Egypt (or
Khalee'fehs of the race of
Fa'timeh), as rivals of
the 'Abba'sees, wore a white
costume.
El-Mel'ik El-Ash'raf Shaaba'n, a
Soolta'n
of Egypt (who reigned from the year of the Flight
764 to 778, or A. D. 1362 to 1376), was the first who
ordered the
sheree'fs to distinguish themselves by
the
green turban and dress. Some durwee'shes of the
sect of
the
Rifa”ees, and a few, but very few, other
Moos'lims, wear a turban of black woollen stuff, or of
a very
deep olive-coloured (almost black) muslin; but
that of the Copts, Jews,
&c., is generally of black or
blue muslin, or linen. There are
not many different
forms of turbans now worn in Egypt: that worn by
most of the servants is very formal. The kind common
among the middle and
higher classes of the
tradesmen and other citizens of the metropolis
and
large towns is also very formal, but less so than that
just before
alluded to. The Turkish turban worn in
Egypt is of a more elegant mode. The
Syrian is distinguished
by its width. The 'ool'ama,
and men of
religion and letters in general, used to wear, as some
do
still, one particularly wide and formal, called a
moock'leh. The turban is much respected. In
the
The Moock'leh.
houses of the more wealthy
classes, there is usually a
chair (called
koor'see el-'ema'meh) on which, it is
placed
at night. This is often sent with the furniture of a
bride. It
is common for a lady to have one upon
which to place her head-dress. This
kind of chair is
never used for any other purpose. As an instance of
the respect paid to the turban, one of ray friends mentioned
to me that an
'a'lim
* being
thrown off his
donkey in a street of this city, his moock'leh
fell off,
and rolled along for several yards; whereupon the
passengers
ran after it, crying, “Lift up the crown of
El-Isla'm!” while the poor 'a'lim,
whom no one came
to assist, called out in anger, “Lift up the
sheykh
†
of
El-Isla'm!”
* This appellation (of which 'ool'ama is the plural)
signifies a
man of science or learning.
† “Sheykh” here
signifies master, or doctor.
The general form and features of the
women must
now
be described. From the age of about fourteen to
that of eighteen or twenty
they are generally models
of beauty in body and limbs; and in
countenance
most of them are pleasing, and many exceedingly
lovely:
but soon after they have attained their perfect
growth, they rapidly
decline; the bosom early loses all
its beauty, acquiring, from the relaxing
nature of the
climate, an excessive length and flatness in its forms,
even while the face retains its full charms; and though,
in most other
respects, time does not commonly so
soon nor so much deform them, at the
age of forty
it renders many who in earlier years possessed
considerable
attractions absolutely ugly, in the Egyptian
females the
forms of womanhood begin to develop
themselves about the ninth or
tenth year: at the age of
fifteen or sixteen they generally attain their
highest
degree of perfection. With regard to their complexions,
the
same remarks apply to them as to the
men, with only this difference, that
their faces, being
generally veiled when they go abroad, are not quite
so
much, tanned as those of the men. They are characterized,
like the
men, by a fine oval countenance;
though, in some instances, it is rather
broad. The
eyes, with very few exceptions, are black, large, and of
a
long almond-form, with long and beautiful lashes
and an exquisitely soft,
bewitching expression: eyes
more beautiful can hardly be conceived: their
charming
effect is much heightened by the concealment of
the other
features (however pleasing the latter may
be), and is rendered still more
striking by a practice
universal among the females of the higher and
middle
classes, and very common among those of the lower
orders, which
is that of blackening the edge of the eyelids,
both above and below the
eye, with a black powder
called
kohhl. This is a
collyrium commonly composed
An Eye ornamented with Kohhl.
of the smoke-black which is produced by burning
a kind of
liba'n —an aromatic
resin—a species of frankincense,
used, I am told, in preference
to the better
kind of frankincense, as being cheaper, and equally
good
for this purpose. Kohhl is also prepared of the
smoke-black produced by
burning the shells of almonds.
These two kinds, though believed to be
beneficial to
the eyes, are used merely for
ornament; but there are
several kinds used for their real or supposed
medical
properties; particularly the powder of several kinds of
lead
ore
*;
to which are often added sarcocolla
†, long
pepper
‡, sugar-candy, fine dust of a
Venetian sequin,
and sometimes powdered pearls. Antimony, it is said,
was formerly used for painting the edges of the eyelids.
The kohhl is
applied with a small probe, of wood,
Ivory, or silver, tapering towards the
end, but blunt:
this is moistened, sometimes with rose—water,
then
dipped in the powder, and drawn along the edges of
the eyelids:
it is called
mir'wed; and the glass
vessel
in which the kohhl is kept,
mook'hhool'ah. The custom
Mook'hhool'ahs and Mir'weds.
These are represented on scales of one-third, and a quarter, of the real
size.
of thus ornamenting the eyes prevailed among both
sexes in Egypt
in very ancient times: this is shown by
the sculptures and paintings in the
temples and tombs of
this country; and kohhl-vessels, with the probes, and
even with remains of the black
powder, have often been
found in the ancient tombs. I have two in my possession.
Ancient Vessel and Probe for Kohhl.
But in many cases, the ancient mode of ornamenting
with the kohhl
was a little different from the
modern, as shown by the subjoined sketch: I
have,
An Eye and Eyebrow ornamented with Kohhl, as represented in
ancient Paintings.
however, seen this ancient mode practised in the present
day in
the neighbourhood of
Cairo; though I only
remember to have noticed it in
two instances. The
same custom existed among the ancient Greek ladies
and among the Jewish women in early times
* The
eyes of the Egyptian women are
generally the most
beautiful of their features. Countenances
altogether
handsome are far less common among this race than
handsome
figures; but I have seen among them faces
distinguished by a style of
beauty possessing such sweetness
of expression, that they have struck me as
exhibiting
the perfection of female loveliness, and impressed
* See 2d Kings, ix. 30 (where, in our
common version, we find
the words, “painted her
face” for “painted her eyes”), and
Ezekiel,
xxiii. 40.
me with the idea (perhaps not
false) that their equals;
could not be found in any other country: with
such
eyes as many of them have, the face must be handsome,
if its
other features be but moderately well
formed
*. The nose is generally
straight: the lips are
mostly rather fuller than those of the men, but not
in
the least degree partaking of the Negro character. The
hair is of
that deep, glossy black, which best suits all
but fair complexions: in some
instances it is rather
coarse and crisp, but never woolly.
* Scissors are often used to reduce
the width of the eye-brows,
and to give them a more arched form.
The females of the higher and middle classes, and
many of the poorer women,
stain certain parts of their
hands and feet (which are, with very few
exceptions,
Hands and Feet stained with Hhen'na
beautifully formed) with the
leaves of the hhen'na-tree
*,
which impart a yellowish red, or
deep orange
colour. Many thus dye only the nails of the fingers
and
toes; others extend the dye as high as the first
joint of each finger and
toe; some also make a stripe
along the next row of joints; and there are
several
other fanciful modes of applying the hhen'na; but
the
most common practice is to dye the tips of the fingers
and toes as
high as the first joint, and the whole of the
inside of the hand and the
sole of the foot
† adding,
though not always, the stripe above-mentioned
along
the middle joints of the fingers, and a similar stripe a
little
above the toes. The hhen'na is prepared for this
use merely by
being powdered and mixed with a little
water, so as to form a paste. Some
of this paste being
spread in the palm of the hand, and on other parts
of
it which are to be dyed, and the fingers being doubled,
and their
extremities inserted into the paste in the
palm, the whole hand is tightly
bound with linen, and
remains thus during a whole night. In a similar
manner it is applied to the feet. The colour does not
disappear until alter
many days: it is generally renewed
after about a fortnight or three weeks.
This custom
prevails not only in Egypt, but in several other countries
of the East, which are supplied with hhen'na from
the banks of
the Nile. To the nails, the hhen'na
imparts a more bright,
clear, and permanent colour
than to the skin. When this dye alone is
applied to
the nails, or to a larger portion of the fingers and toes.
*
Lawsonia inermis; also called “Egyptian
privet.”
† The application of this dye to the
palms of the hands and
the soles of the feet is said to have an
agreeable effect upon the
skin; particularly to prevent its being too
tender and sensitive.
it may, with some reason, be
regarded as an embellishment;
for it makes the general complexion of the
hand
and foot appear more delicate; but many ladies slain
their hands
in a manner much less agreeable to our
taste: by applying, immediately
after the removal of
the paste of hhen'na, another paste
composed of quicklime,
common smoke-black, and linseed-oil, they
convert
the tint of the hhen'na to a black, or to a
blackish
olive hue. Ladies in Egypt are often seen with their
nails
stained with this colour, or with their fingers of
the same dark hue from
the extremity to the first joint,
red from the first to the second joint,
and of the former
colour from the second to the third joint; with the
palm
also stained in a similar manner, having a broad, dark
stripe
across the middle, and the rest left red; the
thumb dark from the extremity
to the first joint, and
red from the first to the second joint. Some, after
a
more simple fashion, blacken the ends of the fingers
and the whole
of the inside of the hand.
Among the females of the lower orders, in the country-towns
and villages of
Egypt, and among the same
classes in the metropolis, but in a less degree,
prevails
a custom somewhat similar to that above described: it
consists in making indelible marks of a blue or greenish
hue upon the face
and other parts, or, at least, upon
the front of the chin, and upon the
back of the right
hand, and often also upon the left hand, the right
arm,
or both arms, the feet, the middle of the bosom, and
the
forehead: the most common of these marks made
upon the chin and hands are
here represented. The
operation is performed with several needles
(generally
seven) tied together: with these the skin is pricked in
A tattooed Girl.
Specimens of tattooing on the Chin,
Tattooed Hands and Foot.
the desired pattern: some
smoke-black (of wood or
oil), mixed with milk from the breast of a woman,
is
then rubbed in; and about a week after, before the skin
has healed,
a paste of the pounded fresh leaves of white
beet or clover is applied, and gives a blue or greenish
colour to the
marks. It is generally performed at the
age of about five or six years, and
by gypsy-women.
The term applied to it is
duck'ck. Most of the females
of the higher parts of
Upper Egypt, who are of a very
dark complexion, tattoo their lips instead
of the parts
above-mentioned; thus converting their natural colour
to
a dull, bluish hue, which, to the eye of a stranger, is
extremely
displeasing
*.
* The depilatory most commonly used
by the Egyptian women
is a kind of resin, called liba'n
Bha'mee, applied in a melted
state: but this, they pretend,
is not always necessary: by applying
the blood of a bat to the skin of
a newly-born female infant,
on the parts where they wish no hair to
grow, they assert that
they accomplish this desire. A female upon whom
this application
has been made is termed moowut'wut'ah; from wutwa't, a bat.
Another characteristic of the Egyptian women that
should be here mentioned,
is their upright carriage and
gait. This is most remarkable in the female
peasantry,
owing, doubtless, in a great measure, to their habit of
bearing a heavy earthen water-vessel, and other burthens,
upon the head.
The dress of the women of the middle and higher
orders is handsome and
elegant. Their shirt is very
full, like that of the men; but rather
shorter; reaching
not quite to the knees: it is also, generally, of
the
same kind of material as the men's shirt, or of
coloured
crape; sometimes black. A pair of very wide trousers
(called
shintiya'n), of a coloured, striped stuff
of silk
A Lady in the Dress worn in private.
and cotton, or of printed, or
worked, or plain while
muslin, is tied round the hips, under the shirt,
with a
dik'keh: its lower extremities are drawn up and tied
just below the knee with running strings; but it is sufficiently
long to
hang down to the feet, or almost to the
ground, when attached in this
manner. Over the shirt
and shintiya'n is worn a long vest
(called
yel'ek), of the
same material as
the latter: it nearly resembles the
ckoofta'n of the men; but is
more tight to the body
and arms: the sleeves also are longer; and it is
made
to button down the front, from the bosom to a little
below the
girdle, instead of lapping over: it is open,
likewise, on each side, from
the height of the hip,
downwards. In general, the yel'ek is cut
in such a
manner as to leave half of the bosom uncovered, except
by
the shirt; but many ladies have it made more ample
at that part; and,
according to the most approved
fashion, it should be of a sufficient length
to reach to
the ground, or should exceed that length by two or
three
inches, or more. A short vest (called
'an'ter'ee),
reaching only a little below the waist, and exactly resembling
a
yel'ek of which the lower part has been cut
off, is sometimes
worn instead of the latter. A square
shawl, or an embroidered kerchief,
doubled diagonally,
is put loosely round the waist as a girdle; the two
corners
that are folded together hanging down behind.
Over the
yel'ek is worn a gib'beh of cloth, or velvet, or
silk, usually embroidered with gold or with coloured
silk: it differs in
form from the gib'beh of the men
chiefly in being not so wide;
particularly in the fore
part
*. Instead of this, a jacket (called
sal'tah), generally
* It is of the same length as the
yel'ek.
rally of cloth or velvet, and
embroidered in the same
manner as the gib'beh, is often worn.
The head-dress
consists of a ta'ckee'yeh and
turboo'sh, with a square
kerchief (called
far'oo'dee'yeh) of printed or
painted
muslin, or one of crape, wound tightly round, composing
what
is called a
rub'tah. Two or more such
kerchiefs were commonly used, a short time since, and
are still sometimes,
to form the ladies’ turban, but
always wound in a high, flat
shape, very different from
that of the turban of the men. A kind of crown, called
ckoor's, and other ornaments, are attached to
the ladies’
head-dress: descriptions and engravings of these
and
other ornaments of the women of Egypt will be found
in the
Appendix to this work. A long piece of white
muslin embroidered at each end
with coloured silks
and gold, or of coloured crape ornamented with
gold
thread, lama, and spangles, rests upon the head, and
hangs down
behind, nearly or quite to the ground: this
is called
tar'hhah —it is the head-veil: the face-veil
I
shall presently describe. The hair, excepting over the
forehead and
temples, is divided into numerous braids
or plaits, generally from eleven
to twenty-five in
number, but always of an
uneven
number: these hang
down the back. To each braid of hair are usually
added three black silk cords, with little ornaments of
gold,
&c., attached to them. For a description of these,
which are
called
suf'a, I refer to the Appendix.
Over
the forehead, the hair is cut rather short; but two full
locks
(called
muck'a'see's)
hang down on each side of
the face: these are often curled in ringlets, and
sometimes
plaited
*. Pew of the ladies of Egypt wear
* Egyptian women swear by the
side-lock (as men do by the beard), generally holding it when they utter the
oath, wa-hhaya't
A Lady adorned with the Ckooi's and Sufa, &c.
—(The Hand is partially stained with
Hhen'na.)
Ladies attired for Riding or Walking.
stockings or socks, but many of
them wear
mezz (or
inner shoes), of yellow or red
morocco, sometimes
embroidered with gold: over these, whenever they
step
off the matted or carpeted part of the floor, they put
on
ba'boo'g (or slippers) of yellow
morocco, with high,
pointed toes; or use high wooden clogs or pattens
(called
ckubcka'b, or, more commonly,
ckoobcka'b),
generally from four to nine inches in height, and usually
ornamented
with mother-of-pearl, or silver, &c. These
are always used in
the bath by men and women: but
not by many ladies at home: some ladies wear
them
merely to keep their skirts from trailing on the ground:
others
to make themselves appear tall. Such is the
dress which is worn by the
Egyptian ladies in the house.
The riding or walking attire is called
tezyee'reh,
Whenever a lady leaves the house she wears, in addition
to what has
been above described, first a large,
loose gown (railed to'b, or
seb'leh), the sleeves of which
are nearly equal in width to the
whole length of the
gown
*: it is of silk; generally of a pink, or rose, or
violet colour. Next is put on the
boor'cko', or face-veil,
which is a long
strip of white muslin, concealing
the whole of the face except the eyes,
and reaching
nearly to the feet. It is suspended at the top by a
narrow band, which passes up the forehead, and which
is sewed, as are also
the two upper corners of the veil,
to a band that is tied round the head.
The lady then
* This is similar in form to the
to'b of women of the lower
orders, represented in the next
engraving.
covers herself with a
hhab'arah, which, for a married
lady, is
composed of two breadths of glossy, black
silk, each ell wide, and three
yards long: these are
sewed together at or near the selvages (according to
the
height of the person); the seam running horizontally,
with respect
to the manner in which it is worn: a piece
of narrow, black riband is sewed
inside the upper part,
about six inches from the edge, to tie round the
head.
This covering is always worn in the manner shown by
the
accompanying sketch. The unmarried ladies wear
a hhab'arah of
white silk, or a shawl. Some females
of the middle classes, who cannot
afford to purchase
a hhab'arah, wear instead of it an
eeza'r; which
is a piece of white calico,
of the same form and size
as the former, and is worn in the same manner.
On
the feet are worn short boots or socks (called
khooff),
of yellow morocco, and over these, the
ba'boo'g.
This dress, though chiefly designed for females of
the higher classes, who
are seldom seen in public on
foot, is worn by many women who cannot often
afford
so far to imitate their superiors as to hire an ass to
carry
them. It is extremely inconvenient as a walking
attire. Viewing it as a
disguise for whatever is attractive
or graceful in the person and
adornments of the
wearer, we should not find fault with it for being
itself
deficient in grace: we must remark, however, that, in
one
respect, it fails in accomplishing its main purpose;
displaying the eyes,
which are almost always beautiful;
making them to appear still more so by
concealing the
other features, which are seldom of equal beauty; and
often causing the stranger to imagine a defective face
perfectly charming.
The veil is of very remote
Women and Children of the Lower Classes.
A Woman clad in the Mila'yeh, &c.
antiquity
*; but, from the sculptures and
paintings of the
ancient Egyptians, it seems not to have been worn by
the females of that nation.
The dress of a large proportion of those women of
the lower orders who are
not of the poorest class consists
of a pair of trousers or drawers (similar
in form
to the shintiya'n of the ladies, but generally of
plain
white cotton or linen), a blue linen or cotton shirt (not
quite
so full as that of the men), a boor'eko’ of a kind
of
coarse black crape, and a dark blue tar'hhah of
muslin or linen.
Sonic wear, over the shirt, or instead
of the latter, a linen
to'b, of the same form as that of
the ladies
†. The
sleeves of this are often turned up
over the head; either to prevent their
being incommodious,
or to supply the place of a tar'hhah
‡. In
addition
to these articles of dress, many women who are not
of the
very poor classes, wear, as a covering, a kind of
plaid, similar in form to
the hhab'arah, composed of
two pieces of cotton, woven in small
chequers of blue
and white, or cross stripes, with a mixture of red at
each end. It is called
mila'yeh: in general it
is worn
in the same manner as the hhab'arah: but sometimes
like the tar'hhah
§. The upper part of the black
boor'eko’ is often ornamented with false pearls,
small
gold coins, and other little Hat ornaments of the same
* See Genesis, xxiv. 65; and Isaiah,
iii.23. See also 1 1 Corinthians,
xi. 10, and a marginal note on that
verse.
† See the figure to the left in the
first of the two engravings
opposite this page.
‡ See the figure to the right in the
same engraving.
§ There is a superior kind of
mila'yeh, of silk, and of various
colours; but this is now
seldom worn. The two pieces which
compose the mila'yeh are
sewed together.
metal (called
burck); sometimes with a coral bead, and
a gold coin beneath;
also with small coins of base
silver; and more commonly with a pair of
chain tassels,
of brass or silver (called
'oyoo'n), attached to the corners.
Ornamented black Veils—Only one of these (that to the
right) is represented in its whole length.
A square black silk kerchief (called
'as'beh), with a
border of red and yellow,
is bound round the head,
doubled diagonally, and tied with a single knot
behind;
or, instead of this, the turboo'sh and
far'oo'dee'yeh are
worn, though by very
few women of the lower classes.
The best kind of shoes worn by the females
of the
The 'As'beh.
lower orders are of red morocco, turned up, but round,
at the
toes. The boor'cko’ and shoes are most common
in
Cairo, and are also worn by many of the women
throughout
Lower Egypt; but
in
Upper Egypt, the
boor'cko’ is very seldom seen,
and shoes are scarcely
less uncommon. To supply the place of the
former,
when necessary, a portion of the tar'hhah is drawn
before the face, so as to conceal nearly all the countenance
excepting one
eye. Many of the women of
the lower orders, even in the metropolis, never
conceal
their faces. Throughout the greater part of Egypt the
most
common dress of the women merely consists of
the blue shirt or
to'b and tar'hhah. In the southern
parts of
Upper
Egypt, chiefly above Akhmee'm, most
of the women envelop
themselves in a large piece of
dark brown woollen stuff (called a
hhoolalee'yeh);
wrapping it round the
body, and attaching the upper
parts together over each shoulder; and a
piece of the
same they use as a tar'hhah. This dull dress,
though
picturesque, is almost as disguising as the blue tinge
which,
as I have before mentioned, the women in these
parts of Egypt impart to their
lips. Most of the
women of the lower orders wear a variety of trumpery
ornaments, such as ear-rings, necklaces, bracelets, &c.,
and
sometimes a nose-ring. Descriptions and engravings
of some of these
ornaments will be given in the Appendix.
The women of Egypt deem it more incumbent upon
them to cover the upper and
back part of the head
than the face; and more requisite to conceal the
face
than most other parts of the person. I have often seen
in this
country women but half covered with miserable
rags; and several times,
females in the prime of womanhood,
and others in more advanced age, with
only
a narrow strip of rag bound round the hips.
A Woman of the Southern Province of Upper Egypt (Sketched at
Thebes.)
[Back to top]
CHAPTER II.
INFANCY AND EARLY EDUCATION.
IT was a custom very common in Egypt, as in other
Moos'lim
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, and
confers it
without any ceremony. Boys are often
named after the Prophet
(Mohham'mad, Ahh'mad, or
Moos'tuf'a), or some of the members of his family
('Al'ee, Hhas'an, Hhosey'n,
&c.), or his eminent
companions ('Om'ar,
Ab'oo Bekr, 'Osma'n, 'Amr,
&c.),
or some of the prophets and patriarchs of early times
(as Ibrahee'm, Ishha'ck, Isma'ee'l,
Yaackoo'b, Moos'a
Da'-oo'd,
Sooleyma'n, &c.), or receive a name signifying
“Servant of God,” “Servant of the
Compassionate,
” “Servant of the
Powerful,” &c. ('Abd
Al'lah,
'abd Er-Rahhma'n, 'Abd El-Cka'dir).
Girls are mostly
named after the wives or daughter of the Arabian
Prophet, or after others of his family (as Khadee'geh,
'A'isheh, A'm'neb,
Fa'tmeh, Zey'neb), or are distinguished
by a name
implying that they are “beloved,”
“blessed,” “precious,”
&c. (Mahhboo'beh, Mebroo'keh,
Nefee'seh, &c.), or the name of a flower, or of some
other pleasing object
*.
* In Cairo, it is the fashion to
change the first five female
names here mentioned, and the last, into
Khuddoo'geh,’ Eiyoo'sheh,
Ammoo'neh, Futoot'meh, Zennoo'beh, and
Neffoo'seh; and some
other names are changed to the same
measure as these; which
measure implies, in these cases, a superior
degree of dignity.
The dress of the children of the middle and higher
orders is similar to that of the
parents, but generally
slovenly. The children of the poor are either clad
in a
shirt and a cotton skull-cap or a turboo'sh, or (as is
mostly the case in the villages) are left quite naked
until the age of six
or seven years or more, unless a
bit of rag can be easily obtained to serve
them as
a partial covering. Those little girls who have only a
piece
of ragged stuff not large enough to cover both
the head and body, generally
prefer wearing it upon
the head, and sometimes have the coquetry to draw
a
part of it before the face, as a veil, while the whole
body is
exposed. Little ladies, four or five years of
age, mostly wear the white
face-veil, like their mothers.
When a boy is two or three years old, or
often earlier,
his head is shaved; a tuft of hair only being left on
the
crown, and another over the forehead
*: the heads of
female infants are
seldom shaven. The young children,
of both sexes, are usually carried by
their mothers and
nurses, not in the arms, but on the shoulder, seated
astride
†,
and sometimes, for a short distance, on the hip.
* It is customary among the peasants
throughout a great part
of Egypt, on the first occasion of shaving a
child's head, to slay
a victim, generally a goat, at the
tomb of some saint in or near
their village, and to make a feast with
the meat, of which their
friends, and any other persons who please,
partake. This is
most common in Upper Egypt, and among the tribes not
very long
established on the hanks of the Nile. Their Pagan ancestors
in
Arabia observed this custom, and usually gave, as alms to the
poor, the weight of the hair in silver. The victim was called 'ackee'ckah,
In the treatment of their children, the women of the
wealthier classes are remarkable
for their excessive indulgence;
and the poor, for the little attention
they
bestow, beyond supplying the absolute wants of nature.
The mother
is prohibited, by the Mohhammadan law,
from weaning her child before the
expiration of two
years from the period of its birth, unless with the
consent
of her husband, which, I am told, is generally
given after the
first year or eighteen months. In the
houses of the wealthy, the child,
whether boy or girl,
remains almost constantly confined in the
hharee'm (or
the women's apartments), or, at least,
in the house
sometimes the boy continues thus an effeminate prisoner
until a master, hired to instruct him daily, has
taught him to read and
write. When the ladies go out
to pay a visit, or to take an airing, mounted
on asses,
the children generally go with them, each carried by a
female slave or servant, or seated between her knees
upon the fore part of
the saddle; the female attendants,
as well as the ladies, being usually
borne by asses, and
it being the custom of all the women to sit astride.
But
it is seldom that the children of the rich enjoy this
slight
diversion; their health suffers from confinement
and pampering, and they
are often rendered capricious
proud, and selfish. The women of the middle
classes
are scarcely less indulgent mothers. The estimation in
which
the wife is held by her husband, and even by her
acquaintance, depends, in
a great degree, upon her
fruitfulness, and upon the preservation of her
children;
for by men and women, rich and poor, barrenness is
still
considered, in the East, a curse and a reproach;
and it is regarded as
disgraceful in a man to divorce,
without some cogent reason, a wife who has
borne him
a child, especially while her child is living. If, therefore,
a woman desire her
husband's love, or the respect
of others, her giving birth to a
child is a source of
great joy to herself and him, and her own
interest
alone is a sufficient motive for maternal tenderness.
Very
little expense is required, in Egypt, for the maintenance
of a numerous
offspring
*.
* It is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus
(lib. i. cap. 20), that the
ancient Egyptians clothed and reared their
children at a very
trifling expense.
With the exception of those of the wealthier classes,
the children in Egypt,
though objects of so much
solicitude, are generally very dirty, and
shabbily clad.
The stranger here is disgusted by the sight of them,
and at once condemns the modern Egyptians as a very
filthy people, without
requiring any other reason for
forming such an opinion of them; but it is
often the
case that those children who are most petted and beloved
are
the dirtiest, and worst clad. It is not uncommon
to see, in the city in
which I am writing, a lady
shuffling along in her ample to'b and
hhab'arah of new
and rich and glistening silks, and one who
scents the
whole street with the odour of musk or civet as she
passes
along, with all that appears of her person
scrupulously clean and delicate,
her eyes neatly bordered
with kohhl applied in the most careful
manner,
and the tip of a finger or two showing the fresh dye of
the
hhen'na, and by her side a little boy or girl, her own
child,
with a face besmeared with dirt, and with clothes
appearing as though they
had been worn for months
without being washed. Few things surprised me
so
much as sights of this kind on my first arrival in this
country. I
naturally inquired the cause of what struck
me as so strange and
inconsistent, and was informed
Parade previous to Circumcision.
that the affectionate mothers
thus neglected the appearance
of their children, and purposely left them
unwashed,
and clothed them so shabbily, particularly when
they had to
take them out in public,
from fear of the
evil eye,
which is excessively dreaded, and especially in
the case of children, since
they are generally esteemed
the greatest of blessings, and therefore most
likely to
be coveted.
The children of the poor have a yet more neglected
appearance: besides being
very scantily clad, or quite
nuked, they are, in general, excessively
dirty; their
eyes are frequently extremely filthy; it is common to
see
half-a-dozen or more flies in each eye unheeded and
unmolested. The parents
consider it extremely injurious
to wash, or even touch, (he eyes, when they
discharge
that acrid humour which attracts the flies: they
even affirm
that the loss of sight would result from
frequently touching or washing
them when thus
affected; though washing is really one of the best
means of alleviating the complaint.
At the age of about five or six years, or sometimes
later, the boy is
circumcised
*. Previously to the performance
of this rite in the
metropolis and other towns
of Egypt, the parents of the youth, if not in
indigent
circumstances, generally cause him to be paraded
through
several streets in the neighbourhood of their
dwelling. They mostly avail
themselves of the occurrence
of a bridal procession to lessen the expenses
of
the parade: and, in this ease, the boy and his attendants
lead the
procession. He generally wears a red
* Among the peasants, not
unfrequently at the ago of twelve,
thirteen, or fourteen years.
Kashmeer turban; but, in other
respects, is dressed as a
girl, with a yel'ek and
sal'tah, and with a ckoors, suf'a,
and other female
ornaments
*. These articles of dress
are of the richest description
that can be procured: they
are usually borrowed from some lady, and much
too
large to fit the boy. A horse, handsomely caparisoned,
is also
borrowed to convey him; and in his hand is
placed a folded embroidered
handkerchief, which he
constantly holds before his mouth in his right
hand.
He is preceded by a servant of the barber, who is the
operator,
and by three or more musicians, whose instruments
are commonly a hautboy
and drums. The foremost
person in the procession is generally the
barber's
servant, bearing his
hheml,
which is a case of wood, of
a semi-cylindrical form, with four short legs;
its front
(the flat surface) covered with pieces of looking-glass
and
embossed brass; and its back, with a curtain. This
is merely the
barber's sign: the servant carries it in
the manner represented
in the engraving here inserted.
The musicians follow next (or some of them
precede
the hheml), and then follows the boy; his horse led by
a
groom. Behind him walk several of his female relations
and friends. Two
boys are often paraded together,
and sometimes borne by one horse. Of the
bridal
processions, with which that above described is so often
united, an account will be found in its proper place. A
description, also,
of some further customs observed on
the occasion of a circumcision, and
particularly of a
more genteel but less general mode of celebrating that
* For a description of the ornaments
here mentioned see the
Appendix: the ckoors and suf'a are
also represented in a preceding
engraving, opposite page 50.
event, will be given in another
chapter, relating to
various private festivities
*.
* A custom mentioned by Strabo (p.
824), as prevailing among
the Egyptians in his time, is still
universally practised in every
part of Egypt, both by the
Moos'lims and Copts, excepting
in Alexandria and perhaps a
few other places on the shore of the
Mediterranean: it is also common,
if not equally prevalent, in
Arabia. Reland, who imperfectly describes
this custom (De
Religione Mohammedica, p. 75, edit. 1717), remarks its
being
mentioned likewise by Galen.
The parents seldom devote much of their time or
attention to the education
of their children; generally
contenting themselves with instilling into
their young
minds a few principles of religion, and then submitting
them, if they can afford to do so, to the instruction of
a schoolmaster. As
early as possible, the child is taught
to say, “ I testify that
there is no deity but God; and I
testify that Mohham'mad is
God's Apostle.” He receives
also lessons of religious
pride, and learns to hate
the Christians, and all other sects but his own,
as thoroughly
as does the Moos'lim in advanced age. Most
of
the children of the higher and middle classes, and
some of those of the
lower orders, are taught by the
schoolmaster to read, and to recite the
whole or certain
portions of the Ckoor-a'n by memory. They
afterwards
learn the most common rules of arithmetic.
Schools are very numerous, not only in the metropolis,
but in every large
town; and there is one, at
least, in every considerable village. Almost
every
mosque,
sebee'l (or
public
fountain), and
hho'd (or drinking-place for
cattle) in the metropolis has a
kootta'b
(or school) attached to it, in which children are
instructed for a
very trifling expense; the
sheykh or
fick'ee (the master of the school) receiving
from the
parent of each pupil half a piaster (about five farthings
of
our money), or something more or less, every
Thursday
*. The master
of a school attached to a
mosque or other public building in
Cairo also
generally
receives yearly a turboo'sh, a piece of white muslin
for
a turban, a piece of linen, and a pair of shoes; and
each boy
receives, at the same time, a linen skull-cap,
four or five cubits
† of cotton
cloth, and perhaps half a
piece (ten or twelve cubits) of linen, and a pair
of
shoes, and, in some cases, half a piaster or a piaster.
These
presents are supplied by funds bequeathed to the
school, and are given in
the month of Rum'ada'n. The
boys attend only during
the hours of instruction, and
then return to their homes. The lessons are
generally
written upon tablets of wood, painted white; and when
* Friday, being the sabbath of the
Moos'lims, is a holiday to
the school-boys and
fick'ee.
† The cubit employed in measuring
Egyptian cloths is equal
to twenty two inches and two-thirds.
A School-boy learning the Alphabet.
one lesson is learnt, the tablet
is washed and another is
written. They also practise writing upon the
same
tablet. The schoolmaster and his pupils sit upon the
ground, and
each boy has his tablet in his hands, or a
copy of the
Ckoor-a'n, or of one of its thirty sections,
on a little kind of
desk of palm-sticks. All who are
learning to read recite their lessons
aloud, at the same
time, rocking their heads and bodies incessantly
backwards
and forwards; which practice is observed by
almost all
persons in reading the Ckoor-a'n; being
thought to assist the
memory. The noise may be
imagined
*.
* The usual punishment is beating on
the soles of the feet
with a palm-stick.
The boys first learn the letters of the alphabet; next,
the vowel points and
other orthographical marks; and
then, the numerical value of each letter of
the alphabet
†.
Previously to this third stage of the
pupil's progress, it
is customary for the master to ornament the
tablet with
black and red ink, and green paint, and to write upon
it
the letters of the alphabet in the order of their
respective numerical
values, and convey it to the father,
who returns it with a piaster or two
placed upon it.
The like is also done at several subsequent stages of
the boy's progress, as when he begins to learn the
Ckoor-a'n, and six or seven times as he proceeds in,
learning
the sacred book; each time the next lesson
being written on the tablet.
When he has become
acquainted with the numerical values of the letters,
the
master writes for him some simple words, as the names
of men; then
the ninety-nine names or epithets of
† The Arabic letters are often used
as numerals.
God: next the
Fa't'hhah, or opening chapter of the
Ckoor-a'n, is written upon his tablet, and he reads it
repeatedly until he has perfectly committed it to memory.
He then proceeds
to learn the other chapters of
the Ckoor-a'n: after the first
chapter he learns the last;
then the last but one; next the last but two,
and so on,
in inverted order, ending with the second; as the chapters
in general successively decrease in length from the
second to the last
inclusively. It is seldom that the
master of a school teaches writing; and
few boys learn
to write unless destined for some employment which
absolutely requires that they should do so; in which
latter case they are
generally taught the art of writing,
and likewise arithmetic, by a
ckabba'nee, who is a
person employed to
weigh goods in a market or ba'za'r,
with the
steelyard. Those who are to devote themselves
to religion, or to any of the
learned professions, mostly
pursue a regular course of study in the great
mosque El-Az'har.
The schoolmasters in Egypt are mostly persons of
very little learning: few
of them are acquainted with
any writings except the Ckoor-a'n,
and certain prayers,
which, as well as the contents of the sacred
volume,
they are hired to recite on particular occasions. I was
lately
told of a man who could neither read nor write
succeeding to the office of
a schoolmaster in my neighbourhood.
Being able to recite the whole of
the
Ckoor-a'n, he could hear the boys repeat their lessons:
to write them, he employed the
'aree'f (or head boy in
the school), pretending
that his eyes were weak. A few
days after he had taken upon himself this
office, a poor
woman brought a letter for him to read to her from her
son, who had gone on pilgrimage.
The fick'ee pretended
to read it, but said nothing; and the
woman,
inferring from his silence that the letter contained bad
news,
said to him, “ Shall I shriek?” He answered
“Yes.” “ Shall I tear my clothes?”
she asked; he replied
“ Yes.” So the poor woman
returned to her
house, and with her assembled friends performed the
lamentation and other ceremonies usual on the occasion
of a death. Not many
days after this her son arrived,
and she asked him what he could mean by
causing a
letter to be written stating that he was dead. He explained
the contents of the letter, and she went to the
schoolmaster and begged him
to inform her why he had
told her to shriek and to tear her clothes, since
the
letter was to inform her that her son was well, and he
was now
arrived at home. Not at all abashed, he paid,
“ God knows
futurity! How could I know that your
son would arrive in safety? It was
better that you
should think him dead than be led to expect to see
him
and perhaps be disappointed.” Some persons who
were sitting with
him praised his wisdom, exclaiming,
“Truly, our new
fick'ee is a man of unusual judgment’.”
and, for a little while, he found that he had
raised his reputation by this
blunder.
Some parents employ a sheykh or fick'ee to teach
their boys at
home. The father usually teaches his
son to perform the
woodoo' and other ablutions, and to
say his prayers,
and instructs him in other religious and
moral duties to the best of his
ability. The Prophet
directed his followers to order their children to say
their
prayers when seven years of age, and to beat them if
they did
not do so when ten years old; and at the latter
age to make them sleep in
separate beds: in Egypt,
however, very few persons pray before they
have
attained to manhood.
The female children are very seldom taught to read
or write; and not many of
them, even among the higher
orders, learn to say their prayers. Some of
the
rich engage a s
hey'khah (or learned
woman) to visit
the hharee'm daily, to teach their daughters and
female
slaves to say their prayers, and to recite a few chapters
of
the Ckoor-a'n, and sometimes to instruct them in
reading and
writing; but these are very rare accomplishments
for females even of the
highest class in
Egypt
*. There are many schools in which girls are
taught
plain needle-work, embroidery, &c. In families
in easy
circumstances a
m'al'lim'eh†, or female
teacher
of such kinds of work, is often engaged to attend the
girls at
their own home.
* The young daughters of persons of
the middle classes are
sometimes instructed with the boys in a public
school; but they
are usually veiled, and hold no intercourse with the
boys. I have
often seen a well-dressed girl reading the
Ckoor-a'n in a boys’
school.
† Thus pronounced for mo'al'lim'eh.
However much the son is caressed and fondled, in
general he feels and
manifests a most profound and
praiseworthy respect for his parents.
Disobedience to
parents is considered by the Moos'lims as one of
the
greatest of sins, and classed, in point of heinousness,
with six
other sins, which are idolatry, murder, falsely
accusing modest women of
adultery, wasting the properly
of orphans, taking usury, and desertion in
an
expedition against infidels. An undutiful child is very
seldom
heard of among the Egyptians or the Arabs in
general. Sons scarcely ever sit,
or eat, or smoke, in
the presence of the father, unless bidden to do
so;
and they often even wait upon him and upon his guests
at meals and
on other occasions: they do not cease to
act thus when they have become
men. I once breakfasted
with an Egyptian merchant, before the door of
his house, in the month of Rum'ada'n (and therefore a
little after sunset); and though every person who passed
by, however poor,
was invited to partake of the meal,
we were waited upon by two of my
host's sons; the
elder about forty years of age. As they had
been
fasting during the whole of the day, and had as yet
only taken a
draught of water, I begged the father to
allow them to sit down and eat
with us: he immediately
told them that they might do so; but they
declined.
The mothers generally enjoy, in a greater
degree than the
fathers, the affection of their children;
but do not receive from them the
same outward marks
of respect. I have often known servants to hoard
their wages for their mothers, though seldom for their
fathers.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER III.
RELIGION AND LAWS.
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 Moos'lims, respecting
some points
of religion and law, has given rise to four
sects, which consider each
other orthodox as to fundamental
matters. These sects are the
Hhan'afees,
Sha'fe'ees,
Ma'likees*, and
Hham'bel'ees, —so culled
from
the names of the respective doctors whose tenets
they have adopted. The
Turks are of the first sect,
which is the most reasonable: the inhabitants
of
Cairo,
a small proportion excepted (who are Hhan'afees),
are
either Sha'fe'ees or Ma'likees; and it
is generally said
they are mostly of the former of these sects, as are
also
the people of Arabia: those of the Shurekee'yeh, on
the
east of the Delta, Sha'fe'ees: those of the
Ghurbee'yeh,
or Delta, Sha'fe'ees, with a
few Ma'likees: those of the
Bohhey'reh, on the west
of the Delta, Ma'likees: the inhabitants
* Commonly pronounced Ma'l'kee.
of the
Sa'ee'd, or the valley of
Upper Egypt,
are likewise,
with few exceptions, Ma'likees: so also
are the Nubians, and the
Western Arabs. To the
fourth sect, very few persons in the present day
belong.
The Mohhammadan religion is generally called by
the Arabs, el-Isla'm. Eema'n and Deen are the particular
terms applied, respectively,
to faith and practical
religion.
The grand principles of the faith are expressed in
two articles; the first
of which is this—
”There is no deity but God.”
God, who created all things in heaven and in earth,
who preserveth all
things, and decreeth all things, who
is without beginning, and without end,
omnipotent,
omniscient, and omnipresent, is
one. His
unity is thus
declared in a short chapter of the Ckoor-a'n
*:
“Say,
He is one God; God the Eternal: He neither begets,
nor is He begotten; and there is none equal unto Him.”
He hath
no partner, nor any offspring, in the creed of
the Moos'lim.
Though Jesus Christ (whose name
should not be mentioned without
adding—“on whom
be peace”) is believed to
have been born of a pure
virgin, by the miraculous operation of God
†,
without
any natural father,—to be the Messiah, and “
the Word
* Ch. 112.—In quoting
passages in the Ckoor-a'n, I have sometimes
followed
Sale's translation; to the fidelity of which I need
scarcely
add my testimony. When necessary, I have distinguished
the verses by
numbers. In doing this I had originally adopted the
divisions made by
Marracci, but have since made the numbers to
agree with those in the
late edition of the Arabic text by Fluegel.,
which, from its superior
accuracy, is likely to supersede the
former editions.
† Ckoor-a'n, ch. iii., vv.
40—42.
of God, which He imparted unto
Mary, and a Spirit
proceeding from Him"
*—yet he is not called the Son
of
God; and no higher titles are given to him than those
of a Prophet
and Apostle: he is even considered as of
inferior dignity to Mohham'mad,
inasmuch as the Gospel
is held to be superseded by the Ckoor-a'n. The
Moos'lim believes that Seyyid'na 'Ee'sa
† (or "our
Lord Jesus"), after he had
fulfilled the object of his
mission, was taken up unto God from the Jews,
who
sought to slay him; and that another person, on whom
God had
stamped the likeness of Christ, was crucified
in his stead
‡. He also
believes that Christ is to come
again upon the earth, to establish the
Mohhammadan
religion, and perfect peace and security, after having
killed Antichrist, and to be a sign of the approach of
the last day.
* Ckoor-a'n, ch. iv., v. 169.
† The title of Seyyid'na (our Lord)
is given by the Moos'lims
to prophets and other venerated persons.
‡ Ckoor-a'n, ch. iv., v. 156.
The other grand article of the faith, which cannot
be believed without the
former, is this—
“Mohham'mad is God's Apostle.”
Mohham'mad is believed, by his followers, to have
been the last and greatest
of Prophets and Apostles
§.
Six of these—namely, Adam, Noah,
Abraham, Moses,
Jesus, and Mohham'mad—are believed each to
have
received a revealed law, or system of religion and
morality.
That, however, which was revealed to Adam
was abrogated by the next; and
each succeeding law,
§ The Moos'lim seldom mentions the
name of the Prophet
without adding, " sal'la-l'la'hoo 'aley'hi
we-sel7em," i. e., "God
favour and preserve him!"
code of laws, abrogated the
preceding: therefore,
those who professed the Jewish religion from the
time
of Moses to that of Jesus were true believers; and
those who
professed the Christian religion (uncorrupted,
as the Moos'lims
say, by the tenet that Christ
was the
son of God)
until the time of Mohham'mad
are held, in like manner, to have
been true believers.
But the copies of the Pentateuch, the Psalms of
David
(which the Moos'lims also hold to be of divine
origin),
and the Gospels now existing, the Mohhammadans
believe to
have been so much altered as to contain
very little of the true word of
God. The Ckoor-a'n,
they believe to have suffered no alteration
whatever.
