THE MODERN EGYPTIANS.
CHAPTER I.
INDUSTRY.

IT is melancholy to compare the present state of
Egypt
with its ancient prosperity, when the variety, elegance,
and
exquisite finish displayed in its manufactures attracted
the admiration of
surrounding nations, and its inhabitants
were in no need of foreign
commerce to increase their
wealth, or to add to their comforts. Antiquarian
researches
show us that, not only the Pharaohs and the
priests and
military chiefs, but also, a great proportion
of the agriculturists, and
other private individuals, even
in the age of Moses, and at a yet earlier
period, passed
a life of the most refined luxury, were clad in linen
of
the most delicate fabric, and reclined on couches and
chairs which
have served as models for the furniture of
our modern saloons. Nature is as
lavish of her favours
as she was of old to the inhabitants of the valley of
the
Nile; but, for many centuries, they have ceased to enjoy
the
benefit of a steady government: each of their successive
rulers, during
this long lapse of time, considering
the uncertain tenure of his power, has
been almost wholly
intent upon increasing his own wealth; and thus, a
large

portion of the nation has
gradually perished, and the
remnant, ill general, been reduced to a state
of the most
afflicting poverty.
The male portion of the population of Egypt being
scarcely greater than is
sufficient for the cultivation of
as much of the soil as is subject to the
natural inundation,
or easily irrigated by artificial means, the
number
of persons who devote themselves to manufactures in
this
country is comparatively small; and as there
are so few competitors, and, at
present, few persons of
wealth to encourage them, their works in general
display
but little skill.
Painting and sculpture, as applied to the representation
of living objects,
are, I have already stated, absolutely
prohibited by the Mohhammadan
religion: there
are, however, some Moos'lims in Egypt who attempt
the
delineation of men, lions, camels, and other animals,
flowers, boats,
&c., particularly in (what they call) the
decoration of a few
shop-fronts, the doors of pilgrims'
houses, &c.; though their
performances would be surpassed
by children of five or six years, of age in
our own
country. The art in which the Egyptians most excel is
architecture. The finest specimens of Arabian architecture
are found in the
Egyptian metropolis and its
environs; and not only the mosques and other
public
buildings are remarkable for their grandeur and beauty,
but
many of the private dwellings, also, attract our
admiration, especially by
their interior structure and decorations.
Yet this art has, of late years,
much declined,
like most others in this country: a new style of
architecture,
partly Oriental and partly European, and of a
very plain
description, being generally preferred. The
woodwork of the doors,
ceilings, and windows of the

buildings in the older style,
which have already been
described, display considerable taste, of a
peculiar kind;
and so, also, do most of the Egyptian manufactures;
though many of them are rather clumsy, or ill finished.
The turners of
wood, whose chief occupation was that
of making the lattice-work of
windows, were very numerous,
and their work was generally neater than
it
is at present: they have less employment now; as
windows of modern
houses are often made of glass
The turner, like most other artisans in
Egypt, sits to his
work. In the art of glass-making, for which Egypt
was so much celebrated in ancient times, the modern
inhabitants of this
country possess but little skill: they
have lost the art of manufacturing
coloured glass for
windows; but, for the construction of windows of
this
material they are still admired, though not so much as
they were
a few years ago, before the adoption of a new
style of architecture
diminished the demand for their
work. Their pottery is generally of a rude
kind: it
mostly consists of porous bottles and jars, for cooling,
as
keeping, water. For their skill in the preparation
of morocco leather, they
are justly celebrated
The branches and leaves of the palm-tree they
employ
in a great variety of manufactures: of the former, they
make
seats, coops, chests, frames for beds, &c.: of the
latter,
baskets, panniers, mats, brooms, fly-whisks, and
many other utensils. Of
the fibres, also, that grow at
the foot of the branches of the palm-tree
are made most
of the ropes used in Egypt. The best mats (which are
much used instead of carpets, particularly in summer)
are made of rushes.
Egypt has lost the celebrity
which it enjoyed in ancient times for its line
linen:
the linen, cotton, and woollen cloths, and the silks now

woven in this country are
generally of coarse or poor
qualities.
The Egyptians have long been famous for the art of
hatching fowls' eggs by
artificial heat. This practice,
though obscurely described by ancient
authors, appears
to have been common in Egypt in very remote times.
The building in which the process is performed is
called, in
Lower Egypt,
ma'amal el-fira'kh, and in
Upper Egypt,
ma'amal el-furroo'g: in the former
division of the
country, there are more than a hundred
such establishments; and in the
latter, more than half
that number. The proprietors pay a tax to the
government.
The ma'amal is constructed of burnt or sundried
bricks;
and cousin of two parallel rows of small
chambers and ovens, divided by a
narrow, vaulted passage.
Each chamber is about nine or ten feet long,
eight feet wide, and five or six feet high; and has above
it a vaulted
oven, of the same size, or rather less in
height. The former communicates
with the passage by
an aperture large enough for a man to enter; and
with
its oven, by a similar aperture: the ovens, also, of the
same
row, communicate with each other; and each has
an aperture in its vault
(for the escape of the smoke),
which is opened only occasionally: the
passage, too,
has several such apertures in its vaulted roof. The eggs
are placed upon mats or straw, and one tier above
another, usually to the
number of three tiers, in the
small chambers; and burning
gel'leh (a fuel before
mentioned, composed of the
clung of animals, mixed
chopped straw, and made into the form of
round,
flat cakes) is placed upon the floor of the ovens above.
The
entrance of the ma'amal is well closed. Before it
are two or three small
chambers, for the attendant, and

the fuel, and the chickens when
newly hatched. The
operation is performed only during two or three
months
in the year; in the spring; earliest in the most southern
parts
of the country. Each ma'amal in general contains
from twelve to twenty-four
chambers for eggs
and receives about a hundred and fifty thousand
eggs,
during the annual period of its continuing open; one
quarter or
a third of which number generally fail. The
peasants of the neighbourhood
supply the eggs: the
attendant of the ma'amal examines them; and
afterwards
usually gives one chicken for every two eggs that
he has
received. In general, only half the number of
chambers are used for the
first ten days; and fires are
lighted only in the ovens above these. On the
eleventh
day, these fires are put out, and others are lighted in the
other ovens, and fresh eggs placed in the chambers
below these last. On the
following day, some of the
eggs in the former chambers are removed, and
placed
on the floor of the ovens above, where the fires have
been
extinguished. The general heat maintained during
the process is from
100° to 103° of Fahrenheit's thermometer.
The manager,
having been accustomed to
this art from his youth, knows, from his long
experience,
the exact temperature that is required for the success of
the operation, without having any instrument, like our
thermometer, to
guide him. On the twentieth day,
some of the eggs first put in are hatched;
but most, on
the twenty-first day; that is, after the same period as
is
required in the case of natural incubation. The weaker
of the
chickens are placed in the passage: the rest, in
the innermost of the
anterior apartments; where they
remain a day or two before they are given
to the persons
to whom they are due. When the eggs first placed

have been hatched, and the second
supply half-hatched,
the chambers in which the former were placed, and
which are now vacant, receive the third supply; and, in
like manner, when
the second supply is hatched, a fourth
is introduced in their place. I have
not found that the
fowls produced in this manner are inferior in point
of
flavour or in other respects to those produced from the
egg by
incubation. The fowls and their
eggs in Egypt
are,
in both cases, and with respect to size and flavour,
very inferior to those
in our country.—In one of the
Egyptian newspapers published by
order of the government
(No. 248, for the 18th of Rum'ada'n, 1246, or
the
3d of March, 1831 of our era) I find the following
statement.
|
Lower Egypt. |
Upper Egypt. |
Number of establishments for the hatching of
fowls' eggs in the present year |
105 |
59 |
Number of eggs used |
19,325,600 |
6,878,900 |
Number spoiled |
6,255,867 |
2,529,660 |
Number hatched |
13,069,733 |
4,349,240 |
Though the commerce of Egypt has much declined
since the discovery of the
passage from Europe to India
by the Cape of Good Hope, and in consequence
of the
monopolies and exactions of its present ruler, it is still
considerable.
The principal
imports from Europe are woollen cloths
(chiefly from France), calico, plain muslin,
figured muslin (of Scotch
manufacture, for turbans), silks, velvet,
crape, shawls (Scotch, English,
and French) in imitation
of those of Kashmee'r, writing-paper (chiefly
from
Venice), fire-arms, straight sword-blades (from Germany)
for the
Nubians, &c., watches and clocks, coffee-cups
and various
articles of earthenware and glass

(mostly from Germany), many kinds
of hard-wares,
planks, metal, beads, wine and liqueurs; and white
slaves,
silks, embroidered handkerchiefs and napkins, mouthpieces
of
pipes, slippers, and a variety of made goods,
copper and brass wares,
&c., from Constantinople:—
from Asia Minor, carpets
(among which, the segga'dehs,
or small prayer-carpets), figs,
&c.:—from
Syria, tobacco,
striped silks, 'abba'yehs
(or woollen cloaks), soap:—
from Arabia, coffee, spices, several
drugs, Indian goods
(as shawls, silks, muslin,
&c.):—from Abyssinia and
Senna'r and the neighbouring
countries, slaves, gold,
ivory, ostrich-feathers, koorba'gs (or whips of
hippopotamus'
hide) tamarind in cakes, gums, senna:—from
El-Ghurb, or the West (that is, northern Africa, from
Egypt westwards),
turboo'shes (or red cloth scull-caps),
boornoo'ses (or white woollen hooded
cloaks), hhera'ms
(or white woollen sheets, used for night-coverings
and for dress), yellow morocco shoes.
The principal
exports to Europe are wheat, maize,
rice, beans, cotton, flax, indigo, coffee, various spices,
gums, senna,
ivory, ostrich-feathers:—to Turkey, male
and female Abyssinian
and black slaves (including a few
eunuchs), rice, coffee, spices, hhen'na,
&c.:—to
Syria,
slaves, rice,
&c.:—to Arabia, chiefly corn:—to Senna'r
and the neighbouring countries, cotton and linen and
woollen goods, a few
Syrian and Egyptian striped silks,
small carpets, beads and other
ornaments, soap, the
straight sword-blades mentioned before, fire-arms,
copper
wares, writing-paper.
To convey some notion of the value of money in
Cairo, I insert the following
list of the present prices of
certain common articles of food,
&c. In the country
towns and villages, most kinds of provisions
are cheaper

than in the metropolis: meat,
fowls, and pigeons, about
half the prices here mentioned: wheat and bread,
from
about one third to half.
P. |
F. |
(£. |
s.
|
d.) |
Wheat, the ardeb'b (or about five bushels), from
50 P. to |
63 |
0 |
(0 |
13 |
21/5) |
Rice, the ardeb'b, about |
240 |
0 |
(2 |
8 |
0) |
Mutton or lamb, the rutl |
1 |
0 |
(0 |
0 |
2 2/5) |
Beef, do. |
0 |
35 |
(0 |
0 |
2 1/10) |
Fowls, each, 1 P. 10 F. to |
1 |
20 |
(0 |
0 |
3 3/5) |
Pigeons, the pair, 1 P. 1 0 F. to |
1 |
20 |
(0 |
0 |
3) |
Eggs, three for |
0 |
5 |
(0 |
0 |
0 3/10) |
Fresh butter, the rutl |
2 |
0 |
(0 |
0 |
4 4/5) |
Clarified butter, do. 2 P. to |
2 |
10 |
(0 |
0 |
5 2/5) |
Coffee, do. 6P. to |
7 |
0 |
(0 |
1 |
4 4/5) |
Geb'elee tobacco, the oock'ckah, 15 P. to |
18 |
0 |
(0 |
3 |
7 1/5) |
Soo'ree do. do. 5 P. to |
10 |
0 |
(0 |
2 |
0 ) |
Egyptian loaf-sugar, the rutl |
2 |
0 |
(0 |
0 |
4 4/5) |
European do. do. |
2 |
10 |
(0 |
0 |
5 2/5) |
Summer grapes, do. |
0 |
10 |
(0 |
0 |
0 2/5) |
Later (to. do. 20 F. to. |
0 |
30 |
(0 |
0 |
1 4/5) |
Fine biscuit, the ckunta'r |
160 |
0 |
(1 |
12 |
0) |
Water, the ckir'beh(or goat's-skin), 10F.to |
0 |
20 |
(0 |
0 |
1 1/5) |
Fire-wood, the donkey-load |
11 |
0 |
(0 |
2 |
2 2/5) |
Charcoal, the oock'ckah, 20 F. to |
0 |
30 |
(0 |
0 |
1 4/5) |
Soap, the rutl |
1 |
30 |
(0 |
0 |
4 1/5) |
Tallow candles, the oock'ckah |
8 |
20 |
(0 |
1 |
8 2/5) |
Best wax do. do. |
25 |
0 |
(0 |
5 |
0) |
Note.—The rutl is
about 15 3/4 oz., and the oock'ckah, nearly
2 3/4
1bs., avoirdupois. The ckunta'r is 100 rutls. P. denotes
Piasters:
F. Fud'dahs. For a full account of Egyptian measures,
weights, and moneys, see the Appendix.
There are in
Cairo numerous buildings called
Weka'lehs,
chiefly designed for the accommodation of merchants,
and for the reception of their goods. The Weka'leh
is a building
surrounding a square or oblong
court. Its ground-floor consists of vaulted
magazines,


Shops in a Street of Cairo.—The principal object in this
view is the shop of an 'atta'r, who sells
drugs, perfumes, wax candles, &c. The inscription on the
shutter is Ya' fetta'hh. See vol. i., p.
327.

for merchandize, which face the
court; and these magazines
are sometimes used as shops. Above them are
generally lodgings, which are entered from a gallery
extending along each
of the four sides of the court; or,
in the place of these lodgings, there
are other magazines;
and in many weka'lehs which have, apartments
intended
as lodgings, these apartments are used as magazines.
In
general, a weka'leh has only one common entrance;
the door of which is
closed at night, and kept by a porter.
There are about two hundred of these
buildings in
Cairo; and three-fourths of that number are within that
part which constituted the original city.
It has already been mentioned, in the introduction to
this work, that the
great thoroughfare streets of
Cairo generally have a row of shops along
each side, not communicating
with the superstructures. So, also, have
many
of the by-streets. Commonly, a portion of a street, or
a whole
street, contains chiefly, or solely, shops appropriated
to one particular
trade
*;
and is called the
Soo'ck (or Market) of that trade; or is named after
a
mosque there situated. Thus, a part of the principal
street of the
city is called “Soo'ck en-Nahh'hha'see'n”,
or the
market of the sellers of copper wares (or simply
“the
Nahh'hha'see'n”—the word “Soo'ck”
being
usually dropped); another part is called “the
Go'hargee'yeh,”
or [market of] the jewellers: another,
“the
Khoordagee'yeh,” or [market of] the sellers of
hardwares;
another, “the Ghoo'ree'yeh,” or [market
of] the
Ghoo'ree'yeh, which is the name of a mosque situated
there.
These are some of the chief soo'cks of the city.
The principal Turkish
soo'ck is called “Kha'n El-Khalee'lee.”
* This has long been the case in
other Eastern countries. See
Jeremiah, xxxvii., '21.

Some of the soo'cks are covered
over
with matting, or with planks, supported by beams extending
across
the street, a little above the shops, or
above the houses.
The shop
(dookka'n) is a square recess, or cell,
generally
about six or seven feet high; and between three
and four
feet in width. Its floor is even with the top of
a
mus'tub'ah, or raised seat of stone or brick, built
against the
front. This is usually about two feet and a
half, or three feet, in height;
and about the same in
breadth. The front of the shop is furnished with
folding
shutters; commonly consisting of three leaves; one
above
another: the uppermost of these is turned up in
front: the two other
leaves, sometimes folded together,
are turned down upon the mus'tub'ah, and
form an
even seat, upon which is spread a mat or carpet, with,
perhaps, a cushion or two. Some shops have folding
doors, instead of the
shutters above described. The
shop-keeper generally sits upon the
mus'tub'ah; unless
he be obliged to retire a little way within his shop,
to
make room for two or more customers, who mount up
on the seat;
taking off their shoes before they draw up
their feet upon the mat or
carpet. To a regular customer,
or one who makes any considerable
purchase,
the shop-keeper generally presents a pipe (unless the
former
have his own with him, and it be filled and
lighted); and he calls or sends
to the boy of the nearest
coffee-shop, and desires him to bring some
coffee, which
is served in the same manner as in the house; in small
china cups, placed within cups of brass. Not more than
two persons can sit
conveniently upon the mus'tub'ah of
a shop, unless it be more spacious than
is commonly the
case: but some are three or four feet broad, and the

Shop of a Turkish Merchant in the Soo'ck called Kha'n
El-Khalee'lee.


shops to which they belong, five
or six feet in width;
and consequently these afford room enough for
four
persons, or more, sitting in the Eastern fashion. The
shopman
generally says his prayers upon the mus'tub'ah,
in the sight of the
passengers in the street. When he
leaves his shop for a few minutes, or for
about half an
hour, he either relies, for the protection of his
property,
upon the next shop-keepers, or those opposite, or hangs
a
net before his shop. He seldom thinks it necessary to
close and lock the
shutters, excepting at night, when he
returns to his house; or when he goes
to the mosque,
on the Friday, to join in the noon prayers of that
day.—
The apartments above the shops have been described in the
introduction.
Buying and selling are here very tiresome processes
to persons unaccustomed
to such modes of bargaining.
When a shop-keeper is asked the price of any
of his
goods, he generally demands more than he expects to
receive:
the customer declares the price exorbitant, and
offers about half, or two
thirds, of the sum first named:
the price thus bidden is, of course,
rejected; but the
shop-keeper lowers his demand; and then the
customer,
in his turn, bids somewhat higher than before: thus
they
usually go on until they meet about half-way between
the sum first demanded
and that first offered;
and so the bargain is concluded. When a person
would
make any but a trifling purchase, having found the
article that
exactly suits him, he generally makes up his
mind for a long altercation:
he mounts upon the mus'tub'ah
of the shop; seats himself at his ease; fills
and
lights his pipe; and then the contest of words commences,
and
lasts, often, half an hour, or even more.
Sometimes, the shop-keeper, or
the customer, interrupts

the bargaining by introducing
some irrelevant topic of
conversation; as if the one had determined to
abate his
demand no further; or the other, to bid no higher:
then
again the haggling is continued. The bargain
being concluded, and the
purchaser having taken his
leave, his servant generally receives, from the
tradesman,
a small present of money, which, if not given
spontaneously,
he scruples not to demand.—Among the
lower
orders, a bargain of the most trifling nature is
often made with a great
deal of vehemence of voice and
gesture: a person ignorant of their language
would
imagine that the parties engaged in it were quarrelling,
and
highly enraged. The peasants will often say, when
a person asks the price
of anything which they have for
sale, “Receive it as a
present
*:” this answer having
become a common form of
speech, they know that
advantage will not be taken of it; and when
desired,
again, to name the price, they will do so; but generally
name
a sum that is exorbitant.
* As Ephron did to Abraham, when the
latter expressed his wish to purchase the cave and field of Machpelah. See
Genesis, xxiii., 11.
It would be tedious and uninteresting to enumerate
all the trades pursued in
Cairo. The principal of them
are those of the draper, or seller of
materials for dress
(who is simply called
ta'gir,
or merchant), and of the
seller of ready-made dresses, arms, &c.
(who has the
same appellation); the jeweller
(go'hur'gee); the goldsmith
and silversmith
(sa'igh), who only works by order;
he seller of hard-wares
(khoor'dagee); the seller of
copper wares
(nahh'hha's); the tailor
(khei'ya't); the dyer
(sab'ba'gh); the darner
(ref'fa); the ornamental
sewer and maker of sheree't, or silk lace,
&c.
(hhab'ba'k);

the maker of silk cords,
&c.
('ack'cka'd); the maker of
pipes
(shibook'shee); the druggist and perfumer
('at'ta'r),
who also sells wax candles,
&c.; the tobacconist
(dakha'-khinee);
the fruiterer
(fa'kiha'nee); the seller of
dried
fruits
(noock'alee); the seller of sherbet
(shurbet'lee);
the oil-man
(zei'ya't), who sells butter, cheese, honey,
&c., as
well as oil; the green-grocer
(khood! aree); the
butcher
(gezza'r); and the baker
(far'ra'n), to whom
bread, meat, &c., are sent, to be
baked. There are
many cooks' shops, where keba'b and various other
dishes are cooked and sold: but it is seldom that persons
eat at these
shops; generally sending to them for provisions
when they cannot
conveniently prepare food in
their own houses. Shopkeepers often procure
their
breakfast or dinner from one of these cooks, who are
called
tdb'ba'khs. There are also many shops in which
fatee'rehs, and others in which boiled beans (foo'l
moodem'mes), are sold.
Both these articles of food
have been described in a former chapter. Many
persons
of the lower orders eat at the shop of
the
fata'tiree
(or seller of fatee'rehs), or at that of the
fow'wa'l (or
bean-seller).
Bread, vegetables, and a variety of eatables are
carried about for sale. The
cries of some of the hawkers
are curious; and deserve to be mentioned. The
seller
of
tir'mis (or lupins) often cries,
“Aid! O Imba'bee!
Aid
*!” This is understood in two
senses: as an invocation
for aid to the sheykh El-Imba'bee, a
celebrated
Moos'lim saint, buried at the village of Imba'beh, oil
the
west bank of the Nile, opposite
Cairo; in the neighbourhood
of which
village the best tir'mis is grown; and
also as implying that it is through
the aid of the saint
*
Med'ed ya' Imba'bee med'ed.

above mentioned that the tir'mis
of Imba'beh is so excellent.
The seller of this vegetable also cries,
“The
tir'mis of Imba'beh surpasses the almond
*!”
Another
cry of the seller of tir'mis is, “O how sweet are the
little
children of the river
†!” This last cry, which is
seldom
heard but in the country towns and villages of Egypt,
alludes
to the manner in which the tir'mis is prepared
for food. To deprive it of
its natural bitterness, it is
soaked, for two or three days, in a vessel
full of water;
then boiled; and, after this, sewed up in a basket of
palm-leaves (called
furd), and thrown into the
Nile,
where it is left to soak, again, two or three days; after
which,
it is dried, and eaten cold, with a little salt.—The
seller of
sour limes cries, “God make them light [or easy
of sale]! O
limes
‡!”—The toasted pips of a kind of
melon called
'abdalla'wee, and of the water-melon,
are
often announced by the cry of “O consoler of the
embarrassed
'. O pips
§!” though more commonly, by the
simple
cry of “Roasted pips
‖!”—A curious cry of
the
seller of a kind of sweetmeat
(hhala'weh),
composed of
treacle fried with some other ingredients, is, “For
a nail!
O sweetmeat
¶!” He is said to be half a thief:
children
and servants often steal implements of iron, &c.,
from the house in which they live, and give them to him
in exchange for his
sweetmeat.—The hawker of oranges
cries, “Honey! O
oranges! Honey
**!” and similar
*
Tir'mis Imba'beh yegh'lib el-lo'z.
†
Ya' ma-h
h'la (for ma' ahh'la)
boonei'ya-l-bahhr,
‡
Al'lah yehow'win'ha (for yoohow'win'ha) ya' leymoo'n,
§
Ya' moosel'li-l-ghalba'n ya' libb,
¶
Bi-misma'r ya' hhala'weh'
**
'As'al ya' boortoocka'n 'as'al.


Sack'ckas.

cries are used by the sellers of
other fruits and vegetables;
so that it is sometimes impossible to guess
what
the person announces for sale; as, when we hear the
cry of
“Sycamore-figs! O grapes
*!” excepting by the
rule
that what is for sale is the least excellent of the
fruits, &c.,
mentioned; as sycamore-figs are not so good
as grapes.—A very
singular cry is used by the seller of
roses; “The rose was a
thorn: from the sweat of
the Prophet it opened [its flowers]
†.” This alludes to a
miracle related of the
Prophet.—The fragrant flowers of
the hhen'na-tree (or Egyptian
privet) are carried about
for sale; and the seller cries,
“Odours of paradise! O
flowers of the hhen'na
‡!”—A kind of cotton cloth, made
by
machinery which is put in motion by a bull, is announced
by the cry of
“The work of the hull! O maidens
§!”
†
Et-wur'd ka'n sho'k mill 'ar'uck en-neb'ee fet'tahh.
‡
Rawa'yehh (for rawa'ëhh) el-gen'neh ya' tem'ra hhen'na.
§
Shvoghl et-to'r ya' bena't
As the water of the wells in
Cairo is slightly brackish,
numerous
sack'ckas (carriers or sellers of water) obtain
their livelihood by supplying its inhabitants with water
from the Nile.
During the season of the inundation,
or rather during the period of about
four months after
the opening of the canal which runs through the
metropolis,
the sack'ckas draw their water from this canal:
at other
times, they bring it from the river. It is conveyed
in skins by camels and
asses, and sometimes,
when the distance is short, and the skin small, by
the
sack'cka himself. The water-skins of the camel (which
are called
rei') are a pair of wide bags, of ox-hide. The
ass bears a goat's skin
(called
ckir'beh): so also does

the sack'cka if he have no ass.
The rei contain three
or four ckir'behs. The general cry of the sack'cka
is
“O! may God compensate [me]
*.” Whenever
this
cry is heard, it is known that a sack'cka is passing.
For a
goat's skin of water, brought from a distance of a
mile and a-half, or two
miles, he obtains scarcely more
than a penny.
There are also many sack'ckas who supply passengers
in the streets of the
metropolis with water. One of
this occupation is called
sack'cka shur'beh: his ckir'beh
has a long brass spout; and he
pours the water into a brass cup, or an earthen ckool'leh, for any one who
would drink.—There is a more numerous class who
follow the same
occupation, called
hhem'alees. These

Sack'cka Shur'beh.


Hhem'alees.
are mostly durwee'shes, of the order of the
Rifa”ees,
or that of the Beiyoo'mees, and are exempt from the
income-tax called
fir'deh. The hhem'alee carries, upon
his back, a vessel (called
ibree'ck'), of porous grey earth.
This vessel cools
the water. Sometimes the hhem'alee
has an earthen ckool'leh of water
scented with
mo'yet zahr
(or orange-flower-water), prepared from the flowers
of the
na'rin'g (a bitter orange), for his best customers;
and often, a sprig of na'rin'g is stuck in the mouth of
his ibree'ck. He
also, generally, has a wallet hung by
his side. From persons of the higher
and middle
orders, he receives from one to five fud'dahs for a draught
of water: from the poor, either nothing or a piece of
bread or some other
article of food, which he puts in

his wallet. Many hhem'alees, and
some sack'ckas who
carry the goat's skin, are found at the scenes of
religious
festivals, such as the moo'lids of saints, &c., in
Cairo and its neighbourhood. They are often paid, by visitors
to the
tomb of a saint on such occasions, to distribute
the water which they carry
to passengers; a cupful to
whoever desires. This work of charity is called
tesbe'l;
and is performed for the sake of the saint, and on other
occasions
than moo'lids. The water-carriers who are thus
employed are generally
allowed to fill their ibree'cks or
ckir'behs at a public fountain; as they
exact nothing
from the passengers whom they
supply. When employed
to distribute water to passengers in the
streets,
&c., they generally chant a short cry, inviting the
thirsty
to partake of the charity offered them in the name of
God,
most commonly in the words, and to the air, here
following:—

and
praying that paradise and pardon may be the lot of
him who affords the
charitable gift: thus:—


There are numerous other persons
who follow occupations
similar to that of the hhem'alee. Among these
are sellers of
'er'ck-soo's, or infusion of licorice,
mentioned
in a former chapter. The
'er'ck-soo'see
(or seller
of this beverage) generally carries a red earthen jar of
the liquid on his left side, partly supported by a strap
and chain, and
partly by his left arm: the mouth having
some leef (or fibres of the
palm-tree) stuffed into it.
He also carries two or more brass or china
cups, which
he knocks together.—In the same manner, many
shurbet'lees
(or sellers of sherbet) carry about, for sale,
zebee'b (or infusion of raisins). The shurbet'lee
commonly
bears, in his left hand, the glass vessel of a
shee'skeh, filled with zebee'b, and a large tin or
copper

'Er' ck-soo see.

jug full of the same, and several
glass cups
*, in his
right hand. Some shurbet'lees carry, on the
head, a
round tinned copper tray, with a number of glass cups
of
teen mebloo'l, or
bel'ahh
mebloo'l, which are figs and
dates steeped in water; and a copper
vessel
†,
or a
china bowl, of the same.
Sahh'tab (a thin
jelly, made
of water, wheat-starch, and sugar, boiled, with a little
cinnamon or ginger sprinkled upon it; or made as a
drink, without starch)
is likewise carried about in the
same manner; and
soo'biya (which is a drink made of
the pips of the 'abdalla'wee
melon, moistened and
pounded, and steeped in water, which is then
strained,
and sweetened with sugar; or made with rice instead of
the
pips) is also vended in a similar way, and carried in
vessels like those
used for zebee'b; but the glass cups
are generally placed in a kind of
trough of tin, attached,
by a belt, to the waist of the seller.
It has been mentioned before, that many poor persons
in
Cairo gain their
livelihood by going about to
clean pipes. The pipe-cleaner
(moosellika'tee) carries
a number of long wires for
this purpose, in three or four
hallow canes, or tubes of tin, which are
bound together,
and slung to his shoulder. A small leather bag, full
of
tow, to wind round the top of the wire with which the
pipe is
cleaned, is attached to the canes or tin tubes.
The moosellika'tee
generally obtains no more than a
noos's‡ fud'dah (or about a quarter of a farthing)
for
each pipe that he cleans.
A very great number of persons of both sexes among
the lower orders in
Cairo, and many in other towns of
Egypt, obtain their subsistence by
begging. As might


Moosellika'tee.
be expected, not a few of those are abominable impostors.
There
are some whose appearance is most
'distressing to every humane person who
sees them; but
who accumulate considerable property.
A case of this
kind was made public here a few months ago. A
blind
fella'hh, who was led through the streets of the metropolis
by a
young girl, his daughter (both of whom were
always nearly naked), was in
the daily habit of bringing
to his house, a blind Turkish beggar, to sup
with him.
One evening, he was not at home; but his daughter was

there, and had prepared the
supper for his Turkish
friend, who sate and ate alone; and, in doing this,
happened
to put his hand on one side, and felt a jar full of
money,
which, without scruple, he carried away with
him. It contained the sum of a
hundred and ten purses
(then equivalent to rather more than five hundred
and
fifty guineas), in kheyree'yehs, or small gold coins of
nine
piasters each. The plundered beggar sought redress
at the Citadel, and
recovered his property, with
the exception of forty kheyree'yehs, which the
thief had
spent; but was interdicted from begging in
future.—
Children are often seen in
Cairo perfectly naked;
and
I have several times seen females from twelve to twenty
years of
age, and upwards, with only a narrow strip of
rag round the loins, begging
in the streets of this city.
They suffer little from exposure of the bare
person to
the cold of winter, or the scorching sun of summer;
being
accustomed to it from infancy; and the men may,
if they choose, sleep in
some of the mosques. In other
respects, also, their condition is not quite
so bad as their
appearance might lead a stranger to suppose. They
are
almost sure of obtaining' either food or money sufficient
for supplying the
absolute wants of nature, in
consequence of the charitable disposition of
their countrymen,
and the common habit which the tradespeople
have of
eating in their shops, and generally giving a
morsel of their food to those
who ask for it. There are
many beggars who spend the greater part of the
day's
gains to indulge themselves at night with the intoxicating
hhashee'sh, which, for a few hours, renders them,
in imagination, the
happiest of mankind.
The cries of the beggars of
Cairo are generally appeals
to God. Among the
most common are—” O

Exciter of compassion! O Lord
*!”—“For the sake of
God! O ye charitable
†!”—“I am seeking from
my
Lord a cake of bread
‡!”—“O how bountiful thou
art!
O Lord
§!”—“I am the guest of
God and the Prophet
‖!”—in
the evening,
“My supper must be thy gift!
O Lord
¶!”—on
the eve of Friday, “The night of the
excellent Friday
**!”—and on Friday,
“The excellent day of Friday
††!”—One
who daily passed my door
used to exclaim, “Place thy reliance
upon God! There
is none but God!” and another, a woman, I now
hear
crying, “My supper must be thy gift! O Lord! from
the
hand of a bountiful believer, a testifier of the unity
of God! O
masters!”—The answers which beggars
generally receive
(for they are so numerous that a person
cannot give to all who ask of him)
are, “God
help thee
‡‡”—“God will
sustain
§§'.”—“God
give
thee
‖”—“God content, or enrich,
thee
¶¶!”—They
are not
satisfied by any denial but one implied by these
or similar answers. In the
more frequented streets of
Cairo, it is common to see a beggar asking for
the
price of a cake of bread, which he or she holds in the
hand,
followed by the seller of the bread. Some
beggars, particularly
durwee'shes, go about chanting
verses in praise of the Prophet
; or beating cymbals, or
a little kettle-drum. In
the country, many durwee'shes
*
Ya' Mohhan'nin ya' Rubb.
†
Li-lla'h ya' mohhsinee'n.
‡
An'a. ta'lib min 'an'd Rub'bee raghee'f'eysh,
§
Ya' ma-n'ta (for ma!
en'ta”) keree'm ya' Rubb.
‖
An'a deyf Alla'h we-n-neb'ee.
¶
'Asha'ya 'aley'k ya' Rubb.
**
Ley'let el-goom”ah el-fadee'leh.
††
Yo'm el-goom”ah el-fadee'leh.
‡‡
Al'lah yesaӑdak (for yoosaӑdak).
‖‖ A;'lah yaatee'k (for ya'atee'k).
¶¶
Al'lah yeghnee'k (for yooghnee'k).

go from village to village
begging alms. I have seen
them on horseback; and one I lately saw thus
mounted,
and accompanied by two men bearing each a flag, and
by a
third beating a drum: this beggar on horseback
was going from hut to hut
asking for bread.
The most important of the occupations which employ
the modern Egyptians, and
that which (as before mentioned)
engages all but a very small proportion of
them,
is agriculture.
The greater portion of the cultivable soil is fertilized
by the natural
annual inundation; but the fields in the
vicinity of the river and of the
large canals, and some
other lands, in which pits are dug for water, are
irrigated
by means of machines of different kinds. The most
common of
these machines is the
sha'doo'f, which consists
of
two posts or pillars of wood, or of mud and canes
or rushes, about five
feet in height, and less than three
feet apart, with a horizontal piece of
wood extending
from top to top, to which is suspended a slender lever,
formed of a branch of a tree, having at one end a weight
chiefly composed
of mud, and at the other, suspended
to two long palm-sticks, a vessel in
the form of a bowl,
made of basket-work, or of a hoop and apiece of
woollen
stuff or leather: with this vessel, the water is thrown
up to
the height of about eight feet, into a trough hollowed
out for its
reception. In the southern parts of
Upper Egypt, four or five sha'doo'fs
are required, when
the river is at the lowest, to raise the water to the
level
of the fields. There are many sha'doo'fs with two levers,
&c., which are worked by two men. The operation is
extremely
laborious.—Another machine much used for
the same purpose, and
almost the only one employed
for the irrigation of gardens in Egypt, is the
sa'ckiyeh.

The Sha'doo'f.


This mainly consists of a
vertical wheel, which raises
the water in earthen pots attached to cords
and forming
a continuous series; a second vertical wheel fixed to
the
same axis, with cogs; and a large, horizontal, cogged
wheel, which, being
turned by a pair of cows or bulls,
or by a single beast, puts in motion the
two former
wheels and the pots. The construction of this machine
is of
a very rude kind; and its motion produces a disagreeable
creaking
noise.—There is a third machine,
called
ta'boo't, used for the irrigation of lands in the
northern part
of Egypt, where it is only requisite to
raise the water a few feet. It
somewhat resembles the
sa'ckiyeh: the chief difference is, that, instead of
the
wheel with pots, it has a large wheel with hollow jaunts,
or
fellies, in which the water is raised.—In the same
parts of
Egypt, and often to raise the water to the
channel of the ta'boo't, a
vessel like that of the sha'doo'f,
with four cords attached to it, is also
used. Two men,
each holding two of the cords, throw up the water by
means of this vessel, which is called
ckut'weh,—In the
process of artificial irrigation, the
land is divided into
small squares, by ridges of earth, or into furrows;
and
the water, flowing from the machine along a narrow
gutter, is
admitted into one square or furrow after
another.
The
rei lands, or those which are naturally
inundated,
are, with some exceptions, cultivated but once during
the
year. After the waters have retired, about the end
of October or beginning
of November, they are sown
with wheat, barley, lentils, beans, lupins,
chick-peas, &c.
This is called the
shit'awee (or winter) season. But the
shara'ckee lands (or those which are too high to be
subject
to the natural inundation), and some parts of the

rei, by artificial irrigation are
made to produce three
crops every year; though not
all the shara'ckee lands
are thus cultivated. The lands artificially
irrigated
produce, first, their shit'awee crops; being sown at the
same period as the rei lands, generally with wheat or
barley. Secondly, in
what is called the
sey'fee, or, in
the southern
parts of Egypt, the
ckey'dee, or
gey'dee
(that is, the summer) season, commencing about the
vernal equinox, or
a little later, they are sown with
millet
(door'ah
sey'fee), or with indigo, or cotton, &c.
Thirdly, in
the
demee'reh season, or period of the rise of
the
Nile, commencing about, or soon after, the summer
solstice, they are sown
with millet again, or with maize
(door'ah sha'mee), &c., and thus crowned with
a third
harvest.—Sugar is cultivated throughout a large
portion
of
Upper Egypt; and rice, in the low lands near the
Mediterranean.
For the purpose of separating the grain of wheat,
barley, &c.,
and cutting the straw, which serves as fodder,
the Egyptians use a machine
called no'rag, in the form
of a chair, which moves
upon small iron wheels, or thin
circular plates, generally eleven, fixed to
three thick
axle-trees; four, to the foremost; the same number, to
the
hindmost; and three, to the intermediate axle-tree.
This machine is drawn,
in a circle, by a pair of cows or
bulls, over the corn. The plough, and the
other implements
which they use in husbandry, are of a rude and
simple
kind.
The navigation of the Nile employs a great number
of the natives of Egypt.
The boatmen of the Nile are
mostly strong, muscular men. They undergo
severe
labour in rowing, poling, and towing; but are very
cheerful;
and often, the most so when they are most

occupied; for then they
frequently amuse themselves by
singing. In consequence of the continual
changes which
take place in the bed of the Nile, the most experienced
pilot is liable frequently to run his vessel aground: on
such an
occurrence, it is often necessary for the crew to
descend into the water,
to shove off the boat with their
backs and shoulders. On account of their
being so
liable to run aground, the bouts of the Nile are generally
made to draw rather more water at the head than at the
stern; and hence the
rudder is necessarily very wide.
The better kind of boats used on the Nile,
which are
very numerous, are of a simple, but elegant form; mostly
between thirty and forty feet in length; with two masts,
two large
triangular sails, and a cabin, next the stern,
generally about four feet
high, and occupying about a
fourth, or a third, of the length of the boat.
In most
of these boats, the cabin is divided into two or more
apartments. Sudden whirlwinds and squalls being very
frequent on the Nile,
a boatman is usually employed to
hold the sheet in his hand, that he may be
able to let
it fly at a moment's notice.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER IV.
GAMES.

MOST of the games of the Egyptians are of kinds
which suit their sedate dispositions. They take great
pleasure in chess
(which they call
sutren'g), draughts
(da'meh), and trictrac or backgammon
(ta'woolah).
Their chess-men are of very simple forms; as the
Moos'lim is
forbidden, by his religion, to make an
image of anything that has life. The
Moos'lims of
Egypt in general are, however, less scrupulous with
regard to the prohibition of games of hazard: though
some of them consider
even chess and draughts as
forbidden, games partly or wholly hazardous
are
very common among all ranks of this people; and
scarcely less so
is that of cards, which, being almost
always played for money, or for some
other stake,
is particularly called, by way of distinction,
le'ab el-ckooma'r
*,
“the game of hazard, or, of gain.”
Persons of the
lower orders in the towns of Egypt are
often seen playing at these and
other games at the
coffee-shops; but frequently for no greater stake
than
that of a few cups of coffee.
One of the games most common among the Egyptians
is that of the
mun'ckal'ah. Two persons play at
this, with a board
(or two boards joined by hinges), in
which are twelve hemispherical holes,
called
booyoo't
or
beyts, in two equal rows
; and with seventy-two small

shells, or the kind called
cowries; or as many pebbles:
these, whether shells or pebbles, are termed
the
hhas'a
(in the singular,
hhas'weh). To explain the game
of
the mun'ckal'ah, I must distinguish the beyts of the
board by
letters, thus.

Mun'ckal'ah.
The beyts marked
A, B, C, D, E, F, belong to one
party; and the opposite six beyts to the other. One of
the parties, when
they are about to play the game in
the most simple manner (for there are
two modes of
playing it), distributes all the hhas'a unequally into
the beyts; generally putting at least four into each
beyt. If they were
distributed equally, there would be
six in each beyt; but this is seldom
done; for, in this
case, he who plays first is sure to lose. The act of
distributing
the hhas'a, is called
tebwee'z. When
one
party is dissatisfied with the other's distribution of the
hhas'a,
he may turn the board round; and then his
adversary begins the game; which
is not the case
otherwise. Supposing the party to whom belong the
beyts
A, B, C, D, E, F commences the game, he takes
the hhas'a from beyt F, and distributes them to the beyts
a, b, c, &c., one to each beyt; and if there
be enough to
put in each of his adversary's six beyts, and more remain
in his hand, he proceeds in the same manner to distribute
them to his own
beyts, in the order A, B, C, &c.;
and then, if he have still one
or more remaining,
to his adversary's beyts, as before, and so on. If
the
ast beyt into which he has put a hhas'weh contain but

one (having been empty before he
put that in; for it
may have been left empty at the first), he ceases;
and
his adversary plays: but if it contain two or four, he
takes its
contents, with those of the beyt opposite; and
if the last beyt contain two
or four, and one or more
preceding beyts also contain either of these
numbers, no
beyt with any other number intervening, he takes the
contents of these preceding beyts also, with the contents
of those
opposite. If the last beyt into which he has
put a hhas'weh contain (with
this hhas'weh) three, or
five, or more, he takes these out, and goes on
distributing
them in the same manner as before: for instance,
if, in
this case, the last beyt into which he has
put a hhas'weh be D, he puts one
from its contents into
E, another into F, a third into
a, and so on; and thus he
continues, until making the last beyt to
contain but one
stops him, or making it to contain two or four brings
him gain, and makes it his adversary's turn to play.
He always plays from
beyt F, or, if that be empty,
from the nearest beyt to it in his own row
containing
one or more hhas'wehs. When one party has more
than a
single hhas'weh in one or more of his beyts,
and the other has none, the
former is obliged to put
one of his into the first of his adversary's
beyts. If
only one hhas'weh remain on one side, and none on
the other,
that one is the property of the person on
whose side it is. When the board
is completely cleared,
each party counts the number of the hhas'a he
has
taken; and the one who has most reckons the excess
of his above
his adversary's number as his gain. The
gainer in one board begins to play
the next board; his
adversary having first distributed the hhas'a.
When
either party has made his successive gains amount

to sixty, he has won the
game.—In this manner, the game of the mun'ckal'ah is played by young
persons;
and hence this mode of playing it is called “the
game
of the ignorant”
(le'ab el-ghashee'm)
': others generally
play in a different manner, which is termed
“the game
of the wise, or intelligent”
(le'ab el-'a'ckil), and which
must now be
described.
The hhas'a are distributed in one or more beyts on
one side, and in the
corresponding beyt or beyts on the
other side; commonly in four beyts on
each side, leaving
the two extreme beyts of each side vacant; or they
are
distributed in any other conventional manner; as, for
instance,
about half into beyt A, and the remainder in
beyt
a. The person who distributes the hhas'a does
not count how many he
places in a beyt; and it is at
his option whether he places them only in
one beyt on
each side, or in all the beyts. Should the other person
object to his distribution, he may turn the board round;
but in that case
forfeits his right of playing first. The
person who plays first may begin
from any one of his
beyts; judging by his eye which will bring him the
best fortune. He proceeds in the same manner as
before described; putting
one hhas'weh in each beyt;
and taking in the same cases as in the former
mode
;
and then the other plays. After the first gain, he
counts the hhas'a
in each of his beyts; and plays from
that which will bring him the greatest
advantage.
One of the parties may stop the other to count the
hhas'a
which he takes out of a beyt to distribute, in
order to insure his
distributing them correctly. The
gain of one party after finishing one
board is counted,
as in the former mode, by the excess of the number
he
has taken above the number acquired by the other;

and the first who makes his
successive gains to amount
to sixty wins the game.—This game is
of use in practising
the players in calculation. It is very commonly
played at the coffee-shops; and the players generally
agree, though it is
unlawful to do so, that the loser
shall pay for the coffee drunk by himself
and his adversary
and the spectators, or for a certain number of cups.
Another game very general among the lower classes
in Egypt is called
ta'b. In other countries of the East
this is called
“ta'b we-dookk;” but I never hear this
name given to
it in Egypt. In this country it is played
in the following
manner:—Four small pieces of stick,
of a flat form, about a span
(or eight inches) in length,
and two thirds of an inch in breadth, are
first prepared:
they are generally formed of a piece of palm-branch;
one side of which, being cut flat and smooth,
is
white;
the other, green, or, if not fresh, of a dull yellow colour:
the former side is commonly called white, and the
other, black. These are
called the
ta'b. Next, it is
necessary to be
provided with a
see'ga. This is a board,
divided
into four rows of squares, called
beyls or
da'rs,
each about two inches wide; or it consists
of similar
rows of holes made in the ground, or on a flat stone:
the
beyts are usually seven, nine, eleven, thirteen, or
fifteen, in each row.
To show the mode of playing the
game, I shall here represent a see'ga of
nine beyts in
each row; and distinguish the beyts by letters.


In each beyt of one exterior row
is usually placed a little
piece of stone, of dingy brick, about the size
of a walnut;
and in each beyt of the other exterior row, a piece of
red brick or tile. Or, sometimes, pieces are placed only
in a certain
number of beyts in those rows; as, for instance,
in the first four. The
pieces of one row must
be distinguished from those in the other. They
are
called
kila'b (or dogs); in the singular,
kelb. The game
is generally played by two persons.
The four little slicks
are thrown, all together, against a stick thrust
into the
ground or held in the hand with one end resting on the
ground, or against a wall, or against a stick inclined
against a wall. If
they fall so that one only has its
white side upwards, the player is said
to have thrown,
or brought,
ta'b (plural
teeb), or a
wel'ed (or
child,
plural
wila'd), and counts one: if there be
two white,
and the other two black, he counts two
(itney'n): if
there be three white, and one black, he counts three
(tela'teh): if all four be white, four
(ar'ba”ah): if all four
black, six
(sit'teh). When one throws ta'b, or
four, or six,
he throws again; but when he has thrown
two, or three, it is then the turn
of the other. To one
of the players belongs the row of beyts
A, B, C, &c.:
to the other, that of
a, b, c,
&c. They
first throw alternately
until one has thrown ta'b; and he who has done
this then throws again until he has brought two, or
three. Supposing him,
at the beginning' of the game,
to have thrown ta'b and four and two; he
removes the
kelb from beyt I, and places it in the seventh beyt
from
I, which is Q. He must always commence
with the kelb in beyt I. The other
party, in like
manner, commences from beyt
i.
Neither party can
remove a kelb from its original place but by throwing

ta'b before each such removal.
The kelbs before
removal from their original places are called
Nasa'ra
(or Christians, in the singular,
Nusra'nee); and
after
removal, when they are privileged to commence the
contest,
Moos'limee'n (or
Moos'lims):
when a person
has made a kelb a Moos'lim, it is said of him
sel'lem
kelb; and of the kelb,
as'lam. Each time that a player
throws ta'b, he generally makes a
kelb Moos'lim, until
he has made them all so, and thus prepared them
to
circulate in the beyts. Each player may have two or
more kelbs in
circulation at the same time. Let us
suppose (to make the description more
simple) that the
person to whom belongs the row of beyts A, B, C,
&c.,
is circulating a single kelb: he moves it through the
two middle rows of beyts in the order of the letters by
which I have
distinguished them, from K to S, and
from
k to
s; and may then either repeat the same
round or
enter his adversary's row, as long as there be
any kelb remaining in that
row; but in the latter case,
he does not continue to circulate the same
kelb, excepting
under circumstances which will be mentioned hereafter.
Whenever a throw, or any of two or more throws,
which the player has made
enables him to move his
kelb into a beyt occupied by one of his opponent's
kelbs,
he takes the latter. For instance, if one party have a
kelb in
the beyt
m, and the other have one in o, and
another in
s, and the former has thrown ta'b (or
one)
and then four and then two, he may take the kelb in
o by the throw of two; then, by the throw of four,
take
that in s; and, by the throw of ta'b, pass into
a, and
take a third kelb if it contain one. A player may, by
means of a suitable throw, or two or more throws, move
one of his kelbs
into a beyt occupied by another of his

own; and these two together, in
like manner, he may
add to a third, or he may add a third to them: thus
he
may unite any number of his own kelbs, and circulate
them together,
as if they were but one; but he cannot
divide them again, and play with
them separately, unless
he throw ta'b. If he avail himself of a throw which
he
has made to bring them back into a row through which
they have
already passed (either separately or together)
they become reduced to a
single kelb: but he need not
avail himself of such a throw: he may wait
until he
throws ta'b. Two or more kelbs thus united are called an
'eg'geh. The object of so uniting them
is to place
them as soon as possible in a situation of safety; as will be
seen by what
immediately follows. If either party pass
one of his kelbs into his
adversary's row, he may leave
it there in safety as long as he does not
want to continue
to play with it, because the latter cannot bring
back
a kelb into his own row. The former, however,
cannot continue to circulate,
the kelb which has entered
that row until he has no kelb remaining in his
own row;
or unless he have only an 'eg'geh in his row, and does
not
throw ta'b, which alone enables him to divide the
'eg'geh. In circulating
through his adversary's beyts,
he proceeds in the order of the letters by
which I have
marked them. He cannot pass the same kelb again
into his
adversary's row: after it has passed through
that row, he circulates it
through the two middle rows
only, in the same manner as at
first.—This game is
often played by four or more persons; and
without the
see'ga. When one person throws four, he is called the
Soolta'n. He holds a muck'ra”ah, which is a piece of
the thick
end of a palm-stick, with two or three splits
made in the thicker part of
it. When a player throws

six, he is called the Wezee'r,
and holds the stick
against which the ta'b are thrown. Whenever a
person
throws two, the Soolta'n gives him a blow, or two or
more blows
(as many as the Wezee'r may order), on
the sole of his foot, or the soles
of both feet, with the
muck'ra”ah. When a player throws twice
six, he is
both Soolta'n and Wezee'r.
Many of the fella'hhee'n of Egypt also frequently
amuse themselves with a
game called that of the see'ga,
which may be
described in a few words. The see'ga
employed in this game is different
from that of the ta'b:
it consists of a number of holes, generally made in
the
ground; most commonly, of five rows of five holes in
each, or
seven rows of seven in each, or nine rows of
nine in each: the first kind
is called the khumsa'wee see'ga;
the second, the seb'a'wee; and the third, the
tis'a'wee. A khumsa'wee see'ga is here represented.

See'ga.
The holes are called
'oyoo'n (or eyes, in the singular
'ey'n). In this see'ga, they are twenty-five in
number.
The players have each twelve
kelbs, similar
to those
used in the game of the ta'b
*. One of them places two
of his kelbs
in the 'eyns marked
a, a: the other puts
* The larger see'gas, in like manner,
require a sufficient number
of kelbs to occupy all the 'eyns excepting
one.

two of his in those marked b, b:
they then alternately
place two kelbs in any of the 'eyns that they may
choose,
excepting the central 'eyn of the see'ga. All the 'eyns
but
the central one being thus occupied (most of the
kelbs placed at random)
the game is commenced. The
party who begins moves one of his kelbs from a
contiguous
'eyn into the central. The other party, if the
'eyn now
made vacant be not next to any one of those
occupied by his kelbs, desires
his adversary to give him,
or open to him, a way; and the latter must do
so, by
removing, and thus losing, one of his own kelbs. This
is also
done on subsequent occasions, when required by
similar circumstances. The
aim of each party, after
the first disposal of the kelbs, is to place any
one of his
kelbs in such a situation that there shall be, between it
and another of his, one of his adversary's kelbs. This,
by so doing, he
takes; and as long as he can immediately
make another capture by such
means, he does
so, without allowing his adversary to move.—These
are
the only rules of the game. It will be remarked, that,
though most
of the kelbs are placed at random, foresight
is requisite in the disposal
of the remainder.—
Several see'gas have been cut upon the stones
on the
summit of the
great pyramid, by Arabs who have served
as guides
to travellers.
Gymnastic games, or such diversions as require much
bodily exertion, are
very uncommon among the Egyptians.
Sometimes, two peasants contend with
each
other, for mere amusement, or for a trifling wager or
reward,
with
nebboo'ts, which are thick staves, five or
six
feet long: the object of each is to strike his adversary
on the head. The
nebboo't is a formidable weapon,
and is often seen in the hand of an
Egyptian peasant:

he often carries it when on a
journey; particularly when
he travels by night; which, however, is seldom
the case.
Wrestling-matches are also sometimes witnessed in
Egypt: the
combatants (who are called moosdre'eefn,
in the singular
moose/re*) strip themselves of all their
clothing excepting
their drawers, and generally oil their
bodies; but their exercises are not
remarkable, and are
seldom performed but for remuneration, on the
occasions
of festivals, processions, &c.—On such
occasions, too,
mock combats between two men, usually clad only in
heir drawers, and each armed with a sabre and a small
shield, are not
unfrequently witnessed: neither attempts
to wound his adversary: every blow
is received on the shield.
The game of the geree'd, as played by the Memloo'ks
and Turkish soldiers, has often been described; but the
manner in which it
is practised by many of the peasants
of
Upper Egypt is much more worthy of
description.
It is often played by the latter on the occasion of the
marriage of a person of influence, such as the sheykh of
a tribe or
village; or on that of a circumcision; or
when a votive calf or ox or bull,
which has been let
loose to pasture where it will, by common consent,
is
about to be sacrificed at the tomb of a saint, and a
public feast
made with its meat. The combatants
usually consist of two parties of
different villages, or of
different tribes, or branches of a tribe; each
party about
twelve or twenty or more in number; and each person
mounted on a horse or mare. The two parties station
themselves about five
hundred feet or more apart. A
person from one party gallops towards the
other party,
and challenges them: one of the latter, taking, in his
left hand, four, five, six, or more, geree'ds, each six feet,

or an inch or two more or less,
in length, but generally
equal in length to the height of a tall man, and
very
heavy (being the lower part of the palm-stick, freshly
cut, and
full of sap), pursues the challenger at full gallop:
he approaches him as
near as possible; often within
arm's length; and throws, at his head or
back, one
geree'd after another, until he has none left. The
geree'd
is blunt at both ends. It is thrown with the
small end foremost; and with
uplifted arm; and sometimes
inflicts terrible, and even fatal, wounds
*. The
person against whom the geree'ds are thrown endeavours
to catch them, or to
ward them off with his arm
or with a sheathed sword; or he escapes them by
the
superior speed of his horse. Having sustained the
attack, and
arrived at the station of his party, he tries
his skill against the person
by whom he has been pursued,
in the same manner as the latter did against
him.—
his sport, which reminds us of the tournaments of
old, and which was a game of the early Bed'awees, continues
for several
hours. It is common only among
those tribes who have not been many years,
or not more
than a few centuries, settled on the banks of the Nile;
and who have consequently retained many Bed'awee
customs and habits. About
the close of the period of
my former visit to this country, three men and a
mare
were killed at this game within an hour, in the western
* During my last residence at Thebes,
a fine athletic man, the best
geree'd-player of the place, whom I had
taken into my service
as a nightly guard, received a very severe wound
at this
game; and I had some difficulty to effect a cure: he was
delirious
for many hours, in consequence of it, and had nearly lost his
life.
The geree'd struck him a little before his ear, and
penetrated
downwards into his neck.

plain of
Thebes. It is seldom,
however, that a man
loses his life in this exercise: at least, of late, I
have
heard of no such occurrence taking place.—In Lower
Egypt, a geree'd only half the length of those above
described, or little
more, is used in playing this game.
Other exercises, which are less frequently performed,
and only at festivals,
for the amusement of the spectators,
will be described in subsequent
pages.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER V.
Music.

THE Egyptians in general are excessively fond of
music;
and yet they regard the study of this fascinating art
(like
dancing) as unworthy to employ any portion of
the time of a man of sense;
and as exercising too
powerful an effect upon the passions, and leading
a
man into gaiety and dissipation and vice. Hence it
was condemned by
the Prophet: but it is used, notwithstanding,
even in religious ceremonies;
especially
by the durwee'shes. The Egyptians have very few
books on
music; and these are not understood by their
modern musicians. The natural
liking of the Egyptians
for music is shown by their habit of regulating
their
motions, and relieving the dulness of their occupations,
in
various labours, by songs or chants. Thus do the
boatmen, in rowing,
&c.; the peasants in raising water;
the porters in carrying
heavy weights with poles; men,
boys, and girls, in assisting builders, by
bringing bricks,
stones, and mortar, and removing rubbish: so also,
the
sawyers, reapers, and many other labourers. Though
the music of
the Egyptians is of a style very difficult
for foreigners to acquire or
imitate, the children very
easily and early attain it. The practice of
chanting the
Ckoor-a'n, which is taught in all their schools,
contributes
to increase their natural fondness for music.
How science was cherished by the Arabs when all

the nations of Europe were
involved in the grossest
ignorance, and how much the former profited by
the
works of ancient Greek writers, is well known. It appears
that
they formed the system of music which has
prevailed among them for many
centuries partly from
Greek, and partly from Persian and Indian
treatises
From the Greek language are derived the most general
Arabic
term for music, namely,
moo'see'cka, and the
names
of some of the Arab musical instruments
; but
most
of the technical terms used by the Arab musicians
are borrowed from the
Persian and Indian languages.
There is a striking degree of similarity
between many
of the airs which I have heard in Egypt and some of
the
popular melodies of Spain; and it is not surprising
that this is the case;
for music was much cultivated
among the Arabs of Spain; and the library of
the
Escurial contains many Arabic treatises on this art.
The most remarkable peculiarity in the Arab system
of music is the division
of tones into thirds. Hence I
have heard Egyptian musicians urge against
the Europeans
systems of music that they are deficient in the
number
of sounds. These small and delicate gradations
of sound give a peculiar
softness to the performances
of the Arab musicians, which are generally of
a
plaintive character: but they are difficult to discriminate
with
exactness, and are therefore seldom observed
in the vocal and instrumental
music of those persons
who have not made, a regular study of the art. Most
of
the popular airs of the Egyptians, though of a similar
character,
in most respects, to the music of their professional
performers, are very
simple; consisting of
only a few notes which serve for every one or two
lines
of a song, and which are therefore repeated many

times. I must confess that I
generally take great
delight in the more refined kind of music which I
occasionally
hear in Egypt; and the more I become
habituated to the
style, the more I am pleased with it;
though, at the same time, I must
state that I have not
met with many Europeans who enjoy it in the same
degree as myself. The natives of Egypt are generally
enraptured with the
performances of their vocal and instrumental
musicians: they applaud with
frequent exclamations
of “Al'la'h
*!” and
“God approve thee!”
“God preserve thy
voice!” and similar expressions.
* Often, in such cases, pronounced in
an unusually broad manner, and the last syllable drawled out, thus ” Ul'lau'h! “
The male professional musicians are called A'la'tee'yeh;
in the singular, A'la'tee, which properly
signifies
“a player upon an instrument;” but they are
generally
both instrumental and vocal performers. They are people
of
very dissolute habits; and are regarded as
scarcely
less disreputable characters than the public
dancers. They are, however,
hired at most grand entertainments,
to amuse the company; and on these
occasions they are usually supplied with brandy, or other
spirituous
liquors, which they sometimes drink until
they can neither sing nor strike
a chord. The sum commonly
paid to each of them for one night's
performance
is equal to about two or three shillings; but they often
receive considerably more. The guests generally contribute
the sum.
There are also female professional singers. These
are called
'Awa'lim; in the singular,
'A'l'meh, or
'A'limeh; an appellation literally signifying
“a learned
female.” The 'Awa'lim are often hired on
the occasion
of a fête in the hharee'm of a person of wealth.
There

is generally a small, elevated
apartment, called a
toockey'seh, adjoining the
principal saloon of the
hharee'm, from which it is separated only by a screen
of wooden
lattice-work; or there is some other convenient
place in which the female
singers may be concealed
from the sight of the master of the house,
should
he be present with his women. But when there is a
party of male
guests, they generally sit in the court, or
in a lower apartment, to hear
the songs of the 'Awa'lim,
who, in this case, usually sit at a window of
the
hharee'm, concealed by the lattice-work. Some of them
are also
instrumental performers. I have heard the
most celebrated 'Awa'lim in
Cairo, and have been more
charmed with their songs than with the best
performances
of the A'la'tee'yeh, and more so, I think I may
truly
add, than with any other music that I have ever
enjoyed. They are often
very highly paid. I have
known instances of sums equal to more than
fifty
guineas being collected for a single 'A'l'meh from the
guests at
an entertainment in the house of a merchant,
where none of the contributors
were persons of much
wealth. So powerful is the effect of the singing of a
very
accomplished 'A'l'meh, that her audience, in the height
of their
excitement, often lavish, upon her, sums which
they can ill afford to lose.
There are, among the
'Awa'lim in
Cairo, a few who are not altogether
unworthy
of the appellation of “learned females;”
having
some literary accomplishments. There are also many
of an
inferior class who sometimes dance in the
hharee'm: hence, travellers have
often misapplied the
name of “alme,” meaning
“a'l'meh,” to the common
dancing-girls, of whom an
account will be given in another
chapter of this work.

The Egyptians have a great
variety of musical instruments.
Those which are generally used at
private
concerts are the
kemen'geh, cka'noo'n,
'oo'd, and n
a'y.
The
Kemen'geh is a kind of viol. Its name, which is
Persian, and more properly written
kema'ngeh,
signifies
“a bow-instrument.” This instrument, and
all the
others of which I insert engravings, I have drawn with
the
camera-lucida. The total length of the kemen'geh
which is here represented,
is thirty-eight inches. The
sounding-body
* is a cocoa-nut, of which about
a fourth
part has been cut off. It is pierced with many small
holes.
Over the front of it is strained a piece of the
skin of a fish called
baya'd; and upon this rests the
bridge
†. The neck
‡ is of
ebony inlaid with ivory;
and of a cylindrical form. At the, bottom of it is
a
piece of ivory; and the head
§, in which the pegs are
inserted, is
also of ivory. The pegs
‖ are of beech;
and their heads, of ivory. The foot
¶ is of
iron: it
passes through the sounding-body, and is inserted into
the
neck, to the depth of four or five inches. Each of
the two chords consists
of about sixty horse-hairs: at
the lower end, they are attached to an iron
ring, just
below the sounding-body: towards the other extremity,
each
is lengthened with a piece of lamb's gut
**, by
which it is attached
to its peg. Over the chords, a little
below their junction with the
gut-strings, a double band of
leather
†† is tied, passing round the neck
of the instrument.
The bow
‡‡ is thirty-four inches and a
half
in length. Its form is shown by the engraving. The
‡ Called sa”ëd, or “arm.”
‖
Mela'wee; singular, mel'wa.

Kemen'geh.

stick is generally of ash. The
horse-hairs, passed
through a hole at the head of the bow-stick and
secured
by a knot, and attached at the other end to an iron
ring, are
tightened or slackened by a band of leather
which passes through the ring
just mentioned and
through another ring at the foot of the
bow.—I insert
a sketch of a performer on the kemen'geh, to show
the
manner in which he holds the instrument and the bow.
In passing
the bow from one chord to the other, he
turns the kemen'geh about sixty
degrees round. The
sketch here introduced, and those of the performers
on
the cka'noo'n, 'oo'd, and na'y, are from drawings which
I have made
with the camera-lucida, and, excepting the
last, from very expert
musicians. Together, they represent

A Performer on the Kemen'geh.


* No. 1 is the key: 2, the ring, or thimble: 3, the
plectrum.

on ordinary Egyptian band, such
as is generally
seen at a private entertainment. The performer
on the
kemen'geh usually sits on the right hand of him
who performs on the
cka'noo'n, or opposite (that is,
facing) the latter, on the left hand of
whom sits the
performer on the 'oo'd; and next to this last is the
performer
on the na'y. Sometimes there are other musicians,
whose
instruments will be mentioned hereafter;
and often, two singers.
The
cka'noo'n is a kind of dulcimer. Its name is
from the Greek or from the same origin; and
has the same
signification”; that is, “rule,”
“law,” “
Custom.” The
instrument from which the engraving
here given was taken is, perhaps, an
inch or two longer
than some others which I have seen. Its greatest
length is thirty-nine inches and three quarters; and its
breadth, sixteen
inches: its depth is two inches and
one tenth. The cka'noo'n is sometimes
made entirely
of walnut-wood
*, with the exception of some
ornamental
parts. In the instrument which I have drawn,
the face
† and the
back
‡ are
of a fine kind of deal:
the sides
§ are of beech. The piece in which the
pegs
are inserted
‖ is of beech; and so also is the ridge
¶
along its interior edge, through which the chords are
passed. The
pegs
** are of poplar wood. The bridge
††
is of fine deal. In the central part of the face of the
instrument is
a circular piece of wood
‡‡ of a reddish
colour, pierced with
holes; and towards the acute
§ Called soo'r, or “wall.”
†† Termed far'as, or “mare.'”
‡‡ Called shem'seh, or “a sun.”

angle of the face is another
piece of similar wood, likewise
pierced with holes. In that part of the
face upon
which the bridge rests are five oblong apertures,
corresponding
with the five feet of the bridge. A piece of
fishes'
skin”
*, nine inches wide, is glued over this part;
and the
five feet of the bridge rest upon those parts of
the skin which cover the
five apertures above mentioned;
slightly depressing the skin. The chords
are
of lamb's gut
†. There are three chords to each note;
and,
altogether, twenty-four treble chords. The
shortest side of the instrument
‡ is
veneered with walnut-wood,
inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument
† They are called owta'r; in the singular, wet'er.

A Performer on the Cka'noo'n.

is played with two plectra
*; one
plectrum upon
the fore-finger of each hand. Each plectrum is a
small,
thin piece of buffaloe's horn; and is placed
between the finger and a ring,
or thimble
†, formed
of a flat piece of brass or silver, in the
manner represented
in the sketch.—The instrument is placed on
the knees
of the performer; as shown by the engraving here
inserted.
Under the hands of a skilful player, the
cka'noo'n pleases me mote than any
other Egyptian
instrument without an accompaniment; and to a band
it
is an important accession.
* Each plectrum is called ree'sheh.
The
'odd is a species of guitar, which is played
with a plectrum. Its name (the original signification of
which is
“wood “), with the article
el.
prefixed to it, is the
source whence are derived the terms
liuto in Italian,
luth in French,
lute in English,
&c. The length of
the 'oo'd represented by the engraving here
inserted,
measuring from the button, or angle of the neck, is
twenty-five inches and a half. The body of it is composed
of fine dual,
with edges, &c., of ebony: the neck,
of ebony, faced with box
and an ebony edge. On the
face of the body of the instrument, in which are
one
large and two small shem'sehs
‡ of ebony, is glued a
piece of fishes'
skin
§,
under that part of the chords to
which the plectrum is applied, to prevent
the wood from
being worn away by the plectrum. The instrument
has
seven double strings
‖; two to each note. They
are of lamb's gut. The
order of these double chords is
singular: the double chord of the lowest
note is that
which corresponds to the chord of the highest note in
‡ See a note to the description of
the cka'noo'n.

Oo'd.

our guitars, &c.: next
in the scale above this is the fifth
(that is, counting the former as the
first): then the
seventh, second, fourth, sixth, and third. The
plectrum
*
is a slip of a vulture's feather. The manner in
which it and the
'oo'd itself are held by the performer
is shown by the accompanying sketch.

A Performer on the 'Oo'd.
The
na'y, which is the fourth and last of the
instruments
which I have mentioned as most commonly used
at private
concerts, is a kind of flute. There are several
kinds of na'y, differing
from each other in dimensions,
tut in little else. The most common is that
here represented.
It has been called the durwee'she's flute;
because
often used at the
zikrs of durwee'shes, to


Na'y.
accompany the songs of the
moon'shids. It is a
simple
reed, about eighteen inches in length, seven-eighths of
an inch
in diameter at the upper extremity, and three
quarters of an inch at the
lower. It is pierced with six
holes in front, and generally with another
hole at the
back. The sketch which I insert of a performer on the
na'y
shows the most usual manner in which this instrument
is held: but sometimes
the left hand is uppermost,
and the instrument slanted towards the right
arm
of the performer, instead of the left. The sounds are
produced by
blowing, through a very small aperture of
the lips, against the edge of the
orifice of the tube, and
directing the wind chiefly within the tube. By
blowing
with more or less force, sounds are produced an octave
higher
or lower. In the hands of a good performer, the
na'y yields fine, mellow
tones; but it requires much

practice to sound it well. A na'y
is sometimes made of
a portion of a gun-barrel.
Another instrument often used at private concerts is
a small tambourine,
called rick'ck, similar to one of
which an
engraving will be found in this chapter, page
77, but rather smaller.
A kind of mandoline, called tamboo'r, is also used
at
concerts in Egypt; but mostly by Greeks and other
foreigners. These
musicians likewise use a dulcimer,
called suntee'r,
which resembles the cka'noo'n, excepting
that it has two sides oblique,
instead of one (the two
opposite sides equally inclining”
together), has double chords
of wire, instead of treble chords of lamb's
gut,
and is beaten with two sticks instead of the little plectra.
A curious kind of viol, called
raba'b, is much
used

A Performer on the Na'y.

Raba'b esh Shaӑr.

by poor singers, as an
accompaniment to the voice.
There are two kinds of viol which bear this
name; the
raba'b el-mooghun'nee (or singers' viol) and the
raba'b esh-sha'ër
(or poet's viol); which differ from each other
only in this, that the
former has two chords, and the
latter but one. The latter is that of which
I give an
engraving. It is thirty-two inches in length. The body
of it
is a frame of wood, of which the front is covered
with parchment, and the
back uncovered. The foot is
of iron: the chord, of horse-hairs, like those
of the
kemen'geh. The bow, which is twenty-eight inches
long, is
similar to that of the kemen'geh. This instrument
is always used by the
public reciters of the romance
of Ab'oo Zeyd, in chanting the poetry. The
reciter of
this romance is called
Shaӑr (or poet); and hence the
instrument
is called “the poet's viol,” and “the
Ab'oo-Zey'dee viol.”
The Sha'ër himself uses this
instrument;
and another performer on the
raba'b generally accompanies
him.
The instruments used in wedding-processions, and the
processions of
durwee'shes, &c., are chiefly
a hautboy,
called
zemr, and several kinds of drums, of which
the
most common kinds are the
tub'l bel'edee (or
country
drum, that is, Egyptian drum), and the
tub't
Sha'mee
(or Syrian drum). The former is of a similar kind to
our common
military drum; but not so deep. It is
hung obliquely. The latter is a kind
of kettle-drum, of
tinned copper, with a parchment face. It is
generally
about sixteen inches in diameter, and not more than four
in
depth in the centre; and is beaten with two slender
sticks. The performer
suspends it to his neck, by a string
attached to two rings fixed to the
edge of the instrument.
I have represented these drums in the sketch of a
bridal procession,

and in the engraving opposite
page 61 in
the former volume of this work.
A pair of large kettle-drums, called
nuck' a'ckee' r
(in
the singular,
nack'cka'rah), are generally seen
in most of
the great religious processions connected with the
pilgrimage,
&c., in
Cairo. They are both of copper, and
similar in form; each about two thirds of a sphere; but
are of unequal
dimensions: the flat surface, or face, of
the larger is about two feet, or
more, in diameter; and
that of the latter, nearly a foot and a half. They
are
placed upon a camel, attached to the fore part of the
saddle, upon
which the person who beats them rides.
The larger is placed on the right.
Durwee'shes, in religious processions, &c., and in
begging, often
make use of a little tubl, or kettle-drum,
called ba'z; six or seven inches in diameter; which is
held in the left
hand, by a little projection in the centre
of the back; and beaten by the right hand, with a short
leather strap, or a
stick. They also use cymbals, which
are called ka's, on similar occasions. The ba'z is used
by the Moosahh'hhir, to
attract attention to his cry in
the nights of Rum'ada'n. Castanets of
brass, called
sa'ga't, are used by the public female and male
dancers.
Each dancer has two pairs of these instruments. They
are
attached, each by a loop of string, to the thumb and
second finger; and
have a more pleasing sound than
castanets of wood or ivory.
There are two instruments which are generally found
in the hharee'm of a
person of moderate wealth, and
which the women often use for their
diversion. One of
these
is a tambourine, called
ta'r, of which I insert an
engraving. It is eleven
inches in diameter. The hoop is
overlaid with mother-of-pearl,
tortoise-shell, and white


Sa'ga't (1). Ta'r (2), and Dar'abook'keh (3).
bone, or ivory, both without and within; and has ten
double
circular plates of brass attached to it; each two
pairs having a wire
passing through their centres. The
ta'r is held by the left or right hand,
and beaten with the
fingers of that hand, and by the other hand. The
fingers
of the hand which holds the instrument, striking only near
the
hoop, produce higher sounds than the other hand,
which strikes in the
centre.—A tambourine of a larger
and more simple kind than that
here described, without
the metal plates, is often used by the lower
orders.—The
other instrument alluded to in the commencement
of
this paragraph is a kind of drum, called
dar'abook'keh.
The best kind is made of wood, covered with mother-of-
earl and
tortoise-shell, &c. One of this description is
here represented
with the ta'r. It is fifteen inches in
length; covered with a piece of
fishes' skin at the larger
extremity, and open at the smaller. It is placed
under

the left arm; generally suspended
by a string that
passes over the left shoulder; and is beaten with
both
hands. Like the ta'r, it yields different sounds when
beaten near
the edge and in the middle. A more common
kind of dar' a book'keh is made
of earth, and differs
a little in form from that just described. An
engraving
of it is here given.
The boatmen of the Nile very often use an earthen
dar'abook'keh; but of a
larger size than that used in
hharee'ms: generally from a foot and a half
to two
feet in length. This is also used by some low storytellers,
and
others. The boatmen employ, as an accompaniment
to their earthen drum, a
double reed
pipe, called
zoomma'rah*.
There is also another kind
of double reed pipe, called
arghoo'l; of which one of
the reeds is much longer than the
other, and serves as
a drone, or continuous base
†. This, likewise, is used
by
boatmen; and sometimes it is employed, instead of the
na'y, at
zikrs. Both of these reed pipes produce harsh
sounds; and those of the
latter much resemble the
sounds of the bag-pipe. A rude kind of bag-pipe
(zoomma'rah bi-so'an) is sometimes, but rarely, seen
in
Egypt: its bag is a small goat's-skin.
* The mouth-piece, A B, of the
zoomma'rah is moveable.
† The arghoo'l has three moveable
pieces to lengthen the longer tube, A B, B C, and C D; and is sometimes used
with only one or two of these; and sometimes with none of them.
I shall now close this chapter with a few specimens
of Egyptian music;
chiefly, popular songs. These I
note in accordance with the manner in which
they are
commonly sung; without any of the embellishments
which are
added to them by the A'la'tee'yeh.—Distinct
enunciation, and a
quavering voice, are characteristics of
the Egyptian mode of singing.

Earthen Dar'abook'keh (1 and 2). Zoumma'rah (3 and 4),
Mouth-piece of the latter (5), and Arghoo'l (6),—The Zoomma'rah is 14 inches long: the Arghou
7,3 feet 2 1/2 inches.

SONGS. No. 1.
Doos
*
ya' lel'lee. Doo's ya' lel'lee (three times).
* Here, in accordance with a rule
observed in most modem
Arab songs, the masculine gender is applied
to the beloved object,
who is, nevertheless, a female, as will be
seen in several subsequent
verses. In translation, I therefore
substitute the feminine
gender in every case where our language
distinguishes gender.—I write the Arabic words as they are
generally pronounced in
Cairo, excepting in the case of one letter,
which I represent by
ck, to express the sound which persons of
education give to it
instead of the more usual hiatus.
'Esh'ckë
†
mahhboo'bee feten'nee.
† The Arabs find it impossible to
utter three consonants together
without a pause between the second
and third: hence the introduction
of the short vowel which
terminates this word: it is a
single letter that is represented by
sh: so also, by ck.
Tread
‡! O my joy
§! Tread! O my joy! (three times).
§
Yar lel' lee, which is thus translated, is a
common ejaculation
indicative of joy, synonymous with ya' far'hhatee. It is difficult
to render
this and other cant terms.
Ardent desire of my beloved hath involved me in trouble.
(The preceding lines are repeated after each of the
following stanzas;
sometimes as a chorus).
Ma”
*
kool'loo men na'met ' oyoo'nooh
* This line and the first of the
next stanza require an additional
note, which is the same as the
last note of these lines, to be added
at the commencement.
Yahh'sib el-a'shick yena' m
†.
† This and some other lines
require that the note which should
Le the last if they were of more
correct measure be transferred
to the commencement of the next
line.
Walla'h an a moogh'ram saba'beh
Lem 'ala-l-' a' shick mela'm.
Let not every one whose eyes sleep
Imagine that the lover sleepeth.
By Al'lah: I am inflamed with intense love.
The lover is not obnoxious to blame.
Ya' Sheykh el-'Ar'ab: Ya' Sey'yid:
Tegma'anee 'a-l-khit'li
‡
ley'leh.
We-n
§ ga'nee
hhabee'bë
ckul'bee
La'-amel loo-l-
‖
Kashmee'r doolley'leh.
O Sheykh of the Arabs! O Sey' yid
¶!
¶ The famous saint Essey'yid
Ahh'mad El-Bed'awee, who is
buried at Tun'ta, in the Delta.
Unite me to the true love one night!
And if the beloved of my heart come to me
I will make the Kashmee'r shawl her canopy.
Ka'inil el-ousa'f feten'nee
Wa-l-oyoo'n es-soo'd ramoo'nee.
Min hawa'hoon sirt aghun'nee
**
Wa-l hawa zow'wad goonoo'nce.
The perfect in form hath involved me in trouble,
And the black eyes have o'erthrown me.
From love of them I began to sing,
And the air
†† increased my madness.
†† That is, the air of
the song.
Gem'a'oom
*
gem” al-'awa'zil
'An hhabee'bee yemna'oo'nee.
Walla'h ana ma' afoo't hawa'hoom
Bi-s-sooyoo'f low ckutta'oo'nee,
The crew of reproachers leagued together
To debar me from my beloved.
By Al'lah! I will not relinquish the love of them
†,
† Namely, the black eyes.
Though they should cut me in pieces with swords,
Ckoom' bi-nc yar khil'tt nes'kar
Tahh'ta dill el-yu'simee'neh:
Neck'loof el-kho'kh min 'al'a oom'mooh
Wa-l-Jawa? zit gha'filee'në.
Up with us! O true love! Let 119 intoxicate ourselves
‡
‡ The intoxication here meant is
that of love; as is generally
the case when this expression is used
in Arab songs.
Under the shade of the jasmine:
We will pluck the peach from its mother [tree]
While the reproachers are unconscious.
Ya' bena't goo'wa-l-medee'neh
An'dakoom ash'ya temee'neh;
Tel'bisoo-sh-sha'tehh bi-loo'lee
Wa'l-chila'deh 'a-n-neh'di
§
zee'neh.
O ye damsels in the city
‖!
Ye have things of value:
Ye wear the sha'tehh
¶ with pearls,
¶ An ornament described in the
Appendix, resembling a necklace
of pearls, &c., attached
on each side of the head-dress.
And the ckila'deh
**, an ornament over the
bosom.
** A kind of long
necklace, reaching to the girdle.
Ya' bena't Iskenderee”yeh
Mesh'yookoom 'a-l-fur'shi* ghee'yeh;
Tel'bisoo-l-Kashmee'r bi-tel'lee
We-sh shefa'ïf sookkaree'yeh.
O ye damsels of Alexandria!
Your walk over the furniture
† is alluring:
† The furniture consists of
carpets, &c., spread upon the floor.
Ye wear the Kashmee'r shawl, with lama,
And your lips are sweet as sugar.
Ya' mila'hh kha'foo min Al'lah
War'hhamoo-l-'a' shick li-l'lahs.
Hhob'bookoom mektoo'b min Al'lah:
Ckud'daroo ‡ l-Mow'la alei'ya.
O ye beauties! fear God,
And have mercy on the lover for the sake of God.
The love of you is ordained by God:
The Lord hath decreed it against me.

NO. 2
Ya-boo-l-gel'fee. Ya-boo-l-gel'fee.
Ra'hh el-mahhboo'b: ma' 'a'd wil'fee*.
O thou in the long-sleeved
yel'ek! O thou in the
long-sleeved
yel'ek! The beloved is gone: my companion has not
returned.
Ra'hh el-mirsa'l we-lem ga'shee
†:
†
Lem ga'shee is for lem
yeg'ee.
Wa-'eyn el-hhob'b bi-tera'shee
†.
Ya-boo-l-ga'lif. ya-boo-l-gel'fee.
Ya' reyt'në mansiiebekna' shee.
Ya-boo-l-gel' fee, &c.
The messenger went; and has not returned:
And the eye of love is glancing.
O thou with the side-lock
§! O thou in the long-sleeved
yel'ek!
§ The lock of hair which hangs
over the temple, commonly
called mucksoo's.
Would that we had not been insnared! O thou in the
long-sleeved yel'ek! &c.
We-ley ya' eyn shebehtee'në
We-bi-l-alhha'z garahhtee'në.
Ya-boo-l-g'hf. Ya-boo-l-gel'fee.
Bi-lla'hi rick'ck we-shfee'në.
Ya-boo-l-gel'fee, &c.
And why, O eye! hast thou insnared us?
And with glances wounded us?
O thou with the side-lock I O thou in the long-sleeved yel ek!
By Al'lah! have compassion, and heal us.
O thou in the long-sleeved yel'ek! &c.
Asckum'tenee ya' hhabee'lee:
We-mn' ckus'dee il'la iib'bak.
'Asa!k ya.' bed'rë terhham'nee:
Fa-in'na ckal'bee yehhel'bak.
Ya-boo-l-wiir'dee. Ya-boo-l-wur'dee.
Hhabee'bë chal'bee khalee'k 'an'dee.
Thou hast made me ill, O ray beloved!
And my desire is for nothing but thy medicine.
Perhaps, O full moon! thou wilt have mercy upon me:
For verily my heart loveth thee.
O thou in the rose-coloured dress! O thou in the rose-coloured
dress!
Beloved of my heart! remain with me.
De-l-hhob'bë ga'nee yet'ma'yel*
:
We-sook're kha'lee goofoo'nooh.
Meddey't ee'dee † a'khood el-ka's;
Sekir't ana min 'oyoo'nooh.
Ya-boo-l-wur'dee, &c.
The beloved came to me with a vacillating gait;
And her eye-lids were the, cause of my intoxication.
I extended my hand to take the cup;
And was intoxicated by her eyes.
O thou in the rose-coloured dress! &c.

No. 3.
Ma' murr we-sacka'nee hhabee'bee sook'kar.
Noosf el-läya'lee 'a-l-mooda”meh
*
nes'kar.
Ned'ren 'alei'ya we-n† ala mahhbou'bee
La'-amel ‡ 'ama'yil
§
ma'amelha'sh An'tar.
My love passed not, but gave me sherbet of sugar to drink.
For half the nights we will intoxicate ourselves with wine.
I row that, if my beloved come,
I will do deeds that 'An'tar did not.
Ya' bin'të mel'esik da'b we-bent ‖
eedey'kee ¶
‖
Bent is a vulgar contraction of ba'net.
¶ Dual of ee'd, vulg. for yed; meaning arm as well as hand.
Wa-kha'f** 'aley'kee min sawa'd
'eyney'kee.
Ckus'dee ana as'kar wa-boo's††
khuddey'kee
Wa'-amel
‡‡
'ama'yit ma' 'amelha'sh 'An'tar.
O damsel! thy silk shirt is worn out, and thine arms have
become
visible,
And I fear for thee, on account of the blackness of thine
eyes.
I desire to intoxicate myself, and kiss thy cheeks,
And do deeds that 'An'tar did not.
Fa'iteh 'alei'ya ma'liya-l-argec'lt'h:
Wt-mei'yet
§§
el-ma'-wur'dë fi-l-argee'leh.
§§ A vulgar diminutive
of ma',
“water.”
Ata-bi-i-boonei'yeh ”a'mila'ha hhee'leh.
Meta teckool'-lee ta'a'l ya' ged'a nes'kar.
She is passing by me, and filling the argee'leh
‖‖;
‖‖ More commonly
called na'rgee'leh: the Persian pipe.
And there is rose-water in the argee'leh.
It seems to me the little lass is framing to herself some
artifice.
When will she say to me, “O youth! come, and let us
intoxicate
ourselves”?
Too'l el-läya 'lee lem yen'ckut a'*
noo'hhee†
'Ala ghaza'l moof'rid wa-kh'ad ‡ rao'hhee.
Ned'ren 'alei'ya we-n ata mahhboo'bee
La'-amel 'ama'yil ma' 'amelha'sh 'An'tar.
Every night long my moaning ceaseth not
For a solitary gazelle that hath taken away my soul.
I vow that, if my beloved come,
I will do deeds that 'An'tar did not.
Ya” dem'a 'ey'nee 'a-l-khoodey'd §
men hhal'lak;
Ckal-lee bi-zee'dak ‖ sho'ck 'ala bo' a'di ¶
khil'lak.
Ir'hham mootei'yam ya' gemee'l mushghool' bak.
Ta'ama 'ayoo'n el'lee** ma' yehheb'bak
ya-s'mar††.
O tear of my eye! who drew thee forth over the check?
It saith, “Thy desire increaseth on account of thy
true-love's
absence.”
Have mercy upon one enslaved, O beautiful! and intent
upon
thee:
Blinded be the eyes of him who loves thee not, O dark-
complexioned!
As'mar wa-hka'wi-l-wurdetey'm-l-bee'di.
Hhob'bee takhal'luck fee
lüya'li-l-'ee'di.
Ned'ren’ alei'ya we-n at a' nee see'dee
La'-amel 'ama'yil ma' 'ametha'sh 'An'tar.
Dark-complexioned, and with two white roses
‡‡!
‡‡ The
dark-complexioned girl has two white roses on
her
cheeks, instead of red.
My love hath perfumed herself on the nights of the festival.
I vow that, if my mistress come to me,
I will do deeds that 'An'tar did not.

No. 4.
'A'shick ra-a moob'tel'ee;
ckal'-looh en'ta ra'yehh* feyn.
Wuck'uf ckar'a ckis'satooh: bek'yoom †
sawa-l-itney'n.
Ra'hhum le-cka'di-l-hawa-l-itney'n saw a yesh'koom.
Bek'yoo-t-tela'teh wa-cka'loo hhob'bena ra'hh feyn.
El-leyl. El-leyl. Ya' hhel'w el-aya'dee. Hha'wi-l-kho'kh
en-na'dee.
En'toom min eyn wa-hh'na min eyn lem'ma
shebektoo'në,
A lover saw another afflicted [in like manner]: he said to
him,
“Whither art thou going?”
He stopped, and told his story: they both wept together.
They went to the cka'dfe of love, both together to complain.
The three wept, and said, “Whither is our love
gone?”
The night! The night! O thou with sweet hands! Gatherer
‡
of the dewy peach!
Whence were ye, and whence were we, when ye insnared us?
'A'shick yeckool' li-l-hhama'm ha't lee gena'hhak
yo'm.
Cka'l el-hhama'm am'rak ba'til: coot'too gheyr
el-yo'm:
Hhat'ta afee'r fi-l-go' wa-n'zoor wegh
el-ntahhboo'b:
A'khood u'ida'd 'a'm wa-r'ga ya' hhama'm fee yo'm.
El-leyl. El-leyl, &c.
A lover says to the dove,” Lend me your wings for a
day.”
The dove replied, “Thy affair is vain:”
I said, “Some other day:
That I may soar through the sky, and see the face of the
beloved:
I shall obtain love enough for a year, and will return, O
dove, in
a day.”
The night! The night! &c.
THE CALL TO PRAYER.
The call to prayer, repeated from the ma'd'nehs (or
men'a'ret's) of the
mosques, I have already mentioned
*.
I have often heard this call, in
Cairo, chanted in the
following manner; and in a style more or less
similar, it
is chanted “by most of the moo-ed'dins of this
city.
* In the chapter on religion and
laws, in the former volume.
THE CHANTING OF THE CKOOR-A'N
The following is inserted with the view of conveying
some notion of the
mode in which the Ckoor-a'n is commonly
chanted in Egypt. The portion
here selected is
that which is most frequently repeated; namely the
Fa't'hhah, or first chapter.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER VII.
SERPENT-CHARMERS, AND PERFORMERS OF LEGERDEMAIN
TRICKS, &c.
MANY modern writers upon Egypt have given
surprising
accounts of a class of men in this country, supposed, like
the ancient
Psylli of Cyrenaïca, to possess a
secret art,
to which allusion is made in the Bible
*, enabling them
to secure
themselves from the poison of serpents. I
have met with many persons among
the more intelligent
of the Egyptians who condemn these modern
Psylli
as impostors, hut none who has been able to offer
a satisfactory
explanation of the most common and most
interesting of their performances,
which I am about to
describe.
* See Psalm lviii., 4, 5. Eccles. x.,
11. and Jerem, viii. 17.
Many
Rifa”ee and Sa'adee durwee'shes obtain their
livelihood, as
I have mentioned on a former occasion,
by going about to charm away
serpents from houses.
A few other persons also profess the same art, but
are
not so famous. The former travel over every part of
Egypt, and
find abundant employment; but their gains
are barely sufficient to procure
them a scanty subsistence.
The charmer professes to discover, without
ocular perception (but perhaps he does so by a peculiar
smell), whether
there be any serpents in a house; and,
if there he, to attract them to him;
as the fowler, by the

fascination of his voice, allures
the bird into his net.
As the serpent seeks the darkest place in which to
hide
himself, the charmer has, in most cases, to exercise his
skill in
an obscure chamber, where he might easily take
a serpent from his bosom,
bring it to the people without
the door, and affirm that he had found it in
the apartment;
for no one would venture to enter with him after
having
been assured of the presence of one of these
reptiles within: but he is
often required to perform in
the full light of day, surrounded by
spectators; and
incredulous persons have searched him before-hand,
and
even stripped him naked; yet his success has been
complete. He assumes an
air of mystery, strikes the
walls with a short palm-stick, whistles, makes
a clucking
noise with his tongue, and spits upon the ground;
and
generally says, “I adjure you by God, if ye be
above or if ye be
below, that ye come forth: I adjure
you by the most great name, if ye be
obedient, come
forth; and if ye be disobedient, die ! die!
die!”-The
serpent is generally dislodged by his stick, from
a
fissure in the wall, or drops from the ceiling of the
room. I have
often heard it asserted that the serpent-charmer,
before he enters a house
in which he is to try
his skill, always employs a servant of that house to
introduce
one or more serpents: but I have known
instances in which
this could not be the case; and
am inclined to believe that the durwee'shes
above
mentioned are generally acquainted with some real
physical means
of discovering the presence of serpents
without seeing them, and of
attracting them from their
lurking-places. It is, however, a fact well
ascertained,
that the most expert of them do not venture to carry
serpents of a venomous nature about their persons until

they have extracted the poisonous
teeth. Many of
them carry scorpions, also, within the cap, and next
the
shaven head; but doubtless first deprive them of the
power to
injure; perhaps by merely blunting the sting.
Their famous feats of eating
live and venomous serpents,
and scorpions, which are regarded as
religious
acts, I have before had occasion to mention, and purpose
to
describe particularly in another chapter
*.
* In the account of the Moo'lid
en-Neb'ee, in the first of the chapters on periodical public festivals.
&c.
Performers of sleight-of-hand tricks, who are called
Hhöwa'h (in the singular, H
ha'wee) are numerous in
Cairo. They generally perform in public
places; collecting
a ring of spectators around them; from some of
whom
they receive small voluntary contributions during
and after their
performances. They are most frequently
seen on the occasions of public
festivals; but often also
at other limes. By indecent jests and actions,
they
attract as much applause as they do by other means.
The Hha'wee
performs a great variety of tricks; the
most usual of which I shall here
mention. He generally
has two boys to assist him. From a large leather
bag, he takes out four or five snakes, of a largish size.
One of these, he
places on the ground, and makes it
erect its head and part of its body:
another, he puts
round the head of one of the boys, like a turban; and
two more over the boy's neck. He takes these off;
opens the boy's mouth,
apparently passes the bolt of a
kind of padlock through his cheek, and
locks it. Then,
in appearance, he forces an iron spike into the boy's
throat: the spike being really pushed, up into a wooden
handle. He also
performs another trick of the same
kind as this: placing the boy on the
ground, he puts

the edge of a knife upon his
nose, and knocks tin
blade until half its width seems to have entered.
Several
indecent tricks which he performs with the boy 1
must abstain
from describing: some of them are abominably
disgusting. The tricks which
he alone performs
are more amusing. He draws a great quantity of
various-coloured silk from his mouth, and winds it on
his arm; puts cotton
in his mouth, and blows out fire;
takes out of his mouth a great number of
round pieces
of tin, like dollars; and, in appearance, blows an
earthen
pipe-bowl from his nose. In most of his tricks, he
occasionally
blows through a large shell (called the Hha'wee's
zoomma'rah), producing sounds like those of a
horn. Most of his
sleight-of-hand performances are
nearly similar to those of exhibitors of
the same class in
our own and other countries. Taking a silver
finger-ring
from one of the by-standers, he puts it in a little
box,
blows his shell, and says “'Efree't change it!
“—he then opens the box, and shows, in it, a
different
ring: shuts the box again; opens it, and shows the
first
ring: shuts it a third time
; opens it, and shows a
melted lump of silver, which he declares to be the ring
melted, and offers
to the owner: the latter insists upon
having his ring in its original
state: the Hha'wee then
asks for five or ten fud'dahs to recast it; and
having
obtained this, opens the box again (after having closed
it, and
blown his shell), and takes out of it the perfect
ring. He next takes a
larger covered box; puts one of
his boy's scull-caps in it; blows his
shell; opens the
box; and out comes a rabbit: the cap seems to be
gone. He puts the rabbit in again; covers the box;
uncovers it; and out run
two little chickens: these he
puts in again; blows his shell; uncovers the
box; and