It is further necessary, that the Moos'lim should
believe in the
existence of angels, and of the devil,
and likewise genii (an intermediate
race of beings
between angels and men): also, in the immortality of
the soul, the general resurrection and judgment, in
future rewards and
punishments in Paradise
* and
Hell
†, in the balance in which good and evil
works
shall be weighed, and in the bridge
Es-Sira't (which
extends over the midst of Hell, finer
than a hair, and
sharper than the edge of a sword), over which all
must pass, and from which the wicked shall fall into
Hell. He believes,
also, that they who have acknowledged
the faith of Mohham'mad
and yet acted wickedly
will not remain in Hell for ever; but that all of
other
religions must: that there are, however, degrees of
punishments,
as well as of rewards,—the former consisting
in severe torture
by excessive heat and cold,
and the latter, in the indulgence of the
appetites by
*
El-Gen'neh, or the garden.
most delicious meats and drinks,
and, above all, by the
company of the girls of Paradise, whose eyes will
be
very large and entirely black
*, and whose stature will
be
proportioned to that of the men, which will be the
height of a tall
palm-tree, or about sixty feet. Such,
the Moos'lims generally
believe, was the height of our
first parents. It is said that the souls of
martyrs
reside, until the judgment, in the crops of green birds,
which
eat of the fruits of Paradise. Women are
not to be excluded from Paradise,
according to the
Mohhammadan faith; though it has been asserted, by
many Christians, that the Moos'lims believe women to
have no
souls. In several places in the Ckoor-a'n,
Paradise is promised
to all true believers, whether
males or females. It is the doctrine of the
Ckoor-a'n
that no person will be admitted into Paradise by
his
own merits; but that admission will be granted to the
believers
merely by the mercy of God; yet that the
felicity of each person will be
proportioned to his
merits. The very meanest in Paradise is promised
“eighty thousand servants” (beautiful youths, called
welee'ds, or
wilda'n), “seventy-two wives of the girls
of Paradise”
(hhoo'ree'yehs, or
hhoo'r el-'oyoo'n’),
“ besides the wives he had in this world,” if he
desire to
have the latter (and the good will doubtless desire the
good), “and a tent erected for him of pearls, jacinths,
and
emeralds, of a very large extent;” “ and will be
waited on by three hundred attendants while he eats,
and served in dishes
of gold, whereof three hundred
shall be set before him at once, each
containing a different
kind of food, the last morsel of which will be as
* Like those of the gazelle: this,
however, is disputed.
grateful as the
first:” wine also, “ though forbidden
in this life,
will yet be freely allowed to be drunk in
the next, and without danger,
since the wine of Paradise
will not inebriate
*.” We are further
told, that all
superfluities from the bodies of the inhabitants of
Paradise
will be carried off by perspiration, which will
diffuse an
odour like that of musk; and that they
will be clothed in the richest
silks, chiefly of green. They
are also promised perpetual youth, and
children as
many as they may desire. These pleasures, together
with
the songs of the angel Isra'fee'l, and many other
gratifications of the senses, will charm even the
meanest inhabitant of
Paradise. But all these enjoyments
will be lightly esteemed by those more
blessed
persons who are to be admitted to the highest of all
honours—that spiritual pleasure of beholding, morning
and
evening, the face of God
†. The Moos'lim must
also believe in the
examination of the dead in the
sepulchre, by two angels, called
Moon'kir and Nekee'r
‡,
of terrible aspect, who will cause
the body (to which
the soul shall, for the time, be re-united) to sit
upright
in the grave
§, and will question the deceased respecting
his
faith. The wicked they will severely torture; but
the good they will not
hurt. Lastly, he should believe
* See Sale's Preliminary
Discourse to his Translation of the
Ckour-a'n, sect. iv.
† A Moos'lim of some
learning professed to me that he considered
the
descriptions of Paradise given in the Ckoor-a'n to be,
in a
great measure, figurative; “like those,” said he,
” in the
book of the Revelation of St. John; “
and he assured me that
many learned Moos'lims were of the
same opinion.
‡ Vulgarly called Na'kir and Nekee'r.
§ The corpse is always deposited in a
vault, and not placed in
a coffin, but merely wrapped in winding-sheets
or clothes.
in God's absolute
decree of every event, both good and
evil. This doctrine has given rise to
as much controversy
among the Moos'lims as among
Christians;
but the former, generally, believe in predestination as,
in some respects, conditional.
In religious practice, the most important duties are
prayer, alms-giving, fasting, and pilgrimage.
The religious
purifications, which are of two kinds,
first, the ordinary ablution preparatory to
prayer,
and
secondly, the washing of the whole body, together with
the
performance of the former ablution, are of primary
importance: for prayer,
which is a duty so important
that it is called “ the Key of
Paradise,” will not be
accepted from a person in a state of
uncleanness. It is
therefore also necessary to avoid impurity by
clipping
the nails, shaving the head, and other similar practices
*.
* Alluded to in the first
chapter.
There are partial washings, or purifications, which
all Moos'lims
perform on certain occasions, even if
they neglect their prayers, and which
are considered as
religious acts
†. The ablution called
el-woodoo', which
is preparatory to prayer, I shall
now describe. The
purifications just before alluded to are a part of
the
woodoo': the other washings are not, of necessity, to
be performed immediately after, but only when the
person is about to say
his prayers; and these are performed
in the mosque or in the house, in
public or in
private. There is in every mosque a tank (called
mey'da-ah), or a
hhanafee'yeh, which is a raised reservoir,
† For an account of these private
ablutions, and the occasions
which require their performance, the
reader may consult Reland,
Do Rel. Moh. pp. 80—83, ed. 1717.
with spouts round it, from which
the water
falls. In some mosques there are both these. The
Moos'lims of the Hhan'afee sect (of which are the
Turks) perform the ablution at the latter (which has
received its name from
that cause); for they must do
it with running water, or from a tank or pool
at least
ten cubits in breadth, and the same in depth; and I
believe
that there is only one mey'da-ah in
Cairo of
that depth, which
is in the great mosque El-Az'har.
A small
hhanafee'yeh of tinned copper, placed on a
low shelf, and a
large basin, or a small ewer and basin
of the same metal, are generally
used in the house for
the performance of the woodoo'.
Vessels for Ablution.—The upper vessel (or
hhanafee'yeh) is generally about a foot and a half in
height.
The person, having tucked up his sleeves a little
higher than his elbows,
says, in a low voice, or inaudibly,
“ I purpose performing the
woodoo', for
prayer
*.” He then washes his hands
three times;
saying, in the same manner as before, “ In the
name
of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful! Praise be
to God, who
hath given water for purification, and
made el-Isla'm to be a
light and a direction, and a
guide to thy gardens, the gardens of delight,
and to
thy mansion, the mansion of peace.” Then he rinses
his mouth three times, throwing the water into it with
his right hand
†; and in
doing this he says, “O God,
assist me in the reading of thy
book, and in commemorating
Thee, and in thanking Thee, and in the beauty
of
thy worship.” Next, with his right hand, he throws
water
up his nostrils (snuffing it up at the same time),
and then blows it out,
compressing his nostrils with
the thumb and finger of the
left hand; and this also
is done three times. While doing it, he
says, “ O God,
make me to smell the odours of Paradise, and
bless
me with its delights; and make me not to smell the
smell of the
fires [of Hell].” He then washes his
face three times, throwing
up the water with both
hands, and saying, “O God, whiten my face
with thy
light, on the day when Thou shalt whiten the faces of
thy
favourites; and do not blacken my face, on the
day when Thou shalt blacken
the faces of thine enemies.”
His right hand and arm, as high as
the elbow,
* All persons do not use exactly the
same words on this occasion,
nor during the performance of the
woodoo'; and most persons
use no words during the
performance.
† He should also use a tooth-stick
(miswa'k) to clean his
teeth; but few do so.
he next washes three times, and
as many times causes
some water to run along his arm, from the palm of
the
hand to the elbow, saying, as he does this, “ O God,
give me my book in my right hand
*; and reckon with
me with a slight
reckoning.” In the same manner
he washes the left hand and arm,
saying, “ O God,
do not give me my book in my left hand, nor
behind
my back; and do not reckon with me with a difficult
reckoning;
nor make me to be one of the people of
the fire.” He next draws
his wetted right hand over
the upper part of his head, raising his turban
or cap
with his left: this he does but once; and accompanies
the
action with this supplication, “ O God, cover me
with thy mercy,
and pour down thy blessing upon me;
and shade me under the shadow of thy
canopy, on the
day when there shall be no shade but its shade.”
If
he have a beard, he then combs it with the wetted
fingers of his
right hand; holding his hand with the
palm forwards, and passing the
fingers through his
beard from the throat upwards. He then puts the
tips
of his fore-fingers into his ears, and twists them round,
passing
his thumbs at the same time round the back
of the ears, from the bottom
upwards; and saying,
“O God, make me to be of those who hear
what is
said, and obey what is best;” or, “O God,
make me
to hear good.” Next he wipes his neck with the back
of the fingers of both hands, making the ends of his
fingers meet behind
his neck, and then drawing them
forward; and in doing so, he says,
“ O God, free my
neck from the fire; and keep me from the
chains, and
* To every man is appropriated a
book, in which alt the actions
of his life are written. The just man,
it is said, will receive his book in his
right hand; but the wicked, in
his left, which will be
tied behind his back; his right hand being tied
up to his neck.
the collars, and the
fetters.” Lastly, he washes his
feet, as high as the ankles, and
passes his fingers
between the toes: he washes the right foot first,
saying,
at the same time, “ O God, make firm my foot upon
the Sira't, on the day when feet shall slip upon it:”
on
washing the left foot, he says, “O God, make my
walking’ to be approved, and my sin forgiven, and my
works
accepted, merchandise that shall not perish, by
thy pardon, O Mighty! O
Forgiver! by thy mercy,
O most Merciful of those who show mercy
’.” After
having thus completed the ablution, he
says, looking
towards heaven, “ Thine absolute glory, O
God!
[I assert] with thy praise: I testify that there is no
deity but
Thee alone: Thou hast no companion: I
implore thy forgiveness, and turn to
Thee with repentance.”
Then, looking towards the earth, he adds,
“ I
testify that there is no deity but God: and I testify
that Mohham'mad is his servant and his apostle.”
Having uttered these words, he should recite, once,
twice, or three times,
the
Soo'rat el-Ckudr, or 97th
chapter of
the Ckoor-a'n.
The woodoo’ is generally performed in less than two
minutes; most
persons hurrying through the act, as
well as omitting almost all the
prayers, &c., which
should accompany and follow the actions. It
is not
required before each of the five daily prayers, when the
person
is
conscious of having avoided every kind of
impurity since the last performance of this ablution.
When water cannot be
easily procured, or would be
injurious to the health of the individual, he
may perform
the ablution with dust or sand. This ceremony
is called
teyem'moom. The person, in this case,
strikes the palms of his hands upon any dry dust or
sand (it will suffice
to do so upon his cloth robe, as it
must contain some dust), and,
with both hands, wipes
his face: then, having struck his hands again upon
the
dust, he wipes his right hand and arm as high as the
elbow; and
then, the left hand and arm, in the same
manner. This completes the
ceremony. The washing
of the whole body is often performed merely for
the sake of cleanliness; but not as a religious act,
excepting on
particular occasions—as on the morning
of Friday, and on the two
grand festivals, &c.
*, when
it is called
ghoos'l.
* Here, again, I must beg to refer
the reader (if he desire such
information) to Reland's
account of the ghoos'l, and the occasions
which require its
performance.—De Rel. Moh. pp. 66—77,
ed.1717.
Cleanliness is required not only in the worshipper,
but also in the ground,
mat, carpet, robe, or whatever
else it be, upon which he prays. Persons of
the lower
orders often pray upon the bare ground, which is considered
clean if it be dry; and they seldom wipe off
immediately the dust which
adheres to the nose and
forehead in prostration, for it is regarded as
ornamental
to the believer's face; but when a person has
a
cloak or any other garment that he can take off
without exposing his person
in an unbecoming manner,
he spreads it upon the ground to serve as a
prayer-carpet.
The rich use a prayer-carpet (called
segga'deh)
about the size of our hearth-rugs, having a niche represented
upon
it, the point of which is turned towards
Mek'keh
†. It is
reckoned sinful to pass near before
a person engaged in prayer.
† Segga'dehs, of the kind
here described, are now sold in
London, under the name of Persian
carpets or Persian rugs.
Prayer is called
sal'ah. Five times in the course of
every day is its performance
required of the Moos'lim;
but there are comparatively few
persons in Egypt who
do not sometimes, or often, neglect this duty;
and
many who scarcely ever pray. Certain portions of the
ordinary
prayers are called
furd, which are appointed
by the
Ckoor-a'n; and others,
soon'neh,
which are
appointed by the Prophet, without allegation of a
divine
order.
The first time of prayer is the
mugh'rib, or
sunset
*,
or rather, about four minutes later; the second, the
'esh’ē, or when the
evening has closed, and it is quite
dark
†; the third, is the
soobhh, or
fegr; i. e., daybreak
‡
; the fourth, the
doohr, or noon,
or, rather, a
little later, when the sun has begun to decline; the
fifth, the
'asr, or afternoon;
i. e., about mid-time between
noon and nightfall
§. The
Prophet would not
have his followers pray at sunrise, nor exactly at
noon
or sunset, because, he said, infidels worshipped the sun
at such
times.
* The Mohhammadan day commencing from
sunset.
† The 'esh'e of
the Sha'fe'ees, Ma'likees, and
Hhum'bel'ees is
when the ml gleam (esh-shuf'uck
el-ahh'mar’) after sunset has
disappeared;
and that of the Hhan'afees, when both the red
and the
white gleam have disappeared.
‡ Generally on the first faint
appearance of light in the East.
The IIhan'afees mostly
perform the morning-prayer a little later,
when the yellow gleam (el-isfira'r) appears: this they deem
the
most proper time, but they may pray earlier.
§ The 'asr, according to
the Sha'fe'ees, Ma'likees and
Hham'bel'ees,
is when the shade of an object,
cast by the sun, is equal
to the length of that object, added to the
length of the shade
which the same object casts at noon; and, according
to the Hhanafees,
when the shadow is equal to twice the length of the object
added to the length of its mid-day
shadow.
Should the time of prayer arrive when they are
eating, or about to eat, they are
not to rise to prayer
till they have finished their meal. The prayers
should
be said as nearly as possible at the times above mentioned:
they may be said after, but not before. The
several times of prayer are
announced by the
mooed'din
of each mosque. Having ascended to the
gallery of the
ma'd'neh, or
men'a'ret', h e chants the
ada'n, or call to prayer, which is as follows:
“ God is
most Great! “ (this is said four times.)
“ I testify that
there is no deity but God!” (twice.)
“I testify that
Mohham'mad is God's
Apostle!” (twice.) “ Come
to prayer! “
(twice.) “ Come to security! “ (twice.)
*
“God is most Great!”’ (twice.)
“There is no deity
but God!” — Most of the
moo-ed'dins of
Cairo have
harmonious and sonorous voices, which
they strain to
the utmost pitch; yet there is a simple and solemn
melody in their chants which is very striking, particularly
in the
stillness of night
†.
* Here is added, in the morning cull,
“ Prayer is better than
sleep!” (twice.)
† A common air, to which the
ada'n is chanted in Cairo, will
be given in the chapter on
Egyptian Music.
Two other calls to prayer are made during the night,
to rouse those persons
who desire to perform supererogatory
acts of devotion
‡. A little
after midnight, the
moo-ed'dins of the great royal mosques in
Cairo (
i.
e.,
of each of the great mosques founded by a Soolta'n,
which
is called
Ga'më’
Soolta'nee), and of some other
large mosques, ascend
the ma'd'nehs, and chant the
following call; which,
being one of the two night-calls
not at the regular periods of obligatory
prayers, is
called the
Oo'la, a term
signifying merely “ the First.”
§ They are few who do so.
Having commenced by
chanting’ the common ada'n,
with those words which
are introduced in the call to
morning-prayer (“Prayer is better
than sleep”), he
adds, “ There is no deity but
God” (three times)
“ alone: He hath no companion: to
Him belongeth
the dominion; and to Him belongeth praise. He
giveth
life, and causeth death; and He is living, and
shall never die. In His hand
is blessing [or good];
and He is Almighty.—There is no deity but
God!”
(three times) “and we will not worship any
beside
Him, ‘serving Him with sincerity of religion
*,’ ‘though
the infidels be
averse
†’ [thereto]. There is no deity
but God!
Mohham'mad is the most noble of the
creation in the sight of
God. Mohham'mad is the best
prophet and apostle and lord by whom
his companions
have been governed; comely; liberal of gifts; perfect;
pleasant to the taste; sweet; soft to the throat
[or to be drunk]. Pardon,
O Lord, thy servant and
thy poor dependant, the endower of this place, and
him
who watches it with goodness and beneficence, and its
neighbours,
and those who frequent it at the times of
prayers and good acts, O thou
Bountiful!—O Lord!
‡‘
(three times.)
“ Thou art He who ceaseth not to be
distinguished by mercy: Thou
art liberal of thy clemency
towards the rebellious; and protectest
him;
and coverest the base; and art the author of everything
that is
good; and thou bestowest thy beneficence upon
the servant, and relievest
him, O thou Bountiful!—O
Lord! “ (three times.)
“ My sins, when I think upon
them, [I see to be] many; but the
mercy of my Lord
* Ckoor-a'n, ch. xcviii.
v. 4.
† Same, ch. ix. v. 32, and ch. lxi.
v. 8.
‡ This exclamation (Ya’ rubb!) is made in a very loud tone.
is more abundant: I am not
solicitous on account of
good that I have done; but for the mercy of God I
am
most solicitous. Extolled be the Everlasting! He
hath no companion
in his great dominion. His absolute
glory [I assert]: exalted be his name:
[I assert]
the absolute glory of God.”
About an hour before daybreak, the moo-ed'dins of
most mosques
chant the second call, named the
Eb'ed
(which signifies “the Eternal”), and so called
from
that word occurring near the commencement. This
call is as
follows: “ [I assert] the absolute glory of
God, the Eternal
One, the Eternal” (three times):
“ the absolute glory
of God, the Desired, the Existing,
the Single, the Supreme: the absolute
glory of God,
the One, the Sole: the absolute glory of Him who
taketh
to himself, in his great dominion, neither female
companion, nor male
partner, nor any like unto Him,
nor any that is disobedient, nor any
deputy, nor any
equal, nor any offspring. His absolute glory [I
assert]:
exalted be his name! He is a Deity who knew what
hath been
before it was, and called into existence what
hath been; and He is now
existing as He was [at the
first]. His absolute glory [I assert]: exalted
be his
name! He is a Deity unto whom there is none like
existing.
There is none like unto God, the Bountiful,
existing. There is none like
unto God, the Clement,
existing. There is none like unto God, the
Great,
existing. There is no deity but Thee, O our Lord, to
be
worshipped and to be praised and to be desired and
to be glorified. [I
assert] the absolute glory of Him
who created all creatures, and numbered
them, and
distributed their sustenance, and decreed the affairs of
his
servants: and our Lord, the Bountiful, the Clement,
the Great, forgetteth not one of
them. [I assert]
the absolute glory of Him who, of his power and
greatness,
caused the pure water to flow from the solid stone,
the
mass of rock: the absolute glory of Him who spake
with our lord
Moo'sa [or Moses] upon the mountain
*;
whereupon the mountain
was reduced to dust
†, through
dread of God, whose name be exalted, the
One, the
Sole. There is no deity but God. He is a just Judge.
[I
assert] the absolute glory of the First. Blessing
and peace be on thee, O
comely of countenance! O
Apostle of God! Blessing and peace be on thee, O
first
of the creatures of God! and seal of the apostles of
God!
Blessing and peace be on thee, O thou Prophet!
on thee and on thy Family,
and all thy Companions.
God is most Great! God is most Great!”
&c., to the
end of the call to morning-prayer. “ O
God, favour
and preserve and bless the blessed Prophet, our lord
Mohham'mad! May God, whose name be blessed and
exalted, be well
pleased with thee, O our lord El-Hhas'an,
and with thee, O our
lord El-Hhosey'n, and
with thee, O Ab'oo
Farra'g
‡:, O Sheykh of the Arabs,
and with all the
favourites [the
wel'ees] of God. Amen.”
* These words, “The
absolute glory of Him who spake,” &c.
(soobhha'na men kel'lema,
&c.), are pronounced ill a very high and
loud tone.
† See Ckoor-a'n, ch. vii.
v. 139.
‡ “ Ab'oo
Farra'g” is a surname of a famous saint, the
sey'yid
Ahh'mad El-Bed'awee, buried at
Tunta, in the Delta: it implies
that he obtains relief to those who
visit his tomb, and implore his
intercession.
The prayers which are performed daily at the five
periods before mentioned
are said to be of so many
rek”ahs, or inclinations of the head
§.
§ The morning-prayers, two
rek'ahs soon'neh and two furd:
the noon, four
soon'neh and four furd; the afternoon, the same;
the
evening, three furd and two soon'neh; and the night-prayers
(or 'esh'ë), four soon'neh and
four furd, and two soon'neh again.
After these are yet to be
performed three rek”abs witr; i. e.
single
or separate prayers: these may be performed immediately
after
the 'esh'ë prayers, or at any
time in the night; but are more meritorious
if late in the night.
The worshipper, standing with his face towards the
Ckib'leh (that is, towards
Mek'keh), and his feet not
quite close together, says,
inaudibly, that he has purposed
to recite the prayers of so many
rek”ahs (soon'neh
or furd) the morning-prayers (or
the noon, &c.) of the
present day (or night); and then, raising
his open
hands on each side of his face, and touching the lobes
of his
ears with the ends of his thumbs, he says, “ God
is most
Great!”
(Alla'hoo
Ak'bar.) This ejaculation is
called the
tekbee'r. He then proceeds to recite the
prayers of
the prescribed number of rek”ahs
*.
* There are some little differences
in the attitudes of the four
great sects during prayer. I describe
those of the Hhan'ufees.
Still standing, and placing his hands before him, a
little below his girdle,
the left within the right, he
recites (with eyes directed towards the spot
where his
head will touch the ground in prostration) the
Fa't'hhah,
or opening chapter of the
Ckoor-a'n
†, and after it three
† Some persons previously utter
certain supererogatory ejaculations,
expressive of the praise and glory
of God; and add, “ I
seek refuge with God from Satan the
accursed;” which petition is
often offered up before
reciting any part of the Ckoor-a'n on other
occasions, as
commanded by the Ckoor-a'n itself (ch. xvi. v. 100).
The
Ckoor-a'n is usually recited, in the furd prayers, in a
voice
slightly audible, excepting at noon and the 'asr, when
it is recited
inaudibly. By Ima'ms when praying at the head
of others, and
sometimes by persons praying alone, it is chanted. In
the
soon'neh prayers it is recited inaudibly.
or more other verses, or one of
the short chapters, of
the Ckoor-a'n; very commonly the 112th
chapter; but
without repeating the bismil'lah (in the name of
God,
&c.) before the second recitation. He then says,
“ God
is most Great!” and makes, at the same time, an inclination
Postures of Prayer. (Part I.)
of his head and body, placing his hands upon
his knees, and
separating his fingers a little. In this
posture he says, “ [I
assert] the absolute glory of my
Lord, the Great!” (three
times), adding, “ May God
hear him who praiseth Him. Our Lord,
praise be unto
Thee!” Then, raising
his head and body, he repeats,
“ God is most Great!”
He next drops gently upon his
knees, and, saying again, “ God is
most Great!” places
his hands upon the ground, a little before
his knees, and
puts his nose and forehead also to the ground (the
Postures of Prayer. (Part II.)
former first), between his two hands. During this prostration
he
says, “ [I assert] the absolute glory of my
Lord, the Most
High!” (three times). He raises his
head and body (but his knees
remain upon the ground),
sinks backwards upon his heels, and places his
hands
upon his thighs, saying, at the
same time, “ God is most
Great!” and this he repeats
as he bends his head a
second time to the ground. During this second
prostration
he repeats the same words as in the first, and in
raising
his head again, he utters the tekbee'r as before.
Thus are
completed the prayers of one rek”ah. In all
the changes of
posture, the toes of the right foot must
not be moved from the spot where
they were first
placed, and the left foot should be moved as little as
possible.
Having finished the prayers of one rek”ah, the worshipper
rises
upon his feet (but without moving his toes
from the spot where they were,
particularly those of the
right foot), and repeats the same; only he should
recite
some other chapter, or portion, after the
Fa't'hhah,
than that which he repeated before, as,
for instance, the
108th chapter
*.
* In the third and fourth furd
rek”ahs, the recitation of a
second portion of the
Ckoor-a'n after the Fa't'hhah should
be
omitted; and before furd prayers of four rek”ahs, the icka'meh
(which consists of the words of the ada'n, with the
addition of
“ the time of prayer is come,”
pronounced twice after “ come to
security)”
should be repeated; but most persons neglect doing
this, and many do
not observe the former rule.
After every
second rek”ah (and after the
last, though
there be an odd number, as in the
evening furd), he
does not immediately raise his knees from the
ground,
but bends his left foot under him, and sits upon it, and
places his hands upon his thighs, with the fingers a little
apart. In this
posture, he says, “ Praises are to God,
and prayers, and good
works. Peace be on thee, O
Prophet, and the mercy of God, and his
blessings!
Peace be on us, and on [ail] the right worshippers of
God!” Then raising the
first finger of the right hand
*
(but not the hand itself), he adds, “ I testify that there
is no deity but God; and I testify that Mohham'mad is
his
servant and his apostle.”
* The doctors of El-Isla'm
differ respecting the proper position
of the fingers of the right hand
on this occasion: some hold that
all the fingers but the first are 1o
be doubled, as represented in
Part II. of the sketch of the postures of
prayer.
After the
last rek”ah of each of the prayers
(that is,
after the soon'neh prayers and the furd alike),
after
saying, “ Praises are to God,” &c.,
the worshipper,
looking upon his right shoulder, says, “ Peace
be on
you, and the mercy of God!” then, looking upon
the
left, he repeats the same. These salutations are
considered by some as
addressed only to the guardian
angels who watch over the believer, and note
all his
actions
†; but others say that they are addressed both
to
angels and men (
i.
e. believers
only), who may be
present; no person, however, returns them. Before
the
salutations in the
last prayer, the worshipper
may offer
up any short petition (in Scriptural language rather
than
his own); while he does so looking at the palms
of his two hands, which he
holds like an open book
before him, and then draws over his face, from
the
forehead downwards.
† Some say that every believer is
attended by two angels;
others say, five; others, sixty, or a hundred
and sixty.
Having finished both the soon'neh and furd prayers,
the
worshipper, if he would acquit himself completely,
or rather, perform
supererogatory acts, remains sitting
(but may then sit more at his ease),
and recites the
A'yet el-Koor'see, or Throne-Verse,
which is the 256th
of the 2d chapter of the
Ckoor-a'n
*; and adds, “ O
High! O Great! Thine
absolute glory [I assert.]”
He then repeats, “The
absolute glory of God!” (thirty-three
times.) “ The
absolute glory of God, the Great,
with his praise for ever!”
(once.) “ Praise be to God!”
(thirty-three times.)
“ Extolled be his dignity! There is
no deity but
Him,” (once.) “God is most Great!”
(thirty-three times.) “ God is most Great in greatness,
and
praise be to God in abundance!” (once.) He counts
these
repetitions with a string of beads called
seb'hhah
(more properly
soob'hhah). The beads are
ninety-nine,
and have a mark between each thirty-three. They are
of
aloes, or other odoriferous or precious wood, or of
coral, or of certain
fruit-stones, or seeds, &c.
* Beginning with the words
”God! there is no deity but Him;’
and ending
with, “ He is the High, the Great.”
Any wandering of the eyes, or of the mind, a coughing,
or the like,
answering a question, or any action not
prescribed to be performed, must be
strictly avoided
(unless it be
between the
soon'neh prayers and the furd
or be difficult to avoid, for it
is held allowable to make
three slight irregular motions or deviations from
correc
deportment); otherwise the worshipper must begin
again, and
repeat his prayers with due reverence. It
is considered extremely sinful to
interrupt a man when
engaged in his devotions. The time usually
occupied
in repeating the prayers of four rek”ahs, without
the
supererogatory additions, is less than four, or even
three
minutes. The Moos'lim says the five daily
prayers in his house
or shop or in the mosque, according
as may be most convenient to him: it is
seldom
that a person goes from his house to the mosque to
Interior of a Mosque.
pray, excepting to join the
congregation on Friday.
Men of the lower orders oftener pray in the
mosques
than those who have a comfortable home, and a mat or
carpet
upon which to pray.
The same prayers are said by the congregation in
the mosque on the noon of
Friday, but there are additional
rites performed by the Ima'm
and other ministers
on this occasion. The chief reasons for fixing
upon
Friday, as the Mohhammadan Sabbath, were, it is said,
because
Adam was created on that day, and died on the
same day of the week, and
because the general resurrection
was prophesied to happen on that day;
whence,
particularly, Friday was named the day of El-Goom”ah
for the assembly). The Moos'lim does not abstain
from
worldly business on Friday excepting during the
time of prayer, according
to the precept of the Ckoor-a'n,
ch. lxii., vv. 9 and 10.
To form a proper conception of the ceremonials of
the Friday-prayers, it is
necessary to have some idea
of the interior of a mosque. A mosque in which
a
congregation assembles to perform the Friday-prayers
is called
ga'më’. The mosques of
Cairo are so numerous,
that none of them is inconveniently crowded on
the Friday; and some of them are so large as to occupy
spaces three or four
hundred feet square. They are
mostly built of stone, the alternate courses
of which
are generally coloured externally red and white. Most
commonly a large mosque consists of porticoes surrounding
a square open
court, in the centre of which is
a tank or a fountain for ablution. One
side of the
building faces the direction of Mek'keh, and the
portico
on this side, being the principal place of prayer, is more
spacious than those on the three other sides of the
court: it generally has two or
more rows of columns,
forming so many aisles, parallel with the exterior
wall.
In some cases, this portico, like the other three, is open
to
the court; in other cases, it is separated from the
court by partitions of
wood, connecting the front row of
columns. In the centre of its exterior
wall is the
mehhra'b (or niche) which marks the direction
of Mek'keh;
and to the right of this is the
mim'bar (or pulpit).
Opposite the mehhra'b,
in the fore part of the portico,
or in its central part, there is generally
a platform
(called
dik'keh), surrounded
by a parapet, and supported
by small columns; and by it, or before it,
are
one or two seats, having a kind of desk to bear a
volume of the
Ckoor-a'n, from which a chapter is read
to the congregation. The
walls are generally quite
plain, being simply white-washed; but in some
mosques
the lower part of the wall of the place of prayer is
lined
with coloured marbles, and the other part ornamented
with various devices
executed in stucco, but
mostly with texts of the Ckoor-a'n
(which form long
friezes, having a pleasing effect), and never with
the
representation of anything that has life. The pavement
is covered
with matting, and the rich and poor
pray side by side; the man of rank or
wealth enjoying
no peculiar distinction or comfort, unless (which is
sometimes the case) he have a prayer-carpet brought by
his servant, and
spread for him
*.
* Adjoining each mosque are several
latrinae, in each of which
is a receptacle with water, for
ablution.
The Prophet did not forbid
women to attend public
prayers in a mosque, but pronounced it better for them
to pray in private;
but in
Cairo neither females nor
young boys are allowed to pray with the
congregation
in the mosque, nor even to he
present in the mosque at
anytime of prayer: formerly women were permitted
(and
perhaps are still in some countries), but were obliged to
place
themselves apart from the men, and behind the
latter; because, as Sale has
remarked, the Moos'lims
are of opinion that the presence of
females inspires a
different kind of devotion from that which is requisite
in
a place, dedicated to the worship of God. Very few
women in Egypt
even pray at home.
Over each of the mosques of
Cairo presides a
Na'zir
(or warden), who is the trustee of the funds which arise
from lands,
houses, &c. bequeathed to the mosque by
the founder and others,
and who appoints the religious
ministers and the inferior servants. Two
Ima'ms are
employed to officiate in each
of the larger mosques: one
of them, called the
Khate'eb, preaches and prays before
the congregation
on the Friday: the other is an
Ima'm
Ra'tib, 'or ordinary Ima'm, who
recites the five prayers
of every day in the mosque, at the head of those
persons
who may be there at the exact times of those prayers:
but in
most of the smaller mosques both these offices
are performed by one
Ima'm. There are also to
each mosque one or more
moo-ed'dins (to chant the call to
prayer), and
bowwa'bs (or door-keepers),
according as
there are one or more ma'd'nehs (or
menarets) and
entrances; and several other servants are employed to
sweep the mosque, spread the mats, light the lamps, and
attend to the
sa'ckiyeh (or water-wheel), by which the
tank or fountain, and
other receptacles for water, necessary
to the performance of ablutions, are
supplied. The
Ima'ms, and those persons who perform the
lower
offices, are all paid from the funds of the mosque, and
not by
any contributions exacted from the people.
The condition of the Ima'ms is very different, in
most respects,
from that of Christian priests. They have
no authority above other persons,
and do not enjoy any
respect but what their reputed piety or learning
may
obtain them: nor are they a distinct order of men set
apart for
religious offices, like our clergy, and composing
an indissoluble
fraternity; for a man who has acted as
the Ima'm of a mosque may
be displaced by the warden
of that mosque, and, with his employment and
salary,
loses the title of Ima'm, and has
no better chance of
being again chosen for a religious minister than
any
other person competent to perform the office. The
Ima'ms obtain their livelihood chiefly by other means
than the
service of the mosque, as their salaries are
very small; that of a
Khatee'b being generally about a
piaster (22/5d. of our money) per month; and that of
an ordinary
Ima'm, about five piasters. Some of them
engage in trade;
several of them are 'atta'rs (or
druggists
and perfumers), and many of them are schoolmasters:
those
who have no regular occupations of these
kinds often recite the
Ckoor-a'n for hire in private
houses. They are mostly chosen
from among the poor
students of the great mosque El-Az'har.
The large mosques are open from day-break till a
little after the
'esh'ë, or till nearly two hours after
sunset.
The others are closed between the hours of morning
and noon
prayers; and most mosques are also closed in
rainy weather (excepting at
the times of prayer), lest
persons who have no shoes should enter and dirt
the
pavement and matting. Such persons always enter by
the door
nearest the tank or fountain, (if there be more
than one door,) that they
may wash before they pass
into the place of prayer; and generally this door
alone
is left open in dirty weather.
The great mosque El-Az'har
remains open all night, with the
exception of the
principal place of prayer, which is called the
mucksoo'rah,
being partitioned off from the rest of the building.
In many of the
larger mosques, particularly in
the afternoon, persons are seen lounging,
chatting
together, eating, sleeping, and sometimes spinning or
sewing,
or engaged in some other simple craft; but,
notwithstanding,’
such practices, the Moos'lims very
highly respect their mosques.
There are several
mosques in
Cairo (as the Az'har,
Hhusaney'n, &c.),
before which no Frank, nor any other Christian, nor
a
Jew, were allowed to pass, till of late years since the
French
invasion.
On the Friday, half an hour before the doohr (or
noon), the moo-ed'dins of the mosques ascend to the
galleries of
the ma'd'nehs, and chant the Sela'm, which
is a salutation to the Prophet, not
always expressed in
the same words, but generally in words to the
following
effect:—” Blessing and peace be on thee, O
thou of great
dignity! O Apostle of God! Blessing and peace be on
thee, to whom the Truth said, I am God! Blessing and
peace be on thee, thou
first of the creatures of God, and
seal of the Apostles of God! From me be
peace on
thee, and on thy Family and all thy Companions!”
Persons then begin to assemble in the mosques.
The utmost solemnity and decorum are observed in
the public worship of the
Moos'lims. Their looks and
behaviour in the mosque are not those
of enthusiastic
devotion, but of calm and modest piety. Never are they
guilty of a designedly irregular word or action during
their prayers. The
pride and fanaticism which they
exhibit in common life, in
intercourse with persons of
their own, or of a different faith, seem to be
dropped on
their entering the mosque, and they appear wholly
absorbed
in the adoration of their Creator; humble and
downcast, yet without
affected humility, or a forced
expression of countenance. The
Moos'lim takes off his
shoes at the door of the mosque, carries
them in his
left hand, sole to sole, and puts his right foot first,
over
the threshold. If he have not previously performed
the
preparatory ablution, he repairs at once to the Lank
or fountain to acquit
himself of that duty. Before he
commences his prayers he places his shoes
(and his
sword and pistols, if he have such arms,) upon the
matting;,
a little before the spot where his head will
touch the ground in
prostration: his shoes are put one
upon the other, sole to sole.
The people who assemble to perform the noon-prayers
of Friday arrange
themselves in rows parallel to that
side of the mosque in which is the
niche, and facing
that side. Many do not go until the ada'n of
noon, or
just before. When a person goes at, or a little after, the
Sela'm, as soon as he has taken his place in one of the
ranks,
he performs two rek”ahs, and then remains
sitting, on his knees
or cross-legged, while a reader,
having seated himself on the reading-chair
immediately
after the Sela'm, is occupied in reciting (usually
without
book) the Soo'rat el-Kahf (the 18th chapter of the
Ckoor-a'n), or a part of it; for, generally, he has not
finished
it before the ada'n of noon, when he stops.
All the
congregation, as soon as they hear the ada'n
(which is the same
as on other days), sit on their knees
and feet. When the ada'n
is finished, they stand up,
and perform, each separately,
two
*
rek”ahs,
soon'net
el-goom”ah (or the soon'neh ordinance for
Friday),
which they conclude, like the ordinary prayers, with the
two
salutations. A servant of the mosque, called a
mooruck'ckee, then opens the folding-doors at
the foot
of the pulpit-stairs, takes from behind them a straight,
wooden sword, and, standing a little to the right of the
door-way, with his
right side towards the ckib'leh, holds
this sword in his right
hand, resting the point on the
ground: in this position he says,
“ Verily God favoureth,
and his angels bless, the Prophet. O ye
who believe,
bless him, and greet him with a salutation!” Then,
one
or more persons, called Moobal'lighs, stationed on the
dik'keh, chant the following, or similar words
†.
“ O
God! favour and preserve and bless the most noble of
the Arabs and 'Ag'am [or foreigners], the Ima'm
of
Mek'keh and El-Medee'neh and the Temple, to
whom
the spider showed favour, and wove its web in the cave;
and whom
the dubb
‡
saluted, and before whom the
moon was cloven in twain, our lord
Mohham'mad, and
his Family and Companions
’.” The Mooruck'ckee then
recites the
ada'n (which the Moo-ed'dins have already
chanted):
after every few words he pauses, and the
Moobal'lighs, on the
dik'keh, repeat the same words in
a sonorous chant
§. Before
the ada'n is finished, the
* If of the sect of the
Sha'fe'ees, to which, must of the people
of Cairo
belong; but if of that of the Hhan'ufees, four
rek'ahs.
† There are some trifling differences
in the forms of salutations
on the Prophet in the Friday-prayers in
different mosques:
I describe what is most common.
‡ A kind of lizard, the lucerta Libyca.
§ In the great mosque
El-Az'har, there are several Moobal'lighs
in
different places, to make the ada'n heard to the whole
congregation.
Khatee'b, or
Ima'm, conies to the foot of the pulpit,
takes the wooden sword
from the Mooruck'ckce's hand,
ascends the pulpit, and
sits on the top step or platform.
The pulpit of a large mosque, on this
day, is decorated
with two flags, with the profession of the faith, or
the
names of God and Mohham'mad, worked upon them:
these
are fixed at the top of the stairs, slanting forward.
The
Mooruck'ekee and Moobal'lighs having’ finished
the
ada'n, the former repeats a tradition of the Prophet,
saying, “ The Prophet, upon whom be blessing and
peace, hath
said, ‘If thou hast said unto thy companion
while the
Ima'm is preaching on Friday, Be thou silent,
thou hast spoken
rashly.’ Be ye silent: ye shall be
rewarded: God shall
recompense you.” He then sits
down. The Khatee'b now
rises, and, holding the
wooden sword
* in the saint’ manner as the
Mooruck'ckee
did, delivers an exhortation, called
khool'bet el-waaz.
As the reader may be curious to see a translation of a
Mohhammadan
sermon, I insert one. The following
is a sermon preached on the first
Friday of the Arab
year
†. The original, as usual, is in rhyming prose.
* To commemorate the acquisition of
Egypt by the sword.
† During my first visit to Egypt, I
went to the great mosque
El-Az'har, to witness the
performance of the Friday-prayers by
the largest congregation in Cairo.
I was pleased with the
preaching of the Khatee'b of the
mosque, Ga'd El-Mow'la, and
afterwards procured
his sermon-book (deewa'n
khool'ab), containing
sermons for every Friday in the
year, and for the two 'reds, or
grand
festivals. I translate the first sermon.
” Praise be to God, the renewer of years, and the
multiplier of
favours, and the creator of months and
days, according to the most perfect
wisdom and most
admirable judgment; who hath dignified the months of
the Arabs above all months, and pronounced that
among the more excellent
of” them is El-Mohhar'ram
the Sacred, and commenced
with it the year, as he hath
closed it with Zoo-l-Hheg'geh. How
propitious is the
beginning', and how good is the end! [I
assert] his
absolute glory, exempting Him from the association of
any
other deity with Him. He hath well considered
what He hath formed, and
established what He hath contrived,
and He alone hath the power to create
and to
annihilate. I praise Him, asserting his absolute glory,
and
exalting his name, for the knowledge and inspiration
which He hath
graciously vouchsafed; and I testify
that there is no deity but God alone;
He hath no companion;
He is the most holy King; the [God of] peace:
and I testify that our lord and our Prophet and our
friend
Mohham'mad is his servant, and his apostle, and
his elect, and
his intimate, the guide of the way, and the
lamp of the dark. O God! favour
and preserve and
bless this noble Prophet, and chief and excellent
apostle,
the merciful-hearted, our lord Mohham'mad, and his
family, and his companions, and his wives, and his posterity,
and the
people of his house, the noble persons ’.
and preserve them
amply! O servants of God! your
lives have been gradually curtailed, and
your after year
has passed away, and ye are sleeping on the bed of
indolence and on the pillow of stubbornness. Ye pass
by the tombs of your
predecessors, and fear not the
assault of destiny and destruction, as if
others departed
from the world and ye must of necessity remain
in it.
Ye rejoice at the arrival of new years, as if
they brought an increase to
the term of life, and swim in the
seas of desires, and enlarge your hopes,
and in every
way exceed other people [in presumption], and ye are
sluggish in doing good. O how great a calamity is
this! God teacheth by an
allegory. Know ye not that
in the curtailment of time by indolence and
sleep there
is very great trouble? Know ye not that in the cutting
short of lives by the termination of years is a very
great warning? Know ye
not that the night and day
divide the lives of numerous souls? Know ye not
that
health and capacity are two blessings coveted by many
men? But
the truth hath become manifest to those who
have eyes. Ye are now between
two years: one year
hath passed away, and come to an end, with its
evils;
and ye have entered upon another year, in which, if it
please
God, mankind shall be relieved. Is any of you
determining upon diligence
[in doing good] in the year
to come? or repenting of his failings in the
times that
are passed? The happy is he who makes amends for
the time
passed in the time to come; and the miserable
is he whose days pass away
and he is careless of his
time. This new year hath arrived, and the sacred
month
of God hath come with blessings to you,—the first of
the
months of the year, and of the four sacred months, as
hath been
said, and the most worthy of preference and
honour and reverence: its fast
is the most excellent of
fasts after that which is incumbent
*, and the
doing of
good in it is among the most excellent of the objects of
desire. Whosoever desires to reap advantage from it,
let him fast the ninth
and tenth clays, looking for aid.
Abstain not from this fast through
indolence, and
esteeming it a hardship; but comply with it in the best
manner, and honour it with the best of honours, and
improve your time by
the worship of God, morning and
evening. Turn unto God with repentance,
before the
assault of death: He is the God who accepteth repentance
* That of the month of
Rum'ada'n.
of his servants, and pardoneth
sins.—
The Tradition
*.—The Apostle of God (God favour and preserve
him 0 hath Raid, ‘The most excellent prayer, after the
prescribed
†, is the prayer that is said in the night; and
the most
excellent fast, after Rum'ada'n, is that of the
mouth
of God, El-Mohhar'ram.”’
* The Khatee'b always
closes his exhortation with one or two
traditions of the Prophet.
† The five daily prayers ordained by
the Ckour-a'n.
The Khatee'b, having concluded his exhortation, says
to the
congregation, “ Supplicate God.” He then sits
down,
and prays privately; and each member of the
congregation at the same time
offers up some private
petition, as after the ordinary prayers, holding his
hands
before him (looking at the palms), and then drawing
them down
his face. This done, the Moobal'lighs say
“
A'mee'n! A'mee'n! [Amen! Amen!] O
Lord of all
creatures!”—-The Khatee'b now
rises again, and recites
another Khoot'beh, called
khoot'bet en-naat, of
which the following
is a translation
‡:—
‡ This is always the same, or nearly
so.
“Praise be to God, abundant praise, as He hath commanded!.
I
testify that there is no deity but God alone:
He hath no companion:
affirming his supremacy, and
condemning him who denieth and disbedieveth:
and I
testify that our lord and our Prophet Mohham'mad is
his
servant and his apostle, the lord of mankind, the intercessor,
the
accepted intercessor, on the clay of assembling’:
God favour him
and his family as long as the
eye seeth and the ear heareth’. O
people! reverence
God by doing what He hath commanded, and abstain
from that which He hath forbidden and prohibited. The
happy is he who
obeyeth, and the miserable is he who
opposeth and sinneth. Know that
the present world is
a transitory abode, and that the world to come is
a
lasting abode. Make provision, therefore, in your
transitory state
for your lasting state, and prepare for
your reckoning and standing before
your Lord: for know
that ye shall to-morrow be placed before God, and
reckoned with according to your deeds; and before the
Lord of Might ye
shall be present, ‘and those who have
acted unjustly shall know
with what an overthrowal they
shall be overthrown
*.’ Know that God,
whose absolute
glory I assert, and whose name be exalted, hath said
(and ceaseth not to say wisely, and to command judiciously,
warning you,
and teaching, and honouring the
dignity of your Prophet, extolling and
magnifying him),
‘Verily, God favoureth, and his angels bless,
the Prophet:
O ye who believe, bless him, and greet him with
a
salutation
†!’ O God', favour Mohham'mad
and the
family of Mohham'mad, as Thou favouredst
Ibrahee'm
‡
and the family of Ibrahee'm; and bless
Mohham'mad
and the family of Mohham'mad, as Thou
blessedst
Ibrahee'm and the family of”
Ibrahee'm, among all
creatures—for Thou art
praiseworthy and glorious! O
God! do Thou also be well pleased with the
four Khalee'fehs,
the orthodox lords, of high dignity and
illustrious
honour, Ab'oo Bekr Es-Siddee'ck, and
'Om'ar
and 'Osma'n, and
'Al'ee; and be Thou well pleased, O
God! with the six
who remained of the ten noble and
just persons who swore, allegiance to thy
Prophet Mohham'mad
(God favour and preserve him!) under the
tree;
(for Thou art the Lord of piety, and the Lord of pardon,)
* Ckoor-a'n, chap. xxvi..
last verse.
† Idem., chap, xxxiii., ver. 56.
those persons of excellence and
clemency, and rectitude
and prosperity, Tal'hhah, and
Ez-Zoobey'r, and Saad,
and Sa'ee'd, and
'Abd Er-Rahhma'n Ib'n 'Owf, and
Ab'oo 'Obey'deh 'A'mir
Ibn
El-Garra'hh; and with
all the Companions of the Apostle of
God! (God favour
and preserve him!); and be Thou well pleased, O God!
with the two martyred descendants, the two bright
moons, ‘the
two lords of the youths of the people of
Paradise in Paradise,’
the two sweet-smelling flowers of
the Prophet of this nation,
Ab'oo Mohham'mad El-Hhas'an,
and
Ab'oo 'Abd Allah El-Hhosey'n: and be
Thou
well pleased, O God! with their mother, the
daughter of the Apostle of God
(God favour and preserve
him!), Fa'timeh Ez-Zah'ra,
and with their grandmother
Khadee'geh El-Koob'ra, and
with 'A'isheh, the
mother of the faithful, and with
the rest of the pure
wives, and with the generation which succeeded
the
Companions, and the generation which succeeded that,
with
beneficence to the day of judgment! O God!
pardon the believing men and the
believing women, and
the Moos'lim men and the
Moos'lim women, those who
are living:, and the dead; for Thou
art a hearer near, an
answerer of prayers, O Lord of all creatures! O
God!
aid El-Isla'm, and strengthen its pillars, and make
infidelity
to tremble, and destroy its power, by the preservation
of
thy servant, and the son of thy servant, the submissive
to the might of thy
majesty and glory, whom
God hath aided, by the care of the Adored King,
our
master the Soolta'n, son of the Soolta'n,
the Soolta'n Mahhmoo'd Kha'n: may God assist
him, and prolong
[his reign]! O God! assist him, and assist his
armies!
O thou Lord of the religion, and of the world present,
and the
world to come! O Lord of all creatures! O
God! assist the forces of the
Moos'lims and the armies
of the Unitarians! O God! frustrate the
infidels and
polytheists, thine enemies, the enemies of the religion!
O God! invert their banners, and ruin their habitations,
and give them and
their wealth as booty to the Moos'lims
*!
O God! unloose the
captivity of the captives,
and annul the debts of the debtors; and make
this town
to be safe and secure, and blessed with wealth and
plenty,
and all the towns of the Moos'lims, O Lord
of all creatures! and
decree safety and health to us
and to all travellers, and pilgrims, and
warriors, and
wanderers, upon thy earth, and upon thy sea, such as
are
Moos'lims, O Lord of all creatures! ‘O Lord! we
have
acted unjustly towards our own souls, and if Thou
forgive us not and be
merciful unto us, we shall surely be
of those who perish
†.’ I beg of God, the Great, that
He may
forgive me and you, and all the people of
Mohham'mad, the
servants of God. ‘Verily God
commandeth justice, and the doing
of good, and giving
[what is due] to kindred; and forbiddeth
wickedness,
and iniquity, and oppression: he admonisheth you that
ye
may remember
‡ ‘Remember God; He will
remember you: and
thank Him; He will increase to yon
[your blessings]. Praise be to God, the
Lord of all
creatures!”
* This sentence, beginning
“ O God, frustrate,” was not inserted
in one copy
of this prayer, which I obtained from an
Ima'm. Another
Ima'm, at whose dictation I wrote the copy here
translated,
told me that this sentence and some others were often
omitted.
† Ckoor-a'n, chap, vii.,
v. 22,
‡ Ibid., chap, xvi., v. 92.
During the rise of the Nile, a good inundation is also
prayed for in this
Khoot'beh. The Khatee'b, or Ima'm,
having
ended it, descends from the pulpit, and the
Moobal'lighs chant
the
icka'meh (described in page 90):
the
Ima'm, stationed before the niche, then recites the
furd prayers of Friday, which consist of two
rek”ahs,
and are similar to the ordinary prayers. The people
do
the same, but silently, and keeping time exactly with
the
Ima'm in the various postures. Those who are of
the Malikee sect
then leave the mosque; and so also
do many persons of the other sects: but
some of the
Sha'fe'ees and Hhan'afees
(there are scarcely any
Hham'bel'ees in
Cairo)
remain, and recite the
ordinary
furd prayers of noon; forming a number of separate
groups, in each of
which one acts as Ima'm. The rich,
on going out of the mosque,
often give alms to the
poor outside the door.
I have spoken thus fully of Mohhammadan worship,
because my countrymen in
general have very imperfect
and erroneous notions on this subject; many of
them
even imagining that the Moos'lims ordinarily pray to
their Prophet as well as to God. Invocations to the
Prophet, for his intercession, are, indeed,
frequently
made, particularly at his tomb, where pious visitors
generally say, “ We ask thy intercession, O Apostle of
God!” The Moos'lims, also, even implore the
intercession
of their numerous saints.
The duty next in importance to prayer is that of
giving
alms. Certain alms are prescribed by law, and
are called
zek'ah: others, called
sud'ackah, are voluntary.
The former, or obligatory
alms, were, in the
earlier ages of El-Isla'm, collected by
officers appointed
by the sovereign, for pious uses, such as building
mosques, &c.; but now it is left to the
Moos'lim's conscience
to give them, and to apply them
in what manner
he thinks fit; that is, to bestow them upon whatever
needy persons he may choose. They are to be given
once in every year, of
cattle and sheep, generally in the
proportion of one in forty, two in a
hundred and
twenty; of camels, for every five, a ewe; or for
twenty-five,
a pregnant camel; and likewise of money, and,
among the
Hhan'afees, of merchandize, &c. He who
has money to
the amount of two hundred dir'hems (or
drams) of silver, or
twenty miteka'ls (
i.
e.
thirty drams)
of gold (or, among the Hhan'afees, the value of
the
above in gold or silver ornaments, utensils, &c.), must
annually give the fortieth part
(rooba
el-'oshr), or the
value of that part.
Fasting is the next duty. The Moos'lim is
commanded
to fast during the whole month of
Rum'ada'n
*
every day, from the first appearance of day-break, or
rather from the
hour when there is sufficient light for a
person to distinguish plainly a
white thread from a
black thread
† (about two hours before sunrise in
Egypt), until sunset. He must abstain from eating,
drinking, smoking,
smelling perfumes, and every unnecessary
indulgence or pleasure of a
worldly nature; even from
intentionally swallowing his spittle. When
Rum'ada'n falls in summer
‡ the fast is very severe;
the abstinence from drinking being most painfully felt.
Persons who are
sick, or on a journey, and soldiers in
time of war, are not obliged to
observe the fast during
* Because the Prophet received the
first revolution in that
month.
† Ckoor-a'n, chap, ii., v.
183.
‡ The year being lunar,
each’ mouth retrogrades through all
the seasons in the
course of about thirty-three years and a half.
Rum'ada'n;
but if they do not keep it in this month
they should fast an equal number
of days at a future
time. Fasting is also to be dispensed with in the
cases
of a nurse and pregnant woman. The Prophet even
disapproved of
any person's keeping the fast of
Rum'ada'n
if not perfectly able; and desired no man to
fast so much as to injure his
health, or disqualify himself
for necessary labour. The modern
Moos'lims seem
to regard the fast of
Rum'ada'n as of more importance
than any other
religious act, for many of them
keep this fast who neglect their daily
prayers; and even
those who break the fast, with very few exceptions,
pretend to keep it. Many Moos'lims of the wealthy
classes eat
and drink in secret during Rum'ada'n; but
the greater
number strictly keep the fast, which is fatal
to numerous persons in a weak
state of health. There
are some other days on which it is considered
meritorious
to fast, but not absolutely necessary. On the two
grand
festivals, namely, that following Rum'ada'n, and
that
which succeeds the pilgrimage, it is
unlawful to
fast, being expressly forbidden by the Prophet.
The last of the four most important duties, that of
pilgrimage, remains to be noticed. It is
incumbent
on every Moos'lim to perform, once in his life, the pilgrimage
to Mek'keh and Mount 'Arafa't, unless poverty
or
ill health prevent him; or, if a Hhan'afee, he may send
a deputy, whose expenses he must pay
*. Many, however,
neglect the duty of
pilgrimage who cannot plead
a lawful excuse; nor are they reproached for so
doing.
It is not by the visit to Mek'keh, and the performance
* A Ma'likee is held bound
to perform the pilgrimage if strong
enough to bear the journey on foot,
and able to earn his food on
the way.
of the ceremonies of circuiting
the Ka'abeh seven times
and kissing the “black
stone” in each round, and other
rites in the Holy City, that the
Moos'lim acquires the
title of
el-hha'gg*
(or the pilgrim); the final object of
the pilgrimage is Mount
'Arafa't, six hours’ journey
distant from
Mek'keh. During his performance of the
required ceremonies in
Mek'keh, and also during his
journey to
'Arafa't, and until his completion of the
pilgrimage,
the Moos'lim wears a peculiar dress,
called
ehhra'm (vulgarly hhera'm), generally
consisting
of two simple pieces of cotton, or linen, or woollen cloth,
without seam or ornament, one of which is wrapped
round the loins, and the
other thrown over the shoulders:
the instep and heel of each foot, and the
head, must be
bare; but umbrellas are now used by many of the
pilgrims.
It is necessary that the pilgrim be present on
the occasion
of a Khoot'beh which is recited on Mount
'Arafa't in the afternoon of the 9th of the month of
Zoo-l-Hheg'geh. In the ensuing evening, after sunset,
the
pilgrims commence their return to Mek'keh. Halting
the following
day in the valley of Min'a (or, as it is
more commonly called,
Moon'a), they complete the
ceremonies of the pilgrimage by a
sacrifice (of one or
more male sheep, he-goats, cows, or she-camels, part
of
the flesh of which they eat, and part give to the poor),
and by
shaving the head and clipping’ the nails. Every
one, after this,
resumes his usual dress, or puts on a new
one, if provided with such. The
sacrifice is called
el-fid'a (or the ransom), as it is performed
in commemoration
of the ransom of Isma'ee'l (or
Ishmael) by
* On the pronunciation of this word,
see a note to the second
paragraph of Chapter V.
the sacrifice of the ram, when he
was himself about to
have been offered up by his father: for it is the
general
opinion of the Moos'lims that it was this son, not
Isaac,
who was to have been sacrificed by his father.
There are other ordinances, more or less connected
with those which have
been already explained.
The two festivals, called e
l-'Eed
es-Sooghei'yir*, or
the Lesser Festival, and
e
l-'Eed el-Kebee'r, or the
Great Festival, the occasions of which have been mentioned
above, are
observed with public prayer and
general rejoicing. Each of these lasts
three days.
The festivities with which they are celebrated will be
described in a subsequent chapter. On the first day of
the latter festival
(being that on which the pilgrims
perform their sacrifice), every other
Moos'lim should
slay a victim if he can afford to purchase one.
The
wealthy slay several sheep, or a sheep or two and a
buffalo, and
distribute the greater portion of the meat
to the poor. The slaughter may
be performed by a
deputy.
* More properly, Saghee'r. This is what many travellers have
incorrectly called “the Great Festival.”
The duty of waging war against infidels is strongly
and repeatedly urged in
the Ckoor-a'n: and he who
dies fighting for the defence or
propagation of El-Isla'm
is promised the rewards of a martyr. As
the Jews were
ordered to exterminate heathen nations, so the
Moos'lims
are commanded to put to death every idolater who
refuses to embrace the Mohhammadan faith, and to
exact an annual tribute
from Jews and Christians who
show the like resolution. The
Moos'lims are even forbidden
to contract friendship with any
unbelievers.
There are certain prohibitory laws in the Ckoor-a'n
which must be mentioned here, as
remarkably affecting
the moral and social condition of its disciples.
Wine and all inebriating liquors are forbidden, as
being the cause of
“ more evil than profit.
* Many of
the Moos'lims,
however, in the present day, drink wine,
brandy, &c., in secret;
and some, thinking it no sin to
indulge thus in moderation, scruple not to
do so openly;
but among the Egyptians there are few who transgress
in
this flagrant manner.
Boo'zeh, which is an
intoxicating
liquor made with barley-bread, crumbled, mixed
with
water, strained, and left to ferment, is commonly
drunk by the boatmen of
the Nile, and by other persons
of the lower orders
†. Opium, and other drugs
which
produce a similar effect, are considered unlawful, though
not
mentioned in the Ckoor-a'n; and persons who are
addicted to
taking- these drugs are regarded as immoral
characters; but, in Egypt, such
persons are not very
numerous. Some sectarians have pronounced
tobacco,
and even coffee, to be unlawful.
* Ckoora'n, chap, ii., v.
216.
† A similar beverage, thus prepared
from barley, was used by
the ancient Egyptians. (Herodotus, lib. ii.,
cap. 77.) The
modern inhabitants of Egypt also prepare
boo'zeh from wheat and
from millet in the same manner, but
less commonly.
The eating of swine's flesh is strictly forbidden. The
unwholesome effects of that meat in a hot climate would
be a sufficient
reason for the prohibition; but the pig is
held in abhorrence by the
Moos'lim chiefly on account
of its extremely filthy habits
‡. Most
animals prohibited
for food by the Mosaic law are alike forbidden to
the
Moos'lim; the camel is an exception. The Moos'lim
is
‡ The swine was universally deemed
impure by the ancient
Egyptians. (Herodotus, lib. ii., cap. 47.)
” forbidden [to eat]
that which dieth of itself, and blood,
and swine's flesh, and
that on which the name of any
beside God hath been invoked; and that which
hath
been strangled, or killed by a blow, or by a fall, or by
the
horns [of another beast]; and that which hath been
eaten by a wild beast,
except what he shall [himself]
kill; and that which hath been sacrificed
unto idols
*.”
An animal that is killed for the food of
man must be
slaughtered in a particular manner: the person who is
about to perform the operation must say, “ In the name
of God!
God is most great!” and then cut its throat,
taking care to
divide the windpipe, gullet, and carotid
arteries. It is forbidden to
employ, in this case, the
phrase which is so often made use of on other
occasions,
“ In the name of God, the Compassionate, the
Merciful!”
because the mention of the most benevolent
epithets of the Deity on such an occasion would seem
like a mockery of the
sufferings which the animal is
about to endure. Some persons in Egypt, but
mostly
women, when about to kill an animal for food, say,
“In
the name of God! God is most great! God give thee
patience to endure the affliction which he hath allotted
thee
†!” If the sentiment which first dictated this
prayer were always felt, it would present a beautiful
trait in the
character of the people who use it. In
cases of necessity, when in danger
of starving, the
Moos'lim is allowed to eat any food which is
prohibited
under other circumstances. The mode of slaughter
above
described is, of course, only required to be practised
in the cases of
domestic animals. Most kinds of
* Ckoor-a'n, ch. v., v. 4
† The Arabic words of this prayer,
“ God give thee patience,”
&c., are
Al'lah yoosub'birak
'al’ a
ma’ bela'k.
fish are lawful food
*; so also
are many birds, the tame
kinds of which must be killed in the same manner
as
cattle; but the wild may be shot. The hare, rabbit,
gazelle,
&c. are lawful, and may either be shot or killed
by a dog,
provided the name of God was uttered at the
time of slipping the dog, and
he have not eaten any
part of the prey. This animal, however, is
considered
very unclean: the Sha'fe'ees hold
themselves to be polluted
by the touch of its nose if it be wet, and if
any
part of their clothes be so touched, they must wash that
part with
seven waters, and once with clean earth:
some others are only careful not
to let the animal lick,
or defile in a worse manner, their persons or
their
dress, &c.
* In some respects, the
Moos'lim code does not appear to be
so strictly founded upon
exigencies of a sanatory nature as the
Mosaic. See Leviticus, xi.,
9–12. In Egypt, fish which have
not scales are generally
found to he unwholesome food.
Gambling and usury are also prohibited, and all
games of chance; and
likewise the making of images
or pictures of anything that has life
†. The
Prophet
declared that every representation of this kind would be
placed before its author on the day of judgment, and
that he would be
commanded to put life into it; which
not being able to do, he would be
cast, for a time, into
Hell.
† Many of the Moos'lims
hold that only sculptures which cast
a shadow, representing living
creatures, are unlawful; but the
Prophet certainly condemned pictures
also.
The principal civil laws of the Ckoor-a'n and
the
Traditions, &c., remain to be stated.
These laws are
partly founded upon the customs of the Pagan Arabs,
but
mostly upon the Jewish Scriptures and traditions.
The civil laws are chiefly derived from the Ckoor-a'n
*;
but,
in many important cases, this highest authority
affords no precept. In most
of these cases the Traditions
of the Prophet direct the decisions of the
judge
†.
There
are, however, some important cases, and many of an
inferior
kind, respecting which both the Ckoor-a'n and
the Traditions are
silent. These are decided on the authority
of one of the four great
Ima'ms, or founders of the
four orthodox sects of
El-Isla'm; on the authority of
the Tma'm of that sect
to which the ruling power
belongs, which sect, in Egypt, and throughout
the
Turkish empire, is that of the Hhan'afees; or, if none
of the decisions of the Ima'm relate to a case in dispute
(which
not unfrequently happens), judgment is given,
in that case, on the
authority of some other eminent
doctor. In general, only the principal
laws, as laid down
in the Ckoor-a'n, will he here stated.
* A law given in the
Ckoor-a'n is called furd.
† A law derived from the Traditions
is called soon'neh.
It seems to be well ascertained that
polygamy is as
unfavourable to population as it is injurious to domestic
happiness, to
morality, and to the exercise and improvement
of the nobler powers of the
mind; and, in
justice to the legislator of the Moos'lims, we
should
remark, that, instead of introducing or encouraging,
he limited
this licence: it is true that he assumed to
himself the privilege of having
a greater number of
wives than he allowed to others, but, in doing so,
he
may have been actuated by the want of male offspring
rather than
impelled by voluptuousness. The law
respecting
marriage and
concubinage, though express
as to
the number of wives whom the Moos'lim may
have at the same time, namely
four, is not considered
by the less strict as
perfectly explicit with regard to the
number of concubines he may keep. It
is written,
“ Take in marriage, of the women who please
you,
two, three, or four; but if ye fear that ye cannot act
equitably
[to so many, take] one; or [take] those whom
your right hands have
acquired
*,” that is, slaves. Many
of the wealthy
Moos'lims, interpreting this text according
to their desires,
marry two, three, or four wives,
and keep, besides, several concubine
slaves. When
a female slave becomes a mother by her master, the
child
which she bears to him is free; and she herself
cannot afterwards be sold
by her master (though she
must continue to serve him and be his concubine),
and
is entitled to emancipation at his death. Her bearing a
child to
him is called the cause of her emancipation or
liberty, but does not oblige
him to emancipate her as
long as he lives, though it is commendable if he
do so,
and make her his wife, provided he have not already
four wives,
or if he marry her to another man, should
it be her wish. It is held lawful
for a Moos'lim to
marry a Christian, or a Jewish woman, if
induced to do
so by excessive love of her, or if he cannot obtain a
wife of his own faith. In this case the offspring must
follow the
father's faith, and the wife does not inherit
when the husband
dies. A Mohhammadan woman
cannot, however, under any circumstances but by
force,
marry a man of another faith. The degrees of relationship
in
which marriage is prohibited are stated in
the 26th and 27th verses of the
4th chapter of the
Ckoor-a'n, where it is said, “
Marry not women whom
your fathers have had to wife.”
“ Ye are forbidden to
* Ckoor-a'n, chap, iv., v.
3,
marry your mothers, and your
daughters, and your
sisters, and your aunts both on the father's
and on the
mother's side, and your brother's
daughters, and your
sister's daughters, and your foster-mothers,
and your
foster-sisters, and your wives’ mothers, and your
stepdaughters
which are under your tuition, born of your
wives,” “and the wives of your sons;”
“ and ye are
forbidden to take to you two sisters, as your
wives.” It is
lawful for the Moos'lim to see the
faces of these women
whom he is forbidden to marry, but of no others,
excepting
his own wives and female slaves. The marriage
of a man and
woman, or of a man and a girl who has
arrived at puberty, is lawfully
effected by their declaring
(which the latter generally does by a
wekee'l, or deputy)
their consent to
marry each other, in the presence of
two witnesses (if witnesses can be
procured), and by the
payment, or part-payment, of a dowry. But the
consent
of a girl under age is not required; her father, or
paternal
grandfather, or her mother, uncle, or any other
person appointed by will,
or by the Cka'dee, acting for
her as he pleases
*. The
giving a dowry is indispensable,
and the least sum that is allowed by law
is ten
dir'hems (or drams of silver), which is equal
to about
five shillings of our money. A man may legally marry
a woman
without mentioning a dowry; but after the
consummation of the marriage, she
can, in this case,
compel him to pay the sum of ten dir'hems
†.
* A boy may be thus married, but he
may divorce his wife.
† Whatever property the wife receives
from her husband,
parents, or any other person, is entirely at her own
disposal, and
not subject to any claim of her husband or his
creditors.
A man may
divorce his wife twice, and each time
take
her back, without any ceremony, excepting in a case
to be mentioned below; but if he
divorce her the third
time, or put her away by a triple divorce conveyed in
one
sentence, he cannot receive her again until she has been
married
and divorced by another husband, who must
have consummated his marriage
with her.
*
When a
man divorces his wife (which he does by merely saying,
“ Thou art divorced,” or “ I divorce
thee’:), he pays her
a portion of her dowry (generally
one-third), which he
had kept back from the first, to be paid on this
occasion,
or at his death; and she takes away with her the furniture,
&c., which she brought at her marriage. He may
thus put her away
from mere dislike
†, and without
assigning any reason, but a woman
cannot separate
herself from her husband against his will, unless it
be
for some 'considerable fault on his part, as cruel
treatment,
or neglect; and even then, application to the
Cka'dee's court is generally necessary to compel the
man
to divorce her, and she forfeits the above-mentioned
remnant of
the dowry.
* Ckoor-a'n, ch. ii., ver.
229, 230.
† As the Mosaic law also allows. See
Deut. xxiv. 1.
The first and second divorce, if made without
any mutual agreement for a
compensation from the woman,
or a pecuniary sacrifice on her part, is
termed
tala'ck
reg”ee (a
divorce which admits of return); because the
husband may take back his
wife, without her consent,
during the period of her
'ed'deh (which will be presently
explained), but not after, unless with her consent, and
by a new contract.
If he divorce her the first or second
time for a compensation, she perhaps
requesting, “ Divorce
me for what thou owest me,” or
“ — hast of mine,”
(that is, of the dowry,
furniture, &c.), or for an additional
sum, he cannot take her again but
by her own
consent, and by a new contract. This is a
tala'ck ba'in
(or separating divorce), and is termed “ the lesser
separation,”
to distinguish it from the third divorce,
which
is called “the greater separation.” The
'ed'deh is the
period during
which a divorced woman, or a widow,
must wait before marrying’
again,—in either case, if
pregnant, until delivery: otherwise,
the former must
wait three lunar periods, or three months; and the
latter, four months and ten days. A woman who is
divorced when in a state
of pregnancy, though she may
make a new contract of marriage immediately
after her
delivery, must wait forty days longer before she can
complete her marriage by receiving her husband. The
man who divorces his
wife must maintain her in his own
house, or in that of her parents, or
elsewhere, during
the period of her 'ed'deh; but must
cease to live with
her as her husband from the commencement of that
period. A divorced woman who has a son under two
years of age may retain
him until he has attained that
age, and may be compelled to do so by the
law of the
Sha'fe'ees; and, by the law of the
Ma'likees, until he
has arrived at puberty; but the
Hhan'afee law limits
the period during which the boy should
remain under
her care to seven years: her daughter she should retain
until nine years of age, or the period of puberty. If a
man divorce his
wife before the consummation of marriage,
he must pay her half the sum
which he has promised
to give her as a dowry; or, if he have promised
no dowry, he must pay her the half of the smallest
dowry allowed by law,
which has been above mentioned;
and she may marry again immediately.
When a wife refuses to obey the lawful commands of
her husband, he may, and
generally does, take her, or
two witnesses
* against her, to the
Cka'dee's court, to
prefer a complaint against her;
and, if the case be
proved, a certificate is written declaring the woman
na'shizeh, or rebellious against her husband.
This
process is termed “ writing a woman
na'shizeh.” It
exempts her husband from the
obligation to lodge,
clothe, and maintain her. He is not obliged to
divorce
her; and, by refusing- to do this, he may prevent her
marrying
another man as long as he lives; but, if she
promise to be obedient
afterwards, he must take her
back, and maintain her, or divorce her. It is
more
common, however, for a wife whose husband refuses to
divorce her,
if she have parents or other relations able
and willing to support her
comfortably, to make a complaint
at the Cka'dee's
court, stating her husband's conduct
to be of such a nature
towards her that she will not
live with him, and thus cause herself to be
registered “
na'shizeh,” and separated
from him. In this case, the
husband generally persists, from mere spite, in
refusing
to divorce her.
* The witnesses must always Le
Moos'lims in accusations
against a person of the same
faith.
To establish a charge of infidelity against a wife, four
eye-witnesses of
her crime are necessary
†. If convicted
thus, she is to be put to death by
stoning
‡.
It need
scarcely be said that cases of this kind have very seldom
occurred, from the difficulty of obtaining such testimony
§.
† Ckoor-a'n, chap, iv., v.
19.
‡ This is a soon'neh law, or founded on tradition. The law is
the same in the case of the adulterer, if married; but it is never
enforced. See Leviticus, xx., 10, and John, viii., 4.
5.
§ It is worthy of remark, that the
circumstance which occasioned
the promulgation of this extraordinary
law was an accusation of adultery
preferred against the Prophet's favourite wife,
'A'isheh: she was thus absolved from punishment, and
her reputation
was cleared by additional “
revelations.”
Further laws on this subject,
and still more favourable
to the women, are given in the
Ckoor-a'n
*, in the following
words:—” But [as to] those who accuse women
of
reputation [of fornication or adultery], and produce
not four witnesses
[of the fact], scourge them with
eighty stripes, and receive not their
testimony for ever;
for such are infamous prevaricators; excepting
those
who shall afterwards repent; for God is gracious and
merciful. They who shall accuse their wives [of adultery],
and shall
have no witnesses [thereof] besides
themselves, the testimony [which
shall be required] of
one of them [shall be], that he swear four limes
by
God that he speaketh the truth, and the filth [time that
he
imprecate] the curse of God on him if he be a liar;
and it shall avert
the punishment [of the wife] if she
swear four times by God that he is
a liar, and if the
fifth [time she imprecate] the wrath of God on her
if
he speak the truth.” The commentators and lawyers
have agreed that, under these circumstances, the marriage
must be
dissolved. In the chapter from which
the above quotation is made (v.
2), it is ordained that
unmarried persons convicted of fornication
shall be
punished by scourging, with a hundred stripes; and a
Soon'neu law renders them obnoxious to the further
punishment of banishment for a whole year
†. Of the
† An unmarried person, convicted of
adultery, is also obnoxious
only to this punishment. The two laws
mentioned in Leviticus, xx.,
13 and 15, have been introduced into the
Mohhammadan code;
but, in the present day, they are never executed.
punishment of women convicted of
incontinence in
Cairo, I shall speak in the next chapter, as it is an
arbitrary
act of the government, not founded on the laws of
the
Ckoor-a'n or Traditions
*. No distinction is made
between the
children of wives and those of concubine
slaves: they inherit equally.
* In the villages of Egypt, a woman
found, or suspected, to
have been guilty of this crime, if she be not a
common prostitute,
often experiences a different fate, which wilt be
described in the
account of the domestic life and customs of the lower
orders.
The most remarkable general principles of the laws
of
inheritance are the denial of any privileges to primogeniture
†,
and awarding to a female a share equal to
half that of a male of the
same degree of relationship to
the deceased. A man may bequeath to any
persons, or
for any purpose, one-third of his property, but not a
larger portion. The children of a man deceased inherit
his whole property,
or all of it that he has not otherwise
lawfully disposed of, or what
remains after paying his
lawful legacies and debts, if neither of his
parents be
living, nor any wife; and the portion of a male is
double
that of a female. If they be females only, and
two or more in number, they
receive, by the law of the
Ckoor-a'n, two-thirds; or if there be
but one child, and
that a female, she receives, by the same law, half
the
property; but the remaining third or half is also given
up to the
said daughters or daughter, by a law of the
Soon'neh, if there
be no other relations to whom it may
be awarded. If the parents of the
deceased be living
‡,
they have each one-sixth of the property if he
leave
† In this, the Moos'lim
law differs from the Mosaic, which
appropriates a double portion to the
first-torn. See Deut. xxi., 17.
‡ Or the grandfather or grandmother
children
*; and, if there be no children
†, his
father
receives two-thirds, and his mother the remaining third;
or, if
there he brothers of the deceased, the mother has
only one-sixth, and the
said brothers have one-sixth. If
there be brothers and sisters of the
deceased, but no
parents, nor children, nor wives, the property is
divided
among them; the share of a male being double that of
a female.
If only one sister of the deceased be living,
and there be neither parents,
nor brothers, nor children,
nor wives, she enjoys the same right as the
female only
child of a man who leaves neither parent nor wife; or, if
there be two or more sisters, in such case their right is
the same as that
of two or more daughters of a man who
leaves neither son, nor parent, nor
wife. One-eighth only
is the share of the wife, or wives, if there be
issue; and
one-fourth if there be no issue
‡. A man inherits half
his
wife's property if she have left no issue, and one-fourth
if she
have left issue. In all cases, the debts and
legacies (if there be any) of
the deceased must be first
paid
§. The laws respecting cases in which no
near
relations of the deceased exist are found in the Traditions
of
the Prophet, and the decisions of the Iim'ms
‖.
In Egypt, the property
of the deceased is nominally
divided into
ckeera'ts, or twenty-fourth parts; and the
share of
each son or other heir is said to he so many
ckeera'ts.
‡ This is exclusive of what may
remain clue to her of her
dowry; of which one-third is usually held in
reserve by the husband,
to be paid to her if he divorce her, or when he
dies.
§ Ckoor-a'n, chap, iv.,
vv. 12—14. and l75.
‖ A bastard inherits from his mother,
but not from his father.
The law is remarkably lenient towards d
ebtors.
“ If
there be any [debtor]”, says the
Ckoor-a'n
*, “under a
difficulty [of paying his
debt], let [his creditor] wait till
it be easy [for him to do it]; but if
ye remit it as alms,
it will be better for you, if ye knew it.”
The Mons'lim
is commanded (in the chapter from which the
above
extract is taken), when he contracts a debt, to cause a
statement of it to be written, and attested by two men,
or a man and two
women, of his own faith. The
debtor is imprisoned for non-payment of his
debt; but,
if he establish his insolvency, he is liberated. He may
be
compelled to work for the discharge of his debt, if
able.
It is ordained that
murder shall be punished with
death, or that the perpetrator shall pay, to the heirs of
the person whom
be has killed, a fine, which is to be
divided according to the laws of
inheritance; and it is
optional with the said heirs to decree whether the
murderer
shall be put to death or the fine accepted
†. By
the
Hhan'afee code, the free may be put to death for
the murder of a
slave; but not the parent for the
offspring. In the present day, however,
murder is
generally punished with death; the government seldom
allowing a composition in money to be made. The
Bed'awees have
made the law of the avenging of blood
terribly severe and unjust,
transgressing the limits
assigned by the Ckoor-a'n: for, with
them, any single
person descended from the homicide, or from the
homicide's father, grandfather, great-grandfather, or
great-grandfather's father, may be killed by any of
such
relations of the person murdered or killed in
† Ckoor-a'n, chap.ii., v.
173.
fight; but, among most tribes,
the fine is generally
accepted instead of the blood. Cases of
blood-revenge
are very common among the peasantry of Egypt, who,
as I
have before remarked, retain many customs of their
Bed'awee
ancestors. The relations of a person who has
been killed, in an Egyptian
village, generally retaliate
with their own hands rather than apply to the
government,
and often do so with disgusting cruelty, and even
mangle
and insult the corpse of their victim. The relations
of a homicide usually
fly from their own to
another village, for protection. Even when
retaliation
has been made, animosity frequently continues between
the
two parties for many years; and often a case of
Wood-revenge involves the
inhabitants of two or more
villages in hostilities, which are renewed, at
intervals,
during the period of several generations. A woman,
convicted of a capital crime, is generally put to death by
drowning in the
Nile.
Theft, according to the Ckoor-a'n
*, is to be
punished
by cutting off the offender's right hand for the
first
offence; but a Soon'neh law ordains that (his
punishment
shall not be inflicted if the value of the stolen property
be less than a quarter of a deena'r
†; and it is also
held
necessary, to render the thief obnoxious to this
punishment, that the
property stolen should have been
deposited in a place to which he had not
ordinary or easy
access: whence it follows, that a man who steals in
the
house of a near relation is not subject to this punishment;
† The deena'r is a
mitcka'l (or nearly 72 English grains) of
gold. Sale,
copying a false translation by Marracci, and neglecting
to examine the
Arabic text quoted by the latter, has stated
the sum in question to be
four deena'rs.
nor is a slave who robs the
house, of his master. For
the second offence, the left foot is to be cut
off; for the
third, the left hand; for the fourth, the right foot;
and,
for further offences of the same kind, the culprit is to be
flogged or beaten. A man may steal a free-born infant
without offending
against the law, because it is not property;
but not a slave: and the hand
is not to be cut
off for stealing any article of food that is quickly
perishable;
because it may have been taken to supply the immediate
demands of hunger. There are also some other
cases in which the thief is
exempt from the punishments
above mentioned. In Egypt, of late years, these
punishments
have not been inflicted. Beating and hard labour
have been
substituted for the first, second, or third
offence, and frequently death
for the fourth. Most petty
offences are usually punished by beating with
the
koor-ba'g
(a thong or whip of hippopotamus’ hide, hammered
into a
round form), or with a stick, generally on the
soles of the feet
*.
* The feet are confined by a chain or
rope attached at each
end to a staff, which is turned round to tighten
it. This is called
a fel'ekeh. Two
persons (one on each side) strike alternately.
Drunkenness was punished, by the Prophet, by
flogging;
and is still in
Cairo, though not often: the
hhadd,
or number of stripes, for this offence, is eighty.
Apostacy from the Mohhammadan faith is considered
a
most heinous sin, and must be punished with death,
unless the apostate will
recant on being thrice warned.
I once saw a woman paraded through the
streets of
Cairo, and afterwards taken down to the Nile to be
drowned,
for having apostatized from the faith of Mohham'mad,
and having
married a Christian. Unfortunately,
she had tattooed a blue cross on her
arm, which
led to her detection by one of
her former friends in a
bath. She was mounted upon a high-saddled ass,
such
as ladies in Egypt usually ride, and very respectably
dressed,
attended by soldiers, and surrounded by a rabble,
who, instead of
commiserating, uttered loud imprecations
against her. The
Cka'dee, who passed sentence upon
her, exhorted her, in vain, to
return to her former faith.
Her own father was her accuser! She was taken
in a
boat into the midst of the liver, stripped nearly naked,
strangled, and then thrown into the stream
*. The Europeans
residing in
Cairo
regretted that the Ba'sha was
then at
Alexandria, as they might
have prevailed upon
him to pardon her. Once before they interceded
with
him for a woman who had been condemned for apostacy.
The
Ba'sha ordered that she should be brought
before him: he
exhorted her to recant; but, finding her
resolute, reproved her for her
folly, and sent her home,
commanding that no injury
should be done to her.
* The conduct of the lower orders in
Cairo on this occasion
speaks sadly against their character. A song was composed on the
victim of this terrible
law, and became very popular in the
metropolis.
A few words may here be added respecting the sect of
the
Wah'ha'bees, which was founded, less than a
century
ago, by Mohham'mad Ibn 'Abd
El-Wah'ha'b, a pious
and learned sheykh of the
province of Nejd, in central
Arabia. About the middle of the last century,
he had
the good fortune to convert to his creed a powerful chief
of
Ed-Dir'ee'yeh, the capital of the Nejd. This chief,
Mohham'mad Ib'n So'oo'd, became the
sovereign of the
new sect—their religious and political
head—and under
him and his successors the
Wah'ha'bee doctrines were
spread throughout the
greater part of Arabia. He was
first succeeded by his son,
'Abd El-'Azee'z; next, by
So'oo'd, the son of the latter, and the greatest of
the
Wah'ha'bee leaders; and, lastly, by
'Abd Al'lah, the son
of this
So'oo'd, who, after an arduous warfare with the
armies of Mohham'mad 'Al'ee, surrendered
himself to
his victorious enemies, was sent to Egypt, thence to
Constantinople, and there beheaded. The wars which
Mohham'mad
'Al'ee carried on against the
Wah'ha'bees
had for their chief object the
destruction of the political
power of the new sect: their religious tenets
are still
professed by many of the Arabs, and allowed to be
orthodox
by the most learned of the 'Ool'ama of Egypt.
The
Wah'ha'bees are merely reformers, who believe all
the
fundamental points of El-Isla'm, and all the accessory
doctrines
of the Ckoor-a'n and the Traditions of the Prophet:
in short,
their tenets are those of the primitive
Moos'lims. They
disapprove of gorgeous sepulchres,
and domes erected over tombs: such they
invariably destroy
when in their power. They also condemn, as
idolaters, those who pay peculiar veneration to deceased
saints; and even
declare all other Moos'lims to be
heretics, for the extravagant
respect which they pay to
the Prophet. They forbid the wearing of silk, and
gold
ornaments, and all costly apparel; and also the practice
of
smoking tobacco. For the want of this last luxury,
they console themselves
in some degree by an immoderate
use of coffee
*. There are many learned
men
among them, and they have collected many valuable
books (chiefly
historical) from various parts of Arabia,
and from Egypt.
* Among many other erroneous
statements respecting the
Wah'ha'bees it has been
asserted that they prohibit the drinking
of coffee.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER IV.
GOVERNMENT.
EGYPT has, of late years, experienced great political
changes, and nearly
ceased to be a province of the
Turkish Empire. Its present
Ba'sha (Mohham'mad
'Al'ee), having exterminated the Ghoozz, or
Memloo'ks,
who shared the government, with his predecessors,
has
rendered himself an almost independent prince. He,
however,
professes allegiance to the Soolta'n, and remits
the tribute,
according to former custom, to Constantinople:
he is, moreover, under an
obligation to respect
the fundamental laws of the Ckoor-a'n and
the Traditions;
but he exercises a dominion otherwise unlimited.
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 him to almost
every action by
which he has attracted either praise or censure
*.
* The government of Egypt, from the
period of the conquest
of this country by the Arabs, has been nearly
the same as at
present in its influence upon the manners and customs
and character
of the, inhabitants; and I therefore do not deem an
historical
retrospect necessary to the illustration of this work.
It
should, however, be mentioned, that the people of Egypt are not
now allowed to indulge in that excessive fanatical rudeness with
which
they formerly treated unbelievers. Restraint may, at first,
increase,
but will probably, in the course of time, materially
diminish, the
feeling of fanatical intolerance.
In the Citadel of the Metropolis is a court of judicature,
called
Deewa'n el-Khidee'wee, where, in
the Ba'sha's
absence, presides his
Kikh'ya*, or deputy, Hhabee'b
Efen'dee. In cases which do not full within the province
of the
Cka'dee, or which are sufficiently clear to be
decided without
referring them to the court of that
officer, or to another council, the
president of the
Deewa'n el-Khidee'wee passes
judgment. Numerous
guard-houses have been established throughout the
metropolis,
at each of which is stationed a body of Niza'm,
or regular troops. The guard is called
Ckool'loock
†, or,
more commonly, at present,
Ckar'a-cko'l
‡.
Persons
accused of thefts, assaults, &c., in
Cairo, are given
in
charge to a soldier of the guard, who takes them to the
chief
guard-house, in the Moo'skee, a street in that part of
the town
in which most of the Franks reside. The charges
being here stated, and
committed to writing, he conducts
them to the
Za'bit, or chief magistrate of the police of
the
metropolis. The Za'bit, having heard the case, sends
the accused
for trial to the Deewa'n el-Khidee'wee
§.
* Thus pronounced in Egypt, but more
properly Kya'hhya, or Ket'khood'a.
† From the Turkish Ckoo'l-loack.
§ A very arbitrary power is often
exercised in this and similar
courts, and the proceedings are conducted
with little decorum.
Many Turkish officers, even of the highest rank,
make use of
language far too disgusting for me to mention towards
persons
brought before them for judgment, and towards those who
appeal
to them for justice.
When a person denies the offence
with which he is
charged, and there is not sufficient evidence to
convict
him, but some ground of suspicion, be is generally
bastinadoed,
in order to induce him to confess; and then,
if not
before, when the crime is not of a nature that
renders him obnoxious to a
very heavy punishment, he,
if guilty, admits it. A thief, after this
discipline, generally
confesses, “The devil seduced me, and I
took it.”
The punishment of the convicts is regulated by a
system
of arbitrary, but lenient and wise, policy: it usually consists
in their being compelled to labour, for a scanty sustenance,
in some of the
public works; such as the
removal of rubbish, digging canals,
&c.; and sometimes
the army is recruited with able-bodied young
men
convicted of petty offences. In employing malefactors
in labours
for the improvement of the country, Mohham'mad
'Al'ee merits the praises bestowed upon
Sabacon, the
Ethiopian conqueror and king of Egypt,
who is said to have introduced this
policy. The Ba'sha
is, however, very severe in punishing thefts,
&c., committed
against himself:—death is the usual
penalty in
such cases.
There are several inferior councils for conducting the
affairs of different
departments of the administration.
The principal of these are the
following: 1. The
Meg'lis
el-Mesh'war'ah (the Council of Deliberation);
also called
Meg'hs el-Mesh'war'ah
el-Mel'ekee'yeh ( the Council of
Deliberation on the affairs of the State), to distinguish it
from other
councils. The members of this and of the
other similar councils are chosen
by the Ba'sha, for their
talents or other qualifications; and
consequently his will
and interest sway them in all their decisions. They
are
his instruments, and compose a committee for presiding
over the general government of
the country, and the
commercial and agricultural affairs of the
Ba'sha. Petitions,
&c., addressed to the
Ba'sha, or to his Deewa'n,
relating to private
interests or the affairs of the government,
are. generally submitted to
their consideration and judgment,
unless they more properly come under the
cognizance
of other councils hereafter to be mentioned.