shows it full of fatee'rehs. (or
pancakes) and koona'feh
(which resembles vermicelli): he tells his boys to
eat
its contents; but they refuse to do it without honey:
he then
takes a small jug: turns it upside-down, to
show that it is empty; blows
his shell; and hands
round the jug full of honey. The boys, having
eaten,
ask for water, to wash their hands. The Hha'wee takes
the same
jug; and hands it filled with water, in the
same manner. He takes the box
again; and asks for
the cap; blows his shell; uncovers the box; and
pours
out from it, into the boy's lap (the lower part of his
shirt
held up), four or five small snakes. The boy, in
apparent fright, throws
them down; and demands his
cap. The Hha'wee puts the snakes back into the
box;
blows his shell; uncovers the box; and takes out the
cap.—Another of his common tricks is to put a number
of slips of
white paper into a tinned copper vessel
(the tisht of a seller of sherbet);
and to take them out dyed
of various colours. He pours water into the
same
vessel; puts in a piece of linen; then gives to the
spectators,
to drink, the contents of the vessel, changed
to sherbet of sugar.
Sometimes he apparently cuts in
two a muslin shawl, or burns it in the
middle; and
then restores it whole.—Often, he strips himself of
all
his clothes, excepting his drawers; tells two persons to
bind him,
hands and feet, and put him in a sack. This
done, he asks for a piaster;
and some one tells him
that he shall have it if he will put out his hand
and take
it. He puts out his hand free; draws it back; and is
then
taken out of the sack bound as at first. He is
put in again; and comes out
unbound; handing, to
the spectators, a small tray, upon which are four
or
the little plates filled with various eatables, and, if the
performance

be at night, several small
lighted candles
placed round. The spectators eat the food.
There is another class of jugglers in
Cairo called
Ckee'yem (in the singular
Ckei'yim). In most of his
performances, the ekei'yim has an
assistant. In one, for
instance, the latter places upon the ground
twenty-nine
small pieces of stone. He sits upon the ground; and
these
are arranged before him. The ckei'yim having
gone a few yards distant from
him, this assistant desires
one of the spectators to place a piece of money
under
any one of the bits of stone: this being done, he calls
back the
ckei'yim, informs him that a piece of money
has been hidden, and asks him
to point out where it is;
which the conjurer immediately does. The secret
of
this trick is very simple: the twenty-nine pieces of stone
represent the letters of the Arabic alphabet; and the
person who desires
the ckei'yim to show where the
money is concealed commences his address to
the latter
with the letter represented by the stone which covers the
coin. In the same manner, or by means of signs made
by the assistant, the
ckei'yim is enabled to tell the name
of any person present, or the words of
a song that has
been repeated in his absence: the name or song having
been whispered to his assistant.
Fortune-telling is often practised in Egypt, mostly by
Gipsies, as in our
own country. There are but few
Gipsies in this country. They are here
called
Ghug'ar
or
Ghuj'ar (in the singular
Ghug'aree or
Ghuj'aree).
In general, they profess themselves descendants of the
Bara'mikeh,
like the Ghawa'zee; but of a different
branch. Many (I believe most) of the
women are fortune-tellers.
These women are often seen in the streets
of
Cairo, dressed in a similar manner to the generality

of the females of the lower
classes, with the to'b and
tar'hhah, but always with unveiled faces;
usually carrying
a gazelle's skin, containing the materials for their
divinations; and crying “I perform divination! What
is present I
manifest! What is absent I manifest!” &c.
They mostly
divine by means of a number of shells,
with a few pieces of coloured glass,
money, &c. intermixed
with them. These they throw down; and
from
the manner in which they chance to lie, they derive
their
prognostications: a larger shell than the rest represents
the person whose
fortune they are to discover;
and the other sheik, &c. represent
different events,
evils, and blessings, which, by their proximity to,
or
distance from, the former, they judge to be fated to
befal the
person in question early or late or never.
Some of these Gipsy-women also
cry, “
Nedoock'ck we-n'ta'hir!”
(“We puncture and circumcise
*!”). Many
of the Gipsies in
Egypt are blacksmiths, braziers, and
tinkers; or itinerant sellers of the
wares which are
made by others of this class; particularly of trumpery
trinkets of brass, &c.
* They tattoo, or make those blue
marks upon the skin which I have described in the first chapter of this
work; and perform the operation alluded to in a note inserted in page 63 of
the former volume.
Some Gipsies also follow the occupation of a Bahloo-wa'n.
This appellation
is properly given to a performer
of gymnastic exercises, a famous
swordsman, or a
champion; and such descriptions of persons formerly
exhibited their feats of strength and dexterity, under
this name, in
Cairo;
but the performances of the modern
Bohloowa'n are almost confined to
rope-dancing;
and all the persons who practise this art are Gipsies.
Sometimes the rope is tied to the ma'd'neh of a mosque,
at a considerable
height from the ground; and extends
to the length of several hundred feet;
being supported
at many points by poles fixed in the ground. The
dancer always uses a long balancing-pole. Sometimes,
he dances or walks on
the rope with clogs on his feet,
or with a piece of soap tied under each
foot, or with a
child suspended to each of his ankles by a rope, or
with a boy tied to each end of the balancing-pole; and
he sits upon a round
tray placed on the rope I have
only seen three of these bahloowa'ns; and
their performances
were not of the more difficult kinds above
described, and less clever than those of the commonest
rope-dancers in
England. Women, girls, and boys often
follow this occupation. The men and
boys also perform
other feats than those of rope-dancing; such as
tumbling, leaping through a hoop, &c.
The
Ckoorada'tee (whose appellation is derived from
ckird, an ape, or a monkey) amuses the lower orders
in
Cairo by sundry performances of an ape or a monkey,
an ass, a dog,
and a kid. He and the ape (which is
generally of the cynocephalus kind)
fight each other
with sticks. He dresses the ape fantastically, usually
as
a bride, or a veiled woman; puts it on the ass; and
parades it
round within the ring of spectators; himself
going before, and beating a
tambourine. The ape is
also made to dance, and perform various antics.
The
ass is told to choose the handsomest girl in the ring; and
does
so; putting his nose towards her face; and greatly
amusing her and all the
spectators. The dog is ordered
to imitate the motions of a thief; and
accordingly
crawls along on its belly. The best performance is that
of
the kid: it is made to stand upon a little piece of

wood, nearly in the shape of a
dice-box, about a span
long, and an inch and a half wide at the top and
bottom,
so that all its four feet are placed close together:
this
piece of wood, with the kid thus standing upon it,
is then lifted up, and a
similar piece placed under it;
and, in the same manner, a third piece, a
fourth, and a
fifth are added.
The Egyptians are often amused by players of low
and ridiculous farces, who
are called
Mohhahhazee'n.
These frequently perform at the festivals prior to wedding's
and
circumcisions, at the houses of the great;
and sometimes attract rings of
auditors and spectators
in the public places in
Cairo. Their performances
are
scarcely worthy of description: it is chiefly by vulgar
jests and
indecent actions, that they amuse, and obtain
applause. The actors are only
men and boys: the part
of a woman being always performed by a man or
buy
in female attire. As a specimen of their plays, I shall
give a
short account of one which was acted before the
Ba'sha, a short time ago,
at a festival celebrated in
honour of the circumcision of one of his sons;
on which
occasion, as usual, several sons of grandees were also
circumcised. The
dramatis personae were a Na'zir
(or
Governor of a District), a Sheykh Bel'ed (or Chief of
a Village),
a servant of the latter, a Copt clerk, a Fella'hh
indebted to the
government, his wife, and live
other persons, of whom two made their
appearance first
in the character of drummers, one as a
hautboy-player,
and the two others as dancers. After a little drumming
and piping and dancing by these five, the Na'zir and
the rest of the
performers enter the ring. The Na'zir
asks, “How much does
'Ow'ad the son of Reg'eb owe?”
The musicians and dancers, who
now act as

simple fella'hhee'n, answer,
“Desire the Christian to
look in the register.” The
Christian clerk has a large
dawa'yeh (or receptacle for pens and ink) in
his girdle;
and is dressed as a Copt, with a black turban. The
Sheykh
el-Bel'ed asks him, “How much is written
against 'Ow'ad the son
of Reg'eb?” The clerk answers
“A thousand
piasters.” “How much,” says the Sheykh,
“has he paid?” He is answered, “Five
piasters."
“Man,”' says he, addressing the
fella'hh, “why don't
you bring the money?” The
fella'hh answers, “I have
not any.” “You
have not any?” exclaims the Sheykhs:
“Throw him
down.” An inflated piece of an intestine,
resembling a large
koorba'g, is brought; and with this
the fella'hh is beaten. He roars out to
the Na'zir, “By
the honour of thy horse's tail, O Hey! By the
honour
of thy wife's trowsers, O Bey! By the honour of thy
wife's
head-band, O Bey '.” After twenty such absurd
appeals, his
beating is finished, and he is taken away, and
imprisoned. Presently his
wife comes to him, and asks
him, “How art thou?” He
answers, “Do me a kindness,
my wife: take a little kishk
* and some
eggs and
some sha'eeree'yeh
† and go with them to the house of
the
Christian clerk, and appeal to his generosity to get
me set at
liberty.” She takes these, in three baskets, to
the Christian's
house, and asks the people there,” Where
is the M'al'lim
Hhan'na, the clerk?” They answer,
“There he
sits.” She says to him, “O M'al'lim Hhan'na,
do me
the favour to receive these, and obtain the liberation
of my husband.
“Who is thy husband?” he asks.
She answers,
“The fella'hh who owes a thousand piasters.”
* A description of this will be found
in a subsequent chapter.
See the Index.
† A kind of paste, resembling
vermicelli.

“Bring,”
says he, “twenty or thirty piasters to
bribe the Sheykh
el-Bel'ed.” She goes away, and soon
returns, with the money in
her hand, and gives it to the
Sheykh el-Bel'ed. “What is
this?” says the Sheykh.
She answers, “Take it as a bribe, and
liberate my husband.”
He says, “Very well: go to the
Na'zir.” She
retires for a while; blackens the edges of her
eye-lids
with kohhl; applies fresh red dye of the hhen'na to her
hands
and feet, and repairs to the Na'zir. “Good evening,
my master,
she says to him. “What dost thou
want?” he asks. She
answers, “I am the wife of
'Ow'ad, who owes a thousand
piasters.” “But what
dost thou want?” he
asks again. She says, “My husband
is imprisoned; and I appeal to
thy generosity to
liberate him:” and as she urges this request,
she smiles,
and shows him that she does not ask this favour without
being willing to grant him a recompense. He obtains
this; takes the
husband's part; and liberates him.—This
farce was played before
the Ba'sha with the view of
opening his eyes to the conduct of those
persons to
whom was committed the office of collecting the taxes.
The puppet-show of
Ckar'a Gyoo'z has been introduced
into Egypt by Turks, in whose language the
puppets are made to speak. Their
performances, which
are, in general, extremely indecent, occasionally
amuse
the Turks residing in
Cairo; but, of course, are not very
attractive to those who do not understand the Turkish
language. They are
conducted in the manner of the
“Chinese shadows;” and
therefore only exhibited at
night.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER. VIII.
PUBLIC RECITATIONS OF ROMANCES.

THE Egyptians are not destitute of better
diversions
than those described in the preceding chapter: reciters
of
romances frequent the principal ckah'wehs, or coffee-shops,
of
Cairo and
other towns, particularly on the
evenings of religious festivals, and
afford attractive and
rational entertainments. The reciter generally
seats
himself upon a small stool on the mus'tub'ah, or raised
seat,
which is built against the front of the coffee-shop
*:
some of his auditors
occupy the rest of that
seat; others arrange themselves upon the
mus'tub'ahs
of the houses on the opposite side of the narrow street;
and the rest sit upon stools or benches made of palm sticks;
most of them
with the pipe in hand; some
sipping their coffee; and all highly amused,
not only
with the story, but also with the lively and dramatic
manner
of the narrator. The reciter receives a trifling
sum of money from the
keeper of the coffee-shop, for
attracting customers: his hearers are not
obliged to
contribute anything for his remuneration: many of
them give
nothing; and few give more than five or ten
fud'dahs
†.
* See the engraving' which
accompanies this chapter.
† The reciter is generally heard to
greater advantage in public
than when he is hired to entertain a
private party; as, in the
former case, his profits are usually
proportioned to the talent
which he; displays.
The most numerous class of reciters is that of the
persons called
Sho”ara (in the singular
Shaӑr, which
properly signifies a
poet). They are also called
Ab'oo-Zeydee'yeh, or
Ab'oo-Zey'dees,
from
the subject of their
ecitations, which is a romance entitled
“the Life
of Ab'oo Zeyd”
(See'ret
Ab'oo Zeyd*). The number
of these Sho”ara in
Cairo is about fifty; and they recite
nothing but the adventures related in
the romance
of Ab'oo Zeyd.
* Vulgarly so called, for See'ret Ab'ee Zeyd.
This romance is said to have been founded upon
events which happened in the
middle of the third century
of the Flight; and is believed to have been
written
not long after that period; but it was certainly composed
at a
much later time, unless it have been greatly
altered in transcription. It
is usually found in ten or
more small quarto volumes. It is half prose, and
half
poetry; half narrative, and half dramatic. As a literary
composition, it has little merit, at least in its present
state; but as
illustrative of the manners and customs of
the Bed'awees, it is not without
value and interest. The
heroes and heroines of the romance, who are
mostly
natives of central Arabia and the Yem'en, but some of
them of
El-Ghurb, or Northern Africa, which is called
“the
West” with reference to Arabia, generally pour
forth their most
animated sentiments, their addresses
and soliloquies, in verse. The verse
is not measured;
though it is the opinion of some of the learned in
Cairo that it was originally conformed with the prescribed
measures of
poetry; and that it has been altered by
copyists: still, when read, as it
always is, almost entirely
in the popular (not the literary) manner, it is
pleasing
in sound, as it also often is in matter. Almost every

piece of poetry begins and ends
with an invocation
of blessings on the Prophet.
The Shaӑr always commits his subject to memory;
and
recites without book. The poetry he chants;
and after every verse, he plays
a few notes on a viol
which has but a single chord, and which is called
“the
poet's viol,” or “the Ab'oo-Zey'dee
viol;” from its only
being used in these recitations. It has
been described
in a former chapter. The reciter generally has a
companion
with another instrument of this kind, to accompany
him.
Sometimes, a single note serves as a prelude
and interlude. To convey some
idea of the style of a
Shaӑr's music, I insert a few
notes of the commencement
of a chant:—


A Sha”cr, with his accompanying Violiet, and part of his
Audience.


Some of the reciters of Ab'oo Zeyd are distinguished
by the appellations of
Hil'a'lee'yeh (or Hila'lees), Zagha'beh,
or Zooghbee'yeh (or
Zoogh'bees), and Zen'a'tee'yeh
or Zena'tees), from their chiefly confining
themselves to the
narration of the exploits of heroes of
the Hila'lee, Zoogh'bee, or Zena'tee
tribes, celebrated in this romance.
As a specimen of the tale of Ab'oo Zeyd, I shall here
offer an abstract of
the principal contents of the first
volume, which I have carfully read for
this purpose.
Ab'oo Zeyd, or, as he was first more generally called,
Baraka't, was an Arab
of the tribe called Ben'ee Hila'l,
or El-Hil'a'lee'yeh. Before his birth,
his father, the
Emee'r Rizck (who was the son of Na'il, a paternal
uncle of Sarhha'n, the king of the Ben'ee Hila'l), had
married ten wives,
from whom, to his great grief, he
had obtained but two children, both of
them daughters,
named Shee'hhah and 'Atee'meh, until one of his wives,
the Emee'reh Gella's, increased his distress by bearing
him a son without
arms or legs. Shortly before the
birth of this son, the Emee'r Rizck
(having divorced,
at different times, such of his wives as pleased him
least, as he could not have more than four at one time,
and having at last
retained only three) married an eleventh
wife, the Emee'reh Khud'ra,
daughter of Ckur'da,
the Sheree'f of Mek'keh. He was soon rejoiced to
find
that Khud'ra showed signs of becoming a mother; and,
in the hope
that the expected child would be a son,
invited the Emee'r Gha'nim, chief
of the tribe of Ez-Zagha'beh,
or Ez-Zooghbee'yeh, with a large company
of his family and tribe, to come from their district and
honour with their
presence the festival which he hoped
to have occasion to celebrate. These
friends complied

with his invitation, became his
guests, and waited for
the birth of the child.
Meanwhile, it happened that the Emee'reh Khud'ra,
walking with the Emee'reh
Shem'meh, a wife of King
Sarhha'n, and a number of other females, saw a
black
bird attack and kill a numerous flock of birds of various
kinds
and hues, and, astonished at the sight, earnestly
prayed God to give her a
son like this bird, even though
he should be black. Her prayer was
answered: she
gave birth to a black boy. The Emee'r Rizck, though
he
could not believe this to be his own son, was reluctant
to put away the
mother, from the excessive love he bore
her. He had only heard the women's
description of
the child: he would not see it himself, nor allow any
other man to see it, until the seventh day after its birth.
For six days,
his guests were feasted; and on the
seventh, or
yo'm
cs-sooboo'as, a more sumptuous banquet
was prepared; after which,
according to custom, the
child was brought before the guests. A female
slave
carried it upon a silver tray, and covered over with a
handkerchief. When the guests, as usual in such cases,
had given their
noockoo't (or contributions) of gold and
silver coins, one of them lifted
up the handkerchief, and
saw that the child was as the women had
represented it.
The Emee'r Rizck, who had stood outside the tent
while
this ceremony was performed, in great distress of
mind, was now sharply
upbraided by most of his friends
for wishing to hide his supposed disgrace,
and to retain
an unchaste woman as his wife: he was very reluctantly
compelled to put her away, that his tribe might
not be held in dishonour on
her account; and accordingly
despatched her, with her child, under the
conduct
of a sheykh named Moonee'a, to return to her father's

house at Mek'keh. She departed
thither, accompanied
also by a number of slaves, her husband's properly,
who
determined to remain with her; being allowed to do so
by the
Emee'r Rizck.
On the journey, the party pitched their tents in a
valley; and here the
Emee'reh Khud'ra begged her
conductor to allow her to remain; for she
feared to go
back, under such circumstances, to her father's house.
But the Emee'r Fudl Ib'n Bey'sem, chief of the tribe
of Ez-Zahhla'n, with a
company of horsemen, chanced
to fall in with her party during her
conversation with
the sheykh Moonee'a, and, having heard her story,
determined
to take her under his protection: returning
to his
encampment, he sent his wife, the Emee'reh
La'ag El-Bahee'yeh, to conduct
her and the child
thither, together with the slaves. The Emee'r Fudl
adopted her child as his own; brought him up with
his own two sons; and
treated him with the fondness of
a father. The young Baraka't soon gave
promise of
his becoming a hero: he killed his schoolmaster, by
severe
beating, for attempting to chastise one of his
adoptive brothers; and
became the terror of all his
schoolfellows. His adoptive father procured
another
fick'ee for a schoolmaster; but Baraka't's presence
frightened
his schoolfellows from attending; and the
fick'ee therefore instructed him
at home. At the age
of eleven years, he had acquired proficiency in all
the
sciences, human and divine, then studied in Arabia;
including
astrology, magic, alchymy, and a variety of
other branches of knowledge.
Baraka't now went, by the advice of the fick'ee, to
ask a present of a horse
from his adoptive father;

who answered his “Good
morning” by saying, “Good
morning, my son, and dearer
than my son.” Surprised
at this expression, the youth went to
his mother,
and asked her if the Emee'r Fudl were not really his
father. She told him that this chief was his uncle; and
that his father was
dead: that he had been killed by a
Hila'lee Arab, called Rizck the son of
Na'il. Becoming
warmed and inspired by the remembrance of her wrongs,
she then more fully related her case to her son in a
series of verses. Of
this piece of poetry I shall venture
to insert a translation, made verse
for verse, and with
the same neglect of measure that is found in the
original,
which I also imitate in carrying on the same
rhyme
throughout the whole piece, in accordance with
the common practice of Arab
poets:—
“Thus did Khud'ra, reflecting on what had past
In the tents of Hila'l, her tale relate.
'O Emee'r Baraka't, hear what I tell thee,
And think not my story is idle prate.
Thy father was Bey'sem, Bey'sem's son,
Thine uncle Fudl's brother: youth of valour innate
*!
* Literally, “Thou who
hast a valiant maternal uncle!” I
add this note merely
for the sake of mentioning, that the Arabs
generally consider
innate virtues as inherited through the mother
rather than the
father, and believe that a man commonly resembles,
in his good and
evil qualities, his maternal uncle.
And thy father was wealthy above his fellows;
None other could boast such a rich estate.
As a pilgrim, to Mek'keh he journey'd, and there,
In my father's house, a guest he sate:
He sought me in marriage; attain'd his wish;
And made me his lov'd and wedded mate:
For thy father had never been blest with a son;
And had often bewail'd his unhappy fate.

One day, to a spring, with some friends I went,
When the chiefs had met at a banquet of state;
And, amusing ourselves with the sight of the water,
We saw numberless birds there congregate:
Some were white, and round as the moon at the full;
Some, with plumage of red; some, small; some, great;
Some were black, my son; and some were tall:
They compris'd all kinds that God doth create.
Though our party of women came unawares,
The birds did not fear us, nor separate;
But soon, from the vault of the sky descending,
A black-plum'd bird, of enormous weight,
Poune'd on the others, and killed them all.
To God I cried-O Compassionate!
Thou Living! Eternal! I pray, fur the sake
Of the excellent Prophet, thy delegate,
Grant me a son like this noble bird,
E'en should he be black, thou Considerate!
Thou wast form'd in my womb, and wast born, my son;
And all thy relations, with joy elate,
And thy father among them, paid honour to me:
But soon did our happiness terminate:
The chiefs of Hila'l attack'd our tribe;
And Rizck, among them, precipitate,
Fell on thy father, my son, and slew him;
Then seiz'd on his wealth, his whole estate.
Thine uncle receiv'd me, his relative,
And thee as his son to educate.
God assist thee to take our blood-revenge,
And the tents of Hila'l to desolate.
But keep closely secret what I have told thee:
Be mindful to no one this tale to relate:
Thine uncle might grieve; so 'tis fit that, with patience,
In hope of attaining thy wish, thou should'st wait.'
Thus did Khud'ra address her son Baraka't;
Thus her case with artful deception state.
Now beg we forgiveness of all our sins,
Of God, the Exalted, the Sole, the Great;
Anil join me, my hearers, in blessing the Prophet
*,
The guide, whose praise we should celebrate.”
Baraka't, excited by this tale, became engrossed with
the desire of slaying
his own father, whom he was made
to believe to be his father's murderer.
* When the reciter utters these
words, we hear, from the lips
of most of the Moos'lims who are
listening to him, the prayer of
“Alla'hoom sal'lee 'a'ey'h!”-” O God, favour
him!”
His adoptive father gave him his best horse, and
instructed him in all the
arts of war, in the chase, and
in every manly exercise. He early
distinguished himself
as a horseman, and excited the envy of many of
the
Arabs of the tribe into which he had been admitted, by
his
dexterity in the exercise of the
birga's (a game
exactly or nearly similar to what is now called that of
the
geree'd'), in which the persons engaged, mounted on
horses, combated or pursued each other, throwing a
palm-stick
† He twice
defeated plundering parties of
the tribe of Tey'demeh; and, on the first
occasion,
killed 'Atwa'n the son of Da'ghir, their chief. These
Tey'demeh Arabs applied, for succour, to Es-Salee'dee,
king of the city of
Tey'demeh. He recommended
them to Gessa'r the son of Ga'sir, a chief of the
Ben'ee
Hhem'yar, who sent to demand, of the tribe of Ez-Zahhla'n,
fifteen years' arrears of tribute which the
latter had been accustomed to
pay to his tribe; and
desired them to despatch to him, with this tribute,
the
slave Baraka't (for he believed him to be a slave), a
prisoner in
bonds, to be put to death. Baraka't wrote
a reply, in the name of the
Emee'r Fudl, promising
† It is thus described in the
romance: but a headless spear
was formerly sometimes used instead of
the geree'd, or palm-stick.

compliance. Having a slave who
much resembled
him, and who was nearly of the 'same age, he bound
him
on the back of a camel, and, with him and the
Emee'r Fudl and his tribe,
went to meet Gessa'r
and his party, and the Tey'demeh Arabs. Fudl
presented
the slave, as Baraka't, to Gessa'r; who, pleased at having
his orders apparently obeyed, feasted the tribe of Ez-Zahlila'n:
but
Baraka't remained on horseback, and
refused to eat of the food of his
enemies, as, if he did,
the laws of hospitality would prevent his executing
a
plot which he had framed. Gessa'r observed him;
and, asking the
Emee'r Fudl who he was, received the
answer that he was a mad slave, named
Mes'oo'd.
Having drawn Gessa'r from his party, Baraka't discovered
himself to him, challenged, fought, and killed him,
and took his tent: he
pardoned the rest of the hostile
party; but imposed upon them the tribute
which the
Zahhla'n Arabs had formerly paid them. Henceforth
he had the
name of Mes'oo'd added to that which he had
before borne. Again and again
he defeated the hostile
attempts of the Ben'ee Hhem'yar to recover their
independence,
and acquired the highest renown, not only
in the eyes of
the Emee'r Fudl and the whole tribe of
Ez-Zahhla'n, of whom he was made the
chief, but also
among all the neighbouring tribes.
We must now return to the Emee'r Rizck, and his
tribe.—Soon after
the departure of his wife Khud'ra,
he retired from his tribe, in disgust at
the treatment
which he received on account of his supposed disgrace,
and in grief for his loss. With a single slave, he took
up his abode in a
tent of black goats' hair, one of those
in which the tenders of his camels
used to live, by the
spring where his wife had seen the combat of the
birds.

Not long after this event, the
Ben'ee Hila'l were
afflicted by a dreadful drought, which lasted so
long
that they were reduced to the utmost distress. Under
these
circumstances, the greater number of them were
induced, with their king
Sarhha'n, to go to the country
of the tribe of Ez-Zabhla'n, for sustenance;
but the
Ga'a'fireh and some minor tribes of the Ben'ee Hila'l,
joined,
and remained with, the Emee'r Rizck, who had
formerly been their commander.
Sarhha'n and his
party were attacked and defeated by Baraka't on their
arrival in the territory of the Zahhla'n Arabs; but on
their abject
submission were suffered by him to remain
there. They however cherished an
inveterate hatred to
the tribe of Ez-Zahhla'n, who had before paid
them
tribute; and Sarhha'n was persuaded to send a messenger
to the
Emee'r Rizck, begging him to come and
endeavour to deliver them from their
humiliating state.
Rizck obeyed the summons. On his way to the
territory
of the Zahhla'n Arabs, he was almost convinced,
by the
messenger who had come to conduct him, that
Baraka't was his son; but was
at a loss to know why
he was called by this name, as he himself had
named
him Ab'oo Zeyd. Arriving at the place of his destination,
he
challenged Baraka't. The father went forth
to combat the son: the former
not certain that his
opponent was his son; and the latter having no
idea
that he was about to lift his hand against his father;
but
thinking that his adversary was his father's murderer.
The Emee'r Rizck
found occasion to put off
the engagement from day to day: at last, being
no
longer able to do this, he suffered it to commence: his
son
prevailed: he unhorsed him, and would have put
him to death bad he not been
charged to refrain from

doing this by bis mother. The
secret of Baraka't's
parentage was now divulged to him by the Emee'reh
Khud'ra; and the chiefs of the Ben'ee Hila'l were
compelled to acknowledge
him as the legitimate and
worthy son of the Emee'r Rizck, and to implore
his
pardon for the injuries which he and his mother had
sustained from
them. This boon, the Emee'r Ab'oo
Zeyd Baraka't generously granted; and
thus added to
the joy which the Emee'r Rizck derived from the recovery
of his favourite wife, and his son.
The subsequent adventures related in the romance of
Ab'oo Zeyd are numerous
and complicated. The most
popular portion of the work is the account of a
riya'deh,
or expedition in search of pasture;
in which Ab'oo
Zeyd, with three of his nephews, in the disguise of
Shaӑrs, himself acting as their servant, are
described
as journeying through northern Africa, and signalizing
themselves by many surprising exploits with the Arab
tribe of
Ez-Zen'a'tee'yeh.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER IX.
PUBLIC RECITATIONS OF ROMANCES-continued.
NEXT in point of number to the Sho”ara,
among the
public reciters of romances, are those who are particularly
and solely distinguished by the appellation of
Mohhadditee'n, or Story-tellers (in the singular,
Mohhad'dit).
There are said to be about thirty of them in
Cairo. The exclusive
subject of their narrations is a
work called “the Life of
Ez-Za'hir”
(”See'ret
Ez-Za'hir,”
or “
Es-See'reh ez-Za'hiree'yeh*”. They
recite without book.
* Hence, the Mohhadditee'n are
sometimes called Za'hiree'yeh.
The See'ret Ez-Za'hir is a romance founded on the
history of the famous
Soolta'n Ez-Za'hir Beybur's, and
many of his contemporaries. This prince
acceeded to
the throne of Egypt in the last month of the year of
the
Flight, 658, and died in the first month of the year
676; and consequently
reigned a little more than seventeen
years, according to the lunar
reckoning, commencing
A. D. 1260, and ending in 1277. Complete
copies
of the See'ret Ez-Za'hir have become so scarce
that I have only heard of
one existing in Egypt, which
I have purchased: it consists of six quarto
volumes;
but is nominally divided into ten; and is made up of
volumes
of several different copies. The author and
his age are unknown. The work
is written in the most

vulgar style of modern Egyptian
Arabic; but as it was
intended for the vulgar, it is likely that copyists
may
have altered and modernized the language. The oldest
volumes of my
copy of it were written a few years
more or less than a century ago. To
introduce my
reader to some slight acquaintance with this work, I
shall insert a translation of a few pages at the commencement
of the second
volume; but, by way of
introduction, I must say something of the contents
of
the first volume.
A person named 'Al'ee Ibn El-Warra'ckah, being
commissioned to procure
memloo'ks from foreign countries,
by El-Mel'ik Es-Sa'lehh (a famous
Soolta'n of
Egypt, and a celebrated wel'ee), is related to have
purchased
seventy-five memloo'ks in
Syria; and to have
added to them,
immediately after, the principal hero of
this romance, a youth named
Mahhmoo'd (afterwards
called Beybur's), a captive son of Sha'h Juck'muck
(or
Guck'muck) King of Khoowa'rez'm. 'Al'ee was soon
after obliged to
give Mahhmoo'd to one of his creditors
at Damascus, in lieu of a debt; and
this person presented
him to his wife, to wait upon her son, a
deformed
idiot; but he remained not long in this situation: the
sister
of his new master, paying a visit to his wife, her
sister-in-law, found her
about to beat the young mem-loo'k,
for having neglected the idiot, and
suffered him to
fall from a bench: struck with the youth's
countenance,
as strongly resembling a son whom she had lost, and
pitying his condition, she purchased him of her brother,
adopted him, gave
him the name of Beybur's, which
was that of her deceased son, and made him
master of
her whole property, which was very great. This lady
was
called the sit't Fa't'meh Bint El-Ackwa'see (daughter

of the bow-maker). Beybur's
showed himself
worthy of her generosity; exhibiting many proofs of a
noble disposition, and signalizing himself by numerous
extraordinary
achievements, which attracted general
admiration, but rendered him
obnoxious to the jealousy
and enmity of the Ba'sha of
Syria, 'Ee'sa
En-Na'siree,
who contrived many plots to insnare him, and to put
him
to death. After a time, Negm ed-Deen, a Wezee'r
of Es-Sa'lehh, and husband
of a sister of the sit't
Fa't'meh, came on an embassy to Damascus, and
to
visit his sister-in-law. On his return to Egypt, Beybur's
accompanied him thither; and there he was promoted
to offices of high
dignity by Es-Sa'lehh, and
became a particular favourite of the chief
Wezee'r, Sha'hee'n
El-Af'ram. The events which immediately followed
the death of Es-Sa'lehh are thus related.
“After the death of El-Mel'ik Es-Sa'lehh Eiyoo'b,
the Wezee'r
Ey'bek called together an assembly in his
house, and brought thither the
Emee'r Ckala-oo'n and
his partisans: and the Wezee'r Ey'bek said to
the
Emee'r Ckala-oo'n, ' To-morrow we will go up to the
deewa'n, with
our troops, and either I will be Soolta'n,
or thou shalt be.' The Emee'r
Ckala-oo'n answered,
' So let it be:' and they agreed to do this. In
like
manner, the Wezee'r Sha'hee'n El-Af'ram also assembled
the Emee'r
Eydem'r El-Bah'loowa'n and his troops,
and all the friends and adherents of
the Emee'r Beybur's,
and said to them, ' To-morrow, arm yourselves,
and go up to the deewa'n; for it is our desire to make
the Emee'r Beybur's
Soolta'n; since El-Mel'ik Es-Sa'lehh
Eiyoo'b wrote for him a patent
appointing him
to the sovereignty;' and they answered, ' On the head
and
the eye.' So they passed the night, and rose in the

morning, and went up to the
deewa'n; and there went
thither also the Wezee'r Ey'bek Et-Toorkama'nee,
with
his troops, and the Emee'r Ckala-oo'n El-El'fee, with
his troops,
and the Emee'r 'Ala'y ed-Deen (or 'Ala' ed-Deen)
El-Bey'seree, with his
troops, all of them armed.
The Emee'r Beybur's likewise went up to the
deewa'n,
with his troops; and the deewa'n was crowded with
soldiers.
Then said the Wezee'r Sha'hee'n, ' Rise O
Beybur's; sit upon the throne,
and become Soolta'n;
for thou hast a patent appointing thee to the
sovereignty.'
The Emee'r Beybur's answered, ' I have no desire for
the
sovereignty: here is present the Wezee'r Ey'bek,
and here is Ckala-oo'n:
make one of them Soolta'n.'
But the Wezee'r Sha'hee'n said, ' It cannot be:
no one
shall reign but thee.' Beybur's replied, ' By thy head,
I will
not reign.' ‘As he pleases,' said the Wezee'r
Ey'bek.—' Is the sovereignty to be conferred by force?
—As
he pleases.' The Wezee'r Sha'hee'n said, 'And is
the throne to remain
unoccupied, with no one to act as
Soolta'n?' The Wezee'r Ey'bek answered, '
Here are
we present; and here is the Emee'r Ckala-oo'n:
whosoever
will reign, let him reign.' The Emee'r 'Ezz ed-Deen
El-Hhil'lee said, ' O Wezee'r Sha'hee'n, the son
of El-Mel'ik Es-Sa'lehh is
living.' The Emee'r Beybur's
asked, ' Es-Sa'lehh has left a son?' The
Koords
*
answered, ' Yes; and his name is 'Ee'sa: he is at El-Kar'ak.'
‘And why,' said the Wezee'r Sha'hee'n, ' were
ye silent
respecting him?' They replied, ' We were
silent for no other reason than
this, that he drinks
wine.' ‘Does he drink wine?' said the
Wezee'r Sha'hee'n.
The Koords answered, ' Yes.' The Emee'r
Beybur's
said, ' May our Lord bring him to repentance:'
* Es-Sa'lehh was of the house of
Eiyoo'b, a dynasty of Koords.

‘Then,' said the
soldiers, ' we must go to the
city of El-Kar'ak, and bring him thence, and
make
him Soolta'n.' The Wezee'r Sha'hee'n said to them,
' Take the
Emee'r Beybur's with you:' but Ey'bek and
Ckala-oon answered, 'We will
go before him, and wait
for him there until he
come.' The Emee'r Beybur's
said, ' So let it be.'
” Upon this, the Wezee'r Ey'bek and Ckala-oo'n and
“Ala'y ed-Deen El-Bey'seree, and their troops, went
down from
the deewa'n, and arranged their affairs, and
on the following day caused
their tents to be brought
out, with their provisions, and pitched outside
the 'A'dilee'yeh.
Now the Wezee'r Sha'hee'n knew that the
troops
wished to create a dissension between the king
(El-Mel'ik) 'Ee'sa and
Beybur's. So the Wezee'r Sha'hee'n
went down from the deewa'n, and took the
Emee'r
Beybur's with him, and went to his house, and said to
him,'
What hast thou perceived in the departing of the
troops before thee?' He
answered, ' Those persons
detest me; for they are bearers of hatred; but, I
extol
the absolute glory of Him who is all-knowing with
respect to
secret things.' The Wezee'r said to him,
' My son, it is their desire to go
before thee that they
may create a dissension between thee and
El-Mel'ik
'Ee'sa.' The Emee'r Beybur's said, 'There is no power
nor
strength but in God, the High, the Great!' The
Wezee'r said to him, ' O
Beybur's, it is my wish to send
'Osma'n Ibn El-Hheb'la
* and
Mohham'mad Ib'n Ka'mil,
* 'Osma'n (vulgarly called 'Otma'n,
and 'Etma'n) Ibn El-Hheb'la
wag a rogue, whom Beybur's took into his
service as
groom, and compelled to vow repentance at the
shrine of
the sey'yideh Nefee'seh (great-grand-daughter of the Ima'm Hhas'an),
and soon after, made his moockud'dam, or chief of his servants.

the Dromedarist, before the
troops; and whatever
may happen, they will inform us of it.' Beybur's
answered, ' So let it he.' Accordingly, he sent them;
and said to them, '
Go before the troops to the castle of
El-Kar'ak, and whatever may happen
between them and
El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa inform us of it.' They answered, '
It
is our duty,' and they departed. Then said the Wezee'r
Sha'hee'n, '
O Beybur's, as to thee, do thou journey to
Esh-Sha'm
*, and stay in the house of thy
(adoptive)
mother, the sit't Fa't'meh Bint El-Ackwa'see
; and do
not go out of the house until I shall have sent to thee
”Osma'n.' He answered, ' It is right.' So the Emee'r
Beybur's
rose, and went to his house, and passed the
night, and got up in the
morning, and set out on his
journey to Esh-Sha'm, and took up his abode in
the
house of his mother, the sit't Fa't'meh Bint EI-Aekwa'see.
We
shall have to speak of him again presently.
“As to 'Osma'n Ibn El.Hheb'la and Mohham'mad
Ib'n Ka'mil, the
Dromedarist, they journeyed until they
entered the castle of El-Kar'ak, and
inquired for the
residence of El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa, the son of El-Mel'ik
Es-Sa'lehh Eiyoo'b. Some persons conducted them to the
house; and they
entered; and the attendants there
asked them what was their business. They
informed
them that they were from Musr, and that they wished
to have
an interview with El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa, the son of
El-Mel'ik Es-Sa'lehh
Eiyoo'b. The attendants went
and told the kikh'ya; who came and spoke to
them;
and they acquainted him with their errand: so he
went and told
El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa; saying, ' Two men are
come to thee from Musr, and wish to
have an interview
with thee: the one is named 'Osma'n; and the other,

Mohham'mad Ib'n Ka'mil, the
Dromedarist.' The king
said, 'Go, call 'Osma'n.' The kikh'ya returned,
and
took him, and brought him to El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa; and
'Osma'n looked
towards the king, and saw him sitting
tippling; and before him was a
candelabrum, and a
handsome memloo'k was serving him with wine; and
he
was sitting by a fountain surrounded by trees.
'Osma'n said, ' Mayest thou
be in the keeping of God,
O King 'Ee'sa!' The king answered, ' Ho!
welcome,
O 'Osma'n! Come, sit down and drink.' 'Osma'n exclaimed,
' I
beg forgiveness of God! I am a repentant.'
The king said, ' Obey me, and
oppose me not.' Then
'Osman sat down; and the king said to him, ' Why
the
door of repentance is open.' And 'Osma'n drank until
he became
intoxicated.
” Now Ey'bek and Ckala-oo'n and 'Ala'y ed-Deen and
their troops
journeyed until they beheld the city of EI-Kar'ak,
and pitched their tents,
and entered the city,
and inquired for the house of El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa.
The
people conducted them to the house; and they entered;
and the
attendants asked them what was their object:
they answered, that they were
the troops of Musr, and
wished to have an interview with El-Mel'ik
'Ee'sa.
The attendants went and told the kikh'ya, who came,
and
received them, and conducted them to the hall of
audience, where they sat
down, while he went and informed
El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa, saying to him, ' Come
and
speak to the troops of Musr who have come to thee.
The king rose,
and went to the troops, and accosted
them; and they rose, and kissed his
hand, and sat down
again. El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa then said to them, ' For
what
purpose have ye come?' They answered, ' We have
come to make thee
Soolta'n in Musr.' He said, ' My

father, El-Mel'ik Es-Sa'lehh, is
he not Soolta'n?' They
replied, 'The mercy of God, whose name be exalted,
be
on him '. Thy father has died, a victim of injustice:
may our Lord
avenge him on him who killed him.'
He asked, ' Who killed him?' They
answered, ' One
whose name is Beybur's killed him.' ‘And where
is
Beybur's?' said he. They replied,' He is not yet come:
we came
before him.' ‘Even so,' said he. They then
sat with him,
aspersing Beybur's in his absence: and
they passed the night there; and,
rising on the following
morning, said to El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa, ' It is our
wish to go out, and remain in the camp; for Sha'hee'n,
the Wezee'r of thy
father, is coming, with the Emee'r
Beybur's; and if they see us with thee,
they will accuse
us of bringing to thee the information respecting
Beybur's.
He answered, ' Good:' so they went forth to
the camp, and
remained there.
” The Wezee'r Sha'hee'n approached with his troops,
and encamped,
and saw the other troops in their camp;
but he would not ask them any
questions, and so
entered the city, and went to El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa, who
said
to him, ' Art thou Beybur's, who poisoned my father?
' He
answered, ' I am the Wezee'r Sha'hee'n; the
Wezee'r of thy father.' The
king said, ' And where is
Beybur's, who poisoned my father?' The
Wezee'r
replied, ' Thy father departed by a natural death to
await the
mercy of his Lord: and who told thee that
Beybur's poisoned thy father?'
The king answered,
' The troops told me.' ‘Beybur's,' said the
Wezee'r, ' is
in Esh-Sha'm: go thither, and charge him, in the
deewa'n, with having poisoned thy father, and bring
proof against him.' So
the Wezee'r perceived that the
troops had been plotting.

“The Wezeer' Sha'hee'n then went, with his troops,
outside the
camp; and Mohham'mad Ib'n Ka'mil the
Dromedarist came to him, and kissed
his hand. The
Wezee'r asked him respecting 'Osma'n. He answered,
' I
have no tidings of him.' Meanwhile, El-Mel'ik
'Ee'sa went to 'Osma'n, and
said to him, ' The Wezee'r
is come with his troops; and they are outside
the camp.'
So 'Osma'n rose, and, reeling as he went, approached
the
tents; and the Wezee'r Sha'hee'n saw him; and
perceived that he was drunk
; and called to him.
'Osma'n came. The Wezee'r
smelt him, seized him,
and inflicted upon him the
hhadd*; and said to him,
' Did'st thou not vow to
relinquish the drinking of
wine?' Osma'n answered,' El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa, whom
ye
are going to make Soolta'n, invited me.' The Wezee'r
said, ' I
purpose writing a letter for you to take and
give to the Emee'r Beybur's.'
'Osma'n replied, ' Good.'
So the Wezee'r wrote the letter, and 'Osma'n took
it
and departed, and entered Esh-Sha'm, and went to the
house of the
sit't Fa't'meh, and gave it to his master,
who read it, and found it to
contain as follows.—'After
salutations-from his excellency the
Grand Wezee'r, the
Wezee'r Sha'hee'n El-Af'ram, to his honour the
Emee'r
Beybur's. Know that the troops have aspersed thee
and created
dissensions between thee and El-Mel'ik
'Ee'sa; and accused thee of having
poisoned his father,
El-Mel'ik Es-Sa'lehh Eiyoo'b. Now, on the arrival
of
this paper, take care of thyself, and go not out of the
house,
unless I shall have sent to thee. And the conclusion
of the letter is, that
'Osma'n got drunk in the
castle of El-Kar'ak.' Beybur's was vexed with
'Osma'n;
and said to him, ' Come hither, and receive a present:'
* Eighty stripes, the punishment
ordained for drunkenness.

and he stretched forth his hand,
and laid hold of him.
'Osma'n said, ' What ails thee?' Beybur's
exclaimed,
' Did I not make thee vow to relinquish the drinking of
wine?' 'Has he told thee?' asked 'Osma'n. 'I will
give thee a treat,' said
Beybur's: and he took him, and
threw him down, and inflicted upon him the
hhadd.
' How is it,' said 'Osma'n, 'that the king whom you are
going to make
Soolta'n I found drinking wine?' Beybur's
answered, ' IF one has
transgressed must thou
transgress?' 'And is this,' asked 'Osma'n, ' the
hhadd
ordained by God?' Beybur's answered, 'Yes.' 'Then,'
said
'Osma'n, ' the hhaddss which Ab'oo Fur'meh
* inflicted
upon me is a loan, and a
debt which must be
repaid him.' Beybur's then said, 'The troops have
created a dissension between me and El-Mel'ik Ee'sa;
and have accused me of
poisoning his father, El-Mel'ik
Es-Sa'lehh.' ‘I beg the
forgiveness of God,' said
'Osma'n. 'Those fellows detest thee; but no
harm
will come to us from them.' Beybur's said, ' O 'Osma'n,
call
together the sa'ises
†, and arm them, and let them
remain in the lane of
(he cotton-weavers
‡, and not
suffer any troops to enter.' 'Osma'n
answered, ' On the
head and the eye;' and he assembled the sa'ises,
and
armed them, and made them stand in two rows: then
he took a seat,
and sat in the court of the house. The
Emee'r Beybur's also armed all his
troops; and placed
them in the court of the house.
* 'Osma'n, for the sake of a rude
joke, changes the name of the
Wezee'r Sha'hee'n (El-Af'ram) into an
appellation too coarse to
be here translated.
† Grooms, also employed as running
footmen.
‡ A lane from which the house was
entered.
“As to El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa, he mounted his horse, and

departed with the troops, and
journeyed until he entered
Esh-Sha'm; when he went in procession to the
deewa'n,
and sat upon the throne, and inquired of the King
* of
Syria respecting Beybur's. The King of
Syria answered,
' He is in the lane
of the cotton-weavers, in the house
of his mother.' El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa said,
'O Sha'hee'n,
who will go and bring him?' The Wezee'r answered,
'Send
to him the Emee'r 'Ala'y ed-Deen El-Bey'seree.
So he sent him. The Emee'r
descended, and went to
the lane of the cotton-weavers. 'Osma'n saw him,
and
cried out to him,' Dost thou remember, thou son of a
vile woman,
the chicken which thou atest
†? ' He
then struck him with a mace: the Emee'r fell
from his
horse; and 'Osma'n gave him a bastinading. He returned,
and
informed the king; and the King 'Ee'sa
said again, ' O Sha'hee'n, who will
go, and bring
Beybur's? ' The Wezee'r answered, ' Send to him the
Wezee'r Ey'bek.' The King said, 'Rise, O Wezee'r
Ey'bek, and go, call
Beybur's:' but Ey'bek said, ' No
one can bring him, excepting the Wezee'r.'
Then said
El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa, ' Rise, O Wezee'r Sha'hee'n, and bring
Beybur's.' The Wezee'r answered, ' On the head and
the eye: but, before I
bring him, tell me, wilt thou deal
with him according to law, or by
arbitrary power?'
The King said, ' By law.' Then said the Wezee'r
Sha'hee'n,
' So let it be: and I spake not thus from any
other motive
than because I fear for thyself and the
troops, lest blood be shed: for
Beybur's is very stubborn,
and has many troops; and I fear for the army;
* Sometimes called, in this work, Ba'sha of Syria.
† This is an allusion to 'Ala'y
ed-Deen's having eaten a dish
that had been prepared for Beybur's, when
the latter had just
entered the service of the Soolta'n Es-Sa'lehh.

for he is himself equal to the
whole host: therefore
bring accusation against him, and prove by law that
he
poisoned thy lather.' The king; said, ' So let it be.'
” Then the Wezee'r Sha'hee'n descended from the
deewa'n, and went
to the lane of the cotton-weavers.
'Osina'n saw him; and said, 'Thou hast
fallen into the
snare, O Ab'oos Fur'meh! the time of payment is come;
and the debt must be returned to the creditor. Dost
thou know how to give
me a bastinading?' The
Wezee'r said, ' My dream which I saw has proved
true.'
‘What was thy dream? ' asked 'Osina'n. ' I dreamed,'
said the Wezee'r, ' last night, that I was travelling, and
some Arabs
attacked me, and surrounded me, and I was
straitened by them; and I saw thy
master, the Emee'r
Beybur's, upon a mount; and I called out to him,
Come to me, O Emee'r Beybur's! and he knew me.
The Wezee'r Sha'hee'n
calling out thus, the Emee'r
Beybur's heard him, and came down running,
with his
sword in hand; and found 'Osma'n and the sa'ises
surrounding
the Wezee'r. He exclaimed, ' 'Osma'n!'
and 'Osma'n said, ' He gave me a
bastinading in the
city of El-Kar'ak; and I want to return it.' The
Emee'r Beybur's sharply reprimanded him. 'And so,'
said 'Osma'n to the
Wezee'r, ' thou hast found a way of
escape.' The Wezee'r Sha'hee'n then
said, ' O Emee'r
Beybur's, El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa hath sent me to thee: he
intends to prefer an accusation against thee in the
deewa'n of Esh-Sha'm,
charging thee with having poisoned
his father. Now, do thou arm all thy
soldiers,
and come to the deewa'n, and fear not; but say that
which
shall clear thee.' Beybur's answered, ' So let it
be.' He then armed all
his soldiers, and went up to
the deewa'n, and kissed the hand of El-Mel'ik
'Ee'sa;

who said to him, 'Art thou the
Emee'r Beybur's, who
poisoned my father?' Beybur's answered, ' Prove
against me that I poisoned thy father, and bring the
charge before the
judge, and adduce evidence: the
Cka'dee is here.' The king said, ' I have
evidence
against thee.' Beybur's said, 'Let us see.' 'Here,
said the
king, 'are the Wezee'r Ey'bek and Ckala-oo'n
and “Ak'y ed-Deen.'
The Emee'r Beybur's asked
them, ' Do ye bear witness against me that I
poisoned
El-Mel'ik Es-Sa'lehh? ' They answered, 'Never: we
neither saw
it, nor do we know anything of the matter.'
The Cka'dee said, ' Hast thou
any witnesses beside
those?' The king replied, 'None: no one informed
me but them.' The Cka'dee said,' O king, those men
are hypocrites, and
detest the Emee'r Beybur's.' El-Mel'ik
'Ee'sa thereupon became reconciled
with the
Emee'r Beybur's, and said to his attendants,' Bring a
ckufta'n.” They brought one, He said to them, ' Invest
with it
the Emee'r Beybur's;' and added, 'I appoint
thee, O Beybur's,
commander-in-chief of the
army.' But Beybur's said, 'I have no desire for
the
dignity, and will put on no ckufta'ns.' The king asked,
'Why,
Sir?' Beybur's answered, 'Because I have
been told that thou drinkest
wine.' The king said, 'I
repent.' ‘So let it be,' said Beybur's:
and the king
vowed repentance to Beybur's: and the Emee'r Beybur's
said, ' I make a condition with thee, O king, that
if thou drink wine, I
inflict upon thee the
hhadd:' and
the king replied,
'It is right.' Upon this, the king
invested the Emee'r Beybur's with a
ckufta'n; and a
feast was made; and guns were fired; and festivities
were celebrated: and they remained in Esh-Sha'm three
days.