2. The
Meg'lis
el-Gih'a'dee'yeh
(the Council of the Army); also called
Mag'lis el-Mesh'war'ah
el-'Aska-ree'yth
(the Council of Deliberation on Military Affairs).
The province of
this court is sufficiently shown by its
name. 3. The Council of the
Turskha'neh, or Navy.
4. The
Deewa'n el-Toogga'r (or Court of
the Merchants).
This court, the members of which are merchants
of
various countries and religions, presided over
by the
Sha'h-ben'dar (or chief of the merchants of
Cairo),
was instituted in consequence of the laws of the
Ckoor-a'n
and the Soon'neh being found not
sufficiently explicit in
some cases arising out of modern commercial
transactions.
The
Cka'dee (or chief judge) of
Cairo presides
in
Egypt only a year, at the expiration of which term, a
new
Cka'dee having arrived from Constantinople, the
former returns.
It was customary for this officer to
proceed from
Cairo, with the great
caravan of pilgrims,
to Mek'keh, perform the ceremonies of the
pilgrimage,
and remain one year as Cka'dee of the holy city,
and
one year at El-Medee'neh
*. He purchases his place
privately of
the government, which pays no particular
regard to his qualifications;
though he must be a man
* He used to arrive in Cairo in the
beginning of Rum'ada'n;
but the beginning of the
first month, Mohhar'ram, has of late
been fixed upon instead
of the former period.
of some knowledge, an
'Osma'nlee (that
is, a Turk),
and of the sect of the Hhan'afees. His tribunal is
called the
Mahh'kem'eh, or Place of
Judgment. Few
Cka'dees are very well acquainted with the Arabic
language;
nor is it necessary for them to have such knowledge.
In
Cairo, the Cka'dee has little or nothing to
do but to confirm
the sentence of his
Na'ib (or deputy),
who hears and decides the more ordinary cases, and
whom he chooses from
among the 'Ool'ama of Istamboo'l,
or the
decision of the
Moof'tee (or chief doctor
of
the law) of his own sect, who constantly resides in
Cairo, and
gives judgment in all cases of difficulty; but in
general the
Na'ib is, at the best, but little conversant with
the popular
dialect of Egypt; therefore, in
Cairo, where
the chief proportion of the
litigants at the Mahh'kem'eh
are Arabs, the judge
must place the utmost confidence
in the
Ba'sh
Toorgooma'n (or Chief Interpreter), whose
place is
permanent, and who is consequently well acquainted
with all the customs of
the court, particularly
with the system of bribery; and this knowledge he
is
generally very ready to communicate to every new
Cka'dee
and Na'ib. A man may be grossly ignorant
of the law, and yet
hold the office of Cka'dee of
Cairo:
several instances of this
kind have occurred: but the
Na'ib must be a lawyer of learning
and experience.
When a person has a suit to prefer at the Mahh'kem'eh
against another individual or party, he goes
thither, and applies to the
Ba'sh Roos'ool (or chief of
the
sergeants who execute arrests) for a
Rasoo'l to arrest
the accused. The Rasoo'l
receives a piaster or two
*,
* The Egyptian piaster is now
equivalent to the fifth part of a
shilling, or 2 2/5 d.
and generally gives half of this
fee privately to his
chief. The plaintiff and defendant then present
themselves
in the great hall of the Mahh'kem'eh;
which is a
large saloon, facing a spacious court, and having an
open
front, formed by a row of columns and arches.
Here are seated several
officers called
Sha'hids, whose
business
is to write the statements of the cases to be
submitted to judgment, and
who are under the authority
of the
Ba'sh
Ka'tib (or Chief Secretary). The plaintiff,
addressing
any one of the Sha'hids whom he finds unoccupied,
states his
case, and the Sha'hid commits it to writing,
and receives a fee
of a piaster or more; after
which, if the case be of a trifling nature, and
the
defendant acknowledge the justice of the suit, he (the
Sha'hid) passes sentence; but otherwise he conducts
the two
parties before the Na'ib, who holds his court in
an inner
apartment. The Na'ib, having heard the case,
desires the
plaintiff to procure
a fet'wa (or judicial
decision)
from the Moof'tee of the sect of the
Hhan'afee's,
who receives a fee, seldom less than ten
piasters, and
often more than a hundred, or two hundred. This is
the
course pursued in all cases but those of a very
trifling’
nature, which are settled with less trouble, and
those of great importance
or intricacy. A case of the
latter kind is tried in the private apartment
of the
Cka'dee, before the Cka'dee himself, the
Na'ib, and the
Moof'tee of the Hhan'afees,
who is summoned to hear
it, and to give his decision; and sometimes, in
cases of
very great difficulty or moment, several of the
'Ool'ama
of
Cairo are, in like manner, summoned. The
Moof'tee
hears the case, and writes his sentence; and the
Cka'dee
confirms his judgment, and stamps the paper with
his
seal, which is all that he has to do in any case. The
accused may clear himself by his
oath, when the plaintiff
has not witnesses to produce: placing his
right
hand on a copy of the Ckoor-a'n, which is held out
to
him, he says “ By God, the Great!” three times;
adding “ By what is contained in this of the word of
God!” The witnesses must be men of good repute, or
asserted to
be such, and not interested in the cause: in
every case, at least two
witnesses are requisite
* (or one
man and two women); and each of these must
be
attested to be a person of probity by two others. An
infidel cannot
bear witness against a Moos'lim in a case
involving capital or
other heavy punishment, and evidence
in favour of a son or grandson, or of
a father or
grandfather, is not received; nor is the testimony of
slaves; neither can a master testify in favour of his
slave.
* This law is borrowed from the Jews.
See Deut. xix., 15. A
Man may refuse to give his testimony.
The fees, until lately, used to be paid by the successful
party; but now
they are paid by the other party. The
Cka'dee's fees
for decisions in cases respecting the sale
of property are two per cent,
on the amount of the property:
in cases of legacies, four per cent.,
excepting
when the heir is an orphan not of age, who pays only
two per
cent.: for decisions respecting’ property in
houses or land,
when the cost of the property in question
is known, his fees are two per
cent.; but, when the
cost is not known, one year's rent. These
are the legitimate
fees; but more than the due amount is often
exacted. In cases which do not concern property, the
Cka'dee's Na'ib fixes the amount of the fees.
There
are also other fees than those of the Cka'dee to be
paid
after the decision of the case:
for instance, if the
Cka'dee's fees be two or three
hundred piasters, a fee f
about two piasters must be paid to the
Ba'sh Toorgooma'n;
about the same to the
Ba'sh Roos'ool; and one
piaster to the
Rasoo'l, or to each Rasoo'l employed.
The rank of a plaintiff or defendant, or a bribe from
either, often
influences the decision of the judge. In
general the Na'ib and
Moof'tee take bribes, and the
Cka'dee receives from
his Na'ib. On some occasions,
particularly in long litigations,
bribes are given by each
party, and the decision is awarded in favour of
him who
pays highest. This frequently happens in difficult lawsuits;
and, even in cases respecting which the law is perfectly
clear, strict
justice is not always administered;
bribes and false testimony being
employed by one of the
parties. The shocking extent to which the practices
of
bribery and suborning false witnesses are carried in
Moos'lim courts of law, and among them in the tribunal
of the
Cka'dee of
Cairo, may be scarcely credited on the
bare assertion
of the fact: some strong proof, resting
on indubitable authority, may be
demanded; and here I
shall give such proof, in a summary of a case which
was
tried not long- since, and which was related to me by
the
Secretary and Ima'm of the Sheykh El-Mah'dee,
who was
then supreme Moof'tee of
Cairo (being the
chief
Moof'tee of the Hhan'af'ees), and to whom
this
case was referred after judgment in the
Cka'dee's court.
A Turkish merchant, residing in
Cairo, died, leaving
property to the amount of six thousand purses
*, and
* A purse is the sum of five hundred
piasters, and was then
equivalent to nearly seven pounds sterling; but
is now equal to
only five pounds.
no relation to inherit but one
daughter. The Seyd
Mohham'mad El-Mahhroo'ckee, the
Sha'h-ben'dar (chief
of the merchants of
Cairo),
hearing of this event,
suborned a common
fel'la'hh, who was the bow'wa'b
(or
door-keeper) of a respected sheykh, and whose parents
(both of
them Arabs) were known to many persons, to
assert himself a son of a
brother of the deceased. The
case was brought before the
Cka'dee, and, as it was one
of considerable importance, several
of the principal
'Ool'ama of the city were summoned
to decide it. They
were all bribed or influenced by
El-Mahhroo'ckee, as
will presently be shown; false witnesses
were brought
forward to swear to the truth of the
bow'wa'b's pretensions,
and others to give
testimony to the good character
of these witnesses. Three thousand purses
were
adjudged to the daughter of the deceased, and the other
half of
the property to the bow'wa'b.
El-Mahhroo'ckee
received the share of the latter, deducting only
three
hundred piasters, which he presented to the
bow'wa'b.
The chief Mooftee, El-Mnh'dee,
was absent from
Cairo when the case was tried. On his return to the
metropolis,
a few days after, the daughter of the deceased
merchant
repaired to his house, stated her case to him,
and earnestly solicited
redress. The Moof'tee, though
convinced of the injustice which
she had suffered, and
not doubting the truth of what she related
respecting
the part which El-Mahhroo'ckee had taken in this
affair,
told her that he feared it was impossible for him to
annul the
judgment unless there were some irregularity
in the proceedings of the
court, but that he would look
at the record of the case in the register of
the Mahh'kem'eh.
Having done this, he betook himself
to the
Ba'sha, with whom he was in great favour for his
knowledge and inflexible
integrity, and complained to
him that the tribunal of the
Cka'dee was disgraced by
the administration of the most flagrant
injustice; that
false witness was admitted by the
'Ool'ama, however
evident and glaring it might be;
and that a judgment
which they had given in a late case, during his
absence,
was the general talk and wonder of the town. The
Ba'sha summoned the Cka'dee, and all the
'Ool'ama
who had tried this case, to meet the
Moof'tee in the
Citadel; and, when they had assembled there,
addressed
them, as from himself, with the Mnof'tee's
complaint.
The Cka'dee, appearing, like the
”Ool'ama, highly indignant
at this charge, demanded
to know upon what it
was grounded. The Ba'sha replied that it
was a general
charge, but particularly grounded upon the case in which
the court had admitted the claim of a bow'wa'b to a
relationship and inheritance which they could not believe
to be his right.
The Cka'dee here urged that he had
passed sentence in accordance
with the unanimous decision
of the 'Ool'ama then
present. “ Let the record of
the case be read,” said
the Ba'sha. The journal being
sent for, this was done; and when
the secretary had
finished reading the minutes, the Cka'dee, in
a loud
tone of proud authority, said, “And I judged
so.” The
Moof'tee, in a louder and more authoritative
tone, exclaimed,
“ And thy judgment is false!” All
eyes were
fixed in astonishment, now at the Moof'tee, now at
the
Ba'sha, now at the other 'Ool'ama. The
Cka'dee and
the ”Ool'ama rolled their
heads and stroked their
beards. The former exclaimed, tupping his breast,
“ I,
the Cka'dee of Musr, pass a false
sentence!” “ And
we,” said the
'Ool'ama, “ we, Sheykh Mah'dee!
we,
'Ool'ama el-Isla'm, give a false
decision!” “O Sheykh
Mah'dee,”
said El-Mahhroo'ckee (who, from his commercial
transactions with
the Ba'sha, could generally
obtain a place in his councils),
“ respect the 'Ool'ama, as
they respect
thee!” “ O Mahhroo'ckee!” exclaimed
the
Moof'tee, “ art thou concerned in this affair?
Declare
what part thou hast in it, or else hold thy peace: go,
speak
in the assemblies of the merchants, but presume
not again to open thy mouth
in the council of the
'Ool'ama!”
El-Mahhroo'ckee immediately left the palace,
for he saw how the
affair would terminate, and
had to make his arrangements accordingly. The
Moof'tee
was now desired, by the other
'Ool'ama, to adduce a
proof of the invalidity of
their decision. Drawing from
his bosom a small book on the laws of
inheritance, he
read from it, “ To establish a claim to
relationship and
inheritance, the names of the father and mother of
the
claimant, and those of his father's father and mother,
and of his mother's father and mother, must be
ascertained.”
The names of the father and mother of the
pretended father of the
bow'wa'b, the false
witnesses
had not been prepared to give; and this deficiency in
the
testimony (which the 'Ool'ama, in trying the case,
purposely overlooked) now caused the sentence to be
annulled. The
bow'wa'b was brought before the council,
and, denying
the imposition of which he had been made
the principal instrument, was, by
order of the Ba'sha,
very severely bastinaded; but the only
confession that
could be drawn from him by the torture which he
endured
was, that he had received nothing more of the
three thousand
purses than three hundred piasters.
Meanwhile, El-Mahhroo'ckee
had repaired to the bow'wa'b's
master: he
told the latter what had happened at
the Citadel, and what he had foreseen
would be the
result, put into his hand three
thousand purses, and
begged him immediately to go to the council, give
this
sum of money, and say that it had been placed in his
hands in
trust by his servant. This was done, and the
money was paid to the daughter
of the deceased.
In another case, when the Cka'dee and the council of
the
'Ool'ama were influenced in their decision by a
Ba'sha (not Mohham'mad 'Al'ee), and
passed a sentence
contrary to law, they were thwarted in the same
manner by El-Mah'dee. This Moof'tee was a rare
example of integrity. It is said that he never took a
fee for a
fet'wa. He died shortly after my first visit to
this country. I
could mention several other glaring
cases of bribery in the court of the
Cka'dee of
Cairo;
but the above is sufficient.
There are five minor Mahh'kem'ehs in
Cairo; and
likewise one at its principal port, Boo'la'ck; and one
at
its southern port, Musr El-'Atee'ckah. A
Sha'hid from
the great Mahh'kem'eh
presides at each of them, as
deputy of the chief Cka'dee, who
confirms their acts.
The matters submitted to these minor tribunals
are
chiefly respecting the sales of properly, and legacies,
marriages,
and divorces; for the Cka'dee marries female
orphans under age
who have no relations of age to act
as their guardians; and wives often
have recourse to
law to compel their husbands to divorce them. In
every
country-town there is also a Cka'dee, generally a
native
of the place, and never a Turk, who decides all cases,
sometimes from his own knowledge of the law, but
commonly on the authority
of a Moof tee. One Cka'dee
generally serves for two or three or
more villages.
Each of the four orthodox sects of Moos'lims (the
Hhan'afees, Sha'fe'ees, Ma'likees,
and Hham'bel'ees)
has its
Sheykh, or religious chief, who is chosen from
among the most learned
of the body, and resides in the
metropolis. The Sheykh of the great mosque
El-Az'har
(who is always of the seet of the
Sha'fe'ees, and
sometimes Sheykh of that sect),
together with the other
Sheykhs above mentioned, and the
C'ka'dec, the Nackee'b
el-Ashra'f (the chief of the Sheree'fs, or
descendants
of the Prophet), and several other persons, constitute
the
council of the
'Ool'ama*
(or learned men), by whom
the Turkish Ba'shas and
Memloo'k chiefs have often
been kept in awe, and by whom their
tyranny has frequently
been restricted: but now this learned body has
lost almost all its influence over the government. Petty
disputes are
often, by mutual consent of the parties at,
variance, submitted to the
judgment of one of the four
Sheykhs first mentioned, as they are the chief
Moof'tees
of their respective sects; and the utmost deference
is
always paid to them. Difficult and delicate causes, which
concern
the laws of the Ckoor-a'n or the Traditions, are
also frequently
referred by the Ba'sha to these Sheykhs;
but their opinion is
not always followed by him: for
instance, after consulting them respecting
the legality of
dissecting human bodies, for the sake of acquiring
anatomical knowledge, and receiving their declaration
that it was repugnant
to the laws of the religion, he,
nevertheless, has caused it to be
practised by Moos'lim
students of anatomy.
* In the singular, 'A'lim. This title is more particularly
given
to a professor of jurisprudence. European writers generally
use
the plural form of this appellation for the singular.
The police of the metropolis is more under the direction
of the military
than of the civil power. A few
years ago it was under the authority of the
Wa'lee and the
Za'bit; but since my first visit to this
country the office
of the former has been abolished. He was charged
with the apprehension of thieves and other criminals;
and under his
jurisdiction were the public women, of
whom he kept a list, and from each
of whom he exacted
a tax. He also took cognizance of the conduct of
the
women in general; and, when he found a female to have
been guilty
of a single act of incontinence, he added her
name to the list of the
public women, and demanded
from her the tax, unless she preferred, or could
afford,
to escape that ignominy, by giving to him, or to his
officers,
a considerable bribe. This course was always
pursued, and is still, by a
person who farms the tax of
the public women
*, in the case of unmarried
females,
and generally in the case of the married also; but the
latter
are sometimes privately put to death, if they cannot,
by bribery or some
other artifice, save themselves.
Such proceedings are, however, in two
points, contrary
to the law, which ordains that a person who accuses a
woman of adultery or fornication, without producing
four witnesses of the
crime, shall be scourged with
eighty stripes, and decrees other punishments
than
those of degradation and tribute against women convicted
of such
offences.
* Since this was written, the public
women throughout Egypt
have been compelled to relinquish their
licentious profession.
The office of the Za'bit has before been mentioned.
He is now the
chief of the police. His officers, who
have no distinguishing mark to
render them known as
such, are interspersed through the metropolis:
they
often visit the coffee-shops, and observe the conduct,
and listen
to the conversation, of the citizens. Many of
them are pardoned thieves.
They accompany the military
guards in their nightly rounds
through the streets
of the metropolis. Here, none but the blind are
allowed to go out at night later than about an hour and
a half after
sunset, without a lantern or a light of some
kind. Few persons are seen in
the streets later than two
or three hours after sunset. At the fifth or
sixth hour,
one might pass through the whole length of the metropolis
and scarcely meet more than a dozen or twenty
persons, excepting the
watchmen and guards, and the
porters at the gates of the by-streets and
quarters. The
sentinel, or guard, calls out to the approaching
passenger,
in Turkish, “ Who is that
*?” and is
answered,
in Arabic, “A citizen
†.” The private
watchman, in the
same case, exclaims, “Attest the unity of God
‡!” or
merely, “Attest the unity
§!”’ The answer given to
this is,
“There is no deity but God
‖!” which Christians,
as
well as Moos'lims, object not to say; the former
understanding
these words in a different sense from the
latter. It is supposed that a
thief, or a person hound
on any unlawful undertaking, would not dare to
utter
these words. Some persons loudly exclaim, in reply to
the
summons of the watchman, “ There is no deity but
God:
Mohham'mad is God's Apostle.”
*
Kee'men door’ o',
for kee'm door’ o’.
†
Ib'n bel'ed. If Wind, he
answers A'ama.
§
Wahh'hhid; or, to more than one person,
Wahh'hhidoo.
‖
La’ ila'ha
il'la-lla'h.
The Za'bit, or A'gha of the police, used frequently to
go about the metropolis by night, often accompanied
only by the executioner
and the she'alegee, or bearer of
a kind
of torch called she'aleh, which is still in
use.
This torch burns, soon after it is lighted, without a
flame, excepting when
it is waved through the air, when
it suddenly blazes forth: it therefore
answers the same
purpose as our dark lantern. The burning end is
sometimes
concealed in a small pot or jar, or covered with
something
else, when not required to give light; but it
is said that thieves often
smell it in time to escape meeting
the bearer. When a person without a
light is met
by the police at night, he seldom attempts resistance or
flight; the punishment to which he is liable is beating.
The chief of the
police had an arbitrary power to put
any criminal or offender to death,
without trial, and
when not obnoxious, by law, to capital punishment;
and so also had many inferior officers, as will be seen in
subsequent pages
of this work: but within the last two
or three years, instances of the
exercise of such power
have been very rare, and I believe they would not
now
be permitted. The officers of the Za'bit perform their
nightly rounds with the military guards merely as being
better acquainted
than the latter with the haunts and
practices of thieves and other bad
characters; and the
Za'bit himself scarcely ever exercises any
penal authority
beyond that of beating or flogging.
Very curious measures, such as we read of in some of
the “ Tales
of a Thousand and One Nights,” were often
adopted by the police
magistrates of
Cairo, to discover
an offender, before the late innovations.
I may mention
an instance. The authenticity of the following case,
and
of several others of a similar nature, is well known.
I shall relate it in
the manner in which I have heard it
told. A poor man applied one day to the
A'gha of the
police, and said, “ Sir, there came to
me, today, a
woman, and she said to me,
‘Take this
ckoors
*, and
let it remain in your possession for a time, and lend me
five hundred
piasters:’ and I took it from her, Sir, and
gave her the five
hundred piasters, and she went away:
and when she was gone away, I said to
myself, ‘Let me
look at this ckoors;’ and I looked at
it, and behold, it
was yellow brass: and I slapped my face, and said,
‘I
will go to the A'gha, and relate my story to him;
perhaps
he will investigate the affair, and clear it up;’
for
there is none that can help me in this matter but
thee.”
The A'gha said to him, “ Hear what
I tell thee, man.
Take whatever is in thy shop; leave nothing; and
lock
it up; and to-morrow morning go early; and when thou
hast opened
the shop, cry out, ‘Alas for my property!’
then take
in thy hands two clods, and beat thyself with
them, and cry,
'Alas for the property of others!’ and
whoever says
to thee, ‘What is the matter with thee?’
do thou
answer, ‘The property of others is lost: a
pledge that I had,
belonging to a woman, is lost; if it
were my own, I should not thus lament
it;’ and this
will clear up the affair.” The man
promised to do as he
was desired. He removed everything from his shop,
and early the next morning he went and opened it, and
began to cry out,
“ Alas for the property of others!” and
he took two
clods, and beat himself with them, and went
about every district of the
city, crying, “ Alas for the
property of others! a pledge that I
had, belonging to a
woman, is lost; if it were my own, I should not
thus
lament it.” The woman who had given him the ckoors
in
pledge heard of this, and discovered that it was the
man whom she had
cheated; so she said to herself, “Go
* An ornament worn on the crown of
the head-dress by women,
described in the Appendix to this work.
and bring an action against
him.” She went to his
shop, riding on an ass, to give herself
consequence, and
said to him, “ Man, give me my property that is
in thy
possession.” He answered,” It is
lost.” “ Thy tongue
be cut out!” she
cried: “ dost thou lose my property?
By Al'lah! I
will go to the A'gha, and inform him of it.”
“ Go,” said he; and she went, and told her case. The
A'gha sent for the man; and when he had come, said to
his
accuser, “ What is thy property in his possession?”
She answered, “ A ckoors of red Venetian gold.”
“ Woman,” said the A'gha, “ I have a
gold ckoors
here: I should like to show it thee.” She said,
“ Show
it me, Sir, for I shall know my ckoors.” The
A'gha
then untied a handkerchief, and, taking out of it the
ckoors which she had given in pledge, said “ Look.”
She looked at it and knew it, and hung clown her head.
The A'gha
said, “ Raise thy head, and say where are
the five hundred
piasters of this man.” She answered,
“ Sir, they are
in my house.” The executioner was sent
with her to her house,
hut without his sword; and the
woman, having gone into the house, brought
out a purse
containing the money, and went back with him. The
money
was given to the man from whom it had been
obtained, and the executioner
was then ordered to take
the woman to the Roomey'leh (a large
open place below
the Citadel), and there to behead her, which he did.
The markets of
Cairo, and the weights and measures,
are under the inspection
of an officer called the
Mohh'tes'ib.
He occasionally rides about the town, preceded by an officer
who
carries a large pair of scales, and followed by the
executioners and
numerous other servants. Passing by
shops, or through the markets, he
orders each shopkeeper,
one after another, or sometimes only one here and
there,
to produce his”
scales, weights, and measures, and tries
whether they be correct. He also
inquires the prices
of provisions at the shops where such articles are
sold.
Often, too, he stops a servant, or other passenger, in the
street, whom he may chance to meet carrying any article
of food that he has
just bought, and asks him for what
sum, or at what weight, he purchased it.
When he
finds that a shopkeeper has incorrect scales, weights, or
measures, or that he has sold a tiling deficient in weight,
or above the
regular market-price, he punishes him on
the spot. The general punishment
is healing or flogging
Once I saw a man tormented in a different way,
for selling bread deficient in weight. A hole was bored
through his nose,
and a cake of bread, about a span
wide and a finger's breadth in
thickness, was suspended
to it by a piece of string. He was stripped naked,
with
the exception of having a piece of linen about his loins,
and
tied, with his arms bound behind him, to the bars of
a window of a mosque
called the Ashrafee'yeh, in the
principal street of the
metropolis, his feet resting upon
the sill, He remained thus about three
hours, exposed
to the gaze of the multitude which thronged the street,
and to the scorching rays of the sun.
A person who was appointed Mohh'tes'ib shortly after
my former visit to this country (Moos'tuf'a
Ka'shif, a
Koord) exercised his power in a most brutal
manner,
clipping men's ears (that is, cutting off the lobe, or
ear-lap),
not only for the most trifling transgression, but
often for
no offence whatever. He once met an old
man driving along several asses
laden with water-melons,
and, pointing to one of the largest of these
fruits, asked
its price. The old man put his finger and thumb to his
ear-lap, and said, “ Cut it, Sir.” He was asked again
and again, and gave the same
answer. The Mohh'tes'ib,
angry, but unable to refrain
from laughing, said,” Fellow,
are you mad or deaf?”
No,” replied the old man, “ I
am neither mad nor
deaf; but I know that, if I were to
say the price of the melon is ten
fud'dahs, you would
say ‘Clip his ear;’
and if I
said five fud'dahs, or
one
fud'dah, you would say ‘Clip his ear:’
therefore clip it at
once, and let me pass on.” His humour saved
him.
Clipping ears was the usual punishment inflicted by this
Mohh'tes'ib; but sometimes he tortured in a different
manner. A butcher, who had sold some meat wanting
two ounces of its due
weight, he punished by cutting off
two ounces of flesh from his back. A
seller of
koona'feh
(a kind of paste resembling vermicelli) having made
his customers pay
a trifle more than was just, he caused
him to be stripped, and seated upon
the round copper
tray on which the koona'feh was baked, and kept
so
until he was dreadfully burnt. He generally punished
dishonest
butchers by putting a hook through their nose,
and hanging a piece of meat
to it. Meeting, one day, a
man carrying a large crate full of earthen
water-bottles
from Semennoo'd, which he offered for sale as made
at
Ckin'ë, he caused his attendants to break each
bottle
separately against the vender's head.
Moos'tuf'a Ka'shif
also exercised his
tyranny in other cases than those
which properly fell under his
jurisdiction. He once took
a fancy to send one of his horses to a bath, and
desired
the keeper of a bath in his neighbourhood to prepare
for
receiving it, and to wash it well, and make its coat
very smooth. The
bath-keeper, annoyed at so extra
ordinary a command, ventured to suggest
that, as the
pavements of the bath were of marble, the horse might
slip, and fall; and also, that it might take cold on going
out; and that it would,
therefore, be better for him to
convey to the stable the contents of the
cistern of the
bath in buckets, and there to perform the operation.
Moos'tuf'a Ka'shif said, “ I see how
it is; you do not
like that my horse should go into your bath.”
He
desired some of his servants to throw him down, and
beat him with
staves until he should tell them to stop.
They did so; and beat the poor
man till he died.
A few years ago there used to be carried before the
Mohh'tes'ib, when going his rounds to examine the
weights and measures, &c., a pair of scales larger than
that
used at present. Its beam, it is said, was a hollow
tube, containing some
quicksilver; by means of which,
the bearer, knowing those persons who had
bribed his
master, and those who had not, easily made either scale
preponderate.
As the Mohh'tes'ib is the overseer of the public
markets,
so there are officers who have a similar charge in
superintending each branch of the Ba'sha's trade and
manufactures; and some of these persons have been
allowed to perpetrate
most abominable acts of tyranny
and cruelty. One of this class, who was
named 'Al'ee
Bey,
Na'zir
el-Ckooma'sh (or Overseer of the Linen),
when he found
a person in possession of a private loom,
or selling the produce of such a
loom, generally bound
him up in a piece of his linen, soaked in oil and
tar;
then suspended him, thus enveloped, to a branch of a
tree, and
set light to the wrapper. After having destroyed
a number of men in this
horrible manner, he
was himself, among many others, burnt to death, by
the
explosion of a powder-magazine on the northern slope
of the
Citadel of
Cairo, in 1824, the year before my
first arrival in Egypt. A
friend of mine, who spoke to
me of the atrocities of this
monster, added, “ When
his corpse was taken to be buried, the
Sheykh El-'Aroo'-see
(who was Sheykh of the great
mosque El-Az'har)
recited the funeral prayers over it, in the
mosque of the
Hhas'aney'n; and I acted as
moobal'ligh (to repeat the
words of the
Ima'm): when the Sheykh uttered the
words, ‘Give your
testimony respecting him,’ and when
I had repeated them, no one
of all the persons present,
and they were many, presumed to give the
answer,
‘He was of the virtuous:’ all were silent: to
make the
circumstance more glaring', I said again,
'Give your
testimony respecting him:’ but not an
answer was
heard; and the Sheykh, in confusion, said, but in a very
low voice, 'May God have mercy upon him.’ Now we
may
certainly say of this cursed man,” continued my
friend,
“ that he is gone to hell: yet his wife is constantly
having
khut'mehs (recitals of the
Ckoor-a'n)
performed in her house for him; and lights two
wax
candles, for his sake, every evening, at the niche of the
mosque
of the Hhas'aney'n.”
Every quarter in the metropolis has its sheykh, called
Sheykh el-Hha'rah, whose influence is exerted
to maintain
order, to settle any trifling disputes among the
inhabitants, and to expel those who disturb the peace of
their neighbours.
The whole of the metropolis is also
divided into eight districts, over each
of which is a
sheykh, called Sheylth el-Toomn.
The members of various trades and manufactures in
the metropolis and other
large towns have also their
respective sheykhs, to whom all disputes
respecting
matters connected with those trades or crafts are submitted
for arbitration: and whose sanction is required
for the admission of new
members.
The servants in the metropolis are likewise under the
authority of
particular sheykhs. Any person in want of
a servant may procure one by
applying to one of these
officers, who, for a small fee (two or three
piasters),
becomes responsible for the conduct of the man whom
he
recommends. Should a servant so engaged rob his
master, the latter gives
information to the Sheykh, who,
whether he can recover the stolen property
or not, must
indemnify the master.
Even the common thieves used, not many years
since, to respect a superior,
who was called their sheykh.
He was often required to search for stolen
goods, and
to bring offenders to justice; which he generally
accomplished.
It is very remarkable that the same strange
system
prevailed among the ancient Egyptians
*.
* See Diudorus Siculus, lib. i., cap.
80.
The Coptic Patriarch, who is the head of his church,
judges petty causes
among his people in the metropolis;
and the inferior clergy do the same in
other places;
but an appeal may be made to the Cka'dee. A
Moos'lim
aggrieved by a Copt may demand justice from the
Patriarch or the Cka'dee: a Copt who seeks redress
from a
Moos'lim must apply to the Cka'dee. The Jews
are
similarly circumstanced. The Franks, or Europeans
in general, are not
answerable to any other authority
than that of their respective consuls,
excepting when
they are aggressors against a Moos'lim: they are
then
surrendered to the Turkish authorities, who, on the
other hand,
will render justice to the Frank who is
aggrieved by a Moos'lim.
The inhabitants of the country-towns and villages
are under the government
of Turkish officers and of
their own countrymen. The whole
of Egypt is divided
into several large provinces, each of which is
governed
by an 'Osma'nlee (or a Turk); and these
provinces are
subdivided into districts, which are governed by native
officers, with the titles of
Ma-moo’ r and
Na'zir. Every
village, as well as town,
has also its Sheykh, called
Shaykh el-Bel'ed; who is one of the native
Moos'lim
inhabitants. All the officers above mentioned,
excepting
the last, were formerly Turks; and there were other
Turkish
governors of small districts, who wore called
Ka’ shifs, and
Cka'im-macka'ms: the change was made
very
shortly before my present visit to this country; and
the
Fella'hhee'n complain that their condition is worse
than it was before; but it is generally from the tyranny
of their great
Turkish governors that they suffer most
severely.
The following case will convey some idea of the condition
of Egyptian
peasants in some provinces. A
Turk
*, infamous for many barbarous acts,
presiding at
the town of Tun'ta, in the Delta, went one night to
the
government granary of that town, and finding two peasants
sleeping
there, asked thorn who they were, and
what was their business in that
place. One of them
said that he had brought 130 ardeb'bs of corn
from a
village of the district; and the other, that ho had
brought 60
ardeb'bs from the land belonging to the
town. “You
rascal!” said the governor to the latter;
“this man
brings 130 ardeb'b from the lands of a small
village; and you,
but GO from the lands of the town.”
“ This
man,” answered the peasant of Tun'ta, “
brings
* Sooleyma'n
A'gha, the Silahhda'r: he has died since this
was
written.
corn but once a week; and I am
now bringing it every
day.” “ Be silent!”
said the governor; and, pointing
to a neighbouring tree, ordered one of the
servants of
the granary to hang the peasant to one of its branches.
The order was obeyed, and the governor returned to
his house. The next
morning he went again to the
granary, and saw a man bringing in a large
quantity of
corn. He asked who he was, and what quantity he
had
brought; and was answered, by the hangman of the
preceding night,
“ This is the man, Sir, whom I
hanged by your orders, last
night; and he has brought
160 ardeb'bs.” “
What!” exclaimed the governor:
“has he risen from the
dead?” He was answered “No,
Sir: I hanged him
so that his toes touched the ground;
and when you
were gone, I untied the rope: you did
not order me
to
kill him.” The Turk muttered, “Aha!
hanging
and killing are different things: Arabic is
copious: next time I will say
kill. Take care of Ab'oo
Da'-oo'd
*.” This is his nick-name.
* Ab'oo
Da'-oo'tl, Ab'oo
'Al'ee, &c., are patronymics, used by
the Egyptian peasants in general, not signifying ” Father of
Da'oo'd,” “
Father of
'Al'ee,” &c., but “
whose father is (or was)
Da'-oo'd,”
“ 'Al'ee,” &c.
Another occurrence may here be aptly related, as a
further illustration of
the nature of the government to
which the people of Egypt are subjected. A
fella'hh, who
was appointed Na'zir (or governor) of
the district of El-Men'oo'fee'yeh
(the
southernmost district of the Delta),
a short time before my present visit
to Egypt, in collecting
the taxes at a village, demanded, of a poor
peasant,
the sum of sixty riya'ls (ninety fud'dahs
each,
making a sum total of a hundred and thirty-five piasters,
which
was then equivalent to about thirty shillings).
The poor man urged that he
possessed nothing but a
cow, which barely afforded
sustenance to himself and his
family. Instead of pursuing the method
usually followed
when a fella'hh declares himself unable to pay
the
tax demanded of him, which is to give him a severe
bastinading,
the Na'zir, in this case, sent the Sheykh
el-Bel'ed
to bring the poor peasant's cow, and desired
some of the
fella'hhee'n to buy it. They saying that
they had not
sufficient money, he sent for a butcher,
and desired him to kill the cow;
which was done: he
then told him to divide it into sixty pieces. The
butcher
asked for his pay; and was given the head of the cow.
Sixty
fella'hhee'n were then called together; and each
of
them was compelled to purchase, for a riya'l, a piece
of the
cow. The owner of the cow went, weeping and
complaining, to the
Na'zir's superior, the late Mohham'mad
Bey, Defturda'r. “ My master,” said he,
“ I
am oppressed and in misery: I had no property but
one
cow, a milch cow: I and my family lived upon her
milk; and she ploughed for
me, and threshed my corn;
and my whole subsistence was derived from her:
the Na'zir
has taken her, and killed her, and cut her up
into
sixty pieces, and sold the pieces to my neighbours; to
each a
piece, for one riya'l; so that he obtained but
sixty
riya'ls for the whole, while the value of the cow
was a hundred
and twenty riya'ls, or more. I am
oppressed and in misery, and a
stranger in the place,
for I came from another village; but the
Na'zir had no
pity on me. I and my family are become beggars,
and
have nothing left. Have mercy upon me, and give me
justice: I
implore it by thy hharee'm.” The
Defturda'r,
having caused the Na'zir to be brought
before him,
asked him, “ Where is the cow of this
(fella'hh?” “ I
have sold it,”
said the Na'zir. “For how much?”
“For sixty riya'ls.” “ Why did you
kill it and sell it?”
“He owed sixty
riya'ls for laud: so I took his cow, and
killed it, and sold it
for the amount.” “ Where is the
butcher that killed
it?” “ In Menoo'f.” The butcher
was sent for, and brought. The Defturda'r said to him,
“Why did you kill this man's cow?”
“The Na'zir
desired me,” he answered,
“ and I could not oppose
him: if I had attempted to do so, he
would have beaten
me, and destroyed my house: I killed it; and the
Na'zir gave me the head as my reward.” “
Man,” said
the Defturda'r, “ do you know
the persons who bought
the meat?” The butcher replied that he
did. The
Defturda'r then desired his secretary to write the
names
of the sixty men, and an order to the sheykh of their
village,
to bring them to Menoo'f, where this complaint
was made. The
Na'zir and butcher were placed in
confinement till the next
morning; when the sheykh of
the village came, with the sixty
fella'hhee'n. The two
prisoners were then brought
again before the Defturda'r,
who said to the sheykh and the
sixty peasants,
“ Was the value of this man's cow
sixty riya'ls?” “ O
our
master,” they answered, “ her value was
greater.”
The Defturda'r sent for the
Cka'dee of Menoo'f, and
said to him, “ O
Cka'dee, here is a man oppressed by
this Na'zir, who
has taken his cow, and killed it; and
sold its flesh for sixty
riya'ls: what is thy judgment?”
The
Cka'dee replied, “ He is a cruel tyrant, who
oppresses
every one under his authority. Is not a cow
worth a hundred
and twenty riya'ls, or more? and he
has sold this one for sixty
riya'ls: this is tyranny
towards the owner.” The
Defturda'r then said to some
of his soldiers, “Take
the Na'zir, and
strip him, and bind him.” This done,
he said to the butcher, “ Butcher,
dost thou not fear God? Thou
hast killed the cow
unjustly.” The butcher again urged that he
was
obliged to obey the
Na'zir. “ Then,” said the
Defturda'r,
“ if I order thee to do a thing, wilt
thou do it?”
“ I will do it,” answered the
butcher. “ Kill the
Na'zir,” said the
Defturda'r. Immediately, several of
the soldiers present seized
the Na'zir, and threw him
down; and the butcher cut his throat,
in the regular
orthodox manner of killing animals for food. “
Now,
cut him up,” said the Defturda'r, “
into sixty pieces.”
This was done: the people concerned in the
affair, and
many others, looking on; but none daring to speak.
The
sixty peasants who had bought the meat of the
cow were then called forward,
one after another, and
each was made to take a piece of the flesh of the
Na'zir,
and to pay for it two riya'ls; so that a
hundred and
twenty riya'ls were obtained from them: they were
then
dismissed; but the butcher remained. The Cka'dee
was
asked what should be the reward of the butcher;
and answered that he should
be paid as he had been
paid by the Na'zir. The
Defturda'r therefore ordered
that the head of the
Na'zir should be given to him;
and the butcher went away with
his worse than valueless
burden, thanking God that he had not been
more
unfortunate, and scarcely believing himself to have so
easily
escaped until he arrived at his village. The
money paid for the flesh of
the Na'zir was given to the
owner of the cow.
Most of the governors of provinces and districts
carry their oppression far
beyond the limits to which
they are authorized to proceed by the
Ba'sha; and even
the sheykh of a village, in executing the
commands of
his superiors, abuses his lawful power: bribes, and the
ties of relationship and marriage, influence him and
them; and by lessening
the oppression of some, who
are more able to bear it, greatly increase that
of others.
But the office of a sheykh of a
village is far from being
a sinecure: at the period when the taxes are
demanded
of him, he frequently receives a more severe bastinading
than
any of his inferiors; for when the population
of a village does not yield
the sum required, their
sheykh is often beaten for their default; and
not
always does he produce his own proportion until he has
been well
thrashed. All the fella'hhee'n are proud of
the
stripes they receive for withholding their contributions;
and are often
heard to boast of the number of
blows which were inflicted upon them before
they would
give up their money. Ammianus Marcellinus gives
precisely
the same character to the Egyptians of his
time
*.
* Lib, xxii. The more easily the
peasant pays, the more is he
made to pay.
The revenue of the Ba'sha of Egypt is generally said
to amount to
about three millions of pounds sterling
†.
Nearly half arises from the direct
taxes on land, and
from indirect exactions from the
fella'hhee'n: the
remainder, principally from the
custom-taxes, the tax
on palm-trees, a kind of income-tax, and the sale
of
various productions of the land; by which sale, the
government, in
most instances, obtains a profit of more
than fifty per cent.
† Some estimate it at five millions; others, at little more than
two
millions.
The present Ba'sha has increased his revenue to this
amount by
most oppressive measures. He has dispossessed
of their lands all the
private proprietors throughout
his dominions, allotting to each, as a
partial compensation,
a pension for life, proportioned to the extent
and
quality of the land which belonged to him. The farmer
has, therefore, nothing to leave
to his children but his
hut, and perhaps a few cattle and some small
savings.
The direct taxes on land are proportioned to the
natural advantages of the
soil. Their average amount
is about
8s. per
fedda'n, which is nearly equal to an
English acre
*. But the
cultivator can never calculate
exactly the full amount of what the
government will
require of him: he suffers from indirect exactions of
quantities, differing in different years, but always levied
per
fedda'n, -of butter, honey, wax, wool, baskets of
palm-leaves,
ropes of the fibres of the palm-tree, and
other commodities: he is also
obliged to pay the hire of
the camels which convey his grain to the
government
shoo'neh (or granary), and to defray various
other
expenses. A portion of the produce of his land is taken
by the
government
†, and sometimes the whole produce,
at a fixed and fair
price, which, however, in many parts
of Egypt, is retained to make up for
the debts of the
insolvent peasants
‡. The fella'hh, to supply the
bare
necessaries of life, is often obliged to steal, and convey
secretly to his hut, as much as he can of the produce of
his land. He may
either himself supply the seed for
his land, or obtain it as a loan from
the government;
but in the latter case he seldom obtains a sufficient
quantity; a considerable portion being generally stolen
* The fedda'n has lately
been reduced: it was equal to about
an English acre and one-tenth a few
years ago; and somewhat
more at an earlier period.
† Of some productions, as cotton,
flax, &c., the government
always takes the whole.
‡ Even the debts of the peasantry of
one village are often imposed
upon the inhabitants of another who have
paid all that is
justly duo from them.
by the persons through whose
hands it passes before he
receives it. To relate all the oppressions which
the
peasantry of Egypt endure, would require too much
space in the
present work. It would be scarcely possible
for them to suffer more, and
live. It may be
hardly necessary, therefore, to add, that few of them
engage, with assiduity, in the labours of agriculture,
unless compelled to
do so by their superiors.
The Ba'sha has not only taken possession of the
hinds of the
private proprietors, hut he has also thrown
into his treasury a
considerable proportion of the incomes
of religious and charitable
institutions, deeming
their accumulated wealth superfluous. He first
imposed
a tax (of nearly half the amount of the regular
land-tax) upon
all land which had become a wuckf
(or legacy unalienable by law) to any mosque, fountain,
public
school, &c.; and afterwards took absolute possession
of such
lands, granting certain annuities in lieu of
them, for keeping in repair
the respective buildings, and
for the maintenance of those persons attached
to them,
as Na'zirs (or wardens), religious ministers,
inferior
servants, students, and other pensioners. He has thus
rendered himself extremely odious to most persons of
the religious and
learned professions, and especially to
the Na'zirs of the
mosques, who too generally enriched
themselves from the funds intrusted to
their cure, which
were, in most cases, superabundant. The household
property of the mosques and other public institutions
(the wuckfs of
numerous individuals of various ranks)
the Ba'sha has hitherto
left inviolate.
The tax upon the palm-trees has been calculated to
amount to about a hundred
thousand pounds sterling.
The trees are rated according to their qualities; generally
at a piaster and
a half each.
The income-tax, which is called fir'deh, is
generally
a twelfth or more of a man's annual income or
salary,
when that can be ascertained. The maximum, however,
is fixed
at five hundred piasters. In the large towns
it is levied upon individuals;
in the villages, upon
houses. The income-tax of all the inhabitants of
the
metropolis amounts to eight thousand purses, or about
forty
thousand pounds sterling.