“El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa then gave orders for departure
;
and performed the first day's journey. On the second
day, they came
to a valley, celebrated as a halting-place
of the Prophet, the Director in
the way to heaven: in
it were trees, and brooks, and birds which sang
the
praises of the King, the Mighty, the Pardoner. El-Mel'ik
Ee'sa
said, 'Pitch the tents here: we will
here pass the night.' So they pitched
the tents. And the
day departed with its brightness, and the night
came
with its darkness: but the Everlasting remaineth unchanged:
the
stars shone; and God, the Living, the
Self-subsisting, looked upon the
creation. It was the
period of the full-moon; and the King felt a longing
to
drink wine by the side of the brook and greensward:
so he called to
Ab'oo-l-Kheyr, who came to him, and
kissed his hand. The King said to him,
'O Ab'oo-l-Kheyr,
I have a longing to drink wine.' The servant
answered, ' Hast thou not vowed repentance to the
Emee'r Beybur's?' The
King said, 'The door of
repentance is open: so do thou obey me:' and he
gave
him ten pieces of gold. The servant then went to a
convent; and
brought him thence a large bottle: and
the King said to him, ' If thou see
the Emee'r Beybur's
coming, call out
hay! and as
long as thou dost not see
him, call
clover!' The
servant answered, 'Right:' and
he filled a cup, and handed it to the King.
Now 'Osma'n
was by the tents; and he came before the pavilion
of
El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa; and saw him sitting drinking
wine: so he went, and told
his master, the Emee'r Beybur's.
Beybur's came. Ab'oo-l-Kheyr saw him
coming
from a tent, and called out to the King, '
hay!
hay!'
The King immediately threw the cup into the brook;
Ab'oo-l-Kheyr
removed the bottle; and the King set

himself to praying: and when he
had pronounced the
salutation [which terminates the prayers], he turned
his
eyes, and saw the Emee'r Beybur's, and said to him,
' Wherefore
art thou come at this hour? Go, sleep: it
is late.' Beybur's answered, ' I
have come to ask thee
whether we shall continue our journey now, or
to-morrow
morning.' The King said, ' Tomorrow morning.'
And the Emee'r
Beybur's returned, vexed with 'Osma'n;
and said to him, ' O 'Osma'n, didst
thou not tell me
that the King was sitting drinking wine? Now I have
been, and found him praying. Dost thou utter a falsehood
against the
Soolta'n?' 'Osma'n answered, 'Like
as he has smoothed it over, do thou
also: no matter.
Beybur's was silent.
“They passed the night there; and on the following
morning,
El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa gave orders for departure.
They journeyed towards Musr;
and when they had
arrived at the 'A'dilee'yeh, and pitched their tents,
the
Emee'r Beybur's said, ' O our lord the Soolta'n, we
have now
arrived at Musr.' The King answered, ' I
desire, O Beybur's, to visit the
tomb of the Ima'm
[Esh-Sha'fe'ee].' Beybur's said, 'The thing is
right,
O our lord the Soolta'n: to-morrow I will conduct thee
to visit
the Ima'm.' They remained that night at the
'A'dilee'yeh; and on the
following morning, the Soolta'n
rode in procession to visit the Ima'm, and
returned in
procession, and visited the tomb of his father, El-Mel'ik
Es-Sa'lehh Eiyoo'b; and then went in state to the
Citadel: and the 'Ool'ama
went up thither, and inaugurated
him as sovereign, and conducted him into
the
armoury; and he drew out from thence a sword, upon
which was
inscribed ' El-Mel'ik El-Mo'az'zum
*:' wherefore

they named him ' 'Ee'sa
El-Mo'az'zum.' They
coined the money with his name; and prayed for him
on the pulpits of the mosques; and he invested with
ckufta'ns the soldiers
and the Emee'r Beybur's, the
commander-in-chief. The Soolta'n then wrote a
patent,
conferring the sovereignty, after himself, upon the
Emee'r
Beybur's, to be king and Soolta'n. So the
Emee'r Keytar's had two patents
conferring; upon him
the sovereignty; the patent of El-Mel'ik
Es-Sa'lehh
Eiyoo'b, and the patent of El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa El-Mo'az'ziun.
Ey'bek and Ckala-oo'n and 'Ala'y ed-Deen and
their partisans, who hated
Beybur's, were grieved at
this; but his friends rejoiced. The troops
descended
from the deewa'n, and went to their houses; and in
like
manner, the Emee'r Beybur's descended in procession,
and went to his house
by the Ckana'tir es-Siba'a.
” Now the queen Sheg'eret ed-Door'r sent to El-Mel'ik
'Ee'sa
El-Mo'az'zum. He went to her palace.
She kissed his hand; and he said to
her, ' Who art
thou?' She answered, ' The wife of thy lather,
El-Mel'ik
Es-Sa'lehh.' ‘And what is thy name?' said he.
She
replied, ' the queen Fa'timeh Sheg'eret ed-Door'r.'
He exclaimed ' Oh!
Welcome! pray for me then.' She
said, ' God bring thee to repentance.' She
then gave
him a charge respecting the Emee'r Beybur's; saying,
' Thy
father loved him above all the chiefs, and entered
into a covenant with him
before God; and I, also, made
a covenant with him before God.' He answered,
' O
queen, by thy life, I have written for him a patent conferring
upon him the sovereignty after me.' She said,
'And thy father, also, wrote
for him a patent, conferring
upon him the sovereignty.' The King then said
to her,
' Those chiefs created a dissension between me and

him; and asserted that he
poisoned ray father.' She
said, ' I beg God's forgiveness! They hate
him.
After this, the queen remained chatting with him a
short time;
and he went to his saloon, and passed the
night, and rose.
” On the following day, he held a court; and the
hall was filled
with troops. And he winked to Ab'oo-1-Kheyr,
and said, ' Give me to drink.'
Now he had
said to him, the day before, ' To-morrow, when I hold
my
court, and say to thee, Give me to drink, bring me
a water-bottle full of
wine.' So when El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa
sat upon the throne, and the court, filled
with troops,
resembled a garden, the troops resembling the branches
of
plants, he felt a longing to drink wine, and said to
Ab'oo-l-Kheyr, ' Give
me to drink;' and winked to
him; and he brought to him the water-bottle;
and he
drank, and returned it. Then he sat a little longer;
and said
again, ' Give me to drink, O Ab'oo-l-Kheyr;'
and the servant brought the
bottle; and he drank, and
gave it back. He sat a little longer; and again
he
said, ' Give me to drink.' Ckala-oo'n said, ' O 'Ala'y ed-Deen,
it
seems that the Soolta'n has breakfasted
upon
kawa'rë*.' Upon this, the Wezee'r Sha'hee'n
asked
him, 'What hast thou eaten?” The King answered,
'
My stomach is heated and flatulent.' The
Wezee'r,
however, perceived the smell of wine; and
was vexed. The court then broke
up; and the troops
descended. The Wezee'r Sha'hee'n also descended,
and took with him the Emee'r Beybur's to his house,
and said to him, ' May
God take retribution from thee,
O Beybur's.' Beybur's said, 'Why?' The
Wezee'r
answered, ' Because thou didst not accept the sovereignty.'
* A dish of lamb's feet, cooked with
garlic and vinegar, &c.

‘But for what reason
sayest thou this?' asked
Beybur's. The Wezee'r said, ' The Soolta'n,
to-day,
drank wine, while sitting upon the throne, three times.
When
the Vicar of God, in administering the law,
intoxicates himself, his
decisions are null, and he has
not any right to give them.' Beybur's
replied, ' I made
a condition with him, that if he drank wine, I
should
inflict upon him the
hhadd; and wrote a
document to
that effect in Esh-Sha'm.” ' To-morrow,' said
the
Wezee'r, ' when he holds his court, observe him; and
take the
water-bottle, and see what is in it. I perceived
his smell.' Beybur's
answered, 'It is right:' and he
arose, and went to his house sorrowful: and
he passed
the night, and rose, and went to the court, and found it
filled with troops; and he kissed the hand of the
Soolta'n, and sat in his
place. Presently, the Soolta'n
said, ' Give me to drink, O Ab'oo-l-Kheyr:'
and the
servant brought the water bottle; and the Soolta'n
drank.
Beybur's took hold of the water-bottle; and
said, 'Give me to drink.' The
servant answered,' This
is medicinal water.' ‘No harm,' said
Beybur's: ' I have
a desire for it.' ‘It is rose-water,' said
the servant.
Beybur's said, 'Good:' and he took the bottle; and
said,
'Bring a basin.” A basin was brought; and he
poured into it the
contents of the bottle before the
troops; and they saw that it was wine.
Then said the
Emee'r Beybur's to the Soolta'n, ' Is it allowed thee by
God to be his Vicar, and to intoxicate thyself? Did I
not make thee vow to
relinquish the drinking of wine,
and say to thee, If thou drink it I will
inflict upon thee
the
hhadd; and did I not write a
document to that
effect in Esh-Sha'm?' The Soolta'n answered, ' It is
a
habit decreed against me, O Beybur's.' Beybur's exclaimed,

' God is witness, O ye troops!'
and he took the
Soolta'n, and flogged him; and he was unconscious, by
reason of the wine that he had drunk: and he loosed
him, and departed from
him, and went to his house.”
The second volume proceeds to relate the troubles
which befel Beybur's in
consequence of his incurring
the displeasure of El-Mel'ik 'Ee'sa by the
conduct just
described; his restoration to the favour of that prince;
and his adventures during the reigns of the subsequent
Soolta'ns, Khalee'l
El-Ash'raf, Es-Sa'lehh the youth,
Ey'bek (his great and inveterate enemy),
and El-Moduf'far;
and then, his own accession to the sovereignty.
The
succeeding volumes contain narratives
of his wars in
Syria and other
countries; detailing
various romantic achievements, and the exploits of the
Fed'a'wee'yeh, or
Feda'wees, of
his time. The term
Feda'wee, which is now vulgarly understood to
signify
any warriour of extraordinary courage and ability,
literally
and properly means a person who gives, or is
ready to give, his life as a
ransom for his companions,
or for their cause; and is here applied to a
class of
warriours who owned no allegiance to any sovereign
unless to
a chief of their own choice; the same class
who are called, in our
histories of the Crusades,
“Assassins;” which
appellation the very learned orientalist
De Sacy has, I think, rightly
pronounced to be a
corruption of “
Hhash'sha'shee'n,” a name derived from
their making
frequent use of the intoxicating hemp,
called
hhashee'sh, or a vegetable of similar properties,
which might, with
equal justness, be called by tha
name. The romance of Ez-Za'hir affords
confirmation
of the etymology given by De Sacy; but suggests a
different explanation of it: the Fed'a'wee'yeh being

almost always described in this
work, as making use of
beng (or henbane, which, in the present day, is
often
mixed with hhushee'sh) to make a formidable enemy or
rival their
prisoner, by disguising themselves, inviting
him to eat, putting the drug
into his food or drink, and
thus causing him speedily to fall into a deep
sleep, so
that they were able to bind him at their leisure, and
convey
him whither they would. The chief of these
warriours is
Shee'hhah, called “Soolta'n el-Ckila'a
wa-l-Hhosoo'n”
or “Soolta'n of the Castles and
Fortresses”),
who is described as almost constantly
engaged,
and generally with success, in endeavouring to reduce
all the
Feda'wees to allegiance to himself and to Beybur's.
From his adroitness in
disguises and plots, his
Proteus-like character, his name has become a
common
appellation of persons of a similar description. Another
of the
more remarkable characters in this romance is
Goowa'n (or John), a European Christian, who,
having
deeply studied Moos'lim law, succeeds in obtaining, and
retains
for a few years, the office of Cka'dee of the
Egyptian metropolis; and is
perpetually plotting against
Beybur's, Shee'hhah, and other Moos'lim chiefs
Much of the entertainment derived from recitations of
this work depend upon
the talents of the mohhad'dit
who often greatly improves the stories by his
action,
and by witty introductions of his own invention.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER X.
PUBLIC RECITATIONS OF ROMANCES-continued.
THERE is, in
Cairo, a third class of reciters of
romances,
who are called
'Ana'tireh, or
'Anteree'yeh (in the singular,
'An'ter'ee); but they are much less numerous
than
either of the other two classes before mentioned;
their number at present,
if I be rightly informed, not
amounting to more than six. They bear the
above
appellation from the chief subject of their recitations;
which
is the romance of
'An'tar (See'ret 'An'tar). As
a
considerable portion of this interesting work has become
known to English
readers by Mr. Terrick Hamilton's
translation, I need give no account of
it. The
reciters of it read it from the book: they chant the
poetry;
but the prose they read, in the popular manner;
and they have not the
accompaniment of the
raba'b.
As the poetry in this work is very imperfectly
understood
by the vulgar, those who listen to it are mostly
persons of
some education.
The 'Ana'tireh also recite from other works than that
from which they derive
their appellation. All of them,
I am told, occasionally relate stories from
a romance
called “
See'ret
el-Mooga'hidee'n” (” the History of the
Warriours”), or, more commonly, “
See'ret Del'hem'eh,”
or “
Zoo-l-Him'meh
*,” from a heroine who is the chief
* The latter, being a masculine
appellation, is evidently a coruption
of the former. The name is
written Del'hem'eh in the older portions of some
volumes in my possession made up of fragments of this work. One of these
portions appeals to be at least three centuries old. In some of the more
modern fragments, the name is written Zoo-f-Him'meh.

character in the work. A few
years since, they frequently
recited from the romance of “
Seyf Zoo-l-Yez'en”
(vulgarly called “
Seyf
El-Yez'en,” and “
Seyf
El-Yez'el”), a work abounding with tales of wonder;
and
from “the Thousand and One Nights” (”
El'f Ley'leh we-Ley'leh”),
more commonly
known, in our
country, by the title of “the Arabian Nights'
Entertainments.”
The great scarcity of copies of these two
works is, I believe, the reason why recitations of them
are no longer
heard: even fragments of them are with
difficulty procured; and when a
complete copy of “the
Thousand and One Nights” is
found, the price demanded
for it is too great for a reciter to have it in
his
power to pay. I doubt whether the romances of Ab'oo Zeyd,
Ez-Za'hir, 'An'tur, and Del'hem'eh, are chosen
as the subjects of
recitation, because preferred to “the
Thousand and One
Nights;” but it is certain that the
modern Moos'lims of Egypt
have sufficient remains of
Bed'awee feeling to take great delight in
hearing tales
of war.
That my reader may have some notion of all the
works from which the
professional reciters of romances
in
Cairo draw the materials for the
amusement of their
audiences, in the present day, I shall give a sketch
of
some of the adventures related in the romance of Del'hem'eh.
This
work is even more scarce than any of
those before mentioned. The copies, I
am told, were
always in fifty-five volumes. After long search, all
that
I have succeeded in procuring of it is a portion consisting

of the first three volumes
(containing, together,
302 pages), and another portion consisting of the
forty-sixth
and forty-seventh volumes. The former would
present a good
specimen of the work, were not the
greater part written in a hand scarcely
legible; in consequence
of which, and of the many other subjects that
now demand my attention, I have only been able to
read the first volume.
The chief subjects of this work,
according to the preface, are the warlike
exploits of
Arabs of the Desert in the times of the Khalee'fehs of
the
houses of Oomei'yeh and El-'Abba's. It is composed
from the narratives of
various writers: nine
names of the authors are mentioned; but none of
them
are at present known: their history and their age are
alike
uncertain; but the style of their narratives shows
them to be not modern.
The account which the 'Ana'tireh
and Mohhadditee'n generally give of this
romance
is as follows.—When El-As'ma”ee (or, as he is
commonly
called, El-As'mo”ee) composed, or compiled, the
history of 'An'tar
*, that work (they say) became extremely
popular, and
created so great an enthusiasm on
the subjects of the adventures of Arab
warriours, that a
diligent search was made for all tales of the same
kind;
and from these was compiled the See'ret el-Moga'hidee'n,
or
Del'hem'eh, by some author now unknown; who, as
he could not equal the
author of 'An'tar in eloquence,
determined to surpass him in the length of
his narratives;
and ”An'tar being generally in forty-five
volumes,
he made his book fifty-five. The romance of Del'hem'eh
abounds in poetry, which is not without beauties,
nor without faults; but
these are, perhaps, mostly attributable
* The 'Ool'ama in general despise the
romance of 'An'tar, and
ridicule the assertion that
El-As'ma”ee was its author.

to copyists.—Of a part
of what I have read,
which introduces us to one of the principal
characters
in the work, I shall now give an abridged translation.
At the commencement of the work, we are told, that,
in the times of the
Khalee'fehs of the house of Oomel'yeh,
none of the Arab tribes surpassed in
power, courage,
hospitality, and other virtues for which the Arabs
of
the Desert are so famous, the Ben'ee Kila'b, whose
territory was in the
Hhega'z: but the viceroy of the
Khalee'feh over the collective tribes of
the desert was
the chief of the Ben'ee Sooley'm, who prided themselves
on this distinction, and on their wealth. El-Hha'ris,
the chief of the
Ben'ee Kila'b, a horseman unrivalled in
his day, in one of the predatory
excursions which he
was wont frequently to make against other tribes,
took
captive a beautiful girl, named Er-
Raba'b (or the Viol),
whom he
married. She became pregnant; and, during
her pregnancy, dreamed that a
fire issued from her,
and burnt all her clothing. Being much troubled
by
this dream, she related it to her husband; and he, alike
surprised
and distressed, immediately searched for, and
soon found, a person to
interpret it. An old sheykh
informed him that his wife would bear a son of
great
renown, who would have a son more renowned than
himself; and
that the mother of the former would be in
danger of losing her life at the
time of his birth. This
prophecy he repeated to the wife of El-Hha'ris;
and, at
her request, wrote an amulet to be tied upon the infant's
right arm, as soon as he should be born; upon which
amulet he recorded the
family and pedigree of the
child:—” This child is the
son of
El-Hha'ris the son of Kha'lid the sou of 'A'mir the son
of
Sa'asa”ah the son of Kila'b; and this is his pedigree among all the
Arabs

of the Hhega'z; and he is verily
of the Ben'ee Kila'b.”
Soon after this, El-Hha'ris fell sick;
and, after a short
illness, died. Most of the Arabs of neighbouring
tribes,
who had been subjected and kept in awe by him, rejoiced
at his
death, and determined to obtain retribution
by plundering his property.
This coming to the ears of
his widow, Er-
Raba'b, she determined to return
to her
family; and persuaded a black slave who had belonged
to her
late husband to accompany her. By night, and
without having mentioned their
intention to any one
else, they departed; and at midnight they
approached
a settlement of Arabs whose chief was the Emee'r
Da'rim.
Here the slave, tempted by the Devil, led her
from the road, and impudently
told her, that her beauty
had excited in his breast a passion which she
must consent
to gratify. She indignantly refused; but the fright
that
she received from his base conduct occasioned a
premature labour; and in
this miserable state, she gave
birth to a son. She washed the infant with
the water
of a brook that ran by the spot; wrapped it in a piece
of
linen which she tore off from her dress; tied the
amulet to its arm; and
placed it to her breast. Scarcely
had she done this, when the slave,
infuriated by disappointment,
drew his sword, and struck off her head.
Having thus revenged himself, he fled.
Now it happened, as Providence had decreed, that
the wife of the Emee'r
Da'rim had just been delivered
of a son, which had died; and the Emee'r, to
dissipate
his grief on this account, went out to hunt, with several
of
his people, on the morning after Er-
Raba'b had been
murdered. He came to
the spot where her corpse lay,
and saw it: the infant was still sucking the
breast of its
dead mother; and God had sent a flight of locusts, of

the kind called
goon'doob, to shade it from the sun with
their
wings. Full of astonishment at the sight, he said
to his Wezee'r,
“See this murdered damsel, and this
infant on her lap, and those
flying insects shading it,
and the dead mother still affording it milk!
Now, by the
faith of the Arabs, if thou do not ascertain the history
of
this damsel, and the cause of her murder, I behead thee
like
her.” The Wezee'r answered, “O King, none
knoweth
what is secret but God, whose name be exalted!
Was I with her? or do I know
her? But
promise me protection, and I will inform thee what I
suppose
to have been the case.” The King said, “I
give thee
protection.” Then said the Wezee'r, “Know,
O
King,-but God is all-knowing,-that this is the
daughter of some king; and
she has grown up; and a
servant has had intercourse with her; and by him
she
has conceived this child; and her family have become
acquainted
with the fact, and killed her. This is my
opinion; and there is an end of
it.” The King exclaimed,
“Thou dog of the Arabs! what
is this that
thou sayest to the prejudice of this damsel? By Al'lah!
if I had not promised thee protection I had slain thee
with the edge of the
sword! If she had committed this
crime, she would not be affording the
child her milk
after she was dead; nor would God have sent these
flying insects to shade the infant.” He then sent for
a woman to
wash the corpse; and after it had been
washed, and bound in grave-clothes,
he buried it respectably.
From the circumstance of the goon'doob shading him
with their wings, the
foundling received the name of
El-Goon'doob'ah. The Emee'r Da'rim conveyed it to
his wife, and persuaded her to bring it up as her own;

which she did until the child had
attained the age of
seven years; when he was sent to school; and there
he
remained until he had learned the Ckoor-a'n. By the
time he had
attained to manhood, he had become a
horseman unrivalled; he was like a
bitter colocynth, a
viper, and a calamity
*.
* These are not terms of reproach
among the Arabs; but, of
praise.
Now his adoptive father, the Emee'r Da'rim, went
forth one day, according to
his custom, on a predatory
expedition, accompanied by a hundred horsemen.
Falling
in with no booty, he proceeded as far as the territory
of a
woman called Esh-Shum'ta (or the Grizzle), whom
the heroes of her time held
in fear, on account of her
prowess and strength; and who was possessed of
great
wealth. He determined to attack her. She mounted
her horse in
haste, on hearing of his approach, and
went forth to meet him and his
party. For a whole
hour, she contended with them; killed the greater
number;
and put the rest to flight, except the Emee'r
Da'rim, whom she
took prisoner, and led in bonds, disgraced
and despised, to her fortress.
Those of his attendants
who had fled returned to their tribes, and
plunged them in affliction by the story they related.
The Emee'r Da'rim had
ten sons. These all set out
together, with a number of attendants, to
rescue their
father; but they all became the prisoners of Esh-Shum'ta;
and most of their attendants were killed by
her. El-Goon'doob'ah now
resolved to try his arms
against this heroine. He went alone, unknown to
any
of the tribe, except his foster-mother, and arrived at the
place
of his destination. Esh-Shum'ta was on the top
of her fortress. She saw him
approach, a solitary

horseman; and perceived that his
riding was that of a
hero. In haste she descended, and mounted her
horse,
and went out to meet him. She shouted against him;
and the
desert resounded with her shout; but El-Goon'doob'ah
was unmoved by it.
They defied each other, and met; and
for a whole hour the contest lasted:
at length,
El-GoonMoob'ah's lance pierced the bosom of Esh-Shum'ta;
its glittering point protruded through her back; and
she fell from her
horse, slain, and weltering in her
blood. Her slaves, who were forty in
number, seeing
their mistress dead, made a united attack upon her
victor; but he unhorsed them all; and then, reproaching
them for having
served a woman, when they were all
men of prowess, admonished them to
submit to him;
upon which, they all acknowledged him as their master.
He divided among them the treasures of Esh-Shum'ta;
and released his
adoptive father and brothers; with
whom he returned to the tribe.
This exploit spread the fame of El-Goon'doob'ah
among all the tribes of the
desert; but it excited envy
in the breast of the Emee'r Da'rim, who soon
after
desired him to seek for himself some other place of
abode.
El-Goon'doob'ah remonstrated; but to no effect;
and prepared for his
departure. When he was about to
go, the Emee'r Da'rim desired to be allowed
to open the
amulet that was upon El-Goon'doob'ah's arm, and to
read
what was written upon the paper. Having obtained
permission, and done this,
he uttered a loud
shout; and several of his people coming in to
inquire
the cause of this cry, he said to them, “This youth
is
the son of your enemy El-Hha'ris, the Kila'bee: take
him, and slay
him:” but El-Goon'doob'ah insisted that
they should contend with
him one by one. The Emee'r

Da'rim was the first to challenge
him; and addressed
him in these verses
*.
* When the narrator introduces
poetry, he generally desires his
readers and hearers to bless the
Prophet. Frequently, he merely
says, “Bless ye the
Apostle:” and often, “Bless ye him for [the
visit
to] whose tomb burdens are bound:” i. e. “Bless ye
him
whose tomb is an object of pilgrimage:” for, though the
pilgrimage
ordained by the Ckoor-a'u is that to the temple of
Mek'keh
and mount 'Arafa't, yet, the Prophet's tomb is also an object
of
pious pilgrimage.—I translate the poetry from this tale
verse for
verse, and imitating the system pursued with regard to rhyme
in
the originals.
“This day I forewarn thee of death and disgrace,
From my weapon, thou offspring of parents base!
Did'st thou think, thou vile foundling, to raise thyself,
O'er the heads of our tribe, to the foremost place?
Thy hone is now baffl'd: thy wish is deceiv'd:
For to-day we have known thee of hostile race.
Thy blood-thirsty father oppressed our tribe:
Both our men and our wealth were his frequent preys:
But to-day shall he taken a full revenge:
All our heroes shall see me their wrongs efface.
Be assur'd that thy death is now near at hand;
That my terrible lance shall pierce thee apace;
For 'twas I introduc'd thee among our tribe;
And the foe that I brought I will now
displace.”
El-Goon'doob'ah replied, “O my uncle, thou has
treated me with
kindness: do not repent of it; but let
me depart from you in peace: cancel
not the good that
thou hast done.” But Da'rim answered,
“Use no protraction:
for thy death is determined on.”
Then El-Goon'dool'ah
thus addressed him—
“Be admonish'd, O Da'rim! thy steps retrace;
And haste not thus rashly thy fate to embrace.
Hast thou ever seen aught of evil in me?
I have always named thee with honour and praise.
By my hand and lance was Esh-Shum'ta destroy'd,
When thou wast her captive, in bonds and disgrace:
I freed thee from bondage: and is it for this
We are now met as enemies, face to face?
God be judge between us: for be will be just.
And will show who is noble, and who is base.”
As soon as he had said these words, the Emee'r
Da'rim charged upon him. They
fought for a whole
hour; and at last, El-Goon'doob'ah pierced the breast
of
Da'rim with his spear; and the point protruded, glittering,
from
the spine of his back. When Da'rim's
sons saw that their father was slain,
they all attacked
El-Goon'doob'ah; who received them as the thirsty
land receives a drizzling rain: two of them he killed:
the rest fled; and
acquainted their mother with the
events they had just witnessed. With her
head uncovered,
and her bosom bare, she came weeping to
El-Goon'doob'ah,
and thus exclaimed—
“O Goon'doob'ah! thy lance hath wrought havoc sore:
Man and youth have perish'd; and lie in their gore;
And among them, the eldest of all my sons.
They are justly punish'd; but now I implore
That thou pardon the rest: in pity for me
Restrain thy resentment; and slaughter no more.
By my care of thy childhood! and by these breasts
Which have nourish'd thee, noble youth, heretofore!
Have mercy upon us; and leave us in peace:
In spite of thy wrongs, this contention give o'er.
I love thee as though thou wert truly my son;
And thy loss I shall sorrow for, evermore.”
El-Goon'doob'ah listened to her address; and when
she had finished, he thus
replied—
“O Mother! by Him whom we all adore!.
And the just Moos'tuf 'a Ta'-Ha'
*!
*
Ta'-Ha' (which is the title of the 20th chapter
of the Ckoora'n,
and is composed of two letters of the Arabic
alphabet) is considered,
and often used, as a name of the Arabian
Prophet (of
whom Moos'tuf'a and Ahh'mad, as well as Mohham'mad, are also
names): so likewise is Ya'-See'n, which is the title of the 36th
chapter of the Ckoor-a'n.
I deplore The actions which I have been made to commit;
Deeds against my will: and not thought of before:
But God, to whose aid I ascribe my success,
Had of old decreed these events to occur.
For thy sake, their pardon I grant; and I would
If their lances had made my lifeblood to pour.
To withdraw myself hence, and sever the ties
Of affection and love, is a trial sore.
While i live I shall constantly wish thee peace,
And joy uninterrupted for evermore.”
Having said thus, El-Goon'doob'ah took leave of his
foster-mother, and
departed alone, and went to the fortress
of Esh-Shum'ta. The slaves saw him
approach;
and met him; and, in reply to their inquiries, he informed
them of all that had just befallen him. He
then risked if any of them were
willing to go with him
in search of a better territory, where they might
intercept
the caravans, and subsist by plunder; and they all
declaring
their readiness to accompany him, he chose
from among them as many as he
desired, and left the
rest in the fortress. He travelled with his slaves
until
they came to a desolate and dreary tract, without verdure
or
water; and the slaves, fearing that they should
die of thirst, conspired
against his life: but El-Goon'doob'ah,
perceiving their discontent, and
guessing their
intention, pressed on to a tract abounding with water

and pasture; and here they halted
to rest. El-Goon'doob'ah
watched until all of them had fallen asleep;
and then dispatched them, every one, with his sword.
Having done this, he
pursued his journey during the
night; and in the morning he arrived at a
valley with
verdant sides, and abundance of pasture, with lofty
trees,
and rapid streams, and birds whose notes proclaimed
the praises of the Lord
of Power and Eternity.
In the midst of this valley he saw a Bed'awee tent,
and
a lance stuck by it in the ground, and a horse picketted.
The
Emee'r Goon'doob'ah fixed his eyes upon this tent;
and as he looked at it,
there came forth from it a person
of elegant appearance, completely armed,
who bounded
upon the horse, and galloped towards him, without
uttering
a word, to engage him in combat. “My brother!”
exclaimed El-Goon'doob'ah “begin with salutation
before the
stroke of the sword; for that is a principle
in the nature of the
noble.” But no answer was
returned. They fought until their
spears were broken,
and till their swords were jagged: at length
El-Goon'doob'ah
seized hold of the vest beneath his antagonist's
coat
of mail, and heaved its wearer from the saddle to
the ground. He uplifted
his sword; but a voice, so
sweet, it would have cured the sick, exclaimed,
“Have
mercy on thy captive, O hero of the age!”
“Art thou
a man?” said El-Goon'doob'ah,
“or a woman?” “I
am a virgin
damsel,” she replied; and, drawing away
her
lita'm*
, displayed a face like the moon at the full.
When El-Goon'doob'ah
beheld the beauty of her face,
* The lita'm
(or litha'm) is a piece of drapery with which a
Bed'awee
often covers the lower part of his face. It frequently
prevents
his being recognized by another Arab who might make him
a
victim of blood-revenge.

and the elegance of her form, he
was bewildered, and
overpowered with love. He exclaimed, “O
mistress of
beauties, and star of the morn, and life of souls!
acquaint
me with thy secret, and inform me of the truth
of thy
history.” She answered, “O hero of our time!
O hero
of the age and period! shall I relate to thee my
story in narrative prose,
or in measured verse?” He
said, “O beauty of thine
age, and peerless one of thy
time! I will hear nothing from thee but
measured
verse.” She then thus related to him all that had
happened
to her—
“O thou noble hero, and generous knight!
Thou loader of warriours! and foremost in fight!
Hear, now, and attend to the story I tell.
I'm the virgin daughter, thou hero of might!
Of El-Mel'ik
* Cka'boo's; and a maid whose fame
* It was the custom to entitle
the chief of a powerful tribe
“El-Mel'ik,” or
“the King.”
Has been raised, by her arms, to an envied height;
Acknowledged a heroine, bold and expert,
Skill'd alike with the lance and the sword to smite.
Many suitors sought me in marriage; but none
Could ever induce me his love to requite;
And I swore by my Lord, the Compassionate,
And the noble Moos'tuf'a, that moon-like light,
That, to no man on earth I would e'er consent
In the bonds of marriage myself to unite,
Unless to a hero for prowess renown'd,
To one who should prove himself hardy in fight;
Who in combat should meet me, and overcome,
And never betray the least weakness or fright,
My suitors assembled: I fought each in turn;
And I vanquished them all in our people's sight:
Not a horseman among them attained his wish;
For I parried the thrusts of each daring knight.
I was justly ‘The Slayer of Heroes' nam'd;
For no match could be found for my weapon bright.
But I fear'd my father might force me, at last,
To accept, as my husband, some parasite;
And therefore I fled; and, in this lonely place,
With my troop of horsemen, I chose to alight.
Here we watch for the passing caravans;
And with plunder we quiet our appetite.
Thou hast made me thy captive, and pardon'd me:
Grant me one favour more: my wish do not slight:
Receive me in marriage: embrace me at once;
For I willingly now acknowledge thy right.”
Ckatta'let esh-Shoog'a'n, or the Slayer of Heroes
(for
so was this damsel named, as above related by herself),
then said
to El-Goon'doob'ah, “Come with me and my
party to my
abode.” He went with her; and her
people received them with joy;
and feasted the Emee'r
Coon'dool'ahh three days. On the fourth day,
Ckatta'let
esh-Shoog'a'n assembled the people of her tribe, with
El-Goon'doob'ah, at her own dwelling; and regaled
them with a repast, to
which high and low were admitted.
After they had eaten, they began to
converse;
and asked El-Goon'doob'ah to acquaint them with his
history.
He accordingly related to them what had befallen
him with the Emee'r
Da'rim; how he had liberated
him and his sons from captivity; and how
ungratefully
he had been treated. There were ten persons sitting
with
him; and nine of these recounted their deeds in
arms. The tenth, who was a
slave, was then desired
to tell his story; and he related his having served
the
Emee'r Hha'ris, and murdered his widow. El-Goou'doob'ah
heard with
impatience this tale of his mother's
murderer; and as soon as it was
finished, drew his
sword, and struck off the slave's head; exclaiming,
“I
have taken my blood-revenge upon this traitor
slave!”
The persons present all drew their swords, and raised
a

tremendous shout. Ckatta'let
esh-Shoog'a'n was not
then with them; but she heard the shout, and
instantly
came to inquire the cause; which they related to her;
demanding, at the same time, that El-Goon'doob'ah
should be given up to
them to be put to death. She
drew them aside, and told them that he had
eaten of her
food, and that she would not give him up, even if he
had
robbed her of her honour; but that she would advise
him to take his
departure on the morrow, and that, when
he should have left her abode, they
might do as they
pleased. She then went to him, and told him of his
danger. He asked what he should do. She answered,
“Let us marry
forthwith, and depart from these people:”
and this he gladly
consented to do.
They married each other immediately; taking God
alone for their witness; and
departed at night, and
proceeded on their way until the morning, giving
thanks
to their Lord. For four days, they continued their
journey; and
on the fifth day, arrived at a valley
abounding with trees and fruits and
birds and running
streams. They entered it at midnight. Seeing
something
white among the trees, they approached it; and
found it to
be a horse, white as camphor. They waited
till morning; and then beheld a
settlement of Arabs:
there were horses, and she and be camels, and
tents
pitched, and lances stuck in the ground, and pavilions
erected;
and among them was a great company; and
there were maids beating
tambourines: they were surrounded
with abundance. Through this valley,
ElGoon'doob'ab
and his bride took their way: his love
fur her
increased: they conversed together; and her
conversation delighted him. She
now, for the first
time, ventured to ask him why he had killed the
slave,

when he was her guest; and he
related to her the
history of this wretch's crime. After this, they
talked
of the beauties of the valley which they had entered;
and while
they were thus amusing themselves, a great
dust appeared; and beneath it
were seen troops of
horsemen galloping along. El-Goon'doob'ah
immediately
concluded that they were of his wife's tribe, and
were
come in pursuit of him; but he was mistaken;
for they divided into four
parties, and all attacking, in
different quarters at the same time, the
tribe settled in
the valley, soon made the latter raise piteous cries
and
lamentations, and rend the air with the shouts of “O 'A'mir!
O Kila'b! “
hen El-Goon'doob'ah heard the cries of “O
'A'mir! O Kila'b!” he exclaimed to his
wife, “These
people are the sons of my uncle! my
flesh and my blood!” and
instantly determined to
hasten to their assistance. His bride resolved to
accompany
him; and they both together rushed upon the
enemy, slaying
every horseman in their way, and piercing
the breasts of those on foot,
with such fury and such
success, that the defeated tribe rallied again,
repulsed
their assailants, and recovered all the booty that had
been
taken; after which they returned to El-Goon'doob'ah,
and asked him who he
was. He answered,
“This is not a time to ask questions; but a
time
to rest from fight and slaughter.” So they took him
with
them, and retired to rest; and after they had rested and
eaten,
he related to them his history. Delighted with
his words, they all
exclaimed, “The truth hath appeared;
and doubt is dissipated:
justice is rendered to
the deserving; and the sword is returned to its
scabbard!”
They immediately acknowledged him their
rightful
chief; but, after the death of El-Hha'ris, they

had chosen for their chief an
Emee'r named Ga'bir,
who hated El-Hha'ris, and termed him a robber;
and
this Emee'r now disputed their choice, and challenged
El-Goon'doob'ah to decide the matter by combat. The
challenge was accepted,
and the two rivals met and
fought; but, though Gab'ir was a thorough
warriour,
El-Goon'doob'ah slew him. This achievement obtained
him the
possession of Ga'bir's mare an animal; coveted
throughout the desert: the
rest of the property of the
vanquished chief he left to be parted among the
tribe.
There were, however, many partisans of Ga'bir; and
these, when
they saw him slain, gathered themselves
together against El-Goon'doob'ah;
but he, with the
assistance of his own party, defeated them, and put
them to flight, Returning from their pursuit, he sat
among his people and
kinsfolk; and the sheykhs of his
tribe brought him horses and arms and
everything necessary:
he received gifts from every quarter: his wife,
also, was presented with ornaments; and from that day
the Emee'r
Goon'doob'ah was acknowledged the chief
of the Ben'ee Kila'b.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER XI.
PERIODICAL PUBLIC FESTIVALS, &c.
MANY of the most remarkable customs of the modern
Egyptians are witnessed at their periodical public festivals
celebrated in
Cairo; the more important of which
I shall here describe. Most of these
festivals and other
anniversaries take place at particular periods of
the
lunar, Mohammedan year.
The first ten days of Mohhar'ram (the first month of
the Mohhammadan year) are considered as eminently
blessed; and are
celebrated with rejoicing; but the
tenth day is especially honoured. They
are vulgarly
called the 'ashr; the derivation of
which term will be
explained hereafter. The custom of selling, during
this
period of ten days, what is called “mey”ah mooba'rakah,”
to be used, during the ensuing year, as a charm
against the evil eye,
whenever occasion may require, I
have already mentioned, in the second of
the two chapters
devoted to the superstitions of the modern Egyptians.
—I have also mentioned, that it is considered, by
the Egyptians,
unlucky to make a marriage-contract in
Mohhar'ram.
It is a common custom of the Moos'lims of Egypt to
give what they can afford
in alms during the month of
Mohhar'ram; especially in the first ten days,
and more
especially on the tenth day; and many pretend, though
few of
them really do so, to give, at this season, the

zek'ah, or alms required by their law, of which I
have
spoken in a former chapter: they give what, and to
whom, they
will. During the ten days above mentioned,
and particularly on the tenth,
many of the women of
Cairo, and even those in respectable circumstances,
if
they have a young child, carry it through the streets,
generally on
the shoulder, or employ another female to
Carry it, for the purpose of
soliciting alms from any well-dressed
person whom they may chance to meet:
sometimes
the mother or bearer of the child, and sometimes
the child
itself, asks for the alms; saying, “My master,
the alms of the
'ashr
*.” The word
'ashr is
vulgarly understood
as meaning the “ten days;” but I
am informed
that it is a corruption of
'oshr, a
term improperly used
for
roob'a el-'oshr (the
quarter of the tenth, or the fortieth
part), which is the proportion that
the Moos'lim is required,
by law, to give in alms of the money which
he
possesses, and of some other articles of property. The
sum
generally given to a child in the case above
described is a piece of five
fud'dahs
†
and this, and as
many others as can be procured in the same manner,
are sometimes spent in sweetmeats, &c., but more
usually sewed
to the child's cap, and worn thus until the
next Mohhar'ram; when, if the
child be not too old,
the same custom is repeated for its sake; the pieces
of
money thus obtained being considered as charms.
*
Ya' see'dee zek'ah el-ashr.
† At present, equivalent to a
farthing and one fifth.
The women of Egypt, and particularly of
Cairo, entertain
some curious
superstitions respecting the first
ten days of Mohhar'ram. They believe
that
ginn (or genii)
visit some people by night
during this period;
and say that, on this occasion, a gin'nee appears
sometimes

in the form of a sack'cka (or
water-currier), and
sometimes in that of a mule. In the former case,
the
mysterious visitor is called “
sack'cka
el-ashr” (or “the
water-carrier of the
“ashr”): in the latter, “
buhg'let el-'ashr”
(” the mule of the 'ashr”). When the gin'nee,
they say, comes in the form of a sack'eka, he knocks at
the chamber-door of
a person sleeping; who asks, “Who
is there?” The
gin'nee answers, “I, the sack'cka;
where shall I empty [the
skin]?” The person within,
as sack'ckas do not come at night,
knows who his
visitor is; and says, “Empty into the
water-jar;” and
going out afterwards, finds the jar full of
gold. The
gin'nee in the form of a mule is described in a more
remarkable manner. He bears a pair of saddle-bags
filled with gold; a dead
man's head is placed upon his
back; and round his neck is hung a string of
little
round bells, which he shakes at the door of the chamber
of the
person whom he comes to enrich. This person
comes out; takes off the dead
man's head; empties the
saddle-bags of their valuable contents; then fills
them
with straw or bran or anything else; replaces them; and
says to
the mule, “Go, O blessed!
” Such
are the
modes in which the good genii pay their zek'ah. During
the
first ten days of Mohhar'ram, many an ignorant
woman ejaculates this
petition, “O my Lord, send me
the water-carrier of the
'ashr!” or, “send me the mule
of the
'ashr!” The men, in general, laugh at these
superstitions.
Some of the people of
Cairo say, that a party of
genii, in the forms and
garbs of ordinary mortals, used
to hold a midnight
soo'ck (or market) during the first
ten days of Mohhar'ram, in a
street called Es-Salee'beh,
in the southern part of the metropolis, before
an ancient

sarcophagus, which was called
“el-Hho'd el-Mursoo'd”
(or “the Enchanted Trough “). This sarcophagus
was in a recess under a flight of steps leading up to the
door of a mosque,
adjacent to the old palace called
Ckal'at el-Kebsh: it was removed by the
French
during their occupation of Egypt; and is now in the
British
Museum. Since its removal, the soo'ck of the
genii, it is said, has been
discontinued. Very few persons,
I am told, were aware of this custom of the
gem.
Whoever happened to pass through the street where
they were
assembled, and bought anything of them,
whether dates or other fruit,
cakes, bread, &c., immediately
after found his purchase
converted into gold.
The tenth day of Mohhar'ram is called Yo'm
'A'shoo'ra. It is held sacred on many accounts; because
it is believed
to be the day on which the first
meeting of Adam and Eve took place after
they were
cast out of Paradise; and that on which Noah went out
from
the ark: also, because several other great events
are said to have happened
on this day; and because the
ancient Arabs, before the time of the Prophet,
observed
it by fasting. But what, in the opinion of most modern
Moos'lims, and especially the Persians, confers the
greatest sanctity on
the day of 'A'shoo'ra is the fact of
its being that on which El-Hhosey'n,
the Prophet's
grandson, was slain, a martyr, at the battle of the
plain
of Kur'bel'ë. Many Moos'lims fast on this day; and
some also on the day preceding.
As I am now writing on the day of' A'shoo'ra, I shall
mention the customs
peculiar to it which I have witnessed
on the present occasion. I had to
provide myself
with a number of five-fud'dah-pieces before I went out
this day, for the alms of the 'ashr, already mentioned.

In the streets of the town I saw many young children,
from about three to
six or seven years of age, chiefly
girls, walking about alone, or two or
three together, or
carried by women, and begging these alms.—In
the
course of the morning, a small group of blind fackee'rs,
one of
whom bore a half-furled red flag, with the names
of El-Hhosey'n and other
worthies worked upon it in
white, stopped in the street before my door, and
chanted
a petition for an alms. One of them began, “O thou
who hast alms to bestow on the blessed day of
'A'shoo'ra!”-the
others then continued, in chorus, “
couple of grains of wheat! A
couple of grains of
rice! O Hhas'an '. O Hhosey'n! “The same
words
were repeated by them several times. As soon as they
had
received a small piece of money, they passed on;
and then performed the
same chant before other
houses; but only where appearances led them to
expect
a reward. Numerous groups of fackee'rs go about the
town, in
different quarters, during this day, soliciting
alms in the same manner.
On my paying a visit to a friend, a little before noon,
a dish, which it is
the custom of the people of
Cairo to.
prepare on the day of 'A'shoo'ra, was
set before me.
It is called
hhoboo'b; and is
prepared of wheat, steeped
in water for two or three days, then freed from
the
husks, boiled, and sweetened over the fire with honey
or treacle:
or it is composed of rice instead of wheat:
generally, nuts, almonds,
raisins, &c., are added to it.
In most houses this dish is
prepared, or sweetmeats of
various kinds are procured or made, in
accordance with
one of the traditions of the Prophet; which
is—“
Whoso giveth plenty to his household on the day
of

'A'shoo'ra, God will bestow
plenty upon him throughout
the remainder of the year.”
After the call to noon-prayers, I went to the mosque
of the Hhasaney'n;
which, being the reputed burial-place
of the head of the martyr
El-Hhosey'n, is the scene of the
most remarkable of the ceremonies that,
in
Cairo, distinguish the day of 'A'shoo'ra. The avenues
to this
mosque, near the Cka'dee's court, were thronged
with passengers; and in
them I saw several groups
of dancing-girls (Gha'zee'yehs); some, dancing;
and
others, sitting in a ring in the public thoroughfare,
eating their
dinner, and (with the exclamation of “bismil'lah! “)
inviting each well-dressed man who passed
by to eat with them. One of them
struggled hard with
me to prevent my passing without giving them a
present.
The sight of these unveiled girls, some of them
very
handsome, and with their dress alluringly disposed
to display to advantage
their fine forms, was but ill calculated
to prepare men who passed by them
for witnessing
religious ceremonies: but so it is, that, on the
occasions of all the great religious festivals in
Cairo, and
at many other
towns in Egypt, these female warrers
against modesty (not always seductive,
I must confess)
are sure to be seen. On my way to the mosque, I had
occasion to rid myself of some of the small coins which
I had provided, to
children. My next occasion for
disbursing was on arriving before the
mosque; when
several water-carriers, of the class who supply
passengers
in the streets, surrounded me: I gave two of
them twenty
fud'dahs; for which each of them was to
distribute the contents of the
earthen vessel which he
bore on his back to poor passengers, for the sake
of

“our lord
El-Hhosey'n.” This custom I have mentioned
in a former
chapter
*.
On entering the mosque, I was much surprised at the
scene which presented
itself in the great hall, or portico.
This, which is the principal part of
the mosque,
was crowded with visitors, mostly women, of the middle
and
lower orders, with many children; and there was a
confusion of noises like
what may be heard in a large
school-room where several hundred boys are
engaged in
play; there were children bawling and crying; men and
women
calling' to each other; and, amid all this bustle,
mothers and children
were importuning every man of
respectable appearance for the alms of the
'ashr. Seldom
have I witnessed a scene more unlike that which the
interior of a mosque generally presents; and in this
instance I was the
more surprised as the Hhasaney'n is
the most sacred of all the mosques in
Cairo. The mats
which are usually spread upon the pavement had been
removed; some pieces of old matting were put in their
stead; leaving many
parts of the floor uncovered; and
these, and every part, were covered with
dust and dirt
brought in by the feet of many shoe-less persons: for
on
this occasion, as it is impossible to perform the ordinary
prayers in the
mosque, people enter without having
performed the usual ablution, and
without repairing first
to the tank to do this; though every person takes
off his,
or her, shoes, as at other times, on entering the mosque;
many leaving them, as I did mine, with a door-keeper.
Several parts of the
floor were wetted (by children too
young to be conscious of the sanctity of
the place);
and though I avoided these parts, I had not been many
minutes ill the mosque before my feet were almost black,

with the dirt upon which I had
trodden, and with that
from other persons' feet which had trodden upon
mine.
The heat, too, was very oppressive; like that of a vapour-bath,
but more heavy; though there is a very large
square aperture in the roof,
with a mul'ckuf
* of equal
width over it, to introduce the northern
breezes. The
pulpit-stairs, and the gallery of the mooballig'hee'n,
were crowded with women; and in the assemblage
below the women were far
more numerous than the
men. Why this should be the case, I know not;
unless
it be because the women are more superstitious, and
have a
greater respect for the day of 'A'shoo'ra, and a
greater desire to honour
El-Hhosey'n by visiting his
shrine on this day.
* The mul'ckuf has been described in the introduction to this
work,
page 20.
It is commonly said, by the people of
Cairo, that no
man goes to the
Hhasaney'n on the day of 'A'shoo'ra
but for the sake of the women; that is,
to be jostled
among them; and this jostling he may indeed enjoy to
the
utmost of his desire; as I experienced in pressing
forward to witness the
principal ceremonies which contribute
with the sanctity of the day to
attract such
swarms of people. By the back-wall, to the right of
the
pulpit, were sealed, in two rows, face to face, about
fifty durwee'shes, of
various orders. They had not yet
begun their performances, or
zikrs, in concert; but one
old durwee'sh, standing
between the two rows, was performing
a zikr alone; repeating the name of
God (Al'la'h),
and bowing his head each time that he uttered
the word,
alternately to the right and left. In pushing
forward to see them, I found
myself in a situation rather
odd in a country where it is deemed improper
for a man

even to touch a woman who is not
his wife or slave or a
near relation. I was so compressed in the midst
of
four women, that, for some minutes, I could not move
in any
direction; and pressed so hard against one young
woman, face to face, that,
but for her veil, our cheeks
had been almost in contact: from her panting,
it seemed
that the situation was not quite easy to her; though a
smile, expressed at the same time by her large black
eyes, showed that it
was amusing: she could not, however,
bear it long; for she soon cried out,
“My eye
*!
do not squeeze me so violently.”
Another woman called
out to me, ' O Efen'dec! by thy head! push on to
the
front, and make way for me to follow thee.” With
considerable
difficulty, I attained the desired place; but in
getting
thither, I had almost lost my sword, and the
hanging sleeves of my jacket:
some person's dress had
caught the guard of the sword, and had nearly
drawn
the blade from the scabbard before I could get hold of
the
handle. Like all around me, I was in a profuse
perspiration.
* This is a common expression of
affection; meaning, “Thou
who art as dear to me as my
eye.”
The durwee'shes I found to be of different nations, as
well as of different
orders. Some of them wore the
ordinary turban and dress of Egypt: others
wore the
Turkish cka'oo'ck, or padded cap; and others, again,
wore
high caps, or turtoo'rs, mostly of the sugar-loaf
shape. One of them had a
white cap of the form last
mentioned, upon which were worked, in black
letters,
invocations to the first four Khalee'fehs, to El-Hhas'an
and
El-Hhosey'n, and to other eminent saints, founders
of different orders of
durwee'shes
†. Most of the durwee'shes
† “Ya' Ab'oo Bekr, Ya' 'Om'ar, Ya' 'Osma'a, Ya' 'Al'ee, Ya' Hhas'an, Ya'
Hhosey'n, Ya' sey'yid Ahh'mad Rifa”ah, Ya' sey'yid 'Abd
El-Cka'dir El-Geela'nee, Ya' sey'yid Ahh'mad El-Bed'awee, Ya' sey'yid
Ibrahee'm Ed-Desoo'ckee”

were Egyptians; but there were
among them
many Turks and Persians. I had not waited many
minutes
before they began their exercises. Several of
them first drove back the
surrounding crowd with
sticks; but as no stick was raised at me, I did not
retire
so far as I ought to have done; and before I was
aware of what
the durwee'shes were about to do, forty
of them, with extended arms, and
joined hands, had
formed a large ring, in which I found myself
enclosed.
For a moment I felt half inclined to remain where I
was, and
join in the zikr; bow, and repeat the name of
God; but another moment's
reflection on the absurdity
of the performance, and the risk of my being
discovered
to be no durwee'sh, decided me otherwise; so, parting
the
hands of two of the durwee'shes, I passed outside
the ring. The durwee'shes
who formed the large ring
(which enclosed four of the marble columns of the
portico)
now commenced their zikr; exclaiming over and
over again,
“Al'la'h!” and, at each exclamation, bowing
the head
and body, and taking a step to the right; so
that the whole ring moved
rapidly round. As soon as
they commenced this exercise, another durwee'sh,
a
Turk, of the order of Mow'lawees, in the middle of the
circle, began
to whirl; using both his feet to effect this
motion, and extending his
arms: the motion increased
in velocity until his dress spread out like an
umbrella.
He continued whirling thus for about ten minutes;
after
which, he bowed to his superior, who stood within
the great ring; and then,
without showing any signs of
fatigue or giddiness, joined the durwee'shes
in the great

ring; who had now begun to
ejaculate the name of
God with greater vehemence, and to jump to the
right,

Whirling Durwee'sh
instead of stepping. After the whirling, six other durwee'shes,
within the great ring, formed another ring;
but a very small one; each
placing his arms upon the
shoulders of those next him; and thus disposed,
they
performed a revolution similar to that of the larger
ring,
excepting in being much more rapid; repeating,
also, the same exclamation
of “Al'la'h!” but with a
rapidity proportionably
greater. This motion they maintained
for about the same length of time that
the
whirling of the single durwee'sh before had occupied;
after which,
the whole party sat down to rest.—They
rose again after the
lapse of about a quarter of an hour;
and performed the same exercises a
second time.—I
saw nothing more in the great portico that was
worthy
of remark, excepting two fackee'rs (who, a bystander

told me, were
mag'a'zee'b, or idiots), dancing, and repealing
the name of God,
and each beating a tambourine.
I was desirous of visiting the shrine of El-s
on this anniversary of his
death, and of seeing if any
particular ceremonies were performed there on
this occasion.
With difficulty I pushed through the crowd in
the great
portico to the door of the saloon of the tomb;
but there I found
comparatively few persons collected.
On my entering, one of the servants of
the mosque conducted
me to an unoccupied corner of the bronze screen
which surrounds the monument over the place where
the martyr's head is said
to be buried, that I might
there recite the Fa't'hhah: this duty performed,
he
dictated to me the following prayer; pausing after
every two or
three words, for me to repeat them, which
I affected to do; and another
person, who stood on my
left, saying “
A'mee'n” (or Amen), at the close of each
pause.
“O God accept my visit, and perform my want,
and cause me to
attain my wish; for I come with desire
and intent, and urge thee by the
sey'yideh Zey'neb, and
the Ima'm Esh-Sha'fe'ee, and the Soolta'n Ab'oo
So'oo'd
*.” After this followed similar words in
Turkish;
which were added in the supposition that I was a Turk,
and
perhaps did not understand the former words, in
Arabic. This short
supplication has been often dictated
to me at the tombs of saints in
Cairo,
on festival
days. On the occasion above described, before I proceeded
* Ab'oo So'oo'd was a very famous
saint; and, being esteemed
the most holy person of his day, received
the appellation of
“Soolta'n,” which has been
conferred upon several other very
eminent wel'ees, and, when thus
applied, signifies “King of
Saints.” The tomb of
Ab'oo So'oo'd is among the mounds of
rubbish on the south of Cairo.

to make the usual circuit round
the screen which
encloses the monument, I gave to the person who
dictated
the prayer a small piece of money; and he, in
return,
presented me with four little balls of bread;
each about the size of a
hazel-nut. This was consecrated
bread, made of very fine flour at the tomb
of the
seyd Ahh'mad El-Bed'awee; and brought hither, as it
is to
several saints' tombs in
Cairo on occasions of
general visiting, to be
given to the more respectable of
the visitors. It is called
'Eysh es-sey'yid El-Bed'awee.
Many persons in Egypt keep a little piece of it (that is,
one of the
little balls into which it is formed) constantly
in the pocket, as a charm:
others eat it, as a
valuable remedy against any disorder, or as a
preventive
of disease.
Generally, towards the end of
Suf'ar (the second
month) the caravan of Egyptian pilgrims, returning
from Mek'keh, arrives at
Cairo: hence, this month
is vulgarly called
Nez'let
el-Hha'gg (the Arrival of the
Pilgrims). Many pilgrims, coming by
the
Red Sea,
arrive before the caravan. A caravan of merchant-pilgrims
arrives later than the main body of pilgrims.
An officer, called
Sha'wee'sh el-Hha'gg, arrives
about
four or five days before the caravan, having pushed on,
with two
Arabs, mounted on fleet dromedaries, to announce
the approach of the
Hha'gg
*, and the expected
day of their arrival at the
metropolis; and to bring
letters from pilgrims to their friends. He and his
two
companions exclaim, as they pass along, to the passengers
in the
way, “Blessing on the Prophet!” or, “Bless
* The term hha'gg is applied both collectively and individually
(to the
whole caravan, or body of pilgrims, and to a single pilgrim).

the Prophet!” and
every Moos'lim who hears the exclamation
responds, “O God,
favour him
*!”-They proceed
directly to the Citadel, to
convey the news to the
Ba'sha or his representative. The Sha'wee'sh
divides
his letters into packets, with the exception of those which
are to great or wealthy people, and sells them, at so
many dollars a
packet, to a number of persons who
deliver them and receive presents from
those to whom
they are addressed; but sometimes lose by their
bargains.
The Sha'wee'sh himself delivers those to the
great and rich;
and obtains from them handsome presents
of money, or a shawl,
&c.
* The Arabic words here translated
are given in two notes subjoined
to page 360 of the former volume of
this work.
Some persons go out two or three days' journey, to
meet their friends
returning from pilgrimage; taking
with them fresh provisions, fruits,
&c., and clothes, for
the wearied pilgrims. The poorer classes
seldom go
further than the Bir'ket el-Hha'gg (or Lake of the
Pilgrims), about eleven miles from the metropolis, and
the place where the
caravan passes the last night but
one before its entry into the metropolis;
or such persons
merely go to the last halting-place. These usually
take with them some little luxury in the way of food,
and an ass, as an
agreeable substitute to the pilgrim for
his jaded and uneasy camel
† together
with some
† I am here reminded of an assertion
of the Arabs, respecting
the camel,-that it has in itself a provision
against hunger, besides
its well-known supply against thirst-an
assertion which
appears to me highly deserving of the attention of
naturalists.
The camel, they say, when deprived of its usual food for
several
successive days, feeds upon the fat of its own hump. The
hump,
as I have my self observed, under these circumstances,
gradually
disappears before the limbs are perceptibly reduced; and when
the animal is put again to pasture, the hump grows again to its
usual size before the limbs recover their wonted fat. This explanation
of the use of an excrescence which would otherwise
seem a mere
inconvenient incumbrance offers an evidence that the
camel is more
remarkably and more perfectly adapted to the
peculiar circumstances in
which Providence has placed it than
has generally been supposed; and
perhaps may he applied with
equal propriety to the hump of the bull and
cow, and some other
animals in hot and arid climates.

clean, if not new, clothes; and
many go out with musicians,
to pay honour to their friends. It is very
affecting
to see, at the approach of the caravan, the numerous
parties
who
go out with drums and pipes, to welcome
and
escort to the city their friends arrived from the
holy places, and how
many, who went forth in hope,
return with lamentation, instead of music and
rejoicing;
for the arduous journey through the desert is fatal to a
great number of those pilgrims who cannot afford themselves
necessary
conveniences. Many of the women
who go forth to meet their husbands or sons
receive the
melancholy tidings of their having fallen victims to
privation
and fatigue. The piercing shrieks with which
they rend the
air as they retrace their steps to the city
are often heard predominant
over the noise of the drum,
and the shrill notes of the hautboy, which
proclaim the
joy of others.—The pilgrims, on their return, are
often
accosted, by passengers, with the petition, “Pray for
pardon for me;” and oiler up this short ejaculation,
“God pardon thee!” or, “O God! pardon
him!” This
custom owes its origin to a saying of the
Prophet—“
God pardoneth the pilgrim and him for whom
the
pilgrim implores pardon.”
I write the following account of the Nez'let el-Hha'gg

just after witnessing it, in the
year of the Flight 1250
(A. D. 1834).—The caravan arrived at its
last halting-place,
the Hhas'weh, a pebbly tract of the desert, near
the northern suburb of
Cairo, last night, on the eve of
the 4th of Rabee'a
el-Ow'wal. A few pilgrims left the
caravan after sunset; and entered the
metropolis. The
Caravan entered this morning, the fourth of the month.
I was outside the walls soon after sunrise, before it drew
near; but I met
two or three impatient pilgrims, riding
upon asses, and preceded by
musicians or by flag-bearers,
and followed by women singing; and I also
met
several groups of women who had already been out to
make inquiries
respecting relations whom they expected,
and were returning with shrieks
and sobs. Their
lamentation seemed more natural, and more deeply felt,
than that which is made at funerals. This year, in
addition to a great many
deaths, there were to be
lamented a thousand men who had been seized for
the
army; so that, perhaps, there was rather more wailing
than is
usual. About two hours and a half after sunrise,
the caravan began to draw
near to the gates
of the metropolis, parted in three lines; one line
towards the
gate called Ba'b en-Nusr; another directly towards the
Ba'b el-Footoo'hh; and the third, branching off from
the second, to the
Ba'b el-'Ad'uwee. The caravan this
year was more numerous than usual
(though many pilgrims
went by sea); and, in consequence of the seizure
of so many men for the army, it comprised an uncommon
proportion of women.
Each of the three lines into
which it divided to enter the metropolis, as
above mentioned,
consisted, for the most part, of an uninterrupted
train of camels, proceeding one by one; but sometimes
there were two
abreast; and in a few places the train

was broken for a short space.
Many of the pilgrims
had quitted their camels, to take the more easy
conveyance
of asses; and rode beside their camels; many
of them
attended by musicians; and some, by flag-bearers.
The most common kind of camel-litter used by the
pilgrims is called a
moosut'tahh, or
hhem'l moosut'tahh.
It resembles a small, square tent; and is chiefly composed
of two
long chests; each of which has a high
back; these are placed on the camel
in the same manner
as a pair of panniers, one on each side; and the
high
backs, which are placed outwards, together with a small
pole
resting on the camel's pack-saddle, support the
covering which forms what
may be called the tent.
This conveyance accommodates two persons. It
is
generally open at the front; and may also be opened at
the back.
Though it appears comfortable, the motion is
uneasy; particularly when it
is placed upon a camel
that has been accustomed to carry heavy burdens,
and
consequently has a swinging walk: but camels of easy
pace are
generally chosen for bearing the moosut'tahh
and other kinds of litters.
There is one kind of litter
called a
shibree'yeh,
composed of a small, square platform,
with an arched covering. This
accommodates
but one person; and is placed on the back of the camel:
two sahh'hha'rahs (or square chests), one on each side
of the camel,
generally form a secure foundation for the
shibree'yeh. The most
comfortable kind of litter is that
called a
tukht'rawan, which is most commonly borne
by two camels; one before,
and the other behind: the
head of the latter is painfully bent down, under
the
vehicle. This litter is sometimes borne by four mules;
in which
case, its motion is more easy. Two light

persons may travel in it. In
general, it has a small
projecting meshrebee'yeh, of wooden lattice-work,
at the
front and back, in which one or more of the porous
earthen
water-bottles so much used in Egypt may be
placed.
I went on to the place where the caravan had passed
the last night. During
my ride from the suburb to this
spot, which occupied a little more than
half an hour
(proceeding at a slow pace), about half the caravan
passed me; and in half an hour more, almost the whole
had left the
encampment
*. I was much interested at
seeing the meetings of wives,
brothers, sisters, and
children, with the pilgrims: but I was disgusted
with
one pilgrim: he was dressed in ragged clothes, and
sitting on a
little bit of old carpet, when his wife, or
perhaps his sister, came out to
him, perspiring under
the weight of
a large bundle
of clothes, and fervently
kissed him, right and left: he did not rise
to
meet her; and only made a few cold inquiries.—
The
Emee'r el-Hha'gg (or chief of the caravan), with his
officers, soldiers,
&c. were encamped apart from the rest
of the caravan. By his
tent, a tall spear was stuck in
the ground; and by its side also stood the
mahh'mil (of
which I shall presently give a
sketch and description);
with its travelling cover, of canvass, ornamented
with a
few inscriptions.
* Had I remained stationary, somewhat
more than two hours
would have elapsed before the whole caravan had
parsed me.
Many of the pilgrims bring with them, as presents,
from “the holy
territory,” water of the sacred well of
Zem'zem fin China bottles, or tin or copper
flasks),
pieces of the
kis'weh (or covering) of the
Ka'abeh
(which is renewed at the season of the pilgrimage),
dust

from the Prophet's tomb (made
into hard cakes),
liba'n
(or frankincense),
leef (or fibres of the
palm-tree, used
in washing, as we employ a sponge),
combs of aloes-wood,
seb'hhahs (or rosaries) of the same or other materials,
miswa'ks (or sticks for cleaning the teeth, which
are generally dipped in Zem'zem-water, to render them
more acceptable),
kohhl (or black powder for the eyes),
shawls,
&c. of the manufacture of the Hhega'z
*, and
various things
from India.
* Or, as pronounced in Arabia,
Hheja'z.
It is a common custom to ornament the entrance of
a pilgrim's house, one,
two, or three days before his
arrival; painting the door, and colouring the
alternate
courses of stone on each side and above it with a deep
dull
red, and white; or, if it be of brick, ornamenting it
in a similar manner,
with broad horizontal stripes of red
and white: often, also, trees, camels,
&c. are painted, in
a very rude manner, in green, black, red,
and other
colours. The pilgrim sometimes writes to order this to
be
done. On the evening after his arrival, he entertains
his friends with a
feast, which is called “the feast
of the Nez'leh.” Numerous guests come to welcome
him, and to
say, “Pray for pardon for me.” He generally
remains
at home a week after his return; and on
the seventh day, gives to his
friends another entertainment,
which is called “the feast of the
Sooboo'a.” This
continues during the
day and ensuing night; and a
khut'meh, or a zikr, is usually performed in
the evening.
On the morning after that on which the main body
of the pilgrims of the
great caravan enter the metropolis,
another spectacle is witnessed: this is
the Return of
the Mahh'mil, which is borne in
procession from the

Hhas'weh, through the metropolis,
to the citadel. This
procession is not always arranged exactly in the
same
order: I shall describe it as I have this day witnessed it,
on
the morning after the return of the pilgrims of which
I have just given an
account.
First, I must describe the Mahh'mil itself. It is a
square skeleton-frame of
wood, with a pyramidal top; and
has a covering of black brocade, richly
worked with inscriptions
and ornamental embroidery in gold, in some
parts upon a ground of green or red silk, and bordered
with a fringe of
silk, with tassels surmounted by silver
balls. Its covering is not always
made after the same
pattern, with regard to the decorations; but in
every
cover that I have seen I have remarked, on the upper
part of the
front, a view of the Temple of Mek'keh,
worked in gold; and, over it, the
Soolta'n's cypher. It
contains nothing; but has two moos'hhafs (or copies
of
the Ckoor-a'n), one on a scroll, and the other in the
usual form of
a little book, and each enclosed in a case
of gilt silver, attached,
externally, at the top. The
sketch which I insert will explain this
description. The
five balls with crescents, which ornament the
Mahh'mil,
are of gilt silver. The Mahh'mil is borne by a fine tall
camel, which is generally indulged with exemption from
every kind of labour
during the remainder of its life.
It is related, that the Soolta'n Ez-Za'hir Beybur's,
king of Egypt, was the
first who sent a Mahh'mil with
the caravan of pilgrims to Mek'keh, in the
year of the
Flight 670
(A. D. 1272); but this
custom, it is generally
said, had its origin a few years before his
accession to
the throne. Sheg'er ed-Doo'r (commonly called Sheg'eret
ed-Door-'r), a beautiful Turkish female slave, who
became the favourite
wife of the Soolta'n Es-Sa'lehh

The Mah'mil.


Negm ed-Deen, and on the death of
his son (with
whom terminated the dynasty of the house of Eiyoo'b)
caused herself to be acknowledged as Queen of Egypt,
performed the
pilgrimage in a magnificent h
o'dag (or
covered
litter), borne by a camel; and for several successive
years, her empty
ho'dag was sent with the caravan,
merely for the sake of state. Hence,
succeeding
princes of Egypt sent, with each year's caravan of
pilgrims,
a kind of ho'dag (which received the name of
“Mahh'mil”), as an emblem of royalty; and the kings
of other countries followed their example
*.
The Wah'ha'bees prohibited the
Mahh'mil, as an object of
vain pomp: it afforded them one reason for
intercepting
the caravan.
The procession of the return of the Muhh'mil, in the
year above mentioned,
entered the city, by the Ba'b en-Nusr,
about an hour after sunrise. It was
headed by a
large body of Niza'm (or regular) infantry. Next came
the
Mahh'mil, which was followed, as usual, by a singular
character: this was a
long-haired, brawny, swarthy
fellow, called “Sheykh el-Gem'el'
(or Sheykh of the
Camel), almost entirely naked, having only a pair of
old trowsers: he was mounted on a camel; and was
incessantly rolling his
head. For many successive
years, this sheykh has followed the Mahh'mil,
and
accompanied the caravan to and from Mek'keh; and all
assert, that
he rolls his head during the whole of the
* Almost all travellers have given
erroneous accounts of the
Mahh'mil: some asserting that its covering is
that which is
destined to be placed over the tomb of the Prophet:
others, that
it contains the covering which is to be suspended round
the Ka'abeh.
Burckhardt, with his general accuracy, describes it as
a
mere emblem of royalty.

journey. He is supplied by the
government with two
camels, and his travelling provisions. A few years
ago,
there used also to follow the Mahh'mil to and from
Mek'keh an old
woman, with her head uncovered, and
only wearing a shirt. She was called
“Oom'm el-Ckoot'at
” (or the Mother of the Cats); having
always
five or six cats sitting about her, on her camel.—
ext to the sheykh of the camel, in the procession which I
have begun to
describe, followed a group of Turkish
horsemen; and then, about twenty
camels, with stuffed
and ornamented saddles, covered with cloth, mostly
red
and green. Each saddle was decorated with a number
of small flags,
slanting forward from the fore part, and
a small plume of ostrich-feathers
upon the top of a stick
fixed upright, upon the same part; and some had
a
large bell hung on each side: the ornaments on the
covering were
chiefly formed of the small shells called
cowries. I think I perceived that
these camels were
slightly tinged with the red dye of the hhen'na; as
they
are on other similar occasions. They were followed by
a very
numerous body of Bed'awee horsemen; and with
these the procession was
closed.
Having been misinformed as to the time of the entry
of the Mahh'mil, on my
arriving at the principal street
of the city 1 found myself in the midst of
the procession;
but the Mahh'mil had passed. Mounting a
donkey that I
had hired, I endeavoured to overtake it;
but it was very difficult to make
any progress: so, without
further loss of time, I took advantage of some
bystreets;
and again joined the procession: I found,
however, that I
had made very little advancement. I
therefore dismounted; and, after
walking and running,
and dodging between the legs of the Bed'awees'
horses,

for about half an hour, at length
caught a glimpse of
the Mahh'mil, and, by a great effort, and much
squeezing, overtook it soon after; about a quarter of an
hour before it
entered the great open place called the
Roomey'leh, before the Citadel.
After touching it three
times, and kissing my hand, I caught hold of the
fringe,
and walked by its side. The guardian of the sacred
object, who
walked behind it, looked very hardly at me,
and induced me to utter a pious
ejaculation, which perhaps
prevented his displacing me; or possibly my
dress
influenced him; for he only allowed other persons to
approach
and touch it one by one; and then drove
them back. I continued to walk by
its side, holding
the fringe, nearly to the entrance of the
Roomey'leh.
On my telling a Moos'lim friend, to-day, that I had
done
this, he expressed great astonishment; and said
that he had never heard of
any one having done so
before; and that the Prophet had certainly taken a
love
for me, or I could not have been allowed: he added,
that I had
derived an inestimable blessing; and that it
would be prudent in me not to
tell any others of my
Moos'lim friends of this fact, as it would make
them
envy me so great a privilege, and perhaps displease them.
I
cannot learn why the Mahh'mil is esteemed so sacred.
Many persons showed an
enthusiastic eagerness to touch
it; and I heard a soldier exclaim, as it
passed him,
“O my Lord! Thou hast denied my performing the
pilgrimage! “The streets through which it passed
were densely
crowded: the shops were closed; and the
mus'tub'ahs occupied by spectators.
It arrived at the
Roomey'leh about an hour and a half after it had
entered the metropolis: it crossed this large place to the
entrance of the
long—open space called Ckar'a Meyda'n:

next proceeded along the latter
place, while about twelve
of the guns of the Citadel fired a salute: then
returned
to the Roomey'leh, and proceeded through it to the
northern
gate of the citadel, called Ba'b el-Wezee'r.
A curious custom is allowed to be practised on the
occasions of the
processions of the Mahh'mil and
Kis'weh; which latter, and a more pompous
procession
of the Mahh'mil, on its departure for Mek'keh, will he
hereafter described. Numbers of boys go about the
streets of the
metropolis, in companies; each boy
armed with a short piece of the thick
end of a palm-stick,
called muek'-ra”ah,
in which are made two or
three splits, extending from the larger end to
about half
the length; and any Christian or Jew whom they meet
they
accost with the demand of “Ha't
el-'a'deh,” or
“Give the customary
present:” if he refuse the gift of
five or ten fud'dahs, they
fall to beating him with their
muck'ra”ahs. Last year, a Frank
was beaten by some
boys, in accordance with tins custom, and sought
refuge
in a large weka'leh; but some of the boys entered after
him,
and repeated the beating. He complained to the
Ba'sha; who caused a severe
bastinading to be administered
to the sheykh of the weka'leh, for not
haying
protected him.
In the beginning of the month of
Rabee'a el-Ow'wal
(the third month) preparations are commenced for celebrating
the
festival of the Birth of the Prophet, which
is called
Moo'lid* en-Neb'ee. The principal scene of
this
festival is the south-west quarter of the large open
space called Bir'ket
el-Ezbekee'yeh, almost the whole
of which, during the season of the
inundation, becomes
* I have before mentioned that this
word is more properly pronounced
Mo'lid.

a lake: this is the case for
several years together at the
lime of the festival of the Prophet, which is
then celebrated
on the margin of the lake; but at present, the
dry bed
of the lake is the chief scene of the festival.
In the quarter above
mentioned, several large tents
(called
seewa'ns)
are pitched; mostly for durwee'shes;
who, every night, while the festival
lasts, assemble in
them, to perform zikrs. Among these is erected a
mast (
sa'ree), firmly secured by ropes, and with a
dozen
or more lamps hung to it. Around it, numerous durwee'shessss,
generally about fifty or sixty, form a ring, and
repeat zikrs. Near the
same spot is erected what is
termed a
cka'ïm; which consists of four masts erected
in a line, a
few yards apart, with numerous ropes
stretched from one to the other and to
the ground:
upon these ropes are hung many lamps; sometimes in
the
form of flowers, lions, &c.; sometimes, of words,
such as the
names of God and Mohham'mad, the profession
of the faith, &c.;
and sometimes arranged in a
merely fanciful, ornamental manner. The
preparations
for the festival are generally completed on the second
day of the month; and on the following day, the rejoicings
and ceremonies
begin: these continue, day and
night, until the close of the twelfth night
of the month;
that is, according to the Mohhammadan mode of
reckoning,
the night preceding the twelfth day of the
month; which night is that of
the Moo'lid, properly
speaking
*. During this period of ten days and
nights,
* The twelfth day of Rabee'a
el-Ow'wal is also the anniversary
of the death
of Mohham'mad. It is remarkable that his birth
and death are both
related to have happened on the same day of
the same month, and on the
same day of the week, namely,
Monday.

numbers of the inhabitants of the
metropolis flock to
the Ezbekee'yeh. I write these notes during the
Moo'lid;
and shall describe the festival of this year (the year
of the
Flight 1250,
A. D. 1834); mentioning some
particulars
in which it differs from those of former years.
During the day-time, the people assembled at the
principal scene of the
festival are amused by Shaӑrs
(or reciters of the
romance of Ab'oo Zeyd), conjurers,
buffoons,
&c. The Ghawa'zee have lately been compelled
to vow
repentance, and to relinquish their profession
of dancing, &c.:
consequently, there are now
none of them at the festival. These girls used
to be
among the most attractive of all the performers. In
some parts
of the neighbouring streets, a few swings
and whirligigs are erected
“and numerous stalls for the
sale of sweetmeats, &c.
Sometimes, rope-dancers, who
are gipsies, perform at this festival; but
there are none
this year. At night, the streets above mentioned are
lighted with many lamps, which are mostly hung in
lanterns of wood
*: numbers
of shops and stalls, stocked
with eatables, chiefly sweetmeats, are open
during almost
the whole of the night; and so also are the
coffee-shops;
at some of which, as well as in other places,
Shaӑrs or Mohhad'dits amuse whoever chooses to stop,
and listen to their recitations. Every night, an hour
or more after
midnight, processions of durwee'shes pass
through this quarter: instead of
bearing flags, as they
do in the day, they carry long staves, with a number
of
lamps attached to them, at the upper part, and called
men'wars. The procession of a company of
durwee'shes,
whether by day, with flags, or by night, with men'wars,
* Like that represented in page 203
of the former volume of
this work.

is called the procession of the
isha'rah of the sect; that
is, of the
banner; or, rather, the term
“isha'rah” is
applied to the procession itself. These
durwee'shes are
mostly persons of the lower orders; and have no
distinguishing
dress: the greater number wear an ordinary
turban; and
some of them, merely a turboo'sh, or a
padded or felt cap; and most of them
wear the common
blue linen or cotton, or brown woollen, shirt; the
dress
which they wear on other occasions, at their daily work,
or at
their shops.
On the last two nights, the festival is more numerously
attended than on the
preceding nights; and the
attractions are greater. I shall describe what I
have
just witnessed on the former of these nights.
This being the eleventh night of the lunar month, the
moon was high, and
enlivened the scenes of festivity. I
passed on to a street called Soo'ck
El-Bek'ree, on the
south of the Bir'ket el-Ezbekee'yeh, to witness what
I
was informed would be the best of the zikrs that were
to be
performed. The streets through which I passed
were crowded; and persons
were here allowed, on this
occasion, to go about without lanterns. As is
usually
the case at night, there were scarcely any women among:
the
passengers. At the scene of the zikr in the Soo'ck
El-Bek'ree, which was
more crowded than any other
place, was suspended a very large
nerg'efeh (a chandelier,
or rather a number of
chandeliers, chiefly of glass, one
below another, placed in such a manner
that they all
appeared but one), containing about two or three hundred
ckandee'ls (or small glass lamps
*). Around this
were
many lanterns of wood; each having several ckandee'ls
hanging through the
bottom. These lights were
* Represented in page 188 of the
former volume.

not hung merely in honour of the
Prophet: they were
near a
za'wiyeh (or small
mosque) in which is buried
the sheykh Durwee'sh
* El-Ashma'wee; and this
night
was his Moo'lid. A zikr is performed here every Friday-night
(or
what
we call Thursday-night); but not with so
much
display as on the present occasion. I observed
many Christian black turbans
here; and having seen
scarcely any elsewhere this night, and heard the
frequent
cry of “A grain of salt in the eye of him who
doth
not bless the Prophet,” ejaculated by the sellers of
sweetmeats,
&c., which seemed to show that Christians
and Jews were at least
in danger of being insulted, at
a time when the zeal of the Moos'lims was
unusually
excited, I asked the reason why so many Copts should
be
congregated at the scene of this zikr: I was answered,
that a Copt, who had
become a Moos'lim, voluntarily
paid all the expenses of this Moo'lid of the
sheykh
Durwee'sh. This sheykh was very much revered: he
was
disordered in mind, or imitated the acts of a madman;
often taking bread,
and other eatables, and
stamping upon them; or throwing them into dirt;
and
doing many other things directly forbidden by his religion:
yet
was he esteemed an eminent saint; for such
acts, as I have remarked on a
former occasion, are considered
the results of the soul's being absorbed in
devotion.
He died about eight years ago.
* This was his name; not a
title.
The
zikkee'rs (or performers of the zikr), who were
about thirty in number, sat, cross-legged, upon matting
extended close to
the houses on one side of
the street, in the form of an oblong ring.
Within
this ring, along the middle of the matting, were placed
three
very large wax-candles; each about four feet high,

and stuck in a low candlestick.
Most of the zikkee'rs
were Ahh'med'ee durwee'shes, persons of the
lower
orders, and meanly dressed: many of them wore green
turbans. At
one end of the ring were four
moon'shids
(or singers of poetry), and with them was a player on
the kind of
flute called
na'y. I procured a small seat of
palm-sticks from a coffee-shop close by, and, by means of
a little pushing,
and the assistance of my servant,
obtained a place with the moon'shids, and
sat there to
hear a complete act, or
meg'lis, of
the zikr; which I
shall describe as completely as I can, to convey a
notion
of the kind of zikr most common and most approved in
Cairo. It
commenced at about three o'clock (or three
hours after sunset); and
continued two hours.
The performers began by reciting the Fa't'hhah,
altogether; their sheykh or
chief first exclaiming, “El-Fa't'hhah!”
They then
chanted the following words.
“O God, favour our lord Mohham'mad
among the former
generations; and favour our lord Mohham'mad
among the
latter generations; and favour our lord
Mohham'mad in every time and
period; and favour our
lord Moham'mad in the highest degree, unto the day
of
judgment; and favour all the prophets and apostles
among the
inhabitants of the heavens and of the earth;
and may God, whose name be
blessed and exalted, be
well pleased with our lords and our masters, those
persons
of illustrious estimation, Ab'oo Bekr and 'Om'ar
and 'Osma'n
and 'Al'ee, and with all the favourites of
God. God is our sufficiency; and
excellent is the
Guardian. There is no strength nor power but in God,
the High, the Great! O God! O our Lord! O thou liberal of pardon! O thou
most bountiful of the most
bountiful! O God! Amen!” They were
then silent for

three or four minutes; and again
recited the Fa't'hhah;
but silently. This form of prefacing the zikr is
commonly
used, by almost all orders of durwee'shes in
Egypt. It is
called
istifta'hh ez-zikr.
After this preface, the performers began the zikr.
Sitting in the manner
above described, they chanted, in
slow measure, “
La' ila'ha il'la-lla'h” (” There
is no
deity but God”) to the following air,

bowing the head and body twice in each
repetition of
“La' ila'ha il'la-lla'h.” Thus they
continued about a
quarter of an hour; and then, for about the same
space
of time, they repeated the same words to the same air,
but in a
quicker measure, and with correspondingly
quicker motions. In the meantime,
the moon'shids
frequently sang, to the same, or a variation of the
same,
air, portions of a
ckasee'deh, or of a
moowesh' shahh; an
ode of a similar nature to the
Song' of Solomon, generally
alluding to the Prophet as the object of love
and praise.
I shall here give a translation of one of these moowesh'shahhs,
which are
very numerous, as a specimen
of their style, from a book containing a
number of
these poems, which I have purchased during the present
Moo'lid, from a durwee'sh who presides at many zikrs.
He pointed out the
following poem as one of those most
common at zikrs, and as one which was
sung; at the
zikr which I have begun to describe. I translate it
verse
for verse; and imitate the measure and system of
rhyme of the original,
with this difference only, that the
first, third, and fifth lines of each
stanza rhyme with
each other in the original, but not in my translation.
“With love my heart is troubled;
And mine eye-lid hind'reth sleep:
My vitals are dissever'd;
“While with streaming tears I weep.
My union seems far distant:
Will my love e'er meet mine eye?
Alas! Did not estrangement
Draw my tears, I would not sigh.
“By dreary nights I'm wasted:
Absence makes my hope expire:
My tears, like pearls, are dropping;
And my heart is wrapt in fire.
Whose is like my condition?
Scarcely know I remedy.
Alas! Did not estrangement
Draw my tears, I would not sigh.
“O turtle-dove! acquaint me
Wherefore thus dost thou lament?
Art thou so stung by absence?
Of thy wings depriv'd, and pent?
He saith, 'Our griefs are equal:
Worn away with love, I lie.'
Alas! Did not estrangement
Draw my tears, I would not sigh.
“O First and Everlasting!
Show thy favour yet to me.
Thy slave, Ahh'mad El-Bek'ree
*,
* The author of the poem. The
singer sometimes puts his
own name in the place of this.
Hath no Lord excepting Thee.
By Ta'-Ha'
†, the great Prophet!
†
Ta'-Ha' (as I have mentioned on a former
occasion) is a
name of the Arabian Prophet.
Do thou not his wish deny.
Alas! Did not estrangement
Draw my tears, I would not sigh.”
I must translate a few more lines, to show more
strongly the similarity of
these songs to that of Solomon;
and lest it should be thought that I have
varied
the expressions, I shall not attempt to render them into
verse.
In the same collection of poems sung at zikrs
is one which begins with
these lines.
“O gazelle from among the gazelles of El-Yem'en'.
I am thy slave without cost:
O thou small of age, and fresh of skin I
O thou who art scarce past the time of drinking
milk!”
In the first of these verses, we have a comparison
exactly agreeing with
that in the concluding verse of
Solomon's Song; for the word which, in our
Bible, is
translated a “roe” is used in Arabic as
synonymous
with ghaza't (or a gazelle); and the
mountains of El-Yem'en
are “the mountains of
spices.”—This poem
ends with the following lines.
“The phantom of thy form visited me in my slumber:
I said. 'O phantom of slumber! who sent thee?”
He said, 'AE sent me whom thou knowest;
He whose love occupies thee.'
The beloved of my heart visited me in the darkness of night:
I stood, to show him honour, until he sat down.
I said, ' O thou my petition, and all my desire!
Hast thou come at midnight, and not feared the watchmen?'
He said to me ' I feared; but, however, love
Had taken from me my soul and my breath.' ”
Compare the above with the second and five following
verses of the fifth
chapter of Solomon's Song.—Finding
that songs of this
description are extremely numerous,
and almost the only poems sung at
zikrs; that
they are composed for this purpose, and intended only
to
have a spiritual sense (though certainly not understood
in such a sense by
the generality of the vulgar
*);
I cannot entertain any doubt as to
the design of Solomon's
Song. The specimens which I have just given
of
the religious love-songs of the Moos'lims have not
been selected in
preference to others as most agreeing
with that of Solomon; but as being in
frequent use;
and the former of the two, as having been sung at the
zikr which I have begun to describe. I must now
resume the description of
that zikr.
* As a proof of this, I may mention,
that, since the above was
written, I have found the last six of the
lines here translated, with
some slight alterations, inserted as a
common love-song in a portion
of the Thousand and One Nights printed at
Calcutta (vol. i.,
p. 425).
At frequent intervals (as is customary in other zikrs),
one of the
moon'shids sang out the word med'ed';
accenting each syllable. “Med'ed” signifies, when
thus
used, spiritual or supernatural aid, and implies an invocation
for such aid.
The zikkee'rs, after having performed as above described,
next repeated the
same words to a different air,

for about the same length of
time; first, very slowly;
then, quickly. The air was as follows:

Then they repeated these words again, to the following air,
in the same
manner:

They next rose, and, standing in the same order in
which they had been
sitting, repeated the same words
to another air. During this stage of their
performance,
they were joined by a tall, well-dressed, black slave,
whose appearance induced me to inquire who he was:
I was informed that he
was a eunuch, belonging to the
Ba'sha. The zikkee'rs, still standing, next
repeated the

same words in a very deep and
hoarse tone; laying the
principal emphasis upon the word
La' and the first syllable
of the last word
(Al'lah); and uttering, apparently,
with a considerable effort:
the sound much resembled
that which is produced by beating the rim of a
tambourine.
Each zikkee'r turned his head alternately
to the right and
left at each repetition of “La' ila'ha il'la-l'lah.”
The eunuch above mentioned, during this
part of the zikr, became what is
termed
melboo's, or
possessed. Throwing his arms
about, and looking up,
with a very wild expression of countenance, he
exclaimed,
in a very high tone, and with great vehemence
and rapidity,
“Al'lah! Al'lah! Al'lah! Al'lah! Al'la'h!
la' la' la' la' la'
la' la' la' la' la' la' la' la'h! Ya' 'am'mee
*!
Ya”am'mee!
Ya”am'mee Ashma'wee! Ya' Ashma'-wee!
Ya' Ashma'wee! Ya'
Ashma'wee!” His voice
gradually became faint; and when he had
uttered these
words, though he was held by a durwee'sh who was
next
him, he fell on the ground, foaming at the mouth,
his eyes closed, his
limbs convulsed, and his fingers
clenched over his thumbs. It was an
epileptic fit: no
one could see it, and believe it to be the effect of
feigned emotions: it was undoubtedly the result of a
high state of
religious excitement. Nobody seemed surprised
at it; for occurrences of
this kind at zikrs are
not uncommon. All the performers now appeared
much
excited; repeating their ejaculations with greater rapidity,
violently turning their heads, and sinking the
whole body at the same time:
some of them jumping.
The eunuch became melboo's again, several times;
and
I generally remarked that his fits happened after one of
the
moon'shids had sung a line or two, and exerted
* “Ya'
'am'mee!” signifies “O my uncle!”

himself more than usually to
excite his hearers: the,
singing was, indeed, to my taste, very pleasing.
Towards
the close of the zikr, a private soldier, who had
joined
throughout the whole performance, also seemed,
several times, to be
melboo's; growling in a horrible
manner, and violently shaking his head
from side to
side. The contrast presented by the vehement and
distressing
exertions of the performers at the close of the
zikr, and
their calm gravity and solemnity of manner at
the commencement, was
particularly striking. Money
was collected during the performance, for the
moon'shids
*.
The zikkee'rs receive no pay.
* Few of the spectators, or hearers,
gave more than ten fud'dahs;
and those of the poorer classes gave
nothing, and indeed
were nut solicited.
An isha'rah passed during the meg'lis of the zikr
above described. This zikr
continues all night, until
the morning call to prayer: the performers only
resting
between each meg'lis; generally taking coffee, and
some of
them smoking.
It was midnight before I turned from this place to
the Bir'ket
El-Ezbekee'yeh. Here, the moonlight and
the lamps together produced a
singular effect: several
of the lamps of the cka'im, of the sa'ree, and of
the
tents, had, however, become extinguished; and many
persons v. ere lying asleep upon the bare ground, taking
their night's rest. The zikr of the durwee'shes round
the sa'ree had
terminated: I shall therefore describe
this hereafter from my observation
of it on the next
night. After having witnessed several zikrs in the
tents, I returned to my house to sleep.
On the following day (that immediately preceding
what is properly called the
night of the Moo'lid), I went

again to the Ezbekee'yeh, about
an hour before noon;
but there were not many persons collected there at
that
time; nor was there much to amuse them: I saw only
two or three
conjurors and buffoons and sha'ërs; each
of whom had collected a
small ring of spectators and
hearers. The concourse, however, gradually
increased;
for a very remarkable spectacle was to be witnessed; a
sight which, every year, on this day, attracts a multitude
of wondering
beholders. This is called the
Do'seh,
or Treading.
I shall now describe it.
The sheykh of the Saadee'yeh durwee'shes (the seyd
Mohham'mad
El-Menzela'wee), who is khatee'b (or
preacher) of the mosque of the
Hhasaney'n, after having,
as they say, passed a part of the last night
in
solitude, repeating certain prayers and secret invocations
and
passages from the Ckoor-a'n, repaired this
day (being Friday) to the mosque
above mentioned,
to perform his accustomed duty. The noon-prayers and
preaching being concluded, he rode thence to the house
of the Sheykh
El-Bek'ree, who presides over all the
orders of durwee'shes in Egypt. This
house is on the
southern side of the Bir'ket El-Ezbekee'yeh, next to
that which stands at the south-western angle. On his
way from the mosque,
he was joined by numerous parties
of Sa'adee durwee'shes from different
districts of
the metropolis: the members from each district bearing
a
pair “of flags. The sheykh is an old, grey-bearded
man, of an
intelligent and amiable countenance, and
fair complexion. He wore, this
day, a white ben'ish,
and a white cka'oo'ck (or padded cap, covered
with
cloth), having a turban composed of muslin of a very
deep
olive-colour, scarcely to be distinguished from
black, with a strip of
white muslin bound obliquely

across the front. The horse upon
which he rode was
one of moderate height and weight; my reason for
mentioning this will presently be seen. The sheykh
entered the Bir'ket
El-Ezbekee'yeh preceded by a very
numerous procession of the durwee'shes of
whom he is
the chief. In the way through this place, the procession
stopped at a short distance before the house of the
Sheykh El-Bek'ree.
Here, a considerable number of
the durwee'shes and others (I am sure that
there were
more than sixty, but I could not count their number
*)
laid themselves down upon the ground, side by side, as
close as possible to
each other, having their backs
upwards, their legs extended, and their arms
placed
together beneath their foreheads. They incessantly
muttered the
word Al'lah! About twelve or more durwee'shes,
most without their shoes,
then ran over the
backs of their prostrate companions; some, beating
ba'zes, or little drums, of a hemispherical form, held
in
the left hand; and exclaiming' Al'lah! and then the
sheykh
approached: his horse hesitated, for several
minutes, to step upon the back
of the first of the prostrate
men; but being pulled, and urged on behind,
he
at length stepped upon him; and then, without, apparent
fear,
ambled, with a high pace, over them all, led by
two persons, who ran over
the prostrate men; one
sometimes treading on the feet; and the other, on
the
heads. The spectators immediately raised a long cry of
“Al'la'h la' la' la' la' la'h!” Not one of the men
thus
trampled upon by the horse seemed to be hurt; but
each, the
moment that the animal had passed over him,
* I believe there were double this
number: for I think I may
safely say that I saw as many as double on a
subsequent occasion,
at the festival of the Meara'g, which will
hereafter be described.