The inhabitants of the metropolis and of other large
towns pay a heavy tax
on grain, &c. The tax on each
kind of grain is eighteen piasters
per ardeb'b (or about
five bushels); which sum is equal to the
price of wheat
in the country after a good
harvest.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER V.
DOMESTIC LIFE.
HAVING sufficiently considered the foundations of the
moral and social state
of the Moos'lims 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 used as synonymous with
our appellation
of “ Mister
*:” a
sheree'f, or descendant of the
Prophet, is called
“ the
sey'd,” or
“
the sey'yid”
(master,
or lord), whatever be his station. Many sheree'fs
are
employed in the lowest offices: there are servants, dustmen,
and
beggars, of the honoured race of Mohham'mad;
but all of them are
entitled to the distinctive appellation
above mentioned, and privileged to
wear the green
turban
†; many of them, however, not only among
* Though more particularly applied to
a learned man, or a
reputed saint.
† Men and women of this caste often
contract marriages with
persons who are not members of the same; and as
the title of
sheree'f is inherited from either of the
parents, the number of
persons who enjoy this distinction has become
very considerable.
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 the
pilgrimage
is generally called
”the
hha'gg*;” and a woman
who has alike
distinguished herself, “the
hha'ggeh:”
yet there are many pilgrims who, like those sheree'fs
just
before alluded to, prefer the title of “ sheykh.” The
general appellation of a lady is “ the
sitt,” which signifies
“ the
mistress,” or “ the lady.”
* This word is thus pronounced by the
inhabitants of Cairo
and the greater part of Egypt; but in most other
countries where
Arabic is spoken, hha'jj. The Turks and Persians use, instead of
it, the
synonymous Arabic word hha'jjee.
Before I describe the ordinary habits of the master of
a family, I must
mention the various classes of persons
of whom the family may consist. The
hharee'm, or
the females of the house, have distinct
apartments
allotted to them; and into these apartments (which, as
well
as the persons to whom they are appropriated, are
called “ the
hharee'm”) no males are allowed to enter,
excepting
the master of the family, and certain other
near relations, and children.
The hharee'm may consist,
first, of a wife, or wives (to the
number of four);
secondly, of female slaves, some of whom, namely,
white and Abyssinian slaves, are generally concubines,
and others (the
black slaves) kept merely for servile
offices, as cooking, waiting upon the
ladies, &c.; thirdly,
of female free servants, who are, in no
case, concubines,
or not legitimately so. The male dependants may
consist
of white and of black slaves, and free servants; but
are
mostly of the last-mentioned class. Very few of the
Egyptians avail
themselves of the licence which their
religion allows them, of having
four wives; and still
smaller is the number of those who have two or
more
wives, and concubines besides. Even most of those
men who have
but one wife are content, for the sake of
domestic peace, if for no other
reason, to remain without
a concubine slave: but some prefer the possession
of an
Abyssinian slave to the more expensive maintenance of
a wife;
and keep a black slave girl, or an Egyptian,
female servant, to wait upon
her, to clean and keep in
order the apartments of the hharee'm,
and to cook. It
is seldom that two or more wives are kept in the same
house: if they be, they generally have distinct apartments.
Of male
servants, the master of a family keeps,
if he can afford to do so, one or
more to wait, upon him
and his male guests; another, who is called a
sack'cka,
or water-carrier, but who is particularly a servant of the
hharee'm, and attends the ladies when they
go
out
*; a
bow'wa'b, or door-keeper, who
constantly sits at the
door of the house; and a
sa'is, or groom, for the horse,
mule, or ass. Few of
the Egyptians have
memloo'ks,
or male white slaves; most of these being in the possession
of rich
'Osma'nlees (or Turks); and scarcely any
but Turks of
high rank keep eunuchs: but a wealthy
Egyptian merchant is proud of having
a black slave to
ride or walk behind him, and to carry his pipe.
* Unless there be a eunuch. The
sack'cka is generally th
chief of the servants.
The Egyptian is a very early riser; as he retires to
sleep at an early hour:
it is his duty to be up and dressed
before daybreak, when he should say the
“morning-prayers.
In general, while the master of a family
is
performing the religious ablution, and saying his prayers,
his wife or slave is preparing
for him a cup of
coffee, and filling his pipe, which she presents to him
as
soon as he has acquitted himself of his religious duties.
Many of the Egyptians take nothing before noon but
the cup of coffee and the
pipe: others take a light meal
at an early hour. The meal of breakfast
(el-fatoo'r)
generally consists of bread, with eggs, butter, cheese,
clouted
cream, or curdled milk, &c.; or of a
fatee'reh,
which is a kind of pastry, saturated with butter, made
very thin, and
folded over and over like a napkin: it is
eaten alone, or with a little
honey poured over it, or
sugar. A very common dish for breakfast is
foo'l
moodem'mes,or beans,
similar to our horse-beans, slowly
boiled, during a whole night, in an
earthen vessel,
buried, all but the neck, in the hot ashes of an oven
or
a bath, and having the mouth closely stopped: they are
eaten with
linseed-oil, or butter, and generally with a
little lime-juice: thus
prepared, they are sold in the
morning in the soo'cks (or
markets) of
Cairo and other
towns. A meal is often made (by those who
cannot
afford luxuries) of bread and a mixture called
doock'-ckah,
which is commonly composed of salt and pepper,
with
za'atar (or wild marjoram) or mint or cumin-seed,
and
with one, or more, or all, of the following ingredients;
namely,
coriander-seed, cinnamon, sesame, and
hham'moos
(or chick-peas): each mouthful of bread is dipped
in this mixture.
The bread is always made in the form
of a round flat cake, generally about
a span in width,
and a finger's breadth in thickness.
The pipe and the cup of coffee are enjoyed, by almost
all persons who can
afford such luxuries, very early in
the morning, and oftentimes during the
day. There
are many men who are scarcely ever seen without a
Pipes.
pipe either in their hand or
carried behind them by a
servant. The smoker keeps his tobacco for daily
use in
a purse or bag made of shawl-stuff, or silk, or velvet,
which
is often accompanied with a small pouch containing
a flint and steel, and
some agaric tinder, and is
usually crammed into his bosom.
The pipe (which is called by many names, as
sliib'ook*,
'oo'd,
&c.) is generally between four and five feet
long: some pipes
are shorter, and some are, of greater
length. The most common kind used in
Egypt is made
of a kind of wood called
gur'musk'uck
†. The
greater
part of the stick (from the mouth-piece to about three
quarters of its length) is covered with silk, which is
confined at each
extremity by gold thread, often intertwined
with coloured silks, or by a
tube of gilt silver;
and at the lower extremity of the covering is a tassel
of
silk. The covering was originally designed to be
moistened with
water, in order to cool the pipe, and,
consequently, the smoke, by
evaporation: but this is
only done when the pipe is old, or not
handsome.
Cherry-stick pipes, which are never covered, are also
used
by many persons, particularly in the winter. In
summer, the smoke is not so
cool from the cherry-stick
pipe as from the kind before mentioned. The
bowl
(called
hhag'ar) is of baked earth,
coloured red or
brown
‡. The mouth-piece
(foom', or
turkee'beh)
is
composed of two or more pieces of opaque, light-coloured
amber,
interjoined by ornaments of enamelled gold,
agate, jasper, cornelian, or
some other precious substance.
* From the Turkish chiboo'ch.
‡ To preserve the matting or carpet
from injury, a small bras
tray is often placed beneath the bowl; and a
small tray of wood
is made use of to receive the ashes of the tobacco.
It is the most costly part of the
pipe: the price
of one of the kind most generally used by persons of
the middle order, is from about one to three pounds
sterling. A wooden tube
passes through it. This is
often changed, as it soon becomes foul from the
oil of
the tobacco. The pipe also requires to be cleaned very
often,
which is done with tow, by means of a long wire.
Many poor men in
Cairo
gain their livelihood by going
about to clean pipes.
The tobacco smoked by persons of the higher orders,
and some others, in
Egypt, is of a very mild and delicious
flavour. It is mostly from the
neighbourhood of
El-La'diekee'yeh, in
Syria. The best
kind is the
“ mountain tobacco”
(dookh'kha'n geb'elee). A
stronger
kind, which takes its name from the town of Soo'r
(dookh'kha'n Soo'ree),
sometimes mixed with geb'elee, is
used by most persons of the
middle orders. In smoking,
the people of Egypt and of other countries of
the
East draw in their breath freely; so that much of the
smoke
descends into the lungs; and the terms which
they use to express
“ smoking tobacco” signify “
drinking
smoke,” or
”drinking
tobacco:” for the same word
signifies both “
smoke” and “ tobacco.” Few of them
spit
while smoking: I have very seldom seen any do so.
Some of the Egyptians use the Persian pipe, in which
the smoke passes
through water. The pipe of this kind
most commonly used by persons of the
higher classes
is called
na'rgee'leh, because the
vessel that
contains the water is a cocoa-nut, of which “
na'rgee'leh” is an
Arabic name.
Another kind, which has a glass vase,
is called
shee’ shell
*. Each has a
very long, flexible
tube A particular kind of tobacco, called
toomba'k,
* A Persian word, signifying
“glass.”
from Persia, is used in the
water-pipe: it is first
washed several times, and put into the pipe-howl
while
damp; and two or three pieces of live charcoal are
placed on the
top. Its flavour is mild, and very agreeable;
but the strong inhalation
necessary in this mode
of smoking is injurious to persons of delicate
lungs
*.
In using the Persian pipe, the person as freely draws
the
smoke into his lungs as he would inhale pure air. The
great
prevalence of liver-complaints in Arabia is attributed
to the general use
of the na'rgee'leh; and many
persons in Egypt suffer
severely from the same cause.
A kind of pipe, called
go'zeh
†, which is
similar to the
na'rgee'leh, excepting that it has a
short cane tube,
instead of the snake (or flexible one), and no stand,
is
used by men of the lowest class, for smoking both the
toomba'k and the intoxicating
hhashee'sh, or hemp.
* It is, however, often recommended
in the case of a cough.
One of my friends, the most celebrated of the
poets of Cairo, who
is much troubled by asthma, uses the
na'rgee'leh almost incessantly
from morning till
night.
† “
Go'zeh” is the most common name.
The coffee
(ckah'weh‡) is made very
strong, and
without sugar or milk. The coffee-cup (which is called
finga'n) is small; generally holding not quite
an ounce
and a half of liquid. It is of porcelain, or Dutch-ware,
and,
being without a handle, is placed within another
cup (called
zurf), of silver or brass, according to the
circumstances of the owner, and, both in shape and size,
nearly resembling
our egg-cup
§. In preparing the
‡ This is the name of the beverage: the berries (whether
whole
or pounded) are called boon'n.
§ In a full service there are ten
finga'ns and zurfs of uniform kinds,
and often another
finga'n and zurf of a superior kind for the master
of the
house, or for a distinguished guest. In the accompanying
sketch, the coffee-pot (bek'reg), or buk'rug’) and the
zurfs and tray are
of silver, and are represented on a scale of
one-eighth of the real
size. Below this set are a similar zurf and
finga'n, on a scale of
one-fourth, and a brass zurf, with
the finga'n placed in it. Some
zurfs are of plain or gilt
silver filigree; and a few opulent persons
have them of gold. Many
Moos'lims, however, religiously disallow
all utensils of
gold and of silver.
Coffee-service.
coffee, the water is first made to boil: the coffee
(freshly
roasted, and pounded) is then put in, and
stirred; after which the pot
is again placed on the fire,
once or twice, until the coffee begins to
simmer; when
it is taken off; and its contents are poured out into
the
cups while the surface is yet creamy. The Egyptians
are
excessively fond of pure and strong coffee, thus prepared;
and very
seldom add sugar to it (though some
do so when they are unwell), and
never, milk or cream;
but a little cardamom-seed
* is often added to it. It
is a
common custom, also, to fumigate the cup with the
smoke of
mastic; and the wealthy sometimes impregnate
the coffee with the
delicious fragrance of ambergris
†.
The most general mode of doing
this is, to put
about a carat-weight of ambergris
in a coffee-pot, and
melt it over a
fire; then make
the coffee in another pot,
in the manner before described, and, when it has
settled
a little, pour it into the pot which contains the ambergris.
Some persons make use of the ambergris, for the
same purpose, in a
different way; sticking a piece of it,
of the weight of about two carats,
in the bottom of the
cup, and then pouring in the coffee: a piece of
the
weight above-mentioned will serve for two or three
weeks. This
mode is often adopted by persons who
like always to have the coffee which
they themselves
drink flavoured with this perfume, and do not give all
their visiters the same luxury. The coffee-pot is sometimes
brought in a
vessel of silver or brass (called
'a'z'ckee), containing burning charcoal. This
vessel is
suspended by three chains. In presenting the coffee,
the
servant holds the foot of the zurf with his thumb and
'A'z'ckee and
Mun'ckuds*.
* One of the latter (that to the
right) is an earthen vessel. Each
of the above utensils is represented
on a scale of about one-eighth
of the real size.
first finger. In receiving the
finga'n and zurf, he makes
use of both hands, placing the left
beneath and the right
above at the same instant.
In cold weather, a brasier, or chafing-dish (called
mun'ckud), of tinned copper, full of burning
charcoal, is
placed on the floor; and sometimes perfume is burnt in
it. The Egyptians take great delight in perfumes
*;
and often fumigate
their apartments. The substance
most commonly used for this purpose is
frankincense of
an inferior quality, called
bakhoo'r el-bur. Benzoin
†
and aloes-wood
‡ are also used for the same purpose.
* They sometimes perfume the beard
and mustaches with civet.
If he can conveniently afford to keep a horse, mule,
or ass, or to hire an
ass, the Egyptian is seldom seen
walking far beyond the threshold of his
own house; but
very few of the people of
Cairo, or of the other towns,
venture to expose themselves to the suspicion of possessing
superfluous
wealth, and, consequently, to greater
exactions of the government than they
would otherwise
suffer, by keeping horses
§. The modern saddle of
the
horse is generally padded, and covered with cloth or
velvet,
embroidered, or otherwise ornamented; and the
head-stall and breast-leather
are adorned with silk
tassels, and coins, or other ornaments, of
silver.
Wealthy merchants, and the great 'ool'ama,
usually ride
mules. The saddle of the mule is, generally, nearly
the
same as that of the ass; of which a sketch is inserted:
when the rider is
one of the 'ool'ama, it is
covered with a
segga'deh (or prayer-carpet): so, also,
sometimes, is the ladies’ saddle; from which, however,
§ Whether walking or riding, a person
of the higher classes is
usually attended by a servant bearing his pipe.
An Ass equipped in the usual manner for riding*.
the former differs considerably; as will be shown hereafter.
Asses are most generally used for riding through
the narrow and crowded
streets of
Cairo; and there are
many for hire: their usual pace is an easy
amble. The
ass is furnished with a stuffed saddle; the forepart of
which is covered with red leather, and the seat, most
commonly, with a kind
of soft woollen lace, similar to our
coach-lace, of red, yellow, and other
colours. The
stirrup-leathers are, in every case, very short. The
horseman is preceded by a servant, or by two servants,
to clear the way;
and, for the same purpose, a servant
generally runs beside or behind the
ass, or sometimes
before; calling’ out to the passengers to move
out of the
way to the right or left, or to take care of their backs,
faces, sides, feet or heels
†. The rider, however, must
* Nearly the whole of its coat is
closely shorn.
†
Yemee'nak! shima'lak! (to thy
right! to thy left!), dah'rak!
(thy back!), wish'shak! (thy face!),
gem'bak.’ (thy side!), rig'lak!
(thy foot!), ka'abak! (thy -heel!),
and, to a Turk, sa'ckin! (take
care!), are the most common cries. The following appellations are
also
often added:—ya'
efen'dee! (to a Turk), ya’
sheykh! (to an old,
or a middle-aged, Moos'lim
native), ya'sub'ee! (to a young man),
ya'wel'ed! or ya'ib'nee! (to a boy), ya'sheree'f! (to a green-turbaned
descendant of the Prophet), ya’
m'al'lim.’ (to a native
Christian,
or a Jew), ya’
khawa'geh! (to a Frank), ya
sitt,’ (to a lady,
or a female of the middle
order), and ya'bint.’ that is
“daughter,”
or “ girl” (to
a poor female). A woman of the lower class, however
old she he, the
servant must call “girl,” or “
daughter,” or
probably she will not move an inch out of the
way. A little girl,
or young woman, is often called
'aroo'seh, or ” bride; “ and hha'ggeh,
or “ female pilgrim,” is an appellation often
given to women in
the streets.
be vigilant, and not trust merely
to his servant, or he
may be thrown down by the wide load of a camel;
which accident, indeed, is sometimes unavoidable in the
more narrow and
crowded streets. His pipe is generally
carried by the servant; and filled
and lighted if he dismount
at a house or shop.
If he have no regular business to employ him, the
Egyptian spends the
greater part of the day in riding,
paying visits, or making purchases; or
in smoking and
sipping coffee and chatting with a friend at home; or
he passes an hour or more in the morning enjoying the
luxuries of a public
bath. At noon, he has again to say
prayers, if he fulfil the duties imposed
on him by his
religion: but, as I have remarked on a former occasion,
there are comparatively few persons among the Egyptians
who do not
sometimes neglect these duties; and
there are many who scarcely ever pray.
Directly after
mid-day, he dines; then takes a pipe and a cup of
coffee, and, in hot weather, usually indulges himself
with a nap. Often he
retires to recline in the hharee'm;
where a wife or female slave
watches over his repose, or
rubs the soles of his feet with her hands. On
such
occasions, and at other times when he wishes to enjoy
privacy,
every person who comes to pay him a visit is
told, by the servant, that he
is in the hharee'm; and no
friend expects him to be called
thence, unless on very
urgent business. From the time of the
afternoon-prayers,
until sunset (the next lime of prayer), he generally
enjoys,
again, his pipe and a cup of coffee in the society of
some,
one or more of his friends at home or abroad.
Shortly after sunset, he
sups.
I must now describe the meals of dinner (el-ghud'a)
and supper (el-'ash'a), and
the manner and etiquette of
eating. The same remarks will apply to both
these repasts;
excepting that supper is always the principal
meal. It
is the general custom to cook in the afternoon;
and what remains of the
supper is eaten the next day for
dinner, when there are no guests in the
house. The
master of a family generally dines and sups with his
wife
or wives and children; but there are many men,
particularly in the higher
classes, who are too proud to
do this, or too much engaged in society to be
able to do
so, unless on some few occasions; and there are men
even in
the lowest class who scarcely ever eat with their
wives or children. When a
person is paying a visit to
a friend, and the hour of dinner or supper
arrives, it is
incumbent on the master of the house to order the meal
to be brought; and the same is generally considered
necessary if the
visiter be a stranger.
Every person, before he sits down to the table, or
rather to the tray,
washes his hands
*, and sometimes
his mouth also, with soap and water; or,
at least, has
some water poured upon his right
hand. A servant
brings to him a basin and ewer (called
tisht and
ibree'ck), of tinned copper, or of brass
*. The former
* In the houses of some of the
opulent, these utensils are of silver.
I have also seen some of gilt
copper.
Tisht and Ibree'ck †.
† The width of the former is fourteen
inches; and the heigh
of the latter, the same.
of these has a
cover pierced with holes, with a raised
receptacle for the soap in the
middle; and the water,
being poured upon the hands, passes through this
cover
into the space below; so that, when the basin is brought
to a
second person, the water with which the former one
has washed is not seen.
A napkin
(foo'tah) is given
to each
person.
A round tray (called
seenee'yeh) of tinned
copper, or
sometimes of brass, generally between two and three feet
in
diameter, serves as a table; being placed upon a stool
(koor'see) about fifteen inches high, made of
wood, and
often covered with mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, bone,
&c. These two pieces of furniture compose the
soof'rah
Washing before or after a Meal.
Round cakes of bread, such as have been before described,
sometimes cut in halves across the middle, are
placed round the tray, with
several limes, cut in two, to
be squeezed over any of the dishes that may
require the
acid; and a spoon of box-wood, or of ebony, or
tortoise-shell,
is put for each person. The bread often serves as
a
plate. Several dishes of tinned copper, or of china,
containing different
kinds of viands, vegetables, &c.,
are then placed upon the tray,
according to the common
fashion of the country; or only one dish is put on
at a
time, after the Turkish mode.
The persons who are to partake of the repast sit upon
the floor around the
tray; each with his napkin upon
his knees: or, if the tray be placed near
the edge
of a low deewa'n, which is often done, some of
the persons
Koor'see and Seenee'yeh.
may sit on the deewa'n, and the others on the
floor:
but if the party be numerous, the tray is placed
in the middle of the room,
and they sit round it with
one knee on the ground, and the other (the
right) raised;
and, in this manner, as many as twelve persons may sit
round a tray three feet wide. Each person bares his
right arm to the elbow,
or lucks up the hanging end of
his sleeve. Before he begins to eat, he says
“
Bi-smil'lah”
(In the name of God)
*. This is generally said
in a low, but audible
voice; and by the master of the
house first. It is considered both as a
grace and as an
invitation to any person to partake of the meal; and
when any one is addressed with “
Bi-smi-l'lah,” or
“
Tafud'dal “ (which latter
signifies, in this case, “Do
me the favour to partake of the
repast”),he must reply,
* Or ”
Bi-smi-l'la'hi-r-rahhma'ni-r-rahhce'm”
(In the name of
God, the Compassionate, the Merciful).
A Party at Dinner or Supper *.
* One of the servants is holding a
water-bottle: the other, a
fly-whisk made of palm-leaves.
if he
do not accept the invitation, “
Hence'-an” (or
“May it
benefit”), or use some similar expression:
else it will be
feared that an evil eye has been cast upon
the food; and they say that,
“ in the food that is
coveted “ (or upon which an
envious eye has fallen),
“ there is no
blessing.”’ But the manner in which the
Egyptian
often presses a stranger to eat with him shows
that feelings of hospitality
most forcibly dictate the
“ Bi-smi-l'lah.”
The master of the house first begins to
eat; the guests or others
immediately follow his example.
Neither knives nor forks are
used: the thumb
and two fingers of the right hand serve instead of
those
instruments; but the spoons are used for soup or rice
or other
things that cannot be easily eaten without; and
both hands may be used in
particular cases, as will be
presently explained. When there are several
dishes
upon the tray, each person takes of any that he likes,
or of
every one in succession: when only one dish is
placed upon the tray at a
time, each takes from it a few
mouthfuls, and it is quickly removed, to
give place to
another
*. To pick out a delicate morsel, and hand it
to a
friend, is esteemed polite. The manner of eating
with the fingers, as
practised in Egypt and other Eastern
countries, is more delicate than may
be imagined by
Europeans who have not witnessed it, nor heard it
correctly
described. Each person breaks off a small piece
of bread,
clips it in the dish, and then conveys it to his
month, together with a
small portion of the meat or
other contents of the dish
†. The piece
of bread is
generally doubled together, so as to enclose the morsel
of
meat, &c.; and only the thumb and first and second
fingers are
commonly used. When a person takes a
piece of meat too large for a single
mouthful, he usually
places it upon his bread.
* Our Saviour and his disciples thus
ate from one dish. See
Matt. xxvi. 23.
† Or he merely sops his morsel of
bread in the dish. See
Ruth, ii. 14; and John, xiii. 26.
The food is dressed in such a manner that it may be
easily eaten in the mode
above-described. It generally
consists, for the most part, of
yukh'nee, or stewed meat,
with chopped
onions, or with a quantity of
ba'miyehs ‡,
‡ The ba'miyeh is the
esculent hibiscus: the part which is
eaten is a
polygonal pod, generally between one and three inches
in length, and of
the thickness of a small finger: it is full of seeds
and nutritive
mucilage, and has a very pleasant flavour. A little
lime-juice is
usually dropped on the plate of ba'miyehs.
or other vegetables;
cka'woor'meh, or a richer stew
with onions;
war'uck mahh'shee, or
vine-leaves, or bits
of lettuce-leaf or cabbage-leaf, with a mixture of
rice
and minced meat (delicately seasoned with salt, pepper,
and
onions, and often with garlic, parsley, &c.) wrapped
up in them,
and boiled; cucumbers
(khiya'r), or
black,
white, or red
ba'dinga'ns*, or a kind of gourd (called
ckar’a koo'seh) of the size and
shape of a small
cucumber, which are all
mahk'shcc, or stuffed, with the
same composition as
the leaves above-mentioned; and
keba'b, or small morsels of mutton or lamb,
roasted on
skewers. Many dishes consist wholly, or for the most
part,
of vegetables; such as cabbage, purslain, spinach,
beans, lupins,
chick-peas, gourd cut into small pieces,
colocasia, lentils, &c.
Fish, dressed with oil, is also a
common dish. Most of the meats are cooked
with
clarified butter; on account of the deficiency of fat;
and are
made very rich: the butter, in the hot season,
is perfectly liquid. When a
fowl is placed whole on the
tray, both hands are generally required to
separate the
joints; or two persons, each using the right hand alone,
perform this operation together: but some will do it
very cleverly without
assistance, and with a single hand.
Many of the Arabs will not allow the
left hand to
touch food in any case
†, excepting when the right is
maimed.
A boned fowl, stuffed with raisins, pistachio-nuts,
crumbled bread, and
paisley, is not an uncommon
* The black and white
ba'dinga'n are the fruits of two kinds of
egg-plant: the red is the tomata.
† Because used for unclean purposes.
dish; and even a whole lamb,
stuffed with pistachio-nuts,
&c., is sometimes served up; but
the meat is
easily separated with one hand. Sweets are often
mixed
with stewed meat, &c.; as, for instance,
'anna'b
(or jujubes) and sugar with yukh'nee. Various kinds
of
sweets are also served up, and often in no particular
order with respect to
other meats. A favourite sweet
dish is
koona'feh, which is made of wheat-flour, and resembles
vermicelli, but is finer; it is boiled, and sweetened
with sugar or honey.
A dish of water-melon
(buttee'kh), if in season, generally forms
part of the meal.
This is cut up about a quarter of an hour before,
and
left to cool in the external air, or in a current of air, by
the
evaporation of the juice on the surfaces of the slices;
but it is always
watched during this time, lest a serpent
should come to it, and poison it
by its breath or bite;
for this reptile is said to be extremely fond of the
watermelon,
and to smell it at a great distance. Watermelons
are very
abundant in Egypt, and mostly very
delicious and wholesome. A dish of
boiled rice (called
rooz's moofel'fel, the
pila'u of the Turks), mixed with a
little butter, and seasoned
with salt and pepper, is generally
that from which the last morsels are
taken; but, in
the houses of the wealthy, this is often followed by a
bowl of
khoosha'f*, a sweet drink,
commonly consisting
of water with raisins boiled in it, and then sugar:
when
cool, a little rose-water is dropped into it
†. The watermelon
frequently supplies the place of this
‡.
* So called from the Persian kho'sh a'b, or
“sweet water.”
† It is drunk with ladles of
tortoise-shell. or cocoa-nut.
‡ The principal and best fruits of
Egypt are dates, grapes,
oranges and citrons of various kinds, common
figs, sycamore-figs,
prickly-pears, pomegranates, bananas, and a great
variety of
melons. From this enumeration it appears that there are
not
many good fruits in this country.
The Egyptians eat very moderately; though quickly.
Each person, as soon as
he has finished, says “
Elhham'doo
li-l'la'h “ (Praise be to God)
*, and gets
up,
without waiting till the others have done
†: he then
washes his
hands and mouth with soap and water; the
basin and ewer being’
held by a servant, as before.
* Or “ El-hham'doo li-l'la’ hi
rub'bi-l-”a'lamee'n”
(Praise be to
God, the Lord of all creatures).
† It is deemed highly improper to
rise during a meal, even
from respect to a superior who may approach.
It has been mentioned
before, that the Prophet forbade his followers to
rise while
eating, or when about to eat, even if the time of prayer
arrived.
The only beverage at meals is water of the Nile, or,
sometimes, at the
tables of the rich, sherbet, which will
presently be described. The water
of the Nile is remarkably
good; but that of all the wells in
Cairo and
ill other parts of Egypt is slightly brackish. In general,
water is drunk
either from an earthen bottle or from a
brass cup
‡. The water-bottles are of two
kinds; one
called
do'ruck, and the other
ckool'teh: the former has
a narrow,
and the latter a wide, mouth. They are made
of a greyish, porous earth,
which cools the water deliciously,
by evaporation; and they are, therefore,
generally
placed in a current of air. The interior is often
blackened
with the smoke of some resinous wood, and
then perfumed with the smoke of
ckuf'al§
wood and
mastic; the latter used last. A small earthen vessel
(called
mib'khar'ah) is employed in
performing these
operations, to contain the burning charcoal, which is
‡ The ancient Egyptians used
drinking-cups of brass. (Herodotus,
lib. ii. cap. 37.)
§
Amyris kafal. Forskal. An Arabian tree.
Water-bottles (Do'rucks), with covers of different kinds.
The bottles in the foremost row are one-sixth of the real
size.
Water-bottles (Ckool'lehs).
Earthen Mib'khar'ah, and China
Do'ruck, one-sixth of the real size.
required to ignite the wood, and the mastic; and the
water-bottle
is held inverted over it. A strip of rag is
tied round the neck of the
do'ruck, at the distance of
about an inch from the mouth, to
prevent the smoke-black
from extending too far upon the exterior of
the
bottle. Many persons also put a little orange-flower-water
*
into the bottles. This gives a very agreeable
flavour to their
contents. The bottles have stoppers
of silver, brass, tin, wood, or
palm-leaves; and are
generally placed in a tray of tinned copper,
which
receives the water that exudes from them. In cold
weather, china
bottles are used in many houses instead
of those above-described, which
then render the
water too cold. The two most common forms of
drinking-cups
are here represented. Every person, before
*
Mo'yet zahr, or ma'yet zah'r na'rin'g.
Brass Drinking-cups, one-fifth of the real size.
and after drinking, repeats the
same ejaculations as
before and after eating; and this he does each
time
that he drinks during a meal: each friend present then
says to
him " May it benefit"
*; to which the reply is
"God benefit thee"
†.
† Al'lah yehen'nee'k (for
yoohen'nee'k).
Though we read, in some of the delightful "Tales of
a Thousand and One
Nights," of removing "the table
of viands"
‡ and bringing "the table of
wine"
§,
this prohibited
beverage is not often introduced in general society,
either during or after the meal, or at other times,
by the Moos'lims of
Egypt in the present day. Many
of them, however, habitually indulge in
drinking wine
with select parties of their acquaintance. The servants
of a man who is addicted to this habit know such of his
friends as may be
admitted, if they happen to call when
lie is engaged in this unlawful
pleasure; and to all
others they say that he is not at home, or that he is
in
the hharee'm. Drinking wine is indulged in by such
persons before
and after supper, and during that meal;
but it is most approved before
supper; as they say that
it quickens the appetite. The " table of wine "
is
usually thus prepared, according to a penitent Moos'lim
wine-bibber, who is one of my friends (I cannot speak
on this subject from
my own experience; for, as I never
drink wine, I have never been invited to
join a Moos'lim
wine-party): — a round japanned tray, or a glass
dish,
s placed on the stool before-mentioned: on this are
generally
arranged two cut-glass jugs, one containing
wine
‖, and the other, rosoglio
¶; and
sometimes two or
more bottles besides: several
small glasses are placed
with these; and glass saucers of dried and fresh
fruits,
and, perhaps, pickles: lastly, two candles, and, often, a
bunch of flowers stuck in a candlestick, are put upon the
tray.
The Egyptians have various kinds of sherbets, or
sweet drinks. The most
common kind
* is merely
sugar and water; but very sweet: lemonade
† is
another:
a third kind, the most esteemed
‡, is prepared from a
hard
conserve of violets, made by pounding violet-flowers,
and then boiling them
with sugar: this violet-sherbet
is of a green colour: a fourth kind
§ is
prepared
from mulberries: a fifth
‖, from sorrel. There is also a
kind of
sherbet sold in the streets
¶, which is made with
raisins, as its name implies;
another kind, which is a
strong infusion of licorice-root, and called by
the name
of that root
**; and a third kind, which is prepared
from
the fruit of the locust-tree, and called, in like manner, by
the
name of the fruit
††- The sherbet is served in covered
glass
cups containing about halt’ a pint measure, or
rather more; some
of which (the more common kind)
are ornamented with gilt flowers,
&c. The sherbet-cups
are placed on a round tray, and covered
with a round
piece of embroidered silk, or cloth of gold. On the right
arm of the person who presents the sherbet is hung a
large oblong napkin
with a wide embroidered border of
* Called simply shurba't, or shurba't
sook'kar, sherbet of sugar.
†
Ley'mou'na'teh, or
shara'b el-leymoo'n.
‖
Shara'b el-hhotnmey’ d,
¶ Called zebee'b. This name is also given to an
intoxicating
conserve.
gold and coloured silks at each
end. This is ostensibly
offered for the purpose of wiping the lips after
drinking
the sherbet; but it is really not so much for use as for
display: the lips are seldom or scarcely touched with it.
Sherbet-cups.
The interval between supper and the
'esh'e, or time
of the night-prayers, is
generally passed in smoking a
pipe, and sipping’ a cup of
coffee. The enjoyment of
the pipe may be interrupted by prayer, but is
continued
afterwards; and sometimes draughts or chess, or some
other
game, or at least conversation, contributes to
make the time glide away
more agreeably. The members
of an Egyptian family in easy circumstances
may
pass their time very pleasantly; but they do so in a
quiet way.
The men often pay evening visits to their
friends at, or after,
supper-time. They commonly use,
on these and similar occasions, a folding lantern
(fa'noo's), composed of waxed cloth
strained over rings
of wire, and a top and bottom of tinned copper.
This
kind of lantern is here represented, together with the
common
lamp
(ckandee'l), and its usual receptacle
of
wood, which serves to protect the flame from the wind.
The lamp is
a small vessel of glass, having a little tube
in the bottom, in which is
stuck a wick formed of cotton
twisted round a piece of straw. Some water is
poured in
first, and then the oil. A lamp of this kind is often hung
Lantern and Lamp,
over the entrance of a house. By night, the interiors of
the
houses present a more dull appearance than in the
day: the light of one or
two candles (placed on the floor
or on a stool, and sometimes surrounded by
a large
glass shade, or enclosed in a glass lantern, on account of
the
windows being merely of lattice-work) is generally
thought sufficient for a
large and lofty saloon. Few of
the Egyptians sit up later, in summer, than
three or four
o'clock, which is three or four hours after
sunset; for
their reckoning of time is from sunset at every season
of
the year: in winter they often sit up five or six hours.
Thus the day is usually spent by men of moderate
wealth who have no regular
business to attend to, or
none that requires their own active
superintendence.
But it is the habit of the
tradesman to repair, soon after
breakfast, to his shop or warehouse,
and to remain there
until near sunset
*. He has leisure to smoke as much
* A description of the shops, and a
further account of the
tradesmen of Cairo, will be given in another
chapter, on Industry.
as he likes; and his customers
often smoke with him.
To some of these he offers his own pipe (unless
they
have theirs with them), and a cup of coffee, which is
obtained
from the nearest coffee-shop. A great portion
of the day he sometimes
passes in agreeable chat with
customers, or with the tradesmen of the next
or opposite
shops. He generally says his prayers without moving
from
his shop. Shortly after the noon-prayers, or sometimes
earlier or later, he
eats a light meal, such as a
plate of keba'b and a cake of bread
(which a boy or maid
daily brings from his house, or procures in the
market),
or some bread and cheese or pickles, &c., which
are
carried about the streets for sale; and if a customer he
present,
he is always invited, and often pressed, to partake
of this meal. A large
earthen bottle of water is
kept in the shop, and replenished, whenever
necessary,
by a passing
sack'cka, or
water-carrier. In the evening,
the tradesman returns to his house, eats his
supper,
and, soon after, retires to bed.
It is the general custom in Egypt for the husband
and wife to sleep in the
same bed, excepting among the
wealthy classes, who mostly prefer separate
beds. The
bed is usually thus prepared in the houses of persons of
moderate wealth: a mattress
*, stuffed with cotton,
about six feet long, and
three or four feet in width, is
placed upon a low frame
†: a pillow
is placed for the
head, and a sheet spread over this and the mattress:
the only covering in summer is generally a thin blanket
‡;
and in winter, a thick
quilt
§,
stuffed with cotton. If
there be no frame, the mattress is placed upon the
floor;
or two mattresses are laid one upon the other, with the
sheet,
pillow, &c.; and often, a cushion of the deewa'n
is placed on each side. A
musquito-curtain
* is suspended
over the bed by means of four strings,
which
are attached to nails in the wall. The dress is seldom
changed
on going to bed; and in winter, many people
sleep with all their ordinary
clothes on, excepting the
gib'beh, or cloth coat; but in summer,
they sleep almost,
or entirely, unclad. In winter, the bed is prepared in
a
small closet (called
khuz'neh): in
summer, in a large
room. All the bed-clothes are rolled up, in the day
time, and placed on one side, or in the closet above-mentioned.
During the
hottest weather, many people
sleep upon the house-top, or in a
fes'hhah, which is an
uncovered
apartment; but ophthalmia and other diseases
often result from their thus
exposing themselves to
the external air at night. The most common kind
of
frame for the bed is made of palm-sticks; but this
harbours bugs,
which are very abundant in Egypt in the
summer, as fleas are in the winter.
These and other
plagues to which the people of Egypt are exposed by
night and day, have been before mentioned
†. With
regard to the most disgusting
of them, the lice, it may
here be added, that they are not always to be
avoided
even by the most scrupulous cleanliness: but a person
who
changes his linen after two or three days’ wear is
very seldom
annoyed by these vermin; and when he is,
they are easily removed, not
attaching themselves to the
skin: they are generally found in the linen. A
house
may “be kept almost clear of fleas by frequent
washing
and sweeping; and the flies may be kept out by placing
nets at
the doors and windows: but it is impossible to
*
Na'moo'see'yeh. It
is composed of muslin, or linen of an open
texture, or crape, and forms
a close canopy.
† In the Introduction to this work.
purify an Egyptian house from
bugs, if it contain much
wood-work, which is generally the case.
The male servants
* lead a very easy life, with the
exception of the
sa'is, or groom, who, whenever his
master
takes a ride, runs before or beside him; and this
he will do in the hottest
weather for hours together,
without appearing fatigued. Almost every
wealthy person
in
Cairo has a
bow'wa'b, or door-keeper, always at
the
door of his house, and several other male servants.
Most of these are
natives of Egypt; but many Nubians
are also employed as servants in
Cairo
and other Egyptian
towns. The latter are mostly
bow'wa'bs, and are
generally esteemed more honest
than the Egyptian
servants; but I am inclined to think, from the
opinion
of several of my friends, and from my own experience,
that
they have acquired this reputation only by superior
cunning. The wages of
the male servants are very
small, usually from one to two dollars (or from
four to
eight shillings) per month: but they receive many presents.
On
the 'eed (or festival) after Rum'ada'n,
the
master generally gives, to each of his servants, part or
the whole
of a new suit of clothes, consisting of an 'er'ee
(a
blue shirt, which is their outer dress), a
turboo'sh,
and a turban. Other articles of dress which they require
during the
year (excepting, sometimes, shoes) the
servants are obliged to provide for
themselves. Besides
what their master gives them, they also receive
small
presents of money from his visiters, and from the trades
people
with whom he deals; particularly whenever he
has made any considerable
purchase. They sleep in
the clothes which they wear during the day, each
upon
a small mat; and in winter they cover themselves with
*
Khad'da'mee'n,
singular khad'da'm.
a cloak
* or blanket. In some respects,
they are often
familiar in their manners to their master, even
laughing
and joking with him: in others, they are very submissive;
paying him the utmost honour, and bearing corporal
chastisement from his
hand with child-like patience.
* See Exodus, xxii. 26. 27.
The male black slave
† is treated with more consideration
than the free
servant; and leads a life well suited
to his lazy disposition. If
discontented with his situation,
he can legally compel his master to sell
him.
Many of the slaves in Egypt wear the Turkish military
dress. They
are generally the greatest fanatics in the
East; and more accustomed than
any other class to
insult the Christians and every people who are not
of
the faith which they have themselves adopted without
knowing more
of its doctrines than Arab children who
have been but a week at school.
An acquaintance with the modern inhabitants of
Egypt leads us often to
compare their domestic habits
with those of Europeans in the middle ages;
and, perhaps,
in this comparison, the points of resemblance
which we
observe, with regard to the men, are more
striking than the contrasts; but
the reverse will be
found to be the case when we consider the state of
the
females.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER VI.
DOMESTIC LIFE—continued.
QUITTING the lower apartments, where we have been
long detained, I must
enter upon a more presumptuous
office than I have yet undertaken, which is
that of a
guide to the Hharee'm: but
first I must give some
account of marriage, and the marriage ceremonies.
To abstain from marrying when a man has attained
a sufficient age, and when
there is no just impediment,
is esteemed, by the Egyptians, improper, and
even
disreputable. For being myself guilty of this fault (to
use no
harsher term), I have suffered much inconvenience
and discomfort during my
stay in this country,
and endured many reproaches. During my former
visit
to Egypt,having occasion to remove from a house which
I had
occupied for some months in a great thoroughfare-street
in
Cairo, I engaged
another house, in a neighbouring
quarter: the lease was written, and
some money
paid in advance; but a day or two after, the agent
of
the owner came to inform me that the inhabitants of
the quarter,
who were mostly
sheree'fs (or descendants
of the Prophet), objected to my living among them,
because I was not
married. He added, however, that
they would gladly admit me if I would even
purchase a
female slave, which would exempt me from the opprobrium
cast upon me by the want of a wife. I replied,
that, being merely a
sojourner in Egypt, I did not like
either to take a wife or female
slave, whom I must soon
abandon: the money that I had paid was,
therefore,
returned to me. In another quarter, I was less unfortunate;
such heavy objections on account of my being
unmarried were not raised: I
was only required to
promise that no persons wearing hats should come
into
the quarter to visit me; yet, after I had established myself
in
my new residence, the sheykh (or chief) of the
quarter often endeavoured to
persuade me to marry.
All my arguments against doing so he deemed of
no
weight. “ You tell me,” said he, “ that
in a year or
two you mean to leave this country: now, there is a
young
widow, who, I am told, is handsome, living within
a few doors of you, who
will be glad to become your
wife, even with the express
understanding’ that you shall
divorce her when you quit this
place; though, of course,
you may do so before, if she should not please
you.”
This young damsel had several times contrived to let
me catch a glimpse of a pretty face, as I passed (he
house in which she and
her parents lived. What answer
could I return? I replied, that I had
actually, by accident,
seen her face, and that she was the last woman
I
should wish to marry, under such circumstances; for I
was sure that
I could never make up my mind to part
with her. But I found it rather
difficult to silence my
officious friend.—It has been mentioned
before, in the
Introduction, that an unmarried man, or one who has
not
a female slave, is usually obliged to dwell in a
weka'leh,
unless he have some near relation with whom
to reside; but that Franks are
now exempted from this
restriction.
The Egyptian females arrive at puberty much earlier
than the natives of
colder climates. Many marry at
the age of twelve or thirteen
years; and some remarkably
precocious girls are married at the age
of ten*:
but such occurrences are not common. Few remain
unmarried after
sixteen years of age. An Egyptian
girl at the age of thirteen, or even
earlier, may be a
mother. The women of Egypt are generally very
prolific;
but females of other countries residing here are
often
childless; and the children of foreigners, born in
Egypt, seldom live to a
mature age, even when the
mother is a native. It was on this account that
the
emancipated Memloo'ks (or military slaves) usually
adopted Memloo'ks.
* They are often betrothed two or
three or more years earlier.
It is very common among the Arabs of Egypt and of
other countries, but less
so in
Cairo than in other parts
of Egypt, for a man to marry his first
cousin. In this
case, the husband and wife continue to call each other
“cousin;” because the tie of blood is indissoluble;
but
that of matrimony, very precarious. A union of this
kind is
generally lasting, on account of this tie of blood;
and because mutual
intercourse may have formed an
attachment between the parties in tender
age; though,
if they be of the higher or middle classes, the young
man
is seldom allowed to see the face of his female
cousin, or even to meet and
converse with her, after she
has arrived at or near the age of puberty,
until she has
become his wife.
Marriages in
Cairo are generally conducted, in the
case of a virgin, in the
following manner; but in that
of a widow, or a divorced woman, with little
ceremony.
Most commonly, the mother, or some other near female
relation, of the youth or man who is desirous of obtaining
a wife describes
to him the personal and other
qualifications of the young women
with whom she is
acquainted, and directs his choice
*: or he employs a
kha't'beh, or
kha'tibeh; a woman whose regular business
is to assist
men in such cases. Sometimes two or
more women of this profession are
employed. A
kha't'beh gives her report
confidentially, describing one
girl as being like a gazelle, pretty and
elegant and
young; and another, as not pretty, but rich, and so
forth.