The Do'seh


jumped up, and followed the
sheykh. Each of them
received two treads from the horse; one from one
of
his fore-legs, and a second from a hind-leg. It is said
that these
persons, as well as the sheykh, make use of
certain words
* (that
is, repeat prayers and invocations)
on the day preceding this performance,
to enable them
to endure, without injury, the tread of the horse; and
that some not thus prepared, having the temerity to lie
down to be rode
over, have, on more than one occasion,
been either killed or severely
injured. The performance
is considered as a miracle effected through
supernatural
power which has been granted to every successive sheykh
of the Saadee'yeh
†. Some persons assert that the
horse is unshod for
the occasion; but I thought I could
perceive that this was not the case.
They say also, that
the animal is trained for the purpose: but, if so,
this
would only account for the least surprising of the circumstances;
I mean, for the fact of the horse being
made to tread on human beings; an
act from which, it
is well known, that animal is very averse. The
present
sheykh of the Saadee'yeh refused, for several years, to
perform the Do'seh. By much intreaty, he was prevailed
upon to empower
another person to do it. This
person, a blind man, did it successfully; but
soon after
died; and the sheykh of the Saadee'yeh then yielded
to the
request of his durwee'shes; and has since always
performed the Do'seh
himself.
† It is said that the second sheykh
of the Saadee'yeh (the
immediate successor of the ounder of the order)
rode over heaps
of glass bottles, without breaking any of them!
After the sheykh had accomplished this extraordinary
performance, without
the slightest appearance of any untoward

accident, he rode into the
garden, and entered
the house, of the Sheykh El-Bek'ree, accompanied
by
only
a few durwee'shes. On my presenting myself
at
the door, a servant admitted me; and I joined the
assembly within.
The sheykh, having dismounted,
seated himself on a segga'deh spread upon
the pavement
against the end-wall of a tukhtabo'sh (or wide recess)
of
the court of the house. He sat with bended back,
and down-cast countenance,
and tears in his eyes; muttering
almost incessantly. I stood almost close
to him.
Eight other persons sat with him. The durwee'shes who
had
entered with him, who were about twenty in number,
stood in the form of a
semicircle before him, upon some
matting placed for them; and around them
were about
fifty or sixty other persons. Six durwee'shes, advancing
towards him, about two yards, from the semicircle, commenced
a zikr; each
of them exclaiming, at the same
time,
“Alla'hoo hhei'!” (“God is
living!”), and, at
each exclamation, beating, with a kind of
small and
short leather strap, a
ba'z, which he
held, by a boss at
the bottom, in his left hand. This they did for only
a
few minutes. A black slave then became melboo's; and
rushed into the
midst of the durwee'shes; throwing his
arms about; and exclaiming,
” Al'la'h la' la' la' la' la'h!”
A person held him,
and he soon seemed to recover.
The durwee'shes, altogether, standing' as
first described,
in the form of a semicircle, then performed a second
zikr; each alternate zikkee'r exclaiming,
“Alla'hoo hhei'!
(” God is living!”); and the others, “
Ya' hhei'!
(” O thou living!”), and all of them bowing at
each exclamation, alternately to the right and left. This
they continued
for about ten minutes. Then, for about
the same space of time, in the same
manner, and with

the same motions, they exclaimed,
“Da'ïm!”
(” Everlasting!”) and, “
Ya'
Da'ïm!” (” O
Everlasting!”). I
felt an irresistible impulse to try if I could
do the same
without being noticed as an intruder; and accordingly
joined the semicircle, and united in the performance; in
which I succeeded
well enough not to attract observation;
but I worked myself into a most
uncomfortable
heat.—After the zikr just described, a person
began to
chant a portion of the Ckoor-a'n: but the zikr was
soon
resumed; and continued for about a quarter of an
hour. Most of the
durwee'shes there present then kissed
the hand of the sheykh; and he
retired to an upper
apartment.
It used to be a custom of some of the Saadee'yeh, on
this occasion, after
the Do'seh, to perform their celebrated
feat of eating live serpents,
before a select assembly,
in the house of the Sheykh El-Bek'ree: but
their
present sheykh has lately put a stop to this practice in
the
metropolis; justly declaring it to be disgusting, and
contrary to the
religion, which includes serpents among
the creatures that are unfit to be
eaten. Serpents and
scorpions were not unfrequently eaten by Sa'adees
during
my former visit to this country. The former were
deprived of
(heir poisonous teeth, or rendered harmless by
having their upper and lower
lips bored, and tied together
on each side with a silk string, to prevent
their biting; and
sometimes, those which were merely carried in
processions
had two silver rings put in place of the silk strings.
Whenever a Sa'adee ate the flesh of a live serpent, he
was, or affected to
be, excited to do so by a kind of
frenzy. He pressed very hard, with the
end of his
thumb, upon the reptile's back, as he grasped it, at a
point about two inches from the head; and all that he

ate of it was the head and the
part between it and the
point where his thumb pressed; of which he made
three
or four mouthfuls: the rest he threw away.—Serpents,
however, are not always handled with impunity even by
Sa'adees. A few years
ago, a durwee'sh of this sect,
who was called
“el-Feel” (or the Elephant), from his
bulky and
muscular form, and great strength, and who
was the most famous
serpent-eater of his time, and
almost of any age, having a desire to rear a
serpent of a
very venomous kind which his boy had brought him
among
others that he had collected in the desert, put
this reptile into a basket,
and kept it for several days
without food, to weaken it: he then put his
hand into
the basket, to take it out, for the purpose of extracting
its teeth; but it immediately bit his thumb: he called
out for help: there
were, however, none but women in
the house; and they feared to come to him;
so that
many minutes elapsed before he could obtain assistance:
his
whole arm was then found to be swollen and black;
and he died after a few
hours.
No other ceremonies worthy of notice were performed
on the day of the
Do'seh. The absence of the Ghawa'zee
rendered the festival less merry than
it used to be.
In the ensuing night, that which is properly called the
night of the
Moo'lid, I went again to the principal scene
of the festival. Here I
witnessed a zikr performed by
a ring of about sixty durwee'shes round the
sa'ree. The moon was sufficient, without the lamps, to
light up the
scene. The durwee'shes who formed the ring round the
sa'ree were of various orders; but the zikr which they
performed was of a
kind usual only among the order of
the Bei'yoo'mee'yeh. In one act of this
zikr, the performers

exclaimed, “,
Ya' Al'la'h.”' (” O
God!”); and, at
each exclamation, first bowed their heads,
crossing their
hands at the same time before their breasts; then
raised their heads, and clapped their hands together before
their faces.
The interior of the ring was crowded
with persons sitting on the ground.
The zikkee'rs continued
as above described about half an hour. Next,
they formed companies of five or six or more together;
but still in the
form of a large ring. The persons in these
several companies held together;
each (with the exception
of the foremost in the group) placing his left
arm
behind the back of the one on his left side, and the hand
upon the
left shoulder of the latter: all facing the spectators
outside the ring.
They exclaimed
“Al'lah!” in
an excessively deep and hoarse voice
*; and at each
exclamation took a
step, one time forwards, and the next
time backwards; but each advancing a
little to his left
at every forward step; so that the whole ring
revolved;
though very slowly. Each of the zikkee'rs held out his
right
hand, to salute the spectators outside the ring;
most of whom, if near
enough, grasped, and sometimes
kissed, each extended hand as it came before
them.—
Whenever a zikr is performed round the sa'ree, those
in
the tents cease. I saw one other zikr this night; a repetition
of
that of the preceding night in the Soo'ck El-Bek'ree.
There was nothing
else to attract spectators
or hearers, excepting the reciters of
romances.—The festival
terminated at the morning-call to prayer;
and all
the zikrs except that in the Soo'ck El-Bek'ree, ceased
about
three hours after midnight. In the course of the
following day, the
cka'ïm, sa'ree, tents, &c., were removed.
* Performers of zikrs of this kind
have been called, by various
travellers, “barking, or
howling, dervises.”
[Back to top]
CHAPTER XII.
PERIODICAL PUBLIC FESTIVALS,
&c.—continued.
IT might seem unnecessary to continue a detailed
account of the periodical public festivals and other anniversaries
celebrated in Egypt, were it not that many of
the customs witnessed on
these occasions are every year
falling into disuse, and have never,
hitherto, been fully
and correctly described. Hoping that this apology
will
be accepted, I proceed.
During a fortnight in the month of
Rabee'a et-Ta'nee
(the fourth month), the mosque of the Hhasaney'n is
the scene of a
festival called
Moo'lid El-Hhasaney'n,
celebrated
in honour of the birth of El-Hhosey'n,
whose head, as I have before
mentioned, is said to be
there buried. This Moo'lid is the most famous of
all
those celebrated in
Cairo, excepting that of the Prophet.
The
grand day of the Moo'lid El-Hhasaney'n is always
a Tuesday; and the night
which is properly called that
of the Moo'lid is the one immediately
ensuing, which is
termed that of Wednesday: this is generally about
five
or six weeks after the Moo'lid en-Neb'ee; and concludes
the
festival. This present year (I am writing at the
time of the festival which
I here describe, in the year of
the Flight 1250,
A.
D. 1834), the eve of the 21st of the
month having been fixed upon as
the night of the
Moo'lid, the festival began on the eve of the 7th. On
the two evenings preceding the eve of the 7th, the
mosque was lighted with
a few more lamps than is

usual; and this is customary in
other years; but these
two nights are not distinguished like those which
follow.
On each of the fourteen great nights before mentioned,
the
mosque is illuminated with a great number of lamps,
and many wax candles;
some of which latter are five or
six feet high, and very thick. This
illumination is made,
on the first night, by the na'zir (or warden) of
the
mosque; from the funds of the mosque: on the second
night, by the
governor of the metropolis (at present
Hhabee'b Efen'dee): on the following
nights, by the
sheykhs of certain orders of durwee'shes; by some of
the higher officers of the mosque; and by wealthy individuals.
On each of
these nights, those shops at which
eatables, sherbet, &c. are
sold, as well as the coffee-shops,
in the neighbourhood of the mosque, and
even many of
those in other quarters, remain open until near morning:
and the streets in the vicinity of the mosque are
thronged with persons
lounging about, or listening to
musicians, singers, and reciters of
romances. The
mosque is also generally crowded. Here we find, in
one
part of the great portico, a company of persons sitting
on the floor in two
rows, facing each other, and
reading, altogether, certain chapters of the
Ckoor-a'n.
This is called a
muck'ra. Sometimes
there are several
groups thus employed. In another place, we find a
similar group reading, from a book called “Dela'l
el-Kheyra't,”'
invocations of blessing on the Prophet.
Again, in other places, we find a group of persons reciting
particular
forms of prayer; and another, or others,
performing a zikr, or zikrs.
Winding about among
these groups (whose devotional exercises are
performed
for the sake of El-Hhosey'n), or sitting upon the malting,
are those other visitors whom piety, or curiosity, or

the love of amusement, brings to
this venerated sanctuary.
There is generally an assembly of
durwee'shes
or others in the saloon of the tomb (which is covered by
the great dome, and is called the
ckoob'beh)
reciting
forms of prayer, &c.; and the visitors usually enter
the
saloon, to perform the ceremonies of reciting' the Fa't'-hhah,
and
circuiting the shrine; but the most frequented
part is the great portico;
where the zikrs, and most of
the other ceremonies are performed.
Every night during this festival, we see Isha'rahs, or
processions of
durwee'shes, of one or more sects, passing
through the streets to the
Hhasaney'n, preceded by two
or more men with drums, and generally with
hautboys,
and sometimes with cymbals also; accompanied by
bearers of
mesh”als; and usually having one or more
lanterns. They collect
their party on their way, at their
respective houses. Whenever they pass by
the tomb of
a saint, their music ceases for a short time, and they
recite the Fa't'hhah, or a form of blessing on the Prophet,
similar to that
preparatory to the zikr, which I
have translated in my account of the
Moo'lid of the
Prophet. They do this without stopping. Arriving
at the
mosque, they enter; some of them with candles;
visit the shrine; and go
away; with the exception of
their sheykh and a few others, who sometimes
remain
in the ckoob'beh, and join in reciting prayers, &c.
One of the nights which offer most attractions is that
of the Friday (that
is, preceding the Friday) next, before
the night of the Moo'lid. It is the
night of the sheykh
El-Go'heree, a person of wealth, who illuminates
the
mosque on this occasion with an unusual profusion of
lights. On
this night, I went to the mosque about two
hours after sunset; before any
of the ceremonies had
commenced. The nearer I approached the building

the more crowded did I find the
streets. In one place,
were musicians: before a large coffee-shop, were
two
Greek dancing-boys, or
gink, elegant but
effeminate in
appearance, with flowing hair, performing' to the
accompaniment
of mandolines played by two of their countrymen;
and a
crowd of admiring Turks, with a few
Egyptians, surrounding them. They
performed there
also the evening before; and, I was told, became so
impudent from the patronage they received as to make
an open seizure of a
basket of grapes in the street.
On entering the mosque, I found it far more crowded
than usual; more so than
on the preceding nights; but
the lights were scarcely more numerous than
are sometimes
seen in an English church; and the chandeliers
and
lamps, of the most common kind. A loud and confused
din resounded through
the great portico; and
there was nothing as yet to be seen or heard, and
indeed
little afterwards, that seemed suited to a religious festival.
A great number of Turks, and some persons of
my own acquaintance, were
among the visitors. I first
sat down to rest with one of my friends, a
bookseller,
and several of his fellow-durwee'shes, who were about to
perform a zikr, at which he was to preside. I was
treated by them with
coffee; for which I had to pay by
giving the moon'shids a piaster. Soon
after they had
begun their zikr, which was similar to the first which
I
have described in the account of the Moo'lid of the Prophet,
I got
up to visit the shrine, and to saunter about.
Having paid my visit, I
returned from the saloon of the
tomb; in which was a large assembly of
durwee'shes
reciting prayers, sitting in the form of a square, as
large
as the saloon would admit, with the exception of that
part which
contained the shrine. On re-entering the

great portico, I perceived a
great disturbance; numbers
of persons were pressing to one point, at a
little distance
from me; and I heard a man crying out,
“
Nusra'nee!
Ka'fir!” (“A Christian! an
Infidel!”). Concluding
that one of the visitors had been
discovered to be a
Christian, I expected a great uproar; but on asking
one
of the bystanders what had occurred, I was told that
these words
were only used as terms of insult by one
Moos'lim to another who had given
him some offence.
An officer of the mosque came running from the
ckoub'beh,
with a staff in his hand; and soon restored order;
but
whether he expelled both, or either, of the persons
who occasioned the
disturbance, I could not discover;
and I thought it prudent, in my case, to
ask no further
questions. By the entrance of the ckoob'beh was a
party
reading, in a very loud voice, and in concert, the
Dela'il, before
mentioned. After standing for a few
minutes to hear them, though the
confusion of their
voices rendered it impossible for me to distinguish
many
words that they uttered, I returned to the zikr which I
had first
attended.
Shortly after, I heard the loud sounds of the tambourines
of a party of
'Ee'sa'wee'yeh durwee'shes, whose
performances constituted one of the chief
attractions of
the night, from the other end of the great portico. I
immediately rose, and went thither. My friend the
bookseller, quitting his
zikr, came after me, and imprudently
called out to me,
“Efen'dee! take care of your
purse! “In a minute, I
felt my trowsers pulled, several
times; and afterwards I found a large hole
in them,
apparently cut with some sharp instrument, by a person
in
search of my pocket: for, when the mosque is crowded
as it was on this
occasion, it generally happens that

some thieves enter even this most
sacred building
*. I
had almost despaired of getting near to the
'Ee'sa'-wee'yeh,
when my servant, whom I had taken thither to
carry my
shoes, called out to the persons around me,
“Do you know whom
you are pushing? “and instantly
I found a way made for me. It
was then about three
hours after sunset.
* Thefts are also sometimes committed
in this mosque on other
occasion; as a friend of mine lately
experienced—“I went
there,” said he,
“to pray; and, as I was stooping over the brink
of the mey'da-ah, to perform the ablution, having placed my
shoes
beside me, and was saying, 'I purpose to perform the divine
ordinance of the woodoo,' somebody behind me said to
himself,
'I purpose to take away this nice pair of shoes.' On
looking
round, I found an old worn-out pair of shoes put in the place
of
my own, which were new.”
Before I describe the performances of the 'Ee'sa'wee'yeh,
I should mention,
that they are a class of durwee'shes
of whom all, or almost all, are
Mugh'reb'ees,
or Arabs of Northern Africa, to the west of Egypt.
They
derive their appellation from the name of their
first sheykh, 'Ee'sa, which
is the Arabic name of Jesus,
and not uncommon among Moos'lims, as they
acknowledge
and venerate the Messiah. Their performances
are very
extraordinary; and one is particularly remarkable.
I was very anxious that
they should peform, this
night, what I here allude to; and I was not
disappointed;
though I was told that they had not done it in
Cairo for
several years before.
I found about twenty of these durwee'shes, variously
dressed, sitting upon
the floor, close together, in the
form of a ring, next to the front-wall of
the building.
Each of them, excepting two, was beating a large
ta'r
(or tambourine), rather more than a foot in width, and

differing from the common ta'r in
being without the
tinkling pieces of metal which are attached to the
hoop
of the latter. One of the two persons mentioned as
exceptions was
beating a small ta'r of the common kind;
and the other, a
ba'z, or little kettle-drum. Before this
ring of
durwee'shes, a space rather larger than that
which they occupied was left
by the crowd for other durwee'shes
of the same order; and soon after the
former
had begun to beat their tambourines, the latter, who
were six
in number, commenced a strange kind of
dance; sometimes exclaiming
“Al'la'h!” and sometimes,
“Al'la'h Mowla'na!” (”
God is our Lord!”).
There was no regularity in their dancing;
but each
seemed to be performing the antics of a madman; now,
moving
his body up and down; the next moment,
turning round; then, using odd
gesticulations with his
arms; next, jumping; and sometimes, screaming:
in
short, if a stranger, observing them, were not told that
they were
performing a religious exercise, supposed to
be the involuntary effect of
enthusiastic excitement, he
would certainly think that these dancing
durwee'shes
were merely striving to excel one another in playing the
buffoon: and the manner in which they were clad
would conduce to impress
him with this idea. One of
them wore a ckufta'n without sleeves, and
without a
girdle; and had nothing on his head, which had not
been
shaved for about a week: another had a white
cotton scull-cap, but was
naked from the head to the
waist; wearing nothing on his body but a pair of
loose
drawers. These two durwee'shes were the principal
performers.
The former of them, a dark, spare, middle-aged
man, after having danced in
his odd manner for a
few minutes, and gradually become more wild and
extravagant

in his actions, rushed towards
the ring formed
by his brethren who were beating the ta'rs. In the
middle of this ring was placed a small chafing-dish of
tinned copper, full
of red-hot charcoal. From this, the
durwee'sh just mentioned seized a piece
of live charcoal,
which he put into his mouth; then did the same
with
another, another, and another, until his mouth was
full; when he
deliberately chewed these live coals,
opening his mouth very wide every
moment, to show its
contents, which, after about three minutes, he
swallowed;
and all this he did without evincing the slightest symptom
of pain; appearing, during the operation and after
it, even more lively
than before. The other durwee'sh
before, alluded to, as half-naked,
displayed a remarkably
fine and vigorous form; and seemed to be in the
prime
of his age. After having danced not much longer than
the former,
his actions became so violent that one of
his brethren held him; but he
released himself from
his grasp; and, rushing towards the chafing-dish,
took
out one of the largest live coals, and put it into his
mouth. He
kept his mouth wide open for about two
minutes; and during this period,
each time that he
inhaled, the large coal appeared of almost a white
heat;
and when he exhaled, numerous sparks were blown out
of his
mouth. After this, he chewed and swallowed the
coal; and then resumed his
dancing. When their performance
had lasted about half an hour, the
durwee'shes
paused to rest.
Before this pause, another party of the same sect had
begun to perform, near
the centre of the great portico.
Of these, I now became a spectator. They
had arranged
themselves in the same order as the former
party. The
ring composed by those who beat the tambourines

consisted of about the same
number as in
the other company; but the dancers here were about
twelve; sometimes less. One of them, a tall man,
dressed in a dark woollen
gown, and with a bare,
shaven head, took from the chafing-dish, which
was
handed to the dancers as though it had been a dish of
cakes or
sweetmeats, a large piece of brilliantly hot
coal; placed it between his
teeth, and kept it so for a
short time; then drew it upon his tongue; and,
keeping
his mouth wide open for, I think, more than two
minutes,
violently inhaled and exhaled, showing the
inside of his mouth like a
furnace, and breathing out
sparks, as the former durwee'sh had done; but
with less
appearance of excitement. Having chewed and swallowed
the
coal, he joined the ring of the tambourine-players;
and sat almost close to
my feet. I narrowly
watched his countenance; but could not see the
least
indication of his suffering any pain. After I had witnessed
these extraordinary performances for about an
hour, both parties of
durwee'shes stopped to rest; and
as there was nothing more to see worthy of
notice, I
then quitted the mosque
*.
* The performances of Richardson,
described in Evelyn's
Memoirs (pp. 375–6, 8vo. edition)
appear to have surpassed those
of the durwee'shes here
mentioned.
Sometimes, on this occasion, the 'Ee'sa'wee'yeh eat
glass as well as fire.
One of them, the hha'gg Mohham'mad
Es-Sela'wee, a man of gigantic stature,
who was
lamp-lighter in the mosque of the Hhasaney'n, and
who died a
few years ago, was one of the most famous of
the eaters of fire and glass,
and celebrated for other performances.
Often, when he appeared to become
highly
excited, he used to spring up to the long bars, or rafters,

of wood which extend across the
arches above the
columns of the mosque, and which are sixteen feet or
more from the pavement; and would run along them,
from one to another:
then, with his finger, wetted in
his mouth, he would strike his arm, and
cause blood to
flow; and by the same means stanch the blood.
The zikrs, during this festival, are continued all
night. Many persons pass
the night in the mosque,
sleeping on the matting; and it often happens
that
thefts are committed there. On my return to my
house after
witnessing the performances of the 'Ee'sa'-wee'yeh,
I found no fewer than
eight lice on my
clothing.
On the following night there was nothing that I
observed at all
entertaining, unless it were this, that my
officious friend the bookseller,
who again presided at a
zikr, wishing to pass me off for a pious Moos'lim
(or
perhaps for the sake of doing a good work), without
having
obtained my previous permission, openly proposed
to four fick'ees to
perform a recitation of the
Ckoor-a'n (I mean, of the whole book, a
khut'meh), on
my part, for the sake of seyd'na
*
l-Hhosey'n. As this
is commonly done, on the occasion of this festival,
by
persons of the higher and middle orders, it would have
excited
suspicion if I had objected. It was therefore
performed, in the afternoon
and evening next following;
each fickee reciting a portion of the book; and
then
another relieving him: it occupied about nine hours.
After it was
finished, I was mentioned, by my assumed
Oriental name, as the author of
this pious work. The
performers received a wax candle, some bread, and
a
piaster each.
*
Seyd'na (for seyyid'na)
signifies “our Lord.”

On Monday, the mats were removed,
excepting a few,
upon which groups of fick'ees, employed to recite
the
Ckoor-a'n, seated themselves. Vast numbers of persons
resorted to the
mosque this day; both men and women:
chiefly those who were desirous of
obtaining a blessing
by the visit, and disliked the still greater crowding
and
confusion of the following day, or day of the Moo'lid.
In the
ensuing evening, the streets in the neighbourhood
of the mosque were
densely crowded; and, a little after
sunset, it was very difficult, in some
parts, to pass.
Numerous lamps were hung in these streets; and many
shops, open.
This was also the night of the Moo'lid of the famous
Soolta'n
Es-Sa'lehh, of the house of Eiyoo'b, who is
commonly believed to have been a wel'ee, and said to
have worn a
dilck, and to have earned his subsistence
by making
baskets, &c., of palm-leaves
(khoo's),
without
drawing any money from the public treasury for his own
private
use. His tomb, which adjoins his mosque, is in
the Nahh'hha'see'n (or
market of the sellers of copper-wares),
a part of the principal street of
the city, not far
from the Hhasaney'n. This market was illuminated
with many lamps. Most of the shops were open; and
in each of these was a
group of three or four or more
persons sitting with the master. The mosque
and
tomb of Es-Sa'lehh are much neglected, and falling to
decay,
notwithstanding the high veneration which the
people of
Cairo entertain for
this prince. On my approaching
the door of the tomb, I was surrounded
by
hhem'alees and sack'ckas soliciting' me to pay them to
distribute
the contents of an ibree'ck or a ckir'beh for
the sake of Es-Sa'lehh. I
entered the building with
my shoes on (seeing that others did the same);
but

took them off at the threshold of
the saloon of the tomb.
This is a square hall, surmounted by a dome. In
the
centre is an oblong monument, over the grave, surrounded
by a
wooden railing. At the head of this
railed enclosure (or mucksoo'rah) are
four large wax
candles; and at the foot, three; all of which are
encased
in plaster, and resemble round-topped stone pillars.
They are
coloured with broad, horizontal, red stripes,
like the alternate courses of
stone in the exterior walls
of most mosques in
Cairo. There probably were,
originally,
the same number at the foot, as at the head, of
the
mucksoo'rah; for there is a space which seems to
have been occupied by one
at the foot. These candles,
it is said, were sent as a present, by a Pope,
or by a
Frank King, to Es-Sa'lehh, who, being a wel'ee, discovered,
without inspecting them, that they were filled
with gunpowder, and ordered
them to be thus encased in
plaster; or, according to another account, they
were
sent as a present for the tomb, some years after the
death of
Es-Sa'lehh; and he appeared to the guardian
of his tomb in a dream, and
informed him of the
gunpowder-plot. The saloon of the tomb I found
scantily lighted; and having a very ancient and neglected
appearance. The
pavement was uncovered.
On my entering, two servants of the mosque took me
to
the foot of the mucksoo'rah, and one of them dictated to
me the
Fa't'hhah, and the form of prayer which I have
mentioned in my account of
the ceremonies of the day
of A'shoo'ra; the other responding
A'mee'n! (Amen!):
the former then desired me to
recite the Fa't'hhah, with
them, a second time, and gave me five of the
little balls
of bread from the tomb of the seyd El-Bed'awee. They
received, for this, half a piaster. Another servant

opened the door of the
mucksoo'rah, for me to enter:
an honour which required that I should give
him also a
trifling present.
From the tomb of Es-Sa'lehh, I proceeded to the
Hhasaney'n, through streets
crowded to excess (though
this was not the great night), and generally well
lighted.
There was but little difference between the scenes which
the
streets and the mosque of the Hhasaney'n presented:
among the crowds in the
mosque, I saw numbers
of children; and some of them were playing,
running after each other, and shouting. There were
numerous groups of
fick'ees reciting the Ckoor-a'n; and
one small ring of durwee'shes, in the
centre of the
great portico, performing a zikr. I forced my way with
difficulty into the ckoob'beh, and performed the circuit
round the shrine.
Here was a very numerous party
reciting the Ckoor-a'n. After quitting the
mosque, I
spent about an hour and a half in a street, listening to a
Shaӑr.
On the following day, the last and chief day of the
festival, the mosque of
the Hhasaney'n, and its neighbourhood,
were much more thronged than on the
days
previous; and in every soo'ck, and before every weka'leh,
and
even before the doors of most private houses of
the middle and higher
classes of Moos'lims throughout
the city, lamps were hung, to be lighted in
the ensuing
night, the night of the Moo'lid. The number of beggars
in
the streets this day, imploring alms for the sake
of
“seyd'na-1-Hhosey'n,” was surprising: sitting for
about an hour in the afternoon at a shop in the principal
street, I was
quite wearied with saying, “God help
thee!”
“God sustain thee!” &c. Almost all the
inhabitants
of the metropolis seemed to be in the streets;

and almost all the Turks residing
here appeared to be
congregated in the neighbourhood of the
Hhasaney'n.
This was the grand day for visiting the shrine of
El-Hhosey'n:
it is believed that the Prophet is present
there all this
day and the ensuing night, witnessing his
followers' pious visits to his
grandson. Yet most of the
great people prefer going on the preceding day,
or on
any of the days of the festival but the last, on account
of the
excessive crowding on this day: I, however,
went on this occasion for the
very reason that deterred
them. I entered the ckoob'beh a little before
sunset;
and was surprised to find a way made for me to advance
easily
to the shrine. A servant of the mosque placed
me before the door of the
mucksoo'rah; dictated to me
the same recitals as on the day of 'A'shoo'ra;
and gave
me a handful of the bread of the seyd El-Bed'awee;
fourteen
of the little balls into which it is formed. No
sooner was this done than I
was squeezed till I was
almost breathless by applicants for presents. The
man
who had dictated the prayer to me asked me for his
present (a
piaster); another said, “I have recited the
chapter of Ya'-Seen
for thee, O A'gha:” a third, “O
Efen'dee, I am a
servant of the mucksoo'rah:” most of
the others were common
beggars. I saw now that the
Turks had good reason to prefer another day.
The
more importunate of those to whom nothing was due
followed me
through the crowd in the mosque; and into
the street: for I had given away
all that I had in my
pocket; and more than was customary. I was
invited
to seat myself on the mus'tub'ah of a shop opposite the
mosque, to deliver myself from their jostling. In the
mosque I saw nothing
to remark but crowding and confusion,
and swarms of beggars; men, women,
and

children.—In the
evening, the mosque was still crowded
to excess; and no ceremonies were
performed there but
visiting the shrine, recitations of the Ckoor-a'n,
and
two or three zikrs. The streets were then more crowded
than ever,
till long after midnight; and the illuminations
gave them a very gay
appearance. The Go'hargee'yeh
(or jewellers' ba'za'r) was illuminated with
a
great profusion of chandeliers, and curtained over. The
ma'd'nehs of
the larger mosques were also illuminated.
Many shops were open, besides
those at which eatables,
coffee, and sherbet, were sold; and in some of
them
were seated fickees (two or more together) reciting
khut'mehs (or
the whole of the Ckoor-a'n). There
were Shaӑrs,
Mohhad'dits, Musicians, and Singers, in
various places, as on the former
nights.
In about the middle of
Reg'eb
* (the
seventh month)
is celebrated the Moo'lid of the
sey'yideh Zey'neb, the
daughter of the Ima'm 'Al'ee, and
grand-daughter of
the Prophet; always on the eve of a Wednesday. The
festival generally commences two weeks before: the
principal day is the
last, or Tuesday. The scene of the
festivities is the neighbourhood of the
mosque in which
the sey'yideh is commonly believed to be buried; a
gaudily ornamented, but not very handsome building, in
the south-western
quarter of the metropolis. The supposed
tomb, over which is an oblong
monument,
covered with embroidered silk, and surrounded by a
bronze
screen, with a wooden canopy, similar to those
of El-Hhosey'n, is in a
small but lofty apartment of
the mosque, crowned by a dome. Into this
apartment,
on the occasion of the Moo'lid, visitors are admitted, to
* About this time, the Turkish
pilgrims, on their way to
Meh'keh, begin to arrive in Egypt.

pray, and perform their circuits
round the monument.
I have just been to visit it, on the last or great day
of
the festival. In a street near the mosque I saw several
Reciters of
Ab'oo Zeyd, Hha'wees, Ckoorada'tees, and
Dancers; and a few swings and
whirligigs. In the
mosque, the prayer usual on such occasions, after
the
Fa't'hhah, was dictated to me; and I received two of
the little
balls of the bread of the seyd El-Bed'awee.
The door of the sacred
enclosure was open; but I had
been told that only women were allowed to
enter; it
being regarded in the same light as a hharee'm; so I
contented myself with making the circuit; which,
owing to the crowding of
the visitors, and there being
but a very narrow space between three sides
of the
bronze enclosure and the walls of the apartment, was
rather
difficult to accomplish. A respectable-looking
woman, in a state which
rendered it rather dangerous
for her to be present in such a crowded place,
cried out
to me to make room for her with a coarseness of language
common to Oriental females
*. Many persons
there begged me to employ them to
recite a chapter of
the Ckoor-a'n for the sey'yideh; urging the
proposal
with the prayer of “God give thee thy desire
†!” for the
visitors to the tombs or cenotaphs
of saints generally
have some special petition to offer. There was a
group
of blind paupers sitting on the floor, and soliciting
alms. The
mats were removed throughout the mosque;
and only idle loungers were to be
seen there. On
going out, I was importuned by a number of hhem'alees
and sack'ckas to give them money to distribute
water for the sake of
“the daughter of the Ima'm.” It
* Ma' tezoock'nee'sh ya' see'dee:
but'nee melya'n.
† All'lah yoobal'liyhak
trntcksoctdak.

is customary to give a few
fud'dahs to one or more
servants of the mucksoo'rah; and to a fick'ee, to
recite
a chapter; and also to the beggars in the mosque; and
to one of
the hhem'alees or sack'ckas. The chief ceremonies
performed in the mosque
in the evenings were
zikrs. Each evening of the festival, durwee'shes of
one
or more orders repaired thither.
The night or eve of the twenty-seventh of Reg'eb
is the anniversary of the
Ley'let el-Meara'g, or the night
of the
Prophet's miraculous ascension to heaven; in
commemoration of which, a
festival is celebrated in a
part of the northern suburb of
Cairo, outside
the gate
called Ba'b El-'Ad'awee. For three days before, the
Sheykh
El-Bek'ree entertains numerous persons in a
house belonging to him, in this
quarter; and zikrs are
performed there, in his house. In addition to
the
amusement afforded in the streets by Hha'wees, Reciters
of Ab'oo
Zeyd, &c., as on similar festivals, the public
witness, on this
occasion, that extraordinary performance
culled the
Do'seh, which I have described in my account
of the Moo'lid
en-Neb'ee. This is performed in a short,
but rather wide street of the
suburb above mentioned, in
front of the mosque of a saint called
Et-Tushtoo'shee,
on the twenty-sixth day of the month, which is the
last
and chief day of the festival. I have just been one of
its
spectators. The day being Friday, the Sheykh of
the Saadee'yeh (the only
person who is believed to be
able to perform this reputed miracle) had to
fulfil his
usual July of praying and preaching in the mosque of
the
Hhasaney'n, at noon. From that mosque, he rode
in procession to the scene
of the Do'seh, preceded by a
long train of his durwee'shes, with their
banners, and
some with the little drums which they often use. I was

at this spot a little after
midday; and took my place on
a mus'tub'ah which extends along the foot of
the front
of the mosque of Et-Tushtoo'shee.
While sitting here, and amusing myself with observing
the crowds attracted
by the same curiosity that
brought me hither, a reputed saint, who, a few
days
ago, begged of me a few piasters to feed some fackee'rs
on this
occasion, passed by, and, seeing me, came and
sat down by my side. To pass
away the time during
which we had to wait before the Do'seh, he related
to
me a tale connected with the cause of the festivities of
this day.
A certain Soolta'n
*, he said, had openly
ridiculed the story of the
Meara'g; asserting it to be
impossible that the Prophet could have got out
of his
bed by night, have been carried from Mek'keh to Jerusalem
by
the beast Boora'ck, have ascended thence with
the angel to the Seventh
Heaven, and returned to
Jerusalem and Mek'keh, and found his bed still
warm.
He was playing at chess, one day, with his Wezee'r,
when the
saint Et-Tushtoo'shee came in to him, and
asked to be allowed to play with
him; making this condition,
that the Soolta'n, if overcome, should do
what
the saint should order. The proposal was accepted.
The Soolta'n
lost the game; and was ordered, by the
saint, to plunge in a tank of water.
He did so; and
found himself in a magnificent palace, and converted
into a woman, of great beauty, with long hair, and every
female attraction.
He, or now
she, was married to the
son of a king;
gave birth to three children, successively,
and then returned to the tank,
and, emerging from it, informed
the wezee'r of what had happened to him.
The
* This tale applies to the Khalee'feh
El-Hha'kim. I have
heard it related with some trifling differences.

saint reminding him, now, of his
incredulity on the
subject of the Meara'g, he declared his belief in
the
miracle, and became an orthodox Moos'lim. Hence,
the festival of
the Meara'g is always celebrated in the
neighbourhood of the mosque in
which Et-Tushtoo'shee
is buried; and his Moo'lid is celebrated at the
same
time.
Not long after the above tale was finished, an hour
and a quarter after
midday, the procession of the Sheykh
es-Saadee'yeh arrived. The foremost
persons, chiefly
his own durwee'shes, apparently considerably more
than
a hundred (but I found it impossible to count them),
were laid
down in the street, as close as possible together,
in the same manner as at
the Moo'lid en-Neb'ee.
They incessantly repeated “
Al'lah!” A number of
durwee'shes, most
with their shoes off, run over them;
several beating their little drums;
some carrying the
black flags of the order of the
Rifa”ees (the
parent
order of the Sa'adees); and two carrying a
tha'lee'sh (a
pole about twenty feet in length, like a large
flag-staff,
the chief banner of the Saadee'yeh, with a large conical
ornament of brass on the top): then came the sheykh,
on the same grey horse
that he rode at the Moo'lid en-Neb'ee:
he was dressed in a light blue
pelisse, lined
with ermine, and wore a black, or almost black,
moock'leh;
which is a large, formal turban, peculiar to persons
of
religious and learned professions. He rode over the
prostrate men, mumbling
all the while: two persons led
his horse; and they, also, trod upon the
prostrate men;
sometimes on the legs, and on the heads. Once, the
horse pranced and curvetted; and nearly trod upon
several heads: he passed
over the men with a high and
hard pace. The sheykh entered the house of the
Sheykh

El-Bek'ree, before mentioned,
adjoining the mosque.
None of the men who were rode over appeared to
be
hurt; and many got up laughing; but one appeared to be
melboo's, or overcome by excitement; and though
he
did not put his hand to his back, as if injured by the
tread of the horse,
seemed near fainting; and tears
rolled down his face: it is possible,
however, that this
man was hurt by the horse, and that he endeavoured
to
conceal the cause.
After the Do'seh, my friend the saint insisted on my
coming to his house,
which was near by, with three
fick'ees. He conducted us to a small upper
room, furnished
with an old carpet and cushions. Here the
three
fick'ees sat down with me, and recited the Fa't'hhah
together, in a very
loud voice. Then one of them
chanted about half of the second chapter of
the Ckoora'n,
very musically: another finished it. Our host
afterwards
brought a stool, and placed upon it a tray
with three large dishes of 'eysh bi-lahhm. This is
minced meat, fried with
butter, and seasoned with some
tahhee'neh (or sesame from which oil has
been pressed),
vinegar, and chopped onions; then put upon cakes of
leavened dough, and baked. To this meal I sat down,
with the three
fick'ees; our host waiting upon us. A
fourth fick'ee came in, and joined us
at dinner. After
we had eaten, the fick'ees recited the Fa't'hhah for
the
host, and then for myself; and went away. I soon after
followed
their example.
On the Ley'let el-Meara'g, between two and three
hours after sunset, the
Sheykh El-Bek'ree returns in
procession, preceded by numerous persons
bearing
mesh”als, and by a number of durwee'shes, to his
house

in the Ezbekee'yeh. During this
night, the ma'd'nehs
of the larger mosques are illuminated.
On the first or second Wednesday in
Shaaba'n (the
eighth month), generally on the former day, unless that
be the first or
second day of the month, the celebration
of the Moo'lid of the
Ima'm Esh-Ska'fe'ee commences.
It ends on the eve
of the Thursday in the next week.
The great cemetery called the Ckara'feh,
in the desert
tract on the south of the metropolis, where the Ima'm is
buried, and the southern part of the town, are the scenes
of the
festivities. As this Ima'm was the founder of
the sect to which most of the
people of
Cairo belong,
his Moo'lid attracts many visitors. The festivities
arc
similar to those of other great Moo'lids. On the Saturday
before
the last or chief day, the ceremony of the
Do'seh is performed. On the last
day, Wednesday, the
visitors are most numerous; and during the ensuing
night, zikrs, &c. are performed in the sepulchral mosque
of the
Ima'm. Above the dome of this mosque,
upon its point, is fixed a metal
boat, in which there
used to be placed, on the occasion of the Moo'lid,
an
ardeb'b (or about five bushels) of wheat, and a camel-load
of
water, for the birds. The boat is said to turn,
sometimes, when there is no
wind to move it, and,
according to the position which it takes, to
foretoken
various events, good and evil; such as plenty or scarcity,
the death of some great man, &c.
Several other Moo'lids follow that of the Ima'm; but
those already described
are the more famous; and the
ceremonies of all are nearly the same.
The “Night of the Middle of Shaaba'n,” or “
Ley'let
en-Noosf min Shaaba'n,” which is
the night of the

fifteenth (that is,
preceding the fifteenth day) of that
month, is held
in great reverence by the Moos'lims, as
the period when the fate of every
living man is confirmed
for the ensuing year. The Sidr (or lote-tree) of
Paradise,
which is more commonly called Sheg'eret el-Mcon'tah'a
(or
the Tree of the Extremity) probably for
several reasons, but chiefly (as is
generally supposed)
because it is said to be at the extremity
*, or on the
most
elevated spot, in Paradise, is believed to have as many
leaves as
there are living human being's in the world;
and the leaves are said to be
inscribed with the names
of all those being's; each leaf bearing the name
of one
person, and those of his father and mother. The tree,
we are
taught, is shaken on the night above mentioned,
a little after sunset; and
when a person is destined to
die in the ensuing year, his leaf, upon which
his name
is written, falls on this occasion: if he be to die very
soon, his leaf is almost wholly withered; a very small
portion only
remaining green: if he be to die later in
the year, a larger portion
remains green: according to
the time he has yet to live, so is the
proportion of the
part of the leaf yet green. This, therefore, is a
very
awful night to the serious and considerate Moos'lims;
who,
accordingly, observe it with solemnity and earnest
prayer. A particular
form of prayer is used on the
occasion, immediately after the ordinary
evening-prayers
which are said soon after sunset. Those who are able
to recite it without being prompted do so; and generally
in a mosque:
others assemble in the mosques for this
* In the commentary of the
Gel'a'ley'n, Sidrat el-Moon'tah'a,
or the
Lote-tree of the Extremity (Ckoor-a'n, chap. liii, ver. 14),
is
interpreted as signifying “The Lote-tree beyond which
neither
angels nor others can pass.”

purpose, and hire a fick'ee to
assist them; and many
fick'ees, therefore, resort to the mosques to perform
this
office. Each fick'ee officiates for a group of persons.
He first
recites the
Soo'rat Ya'-Seen (or 36th chapter
of
the Ckoor-a'n); and then, raising his hands before
his face, as in the
ordinary supplications, and the other
worshippers doing the same, he
recites the
do”a (or
prayer): repeating
one, two, three, or more words,
which the others then repeat after him. The
prayer is
as follows.—“O God '. O thou Gracious! and
who art
not an object of grace! O thou Lord of Dignity and
Honour, and
of Beneficence and Favour! There is no
deity but Thee, the Support of those
who seek to Thee
for refuge! and the Helper of those who have recourse
to thee for help! and the Trust of those who fear! O
God, if Thou hast
recorded me in thy abode, upon the
' Original of the Book
*,'
miserable, or unfortunate, or
scanted in my sustenance, cancel, O God, of
thy goodness,
my misery, and misfortune, and scanty allowance
of
sustenance, and confirm me in thy abode, upon the
Original of the Book, as
happy, and provided for, and
directed to good: for Thou hast said (and thy
saying is
true) in thy Book revealed by the tongue of thy commissioned
Prophet, ' God will cancel what He pleaseth,
and confirm; and with Him is
the Original of the
Book
†.' O my God! by the very great
revelation
[which is made] on the night of the middle of the month
of
Shaaba'n the honoured, ' in which every determined
* The Preserved Tablet, on which are
said to be written the
original of the Ckoor-a'n, and all God's
decrees, is here commonly
understood; but I am informed that the
“Original” (or, literally,
the
“Mother”) “of the Book” is God's
knowledge, or prescience.
† Ckoor-a'n, chap. xii., ver. 39.

decree is dispensed
*' and
manifested, remove from me
whatever affliction I know, and what I know not,
and
what Thou best knowest; for Thou art the most Mighty,
the most
Bountiful. And favour, O God, our lord
Mohham'mad, the Illiterate
† Prophet,
and his Family
and Companions, and preserve
them.”—After having
repeated this prayer, the
worshippers offer up any private
supplication.
* Ckoor-a'n, chap, xliv., ver.
3.—By some persons, these words
are supposed to apply to the
Night of el-Ckudr, which will hereafter
be mentioned.
† Mohham'mad gloried in his
illiteracy, as a proof of his being
inspired: it had the same effect
upon his followers as the words of
our Saviour had upon the Jews, who
remarked; “How knoweth
this man letters, having never
learned?” John, vii., 15.
The night on which
Rum'ada'n (the month of
abstinence,
the ninth month of the year) is expected to
commence, is
called
Ley'let er-Roo'-yeh, or the Night
of the
Observation [of the new moon]. In the noon,
or earlier, during the
preceding day, several persons
are sent a few miles into the desert, where
the air
is particularly clear, in order to obtain a sight of the
new
moon: for the fast commences on the next day
after the new moon has been
seen, or, if the moon
cannot be seen in consequence of a cloudy sky, at
the
expiration of thirty days from the commencement of the
preceding
month. The evidence of one Moos'lim, that
he has seen the new moon, is
sufficient for the proclaiming
of the fast. In the evening of the day above
mentioned,
the Mohh'tes'ib, the sheykhs of several trades
(millers,
bakers, slaughtermen, sellers of meat, oil-men,
and fruiterers), with
several other members of each of
these trades, parties of musicians, and a
number of

fackee'rs, headed and interrupted
by companies of soldiers,
go in procession from the Citadel to the Court
of
the Cka'dee, and there await the return of one of the
persons who
have been sent to make the observation, or
the testimony of any other
Moos'lim who has seen the
new moon. The streets through which they pass
are
lined with spectators. There used to be, in this procession,
several led horses, handsomely caparisoned;
but of late, military display,
of a poor order, has, for the
most part, taken the place of civil and
religious pomp.
The procession of the night of the Roo'-yeh is now
chiefly composed of Niza'm infantry. Each company
of soldiers is preceded
and followed by bearers of mesh”als,
to light them on their
return; and followed by the
sheykh, and a few other members, of some trade,
with
several fackee'rs, shouting, as they pass along; “O!
Blessing! Blessing! Bless ye the Prophet! on him be
peace
*!” After every two or three
companies, there
is generally an interval of many minutes. The Mohh'tes'ib
and his
attendants close the procession. When
information that the moon has been
seen has arrived at
the Cka'dee's court, the soldiers and others
assembled
there divide themselves into several companies, one of
which
returns to the Citadel: the others perambulate
different quarters of the
town; shouting, “O followers
of the best of the Creation
†!
Fasting! Fasting
‡'.”—“
When the moon
has not been seen on this
night, the people are informed by the cry of
“Tomorrow
is of the month of Shaaba'n! No fasting! No
*
O. Es-Sala'h. Es-Sala'h. Sal'loo 'al' a-n-Neb'ee:
'aley'hi-s-tela'm.
†
” The best of the Creation” is
an appellation of the Prophet.
‡
Ya' oom'mata khey'ri-l-ana'm,
Siya'm. Siya'm.

fasting”
*!”—The people generally pass a great
part of
this night (when the fast has been proclaimed as commencing'
on the morrow) in eating and drinking and
smoking; and seem as merry as
they usually do when released
from the misery of the day's fast. The
mosques,
as on the following nights, are illuminated within; and
lumps
are hung at their entrances, and upon the galleries
of the ma'd'nehs.
*
Ghud'a min shak'ri Shaaba'n. Fita'r. Fita'r.
In Rum'ada'n, instead of seeing, as at other times,
many of the passengers
in the streets with the pipe in
the hand, we now see them empty-handed,
until near
sunset, or carrying a stick or cane, or a string of beads;
but some of the Christians now are not afraid, as they
used to be, of
smoking in their shops in the sight of the
fasting Moos'lims. The streets,
in the morning, have
a dull appearance; many of the shops being shut;
but
in the afternoon, they are as much crowded as usual;
and all the
shops are open. The Moos'lims during the
day-time, while fasting, are,
generally speaking', very
morose: in the night, after breakfast, they are
unusually
affable and cheerful. It is the general fashion of the
principal Turks in
Cairo, and a custom of many others,
to repair to the
mosque of the Hhasaney'n in the afternoon
during' Rum'ada'n, to pray and
lounge; and on
these occasions, a number of Turkish Tradesmen (called
Tohhafgee'yeh, or Tohhfegee'yeh) expose for sale, in
the court of the
mey'da-ah (or tank for ablution), a
variety of articles of taste and luxury
suited to the wants
of their countrymen. It is common, in this month,
to
see tradesmen in their shops reciting the Ckoor-a'n or
prayers, or
distributing bread to the poor. Towards
evening, and for some time after
sunset, the beggars

are more than usually importunate
and clamorous; and
at these times, the coffee-shops are much frequented
by
persons of the lower orders; many of whom prefer to
break their
fast with a cup of coffee and a pipe. There
are few among the poor who do
not keep the fast; but
many persons of the higher and middle classes break
it
in secret.
In general, during Rum'ada'n, in the houses of persons
of the higher and
middle classes, the stool of the suppertray
is placed, in the apartment in
which the master of
the house receives his visitors, a few minutes before
sunset.
A japanned tray is put upon it; and on this are
placed several
dishes, or large saucers, containing different
kinds of dry fruits (which
are called
noockl); such
as hazel-nuts (generally
toasted), raisins, shelled walnuts,
dried dates, dried figs, shelled
almonds, sugared nuts,
&c., and kahhk, or sweet cakes. With
these are also
placed several ckool'lehs (or glass cups) of sherbet of
sugar and water; usually one or two cups more than
there are persons in the
house to partake of the
beverage, in case of visitors coming unexpectedly;
and
often a little fresh cheese and a cake of bread are added.
The
pipes are also made ready; and it is usual to provide,
in houses where
numerous visitors are likely to call,
several common reed pipes.
Immediately after the call
to evening-prayer, which is made four minutes
after sunset,
the master and such of his family or friends as
happen
to be with him drink each a glass of sherbet:
they then usually say the
evening-prayers; and, this
done, eat a few nuts, &c., and smoke
their pipes. After
this slight refreshment, they sit down to a plentiful
meal of meat
and other food, which they term their breakfast
(fatoo'r'). Having' finished this meal, they say the
nightprayers

*, and
certain additional prayers of Rum'ada'n,
called
et-tarawee'hh; or smoke again before they pray.
The tarawee'hh
prayers consist of twenty rek”ahs; and
are repeated between the
'esh'ë prayers and the witr.
Very few persons say these prayers,
excepting in the
mosque, where they have an Ima'm to take the lead;
and they do little more than conform with his motions.
The smaller mosques
are closed, in Rum'ada'n, soon
after the tarawee'hh prayers: the larger
remain open
until the period of the last meal (which is called the
sahhoo'r), or until the
imsa'k,
which is the period when
the fast must he recommended. They are
illuminated
within and at their entrances as long as they remain
open;
and the ma'd'nehs are illuminated during the
whole of the night. The time
during which the Moos'lim
is allowed to eat (commencing, as already slated,
at
sunset) varies from 11 hours 55 minutes to 7 hours 46
minutes (in
the latitude of
Cairo), according as the
night is long or short: the imsa'k
being always twenty
minutes before the period of the prayer of
day-break.
Consequently, the time during which he keeps fast every
day
is from 12 hours 5 minutes to 16 hours 14
minutes.
The Moos'lims, during Rum'ada'n, generally
take their breakfast at home;
after which, they sometimes
spend an hour or two in the house of a friend.
Many
of them, but chiefly those of the lower orders, in the
evening,
visit a coffee-shop, either merely for the sake of
society, or to listen to
one of the reciters of romances, or
musicians, who entertain the company at
many of the
coffee-shops every night of this month. Numerous
passengers
are seen in the streets during the greater part of

the night; and most of (he shops
at which sherbet and
eatables are sold remain open. Night is thus
turned
into day; and particularly by the wealthy; most of
whom sleep
during a great part of the day. It is the
custom of some of the
“Ool'ama of
Cairo to have a zikr
performed in their houses every
night during this month;
and some other persons, also, occasionally invite
their
friends, and entertain them with a zikr or a khut'meh.
Every night during Rum'ada'n, criers, called
Moosahh'hhirs,
go about, first to recite a complimentary cry,
before the house of each Moos'lim who is able to reward
him, and at a later
hour to announce the period of the
sahhoo'r, or last meal
*. There is one of these
criers to
each
khoot't, or small district of
Cairo.
He begins his
rounds about two hours, or a little more, after sunset
(that is, shortly after the night-prayers have been said);
holding, with
his left hand, a small drum, called
ba'z, or
tub'lat el-moosahh'hhir
†, and,
in his right hand, a small
stick or strap, with which he beats it; and is
accompanied
by a boy carrying' two
ckandee'ls (or
small glass
lamps) in a frame made of palm-sticks. They stop before
the house of every Moos'lim, excepting the poor;
and on each occasion of
their doing this, the moosahhhhir
beats his little drum to the following
measure,
three times:

after which he chants—“Most fortunate is he who
* It is from this latter office, that
the crier is called “Moosahh'hhir.”
† Described in the chapter on music.

saith, ' There is no deity but
God' “—then he beats
his drum in the same manner as
before, and adds,—“‘Mohham'mad,
the Guide,
is the Apostle of God.'
“—Then again beating his
drum, he generally continues,—“The most happy of nights to
thee, O such a one '.” (naming the master of the house). Having
previously
inquired the names of the inmates of each house, he
greets
each person, excepting women, in the same
manner; mentioning every brother,
son, and young
unmarried daughter of the master: saying, in the last
case,—“The most happy of nights to the chief lady
among brides
*, such a one.” After each greeting he
beats
his drum; and after having greeted the man (or
men)
adds,—“May God accept from him [or them]
his [or
their] prayers and fasting and good works.”—He concludes
by saying,—“God preserve you, O ye
generous, every
year!”—At the houses of the great (as
also sometimes
in other cases), after commencing as
above (” Most fortunate is
he who saith, ' There is no
deity but God: Mohham'mad, the Guide, is the
Apostle
of God ' “—) he generally repeats a long
chant, in
unmeasured rhyme; in which he first conjures God to
pardon
his sins, and blesses the Prophet, and then
proceeds to relate the
meara'g (or the Prophet's miraculous
ascension to
heaven), and other similar stories
of miracles; beating his drum after
every few words,
or rather, after every rhyme.'—A house of
mourning,
the moosahh'hhir passes by. He generally receives,
at the
house of a person of the middle orders, two,
three, or four piasters on the
'eed which follows
Rum'ada'n: some persons give
him a trifle every
night.
* Young ladies, in Egypt, are often
called “brides.”

If my reader be at all impressed
by what has been
above related, of the office of the moosahh'hhir, as
illustrating the character of the Moos'lims, he will be
more struck by what
here follows.—At many houses of
the middle, classes ill
Cairo,
the women often put a
small coin (of five fud'dahs, or from that sum to a
piaster,
or more) into a piece of paper, and throw it out of
a
window to the moosahh'hhir; having first set fire to
the paper, that
he may see where it falls: he then,
sometimes by their desire, and
sometimes of his own
accord, recites the Fa't'hhah, and relates to them a
short
tale, in unmeasured rhyme, for their amusement; as,
for
instance, the story of two
dara'ïr; the
quarrels of
two women who are wives of the same man. Some of
the tales
which he relates on these occasions are of a
grossly indecent nature; and
yet they are listened to by
females in houses of good repute. How
incongruous
are such sequels '. What inconsistency of character do
they evince!
During this month, those calls from the ma'd'nehs
which arc termed
“the Oo'la “and “the Eb'ed “are
discontinued; and, in their stead, two other calls are
chanted. The period
of the first of these, which is
termed the
Abra'r
(from the first word of note occurring
in it) is between an hour and a half
and half an hour
before midnight, according as the night is long or
short.
It consists of the following verses of the Ckoor-a'n
*.
“But the just shall drink of a cup [of wine] mixed with
[the
water of] Ka'foo'r; a fountain from which the
servants of God shall drink:
they shall convey the same
by channels [whithersoever they please]. [These]
fulfil
* The fifth an l four following
verses of the Sco'rat el-Insa'n,
or 76th chapter.

their vow, and dread the day, the
evil whereof will disperse
itself far abroad; and give food unto the
poor
and the orphan and the bondsman for his sake [saying],
We feed
you for God's sake only: we desire no recompense
from you, nor any
thanks.”—The second call is
termed the
Sela'm (or salutation); and is a series of
invocations of blessings on the Prophet, similar to those
recited before
the Friday-prayers; but not always the
same. This is generally chanted
about half an hour
after midnight. The morning' ada'n from the
ma'd'nehs
is chanted much earlier than usual, as a warning to the
Moos'lims to take their last meal, the
sahhoo'r; in
winter, in the longest night, about two hours and a half,
and in the. short
nights, about one hour and a half, before
the imsa'k. Another ada'n is also
made from the
dik'kehs in the great mosques about twenty minutes
before the imsa'k, as a final warning to any who may
have neglected to cat;
and at the period of the imsa'k,
in these mosques, the meecka'tee (who
makes known
the hours of prayer, &c.), or some other person,
calls
out, “
Ir'fa'oo!” that
is “Remove ye “[your food, &c.]
—About an hour and a half before the imsa'k, the
moosahh'hhir
goes his rounds to rouse or remind the
people to eat at those houses where
he has been ordered
to call; knocking and calling until he is
answered;
and the porter of each quarter does the same at each
house
in his quarter.—Some persons eat but little for
their fatoo'r,
and make the sahhoo'r the principal meal:
others do the reverse; or make
both meals alike. Most
persons sleep about half the night.
Some few pious persons spend the last ten days and
nights of Rum'ada'n in
the mosque of the Hhasaney'n
or that of the Sey'yideh Zey'neb. One of these
nights,

generally supposed to be the 27th
of the month
* (that
is, the night preceding; the 27th day), is called
Ley'let el-Ckudr
(the Night of Power, or of the Divine decree).
On this night, the
Ckoor-a'n is said to have been sent
down to Mohham'mad. It is affirmed to
be “better
than a thousand months
†;” and the angels
are believed
to descend, and to be occupied in conveying blessings
to
the faithful from the commencement of it until daybreak.
salt water, it is
said, suddenly becomes sweet
on this night; and hence, some devout persons,
not
knowing which of the last ten nights of Rum'ada'n is
the Ley'let
el-Ckudr, observe all those nights with great
solemnity, and keep before
them a vessel of salt water,
which they occasionally taste, to try if it
become sweet,
so that they may be certain of the night. I find,
however, that a tradition of the Prophet fixes it to be
one of the odd
nights; the 21st, 23d, 25th, 27th, or
29th.
* Not the night supposed by Sale;
which is that between the
23d and 24th days. See one of his notes on
the 97th chapter of
the Ckoor-a'n.
On the first three days of
Show'wa'l (the tenth
month, the next after Rum'ada'n) is celebrated the
minor of the two grand
festivals which are ordained, by
the religion of the Moos'lims, to be
observed with general
rejoicing. It is commonly called
el-'Eed es—Soo
ghei'yir;
but more properly,
el-'Eed es-Saghee'r ‡.
The expiration of the fast of Rum'ada'n is the occasion of
this
festival. Soon alter sunrise on the first day, the
people having all
dressed in new, or in their best,
‡ It is also called 'Eed el-Fitr (or the Festival of the Breaking
of the fast); and, by the Turks, Ramaza'n Beyra'm.

clothes, the men assemble in the
mosques, and perform
the prayers of two rek”ahs, a soon'neh
ordinance of the
'eed; after which, the Khatee'b delivers an
exhortation.
Friends, meeting' in the mosque, or in the street, or in
each other's houses, congratulate and embrace and kiss
each other. They
generally visit each other for this
purpose. Some, even of the lower
classes, dress themselves
entirely in a new suit of clothes; and
almost
every one wears something new, if it be only a pair of
shoes.
The servant is presented with one or more new
articles of clothing by the
master, and receives a few
piasters from each of his master's friends, if
they visit
the house; or even goes to those friends, to congratulate
them, and receives his present: if he have served
a former master, he also
visits him, and is in like manner
rewarded for his trouble; and sometimes
he brings a
present of a dish of
kahhk (or sweet
cakes), and obtains,
in return, money of twice the value, or more. On
the days of this 'eed, most of the people of
Cairo eat
fesee'kh (or salted fish), and
kahhks, fatee'rehs (or thin,
folded pancakes), and
shoorey'ks (a kind of bun).
Some families also
prepare a dish called
moomez'zezeh,
consisting of
stewed meat, with onions, and a quantity
of treacle, vinegar, and coarse
flour; and the master
usually procures dried fruits
(noockl), such as nuts,
raisins, &c., for his family.
Most of the shops in the
metropolis are closed, excepting those at which
eatables
and sherbet are sold; but the streets present a gay
appearance, from the crowds of passengers in their
holiday clothes.
On one or more days of this festival, some or all
of the members of most
families, but chiefly the women,
visit the tombs of their relatives. This
they also do on

the occasion of the other grand
festival, of which an
account will be given hereafter. The visitors, or
their
servants, carry palm-branches, and sometimes sweet
basil
(reehha'n) to lay upon the tomb which they go to
visit. The palm branch is broken into several pieces,
or its leaves are
stripped off, and then placed on the
tomb. Numerous groups of women are
seen on these
occasions, bearing palm-branches, on their way to the
cemeteries in the neighbourhood of the metropolis.
They are also provided,
according to their circumstances,
with kahhks, shoorey'ks, fatee'rehs,
bread,
dates, or some other kind of food, to distribute to the
poor
who resort to the burial-grounds on these days.
Sometimes, tents are
pitched for them: the tent surrounds
the tomb which is the object of the
visit. The
visitors recite the Fa't'hhah; or, if they can afford it,
employ a person to recite first the Soo'rat Ya'-Seen, or
a larger portion
of the Ckoor-a'n. Often, a khut'meh
(or recital of the whole of the
Ckoor-a'n) is performed
at the tomb, or in the house, by several fick'ees.
The
men generally return immediately after these rites have
been
performed and the fragments or leaves of the
palm-branch laid on the tomb:
the women usually go to
the tomb early in the morning, and do not return
until
the afternoon: some of them (but these are not generally
esteemed women of correct conduct), if they have
a tent, pass the night in
it, and remain until the end of
the festival, or until the afternoon of the
following Friday:
so also do the women of a family possessed of a
private, enclosed burial-ground, with a house within it
(for there are many
such enclosures, and not a few with
houses for the accommodation of the
females, in the
midst of the public cemeteries of
Cairo). Intrigues are

said to be not uncommon with the
females who spend
the night in tents among the tombs. The great
cemetery
of Ba'b en-Nusr, in the desert tract immediately on
the north
of the metropolis, presents a remarkable scene
on the two 'eeds. In a part
next the city-gate from
which the burial-ground takes its name, many
swings
and whirligigs are erected, and several large, tents; in
some
of which, dancers, reciters of Ab'oo Zeyd, and
other performers, amuse a
dense crowd of spectators;
and throughout the burial-ground are seen
numerous
tents for the reception of the visitors of the tombs.
About two or three days after the 'eed above described,
the
Kis'weh, or covering of the Ka'abeh, which is sent
annually with the great caravan of pilgrims, is conveyed
in procession from
the Citadel of the metropolis, where
it is manufactured at the Soolta'n's
expense, to the
mosque of the Hhasaney'n, to be sewed together, and
lined, preparatively to the approaching pilgrimage. It
is of a coarse,
black brocade, covered with inscriptions
*
of passages from the Ckoor-a'n, &c., which are interwoven
with silk of the same colour; and having a broad
band along each side,
ornamented with similar inscriptions
worked in gold
†. The following account of
the
* This was denied by several of my
Moos'lim friends, before
whom I casually mentioned it; but, by
producing a piece of the
Kis'weh, I proved the truth of my assertion, I
state this to show
that a writer may often be charged with committing
an error on
authority which any person would consider perfectly
convincing.
† The Ka'abeh is a building in the
centre of the Temple of
Mek'keh, most highly respected by the
Moos'lims. It is nearly
in the form of a cube. Its height is somewhat
more than thirty
feet; and each side is about the same, or a little
more, in width.
It is not exactly rectangular, nor exactly equilateral.
The black
covering, after having remained upon it nearly a year, is
taken off on the 25th of Zoo-1-Cka'adeh. cut up, and sold to the
pilgrims;
and the building is left without a covering for the period of
fifteen
days: on the 10th of Zoo-1-Hheg'geh, the first day of the
Great
Festival, the new kis'weh is put on. The interior is also
hung
with a covering, which is renewed each time that a new
Soolta'n
ascends the Turkish throne. It is necessary to renew the outer
covering every year, in consequence of its exposure to the rain,
&c.
As the use of stuffs entirely composed of silk is
prohibited, the
Kis'weh of the Ka'abeu is lined with cotton to vender
it allowable.

procession of the Kis'weh I write
on my return from
witnessing it, on the 6th of Show'wa'l 1249 (or 15th
of
February, 1834).
I took my seat, soon after sunrise, in the shop of the
Ba'sha's booksellers,
in the principal street of the city,
nearly opposite the entrance to the
ba'za'r called Kha'n
EI-Khalee'lee. This and almost every shop in the
street were crowded with persons attracted by the desire
of witnessing the
procession, old and young; for the
Egyptians of every class and rank and
age take great
pleasure in viewing public spectacles; but the streets
were not so much thronged as they usually are on the
occasions of the
processions of the Mahh'mil. About
two hours after sunrise, the four
portions which form
each one side of the
Kis'weh
were borne past the spot
where I had taken my post; each of the four
pieces
placed on an ass; with the ropes by which they were
to be
attached. The asses were not ornamented in any
way, nor neatly caparisoned;
and their conductors were
common fella'hhs, in the usual blue shirt. There
was
then an interval of about three quarters of an hour;
and nothing
to relieve the dulness of this long pause
but the passing of a few
durwee'shes, and two buffoons,
who stopped occasionally before a shop where
they saw
any well-dressed persons sitting, and, for the sake of

obtaining a present of about five
fud'dahs (or a little
more than a farthing), engaged in a sham
quarrel,
abused each other in loud and gross words, and violently
slapped each other on the face.
After this interval came about twenty ill-dressed men,
bearing on their
shoulders a long frame of wood, upon
which was extended one quarter of the
Hheza'm (that
is, the belt or baud above
mentioned). The Hheza'm is
in four pieces, which, when sewed together to
the Kis'weh,
form one continuous band,
so as to
surround the
Ka'abeh entirely, at about two thirds of its height. It
is of the same kind of black brocade as the Kis'weh
itself. The
inscriptions in gold are well worked,in large
and beautiful characters, and
surrounded by a border of
gold; and at each end, where the upper and
lower
borders unite, the Hheza'm is ornamented in a tasteful
manner,
with green and red silk, sewed on, and embroidered
with gold. One or other
of the bearers frequently
went aside to ask for a present from some
respectably dressed spectator. There was an interval
of about a quarter of
an hour after the first quarter of
the Hheza'm passed by: the other three
portions were then
borne along, immediately after one another, in the
same
manner. Then there was another interval, of about
half an hour;
after which there came several tall camels,
slightly stained with the red
dye of the hhen'na, and
having high ornamented saddles, such as I have
described
in my account of the return of the Mahh'mil:
upon each of
these were one or two boys or girls; and
upon some were cats. These were
followed by a company
of Baltagee'yeh (or Pioneers), a very good
military
band (the instruments of various kinds, but mostly
trumpets,
and all European), and the Ba'sha's guard,

a regiment of infantry, of picked
young men, in uniforms
of a dark blueish brown, with new red shoes,
and with stockings.
The
Boor'cko' (or Veil
*), which is the curtain
that
is hung before the door of the Ka'abeh, was next borne
along,
stretched upon a high, flattish frame of wood,
fixed on the back of a fine
camel. It was of black brocade,
embroidered in the same manner as the
Hheza'm,
with inscriptions from the Ckoor-a'n in letters of gold,
but
more richly, and move highly, ornamented; and was
lined with green silk.
The face of the Boor'cko' was
extended on the right side of the frame; and
the green
silk lining on the left. It was followed by numerous
companies of durwee'shes, with their banners; among
which were several
sha'lee'shes (such as I have described
in my account of the Do'seh at the
festival of the
Meara'g), which are the banners of the principal
orders
of durwee'shes. Many of them bore flags, inscribed
with the
profession of the faith (” There is no deity but
God: Mohham'mad
is God's Apostle”), or with words
from the Ckoor-a'n, and the
names of God, the Prophet,
and the founders of their orders. Several
Cka'diree
durwee'shes bore nets, of various colours, each extended
upon a frame-work of hoops, upon a pole: these
were fishermen. Some of the
durwee'shes were employed
in repeating, as in a common zikr, the name
and attributes of God. Two men, armed with swords
and shields, engaged each
other in a mock combat. One
other, mounted on a horse, was fantastically
dressed in
* This is often called, by the
vulgar, “the veil of sit'na Fa't'meh;”
because it
is said that Fa'timeh Sheg'eret ed-Door'r, the
wife of the Soolta'n
Es-Sa'lehh, was the first person who sent a
veil of this kind to cover
the door of the Ka'abeh.

sheep-skins, and wore a high skin
cap, and a grotesque
false beard, composed of short pieces of cord or
twist,
apparently of wool, with mustaches formed
of
two long
brown feathers: he occasionally pretended to write
fe'was
(or judicial decisions), upon scraps of paper given
to him by
spectators, with a piece of stick, which he
feigned to charge with a
substitute for ink by applying
it to his horse as though it were intended
for a goad.
But the most remarkable group in this part of the
procession
consisted of several durwee'shes of the sect of
the
Rifa”ees called Owla'd 'Ilwa'n, each of whom bore
in his hand an
iron spike, about a foot in length, with
a ball of the same metal at the
thick end, having a
number of small and short chains attached to it.
Several
of these durwee'shes, in appearance, thrust the
spike with
violence into their eyes, and withdrew it,
without showing any mark of
injury: it seemed to enter
to the depth of about an inch. This trick was
very well
performed. Five fud'dahs, or even a pipeful of tobacco,
seemed to be considered a sufficient recompense to the
religious juggler
for this display of his pretended miraculous
power. The spectators near me
seemed to entertain
no suspicion of any fraud in this singular
performance;
and I was reproached by one who sat by me, a
man of very
superior information, for expressing my
opinion that it was a very clever
piece of deception.
Most of the durwee'shes in the procession were
Rifa”ees:
their sheykh, on horseback, followed them.
Next came the
Mahh'mil, which I have described in
my
account of its return to
Cairo. It is added to the
procession of the
Kis'weh for the sake of increasing the
show: the grand procession of the
Mahh'mil previous
to the departure of the great caravan of pilgrims
takes

place between two and three weeks
after. Another black
covering, of an oblong form, embroidered in like
manner
with gold, to be placed over the Macka'm Ibrahee'm, in
the
Temple of Mek'keh, was borne after the Mahh'mil.
Behind this rode a Turkish
military officer, holding,
upon an embroidered kerchief, a small case, or
bag, of
given silk, embroidered with gold, the receptacle of the
key
of the Ka'abeh. Then followed the last person in
the procession: this was
the half-naked sheykh described
in my account of the return of the
Mahh'mil,
who constantly follows this sacred object, and accompanies
the caravan to and from Mek'keh, mounted on a
camel, and incessantly
rolling his head
*.
* I went to the mosque of the
Hhasaney'n a few days after, to
examine the Kis'weh and the other
objects above described, that
I might be able to make my account of
them more accurate and
complete. I was permitted to handle them all at
my leisure; and
gave a small present for this privilege, and for a
superfluous piece
of the Kis'weh, for which I asked, a span in length,
and nearly
the same in breadth.
In the latter part of Show'wa'l, not always on the
same day of the month,
but generally on or about the
twenty-third, the principal officers and
escort of the
great caravan of pilgrims pass, from the Citadel,
through
the metropolis, in grand procession, followed by the
Mahh'mil.
The procession is called that of the
Mahh'mil,
The
various persons who take part in it, most of
whom proceed with the caravan
to Mek'keh, collect in
the Ckar'a Meyda'n and the Roomey'leh (two
large
open tracts) below the Citadel, and there take their
places in
the prescribed order. As this procession is
conducted with less pomp in
almost every successive
year, I shall describe it as I first witnessed it,
during

my former visit to Egypt. The
streets through which
it passed were lined with spectators; some, seated
on
the mus'tub'ahs of the shops (which were all closed),
and others,
standing on the ground below. I obtained
a good place at a shop in the
principal street,
through which it passed towards the gate called Ba'b
en-Nusr.
First, a cannon was drawn along, about three hours
after sunrise: it was a
small field-piece, to be used for
the purpose of firing signals for the
departure of the
caravan after each halt. Then followed two companies
of irregular Turkish cavalry (Del'ees and Toofek'jees),
about five hundred
men, most shabbily clad, and having
altogether the appearance of banditti.
Next, after an
interval of about half an hour, came several men
mounted on camels, and each beating a pair of the
large, copper,
kettle-drams called nuck'a'ckee'r
*,
attached to the fore part of the
saddle. Other camels,
with large, shifted saddles, of the same kind as
those
described in my account of the return of the Mahh'mil,
without
riders, followed those above mentioned. These
camels were all slightly
tinged of a dingy orange red
with hhen'na. Some of them had a number of
fresh,
green palm-branches fixed upright upon the saddles, like
enormous plumes; others were decorated with small
flags, in the same,
manner as those above alluded to:
several had a large bell hung on each
side: some, again,
bore water-skins; and one was laden with a square
case, covered with red cloth, containing the
khuz'neh
(or treasure) for defraying those expenses of the pilgrimage
which
fall upon the government. The baggage
of the Emee'r el-Hha'gg (or Chief of
the Pilgrims)
* These are described in the chapter
on music.

then followed, borne by camels.
With his furniture
and provisions, &c., was conveyed the view
Kis'weh,
After this, there was another
interval.
The next persons in the procession were several durwee'shes,
moving their
heads from side to side, and repeating
the name of God. With these were
numerous
camel-drivers, sack'ckas, sweepers, and others; some of
them
crying “'Arafa't
*! O God
†!” and “God!
God!
[May the journey be] with safety
‡!”. Then, again,
followed
several camels; some, with palm-branches,
and others, with large bells, as
before described. Next,
the tukht'rawa'n (or litter) of the Emee'r
el-Hha'gg,
covered with red cloth, was borne along by two camels;
the
foremost of which had a saddle decorated with a
number of small flags. Some
Arabs, and the
Delee'l el-Hha'gg
(or Guide of the Caravan), followed it; and
next came several camels
and groups of durwee'shes
and others, as before. Then followed about fifty
members
of the Ba'sha's household, well dressed and
mounted; a number
of other officers, with silver-headed
sticks, and guns; the chief of the
Del'ees, with his
officers; and another body of members of the
household,
mounted like the first, but persons of an inferior order.
These were followed by several other officers of the
court, on foot,
dressed in ckufta'ns of cloth of gold.
Next came two swordsmen, naked to
the waist, and
each having a small, round shield: they frequently
stopped, and engaged each other in sport; and occasionally
received
remuneration from some of the spectators.
These preceded
a company of durwee'shes,
* “'Arafa't” is
the name of the mountain which is one of the
principal objects of
pilgrimage.
‡
Al'lah. Al'lah. Bi-s-sela'meh.

camel-drivers, and others; and
the shouts before-mentioned
were repealed.
After a short interval, the sounds of drums and fifes
were heard; and a
considerable body of the Niza'm, or
regular troops, marched by. Next
followed the Wa'lee
(or chief magistrate of police), with several of his
officers: then,
the attendants of the Emee'r el-Hha'gg,
the Emee'r himself, three ka'tibs (or clerks), a troop
of
Mugh'reb'ee horsemen, and three Moabal'lighs of
the
Mountain, in white 'abba'yehs (or woollen cloaks), interwoven
with
gold. The office of the last is to repeat
certain words of the Khatee'b (or
preacher) on Mount
'Arafa't. Then again there intervened numerous
groups
of camel-drivers, sweepers, sack'ckas, and others; many
of them
shouting as those before. In the midst of these
rode the Ima'ms of the four orthodox sects; one to
each sect. Several
companies of durwee'shes?, of different
orders, followed next, with the
tall banners and
flags of the kind mentioned in my account of the
procession
of the Kis'weh; the Cka'diree'yeh having also,
in addition
to their poles with various coloured nets, long
palm-sticks, as
fishing-rods. Kettle-drums, hautboys,
and other instruments, at the head of
each of these companies,
produced a harsh music. They were followed
by
members of various trades; each body headed by
their sheykh.
Next came several camels; and then, the
Mahh'mil.
Many of the people in the streets pressed violently towards
it, to
touch it with their hands, which, having
done so, they kissed; and many of
the women who
witnessed the spectacle from the latticed windows of the
houses let down their shawls or head-veils, in order to
touch with them the
sacred object. Immediately behind

the Mahh'mil was the same person
whom I have
described as following it on its return to
Cairo, and in
the procession of the Kis'weh; the half-naked sheykh,
seated on a camel,
and rolling' his head.
In former years, the Mahh'mil used to be conducted,
on this occasion, with
much more pomp, particularly in
the times of the Memloo'ks; who attended it
clad in
their richest dresses, displaying their most splendid arms
and
armour, and, in every way, vieing with each other
in magnificence. It used
generally to be preceded by a
group of Saadee'yeh durwee'shes, devouring
live serpents.
The Mahh'mil, the baggage of the Emee'r, &c.,
generally remain
two or three or more days in the plain
of the Hhas'weh, on the north of the
metropolis; then
proceed to the Bir'ket el-Hha'gg (or Lake of the
Pilgrims),
about eleven miles from the city, and remain
there two
days. This latter halting-place is the general
rendezvous of the pilgrims.
The caravan usually departs
thence on the twenty-seventh of Show'wa'l.
The
journey to Mek'keh occupies thirty-seven days. The
route lies over
rocky and sandy deserts, with very few
verdant spots. To diminish the
hardships of the journey,
the caravan travels slowly, and mostly by
night;
starting about two hours before sunset, and halting the
next
morning a little after sunrise. The litters most
generally used by the
pilgrims I have described in the
account of the return of the
caravan.—Most of the
Turkish pilgrims, and many others, prefer
going by way
of El-Ckoosey'r or Es-Soowey's
* and the
Red Sea;
and
set out from
Cairo generally between two and three
months before the great
caravan.
* Thus is properly pronounced the
name of the town which we
commonly call Suez.

On the tenth of
Zoo-l-Hheg'geh (the last month of
the year)
commences the Great Festival,
el-'Eed el-Kebee'r*;
which, like the former 'eed, lasts three days,
and is observed with
nearly the same customs. Every
person puts on his best clothes, or a new
suit; but it is
more common to put on new clothes on the minor 'eed.
Prayers are performed In the mosques on the first day,
soon after sunrise,
as on the other festival; and the
same customs of visiting and
congratulation, and giving
presents (though generally of smaller sums) to
servants
and others, are observed by most persons. The sacrifice
that
is performed on the first day, which is the day of
the pilgrims' sacrifice,
has been mentioned in the third
chapter of the former volume of this work.
It is a duty
observed by most persons who can easily afford to do it.
For several previous days, numerous flocks of sheep,
and many buffaloes,
are driven into the metropolis, to
be sold for sacrifice. Another custom
observed on this
festival, that of visiting the tombs, I have also
before
had occasion to describe, in the account of the ceremonies
of
the former 'eed. In most respects, what is
called the Minor Festival is
generally observed with
more rejoicing than that which is termed the
Great
Festival. On this latter 'eed, most persons who have
the means
to do so prepare a dish called
fet'teh, composed
of
boiled mutton, or other meat (the meat of the
victim), cut into small
pieces, placed upon broken bread,
upon which is poured the broth of the
meat, and some
vinegar flavoured with a little garlic fried in a small
quantity of melted butter, and then sprinkled over with
a little pepper.
* It is also called 'Eed el-Ckoorba'n (or the Festival of the
Sacrifice), and, by the Turks, Choorba'n
Beyra'm.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER XIII.
PERIODICAL PUBLIC FESTIVALS,
&c.—continued.
IT is remarkable that the Moos'lims of Egypt
observe
certain customs of a religious or superstitious nature at
particular periods of the religious almanac of the Copts;
and even,
according to the same system, calculate the
times of certain changes of the
weather. Thus they
calculate the period of the Khum'a'see'n, when hot
southerly winds are of frequent,
occurrence, to commence
on the day immediately following the Coptic
festival
of Easter Sunday, and to terminate on the Day of
Pentecost
(or Whitsunday); an interval of forty-nine
days.
The Wednesday next before this period is called
Ar'ba'a Eiyoo'b, or Job's Wednesday. Many persons,
on this day, wash themselves with cold water, and rub
themselves with the
creeping' plant called
raara'a Ei-yoo'b,
or
ghoobey'ra *
(inula Arabica, and inula
undulata), on account of a tradition which
relates that Job
did so to obtain restoration to health. This and
other
customs about to be mentioned were peculiar to the
Copts; but
are now observed by many Moos'lims in the
towns, and by more in the
villages. The other customs
just alluded to are that of eating eggs, dyed
externally
red or yellow or blue, or some other colour, on the next
* Commonly pronounced ghoobbey'rë.

day (Thursday); and, on the
Friday (Good Friday), a
dish of
khul'tah, composed
of kishk
*,
with foo'l na'bit
†,
lentils, rice, onions, &c. On the
Saturday, also, it is a
common custom of men and women to adorn their
eyes
with kohhl. This day is called
Sebt en-Noo' r
(Saturday
of the Light); because a light, said to be miraculous,
appears during the festival then celebrated in the Holy
Sepulchre in
Jerusalem.
* Kishk is prepared from wheat, first
moistened, then dried,
trodden in a vessel to separate the husks, and
coarsely ground
with a hand-mill: the meat is mixed with milk, and
about six
hours afterwards is spooned out upon a little straw or bran,
and
then left for two or three days to dry. When required for use,
it
is either soaked or pounded, and put into a sieve, over a
vessel;
and then boiling water is poured on it: what remains in the
sieve
is thrown away: what parses through is generally poured into
a
saucepan of boiled meat or fowl, over the fire: some leaves of
white bete, fried in butter, are usually added to each plate of it.
† Beans soaked in water until they
begin to sprout, and then
boiled.
A custom termed
Khemm en-Nesee'm (or the Smelling
of
the Zephyr) is observed on the first day of the Khum'a'see'n.
Early in the
morning of this day, many persons,
especially women, break an onion, and
smell it;
and in the course of the forenoon, many of the citizens
of
Cairo ride or walk a little way into the country, generally
northwards, to
take the air, or, as they term it,
smell the air, which, on that day, they believe to have
a
wonderfully beneficial effect. The greater number dine
in the
country. This year (1834), they were treated
with a violent hot wind,
accompanied by clouds of
dust, instead of the nesee'm: but considerable
numbers,
notwithstanding, went out to smell it.—The
'ool'ama have their “shemm en-nesee'm” at a fixed

period of the solar year; the
first three days of the
spring quarter.
The night of the 17th of June, which corresponds
with the llth of the Coptic
month of Ba-oo'neh, is
called
Ley'let en-Noock'tah
(or the Night of the Drop)
as it is believed that a miraculous drop then
falls into
the Nile, and causes it to rise. Astrologers calculate the
precise moment when the “drop” is to fall; which is
always in the course of this night. Many of the inhabitants
of
Cairo and
its neighbourhood, and of other
parts of Egypt, spend this night on the
hanks of the
Nile; some, in houses of their friends; others, in the
open air. Many also, and especially the women, observe
a singular custom on
the Ley'let en-Noock'tah; placing,
upon the terrace of the house, after
sunset, as many
lumps of dough as there are inmates in the house, a
lump for each person, who puts his, or her, mark upon
it: at day-break, on
the following morning, they look at
each of these lumps; and if they find
it cracked, they
infer that the life of the person for whom it was
placed
will he long, or not terminate that year; but if they find
it
not cracked, they infer the reverse. Some say that
this is also done to
discover whether the Nile will rise
high in the ensuing
season.—Another absurd custom
is observed on the fourth
following night,
Ley'let en-Sarata'n,
when the sun
enters the sign of Cancer: it is
the writing a charm to exterminate, or
drive away, bugs.
This charm consists of the following words from the
Ckoor-a'n
*, written in separate letters—“' Hast
thou
not considered those who left their habitations, and
they were
thousands, for fear of death? and God said
unto them die:' die:
die.” The last word of the text

is thus written three times. The
above charm, it is said,
should be written on three pieces of paper, which
are to
be hung upon the walls of the room which is to be
cleared of
the bugs; one upon each wall excepting that
at the end where is the
entrance, or that in which is the
entrance.
The Nile, as I have mentioned in the introduction to
this work, begins to
rise about, or soon after, the period
of the summer solstice. From, or
about, the 27th of
the Coptic month Baoo-'neh (3d of July) its rise is
daily proclaimed in the streets of the metropolis. There
are several criers
to perform this office; each for a particular
district of the town. The
Crier of the Nile
(Moona'dee en-Neel) generally goes about his
district
early in the morning; but sometimes later; accompanied
by a
boy. On the day immediately preceding
that on which he commences his daily
announcement of
the rise of the Nile, he
proclaims,—“God hath been
propitious to the lands!
The day of good news! Tomorrow,
the announcement, with good
fortune!”—The
daily announcement is as follows.
Moona'dee. “Mohham'mad is the Prophet of guidance!”
Boy. “The Mahh'mils journey to him
*!”
M.
“The guide: peace be on him!”
B. “He will prosper
who blesseth him!” [The
Moona'dee and boy then continue,
or sometimes they omit the preceding form,
and
begin, thus.]
M. “O Thou whose
government is excellent!”
B. “My Lord! I have none beside
Thee!” [After this, they proceed, in many cases, thus.]
M. “The treasuries of the Bountiful are
full!”
B.
“And at the gate there is no scarcity!”
M. “I assert
the absolute glory of Him
who spread out the earth!”
B. “And hath given running
rivers!”
M. ” Through

Whom the fields become
green!”
B. “After death He
causeth them to live!”
M. “God
hath given abundance,
and Increased [the river], and watered the high
lands!” B. “And the mountains and the sands and
the
fields!”
M. “O Alternator of the
day and night!”
B. ”. My Lord! There is none beside
Thee!”
M. “O
Guide of the
wandering! O God!”
B. “Guide me
to
the path of prosperity!” [They then continue, or,
sometimes omitting all that here precedes, commence,
as follows.]
M. “O Amiable! O Living! O Self-subsisting!”
B. “O Great in power! O Almighty!”
M. “O Aider! regard me with
favour!”
B. “O
Bountiful!
withdraw not thy protection!”
M. ”
God
preserve to me my master [or my master the
emee'r]
such a one [naming the master of the house], and the
good people of
his house! O Bountiful! O God '.”
B. ” Ay! please God!”
M. “God give them a happy
morning, from
himself; and increase their prosperity,
from himself!”
B. “Ay '. please God!”
M. ” God
preserve to me my master
[&c.] such a one [naming
again the master of the house]; and
increase to him
the favours of God! O Bountiful! O God!”
B. “Ay!
please God!” [Then
brothers, sons, and unmarried
daughters, if there be any, however young,
are mentioned
in the same manner, as follows.]
M.
“God
preserve to me my master [&c] such a one, for a
long
period! O Bountiful '. O God!”
B.
“Ay! please
God!”
M.
“God preserve to me my mistress, the
chief lady among brides,
such a one, for a long period!
O Bountiful! O God!”
B. ” Ay! please God!”
M. “May He abundantly bless them with his
perfect
abundance; and pour abundantly the Nile over the
country! O
Bountiful! O God!”
B. ” Ay!
please
God!”
M. ” Five [or
six, &c. digits] today: and the

Lord is bountiful;”
B. “Bless ye
Mohham'mad!”—These
last words are added in the fear
lest the rising of
the river should be affected by a malicious wish, or
evil
eye, which is supposed to be rendered ineffectual if the
malicious person bless the Prophet
*.
* He would be guilty of a sin if he
did not do this when desired.
Sometimes, the people of a house before which the
Moona'dee makes his cry
give him daily a piece of
bread: this is a common custom among the
middle
orders: but most persons give him nothing until the
day before
the opening of the Canal of
Cairo. Very
little reliance is to be placed
upon the announcement
which he makes of the height which the 'river
has
attained; for he is generally uninformed or misinformed
by the
persons whose duty it is to acquaint him upon
this subject: but the people
mostly listen with interest
to his proclamation. He and his boy repeat this
cry
every day, until the day next before that on which the
dam that
closes the mouth of the Canal of
Cairo is cut.
On this day (that is, the former of those just mentioned),
the Moona'dee
goes about his district, accompanied
by a number of little boys, each of
whom bears
a small coloured flag, called
ra'yeh;
and announces the
Wef'a en-Neel (the Completion, or Abundance, of the
Nile); for thus is termed the state of the river when it
has risen
sufficiently high for the government to proclaim
that it has attained the
sixteenth cubit of the
Nilometer: in this, however, the people are always
deceived;
for there is an old law, that the land-tax cannot
be exacted
unless the Nile rises to the height of sixteen
cubits of the Nilometer; and
the government thinks it
proper to make the people believe, as early as
possible,
that it has attained this height. The period when the

Wef'a en-Neel is proclaimed is
when the river has actually
risen about twenty or twenty-one feet in the
neighbourhood
of the metropolis; which is generally between
the 6th
and 16th of August (or the 1st and 11th of the
Coptic month of Mis'ra)
*: this is
when there yet remain,
of the measure of a moderately good rise, in
the
neighbourhood of the metropolis, four or three feet. On
the day
above mentioned (the next before that on which
the canal is to be opened),
the Moona'dee and the boys
who accompany him with the little
ra'ya't (or flags)
make the following announcement.
* This present year (1834), the river
having risen with unusual
rapidity, the clam was cut on the 5th of
August. Fears
were entertained lest it should overflow the dam before
it was cut;
which would have been regarded as an evil omen.
Moona'dee. “The river hath given abundance,
and
completed [its measure]! “
Boys.
“God hath given
abundance
†!
” M.
“And Da'r en-Nahha's
‡ is filled!”
B. “God, &c.”
M. ” And the canals flow!”
B.
“God, &c.”
M.
“And the vessels are afloat!”
B.
”
God, &c.”
M. ”
And the hoarder [of grain] has
failed!”
B. “God, &c.”
M.
” By permission of the
Mighty, the
Requiter!”
B. ” God,
&c.”
M. ” And
there remains nothing—“
B.
” God, &c.”
M.
” To
the perfect completion! “
B. ” God, &c.”
M. ” This
is an annual
custom.”
B. ” God.
&c.”
M. ” And
may
you live to every year!”
B. “God,
&c.”
M.
“And if the hoarder wish for a scarcity”
B. “God,
† The words thus translated, the boys
pronounce O'fa-lle'h for
Ow'fa-lla'h.
‡ This is an old building between the
aqueduct and Musr el'Atee'ekah,
where the Soolta'ns and Governors of
Egypt used to
alight, and inspect the state of the river, previously to
the cutting
of the dam of the Canal.

&c.”
M. “May God visit him, before death,
with
blindness and affliction!”
B.
“God, &c.” M. “This
generous
person
* loveth the generous.”
B.
“God,
&c.”
M.
” And an admirable palace is built for him
†.”
B. ” God, &c.”
M. ” And its columns are incomparable
jewels,”
B. ” God,
&c.”
M. ” Instead of
palm-sticks
and timber:”
B.
“God, &c.”
M.
“And it has
a thousand windows that open: “
B. ” God, &c.”
M.
” And before every window is
Selsebee'l
‡.”
B.
“God,
&c.”
M.
“Paradise is the abode of the generous.”
B. “God, &c.”
M. “And Hell is the abode of the
avaricious.”
B. “God,
&c.”
M. “May God
not
cause me to stop before the door of an avaricious
woman, nor of an
avaricious man:”
B. “God, &c.”
M. “Nor of one who measures the water in the jar:”
B. ” God, &c.”
M. “Nor who counts the bread while it
is
yet dough:”
B.
“God,&c.”
M.
“And if a cake be
wanting orders a fast:”
B. “God, &c.”
M. “Nor
who shuts up the cats at
supper-time:”
B. “God,
&c.”
M. “Nor who drives
away the dogs upon the
walls.”
B.
“God, &c.”
M.
“The world is brightened.”
B. ” God, &c.”
M. “And the damsels have
adorned
themselves.”
B. “God,
&c.”
M. ” And the
old women tumble about.”
B. “God,
&c.”
M. “And
the
married man hath added to his wife eight others.”
B. “God, &c.”
M. ” And the bachelor hath married
eighteen.”—This cry is continued until somebody in
the
house gives a present to the Moona'dee; the amount of
which is
generally from ten fud'dahs to a piaster; but
many persons give two
piasters; and grandees, a kheyree'yeh,
or nine piasters.
* The person before whose house the
announcement is made.
‡ A Fountain of Paradise.