If the man have a mother and other near female
relations, two or three of
these usually go with a
kha't'beh to pay visits to
several hharee'ms, to which she
has access in her professional
character of a matchmaker;
for she is employed as much by the women as
by the men. She sometimes also exercises the trade of
a
della'leh (or broker) for the sale of ornaments,
clothing,
&c., which procures her admission into almost
every
hharee'm. The women who accompany her in search
of a
wife for their relation are introduced to the different
hharee'ms merely as ordinary visiters; and as such, if
disappointed, they soon take their leave, though the
object of their visit
is of course understood by the other
party: but if they find among the
females of a family
(and they are sure to see all who are marriageable)
a
girl or young woman having- the necessary personal
qualifications,
they slate the motive of their visit, and
ask, if the proposed match be not
at once disapproved
of, what property, ornaments, &c., the
object of their
wishes may possess. If the father of the intended
bride
be dead, she may perhaps possess one or more houses,
* Abraham's sending a
messenger to his own country to seek
a wife for his son Isaac (see
Genesis, xxiv.) was just such a measure
as most modern Arabs would
adopt under similar circumstances.,
if easily practicable.
shops, &c.; and in
almost every case, a marriageable
girl of (he middle or higher ranks has a
set of ornaments
of gold and jewels. The women-visitors, having asked
these and other questions, bring their report to the expectant
youth or
man. If satisfied with their report, he
gives a present to the
kha't'beh, and sends her again to
the family of his
intended wife, to make known to them
his wishes. She generally gives an
exaggerated description
of his personal attractions, wealth, &c.
For instance,
she will say, of a very ordinary young man, of
scarcely
any property, and of whose disposition she
knows nothing, “ My
daughter, the youth who wishes
to marry you is young, graceful, elegant,
beardless, has
plenty of money, dresses handsomely, is fond of
delicacies,
but cannot enjoy his luxuries alone; he wants you
as his
companion: he will give you everything that
money can procure; he is a
stayer-at-home, and will
spend his whole time with you, caressing and
fondling
you.”
The parents may betroth their daughter to whom
they please, and marry her to
him without her consent,
if she be not arrived at the age of puberty; but
after
she has attained that age, she may choose a husband
for herself,
and appoint any man to arrange and effect
her marriage. In the former case,
however, the khat'beh
and the relations of a girl sought in
marriage usually
endeavour to obtain her consent to the proposed
union.
Very often, a father objects to giving a daughter in
marriage
to a man who is not of the same profession or
trade as himself; and to
marrying a younger daughter
before an elder
*. The bridegroom can scarcely
ever
obtain even a surreptitious glance at the features of
his
* Sen Genesis, xxix.. 26.
bride, until he finds her in his
absolute possession, unless
she belong to the lower classes of society; in
which
case, it is easy enough for him to see her face.
When a female is about to marry, she should have a
wekee'l (or
deputy) to settle the compact, and conclude
the contract, for her, with her
proposed husband. If
she be under the age of puberty, this is absolutely
necessary;
and in this case, her father, if living, or (if he be
dead)
her paternal grandfather, or a guardian appointed
by will, or by the
Cka'dee, performs the office of wekee'l:
but if she
be of age, she appoints her own wekee'l, or
may even make the
contract herself; though this is
seldom done.
After a youth or man has made choice of a female to
demand in marriage, on
the report of his female relations,
or that of the
kha't'beh, and, by proxy, made the
preliminary
arrangements before described with her and
her relations in the
hharee'm, he repairs with two or
three of his friends to her
wekee'l. Having obtained
the wekee'l's
consent to the union, if the intended bride
be under age, he asks what is
the amount of the required
mahr (or dowry).
The giving of a dowry is indispensable, as I have
mentioned in a former
chapter. It is generally calculated
in
riya'ls, of ninety fud'dahs (now equivalent
to
five pence and two fifths) each. The riya'l is an
imaginary
money; not a coin. The usual amount of the
dowry, if the
parties be in possession of a moderately
good income, is about a thousand
riya'ls (or twenty-two
pounds ten shillings); or, sometimes, not
more than
half that sum. The wealthy calculate the dowry in
purses, of
five hundred piasters (or, now, five pounds
sterling) each; and fix its
amount at ten purses, or
more. It must be borne in mind
that we are considering
the case of a virgin-bride; the dowry of a widow
or
a divorced woman is much less. In settling the amount
of the dowry,
as in other pecuniary transactions, a little
haggling frequently lakes
place: if a thousand riya'ls
be demanded through the
wekee'l, the party of the intended
bridegroom will probably make
an offer of six
hundred: the former party then gradually lowering the
demand, and the other increasing the offer, they at
length agree to fix it
at eight hundred. It is generally
stipulated that two thirds of the dowry
shall be paid
immediately before the marriage-contract is made; and
the remaining’ third held in reserve, to be paid to the
wife in
case of divorcing her against her own consent,
or in case of the
husband's death.
This affair being settled, and confirmed by all persons
present reciting the
opening chapter of the Ckoor-a'n
(the
Fa't'hhah), an early day (perhaps the day next
following) is appointed for paying the money, and performing
the ceremony
of the marriage-contract, which
is properly called
'ackd en-nika'hh*. The making this
contract is
commonly called
ketb el-kita'b (or the
writing
of the writ); but it is very seldom the case that any
document
is written to confirm the marriage, unless the
bridegroom is about to
travel to another place, and fears
that he may have occasion to prove his
marriage where
witnesses of the contract cannot be procured. Sometimes
the marriage-contract is concluded immediately
after the arrangement
respecting the dowry, but more
generally a day or two after. On the day
appointed
* It is a common belief in Egypt,
that, if any one make a
marriage-contract in the month of
Mohhar'ram, the marriage will
be unhappy, and soon
dissolved: wherefore, few persons do so.
for this ceremony, the
bridegroom, again accompanied
by two or three of his friends, goes to the
house of the
bride, usually about noon, taking with him that portion
of the dowry which he has promised to pay on this
occasion. He and his
companions are received by the
bride's wekee'l; and
two or more friends of the latter
are usually present. It is necessary that
there be two
witnesses (and those must be Moos'lirns) to the
marriage-contract,
unless in a situation where witnesses
cannot be
procured. All persons present recite the
Fa't'hhah;
and the bridegroom then pays the money.
After this, the marriage-contract
is performed. It is
very simple. The bridegroom and the bride's
wekee'l
sit upon the ground, face to face, with one knee
upon
the ground, and grasp each other's right hand, raising
the thumbs, and pressing them against each other. A
fick'ee
* is generally
employed to instruct them what
they are to say. Having placed a
handkerchief over
their joined hands, he usually prefaces the words of
the
contract with a
khoot'beh, consisting
of a few words of
exhortation and prayer, with quotations from the
Ckoora'n
and Traditions, on the excellency and advantages
of
marriage. He then desires the bride's wekee'l to
say
“ I betroth [or marry], to thee, my daughter [or the
female who has appointed me her wekee'l], such a one
[naming the
bride], the virgin
† [or the adult virgin],
for a dowry of such an
amount.” (The words “ for a
dowry,”
&c., are sometimes omitted.) The
bride's
wekee'l having said this, the bridegroom,
prompted in
the same manner by the fick'ee, says “ I
accept from
* This appellation is commonly given
to a schoolmaster.
† If the bride be not a virgin, a
word importing this is substituted;
namely, sey'yib.
thee her betrothal [or marriage]
to myself, and take
her under my care, and bind myself to afford her
my
protection; and ye who are present bear witness of
this.”
The wekee'l addresses the bridegroom in the
same manner
a second and a third time; and each time, the latter
replies as before. They then generally add, “ And
blessing be on
the Apostles, and praise be to God, the
Lord of all creatures,
amen:” after which, all present
again repeat the
Pa't'hhah. It is not always the same
form of
khoot'beh that is recited on these occasions:
any
form may be used; and it may be repeated
by
any
person: it is not even necessary; and is often altogether
omitted.
The contract concluded, the bridegroom sometimes
(but seldom unless he be a
person of the lower
orders) kisses the hands of his friends and others
there
present; and they then remain to dinner. Each of
them receives
an embroidered handkerchief, provided by
the family of the bride; excepting
the fick'ee, who receives
a similar handkerchief, with a small
gold coin
tied up in it, from the bridegroom. Before the persons
assembled on this occasion disperse, they settle when
the
"ley'let ed-dookh'leh” is to be: this is the
night
when the bride is brought to the house of the bridegroom,
and
the latter, for the first time, visits her.
In general, the bridegroom waits for his bride about
eight or ten days after
the conclusion of the contract.
Meanwhile, he sends to her, two or three or
more times,
some fruit, sweetmeats, &c.; and perhaps makes her
a
present of a shawl, or some other article of value. The
bride's family are at the same time occupied in preparing
for
her a stock of household furniture (as deewa'ns,
matting,
carpets, bedding, kitchen-utensils, &c.) and
dress. The portion
of the dowry which has been paid
by the bridegroom, and generally
a much larger sum
(the additional money, which
is often more than the
dowry itself, being supplied by the
bride's family), is
expended in purchasing the articles of
furniture, dress,
and ornaments, for the bride. These articles, which
are
called
gaha'z, are the property of
the bride; and if she
be divorced, she takes them away with her. She
cannot,
therefore, with truth be said to be
purchased
*. The
furniture is sent, commonly borne by a train
of camels,
to the bridegroom's house. Often, among the
articles
of the gaha'z, is a chair for the turban or head-dress
(koor'see el-'ema'meh),
alluded to in a former page. It
is of a large size, but slight make; the
bottom and back
generally of cane-work; sometimes with a canopy. It
is
never used to sit upon. The turban, when placed
upon it, is covered with a
napkin of thick silk stuff,
usually ornamented with gold thread. There are
sometimes
sent two of these chairs; one for the husband, and
the other
for the wife.
* Among the peasants, however, the
father, or nearest male
relation of the bride, receives the dowry, and
gives nothing in
return but the girl, and sometimes a little corn,
&c. The bridegroom,
in this case, supplies everything; even
the dress of the
bride.
The bridegroom should receive his bride on the ev
e
of Friday, or that of Monday
†; but the former is
† Burckhardt has erred in stating
that Monday and Thursday
are the days on which
the ceremonies immediately previous to the
marriage-night are performed: he should have said Sunday and
Thursday. He has also fallen into some other errors in
the
account which he has given of the marriage ceremonies of the
Egyptians, in the illustrations of his ”
Arabic Proverbs” (pp. 112—118).
To mention this,
I feel to be a duty to myself; but one
which I perform with reluctance,
and not without the fear that
Burckhardt's just reputation
for general accuracy may make my
reader think that he is right in these
cases, and that I am wrong.
I write these words in Cairo, with his book
before me, and after
sufficient experience and inquiries.
generally esteemed the more
fortunate period. Let us
say, for instance, that the bride is to be
conducted to
him on the eve of Friday. During two or three or more
preceding nights, the street or quarter in which the
bridegroom lives is
illuminated with chandeliers and
lanterns, or with lanterns and small
lamps, suspended
Lantern, &c., suspended on the occasion of a
Wedding.
from cords drawn across from the bridegroom's and
several other houses on each side to the houses opposite;
and several small
silk flags, each of two colours, generally
red and green, are attached to
other cords
*.
An entertainment
is also given on each of these nights, particularly
on the
last night before that on which the wedding
is concluded, at the bridegroom's house. On these
occasions, it
is customary for the persons invited, and
for all intimate friends, to send
presents to his house,
a day or two before the feast which they purpose
or
expect to attend: they generally send sugar, coffee,
rice, wax
candles, or a lamb: the former articles are
usually placed upon a tray of
copper or wood, and covered
with a silk or embroidered kerchief. The guests
are
entertained on these occasions by musicians and male or
female
singers, by dancing girls, or by the performance
of a
khut'meh or a
zikr-
†.
* The lantern here represented, which
is constructed of wood,
and painted green, red, white and blue, is
called teorei'ya (the
Arabic name of
the Pleiades), and together with the frame above,
from which six lamps
are suspended, and which is termed kha'tim
Sooleyma'n (or Solomon's seal), composes what
is called a hhem'l
ckan'a'dee't.
† These entertainments I do not here
particularly describe, as
it is my intention to devote the whole of a
subsequent chapter to
the subject of private festivities. The khut'meh is the recitation
of the
Ckoor-a'n; and the air, the repetition of
the name of God,
or of the profession of his unity, &c.: I
shall have occasion to
speak of both more fully in another chapter, on
the periodical
public festivals.
In the houses of the wealthy, the kha't'beh or
kha't'behs, together with the
da'yeh (or midwife) of the
family, the
betla'neh (or female attendant of the
bath),
and the nurse of the bride, are each presented, a day or
two
after the conclusion of the contract, with a piece of
gold stuff, a
Kashmee'r shawl, or a piece of striped silk,
such as
yel'eks and shintiya'ns are made of; and, placing
these over the left shoulder, and
attaching the edges
together on the right side, go upon asses, with two
or
more men before them beating kettle-drums or labours,
to the houses
of all the friends of the bride, to invite the
females to accompany her to
and from the bath, and to
partake of an entertainment given on that
occasion.
At every house where they call, they are treated with a
repast, having sent notice the day before of their intended
visit. They are
called
moodna't
*. I have
sometimes
seen them walking, and without the drums before
them; but
making up for the want of these instruments
by shrill, quavering cries of
joy, called
sugh'a'ree't
†.
* From the verb ad'na, “ he brought,”
&c.
† These cries of the women, which are
heard on various occasions
of rejoicing in Egypt and other eastern
countries, are produced
by a sharp utterance of the voice, accompanied
by a quick,
tremulous motion of the tongue.
On the preceding Wednesday (or on the Saturday if
the wedding be to conclude
on the eve of Monday), at
about the hour of noon, or a little later, the
bride goes
instate to the bath
‡. The procession to the bath is
called
zef'fet el-khamma'm. It is
headed by a party of
musicians with a hautboy, or two, and drums of
different
kinds
§. Frequently, as I have mentioned in a former
chapter, some person avails himself of this opportunity
to parade his young
son previously to circumcision: the
child and his attendants, in this case,
follow next after
the musicians, in the manner already described.
Sometimes,
at the head of the bride's party are two men who
‡ I have once seen this zef 'feh, or procession, and a second
which will be described hereafter, go forth much later, and return
an
hour after sunset.
§ The music is generally of a very
rude kind: and the airs
usually- played are those of popular songs;
specimens of which
will be found in this work.
carry the utensils and linen used
in the bath, upon two
round trays, each of which is covered with an
embroidered
or a plain silk kerchief: also, a sack'cka, who
gives water to any of the passengers, if asked; and two
other persons, one
of whom bears a
ckoom'ckoom, or
bottle,
of plain or gilt silver, or of china, containing rose-water,
or
orange-flower-water, which he occasionally
sprinkles on the passengers; and
the other,
a mib'khan'ah
(or perfuming-vessel) of silver, with aloes-wood, or some
other
odoriferous substance burning in it: but it is
seldom that the procession
is thus attended. In general,
the first persons among the
bride's party are several
of her married female relations and
friends, walking in
pairs; and next, a number of young virgins. The
former are dressed in the usual manner, covered with
the black silk
hhab'arah: the latter have white silk
hhab'arahs, or
shawls. Then follows the bride, walking
under a canopy of silk, of some gay
colour, as pink,
rose-colour, or yellow; or of two colours,
composing-wide
stripes, often rose-colour and yellow. It is carried
by
four men, by means of a pole at each corner, and is
open only in front; and
at the top of each of the four
poles is attached an embroidered
handkerchief. The
dress of the bride, during this procession, entirely
conceals
her person. She is generally covered, from head to foot,
with
a red Kashmee'r shawl; or with a white or
yellow shawl, though
rarely. Upon her head is placed
a small pasteboard cap, or crown. The shawl
is placed
over this, and conceals from the view of the public the
richer articles of her dress, her face, and her jewels, &c.,
excepting one or two
dcoos'sahs *
(and sometimes other
ornaments), generally of diamonds and emeralds,
attached
* For a description of these
ornaments, see the Appendix.
Bridal Procession (Part I.)
Bridal Procession (Part II.)
to that part of the shawl which
covers her forehead.
She is accompanied by two or three of her female
relations within the canopy; and often, when in hot
weather, a woman,
walking; backwards before her, is
constantly employed in
fanning her, with a large fan of
black ostrich-feathers, the
lower part of the front of
which is usually ornamented with a piece of
looking-glass.
Sometimes one zef'feh, with a single canopy,
serves for two brides, who walk side by side. The procession
moves very
slowly: it is closed by a second
party of musicians, similar to the first,
or by two or throe
drummers.
In the bridal processions of the lower orders, which
are often conducted in
the same manner as that above
described, the women of the party frequently
utter, at
intervals, those shrill cries of joy called
zug'h'a'ree't,
which I have
before had occasion to mention; and
females of the poorer classes, when
merely spectators of
a zef'feh, often do the same.
The whole bath is sometimes hired for the bride and
her party exclusively.
They pass several hours, or seldom
less than two, occupied in
washing', sporting', and
feasting; and frequently 'A'l'mehs (or female
singers)
are hired to amuse them in the bath: they then return
in the
same order in which they came. The expense
Of the zef'feh falls
on the relations of the bride; but the
feast is supplied by the bridegroom.
Having returned from the bath to the house of her
family, the bride and her
companions sup tog-ether. If
'A'l'mehs
have contributed to the festivity in the bath,
they, also, return with the
bride, to renew their concert.
Their song's are always on the
subject of love, and of
the joyous event which occasions their presence.
After
the company have been thus
entertained, a large quantity
of hhen'na having been prepared,
mixed into a
paste, the bride takes a lump of it in her hand, and
receives
contributions (called
noockoo't)
from her guests:
each of them sticks a coin (usually of gold) in the
hhen'na which she holds upon her hand; and when the
lump is
closely stuck with these coins, she scrapes it off
her hand upon the edge
of a basin of water. Having
collected in this manner from all her guests,
some more
hhen'na is applied to her hands and feet, which
are
then bound with pieces of linen; and in this stale they
remain
until the next morning, when they are found to
be sufficiently dyed with
its deep orange-red tint. Her
guests make use of the remainder of the dye
for their
own hands. This night is called
Ley'let el-Hhen'na, or
“the
Night of the Hhen'na.”
It is on this night, and sometimes also during the
latter half of the
preceding day, that the bridegroom
gives his chief entertainment. Mohhabbazee'n (or low
farce-players) often
perform on this occasion before the
house, or; if it be large enough, in
the court. The other
and more common performances by which the guests
are amused have been before mentioned.
On the following day, the bride goes in procession to
the house of the
bridegroom. The procession before-described
is called “the
zef'feh of the bath “ to distinguish
it from this,
which is the more important, and
which is therefore particularly called
zef'fet el-'aroo'seh,
or “ the zef'feh of the bride.” in some
cases, to diminish
the expenses of the marriage-ceremonies, the bride
is conducted privately to the bath, and only honoured
with a
zef'feh to the bridegroom's house. This procession
is
exactly similar to the former. The bride and
her party, after breakfasting
together, generally set out
a little after midday. They proceed in the same
order,
and at the same slow pace, as in the zef'feh of the
bath;
and, if the house of the bridegroom be near, they follow
a
circuitous route, through several principal streets, for
the sake of
display. The ceremony usually occupies
three or more hours.
Sometimes, before bridal processions of this kind, two
swordsmen, clad in
nothing but their drawers, engage
each other in a mock combat; or two
fella'hhee'n cudgel
each other with
nebboo'ts, or long staves. In the procession
of a bride of a
wealthy family, any person who
has the art of performing some extraordinary
feat to
amuse the spectators is almost sure of being a welcome
assistant, and of receiving a handsome present
*. When
the seyd
'Om'ar, the Nackee'b el-Ashra'f (or
chief of the
descendants of the Prophet), who was the main instrument
of advancing Mohham'mad 'Al'ee to the dignity
of
Ba'sha of Egypt, married a daughter, about twenty-seven
years since, there walked before the procession a
young man who had made an
incision in his abdomen,
and drawn out a large portion of his intestines,
which
* One of the most common of the teats
witnessed on such
an occasion is the performance of a laborious task by
a water-carrier,
carrier, termed a ckei'yim, who, for the sake of a present, and this
empty title, carries a water-skin filled with sand and water, of
greater weight, and for a longer period, than any of his brethren
will
venture to do; and this he must accomplish without ever
sitting down,
except in a crouching position, to rest. In the case
of a bridal
procession which I lately witnessed, the ckei'yim bean
to
carry his burden, a skin of sand and water weighing about
two hundred
pounds, at sunset of the preceding day; bore it the
whole night, and
the ensuing day, before and during the procession,
and continued to do
so till sunset.
he carried before him on a silver
tray. After the procession,
he restored them to their proper place, and
remained
in bed many days before he recovered from the
effects of this
foolish and disgusting act. Another man,
on the same occasion, ran a sword
through his arm,
before the crowding spectators, and then bound, over
the wound, without withdrawing the sword, several
handkerchiefs, which were
soaked with the blood.
These facts were described to me by an eyewitness.
A
spectacle of a more singular and more disgusting nature
used to be
not uncommon on similar occasions, but
is now very seldom witnessed
*.
Sometimes, also,
hha'wees (or conjurers and sleight-of-hand
performers)
exhibit a variety of tricks on these occasions. But the
most common of all the performances here mentioned
are the mock fights.
Similar exhibitions are also
sometimes witnessed on the occasion of a
circumcision
†.
* A correct description of this is
given in Burckhardt's “ Arabic
Proverbs,” pp. 115,116.
† Grand zef'fehs are
sometimes accompanied by a number of
cars, each bearing a group of
persons of some manufacture or
trade performing the usual work of their
craft; even such as
builders, white-washers &c.; including
members of all, or almost
all, the arts and manufactures practised in
the metropolis.
The bride and her party, having arrived at the bridegroom's
house, sit clown to a repast. Her friends,
shortly after, take their
departure; leaving, with her,
only her mother and sister, or other near
female relations,
and one or two other women; usually the
bel-la'neh.
The ensuing night is called Ley'let ed-Dookh'leh,
or “the Night of the Entrance.”
The bridegroom sits below. Before sunset, he goes to
the bath, and there
changes his clothes; or he merely
does the latter at home, and,
after having supped with a
party of his friends, waits till a little before
the
'esh'ë (or
time
of the night-prayer), or until the third or fourth
hour of the night, when,
according to general custom,
he should repair to some celebrated mosque,
such as
that of the Hhasaney'n, and there say his prayers.
If
young, he is generally honoured with a zef'feh on this
occasion: he goes to the mosque preceded by musicians
with drums and one or
more hautboys, and accompanied
by a number of friends, and by several men bearing
mesh”als. The mesh”al is a
staff’ with a cylindrical
frame of iron at the top filled with
flaming wood, or
having two, three, four, or five of these receptacles
for
Mesh”als.
fire. The party usually proceeds
to the mosque with a
quick pace, and without much order. A second
group
of musicians, with the same instruments, or with drums
only,
closes the procession. The bridegroom is generally
dressed in a
ckufta'n with red stripes, and a red gib'beh,
with a
Kashmee'r shawl of the same colour for his turban;
and walks
between two friends similarly dressed.
The prayers are commonly performed
merely as a matter
of ceremony; and it is frequently the case that the
bridegroom does not pray at all, or prays without having
previously
performed the woodoo', like memloo'ks who
say their
prayers only because they fear their master
*.
The procession returns from the
mosque with more
order and display, and very slowly; perhaps because
it
would be considered unbecoming in the bridegroom to
hasten home to
take possession of his bride. It is
headed, as before, by musicians, and
two or more bearers
of mesh”als. These are generally followed by
two men,
bearing-, by means of a pole resting horizontally upon
their
shoulders, a hanging frame, to which are attached
about sixty or more small
lamps, in four circles, one
above another; the uppermost of which circles
is made
to revolve; being turned round occasionally by one of
the two
bearers. These numerous lamps, and several
mesh”als beside those
before-mentioned, brilliantly
illumine the streets through which the
procession passes,
and produce a remarkably picturesque effect. The
bridegroom and his friends and other attendants follow,
advancing in the
form of an oblong ring, all facing the
interior of the ring, and each
bearing in his hand one or
more wax candles, and sometimes a sprig of
hhen'na or
* Hence, this kind of prayer is
called sal'ah
mem'a'lee'kee'yeh,
or “the prayer of memloo'ks.”
some other flower, excepting the
bridegroom and the
friend on either side of him. These three form the
latter part of the ring, which generally consists of twenty
or more
persons. At frequent intervals, the party stops
for a few minutes; and
during each of these pauses, a
toy or man, one of the persons who compose
the ring,
sings a few words of an epithalamium. The sounds of
the
drums, and the shrill notes of the hautboy (which
the bride hears half an
hour or more before the procession
arrives at the house), cease during
these songs.
The train is closed, as in the former case, by a second
group of musicians.
In the manner above described, the bridegroom's
zef'feh is most commonly conducted; but there is
another mode,
that is more respectable, called z
ef'feh
sa'da'tee, which signifies “the
gentlemen's zef'feh.’ In
this, the
bridegroom is accompanied by his friends in
the same manner as before
related, and attended and
preceded by men bearing mesh”als, but
not by musicians:
in the place of these are about six or eight men,
who, from their being employed as singers on occasions
of this kind, are
called wila
'd
el-läya'lee, or “sons of the
nights.” Thus attended, he goes to the mosque: and
while he
returns slowly thence to his house, the singers
above mentioned chant, or
rather sing,
moowesh'shahhs
(or lyric odes) in praise of the Prophet. Having returned
to the
house, these same persons chant portions
of the Ckoor-a'n, one
after another, for the amusement
of the guests; then, altogether, recite
the opening chapter
(the Fa't'hhah); after which, one
of them sings a
ckaseedeh (or short poem) in praise of the Prophet:
lastly, all of them again sing moowesh'shahhs. After
having
thus performed, they receive
noockoo't (or
contributions
of money) from the bridegroom and
his
friends.
Soon after his return from the mosque, the bridegroom
leaves his friends in
a lower apartment, enjoying
their pipes and coffee and sherbet. The
bride's
mother and sister, or whatever other female
relations
were left with her, are above; and the bride herself, and
the bella'ueh, in a separate apartment. If the bridegroom
be a
youth or young man, it is considered proper
that he, as well as the bride,
should exhibit some degree
of bashfulness: one of his friends, therefore,
carries him
a part of the way up to the hharee'm. On entering
the
bride's apartment, he gives a present to the
bella'neh,
and she retires. The bride has a shawl thrown
over
her head; and the bridegroom must give her a present
of money,
which is called “the price of the uncovering
of the face
*,” before he attempts to remove this, which
she does not allow him to do without some apparent reluctance,
if not
violent resistance, in order to show her
maiden modesty. On removing the
covering, he says
“ In the name of God, the Compassionate, the
Merciful,”
and then greets her with this compliment:
“ The night
be blessed,” or
“—is blessed:” to which she replies,
if
timidity do not choke her utterance, “God bless
thee.” The bridegroom now sees the face of his bride
for the
first time, and generally finds her nearly what
he has been led to expect.
Often, but not always, a
curious ceremony is then performed. The
bridegroom
takes off every article of the bride's clothing
excepting
her shirt; seats her upon a mattress or bed, the
head of
which is turned towards the direction of
*
Hhack'ck keshf el-wish'sh.
Wish'sh is a vulgar corruption of
wegh, or wejh.
Mek'keh, placing her
so that her back is also turned
in that direction; and draws forward, and
spreads upon
the bed, the lower part of the front of her shirt: having
done this, he stands at the distance of rather less than a
yard before her,
and performs the prayers of two rek”ahs;
laying his head and
hands, in prostration, upon the part
of her shirt that is extended before
her lap. He remains
with her but a few minutes longer
*:
having
satisfied his curiosity respecting her personal charms,
he
calls to the women (who generally collect at the door,
where they
wait in anxious suspense) to raise their cries
of joy, or
zugh'a'ree't; and the shrill sounds
acquaint
the persons below and in the neighbourhood, and often,
responded by other women, spread still further the news,
that he has
acknowledged himself satisfied with his
bride: he soon after descends to
rejoin his friends, and
remains with them an hour, or more, before he
returns
to his wife. It very seldom happens that the husband,
if
disappointed in his bride, immediately disgraces and
divorces her: in
general, he retains her, in this ease, a
week or more.
* I beg to refer the reader, if he
desire further details on this
subject, to page 117 of
Burckhardt's “Arabic Proverbs.” His
account might have been more complete; but he seems to have
studied to
he particularly concise in this case.
Having now described the most usual manner in
which the marriages of
virgin-brides are conducted in
Cairo, I may add a few words on some of the
ceremonies
observed in other cases of matrimony, both of virgins
and
of widows or divorced women.
The daughters of the great, generally having baths in
their own houses,
seldom go to the public bath previously
to marriage. A bride of a wealthy
family, and
her female relations and friends,
if there be not a bath
in her house, go to the public bath, which is hired
for
then exclusively, and to the bridegroom's house,
without
music or canopy, mounted on asses: the bride herself
generally
wearing a Kashmee'r shawl, in the manner of
a
hhab'arah. If the bridegroom or the bride's family
have eunuchs, these ride before the bride; and sometimes
a man runs at the
head of the procession, crying “
Bless ye the Prophet
*!” This man, on entering the
house, throws
down, upon the threshold, some leaves of
the white bete
(sulck), over which the ladies ride. The
object of this act is to
propitiate fortune. The same
man then exclaims “ Assistance from
God, and a
speedy victory
†!”
*
Sal'loo 'a-n-neb'ee.
'A-n-neb'ee is a vulgar contraction of
'al'a-n-neb'ee.
† Ckoor-a'n, chap. lxi.
veu. 13.
Marriages, among the Egyptians, are sometimes conducted
without any pomp or
ceremony even in the case
of virgins, by mutual consent of the bridegroom
and the
bride's family, or the bride herself; and widows
and
divorced women are never honoured with a zef'feh on
marrying again. The mere sentence “ I give myself up
to thee
‡
“ uttered by a female to a man who proposes
to become her
husband (even without the presence of
witnesses, if none can be easily
procured) render her his
legal wife, if arrived at puberty; and marriages
with
widows and divorced women, among the Moos'lims of
Egypt, and other Arabs, are sometimes concluded in
this simple manner. The
dowry of such women is
generally one quarter or third or half the amount of
that
of a virgin.
In
Cairo, among persons not of the lowest order,
though in very humble life, the
marriage-ceremonies are
conducted in the same manner as among the
middle
orders. But when the expenses of such zef'fehs as I
have described cannot by any means be paid, the bride
is paraded in a very
simple manner, covered with a shawl
(generally red), and surrounded by a
group of her female
relations and friends, dressed in their best, or
in
borrowed clothes, and enlivened by no other sounds of
joy than
their zugh'a'ree't, which they repeat at
frequent
intervals.
The general mode of zef'feh among the inhabitants
of the villages
is different from those above-described.
The bride, usually covered with a
shawl, is seated on a
camel; and so conveyed to the bridegroom's
dwelling.
Sometimes four or five women or girls sit with her, on
the
same camel; one on either side of her, and two or
three others behind: the
seat being made very Wide,
and usually covered with carpets or other
drapery. She
is followed by a group of women singing. In the
evening
of the wedding, and often during several previous
evenings, in a village,
the male and female friends
of the two parties meet at the
bridegroom's house, and
puss several hours of the night, in the
open air, amusing
themselves with songs and a rude kind of dance,
accompanied
by the sounds of a tambourine or some kind of
drum: both
sexes sing; but only the women dance. I
have introduced here these few
words on the marriage-ceremonies
of the peasantry to avoid scattering notes
on
subjects of the same nature. I now revert to the customs
of the
people of
Cairo.
On the morning after the marriage,
khow'als*
or
* A khow'al is also called
gha'ish, plural gheeyu'sh.
gha'zee'yehs (dancing men or girls)
perform in the street
before the bridegroom's house, or in the
court
*.
On
the same morning also, if the bridegroom be a young
man, the
person who carried him up-stairs generally
takes him and several friends to
an entertainment in the
country, where they spend the whole day. This
ceremony
is called
el-hooroo'beh, or the
flight. Sometimes
the bridegroom himself makes the arrangements for
it;
and pays part of the expenses, if they exceed the amount
of the
contributions of his friends; for they giv
noockou't on this occasion. Musicians and
dancing-girls
are often hired to attend the entertainment. If
the
bridegroom be a person of the lower orders, he is
conducted back in
procession, preceded by three or four
musicians with drums and hautboys;
his friends and
other attendants carrying each a nosegay, as in the
zef'feh of the preceding night; and if their return be
after
sunset, they are accompanied by men hearing
mesh”als, lamps,
&c.; and the friends of the bridegroom
carry lighted wax
candles, besides the nosegays
†. Subsequent
* This performance is called the
bride's sub'a'hhee'yeh.
† Among the peasants of Upper Egypt,
the relations and acquaintances
of the bridegroom and bride meet
together on the day
after the marriage; and while a number of the men
clap their
hands, as an accompaniment to a tambourine, or two, and
any
other instruments that can be procured, the bride dances
before
them for a short time. She has a head-veil reaching to her
heels,
and a printed cotton handkerchief completely covering her
face,
and wears, externally, the most remarkable of her bridal
garments
(mentioned by Burckhardt, in the place before referred to,
and,
in some parts of Egypt, hung over the door of a
peasant's house
after marriage). Other women, similarly
veiled, and dressed in their
best, or borrowed, clothes, continue the
dance about two hours, or
more.
festivities occasioned by
marriage will be described
in a later chapter.
The husband, if he can conveniently so arrange,
generally prefers that his
mother should reside with him
and his wife; that she may protect his
wife's honour,
and consequently his own also. It is said that
the
mother-in-law is, for this reason, called
hham'ah *.
The women of Egypt are said to be generally prone to
criminal
intrigues; and I fear that, in this respect, they
are not unjustly accused.
Sometimes a husband keeps
his wife, in the house of her mother, and pays
the daily
expenses of both. This ought to make the mother very-careful
with regard to expenditure, and strict as to her
daughter's
conduct, lest the latter should be divorced;
but it is said, that, in this
case, she often acts as her
daughter's procuress, and teaches
her innumerable tricks,
by which to gain the upper hand over her husband,
and
to drain his purse. The influence of the wife's mother
is also scarcely less feared when she only enjoys occasional
opportunities
of seeing her daughter: hence it is
held more prudent for a man to marry a
female who
has neither mother nor any near relations of her own
sex;
and some wives are even prohibited receiving any
female friends but those
who are relations of the husband:
they are very few, however, upon whom
such
severe restrictions are imposed.
* Thus commonly pronounced, fur
hhama'h, a word derived from
the verb hham'a, “ he protected, or
guarded.”
For a person who has become familiar with male
Moos'lim society
in
Cairo, without marrying, it is not
so difficult as might be imagined by
a stranger to obtain,
directly and indirectly, correct and ample
information
respecting the condition and habits of the women.
Many husbands of the middle
classes, and some of the
higher orders, freely talk of the affairs of the
hharee'm
with one who professes to agree with them in their
general moral sentiments, if they have not to converse
through the medium
of an interpreter.
Though the women have a particular portion of the
house allotted to them,
the
wives, in general, are not to
be regarded as
prisoners; for they are usually at liberty
to go out and pay visits, as
well as to receive female
visiters, almost as often as they please. The
slaves,
indeed, being subservient to the wives, as well as to their
master, or, if subject to the master only, being under
an authority almost
unlimited, have not that liberty.
One of the chief objects of the master in
appropriating
a distinct suite of apartments to his women, is to
prevent
their being seen by the male domestics and other
men without
being covered in the manner prescribed by
their religion. The following
words of the Ckoor-a'n
show the necessity under which a
Mohhammadan woman
is placed of concealing whatever is attractive in
her
person or attire from all men, excepting certain relations
and
some other persons. “ And speak unto the believing
women, that
they restrain their eyes, and preserve
their modesty, and discover not
their ornaments, except
what [necessarily] appeareth thereof: and let
them
throw their veils over their bosoms, and not show their
ornaments, unless to their husbands, or their fathers, or
their
husbands’ fathers, or their sons, or their husbands’
sons, or their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their
sisters’ sons, or their women, or those [captives] which
their
right hands shall possess, or unto such men as
attend [them] and have no
need [of women], or unto
children:” “and let them not
make a noise with their
feet, that their ornaments which
they hide may [thereby]
be discovered
*.” The last passage alludes to
the practice
of knocking’ together the anklets which the
Arab
women in the time of the Prophet used to wear; and
which are
still worn by many women in Egypt.
I must here transcribe two notes of an eminent
Egyptian commentator on the
Ckoor-a'n, in illustration
of the above extract, and inserted in
Sale's translation.
This I do, because they would convey an
erroneous idea
of modern customs with regard to the admission, or
non-admission, of certain persons into the hharee'm.
The first
is on the above words “ or their women,”
which it
thus explains—” That is, such as are of the
Mohhammadan religion: it being reckoned by some
unlawful, or, at least,
indecent, for a woman who is a
true believer, to uncover herself before one
who is an
infidel; because the latter will hardly refrain from
describing
her to the men: but others suppose all women
in general are
here, excepted; for, in this particular,
doctors differ.” In
Egypt, and I believe in every other
Mohhammadan country, it is not now
considered improper
for any woman, whether independent, or a servant, or
a
slave, a Christian, a Jewess, a Moos'lim'eh,
or a pagan, to enter a Moos'lim's
hharee'm.—The second
of the notes above alluded to is
on the words “ or those
captives;” and is as follows.
“Slaves of either sex are
included in this exception, and, as
some think, domestic
servants who are not slaves, as those of a different
nation.
It is related that Mohham'mad once made a present
of
a man-slave to his daughter Fa'timeh; and when he
brought him to her, she had on a garment which was so
scanty, that she was obliged to
leave either her head or
her feet uncovered: and that the Prophet, seeing
her in
great confusion on that account, told her, she need be
under no
concern, for that there was none present but
her father and her
slave.” Among the Arabs of the
Desert this may still be the
case; but in Egypt I have
never heard of an instance of an adult male slave
being
allowed to see the hharee'm of a respectable man,
whether
he belonged to that hharee'm or not; and am
assured
that it is never permitted. Perhaps the reason
why the man-slave of a woman
is allowed this privilege
by the Ckoor-a'n is, because she
cannot become his lawful
wife as long as he continues her slave: but this
is a
poor reason for granting him access to the hharee'm,
in
such a state of society. It is remarkable that, in the
verse of the
Ckoor-a'n above quoted, uncles are not
mentioned as privileged
to see their nieces unveiled:
some think that they are not admissible, and
for this
reason, lest they should describe the persons of their
nieces
to their sons; for it is regarded as highly improper
for a man to describe
the features or person of a
female (as to say, that she has large eyes, a
straight
nose, small mouth, &c.) to one of his own sex by
whom
it is unlawful for her to be seen, though it is not considered
indecorous to describe her in general terms, as,
for instance, to say
“she is a sweet girl, and set off with
kohhl and
hhen'na.”
It may be mentioned here, as a general rule, that a
man is allowed to see
unveiled only his own wives and
female slaves, and those females whom he is
prohibited,
by law, from marrying, on account of their being within
certain degrees of consanguinity or family connexion, or
having given him
suck, or having been suckled by the
same nurse as himself
*. The high
antiquity of the
veil has been alluded to in the first chapter of this
work.
It has also been mentioned, that it is considered more
necessary, in Egypt, for a woman to cover the upper
and back part of her
head than her face; and more
requisite for her to conceal her face than
most other
parts of her person: for instance, a female who cannot
be
persuaded to unveil her face in the presence of men,
will think it but
little shame to display the whole of her
bosom, or the greater part of her
leg. There are, it is
true, many women among; the lower classes in
this
country who constantly appear in public with unveiled
face; but
they are almost constrained to do so by the
want of a
boor'eko’ (or face-veil), and the difficulty of
adjusting the tar'hhah (or head-veil), of which scarcely
any
woman is destitute, so as to supply the place of the
former; particularly
when both their hands are occupied
in holding some burden which they are
carrying upon
the head. When a respectable woman is, by any chance
seen with her head or face uncovered, by a man who is
not entitled to enjoy
that privilege, she quickly assumes
or adjusts her tar'hhah, and
often exclaims “ O my misfortune
†!”
or “ O my
sorrow
‡!” Motives of coquetry,
however, frequently
induce an Egyptian woman to expose
her face before a man when she thinks
that she
may appear to do so unintentionally, or that she may be
supposed not to see him. A man may also occasionally
enjoy opportunities of
seeing the face of an Egyptian
lady when she really thinks herself
unobserved; some
* See the chapter on Religion and
Laws. Eunuchs are allowed
to see the face of any woman: so, also, are
young boys.
† Ya’
dahh'wet'see, for da'awet'ee.
‡
Ya” neda'm'tee, for
neda,metee.
times at an open lattice, and
sometimes on a house-top.
Many small houses in
Cairo have no apartment
on
the ground-floor for the reception of male visiters,
who therefore
ascend to an upper room; but as they
go up stairs, they exclaim, several
times, “
destoo'r!”
(” permission’.”), or “
ya’ Sa'tir!”
(” O Protector!”
that is “O protecting
God!”), or use some
similar ejaculation, in order to warn any
woman who
may happen to be in the way, to retire, or to veil
herself;
which she does by drawing a part of her tar'hhah
before her
face, so as to leave, at most, only one
eye visible. To such an absurd
pitch do the Moos'lims
carry their feeling of the sacredness of
women, that
entrance into the
tombs of some females
is denied to
men; as, for instance, the tombs of the Prophet's
wives
and other females of his family, in the burial-ground of
El-Medee'neh; into which women are freely admitted:
and a man
and woman they never bury in the same
vault, unless a wall separate the
bodies. Yet there are,
among the Egyptians, a few persons who are much
less
particular in this respect: such is one of my Moos'lim
friends here, who generally allows me to see his mother
when I call upon
him. She is a widow, of about fifty
years of age; but, being very fat, and
not looking so
old, she calls herself forty. She usually comes to the
door of the apartment of the hharee'm in which I am
received
(there being no lower apartment in the house
for male visiters), and sits
there upon the floor, but will
never enter the room. Occasionally, and as
if by accident,
she shows me the whole of her face, with plenty
of
kohhl round her eyes; and does not attempt to conceal
her diamonds,
emeralds, and other ornaments; but
rather the reverse. The wife, however, I
am never
permitted to see; though once I
was allowed to talk to
her, in the presence of her husband, round the
corner of
a passage at the top of the stairs.
I believe that, in Egypt, the women are generally
under less restraint than
in any other country of the
Turkish Empire; so that it is not uncommon to
see
females of the lower orders flirting and jesting with men
in
public, and men laying their hands upon them very
freely. Still it might be
imagined, that the women of
the higher and middle classes feel themselves
severely
oppressed, and are much discontented with the state of
seclusion to which they are subjected: but this is not
commonly the case;
on the contrary, an Egyptian wife
who is attached to her husband is apt to
think, if he
allow her unusual liberty, that he neglects her, and does
not sufficiently love her; and to envy those wives who
are kept and watched
with greater strictness.
It is not very common for an Egyptian to have more
than one wife, or a
concubine slave; though the law
allows him
four
wives (as I have before stated), and,
according to the opinion of some, as
many concubine
slaves as he may choose. But, though a man restrict
himself to a single wife, he may change as often as he
desires; and there
are certainly not many persons in
Cairo who have not divorced one wife, if
they have been
long married. The husband may, whenever he pieces,
say
to his wife “ Thou art divorced
*:” if it be his wish,
whether reasonable or not, she must return to her parents
or friends. This
liability to an unmerited divorcement
is the source of more uneasiness to
many wives than all
the other troubles to which they are exposed; as
they
may thereby be reduced to a state of great destitution:
but to others, who hope to better
their condition, it is,
of course, exactly the reverse. I have mentioned,
in a
former chapter
*, that a man may divorce his wife twice,
and each
time receive her again without any ceremony;
but that he cannot legally
take her again after a third
divorce until she has been married and
divorced by
another man. The consequences of a triple divorce
conveyed
in one sentence
† are the same, unless the
man and his wife agree to
infringe the law, or the former
deny his having pronounced the sentence;
in
which latter case, the woman may have much difficulty
to enforce
his compliance with the law, if she be inclined
to do so.
* On the Religion and Laws.
†
En'tee la'liclmh
bi-t-tela'teh.
In illustration of this subject, I may mention a case
in which an
acquaintance of mine was concerned as a
witness of the sentence of divorce.
He was sitting in
a coffee-shop with two other men, one of whom had
just
been irritated by something that his wife had said or
done. After
a short conversation upon this affair, the
angry husband sent for his wife,
and, as soon as she
came, said to her “ Thou art trebly
divorced:” then,
addressing his two companions, he added
“You, my
brothers, are witnesses.” Shortly after,
however, he
repented of this act, and wished to take back his
divorced
wife; but she refused to return to him, and
appealed to the
Shar’a Al'lah (or Law of God).
The
case was tried at the Mahh'kem'eh. The woman,
who
was the plaintiff, stated that the defendant was her
husband; that
he had pronounced against her the
sentence of a triple divorce; and that he
now wished
her to return to him, and live with him as his wife,
contrary
to the law, and consequently in a state of sin. The
defendant denied that he had
divorced her. “ Have
you witnesses?” said the judge
to the plaintiff. She
answered, “ I have here two
witnesses.” These were
the men who were present in the
coffee-shop when the
sentence of divorce was pronounced. They were
desired
to give their evidence; and stated that the defendant
divorced
his wife, by a triple sentence, in their presence.
The defendant averred
that she whom he divorced in
the coffee-shop was another wife of his. The
plaintiff
declared that he had no other wife; but the judge observed
to her that it was impossible she could know
that; and asked the witnesses
what was the name of the
woman whom the defendant divorced in their
presence?
They answered that they were ignorant of her name.
They were
then asked if they could swear that the plaintiff
was the woman who was
divorced before them?
Their reply was, that they could not swear to a
women
whom they had never seen unveiled. Under these circumstances,
the judge thought it right to dismiss the
case; and the woman was obliged
to return to her
husband. She might have demanded that he should
produce the woman whom he professed to have divorced
in the coffee-shop;
but he would easily have found a
woman to play the part he required; as it
would not
have been necessary for her to show a marriage-certificate;
marriages being almost always performed in Egypt
without any written
contract, and sometimes even without
witnesses.
It not unfrequently happens, that, when a man who
has divorced his wile the
third time wishes to take her
again (she herself consenting to their
reunion, and there
being no witnesses to the sentence of divorce), he
does,
so without conforming with the offensive law before-mentioned.
It is also a common custom for a
man
under similar circumstances to employ a person to marry
the
divorced woman on the condition of his resigning
her, the day after their
union, to him, her former husband,
whose wife she again becomes, by a
second contract;
though this is plainly contrary to the spirit of the
law. A poor man (generally a very ugly person, and
often one who is blind)
is usually chosen to perform
this office. He is termed a
Moostahhil'l, or
Mohhal'lil.
It is often the case that the man thus employed is so
pleased with
the beauty of the woman to whom he is
introduced on these terms, or with
her riches, that he
refuses to give her up; and the law cannot compel
him
to divorce her, unless he act unjustly towards her as her
husband;
which of course he takes good care not to do.
But a person may employ a
moostahhil'l without running
this risk. It is the custom of many
wealthy Turks,
and of some of the people of Egypt, to make use of a
slave, generally a black, their own property, to officiate
in this
character. Sometimes, a slave is purchased for
this purpose; or if the
person who requires him for such
a service be acquainted with a
slave-dealer, he asks from
the latter a present of a slave; signifying that
he will
give him back again. The uglier the slave, the better.
The
Turks generally choose one not arrived at puberty;
which the tenets of
their sect allow. As soon as the
woman has accomplished her
'ed'deh (or the period
during
which she is obliged to wait before she can
marry again), the husband who
divorced her, having
previously obtained her consent to what he is about
to
do, introduces the slave to her, and asks her if she will
be
married to him. She replies that she will. She is
accordingly wedded to the
slave, in the presence of witnesses;
and a dowry is given to her, to
make the marriage
perfectly legal. The slave consummates the marriage;
and thus becomes the woman's legitimate husband.
Immediately
after, or on the following morning,
her former husband presents this slave
to her as her own
property, and the moment that she accepts him, her
marriage with him becomes dissolved; for it is unlawful
for a woman to be
the wife of her own slave; though
she may emancipate a slave, and
then marry him. As
soon as her marriage is dissolved
by her accepting the
gift of the slave, she may give back this slave to
her
husband: but it seldom happens that the latter will
allow a person
who has been a moostahhil'l for him to
remain in his house. The
wife, after this proceeding,
may, as soon as she has again accomplished her
'ed'deh,
become reunited to her former husband, after
having
been separated from him, by the necessity of her fulfilling
two
'ed'dehs, about half a year, or perhaps more.
The depraving effects of this facility of divorce upon
both sexes may be
easily imagined. There are many
men in this country who, in the course of
ten years,
have married as many as twenty, thirty, or more wives;
and
women not far advanced in age who have been
wives to a dozen or more men
successively. I have
heard of men who have been in the habit of marrying
a
new wife almost every month. A person may do this
though possessed
of very little property: he may choose,
from among the females of the lower
orders in the
streets of
Cairo, a handsome young widow or divorced
woman who will consent to become his wife for a dowry
of about ten
shillings; and when he divorces her, he
need not give her more than double
that sum to maintain
her during her ensuing 'ed'deh.
It is but just,
however, to add, that such
conduct is generally regarded
as very disgraceful; and that few parents in
the middle
or higher classes will give a daughter in marriage to a
man
who has divorced many wives.
Polygamy, which is also attended with very injurious
effects upon the morals
of the husband and the wives, is
more rare among the higher and middle
classes than
it is among the lower orders; and it is not very common
among the latter. A poor man may indulge himself
with two or more wives,
each of whom may be able,
by sonic art or occupation, nearly to provide her
own
subsistence; but most persons of the middle and higher
orders are
deterred from doing so by the consideration
of the expense and discomfort
which they would incur.
A man having a wife who has the misfortune to
be
barren, and being too much attached to her to divorce
her, is
sometimes induced to take a second wife, merely
in the hope of obtaining
offspring; and from the same
motive, he may take a third, and a fourth; hut
fickle
passion is the most evident and common motive both to
polygamy
and repeated divorces. They are comparatively
very few who gratify this
passion by the former
practice. I believe not more than one husband
among
twenty has two wives.
When there are two or more wives belonging to one
man, the first (that is,
the one first married) generally enjoys
the highest rank; and is called
“the great lady
*.”
Hence it often happens that, when a
man who has already
one wife wishes to marry another girl or woman, the
father
of the latter, or the female herself who is sought in
marriage,
will not consent to the union unless the first
wife be previously divorced.
The women, of course, do
not approve of a man's
marrying more than one wife.
Most men of wealth, or of moderate
circumstances, and
even many men of the lower orders, if they have two
or
more wives, have, for each, a separate house. The wife
has, or can
oblige her husband to give her, a particular
description of lodging
*, which is
either a separate
house, or a suite of apartments (consisting of a room
in
which to sleep and pass the day, a kitchen, and a latrina)
that
are, or may be made, separate and shut out from
any other apartments in the
same house. A fellow-wife
is called
door'rah
†. The quarrels of door'rahs are
often
talked of: for it may be naturally inferred, that,
when two wives share the
affection and attentions of
the same man, they are not always on terms of
amity
with each other; and the same is generally the case
with a wife
and a concubine slave living in the same
house, and under similar
circumstances
‡. If the chief
lady be barren, and an inferior, either
wife or slave,
bear a child to her husband or master, it commonly
results
that the latter woman becomes a favourite of the
man, and that
the chief wife or mistress is “ despised in
her
eyes,” as Abraham's wife was in the eyes of Hagar
on
the same account
§. It therefore not very unfrequently
happens that
the first wife loses her rank and
privileges; another becomes the chief
lady, and, being
the favourite of her husband, is treated by her rival
or
rivals, and by all the members and visiters of the
* Called mes'hin shar”ee.
† Commonly thus pronounced, for dur'rah; originally, perhaps,
by way
of a pun; as door'rah is a common name for
a parrot.
‡ The law unjoins a husband who has
two or more wives to be
strictly impartial’ to them in every
respect; but compliance with
its dictates, in this matter, is rare.
hharee'm, with the
same degree of outward respect which
the first wife previously enjoyed: but
sometimes the
poisoned cup is employed to remove her. A preference
given to a second wife is often the cause of the first's
being
registered as
na'shizeh
*, either
on her husband's
or her own application at the
Mahh'kem'eh. Yet many
instances are known of
neglected wives behaving with
exemplary and unfeigned submission to their
husband,
in such cases, and with amiable good nature towards the
favourite
†.
* This has boon explained in the 3d
chapter.
† In general, the most beautiful of a
man's wives or slaves is,
of course, for a time, his
greatest favourite; but in many (if not
most) cases, the lasting
favourite is not the most handsome. The
love of a Moos'lim,
therefore, is not always merely sensual; nor
does the relative
condition and comfort of his wife, or of each of
his wives, invariably
depend so much on his caprice, or her own
personal charms, as on her
general conduct and disposition.
Some wives have female slaves who are their own
property, generally
purchased for them, or presented to
them, before marriage. These cannot be
the husband's
concubines without their mistress's
permission, which is
sometimes granted (as it was in the case of
Hagar,
Sarah's bondwoman); but very seldom. Often, the
wife
will not even allow her female slave or slaves to
appear unveiled in the
presence of her husband. Should
such a slave, without the permission of her
mistress,
become the concubine of the husband, and bear him a
child,
the child is a slave, unless, prior to its birth, the
mother be sold, or
presented, to the father.
The white female slaves are mostly in the possession
of wealthy Turks. The
concubine slaves in the houses
of Egyptians of the higher and middle
classes are, generally,
Abyssinians, of a deep brown or
bronze complexion.
In their features as well as their complexions
they
appear an intermediate race between the negroes
and white people: but the
difference between them and
either of the above-mentioned races is
considerable.
They themselves, however, think that they differ so
liltle
from the white people, that they cannot be persuaded to
act as
servants, with due obedience, to their master's
wives; and the
black (or negro) slave-girl feels exactly
in the same manner towards the
Abyssinian; but is
perfectly willing to serve the while ladies. I
should
here mention, that the slaves who are termed Abyssinians
are
not from the country properly called Abyssinia,
but from the neighbouring
territories of the Gallas.
Most of them are handsome. The average price of
one
of these girls is from ten to fifteen pounds sterling, if
moderately handsome; but this is only about half the
sum that used to be
given for one a few years ago.
They are much esteemed by the voluptuaries
of Egypt;
but are of delicate constitution: many of them die, in
this
country, of consumption. The price of a white
slave-girl is usually from
treble to tenfold that of an
Abyssinian; and the price of a black girl,
about half or
two thirds, or considerably more if well instructed in
the
art of cookery. The black slaves are generally employed
as
menials
*.
* The white female slave is called
Ga'riyeh Bey'da; the
Abyssinian, Ga'riyeh
Hhabashee'yeh; and the black, Ga'riyeh
So'da.
Almost all of the slaves become converts to the Mohhammadan
faith; but, in
general, they are little instructed in
the rites of their new religion; and
still less
in its doctrines. Most of the white female slaves who
were in Egypt during my former
visit to this country
were Greeks; vast numbers of that unfortunate
people
having been made prisoners by the Turkish and Egyptian
army
under Ibrahee'm Ba'sha; and many of them,
males and
females, including even infants scarcely able
to walk, sent to Egypt to be
sold. Latterly, from the
impoverishment of the higher classes in this
country,
the demand for white slaves has been small. A few,
some of
whom undergo a kind of preparatory education
(being instructed in music or
other accomplishments, at
Constantinople), are brought from Chercassia
and
Georgia. The white slaves, being often the only female
companions,
and sometimes the wives, of the Turkish
grandees, and being generally
preferred by them before
the free ladies of Egypt, hold a higher rank than
the
latter in common opinion. They are richly dressed,
presented with
valuable ornaments, indulged, frequently,
with almost every luxury that can
be procured, and,
when it is not their lot to wait upon others, may,
in
some cases, be happy; as lately has been proved, since,
the
termination of the war in Greece, by many females
of that country, captives
in Egyptian hharee'ms, refusing
their offered liberty, which all
of these cannot be supposed
to have done from ignorance of the state of
their
parents and other relations, or the fear of exposing
themselves
to poverty. But, though some of them are
undoubtedly happy, at least for a
time, their number is
comparatively small: most are fated to wait upon
more
favoured fellow-prisoners, or upon Turkish ladies, or to
receive
the unwelcome caresses of a wealthy dotard, or
of a man who has impaired
his body and mind by excesses
of every kind; and, when their master or
mistress
becomes tired of them, or dies, are gold again (if they
have not borne children), or
emancipated, and married
to some person in humble life, who can afford them
but
few of the comforts to which they have been accustomed.
The female
slaves in the houses of persons of the middle
classes in Egypt are
generally more comfortably circumstanced
than those in the
hharee'ms of the wealthy: if
concubines, they are, in most
cases, without rivals to
disturb their peace; and if menials, their service
is light,
and they are under less restraint. Often, indeed, if
mutual
attachment subsist between her and her master,
the situation of a concubine
slave is more, fortunate than
that of a wife; for the latter may be cast
off by her
husband in a moment of anger, by an irrevocable sentence
of
divorce, and reduced to a state of poverty; whereas a
man very seldom
dismisses a female slave without providing
for her in such a manner that,
if she have not
been used to luxuries, she suffers but little, if at all,
by
the change: this he generally does by emancipating her,
giving her
a dowry, and marrying her to some person
of honest reputation; or by
presenting her to a friend.
I have already mentioned, that a master cannot
sell a
slave who has borne him a child; and that she is entitled
to
her freedom on his death. It often happens that
such a slave, immediately
after the birth of her child, is
emancipated, and becomes her
master's wife: when she
has become free, she can no longer
lawfully supply the
place of a wife unless he marry her. Many persons
consider it disgraceful even to sell a female slave who
has been long in
their service. Most of the Abyssinian
and black slave-girls are abominably
corrupted by the
Gella'bs, or slave-traders, of
Upper Egypt and
Nubia,
by whom they are brought from their native countries:
there are
very few of the age of eight or nine years who
have not suffered brutal
violence; and so severely do
these children, particularly the
Abyssinians, and boys as
well as girls, feel the treatment which they
endure from
the Gella'bs, that many instances occur of their
drowning
themselves during the voyage down the Nile
*. The
female slaves of
every class are somewhat dearer than
the males of the same age. Those who
have not had
the small-pox are usually sold for less than the others.
Three days’ trial is generally allowed to the purchaser;
during
which time, the girl remains in his, or some
friend's,
hharee'm; and the women make their report to
him. Snoring,
grinding the teeth, or talking during
sleep, are commonly considered
sufficient reasons for
returning her to the dealer.—The dresses
of the female
slaves are similar to those of the Egyptian women.
* The Gella'bs generally
convey their slaves partly over the
desert and partly down the
river.
The female servants, who are Egyptian girls or women,
are those to whom the
lowest occupations are
allotted. They generally veil their faces in the
presence
of their masters, with the head-veil; drawing a part of
this
before the face, so that they leave only one eye and
one hand at liberty to
see and perform what they have
to do. When a male visiter is received by
the muster
of a house in an apartment of the hharee'm (the
females
of the family having been sent into another apartment
on the
occasion), he is usually, or often, waited upon by
a female servant, who is
always veiled.
Such are the relative conditions of the various classes
in the
hharee'm. A short account of their usual habits
and employments
must be added.
The wives, as well as the female slaves, are not only
often debarred from
the privilege of eating with the
master of the family, but also required to
wait upon him
when he dines or sups, or even takes his pipe and coffee
in the hharee'm. They
frequently serve him as menials;
fill and light his pipe, make coffee for
him, and prepare
his food, or, at least, certain dainty dishes; and, if
I
might judge from my own experience, I should say that
most of them
are excellent cooks; for, when a dish has
been recommended to me because
made by the wife of
my host, I have generally found it especially good.
The
wives of men of the higher and middle classes make a
great study
of pleasing and fascinating their husbands
by unremitted attentions, and by
various arts. Their
coquetry is exhibited, even in their ordinary gait,
when
they go abroad, by a peculiar twisting of the body
*
In the presence of the husband, they are usually under
more or less
restraint; and hence they are better pleased
when his visits, during the
day, are not very frequent or
long: in his absence, they often indulge in
noisy merriment.
* The motion here described they term
ghoon'g.
The diet of the women is similar to that of the men,
but more frugal; and
their manner of eating is the
same. Many of them are allowed to enjoy the
luxury
of smoking; for this habit is not considered unbecoming
in a
female, however high her rank; the odour of
the tobacco which they use
being very delicate. Their
pipes are generally more slender than those of
the men,
and more ornamented; and the mouth-piece is sometimes
partly
composed of coral, in the place of amber.
They generally make use of
perfumes, such as musk,
civet, &c.; and often, also, of
cosmetics, and particularly
of several preparations which they eat or drink
with the
view of acquiring what they esteem a proper degree of
plumpness
†: one of these preparations is extremely
† The Egyptians (unlike the
Mugh'reb'ees, and some other people of Africa, and of
the East) do not generally admire very fat women. In his love-songs, the
Egyptian commonly describes the object of his affections as of slender
figure, and small waist.
disgusting; being chiefly
composed of mashed beetles
*.
Many of them also have a habit of chewing
frankincense
†,
and labdanum
‡, which impart a perfume to the
breath. The habit of frequent ablutions renders them
cleanly in person.
They spend but little time in the
operations of the toilet; and, after
having dressed themselves
in the morning, seldom change their clothes
during
the day. Their hair is generally braided in the
bath; and not
undone afterwards for several days.
* It would seem that these insects
were eaten by the Jews (see
Leviticus, xi.22); but we cannot suppose
that they derived this
custom from the Egyptians, who regarded the
beetle as sacred.
The care of their children is the primary occupation
of the ladies of Egypt:
they are also charged with the
superintendence of domestic affairs; but, in
most families,
the husband alone attends to the household expenses.
Their leisure-hours are mostly spent in working with the
needle;
particularly in embroidering handkerchiefs,
head-veils, &c.,
upon a frame called
men'seg, with
coloured silks and gold. Many women, even in the
houses of the wealthy,
replenish their private purses by
ornamenting handkerchiefs and other
things in this
manner, and employing a
dellall'leh (or female broker)
to take them to the
market, or to other hharee(ms, for
sale. The visit of one hharee'm to
another often occupies
nearly a whole day. Eating, smoking, drinking
coffee and sherbet, gossiping, and displaying their finery,
are sufficient
amusements to the company. On such
occasions, the master of the house is
never allowed to
enter the hharee'm, unless on some particular
and unavoidable
The Men'seg.—This is of walnut-wood, inlaid with
mother-of-pearl and tortoise-shell. The more common sort is of
beech.
business; and in this case, he must give notice
of his approach,
and let the visiters have sufficient time
to veil themselves, or to retire
to an adjoining room.
Being thus under no fear of his sudden intrusion,
and
being naturally of a lively and an unreserved disposition,
they
indulge in easy gaiety, and not unfrequently in
youthful frolic. When their
usual subjects of conversation are
exhausted, sometimes one of the party
entertains
the rest with the recital of some wonderful or facetious
tale. The Egyptian ladies are very seldom instructed
either in music or
dancing; but they take great delight
in the performances of professional
musicians and public
dancers; and often amuse themselves and their
guests,
in the absence of better performers and better instruments,
by
beating the
dar'abook'keh (which is
a kind of
drum) and the
ta(r (or tambourine
*); though seldom in
houses so situated that many
passengers might hear the
sounds of festivity. On the occasion of any great
rejoicing
among the women (such as takes place on account
of the birth
of a son, or the celebration of a circumcision,
or a wedding,
&c.),
'Awa'lim (or
professional
female singers) are often introduced; but not for the
mere amusement of the women, on common occasions,
in any respectable
family; for this would be considered
indecorous. The
Ghawa'zee (or public dancing-girls),
who exhibit in
the streets with unveiled faces, are very
seldom admitted into a
hharee'm; but on such occasions
as those above-mentioned, they
often perform in front of
the house, or in the court; though, by many
persons,
even this is not deemed strictly proper. The
A'la'tee'eh
(or male musicians) are never hired exclusively for the
amusement of
the women; but chiefly for that of the
men: they always perform in the
assembly of the latter:
their concert, however, is distinctly heard by the
inmates
of the hharee'm
†.
* Descriptions and engravings of
these instruments will be
given in another chapter, in the second
volume.
† The performances of the
A'la'tee'yeh,
'Awa'lim, and Ghawa'zee,
will be
described in the second volume.
When the women of the higher or middle classes go
out to pay a visit, or for
any other purpose, they generally
ride upon asses. They sit astride, upon a
very high and
broad saddle, which is covered with a small carpet; and
each is attended by a man on one or on each side.
Generally, all the women
of a hharee(m ride out together;
one behind another. Mounted as above
described, they present a very singular appearance.
Being raised so high
above the back of the
hhoma'r
‡
‡ Thus commonly pronounced, for hhema'r.
Ladies Riding.
'a'lee (or the “high
ass”—for so the animal which they
ride, furnished
with the high saddle, is commonly called
*),
they seem very insecurely seated;
but I believe this is
not really the case: the ass is well girthed, and
surefooted;
and proceeds with a slow, ambling pace, and very
easy
motion. The ladies of the highest rank, as
well as those of the middling
classes, ride asses, thus
equipped: they are very seldom seen upon mules
or
horses. The asses are generally hired. When a lady
cannot procure a
hhoma'r 'a'lee, she rides one of the
asses
equipped for the use of the men; but has a
segga'deh
(or prayer-carpet) placed over its saddle; and
the inferior members
of the hharee'm, and females of
the middle orders, often do the
same. Ladies never
walk abroad, unless they have to go but a very
short
distance. They have a slow and shuffling gait, owing
to the
difficulty of retaining the slippers upon their feet;
and, in walking, they
always hold the front edges of the
hhab'arah in the manner
represented in the engraving
opposite page 51 in this volume. Whether
walking or
riding, they are regarded with much respect in public:
no
well-bred man stares at them; but rather directs his
eyes another way. They
are never seen abroad at night,
if not compelled to go out or return at
that time by some
pressing and extraordinary necessity: it is their
usual
rule to return from paying a visit before sunset. The
ladies of
the higher orders never go to a shop, but send
for whatever they want; and
there are numerous della'lehs
who have access to the hharee'ms,
and bring all
kinds of ornaments, articles of female apparel,
&c., for
sale. Nor do these ladies, in general, visit the public
bath,
unless invited to accompany thither some of their friends;
for
most of them have baths in their own houses.
* It is also called hhoma'r mooghut'tee (covered ass).
[Back to top]
CHAPTER IX.
LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE.
THE metropolis of Egypt maintains the reputation by
which it has been
distinguished for many centuries, of
being the best school of Arabic
literature, and of Mohhammadan
theology and jurisprudence. Polite
knowledge
has much declined among the Arabs universally;
but least in
Cairo: consequently, the fame of the professors
of this city still remains
unrivalled; and its great
mosque, the Az'har, continues to
attract innumerable
students from every quarter of the Moos'lim
world.
The Arabic spoken by the middle and higher classes
in
Cairo is generally
inferior, in point of grammatical
correctness and pronunciation, to the
dialects of the
Bed'awees of Arabia, and of the inhabitants of
the
towns in their immediate vicinity; but much to be preferred
to
those of
Syria; and still more, to those of the
Western Arabs. The most
remarkable peculiarities in
the pronunciation of the people of Egypt are
the following:—The
fifth letter of the alphabet is pronounced
by
the natives of
Cairo, and throughout the greater part of
Egypt, as
g in
give; while, in most
parts of Arabia,
and in
Syria and other countries, it receives the
sound
of
j
in joy: but it is worthy of remark, that, in a part
of southern Arabia, where, it is said, Arabic was first
spoken, the former
sound is given to this letter. In
those parts of Egypt where this
pronunciation of the
fifth letter prevails, the sound
of
heni'zeh (which is produced
by a
sudden emission of the voice after a total suppression)
is given to the
twenty-first letter, excepting
by the better instructed, who give to this
letter its true
sound, which I represent by
ck. In
other parts of
Egypt, the pronunciation of the fifth letter is the
Same
as that of
j in joy, or nearly so; and the
twenty-first
letter is pronounced as
g in
give. By all the Egyptians,
in common with most
other people who speak the
Arabic language, the third and fourth letters of
the
alphabet are pronounced alike, as our
t; and the
eighth
and ninth, as our
d.—Of the
peculiarities in the
structure
of the Egyptian dialect of Arabic, the most remarkable
are, the
annexation of the letter
sheen in negative
phrases,
in the same manner as the word “pas” is used
in
French; as
ma’ yerda'sh, for
ma’ yer'da, “he
will
not consent”;
ma’
hoo'sh tei'yib, for
ma’ hoo'a tei'yib,
“it is not good”; the placing the demonstrative pronoun
after the word to which it relates; as
el-beyt de',
“this house”; and a frequent unnecessary use of
the
diminutive form in adjectives; as
sooghei'yir, for
saghee'r,
“small”;
ckoorei'yib, for
ckaree'b,
“near.”
There is not so much difference between the
literary
and
popular dialects of Arabic as some European
Orientalists
have supposed. The latter may be described
as the
literary dialect
simplified, principally by the
omission of the final vowels and other terminations
which distinguish the
different cases of nouns and some
of the persons of verbs. Nor is there so
great a difference
between the dialects of Arabic spoken in different
countries as some persons, who have not held intercourse
with the
inhabitants of such countries, have imagined:
they resemble each other more
than the dialects of some
of the different counties in
England. The Arabic language
abounds with synonymes; and, of a number
of
words which are synonymous, one is in common use in
one country,
and another elsewhere. Thus, the Egyptian
calls milk leb'en; the
Syrian calls it
hhalee'b: the
word
leb'en is used in
Syria to denote a particular
preparation
of
sour milk. Again, bread is called in Egypt
'eysh; and in other Arab countries,
khoob'z; and many
examples of a similar
kind might he adduced.—The
pronunciation of Egypt has more
softness than that of
Syria and most other countries in which Arabic
is
spoken.
The literature of the Arabs is very comprehensive;
but the number of their
books is more remarkable than
the variety. The relative number of the books
which
treat of religion and jurisprudence may be staled to be
about
one-fourth: next in number are works on grammar,
rhetoric, and various
branches of philology: the
third in the scale of proportion are those on
history
(chiefly that of the Arab nation), and on geography: the
fourth, poetical compositions. Works on medicine,
chymistry, the
mathematics, algebra, and various other
sciences, &c., are
comparatively very few.
There are, in
Cairo, many large libraries; most of
which are attached to
mosques, and consist, for the
greater part, of works on theology and
jurisprudence, and
philology. Several rich merchants, and others, have
also good libraries. The booksellers of
Cairo are, I am
informed, only
eight in number
*; and their shops are
but ill stocked. Whenever a
valuable book comes into
the possession of one of these persons, he goes
round
with it to his regular customers; and is almost sure of
* These are natives. There ate also a
few Turkish booksellers.
finding a purchaser. The leaves
of the books are seldom
sewed together; but they are usually enclosed in a
cover
bound with leather; and mostly have, also, an outer case
(called
zurf) of pasteboard and leather. Five sheets,
or
double leaves, are commonly placed together, one
within another; composing
what is called a
karra's. The
leaves are
thus arranged, in small parcels, without being
sewed, in order that one
book may be of use to a number of
persons at the same time; each taking a
karra's. The
books are laid flat, one upon another; and the name
is
written upon the front of the outer case, or upon the
edge of the
leaves. The paper is thick and glazed: it
is mostly imported from Venice,
and glazed in Egypt.
Books, and Apparatus for Writing*.
* The latter consist of the reed (ckal'am), the mickut'ta, the
penknife (mick'shut), the dawa'yeh, the mis'tar'ah, the mis'ned'eh
(upon which the five articles before mentioned lie), and the scissors
(mickus's), which, with their sheath, are
placed upon the upper
book.
The ink is very thick and gummy.
Reeds are used
instead of pens; and they suit the Arabic character much
better.
The Arab, in writing, places the paper upon his
knee, or upon the palm of his
left hand, or upon what is
called a
mis'ned'eh, composed of a dozen or more
pieces
of paper attached together at the four corners, and resembling
a thin book, which he rests on his knee. His
ink and pens are contained in
a receptacle called
dawa'yeh,
mentioned in the first chapter of this work, together
with the
penknife, and an ivory instrument
(mickut'ta’) upon which the pen is
laid to be nibbed.
He rules his paper by laying under it a piece of
pasteboard
with strings strained and glued across it (called a
mis'tar'ah), and slightly pressing
it over each string.
Scissors are included among the apparatus of a
writer:
they are used for cutting the paper; a torn edge being
considered as unbecoming. In
Cairo there are many
persons who obtain their
livelihood by copying manuscripts.
The expense of writing a
karra's of twenty pages,
quarto size, with about twenty-five
lines to a page,
in an ordinary hand, is about three piasters (or a
little
more than sevenpence of our money); but more if in an
elegant
hand; and about double the sum if with the
vowel points, &c.
In Egypt, and particularly in its metropolis, those
youths or men who
purpose to devote themselves to
religious employments, or to any of the
learned professions,
mostly pursue a course of study in the great
mosque El-Az'har; having previously learned nothing
more than to
read, and, perhaps, to write, and to recite
(he Ckoor-a'n. The
Az'har, which is regarded as the
principal university
* of the East,
is an extensive building,
* The Az'har is not called
a “university” with strict propriety;
but is
regarded as such by the Moos'lims, as whatever
they deem
worthy of the name of science, or necessary to be known,
is taught
within its walls. Its name has been translated, by
European travellers,
“the Mosque of Flowers;” as though it had
been
called Ga'më’
el-Azha'r, instead of El-Ga'më el -Az'har, which
is its proper appellation, and signifies “the Splendid
Mosque.”
It is the first with respect to the period of its
foundation, as well
as in size, of all the mosques within the original
limits of the city.
surrounding a large, square
court. On one side of
this court, the side towards Mek'keh, is
the chief place
of prayer; a spacious portico: on each of the other
three
sides are smaller porticoes, divided into a number of
apartments, called
riwa'cks, each of which is
destined
for the use of natives of a particular country, or of a
particular province of Egypt. This building is situated
in the heart of the
metropolis. It is not remarkable in
point of architecture, and is so
surrounded, by houses
that very little of it is seen externally. The
students are
called
mooga'wiree'n*. Each riwa'ck has a
library for
the use of its members; and from these books, and the
lectures of the professors, the students acquire their
learning. The
regular subjects of study are grammatical
inflexion and syntax
†,
rhetoric
‡, versification
§, logic
‖,
theology
¶, the exposition of the
Ckoor-a'n
**, the Traditions
of the Prophet
††, the complete science of jurisprudence,
or
rather of religious, moral, civil, and criminal
law
‡‡, which is chiefly
founded on the Ckoor-a'n and the
Traditions; together with
arithmetic
§§, as far as it is
useful in matters of
law. Lectures are also given on
algebra
‖‖, and on the calculations of
the Mohhammadan
calendar, the times of prayer, &c.
¶¶. Different books
are read by students of
different sects. Most of the
* In the singular, mnoga'wir.
‡
El-ma'a'nee
we-l-baya'n.
‖‖
El-gebr we-l-moocka'beleh.
students, being’
natives of
Cairo, are of the Sha'fe'ee
sect; and
always the Sheykh, or head of the mosque, is
of this sect. None of the
students pay for the instruction
they receive; being mostly of the poorer
classes.
Most of those who are strangers, having riwa'cks
appropriated
to them, receive a daily allowance of food, provided
from
funds chiefly arising from the rents of houses
bequeathed for their
maintenance. Those of
Cairo and its
neighbourhood used to receive a similar
allowance; but
this they no longer enjoy, excepting during the month
of
Rum'ada'n: for the present Ba'sha of
Egypt has taken
possession of all the cultivable land which belonged
to
the mosques; and thus the Az'har has lost the greater
portion of the property which it possessed: nothing but
the expenses of
necessary repairs, and the salaries of its
principal officers, are provided
for by the government.
The professors, also, receive no salaries. Unless
they
inherit property, or have relations to maintain them, they
have
no regular means of subsistence but teaching in
private houses, copying
books, &c.; but they sometimes
receive presents from the
wealthy. Any person who is
competent to the task may become a professor by
leave
of the Sheykh of the mosque. The students mostly
obtain their
livelihood by the same means as the professors;
or by reciting the
Ckoor-a'n in private houses,
and at the tombs and other places.
When sufficiently
advanced in their studies, some of them become
cka'dees,
moof'tees, ima'ims of mosques,
or schoolmasters, in their
native villages or towns, or in
Cairo: others
enter into
trade: some remain all their lifetime studying in the
Az'har; and aspire to be ranked among the higher
'Ool'ama. Since the confiscation of the lands which
belonged to the Az'har, the number of that class of
students to whom no endowed
riwa'ck is appropriated
has very much decreased. The number of
students,
including all classes excepting the blind, is (as I am
informed by one of the professors) about one thousand
five hundred
*.
* Many persons say that their number
is not less than three
thousand; others, not more than one thousand. It
varies very
much at different times.
There is a chapel (called
Za'wiyet
el-'Omya'n, or the
Chapel of the Blind),
adjacent to the eastern angle of
the Az'har, and one of the
dependencies of that mosque,
where at present about three hundred poor
blind men,
most of whom are students, are maintained, from funds
bequeathed fur that purpose. These blind men often
conduct themselves in a
most rebellious and violent
manner: they are notorious for such conduct,
and for
their fanaticism. A short time ago, a European traveller
entering the Az'har, and his presence there being buzzed
about,
the blind men eagerly inquired “Where is the
infidel?” adding “We will kill him;” and
groping about
at the same time to feel and lay hold of him: they were
the only persons who seemed desirous of showing any
violence to the
intruder. Before the accession of the
present Ba'sha, they often
behaved in a very outrageous
manner whenever they considered themselves
oppressed,
or scanted in their allowance of food: they would, on
these
occasions, take a few guides, go about with staves,
seize the turbans of
passengers in the streets and plunder
the shops. The most celebrated of the
present professors
in the Az'har, the sheykh
El-Ckoowey'sinee
†, who is
himself blind, being
appointed, a few years ago, Sheykh
of the Za'wiyet
el-'Omya'n, as soon as he entered upon
† Since this was written he has
become Sheykh of the Az'har.
his office, caused every one of
the blind men there to be
flogged; but they rose against him, hound him,
and inflicted
upon him a flogging far more severe than that
which they
had themselves endured; and obliged him
to give up his office.
Learning was in a much more flourishing state in
Cairo before the entrance
of the French army than it
has been in later years. It suffered severely
from this
invasion; not through direct oppression, but in consequence
of the panic which this event occasioned, and the
troubles by which it was
followed. Before that period,
a sheykh who had studied in the
Az'har, if he had only
two boys, sons of a moderately rich
fella'hh, to educate,
lived in luxury: his two pupils served
him, cleaned his
house, prepared his food, and, though they partook of
it
with him, were his menial attendants at every time but
that of
eating: they followed him whenever he went out;
carried his shoes (and
often kissed them when they took
them off) on his entering a mosque; and in
every case
treated him with the honour due to a prince. He was
then
distinguished by an ample dress, and the large
formal turban called a
moock'leh; and as he passed
along the street, whether on foot or
mounted on an ass
or mule, passengers often pressed towards him to
implore
a short ejaculatory prayer on their behalf; and he who
succeeded in obtaining this wish believed himself especially
blessed: if he
passed by a Frank riding, the latter
was obliged to dismount: if he went to
a butcher, to
procure some meat (for he found it best to do so, and
not to send another), the butcher refused to make any
charge; but kissed
his hand, and received as an honour
and a blessing whatever he chose to
give.—The condition
of a man of this profession is now so
fallen, that it
is with difficulty he can obtain
a scanty subsistence,
unless possessed of extraordinary talent.
The Moos'lim 'ool'ama are certainly much
fettered in
the pursuit of some of the paths of learning by their
religion; and superstition sometimes decides a point
which has been
controverted for centuries, There is one
singular means of settling a
contention on any point of
faith, science, or fact, of which I must give an
instance.
The following anecdote was related to me by the
Ima'm
of the late Moof'tee (the sheykh
El-Mah'dee): I wrote
it in Arabic, at his dictation, and shall
here translate his
words. The sheykh Mohham'mad
El-Bahei’ (a learned
man, whom the vulgar regard as a
wel'ee, or especial
favourite of heaven) was attending the
lectures of the
sheykh El-Emee'r El-Kebee'r (sheykh
of the sect of the
Ma'likees), when the professor read, from the
Ga'më'es-Saghee'r
*
of Es-Sooyoo'tee, this saying of the Prophet
“Verily El-Hhas'an and El-Hhosey'n are the
two
lords of the youths of the people of Paradise, in
Paradise,”
and proceeded to remark, in his lecture, after
having given a summary of the history of El-Hhas'an
and
El-Hhosey'n, that, as to the common opinion of the
people of
Musr (or
Cairo) respecting the head of El-Hhosey'n,
holding it
to be in the famous Mesh'hed in
this city (the mosque of the
Hhas'aney'n), it was without
foundation; not being
established by any credible
authority. “I was
affected,” says Mohham'mad El-Bahei',
“with excessive grief, by this remark; since I
believed what is
believed by people of integrity and of
intuition, that the noble head was
in this Mesh'hed;
and I entertained no doubt of it: but I would
not oppose
the sheykh El-Emee'r, on account of his high
* A celebrated collection of the
Traditions of the Prophet.
reputation and extensive
knowledge. The lecture terminated,
and I went away, weeping; and when
night
overshaded the earth, I rose upon my feet, praying, and
humbly
supplicating my Lord, and betaking myself to
his most noble apostle (God
favour and preserve him!),
begging that I might see him in my sleep, and
that he
would inform me in my sleep of the truth of the matter
concerning the place of the noble head. And I dreamed
that I was walking on
the way to visit the celebrated
Mesh'hed
El-Hhosey'nee in Musr, and that I approached
the
ckoob'beh
*, and saw in it a spreading light, which
filled it:
and I entered its door, and found a sheree'f
standing by the
door; and I saluted him, and he returned
my salutation, and said to me
‘Salute the
Apostle of God (God favour and preserve
him!);’ and
I looked towards the ckib'leh
†, and saw
the Prophet
(God favour and preserve him’.) sitting upon a
throne,
and a man standing on his right, and another man
standing on
his left: and I raised my voice, saying
‘Blessing and peace be
on thee, O Apostle of God!’
and I repeated this several times,
weeping as I did it:
and I heard the Apostle of God (God favour and
preserve
him!) say to me ‘Approach, O my son! O
Mohham'mad!’
Then the first man took me, and
conducted
me towards the Prophet (God favour and preserve
him!) and
placed me before his noble hands; and
I saluted him, and he returned my
salutation, and said
to me ‘God recompense thee for thy visit to
the head
of El Hhosey'n my son.’ I said ‘O
Apostle of God, is
the head of El-Hhosey'n here?’ He
answered ‘Yes,
* The saloon of the tomb.
† That is, towards the niche which
marks the direction of
Mek'keh.
t is here.’ And I
became cheerful: grief fled from
me; and my heart was strengthened. Then I
said ‘O
Apostle of God, I will relate to thee what my
sheykh
and my preceptor El-Emee'r hath affirmed in his
lecture:
and I repeated to him the words of the sheykh:
and he (God
favour and preserve him!) looked down,
and then raised his head, and said
‘The copyists are
excused.’ I awoke from my sleep
joyful and happy:
but I found that much remained of the night; and I
became impatient of its length; longing for the morn
to shine, that I might
go to the sheykh, and relate to
him the dream, in the hope that he might
believe me.
When the morn arose, I prayed, and went to the house
of
the sheykh; but found the door shut: I knocked it
violently; and the porter
came in alarm, asking ‘Who
is that? ‘but when he knew
me, for he had known my
abode from the sheykh, he opened the door to me: if
it
had been another person, he would have beaten him.
I entered the
court of the house, and began to call out
‘My Master! My
master’.’ The sheykh awoke, and
asked ‘Who
is that?’ I answered ‘It is I, thy pupil,
Mohham'mad El-Bahei’!’ The sheykh was in
wonder
at my coming at this time, and exclaimed
‘God's absolute
glory! What is this? What is the
news?’ thinking
that some great event had happened among
the
people. He then said to me ‘Wait while I
pray.’ I did not sit down until the sheykh came down to the
hall; when he said to me ‘Come up:’ and I went up,
and neither saluted him, nor kissed his hand, from the
effect of the dream
which I had seen; but said ‘The
head of El-Hhosey'n
is in this well-known mesh'hed in
Musr: there is no doubt of
it.” The sheykh said ‘What
proof have you of that? If
it be a true record, adduce
it.’ I said
‘From a book, I have none.’ The sheykh
said
‘Hast thou seen a vision?’ I replied
‘Yes;’ and
I related it to him; and informed him that
the Apostle
of God (God favour and preserve him!) had acquainted
me
that the man who was standing by the door was
‘Al'ee
the son of Ab'oo Ta'lib, and that he who was on the
right of the Prophet, by the throne, was Ab'oo Bekr,
and that he
on his left was ‘Om'ar the son of
El-Khatta'b;
and that they had come to visit the head of
the
Ima'm El-Hhosey'n. The sheykh rose, and took
me by the hand, and said ‘Let us go and visit the
Mesh'hed El-Hhosey'nee’; and when he entered
the
ckoob'beh, he said ‘Peace be on thee, O son of
the
daughter of the Apostle of God! I believe that the
noble head is
here, by reason of the vision which this
person has seen; for the vision of
the Prophet is true;
since he hath said ‘Whoso seeth me in his
sleep seeth
me truly; for Satan cannot assume the similitude of
my
form.’ Then the sheykh said to me ‘Thou hast
believed,
and I have believed: for these lights are not
illusive.”'—The above-quoted tradition of the
Prophet
has often occasioned other points of dispute to be settled
in
the same manner, by a dream; and when the
dreamer is a person of
reputation, no one ventures to
contend against him.
The remark made at the commencement of this chapter
implies that there are,
in the present day, many
learned men in the metropolis of Egypt; and there
are
some also in other towns of this country. One of the
most
celebrated of the modern ‘Ool'ama of
Cairo is the
sheykh Hhas'an El-'Atta'r, who is the present
sheykh of
the Az'har
*. In theology and jurisprudence, he is not
* Since the above was written, this
eminent scholar has died.
so deeply versed as some
of his contemporaries, particularly
the sheykh
El-Ckoowey'sinee, whom I have before
mentioned; hut he is
eminently accomplished in polite
literature
*. He is the author of an
“In'sha,” or an
excellent collection of
Arabic letters, on various subjects,
which are intended as models of
epistolary style. This
work has been printed at
Boo'la'ck. In mentioning its
author, I fulfil a
promise which he condescended to ask
of me: supposing that I should
publish, in my own
country, some account of the people of
Cairo, he
desired
me to state that I was acquainted with him, and to give
my
opinion of his acquirements.—The sheykh Mohham'mad
Shiha'b is also deservedly celebrated as an
accomplished Arabic
scholar, and elegant poet. His affability
and wit attract to his house,
every evening, a few
friends, whose pleasures, on these occasions, I
sometimes
participate. We are received in a small, but very
comfortable room: each of us takes his own pipe; and
alone is presented to
us: the sheykh's conversation
is the most delightful banquet
that he can offer us.—There
are also several other persons in
Cairo who
enjoy considerable reputation as philologists and
poets.—The
sheykh ‘Abd Er-Rahhma'n
El-Gebur'tee, another
modern author, and a native of
Cairo,
particularly
deserves to be mentioned, as having written a very
excellent
history of the events which have taken place in
Egypt since
the commencement of the twelfth century
of the Flight
†. He died
in 1825, or 1826, soon after my
first arrival in
Cairo. His family was of
El-Gebur't
(also called Ez-Zey'la’), a
province of Abyssinia, bordering
† The twelfth century of the Flight
commenced on the 16th or
17th of October, A.D. 1688.
on the ocean. The
Gebur'tees (or natives of that
country) are
Moos'lims. They have a riwa'ck (or
apartment
appropriated to such of them as wish to
study) in the Az'har;
and there is a similar provision
for them at Mek'keh, and also
at El-Medee'neh.
The works of the ancient Arab poets were but imperfectly
understood (in
consequence of many words
contained in them having become obsolete)
between
two and three centuries, only, after the introduction of
the
Mohhammadan faith: it must not therefore be inferred,
from what has been
said in the preceding paragraph,
that persons able to explain the most
difficult
passages of the early Arab authors are now to be found
ill
Cairo, or elsewhere. There are, however, many in
Egypt who are deeply
versed in Arabic grammar, rhetoric,
and polite literature; though the
sciences mostly
pursued in this country are theology and
jurisprudence.
Few of the ‘ool'ama of Egypt are well
acquainted with
the history of their own nation; much less with that
of
other people.
The literary acquirements of those who do not belong
to the classes who make
literature their profession are of
a very inferior kind. Many of the
wealthy tradespeople
are well instructed in the arts of reading and
writing; but few of them devote much time to the pursuit
of literature.
Those who have committed to memory
the whole, or considerable portions, of
the Ckoor-a'n, and
can recite, two or three celebrated
ckasee'dehs (or short
poems), or
introduce, now and then, an apposite quotation
in conversation, are
considered accomplished persons.
Many of the tradesmen of
Cairo can neither
read
nor write, or can only read; and are obliged to have
recourse to
a friend to write their accounts, letters, &c.:
but these persons generally cast
accounts, and make intricate
calculations, mentally, with surprising
rapidity
and correctness.
It is a very prevalent notion among the Christians of
Europe, that the
Moos'lims are enemies to almost every
branch of knowledge. This
is an erroneous idea; but
it is true that their studies, in the present
age, are confined
within very narrow limits. Very few of them
study
medicine, chymistry (for our first knowledge of
which we are indebted to
the Arabs), the mathematics,
or astronomy. The Egyptian medical and
surgical
practitioners are mostly barbers, miserably ignorant of
the
sciences which they profess, and unskilful in their
practice; partly in
consequence of their being prohibited
by their religion from availing
themselves of the advantage
of dissecting human bodies. But a number
of
young men, natives of Egypt, are now receiving European
instruction
in medicine, anatomy, surgery, and
other sciences, for the service of the
government. Many
of the Egyptians, in illness, neglect medical aid;
placing
their whole reliance on Providence or charms. Alchymy
is more
studied in this country than pure chymistry;
and astrology, more than
astronomy. The astrolabe
and quadrant are almost the only astronomical
instruments
used in Egypt. Telescopes are rarely seen here;
and the
magnetic needle is seldom employed, excepting
to discover the direction of
Mek'keh; for which purpose,
convenient little compasses (called
ckiblee'yehs), showing
the direction
of the ckib'leh at various large towns in
different countries,
are constructed, mostly at Dimya't:
many of these have a dial,
which shows the time of the
‘asr at different places and
different seasons. Those
persons in Egypt who profess to have considerable
knowledge
of astronomy are generally blind to the true principles
of the science: to say that the
earth revolves round
the sun, they consider absolute heresy. Pure
astronomy
they make chiefly subservient to their computations of
the
calendar.
The Mohhammadan year consists of twelve lunar
months; the names of which are
pronounced by the
Egyptians in the following manner:—
- Mohhar'ram.
- Suf'ar.
- Rabee'a el-Ow'wal.
- Rabee'a et-Ta'nee.
- Gooma'd el-Ow'wal, or
Gooma'da-1-Oo'la.
- Gooma'd et-Ta'nee, or
Gooma'da-t-Ta'niyeh.
- Reg'eb.
- Shaaba'n.
- Rum'ada'n.
- Show'wa'l.
- Zoo-1-Cka'adeh, or El-Cka'adeh.
- Zoo-1-Hheg'geh, or El-Hheg'geh*.
* It is the general opinion of
our chronologers, that the first day
of the Mohhammadan era of
“the Flight” (in Arabic, el-Hij'rah,
or, as it is pronounced by most of
the Egyptians, el-Hig'reh) was
Friday, the 16th of July, A.D. 622: but it must be remarked,
that
the Arabs generally commence each month on the night on
which, or
on the eve of which, the new moon is actually seen;
and this night
is, in most cases, the second, but sometimes and in
some places,
the third, after the true period of the new moon: if,
however, the
moon is not seen on the second or third night, the
month is
commenced on the latter. The new moon of July, A. D.
622, happened
between 5 and 6 o'clock in the morning of the 14th:
therefore the 16th was most probably the first day of the era.
Each of these months retrogrades through all the
different seasons of the
solar year in the period of
about thirty-three years and a half:
consequently, they
are only used for fixing the anniversaries of most
religious
festivals, and for the dates of
historical events,
letters,
&c., and not
in matters relating to astronomy
or the seasons. In the latter cases, the
Coptic mouths
are Mill in general use.
With their modern names, I give the corresponding
periods of our calendar.
- Too't commences on the 10th or 11th of September.
- Ba'beh....10th or 11th of October.
- Ha'too'r....9th or 10th of November.
- Kayah'k (vulg. Kiya'k)....9th or 10th of December.
- Too'beh....8th or 9th of January.
- Amshee'r....7th or 8th of February.
- Baramha't....9th of March.
- Burmoo'deh....8th of April.
- Beshen's....8th of May.
- Ba-oo'neh....7th of June.
- Ebee'b....7th of July.
- Mis'ra....6th of August.
The Eiya'm en-Nes'ee (Intercalary days) five or six
days, complete the year.
These months, it will be observed, are of thirty days
each. Five intercalary
days are added at the end of
three successive years; and six at the end of
the fourth
year. The Coptic leap-year immediately precedes ours:
therefore the Coptic year begins on the llth of September
only when it is
the next after their leap-year; or
when our next ensuing year is a
leap-year; and, consequently,
after the following February, the
corresponding
days of the Coptic and our months will be the same as
in
other years. The Copts begin their reckoning from
the era of Diocletian,
A.D. 284.
In Egypt, and other Moos'lim countries, from sunset
to sunset is
reckoned as the civil day; the night being
classed with the day which
follows it: thus the night
before Friday is called the night
of Friday. Sunset is
twelve o'clock: an hour after sunset,
one o'clock: two
hours, two o'clock; and so on to
twelve: after twelve
o'clock in the morning, the hours are again
named one,
two, three, and so on
*. The Egyptians wind up, and,
if
necessary, set their watches at sunset; or rather a few
minutes after;
generally when they hear the call to evening-prayer.
Their watches,
according to this system of
reckoning from sunset, to be always quite
correct, should
he set every evening; as the days vary ill length.
* Consequently, the time of noon
according to Mohhammadan
reckoning, on any particular day, subtracted
from twelve gives the
apparent time of sunset, on that day, according
to European
reckoning.
The following Table shows the times of Mohhammadan
prayer
†, with the
apparent European time of
sunset, in and near the latitude of
Cairo, at the
commencement
of each zodiacal month.
† The periods of the
‘esh'ë', daybreak, and
‘asr are here given
according to the reckoning most commonly
followed in Egypt.
(See the chapter on religion and laws.) Mo. T.
denotes Mohhammadan
Time: Eur. T., European Time.
|
|
Sunset. |
'Esh'ë. |
Day-break. |
Noon. |
'Asr. |
|
|
Mo. |
T. |
Eur. |
Tm. |
Mo. |
T. |
Mo. |
T. |
Mo. |
T. |
Mo. |
T. |
|
|
h. |
m. |
h. |
m. |
h. |
m. |
h. |
m. |
h. |
m. |
h. |
m. |
| June 21 |
12 |
0 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
34 |
8 |
6 |
4 |
56 |
8 |
31 |
| July 22 |
May 21 |
12 |
0 |
6 |
53 |
1 |
30 |
8 |
30 |
5 |
7 |
8 |
43 |
| Aug. 23 |
Apr. 20 |
12 |
0 |
6 |
31 |
1 |
22 |
9 |
24 |
5 |
29 |
9 |
4 |
| Sep. 23 |
Mar. 20 |
12 |
0 |
6 |
4 |
1 |
13 |
10 |
24 |
5 |
56 |
9 |
24 |
| Oct. 23 |
Feb. 18 |
12 |
0 |
5 |
37 |
1 |
13 |
11 |
18 |
6 |
23 |
9 |
35 |
| Nov. 22 |
Jan. 20 |
12 |
0 |
5 |
15 |
1 |
22 |
11 |
59 |
6 |
45 |
9 |
41 |
| Dec. 21 |
12 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
24 |
12 |
15 |
6 |
56 |
9 |
43 |
A pocket almanac is annually printed at the government-press
at
Boo'la'ck
*. It comprises the period of a
solar
year, commencing and terminating with the vernal
equinox; and gives, for
every day, the day of the week,
and of the Mohhammadan, Coptic, Syrian, and
European
months; together with the sun's place in the
zodiac, and the time of sunrise, noon, and the ‘asr. It
is
prefaced with a summary of the principal eras and
feast-days of the
Moos'lims, Copts, and others; and remarks
and notices relating
to the seasons. Subjoined
to it is a calendar containing physical,
agricultural, and
other notices for every day in the year; mentioning
eclipses, &c; and comprising much matter suited to the
superstitions of the people. It is the work of Yahh'ya
Efen'dee, originally a Christian priest of
Syria; but now
a
Moos'lim.
* More than a hundred books have been
printed at this press:
most of them for the use of the military, naval,
and civil servants
of the government.
Of geography, the Egyptians in general, and, with
very few exceptions, the
best instructed among them,
have scarcely any knowledge: having no good
maps,
they are almost wholly ignorant of the relative situations
of
the several great countries of Europe. Some few of
the learned venture to
assert that the earth is a globe;
but they are opposed by a great majority
of the ‘Ool'ama.
The common opinion of all classes of
Moos'lims is, that
the earth is an almost plane expanse,
surrounded by the
ocean, which, they say, is encompassed by a chain of
mountains called Cka'f.
Such being the state of science among the modern
Egyptians, the reader will
not be surprised at finding
the present chapter followed by a long account
of their
superstitions; a knowledge of
which is necessary to
enable him to understand their character and to
make
due allowances for many of its faults. We may hope
for, and.
indeed, reasonably expect, a very great improvement
in the intellectual and
moral state of this
people, in consequence of the introduction of
European
sciences, by which their present ruler has, in some degree,
made amends for his oppressive sway; but it is
not probable that this hope
will be soon realized to any
considerable extent.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER X.
SUPERSTITIONS.
THE Arabs are a very superstitious people; and none
of them are more so than
those of Egypt. Many of
their superstitions form a part of their religion;
being
sanctioned by the Ckoor-a'n; and the most prominent
of these is the belief in Ginn, or Genii—in the singular,
Gin'nee.
The Ginn are said to be of praeadamite origin, an intermediate
class of
beings between angels and men,
created of fire, and capable of assuming the
forms and
material fabric of men, brutes, and monsters, and of
becoming
invisible at pleasure. They eat and drink, propagate
their
species (like, or in conjunction with, human
beings), and are subject to
death; though they generally
live many centuries. Their principal abode is
in the
chain of mountains called
Cka'f,
which are believed to
encompass the whole earth; as mentioned at the
close
of the preceding chapter. Some are believers in
El-Isla'm:
others are infidels. Of both these classes, the
Arabs stand in great awe; and for the former, they entertain
a high degree
of respect. It is a common custom
of this people, on pouring water,
&c. on the ground,
to exclaim, or mutter,
destoo'r; that is, to ask the permission,
or crave the
pardon, of any gin'nee that may
chance to be there: for the ginn
are supposed to pervade
both the solid matter of the earth and the
firmament.
They are also believed to inhabit
rivers, ruined
houses, wells, baths, ovens, and even the
latrina: hence,
persons, when they enter the latter place, and
when they
let down a bucket into a well, or light a fire, and on
other
occasions, say, “Permission!” or “Permission
ye
blessed
*!”; which words, in the case of entering the
latrina, they sometimes preface with a prayer for God's
protection against all evil spirits; but in doing this,
some persons are
careful not to mention the name of
God after they have entered (deeming it
improper in
such a place), and only say, “I seek refuge with
Thee
from the evil (that is Satan) and the evil ones.” These
customs present a commentary on the story in “the
Thousand and
one Nights,” in which a merchant is described
as having killed a
gin'nee by throwing aside the
stone of a date which he had just
eaten. In the same
story, and in others of the same collection, a
gin'nee is
represented as approaching in a whirlwind of sand
or
dust; and it is the general belief of the Arabs of Egypt,
that the
zo'ba'ah, or whirlwind which
raises the sand or
dust in the form of a pillar of prodigious height,
and
which is so often seen sweeping across the fields and
deserts of
this country, is caused by the flight of one of
these beings; or, in other
words, that the gin'nee
“rides in the
whirlwind.” A charm is usually uttered
by the Egyptians to avert
the zo'ba'ah, when it seems
to be approaching them:
some of them exclaim, “Iron,
thou unlucky
†!”; as genii are
supposed to have a great
dread of that metal: others endeavour to drive
away the
monster by exclaiming, “God is most great
‡!
“. What
we call a “falling star” (and
which the Arabs term
*
Destoo'r, or Destoo'r ya’
nrnoba'rakee'n.
shiha'b) is commonly believed to be a dart
thrown by
God at an evil gin'nee; and the Egyptians, when
they
see it, exclaim, “May God transfix the enemy of the
faith
*!”. The evil gin'nees are commonly termed
'Efree'ts. The existence of
‘efree'ts must be believed by
the Moos'lim
on account of the occurrence, in the
Ckoor-a'n, of these words,
“An ‘efree't from among the
ginn answered
“(chap, xxvii. ver. 39); which words Sale
translates
“A terrible genius answered.” They are generally
believed to differ from the other ginn in being
very powerful, and always
malicious; but to be, in other
respects, of a similar nature.
*
Sah'am Alla'h fee
‘adoo’ ed-deen.
Connected with the history of the ginn are many
fables not acknowledged by
the Ckoor-a'n, and therefore
not credited by the sober
Moos'lims, but only by the less
instructed. The latter believe
that the earth was inhabited,
before the time of Adam, by a race of
beings
differing from ourselves in form, and much more powerful;
and
that forty (or, according to some, seventy-two)
praeadamite kings, each of
whom bore the name of
Sooleyma'n (or Solomon), successively
governed this
people. The last of these Sooleyma'ns was named
Ga'n
Ib'n Ga'n; and from him, it is said,
the ginn (who are
also called ga'n)
derive their name. Hence, some believe
the ginn to be the same with the
praeadamite race
here mentioned: but others assert that they (the
ginn)
were a distinct class of beings, and brought into subjection
by
the other race.
Ginnees are believed often to assume, or perpetually
to wear, the shapes of
cats, dogs, and other brute animals.
The sheykh Khalee'l
El-Meda'bighee, one of
the most celebrated of the
‘ool'ama of Egypt, and author
of several works on various
sciences, who died, at a very
advanced age, during- the period of my former
visit to
this country, used to relate the following anecdote. He
had,
said he, a favourite black cat, which always slept
at the foot of his
musquito-curtain. Once, at midnight,
he heard a knocking at the door of his
house; and his
cat went, and opened the hanging shutter of his window,
and called, " Who is there? " A voice replied, " I am
such a one"
(mentioning a strange name) " the gin'nee:
open the door." "The lock," said
the sheykh's cat,
"has had the name [of God] pronounced upon it
*."—"
Then throw me down," said the other, "
two cakes
of bread."—"The bread-basket," answered the cat
at
the window, " has had the name pronounced upon it."
" Well," said
the stranger, " at least give me a drink of
water." But he was answered
that the water-jar had
been secured in the same manner; and asked what
he
was to do, seeing that he was likely to die of hunger
and thirst:
the sheykh's cat told him to go to the door
of the next house; and went
there also himself, and
opened the door, and soon after returned. Next
morning,
the sheykh deviated from a habit which he had
constantly
observed: he gave, to the cat, half of the
fatee'reh upon which he
breakfasted, instead of a little
morsel, which he was wont to give; and
afterwards said,
"O my cat, thou knowest that I am a poor man: bring
* It is a custom of many foock'aha
(or learned and devout
persons), and some others, to say the bismil'lah
(In the name of
God, the Compassionate, the Merciful) on locking a
door, covering
bread, laying down their clothes at night, and on other
occasions;
and this, they believe, protects their property from
genii.
The thing over which the bismil'lah has been pronounced is
termed
mvosern'mee (for moosem'ma) 'aley'h.
me, then, a little
gold:” upon which words, the cat immediately
disappeared, and he
saw it no more.—Ridiculous
as stories of this kind really are,
it is impossible,
without relating one or more, to convey a just notion
of
the opinions of the people whom I am attempting to
describe.
It is commonly affirmed, that malicious or disturbed
genii very often station themselves on the roofs, or
at
the windows, of houses in
Cairo, and other towns of
Egypt, and
throw bricks and stones down into the
streets and courts. A few days ago, I
was told of a case
of this kind, which had alarmed the people in the
principal
street of the metropolis for a whole week; many
bricks
having been thrown down from some of the houses
every day during this
period; but nobody killed or
wounded. I went to the scene of these
pretended
pranks of the genii, to witness them, and to make inquiries
on the subject; but on my arrival there I was
told that the
regm (that is, the throwing) had ceased. I
found no
one who denied the throwing down of the
bricks, or doubted that it was the
work of genii; and
the general remark, on mentioning the subject, was
“God avert from us their evil doings!”
One of my friends observed to me, on this occasion,
that he had met with
some Englishmen who disbelieved
in the existence of genii; but he concluded
that they
had never witnessed a public performance, though common
in
their country, of which he had since heard,
called
koomed'yeh (or comedy); by which term he
meant to
include all theatrical performances. Addressing
one of his countrymen, and
appealing to me for the
confirmation of his words, he then
said—” An Algerine,
a short time ago, gave me an
account of a spectacle of
this kind which he had seen in
London.”—Here his
countryman interrupted him, by
asking, “Is not England
in London? or is London a town in
England?”—My
friend, with diffidence, and looking to
me, answered
that London was the metropolis of England;
and then
resumed the subject of the theatre.—” The
house,” said he, “in which the spectacle was
exhibited
cannot be described: it was of a round form, with many
benches on the floor, and closets all round, in rows, one
above another, in
which people of the higher classes
sat; and there was a large square
aperture, closed with
a curtain. When the house was full of people,
who
paid large sums of money to be admitted, it suddenly
became very
dark: it was at night; and the house had
been lighted up with a great many
lamps; but these
became almost entirely extinguished, all at the same
time, without being touched by any body. Then, the
great curtain was drawn
up: they heard the roaring of
the sea and wind; and indistinctly perceived,
through
the gloom, the waves rising and foaming, and lashing
the
shore. Presently, a tremendous peal of thunder was
beard; alter a flash of
lightning had clearly shown to
the spectators the agitated sea: and then
there fell a
heavy shower of real rain. Soon after, the day broke;
the
sea became more plainly visible; and two ships
were seen in the distance:
they approached, and fought
each other, firing their cannons; and a variety
of other
extraordinary scenes were afterwards exhibited.
“Now
it is evident,” added my friend,
“that such wonders must
have been the works of genii, or at
least performed by
their assistance.”—He could not be
convinced of his
error by my explanations of these phenomena.
During the month of Rum'ada'n, the genii, it is said,
are confined in prison; and
hence, on the eve of the
festival which follows that month, some of the
women
of Egypt, with the view of preventing these objects of
dread
from entering their houses, sprinkle salt upon the
floors of the
apartments; saying, as they do it, “In the
name of God, the
Compassionate, the Merciful.”
A curious relic of ancient Egyptian superstition must
here be mentioned. It
is believed that each quarter in
Cairo has its peculiar guardian-genius, or
Agathodaemon,
which has the form of a serpent.
The ancient tombs of Egypt, and the dark recesses of
the temples, are
commonly believed, by the people of
this country, to be inhabited by
‘efree'ts. I found it impossible
to persuade one of
my servants to enter the
Great Pyramid with me, from his having this
idea.
Many of the Arabs ascribe the erection of the Pyramids,
and all
the most stupendous remains of antiquity in
Egypt, to Ga'n
Ib'n Ga'n, and his servants, the ginn;
conceiving it
impossible that they could have been raised
by human hands.
The term ‘efree't is commonly applied rather to an
evil gin'nee than any other being; but the ghosts of dead
persons are also called by this name; and many absurd
stories are related
of them; and great are the fears
which they inspire. There are some
persons, however,
who hold them in no degree of dread.—I had
once a
humorous cook, who was somewhat addicted to the intoxicating
hhashee'sh: soon alter he had entered my
service, I heard him,
one evening, muttering and exclaiming,
on the stairs, as if in surprise at
some event;
and then politely saying, “But why are you sitting
here
in the draught?—Do me the favour to come up into
the
kitchen, and amuse me with your conversation a
little:” the civil
address, not being answered, was repeated
and varied several times; till I
called out to the
man, and asked him to whom he was speaking.
“The
‘efree't of a Turkish
soldier,” he replied, “is sitting’ on
the
stairs, smoking his pipe, and refuses to move: he
came up from the well
below: pray step and see him.”
On my going to the stairs, and
telling the servant that I
could see nothing, he only remarked that it was
because
I had a clear conscience. He was told, afterwards, that
the
house had long been haunted; but asserted that he
had not been previously
informed of the supposed cause;
which was the fact of a Turkish soldier
having been
murdered there. My cook professed to see this
‘efree't
frequently after.
The existence of Ghoo'ls likewise obtains
almost universal
credence among the modern Egyptians, in common
with
several other Eastern nations. These beings
are said to appear in the forms
of various animals, and
in many monstrous shapes; to haunt burial-grounds,
and
other sequestered spots; to feed upon dead bodies; and to
kill and
devour every human creature who has the misfortune
to fall in their way.
Hence, the term “ghoo'l”
is applied, in
general, to any cannibal.
That fancies such as these should exist in the minds
of a people so ignorant
as those who are the subject of
these pages cannot reasonably excite our
surprise. But
the Egyptians pay a superstitious reverence not to
imaginary
beings alone: they extend it to certain individuals
of their
own species; and often to those who are
justly the least entitled to such
respect
*. An
idiot or a
fool is vulgarly regarded by them as a being whose
mind is in heaven, while his grosser part mingles
* As is the case also in Switzerland.
among ordinary mortals;
consequently, he is considered
an especial favourite of heaven. Whatever
enormities
a reputed saint may commit (and there are many
who are
constantly infringing precepts of their religion),
such acts do not affect
his fame for sanctity; for they
are considered as the results of his soul,
or reasoning-faculties,
being wholly absorbed in devotion; so that
his
passions are left without control. Lunatics who
are dangerous to society
are kept in confinement; but
those who are harmless are generally regarded
as saints.
Most of the reputed saints of Egypt are either lunatics
or
idiots or impostors. Some of them go about perfectly
naked, and are so
highly venerated, that the women,
instead of avoiding them, sometimes
suffer these
wretches to take any liberty with them in a public
street; and, by the lower orders, are not considered as
disgraced by such
actions, which, however, are of very-rare
occurrence. Others are seen clad
in a cloak or
long coat composed of patches of various coloured
cloths, which is called a
dilck, adorned with
numerous
strings of beads, wearing a ragged turban, and bearing
a
staff with shreds of cloth of various colours attached
to the top. Some of
them eat straw, or a mixture of
chopped straw and broken glass; and attract
observation
by a variety of absurd actions. During my first
visit to
this country, I often met, in the streets of
Cairo,
a deformed man, almost
naked, with long matted hair,
and riding upon an ass, led by another man.
On
these occasions, he always stopped his beast directly
before me, so
as to intercept my way, recited the
Fa't'hhah (or
opening chapter of the Ckoor-a'n), and
then held out his hand
for an alms. The first time
that he thus crossed me, I endeavoured to avoid
him;
but a person passing by
remonstrated with me, observing
that the man before me was a
saint, and that I
ought to respect him, and comply with his demand,
lest
some misfortune should befal me. Men of this class
are supported
by alms, which they often receive without
asking for them. A reputed saint
is commonly called
sheykh, moora'bit, or
wel'ee. If affected with lunacy
or idiotcy, or of weak
intellect, he is also, and more
properly, termed
megzoo'b, or
mesloo'b.
Wel'ee is an
appellation correctly given only to an
eminent and very
devout saint; and signifies “a favourite of
heaven;”
but it is so commonly applied to real or pretended
idiots, that some wit has given it a new interpretation,
as equivalent to
belee'd, which means “a
fool” or
“simpleton;” remarking that these
two terms are
equivalent both in sense and in the numerical value of
the letters composing them: for
wal'ee is
written with
the letters
wa'oo,
la'm, and
ye', of which
the numerical
values are 6, 30, and 10, or, together, 46; and
belee'd
is written with
be', la'm,
ye', and
da'l, which are
2, 30,
10, and 4, or, added together, 46. A simpleton is
often
jestingly called a wel'ee.
The Moos'lims of Egypt, in common with those of
other countries,
entertain very curious superstitions respecting
the persons whom they call
wel'ees. I have
often endeavoured to obtain information on the
most
mysterious of these superstitions; and have generally
been
answered, “You are meddling with the matters of
the
taree'ckah, ” or the religious
course of the durwee'shes;
but I have been freely acquainted
with the
general opinions on these subjects; and such are perhaps
all
that might be required to be stated in a work
like the present: I shall,
however, also relate what I
have been told by learned
persons, and by durwee'shes,
in elucidation of the popular
belief.
In the first place, if a person were to express a doubt
as to the existence
of true wel'ees, he would be branded
with infidelity; and the
following’ passage of the
Ckoor-a'n would be adduced
to condemn him: “Are
not the favourites
* of God those upon whom no
fear
shall come, and who shall not be grieved
†?” This is
considered us sufficient to prove that there is a class of
persons
distinguished above ordinary human beings.
The question then suggests
itself, “Who, or of what
description, are these
persons?” and we are answered,
“They are persons
wholly devoted to God, and possessed
of extraordinary faith; and, according
to their
degree of faith, endowed with the power of performing
miracles
‡.”
* In the original, ow'lce'a, or ou'liya', plural of wel'ee.
‡ A miracle performed by a
wel'ee is termed kara'meh:
one
performed by a prophet, mo'agiz'eh.
The must holy of the wel'ees is termed the
Ckootb;
or, according to some persons, there are two who have
this title; and
again, according to others, four. The
term
ckootb
signifies an
axis; and hence is applied to
a
wel'ee who rules over others: they depending upon him,
and being
subservient to him. For the same reason it
is applied to temporal rulers,
or any person of high authority.
The opinion that there are
four ckootbs, I am
told, is a vulgar error,
originating from the frequent
mention of “the four
ckootbs,” by which expression
are meant the founders of the four
most celebrated
orders of durwee'shes (the R
if'a”ee'yeh,
Cka'diree'yeh,
Ahhmedee'yeh, and
Bara'himeh); each of whom is believed
to have been the ckootb of his
time. I have also
generally been told, that the opinion of there being
two
ckootbs is a vulgar error, founded upon two names,
Ckootb el-Hhackee'ckah (or the Ckootb of
Truth), and
Ckootb el-Gho's (or the Ckootb of Invocation
fur help),
which properly belong to but one person. The term
el-Ckootb
el-Mootawel'lee is applied, by
those who believe
in but one ckootb, to the one ruling at the present
time;
and by those who believe in two, to the
acting
ckootb.
The Ckootb who exercises a superintendence over all
other
wel'ees (whether or not there be another ckootb—for
if there be, he is inferior to the former) has, under
his authority,
wel'ees of different ranks, to perform different
offices;
Negee'bs, Nackee'bs,
Bede'ls*, &c.; who
are known only to
each other, and perhaps to the rest
of the wel'ees, as holding
such offices.
* In the plural forms, Anya'b or Noog'aba, Noock'aba, and
Abda'l.
The Ckootb, it is said, is often seen, but not known as
such: and the same
is said of all who hold authority
under him. He always has a humble
demeanour, and
mean dress; and mildly reproves those whom he finds
acting impiously; particularly those who have a false reputation
for
sanctity, Though he is unknown to the
world, his favourite stations are
well known; yet at these
places he is seldom visible. It is asserted that
he is almost
constantly seated at Mek'keh, on the roof of
the
Ka'abeh; and, though never seen there, is always heard
at midnight to call twice, “O thou most merciful of
those who
show mercy
†!” which cry is then repeated
from the
ma'd'nehs of the temple, by the
moo-ed'dins:
but a respectable pilgrim, whom I have just
questioned
†
Ya’
ar'hhama-r-ra'hhemee'n.
upon this matter, has confessed
to me that he himself
has witnessed that this cry is made by a regular
minister
of the mosque; yet that few pilgrims know this: he believes,
however, that the roof of the Ka'abeh is the
chief
mur'kaz (or station) of the Ckootb.
Another
favourite station of this revered and unknown person is
the
gate of
Cairo called Ba'b Zoowey'leh, which is at
the
southern extremity of that part of the metropolis
which constituted the old
city; though now in the heart
of the town; for the capital has greatly
increased towards
the south, as it has also towards the west. From
its
being a supposed station of this mysterious being,
the Ba'b
Zoowey'leh is commonly called “
El-Mootawel'lee*.
” One leaf of its great wooden door (which
is never shut),
turned back against the eastern side of
the interior of the gateway,
conceals a small vacant
space, which is said to be the place of the
Ckootb.
Many persons, on passing by it, recite the
Fa't'hhah;
and some give alms to a beggar who is
generally seated
there, and who is regarded by the vulgar as one of
the
servants of the Ckootb. Numbers of persons afflicted
with
head-ache drive a nail into the door, to charm away
the pain; and many
sufferers from the tooth-ache extract
a tooth, and insert it in a crevice
of the door, or fix
it in some other way', to insure their not
being attacked
again In the same malady. Some curious individuals
often try to peep behind the door, in the vain hope of
catching a glimpse
of the Ckootb, should he happen to
be there, and not at the moment
invisible, He has also
many other stations, but of inferior celebrity, in
Cairo;
as well as one at the tomb of the seyd Ahh'mad
El-Bed'awee,
at Tun'ta: another at
El-Mahhal'leh (which,
* For Ba'b El-Mootawel'lee.
as well as Tun'ta, is
in the Delta); and others
in other places. He is believed to transport
himself from
Mek'keh to
Cairo in an instant; and so also from
any
one place to another. Though he has a number of
favourite
stations, he does not abide solely at these; but
wanders throughout the
whole world, among persons of
every religion, whose appearance, dress, and
language
he assumes; and distributes to mankind, chiefly through
the
agency of the subordinate wel'ees, evils and blessings,
the
awards of destiny. When a Ckootb dies, he
is immediately succeeded in his
office by another.
Many of the Moos'lims say that Elijah, or Elias,
whom they
generally call El-Khidr, was the Ckootb of
his time; and that he invests
the successive ckootbs:
for they acknowledge that he has never died. This
particular
in their superstitious notions respecting the
ckootbs,
combined with some others which I have before
mentioned, is very curious
when compared with
what we are told, in the Bible, of Elijah, of his
being
transported from place to place by the spirit of God;
of his
investing Elisha with his miraculous powers, and
his offices; and of the
subjection of the other prophets
to him and to his immediate successor
*. Some
wel'ees
renounce the pleasures of the world, and the society
of
mankind; and, in a desert place, give themselves up to
meditation
upon heaven, and prayer; depending; upon
divine providence for their
support: but their retreat
becomes known; and the Arabs daily bring them
food.
This, again, reminds us of the history of Elijah: for, in
the
opinion of some critics, we should read, for the word
“ravens,” in the fourth and sixth verses of the
seventeenth
chapter of the second book of Kings,
“Arabs:”
* See 1 Kings, xviii. 12, and 2
Kings, ii. 9–16.
“I have commanded:the
Arabs to feed
thee”—” And the
Arabs brought him bread.” &c.
Certain wel'ees are said to be commissioned by the
Ckootb to
perform offices which, according to the accounts
of my informants here, are
far from being easy.
These are termed
As-hha'b
ed-Dar'ak, which is interpreted
as signifying
“watchmen,” or “overseers.” In
illustration of their employments, the following anecdote
was related to me
a few days ago.—A devout tradesman
in this city, who was
ardently desirous of becoming a
wel'ee, applied to a person who
was generally believed
to belong to this holy class, and implored the
latter to
assist him to obtain the honour of an interview with the
Ckootb. The applicant, after having undergone a strict
examination as to
his motives, was desired to perform
the ordinary ablution
(el-woodoo') very early the next
morning; then to repair to the
mosque of El-Moo-ei'yad
(at an angle of which is the
Ba'b Zoowey'leh, or El-Mootawel'lee,
before mentioned), and to lay hold of
the first person whom he should see
coming out of
the great door of this mosque. He did so. The first
person who came out was an old, venerable-looking
man; but meanly clad;
wearing a brown woollen
gown (or zaaboo't); and this proved to
be the Ckootb.
The candidate kissed his hand, and entreated to
be
admitted among the As-hha'b ed-Dar'ak. After
much
hesitation, the prayer was granted: the Ckootb
said, “Take
charge of the district which consists of the
Durb el-Ahh'mar
* and its
immediate neighbourhood;”
and immediately the person thus
addressed found himself
to be a wel'ee; and perceived that he
was acquainted
with things concealed from ordinary mortals: for a
* A street on the south of the
Ba'b Zoowey'leh.
wel'ee is said to be
acquainted by God with all secrets
necessary for him to know.—It
is commonly said of a
wel'ee, that he knows what is secret
*, or not
discoverable
by the senses; which seems plainly contradictory
to what
we read in several places in the Ckoor-a'n; that
none knoweth
what is secret (or hidden from the senses)
but God: the
Moos'lims, however, who are seldom at
a loss in a discussion,
argue that the passages above
alluded to, in the Ckoor-a'n,
imply the knowledge of
secrets in an unrestricted sense; and that God
imparts
to wel'ees such secrets only as He thinks fit.
The wel'ee above mentioned, as soon as he had entered
upon his
office, walked through his district; and
seeing a man at a shop, with a jar
full of boiled beans
before him, from which he was about to serve his
customers
as usual, took up a large piece of stone, and, with
it,
broke the jar. The bean-seller immediately jumped
up; seized hold of a
palm-stick that lay by his side;
and gave the wel'ee a severe
beating: but the holy man
complained not; nor did he utter a cry: as soon
as he
was allowed, he walked away. When he was gone, the
bean-seller
began to try if he could gather up some of
the scattered contents of the
jar. A portion of the jar
remained in its place; and on looking into this,
he saw
a venomous serpent in it, coiled round, and dead. In
horror at
what he had done, he exclaimed, “There is no
strength nor power
but in God! I implore forgiveness
of God, the Great! What have I done! This
man is
a wel'ee; and has prevented my selling what would
have poisoned my customers.”—He looked at every
passenger
all that day, in the hope of seeing again the
saint whom he
had thus injured, that he might implore
his forgiveness; but he saw him
not; for he was too
much bruised to be able to walk. On the following
day,
however, with his limbs still swollen from the blows he
had
received, the wel'ee limped through his district, and
broke a
great jar of milk at a shop not far from that of
the bean-seller; and its
owner treated him as the bean-seller
had done the day before; but while he
was beating
him, some, persons ran up, and stopped his hand, informing
him that the person whom he was thus punishing
was a wel'ee, and
relating to him the affair of
the serpent that was found in the jar of
beans. “Go,
and look,” said they, “in your
jar of milk, and you will
find, at the bottom of it, something either
poisonous or
unclean.” He looked; and found, in the remains
of
the jar, a dead dog.—On the third day, the wel'ee,
with
the help of a staff, hobbled painfully up the Durb
el-Ahh'mar,
and saw a servant carrying, upon his head,
a
supper-tray covered with dishes of meat, vegetables,
and fruit, for a party
who were going to take a repast in
the country. He put his staff between
the servant's
legs, and overthrew him; and the contents of the
dishes
were scattered in the street. With a mouth full of
curses, the
servant immediately began to give the saint
as severe a thrashing as he
himself expected to receive
from his disappointed master for this accident:
but
several persons soon collected around him; and one of
these
bystanders observed a dog eat part of the contents
of one of the dishes,
and,a moment after, fall down
dead: he instantly seized the hand of the
servant, and
informed him of this circumstance, which proved that
the
man whom he had been beating was a wel'ee.
Every apology was
made to the injured saint, with many
prayers for his forgiveness; but he
was so disgusted with
his new office, that he implored
God and the Ckootb to
release him from it; and, in answer to his
solicitations,
his supernatural powers were withdrawn, and he returned
to his shop, more contented than before.—This story is
received
as true by the people of
Cairo; and therefore I
have inserted it; for, in
treating of superstitions, we
have more to do with opinions than with
facts. I am
not sure, indeed, that it is altogether false: the
supposed
saint might have employed persons to introduce
the dead
serpent and dog into the vessels which he
broke. I am told that many a
person has obtained the
reputation of being a wel'ee by
artifices of the kind just
mentioned.
There have been many instances, in Egypt, of wel'ees
afflicting
themselves by austerities similar to those which
are often practised by
devotees in India. At the present
time there is living, in
Cairo, a
wel'ee who has placed an
iron collar round his neck, and chained
himself to a wall
of his chamber; and it is said that he has been in
this
state more than thirty years: but some persons assert
that he has
often been seen to cover himself over with a
blanket, as if to sleep, and
that the blanket has been
removed immediately after, and nobody found
beneath
it! Stories of this kind are related and believed by
persons
who, in many respects, are endowed with good
sense; and to laugh, or
express discredit, on hearing
them, would give great offence. I was lately
told,
that, a certain wel'ee being beheaded, for a crime of
which he was not guilty, his head spoke after it was
cut off
*; and, of
another decapitated under similar
circumstances, that his blood traced upon
the ground,
* Like that of the Physician
Doo'ba'n, whose story is told in
“the
Thousand and one Nights.”
in Arabic characters, the
following’ declaration of his
innocence—”
I am a wel'ee of God; and have died a
martyr.”
It is a very remarkable trait in the character of the
people of Egypt and
other countries of the East, that
Moos'lims, Christians, and
Jews adopt each other's superstitions,
while they abhor the more
rational doctrines of
each other's faiths. In sickness, the
Moos'lim sometimes
employs Christian and Jewish priests to pray
for him:
the Christians and Jews, in the same predicament, often
call
in Moos'lim saints, for the like purpose. Many
Christians are in
the frequent habit of visiting certain
Moos'lim saints here;
kissing their hands; begging
their prayers, counsels, or prophecies; and
giving them
money and other presents.
Though their prophet disclaimed the power of performing
miracles, the
Moos'lims attribute to him many;
and several miracles are still,
they say, constantly, or
occasionally, performed for his sake, as marks of
the
divine favour and honour. The pilgrims who have
visited
El-Medee'neh relate, that there is seen, every
night, a ray or
column of faint light, rising from the
cupola over the grave of the Prophet
to a considerable
height, apparently to the clouds, or, as some say,
to
Paradise; but that the observer loses sight of it when he
approaches very near the tomb
*. This is one of the
most remarkable
of the miracles which are related as
being still witnessed. On my asking
one of the most
grave and sensible of all my Moos'lim friends
here, who
had been on a pilgrimage, and visited
El-Medee'neh,
whether this assertion were true, he averred that
it was;
* It is also said, that similar
phenomena, but not so brilliant
distinguish some other tombs at
El-Medee'neh and elsewhere.
that he had seen it every night
of his stay in that city;
and he remarked that it was a most striking and
impressive
proof of God's favour and honour for
“our
lord Mohham'mad.” I did not presume
to question the
truth of what he asserted himself to have seen; nor to
suggest that the great number of lights kept burning
every night in the
mosque might produce this effect;
but, to judge whether this might be the
case, I asked
my friend to describe to me the construction of the
apartment of the tomb, its cupola, &c. He replied, that
he did
not enter it, nor the Ka'abeh at Mek'keh, partly
from
his being in a state of excessive nervous excitement
(from his veneration
for those holy buildings, but particularly
for the former, which almost
affected him with
a kind of hysteric fit), and partly because, being of
the
sect of the Hhan'afees, he held it improper, after he
should have stepped upon such sacred ground, ever
again to run the risk of
defiling his feet, by walking
barefooted: consequently, he would have been
obliged
always to wear leather socks or mezz within his outer
shoes;
which, he said, he could not afford to do.—The
pilgrims also
assert, that, in approaching El-Medee'neh,
from the distance of
three days’ journey, or more, they
always see a flickering
lightning, in the direction of the
sacred city, which they believe to
proceed from the Prophet's
tomb. They say, that, however they
turn, they
always see this lightning in the direction of
El-Medee'neh.
There is something strikingly poetical in this
and
in the former statement.
A superstitious veneration, and honours unauthorized
by the
Ckoor-a'n or any of the Traditions, are paid, by
all sects of
Moos'lims, excepting the Wah'ha'bees, to
deceased saints, even more than to those who are living;
and more particularly by the
Moos'lims of Egypt
*.
Over the graves of most of the more
celebrated saints
are erected large and handsome mosques: over that of
a
saint of loss note (one who, by a life of sanctity or hypocrisy,
has
acquired the reputation of being a wel'ee, or
devout sheykh) is
constructed a small, square, whitewashed
building, crowned with a cupola.
There is generally,
directly over the vault in which the corpse is
deposited,
an oblong monument of stone or brick (called
turkee'beh) or wood (in which case it is
called
ta'boo't);
and this is
usually covered with silk or linen, with some
words from the
Ckoor-a'n worked upon it, and surrounded
by a railing or screen,
of wood or bronze, called
mucksoo'rah. Most of the sanctuaries
of saints in
Egypt are tombs; but there are several which only contain
some in considerable relic of the person to whom
they are dedicated; and
there are a few which are mere
cenotaphs. The most sacred of all these
sanctuaries is
the mosque of the Hhas'aney'n, in
which the head of
the martyr El-Hhosey'n, the son of the
Ima'm ‘Al'ee,
and grandson of the Prophet,
is said to be buried.
Among others but little inferior in sanctity, are
the
mosques of the sey'yideh Zey'neb (daughter of the
* Several superstitious customs,
observed in the performance
of many ordinary actions, result from their
extravagant respect
for their prophet, and their saints in general. For
instance, on
lighting the lamp in the evening, more particularly at a
shop, it
is customary to say, “Commemorate
Mohham'mad, and forget
not the excellencies of
‘Al'ee: the Fa't'hhah for the
Prophet, and
for every wel'ee:” and then, to
repeat the Fa't'hhah. It is usual
to say, on
first seeing the new moon, “O God favour our lord
Mohham'mad! God make thee a blessed moon (or
month):”
on looking at one's face in a glass,
“O God favour our lord
Mohham'mad!”
Ima'm
‘Al'ee, and grand-daughter of the Prophet,), the
sey'yideh Sekee'neh (daughter of the Ima'm
El-Hhosey'n),
the sey'yideh Nefee'seh
(great-grand-daughter of
the Ima'm El-Hhas'an), and
the Ima'm Esh-Sha'fe'ee,
already mentioned
as the author of one of the four great
Moos'lim sects, that to
which most of the people
of
Cairo belong. The buildings above mentioned,
with
the exception of the last two, are within the metropolis;
the
last but one is in a southern suburb of
Cairo; and
the last, in the great
southern cemetery.
The Egyptians occasionally visit these and other sanctuaries
of their
saints, either merely with the view of paying
honour to the deceased, and
performing meritorious
acts for the sake of these venerated persons, which
they
believe will call down a, blessing on themselves, or for
the
purpose of urging some special petition, as for the
restoration of health,
or for the gift of offspring, &c.; in
the persuasion that the
merits of the deceased will insure
a favourable reception of the prayers
which they offer
up in such consecrated places. The generality of the
Moos'lims regard their deceased saints as intercessors
with the
Deity; and make votive offerings to them. The
visitor walks round the
mucksoo'rah or the monument
from left to right; and recites the
Fa't'hhah, inaudibly,
or in a very low voice, before
its door, or before each of
its four sides. Sometimes a longer chapter of
the
Ckoor-a'n than the first (or
Fa't'hhah) is recited afterwards;
and sometimes a
khul'meh (or recitation of the
whole of
the Ckoor-a'n) is performed on such an occasion.
These acts of
devotion are generally performed
for the sake of the saint; though merit is
likewise believed
to reflect upon the visitor who makes a recitation.
He usually says at the close of this,” [Assert] the absolute
glory of thy Lord, the Lord of
Might, exempting
Him from that which they [that is, the unbelievers]
ascribe to Him “(namely, the having a son, or a partaker
of his
godhead); and adds,” and peace he on the
Apostles; and praise be
to God, the Lord of all creatures.
O God, I have transferred the merit of
what I
have recited from the excellent Ckoor-a'n to the
person
to whom this place is dedicated,”
or—” to the soul of
this
wel'ee.” Without such a declaration, or an intention
to the same effect, the merit of the recital belongs solely
to the person
who performs it. After this recital, the
visitor, if it be his desire,
offers up any prayer, for temporal
or spiritual blessings; generally using
some such
form as this—”