During this day, preparations are
made for cutting
the dam of the, canal. This operation attracts a
great
crowd of spectators, partly from the political importance
attached to it; but, being always prematurely performed,
it is now without
much reason made an occasion of
public festivity.
The dam is constructed before, or soon after, the
commencement of the Nile's
increase. The Khalee'g,
or Canal, at the distance
of about four hundred feet
within its entrance, is crossed by an old stone
bridge of
one arch. About sixty feet in front of this bridge is the
dam; which is of earth; very broad at the bottom, and
diminishing in
breadth towards the top, which is flat,
and about three yards broad. The
top of the dam rises
to the height of about twenty-two or twenty-three
feet
above the level of the Nile when at the lowest; but not
so high
above the bed of the canal; for this is several
feet above the low-water
mark of the river; and consequently
dry for some months, when the river is
low.
The banks of the canal are a few feet higher than the
top of the
dam. Nearly the same distance in front of
the dam that the latter is
distant from the bridge, is
raided a round pillar of earth, diminishing
towards the
top, in the form of a truncated cone, and not quite so
high as the dam. This is called the 'aroo'seh
(or bride), for a reason which will presently be stated.
Upon its Hat
top, and upon that of the dam, a little
maize or millet is generally sown.
The 'aroo'seh is
always washed down by the rising tide before the
river
has attained to its summit, and generally more than a
week or
fortnight before the dam is cut.
It is believed that the custom of forming this 'aroo'seh
originated from an
ancient superstitious usage, which is

mentioned by Arab authors, and,
among them, by El-Muckree'zee.
This historian relates, that, in the
year
of the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs, 'Amr Ibn El'A's,
the Arab
general, was told, that the Egyptians
were accustomed, at the period when
the Nile began to
rise, to deck a young virgin in gay apparel, and
throw
her into the river as a sacrifice, to obtain a plentiful
inundation. This barbarous custom, it is said, he
abolished; and the Nile,
in consequence, did not rise in
the least degree during the space of nearly
three months
after the usual period of the commencement of its
increase. The people were greatly alarmed; thinking
that a famine would
certainly ensue: 'Amr, therefore,
wrote to the Khalee'feh, to inform him of
what he had
done, and of the calamity with which Egypt was, in
consequence, threatened. 'Oma'r returned a brief
answer, expressing his
approbation of “Amr's conduct,
and desiring him, upon the
receipt of the letter, to throw
a note, which it enclosed, into the Nile.
The purport
of this note was as follows.—“From 'Abd
Al'lah “Om'ar,
Prince of the Faithful, to the Nile of Egypt. If
thou
flowest of thine own accord, flow not: but if it be God,
the One,
the Mighty, who causeth thee to flow, we implore
God, the One, the Mighty,
to make thee flow.”—‘Amr
dìd as
he was commanded; and the Nile, we are
told, rose sixteen cubits in the
following night.—This
tale is, indeed, hard to be believed, even
divested of the miracle.
On the north side of the Canal, overlooking the dam,
and almost close to the
bridge, was a small building of
stone, from which the grandees of
Cairo
used to witness
the operation of cutting the dam. This building has
become a ruin; and upon its remains is erected a large

tent for the reception of those
officers who have to witness
and superintend the cutting. Some other tents
are
also erected for other visitors; and the government supplies
a
great number of fire-works, chiefly rockets, to
honour the festival, and to
amuse the populace during
the night preceding the day when the dam is cut,
and
during the operation itself, which is performed early in
the
morning. Many small tents, for the sale of sweetmeats,
fruits, and other
eatables, and coffee, &c., are
likewise pitched along the bank
of the isle of Er-Ro'dah,
opposite the entrance of the Canal. The day of
the
cutting of the dam of the Canal is called
Yo'm Gebr
el-Bahhr,
which is said to signify “the Day of the
Breaking
of the River”; though the word
gebr, which is thus
interpreted “breaking,” has
really the reverse signification.
The term
Yo'm Wef'a
el-Bahhr, or
Wef'a en-Neel, before explained,
is also,
and more properly, applied to this day. The festival of the Canal
is also called
Mo'sim el-Khalee'g.
In the afternoon of the day preceding that on which
the dam is cut, numerous
boats, hired by private parties,
for pleasure, repair to the neighbourhood
of the entrance
of the Canal. Among these is a very large boat,
called
the
'Ack'abah; one of the largest of those which
navigate the Nile, and which are called
'ack'abs. It
is
painted for the occasion, in a gaudy, but rude, manner,
and has two
or more small cannons on board, and
numerous lamps attached to the ropes,
forming various
devices, such as a large star, &c.: it has also,
over the
cabin, a large kind of close awning, composed of pieces
of
silk, and other stuffs; and is adorned with two pennants.
It is vulgarly
believed that this boat represents
a magnificent vessel, in which the
Egyptians used,

before the conquest of their
country by the Arabs, to
convey the virgin whom, it is said, they threw
into the
Nile. It sails from Boo'la'ck about three hours after
noon;
taking passengers for hire; men and women;
the latter being usually placed,
if they prefer it, in the
large awning above mentioned. It is made fast to
the
bank of the isle of Er-Ro'dah, immediately opposite the
entrance
of the Canal. Most of the other boats also
remain near it during the night,
along the bank of the
island; but some, all the evening and night, are
constantly
sailing up, or rowing down the river. In many
boats, the
crews amuse themselves and their passengers
by singing, often accompanied
by the darabook'keh
and zoomma'rah; and some private parties hire
professional
musicians to add to their diversion on the river.
The
festival is highly enjoyed by the crowds who attend
it; though there is
little that a stranger would think
could minister to their amusement: they
seem to require
nothing more to enliven them than crowds and bustle,
with a pipe and a cup of coffee. In former years, the
festival was always
attended by dancing girls (who are
now forbidden to perform), and by
singers, instrumental
musicians, and reciters of romances. In the
evening,
before it is dark, the exhibition of fire-works commences;
and this is continued, together with the firing
of guns from the 'ack'abah
and two or more gun-boats,
every quarter of an hour during the night.
About
twelve guns are fired on each of these occasions: the
whole
number fired at the night's festival of the present
year was about six
hundred. The fire-works which are
displayed during the night consist of
little else than
rockets and a few blue lights: the best are kept till
morning; and exhibited in broad day-light, during the

cutting of the dam. At night, the
river and its banks
present a remarkably picturesque scene. Numerous
boats are constantly passing up and down; and the
lamps upon the rigging of
the 'ack'abah, and in other
boats, as well as on the shore, where there are
also many
mesh”als stuck in the ground (several upon the
dam
and its vicinity, and many more upon the bank of the
island), have
a striking effect, which is occasionally
rendered more lively by the firing
of the guns, and the
ascent of a number of rockets. The most crowded
part
of the scene of the festival at night is the bank of the
island;
where almost every person is too happy to sleep,
even if the noise of the
guns, &c. did not prevent
him.
Before sunrise, a great number of workmen begin to
cut the dam. This labour
devolves, in alternate years,
upon the Moos'lim grave-diggers
(et-toor'abee'yeh) and
on the Jews; both of whom
are paid by the government:
but when it falls to the Jews, and on a
Saturday,
they are under the necessity of paying a handsome sum
of
money to escape the sin of profaning their sabbath by
doing what, the
government requires of them. With a
kind of hoe, the dam is cut thinner and
thinner, from
the back (the earth being removed in baskets, and
thrown
upon the bunk), until, at the top, it remains
about a foot thick: this is
accomplished by about an
hour after sunrise. Shortly before this time,
when
dense crowds have assembled in the neighbourhood of
the dam, on
each bank of the Canal, the Governor of
the metropolis arrives, and alights
at the large tent
before mentioned, by the dam: some other great
officers
are also present; and the Cka'dee attends, and writes a
document
(hhog'get d-bahhr) to attest the fact of the

river's having risen to the
height sufficient for the opening
of the Canal, and of this operation
having been
performed; which important document is despatched
with
speed to Constantinople. Meanwhile, the firing of
guns, and the display of
the fire-works, continue; and
towards the close of the operation, the best
of the fireworks
are exhibited; when, in the glaring sunshine,
they
can hardly be seen. When the dam has been cut
away to the degree above
mentioned, and all the great
officers whose presence is required have
arrived, the
Governor of the metropolis throws a purse of small gold
coins to the labourers. A boat, on board of which is an
officer of the late
Wa'lee, is then propelled against the
narrow ridge of earth, and, breaking
the slight barrier,
passes through it, and descends with the cataract
thus
formed. The person here mentioned is an old man,
named
Hhammoo'deh, who was
serra'g ba'shee of the
Wa'lee:
it was his office to walk immediately before his
master when the latter
took his ordinary rides, preceded
by a long train of officers, through the
streets and
environs of the metropolis. Just as his boat approaches
the dam, the Governor of
Cairo throws into it a purse
of gold, as a present
for him. The remains of the dam
are quickly washed away, by the influx of
the water into
the bed of the Canal; and numerous other boats enter;
pass along the Canal throughout the whole length of
the city, and, some of
them, several miles further; and
return.
Formerly, the Sheykh el-Bel'ed, or the Ba'sha, with
other great officers,
presided at this fete, which was
celebrated with much pomp; and money was
thrown
into the Canal, and caught by the populace; some of
whom
plunged into the water with nets; but several

lives were generally lost in the
scramble. This present
year (1834), three persons were drowned on the day
of
the opening of the Canal; one in the Canal itself, and
two in the
lake of the Ezbekee'yeh. A few minutes
after I had entered my house, on my
return from witnessing'
the cutting of the dam, and the festivities of
the preceding night (which I passed partly on the river,
and partly on the
isle of Er-Ro'dah), a woman, having
part of her dress and her face, which
was uncovered,
besmeared with mud, passed by my door, screaming
for
the loss of her son, who was one of the three persons
drowned on this
occasion. The water entered the
Ezbekee'yeh by a new canal, on the day
preceding that
on which the dam was cut. Crowds collected round it
on
this day, and will for many following days (I am
writing a few days after
the opening of the canal), to
enjoy the view of the large expanse of water,
which,
though very turbid, is refreshing to the sight in so dry
and
dusty a place as
Cairo, and at this hot season of
the year. Several tents
are pitched by it, at which
visitors are supplied with coffee; and one for
the sale
of brandy, wine, &c.; and numerous stools and
benches
of palm-sticks are set there. The favourite lime of
resort to
this place is the evening; and many persons
remain there for several hours
after sunset: some, all
night. There are generally two or three
story-tellers
there. At all hours of the day, and sometimes even at
midnight, persons are seen bathing in the lake; chiefly
men and boys, but
also some young girls, and even
women; the latter of whom expose their
persons before
the passengers and idlers on the banks in a manner
surprising in a place where women in general so carefully
conceal even
their faces; though most of these

bathers are usually covered from
the waist downwards.
It often happens that persons are drowned here.
On the day after the cutting of the dam, the Moona'dee
continues to repeat
his first cry; but uses a different
form of expression in stating the
height of the
river; saying, for instance, “four from
sixteen;”
meaning, that the river has increased four ckeera'ts (or
digits) from sixteen cubits. This cry
he continues until
the day of the No'roo'z, or a little earlier.
On the No'roo'z, or Coptic new-year's-day (10th or
llth of September), or two or three days before, he
comes to each house in
his district, with his boy drest in
his best clothes, and a drummer and a
hautboy-player;
repeats the same cry as on the Wef'a; and again
receives
a present. Afterwards he continues his former cry.
On the day of the
Salee'b (or the
Discovery of the
Cross), which is the 17th of the Coptic month of Too't,
or 26th or 27th of
September, at which period the river
has risen to its greatest height, or
nearly so, he comes
again to each house in his district, and repeats the
following cry.—“In uncertainty
*,
thou wilt not rest:
nor
in comparing
† wilt thou rest. O my reproacher
‡, rest!
There is
nothing that endureth! There remaineth
nothing [uncovered by the water] but
the shemma'm
§
and lemma'm
‖ and the sown fields and the anemone
and safflower
and flax: and may my master such a one
[naming the master of the house]
live, and see that the
* Doubting whether the Nile will rise
sufficiently high.
† That is, in comparing the height of
the river at a particular
period in the present year with its height at
the same period in
preceding years.
‡ O thou who hast said to me,
“Why dost thou not bring better
news?”

river has increased; and give, to
the bringer of good
news, according to a just judgment. Ab'oo Redda'd
*
is entitled to a fee from the government; a fee of a
sheree'fee
† for
every digit of the river's increase: and
we are entitled to a fee from the
people of generosity;
we come to take it with good behaviour. The
fortunate
Nile of Egypt hath taken leave of us in prosperity: in
its
increase, it hath irrigated all the country.”—The
Moona'dee, on this occasion, presents a few limes and
other fruit, to the
rich, or persons of middle rank, and
some lumps of dry mud of the Nile,
which is eaten by
the women, in many families. He generally receives a
present of two or three or more piasters. His occupation
then ceases until
the next year.
* The Sheykh of the Mickya's, or
Nilometer.
† A gold coin, now become scarce. Its
value, I am informed;
is about a third of a pound sterling, or rather
less.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER XIV.
PRIVATE FESTIVITIES, &c.

As the modern Egyptian does not become a housekeeper
until he is married
(and not of necessity then; for he
may live with
his wife in the house of his or her parents),
his first marriage is
generally the first event which
affords him and his wife an occasion of
calling together
their respective friends to a private entertainment.
Whenever a great entertainment is given on any occasion
of rejoicing, it is
customary, for the persons invited,
to send presents (such as I have
mentioned in describing
the ceremonies attendant upon a marriage), a day or
two
before. The husband always has his separate party,
generally in
the lower apartment or apartments of the
house; and the wife entertains her
female relations and
friends in the hharee'm, or upper apartments. It is
also
the usual custom for the wife to entertain her guests
(among whom
no males are ever admitted, excepting
very young boys) during the six
middle hours of the
day; and for the husband to receive his guests
afterwards;
after sunset, or after the 'esh'ë prayers: but
sometimes his guests assemble while the wife is engaged
with her own party
in the hharee'm.
On these occasions, the female singers called
'Awa'lim
(or
'A'l'mehs) are often hired to amuse the
company.
They sit in one of the apartments of the hharee'm; generally
at a window looking into the court. The wooden

lattice-work of the window,
though too close to allow them
to be seen by persons without, is
sufficiently open to let
them be distinctly heard by the male guests
sitting in
the court or in one of the apartments which look into it.
In many houses, there is a small elevated apartment, or
closet, for the
'Awa'lim, called t
oockey'seh (which I have
before
described), adjoining the apartment in which the
male guests assemble (as
well as another adjoining the
principal saloon of the hharee'm), screened
in front by
wooden lattice-work, to conceal these singers from the
view of the men.—The dancing-girls
(Ghawa'zee, or
Gha'zee-'yehs) are also frequently hired to attend on
the
occasions of private festivities. They dance (with unveiled
face)
before the men, in the court; so that they
may be seen also by the women
from the windows of the
hharee'm; or perform in an apartment in which the
men
are assembled; or in the street, before the house, for the
amusement only of the women. When they or the
'Awa'lim perform for the
entertainment of a party, one
of the friends of the host usually collects
for them small
sums of money upon the tambourine, or in a
handkerchief,
from the guests: but sometimes, the host will not
allow
this custom to be observed. The contributions
are called
noockoo't. It is the general practice for the
person who gives
the entertainment to engage the Ghawa'zee
for a certain sum: he receives
the noockoo't;
which may fall short of, or exceed, the promised sum:
in
the former case, he pays the difference from his own
purse: in the
latter case, he often pockets the surplus.
Or he agrees that they shall
receive all the noockoo't,
with, or without, an additional sum from
himself. In
some parties, where little decorum is observed, the guests
dally and sport with these dancing-girls in a very licentious

manner. I have before mentioned
(in a former
chapter), that, on these occasions, they are usually
indulged with brandy, or some other intoxicating liquor,
which most of them
drink to excess. It is a common
custom for a man to wet, with his tongue,
small gold
coins, and stick them upon the forehead, cheeks, chin,
and
lips, of a Gha'zee'yeh. When money is collected
for the 'Awa'lim, their
servant, who is called
kkalboo's,
and who often
acts the part of a buffoon, calls out, at each
contribution,
“Such a one has given so many m
ahhboo'bs,
or
kheyree'yehs
“—turning a few piasters into a
much larger number of
gold coins of considerably
greater value; or, if gold be given,
exaggerating the
sum in the same manner. This he does to compliment
the donor, and to stimulate the generosity of others. His
mistress, or
another of the 'Awa'lim, replies, “
'Ock'ba
le-'an'dooh”
(” May he have the like [rejoicing]”—or
“May he have a recompense”).—The guests
are also
often entertained with a concert of instrumental and vocal
music, by male performers
(A'la'tee'yeh), who sit in
the
court, or in the apartment in which the guests are assembled.
Two
dik'kehs (or high wooden sofas) are often
put
together, front to front, in the court, and furnished
with cushions,
&c., to form an orchestra for the musicians;
and a lantern is
usually placed in the middle.
The A'la'tee'yeh generally receive
contributions from
the assembly for whose entertainment they perform,
like
the 'Awa'lim; their khalboo's calling out to them in the
same
manner after each gift.
But performances of a different kind from those above
mentioned are more
common, and are considered more
proper, on the occasions of private
festivities. These are
the recitals of a
khut'meh
(or of the whole of the Ckoora'n),

by three or more fick'ees, who
are hired for the
purpose; or of a
zikr, by a small
party of fackee'rs
*.
That the, khut'meh may not be too fatiguing to the
performers,
the fick'ees relieve each other by turns; one only
chanting at a time; and each, usually,chanting a roob'a.
They generally
come to the house a little after the 'asr,
and get through the greater part
of their task before the
guests assemble: one of them then chants more
leisurely,
and in a more musical manner: after him, in the
same
manner, another; and so on. Sometimes a khut'meh
is performed in the
day-time, and after it, in the
evening, a zikr. It is a rule that the zikr
should always
be performed after sunset.
* These customs remind us of St.
Paul's advice to the Ephesians, chap. v., ver. 19; which shows the antiquity
of social pastimes of this kind. The Egyptians highly enjoy the religious
love-songs of the moon'shids at zikrs.
In Egypt, persons who habitually live with the utmost
frugality prepare a
great variety and profusion of dishes
for the entertainment of their
friends. But very little
time is devoted to eating. The period of
conviviality is
mostly passed in smoking, sipping coffee, drinking
sherbet,
and conversing: the Turks, however, generally abstain
from
smoking during the recital of the Ckoor-a'n;
and the honour which they pay
to the sacred book on
every occasion has given rise to a saying, that
“God has
exalted A'l 'Osma'n [i. e, the race of 'Osma'n, or
the
'Osma'nlees] above other Moos'lims because they exalt
the
Ckoor-a'n more than do others.” In these parties,
none of the
guests ever attempts to amuse his companions,
except by facetious
conversation, or sometimes
by telling a story; though all of them take
great delight
in witnessing the performances of the hired dancers,

musicians, and singers. The
Egyptians seldom play
at any game, unless when only two or three
persons
meet together; or in the privacy of their own families.
They
are a social people; and yet they but rarely give
great entertainments.
Festivities such as I have described
above are very unfrequent: they occur
only on particular
occasions which really call for rejoicing. Excepting
on
such occasions, it is considered improper to hire dancing-girls
to
perform in a house.
The marriage-festivities I have described in a former
chapter: I therefore
proceed to give an account of the
festivities which follow a marriage; and shall do so in
the order of their
occurrence.
On the seventh day
(Yo'm es-Sooboo'a
*) after a
marriage,
the wife receives her female relations and friends
during
the morning and afternoon; and sometimes, the
husband entertains his own
friends in the evening;
generally hiring persons to perform a khut'meh or
a
zikr. It is a custom of husbands in Egypt to deny
themselves their
conjugal rights during the first week
after the conclusion of the marriage
with a virgin bride;
and the termination of this period is a due cause
for
rejoicing
†—On the fortieth day (Yo'm
el-Arba'ee'n)
* The Sooboo'a after the birth of a
child is celebrated with
more rejoicing: and therefore, in speaking of
the Yo'm es-Sooboo'a,
the seventh day after childbirth is generally
understood.
† It was not such a festival as this
alone that is alluded to in
Genesis xxix., 27, and in Judges xiv., 12.
It was, and I believe
is still, the custom of wealthy Bed'awees (and
such was Laban) to
feast their friends seven days after marriage (as
also after the
birth of a male child); and every respectable Moos'lim,
after
marriage, if disappointed in the expectations he has been led
to
form of his wife, abstains from putting her away for about a
week,
that she may not be disgraced by suspicion; particularly if it
be
her first marriage.

after the marriage, the wife
goes, with a party of her
female friends, to the bath. Her companions
return
with her to her house, about the 'asr; partake of a repast,
and
go away. The husband, also, sometimes receives
visitors in the evening of
this day, and again
causes a khut'meh or zikr to be performed.
The next festivities in a family are generally those
consequent on the birth
of a child.—Two or three or
more days before the expected time
of the delivery, the
da'yeh (or midwife) conveys, to the house of the
woman
who requires her assistance, the
hoor'see
el-wila'deh, a
chair of a peculiar form, upon which the patient is
to
be seated during the birth
*. This chair is covered with
a shawl,
or an embroidered napkin; and some flowers of
the hhen'na-tree, or some
roses, arc tied, with an embroidered
handkerchief, to each of the upper
corners of
the back. Thus ornamented, the chair (which is the
property
of the da'yeh) is conveyed before her to the
house.—In the
houses of the rich, and of those in easy
circumstances, the mother, after
delivery, is placed on a
bed, and usually remains on it from three to six
days:
but poor women, in the same case, seldom take to a bed
at all;
and after a day or two, resume their ordinary
occupations, if not requiring
great exertion.
On the morning after the birth, two or three of the
dancing-men called
Khow'als, or two or three Gha'zee'yehs,
dance in front of the house, or in
the court.—The
festivities occasioned by the birth of a son are
always
greater than those on account of a daughter. The Arabs
still
show relics of that feeling which often induced their
ancient ancestors to
destroy their female offspring.
A few days after the birth, generally on the fourth or

fifth day, the women of the
house, if the family be of
the middle or wealthy classes, usually prepare
dishes of
moofet'tuck'ah, kishk, liba'beh, and hhhil'beh; which
they
send to the female relations and friends. The first of
these
consists of honey with a little clarified butter
* and
oil of sesame
†, and a
variety of aromatics and spices
pounded together: roasted hazel-nuts are
also added to
it
‡. The kishk has been described in a former page
§.
The
liba'beh is composed of broken or crumbled bread,
honey, clarified butter,
and a little rose-water: the butter
is first put into a saucepan over the
fire; then, the broken
bread; and next, the honey. The dish of hhil'beh
(or
fenugreek) is prepared from the dry grain, boiled, and
then
sweetened with honey over the fire.
‡ Some women add another ingredient;
not when it is to be
sent to friends; but for a particular purpose,
which is, to make
them fat: they broil and mash up a number of beetles
in the
butter; and then add the honey, &c. This has been
alluded to
in the chapter on the Domestic Life of the Women.
§ In a note to the second paragraph
of the preceding chapter.
On the
Yo'm es-Sooboo'a (or Seventh Day) after the
birth of a child, the female friends of its mother pay her
a visit. In the
families of the higher classes, 'Awa'lim
are hired to sing in the hharee'm;
or A'la'tee'yeh perform,
or fick'ees recite a khut'meh, below. The
mother,
attended by the da'yeh, sits on the koor'see el-wila'deh, in
the hope that she may soon have occasion for it again;
for her doing this
is considered propitious. The child
is brought, wrapped in a handsome
shawl, or something
costly; and, to accustom it to noise, that it may not
be
frightened afterwards by the music, and other sounds of

mirth, one of the women takes a
brass mortar
*', and
strikes it repeatedly with the pestle, as if
pounding.
After this, the child is put into a sieve, and shaken; it
being supposed that this operation is beneficial to its
stomach. Next, it
is carried through all the apartments
of the hharee'm, accompanied by
several women or girls;
each of whom hears a number of wax candles,
sometimes
of various colours, cut in two, lighted, and stuck into
small lumps of paste of hhen'na, upon a small round tray.
At the same time,
the da'yeh, or another female, sprinkles,
upon the floor of each room, a
mixture of salt and
seed of the fennel-flower
†; saying, as she does
this,
“The salt be in the eye of whoever does not bless the
Prophet
‡!” or, “The foul salt in the eye of
the
envious
§!” This ceremony of the sprinkling of salt
‖
is considered a preservative, for the child and mother,
from the evil
eye. The child, wrapped up, and placed
on a fine mattress, which is
sometimes laid on a silver
tray, is shown to each of the women present, who
looks
at its face, says,” O God, favour our lord
Mohham'mad!
God give thee long life!”
&c., and usually puts an embroidered
handkerchief,
with a gold coin (if pretty or
old, the more esteemed) tied up in one of
the corners, on
the child's head, or by its side. This giving of
handkerchiefs
is considered as imposing a debt, to be repaid by
the
mother, if the donor should give her the same occasion;
or as the discharge
of a debt for a similar offering.
‡
“El-milhh fee 'eyn el' lee ma' yesal'lee
'a-n-neb'ee.” Yesal'lee
is for yoosal'lee; and
'a-n-neb'ee, for 'al'a-n-neb'ee.
§
El-milhh el-fa'sid fee 'eyn et-hha'sid.

The coins are generally used, for
some years, to decorate
the head-dress of the child. After these noockoo't
for
the child, others are given for the da'yeh. During the
night
before the sooboo'a, a water-bottle full of water
(a (do'ruck in the case
of a boy, or a ckool'leh in that of
a girl) is placed at the child's head,
while it sleeps, with
an embroidered handkerchief tied round the neck.
This,
with the water it contains, the da'yeh takes, and puts
upon a
tray, and presents it to each of the women; who
put their noockoo't for her
(merely money) into the
tray.—In the evening, the husband
generally entertains
a party of his friends, in the manner usual on other
occasions
of private festivity.
During a certain period after childbirth (in most
cases, among the people of
Cairo, forty days; but differing
according to circumstances, and according
to the
doctrines of the different sects) the mother is regarded
as
religiously impure
*. The period here mentioned is
called
Nifa's. At the expiration of it, the woman goes
to
the bath.
* In like manner, the Jewish law
pronounces a woman unclean
during forty days after the birth of a male
child; but double that
time after bearing a female child. See
Leviticus, xii., 2, 4, 5.
The ceremonies and festivities attendant upon the
circumcision of a boy are the next that I shall
describe.
—In most cases, the boy about to be circumcised (who
is called
moota'hir) is paraded through the streets in
the
manner which has been related in a former chapter;
that is, if his
parents be of the middle or higher class of
citizens: but most of the
learned, people of religious
professions, fick'ees, and some rich men, in
Cairo, prefer
performing a ceremony called
Sira'feh, of which the following
account will convey a sufficient
notion.

The schoolfellows of the
moota'hir, all drest in their
best clothes, or in burrowed clothes if they
have none of
their own good enough, which is generally the case,
repair, a little before noon, to one of the principal
mosques, as that of
the Hhasaney'n, or the Az'har, or
that of the sey'yideh Zey'neb. Thither
also go the men
and the women and many of the female friends of the
family of the moota'hir, with the moota'hir himself; and
sometimes about
six sha'wee'shes (or sergeants) of the
Nackee'bel-Ashra'f, The barber who
is to perform the
operation also attends, with a servant bearing his
hheml
(or sign), which has been described in the account of
the more common
ceremonies of circumcision. All
these persons, with some others who will
presently be
mentioned, having assembled in the mosque, wait there
until after the noon-prayers, and then depart in procession
through the
streets to the house of the moota'hir's
parents. The first person in the
procession is the barber's
servant, with his hheml. He is sometimes
followed
by five or six fick'ees, chanting a lyric ode
(moo-wesh'shahh)
in praise of the Prophet. Then follow the
schoolboys, two, three, or
four abreast. The foremost
of these boys, or half their number, chant, as
they pass
along,—“O nights of pleasure! O nights of
joy!“—
The other boys then take up the strain,
adding,—“
Pleasure and desire, with friends
assembled! “—Then,
again, the
former,—“Favour, O our Lord, the Perspicuous
Light”—then, the latter, “Ahh'mad
*, the
Elect,
the chief of Apostles!”—Thus the boys continue
to
chant the whole of the way. Behind them walk the
male relations of
the moota'hir. These are followed by
about six boys; three of them bearing
each a silver
* A name of the Arabian Prophet.

scent-bottle
(ckoom' ckoom) full of rose-water or orange-flower-water,
which
they occasionally sprinkle on some
of the spectators; and each of the
others bearing a silver
perfuming-vessel
(mib'khar'ah), in which benzoin, frankincense,
or some other
odoriferous substance is burning.
With these boys walks a sack'cka,
bearing, on his back,
a skin of water covered with an embroidered
napkin:
he gives water, now and then, in brass cups, to passengers
in
the street. Next follow three servants: one
of these carries a silver pot
of coffee, in a silver
'a'z' ckee
(or chafing-dish suspended by three chains): another
bears a silver
tray, with ten or eleven coffee-cups, and
zurfs of silver: the third carries nothing: it is his
office,
when the procession passes by a well-dressed person (one
sitting at a shop, for instance), to fill, and present to
him, a cup of
coffee: the person thus honoured gives the
servant something in return:
half a piaster is considered
amply sufficient. The sha'wee'shes occupy the
next
place in the order of the procession. Sometimes they
are followed
by another group of boys with ckoom'ckooms
and mib'khar'ahs. Next follows a
boy bearing
the writing tablet of the moota'hir, hung to his neck by
a
handkerchief: it is ornamented for the occasion by the
schoolmaster. Behind
the boy who bears it walks the
moota'hir, between two others. He is dressed
either as
in the zef'feh before described (that is, in girl's clothes,
with the exception of the turban, and decked with
women's ornaments) or
simply as a boy; and holds a
folded embroidered handkerchief to his mouth.
The
women follow him, raising their shrill cries of joy (the
zugh'a'ree't); and one of them is constantly
employed
in sprinkling salt behind him, to prevent any ill effects
from an evil eye, which, it is thought, some person may

cast, at the lad from envy. In
this order and manner,
the procession arrives at the house.—On
halting' before
the door, the foremost of the schoolboys
sing,—“Thou
art a sun! Thou art a moon! Thou art a
light above
light! “—The others
add,—“O Mohham'mad! O my
friend! O thou with black
eyes!”—They enter the
house repeating this address to
the Prophet; and repeat
it again after entering'. The young boys go up
stairs:
the others remain below. The former, as they go up,
repeat,—“O thou his paternal aunt! O thou his
maternal
aunt! Come! prepare his sira'feh.”—On
enter-ins
the
cka”ah, or principal
apartment of the hharee'm,
a Kashmee'r shawl is given them to hold: they
hold it
all round; and the ornamented writing-tablet is placed
in the
middle of it. The
'aree'f, or head boy of the
school, who (together with the moota'hir and the
women) stands by while
they do this, then recites what
is termed
khoot'bet
es-sira'feh: each clause of this is
chanted by him first, and then
repeated by the other
boys. It is in unmeasured rhyme; and to the
following
effect.
” Praise be to God, the Mighty Creator!—the Sole,
the
Forgiver, the Conservator!—He knoweth the past
and
futurity,—and veileth things in obscurity.—He
knoweth
the tread of the black ant,—and its work when
in darkness
vigilant.—He formed and exalted heaven's
vault,—and
spread the earth o'er the ocean salt.—May
He grant this boy long
life and happiness,—to read the
Ckoor-a'n with
attentiveness;—to read the Ckoor-a'n,
and history's
pages,—the stories of ancient and modern
ages.—This
youth has learned to write and read,—to
spell, and cast up
accounts with speed:—his father,
therefore, should not
withhold—a reward of money,

silver and gold.—Of my
learning, O father, thou hast
paid the price:—God give thee a
place in Paradise:—
and thou, my mother, my thanks
receive—for thine
anxious care of me mom and eve:—God
grant I may
see thee in Paradise seated,—and by Mar'yam
*
and Zey'neb
† and Fa'timeh
‡ greeted.—Our fackee'h
§ has
taught us the alphabet:—may he have every grateful
epithet.—Our fackee'h has taught us as far as 'The
News
‖':—may he never his present blessings
lose.—Our fackee'h has
taught us as far as 'The Dominion':
— may he ever be blest with the world's good
opinion.—
Our fackee'h has taught us as far as ' The
Compassionate ':—
may he ever enjoy rewards
proportionate.—
Our fackee'h has taught us as far as ' Ya'-Seen
':—
may his days and years be ever serene.—Our
fackee'h
has taught us as far as ' The Cave ':—may he ever
the
blessings of Providence have.—Our fackee'h has taught
us as far as ' The Cattle':—may he ne'er be the subject
of
scandalous tattle.—Our fackee'h has taught us as far
as 'The
Cow':—may he ever be honoured, in future
and now.—Our
fackee'h amply merits of you—a coat of
green, and a turban
too.—O ye surrounding virgin
lasses!—I commend you to
God's care by the eye-paint
and the glasses
¶—O ye married
ladies here collected!
† The daughter of the Ima'm 'Al'ee.
‡ The daughter of the Prophet.
‖ This and the following words
distinguished by inverted commas
are the titles of chapters of the
Ckoor-a'n, which the boys, as
I have mentioned on a former occasion,
learn in the reverse order
of their arrangement, after having learned
the first chapter. The
chapter of “the News” is
the 78th: the others, afterwards named,
are the 67th. 55th, 36th, 18th,
6th, and 2d.
¶ The looking-glasses. This is said
to amuse the ladies.

I pray, by the Chapter of ' The
Ranks
*,'
that ye be
protected!—O ye old women standing'
about!—Ye
ought to be beaten with old shoes, and turned
out!—To
old women, however, we should rather say—Take
the
basin and ewer; wash and pray.”
* The 37th chapter of the
Ckoora'n.
During the chanting of these absurd expressions, the
women drop, upon the
ornamented writing-tablet, their
noockoo't; which are afterwards collected in a
handkerchief.
The boys then go down, and give the noockoo't
to the
fick'ee below
†.—Here, the moota'hir is now
placed on a
seat. The barber stands on one side of
him, and the servant who holds the
hheml on the other.
The hheml is rested on the floor; and on the top of
it
is placed a cup, into which the guests put their noockoo't
for the
barber.—The female visitors dine in the hharee'm;
and then leave
the house. The boys dine below; and go to their homes. The men also dine;
and all of them, excepting those of the family, and the.
barber and his
servant, take their leave. The barber
then conducts the moota'hir, with one
or two of his male
relations, to a private apartment; and there performs
the
operation; or sometimes this is done on the following
day. About a
week after, he takes the boy to the bath.
† What follows this describes the
ceremonies which are performed
both after the sira'feh and after the
more common zef'feh
of which I have given an account in a former
chapter.
The next occasion of festivity in a family (if not the
marriage of a son or
daughter) is generally when a son
is admitted a member of some body of
tradesmen or
artizans. On this occasion, a ceremony which I am
about
to describe is performed in certain cases; but not
on admission into every
trade: it is customary only

among carpenters, turners,
barbers, tailors, book-binders,
and a few others. The young man having
become an
adept in the business of his intended trade, his father
goes
to the sheykh of that trade, and signifies his wish
that his son should be
admitted a member. The sheykh
sends an officer, called the
nackee'b, to invite the masters
of the trade, and
sometimes a few friends of the candidate,
to be present at the admission.
The nackee'b, taking in
his hand a bunch of sprigs of any green herb, or
flowers,
goes to each of these persons, hands to him a sprig or-little
piece of green
*, or a flower, or leaf, and says—
“For the Prophet, the Fa't'hhah”:—that is,
“Repeat
the Fa't'hhah for the
Prophet”:—both having done
this together, the
nackee'b adds,—“On such a day and
hour, come to such
a house or place, and drink a cup of
coffee.”—The
guests thus invited meet (generally at the
house of the father of the young
man, but sometimes in
the country), take coffee, and dine. After this,
the
nackee'b leads the young man before the sheykh; states
his
qualifications; and then desires the persons present
to recite the
Fa't'hhah for the Prophet; which done, he
girds the young man with a shawl
over his outer coat;
and ties a knot with the ends of this girdle. The
Fa't'hhah is then recited again, generally for the sey'yid
El-Bed'awee, or
some other great saint; and a second
knot is tied. Then, a third time the
Fa't'hhah is recited;
and a bow is tied. The young man is thus
completely
admitted. He kisses the hand of the sheykh,
and that of
each of his fellow tradesmen; and gives the
nackee'b a small
fee.—This ceremony is called
shed'd el-wel'ed
(the binding of the youth); and the person
thus admitted is termed
meshdoo'd, or bound.

There remain only to be described
the ceremonies
occasioned by a death. These will be the subject of a
separate chapter, here following, and concluding my account of
the manners
and customs of the Moos'lims
of Egypt.
[Back to top]
CHAPTER XV.
DEATH, AND FUNERAL RITES.

WHEN a learned or pious Moos'lim feels that he is
about
to die, he sometimes performs the ordinary ablution, as
before
prayer; that he may depart from life in a state of
bodily purity. It is
common, also, for a Moos'lim, on a
military expedition, or during' a lung
journey, especially
in the desert, to carry his grave-linen with him.
Not
unfrequently does it happen that a traveller, in such
circumstances,
has even to make his own grave: completely
overcome by
fatigue or privation, or sinking
under a fatal disease, in the desert, when
his companions,
if he have any, cannot wait for his recovery or
death,
he performs the ablution (with water, if possible
or, if not, with sand or
dust, which is allowable in such
case), and then, having made a trench in
the sand, as
his grave, lies down in it, wrapped in his grave-clothes,
and covers himself, with the exception of his face, with
the sand taken up
in making the trench: thus he waits
for death to relieve him; trusting to
the wind to complete
his burial.
When any one of the eminent 'Ool'ama of
Cairo dies,
the moo-ed'dins of the
Az'har, and those of several other
mosques, announce the event by chanting
from the
ma'd'nehs the cry called the
Abra'r; the
words of which
I have given in the account of the customs observed

during Rum'ada'n, in the second
of the chapters on
periodical public festivals, &c.
The ceremonies attendant upon death and burial are
nearly the same in the
cases of men and women.—
When the rattles in the throat, or
other symptoms, show
that a man is at the point of death, an attendant
(his
wife, or some other person) turns him round to place his
head in
the direction of Mek'keh, and closes his eyes.
Even before the spirit has
departed, or the moment after,
the male attendants generally exclaim,
“Al'la'h! There
is no strength nor power but in God! To God we
belong;
and to Him we must return! God have mercy
on him!”
while the women of the family raise the cries
of lamentation called
wel'wel'eh, or
wilwa'l;
uttering
the most piercing shrieks, and calling upon the name of
the
deceased. The most common cries that are heard
on the death of the master
of a family, from the lips of
his wife, or wives, and children, are
“O my master
*!”
“O my camel
†!” that is, “O thou who broughtest
my
provisions, and hast carried my burdens,”
“O
my lion
‡” “O camel of the house
§!” “O my dear
one
‖!” “O my only one
¶!” “O my father
**!”
“O my misfortune
††!”
—The clothes of
the deceased are
taken off as soon as he has ceased to breathe; and he
is attired in another suit, placed on his bed or mattress,
and covered over
with a sheet. The women continue
their lamentations; and many of the
females of the
neighbourhood, hearing the conclamation, come to unite
with them in this melancholy task. Generally, also, the
††
Ya' dahh'wel'ee (for da'awet'ee).

family of the deceased send for
two or more
nedda'belli
(or public wailing-women
*); but some persons disapprove
of this
custom; and many, to avoid unnecessary
expense, do not conform with it.
Each nedda'beh brings
with her a
ta'r (or
tambourine), which is without the
tinkling plates of metal which are
attached to the hoop
of the common ta'r. The nedda'behs, beating their
ta'rs,
exclaim, several times, “Alas for
him!”—and praise
his turban, his handsome person,
&c.; and the female,
relations, domestics, and friends of the
deceased (with
their tresses dishevelled, and sometimes with rent
clothes),
beating their own faces, cry in like manner, “Alas
for
him!”—This wailing is generally continued at
least an
hour.
* See '2 Chron. xxxv., 23, Jer. ix.,
17, and Matt, ix., 23.
If the death took place in the morning, the corpse is
buried the same day
†;
but if it happened in the afternoon,
or at night, the deceased is not
buried until the
following day: in this case, the nedda'behs remain
all
the night, and continue the lamentation with the other
women; and
a fick'ee is brought to the house to
recite chapters of the Ckoor-a'n
during the night; or
several fick'ees are employed to perform a
complete
khut'meh.
† The Egyptians have a superstitious
objection to keep a corpse
in the house during the night after the
death, and to burying the
dead after sunset; but the latter is
sometimes done: I have witnessed
one instance of it,
The
mooghus'sil (or washer of the dead) soon comes,
with a bench, upon which he places the corpse, and a
bier
‡. The
fick'ees who are to take part in the funeral
‡ It is hardly necessary to state
that the corpse of a female is
always washed by a woman.

procession (if the deceased were
a person of respectable
rank, or of the middle order) are also now brought
to
the house. These, during the process of washing, sit in
an
apartment adjoining that in which the corpse is
placed, or without the door
of the latter apartment; and
some of them recite, or rather chant, the
Soo'rat el-An'a'm
(or 6th chapter of the Ckoor-a'n): others of
them chant part of the
Boor'deh, a celebrated poem in
praise of the
Prophet. The washer takes off the clothes
of the deceased; which are his
perquisite. The jaw is
bound up; and the eyes are closed. The ordinary
ablution
preparatory to prayer having been performed upon
the corpse,
with the exception of the washing of the
mouth and nose, the whole body is
well washed, from
head to foot, with warm water and soap, and with
leef
(or fibres of the palm-tree); or, more properly, with
water in which
some leaves of the lote-tree
(nubck, or
sidr) have been boiled. The nostrils, ears,
&c., are stuffed
with cotton; and the corpse is sprinkled with a
mixture
of water, pounded camphor, and dried and pounded
leaves of the
nubck, and with rose-water. Sometimes,
other dried and pounded leaves are
added to those of the
nubck. The ankles are bound together, and the
hands
placed upon the breast.
The
kef en, or grave-clothing, of a poor man
consists
of a piece, or two, of cotton
*; or is merely a kind
of
bag. The corpse of a man of wealth is generally wrapped
first in
muslin; then, in cotton cloth of thicker texture;
next, in a piece of
striped stuff of silk and cotton intermixed,
or in a ckoofta'n of similar
stuff, merely stitched
together; and over these is wrapped a Kashmee'r
shawl.
* The kef'en is often sprinkled with
water from the well of
Zem'zem, in the Temple of Mek'keh.


Funeral Procession.

The corpse of a woman of middling
rank is usually
clothed with a yel'ek. The colours most approved for
the grave-clothes are white and green; but any colour
is used, excepting
blue, or what approaches to blue.—
The body, prepared for
interment as above described, is
placed in the bier, which is usually
covered over with a
red or other Kashmee'r shawl. The persons who are
to
compose the funeral-procession then arrange themselves
in order.
The more common funeral-processions may
be thus described.
The first persons are about six or more poor men,
called
Yemenee'yeh; mostly blind; who proceed two
and two, or three and
three, together. Walking at a
moderate pace, or rather slowly, they chant,
in a melancholy
tone, the profession of faith (” There is no
deity
but God: Mohham'mad is God's Apostle: God favour
and preserve
him!”); as follows—

or sometimes, other words. They are followed by
some

male relations and friends of the
deceased, and, in many
cases, by two or more persons of some sect of
durwee'shes,
bearing the flags of their order. This is a general
custom at the funeral of a durwee'sh. Next follow
three or four or more
schoolboys; one of whom carries
a
moos' hhaf (or
copy of the Ckoora'n), or a volume consisting
of one of the thirty sections
of the Ckoor-a'n,
placed upon a land of desk formed of palm-sticks,
and
covered over, generally with an embroidered kerchief.
These boys
chant, in a higher and livelier voice than the
Yemenee'yeh, usually some
words of a poem called the
“
Hhashree'yeh,” descriptive of the events of the last
day, the judgment, &c.; to the air here noted.
The following is a translation of the commencement of
this poem.
* [I
assert] the absolute glory of Him who createth whatever
hath form;
* ' A-l-eba'd is a vulgar contraction, for 'al'a-l-'eba'd.—It will be
observed (from the
specimen here given, in the first two lines)
that this poem is not
in the literary dialect of Arabic.
And reduceth his servants by death:
Who bringeth to nought [all] his creatures, with mankind:
They shall all lie in the graves:
The absolute glory of the Lord of the cast
*:
* Literally, “the two
easts,” or “the two places of
sunrise:”
the point where the sun rises in summer, and
that where it rises
in winter.
The absolute glory of the Lord of the west
†:
† Or, “the two places
of sunset.”
The absolute glory of the illuminator of the two lights;
The sun, to wit, and the moon:
His absolute glory: how bountiful is He!
His absolute glory: how clement is He!
His absolute glory: how great is He!
When a servant rebelleth against Him, He protecteth.'
The school-boys immediately precede the bier, which is
borne head-foremost.
Three or four friends of the deceased
usually carry it for a short
distance: then three or
four other friends bear it a little further; and
then these
are in like manner relieved. Behind the bier walk the
female mourners; sometimes a group of more than a
dozen, or twenty; with
their hair dishevelled, though
generally concealed by the head-veil; crying
and shrieking,
as before described; and often, the hired mourners
accompany them, celebrating the praises of the deceased.
Among the women,
the relations and domestics of the
deceased are each distinguished by a
strip of linen or
cotton stuff or muslin, generally blue, bound round
the
head, and tied in a single knot behind: the ends hanging
down a
few inches
‡. Each of these also carries a handkerchief,
usually
died blue; which she sometimes holds
over her shoulders, and at other times
twirls with both
hands over her head, or before her face. The cries of
the women, the lively chanting of the youths, and the
‡ In the funeral-scenes represented
on 1he walls of ancient
Egyptian tombs, we often see females with a
similar bandage round
the head.

deep tones uttered by the
Yemenee'yeh, compose a
strange discord.
The wailing of women at funerals was forbidden by
the Prophet; and so, also,
was the celebration of the
virtues of the deceased. Mohham'mad declared,
that
the virtues thus ascribed to a dead person would be subjects
of
reproach to him, if he did not possess them, in a
future state. It is
astonishing to see how some of the
precepts of the Prophet are every day
violated by all
classes of the modern Moos'lims; the Wah'ha'bees alone
excepted.—I have sometimes seen mourning women of
the lower
classes, following a bier, having their faces
(which were bare), and their
head-coverings and bosoms,
besmeared with mud
*.
* This was a custom of the ancient
Egyptians: it is described
by Herodotus, lib. ii., cap.
85.—Passengers in the streets and
roads, when a corpse is
borne by to the tomb, often say,—“God
is most
great! God is most great! This is what God and his
Apostle have
promised: and God and his Apostle have spoken
truth. O God, increase
our faith and submission!”—The women,
pointing
with the finger at the bier, say,—“I testify that
there is no deity but God.”
The funeral-procession of a man of wealth,
or of a person of the middle
classes, is sometimes preceded by
three or four or more camels, bearing
bread and water
to give to the poor at the tomb; and is composed of a
more numerous and varied assemblage of persons. The
foremost of these are
the Yemenee'yeh, who chant the
profession of the faith, us described above.
They are
generally followed by some male friends of the deceased,
and
some learned and devout persons who have been invited
to attend the
funeral. Next follows a group of
four or more fick'ees, chanting the
Soo'rat el-An'a'm

(the 6th chapter of the
Ckoora'n); and sometimes,
another group, chanting the
Soo'rat Ya'-Seen (the 36th
chapter); another, chanting the
Sco'rat el-Kalif (the
18th chapter); and another,
chanting the
Soo'rat ed-Dookh'kha'n
(the 44th chapter). These are followed by
some moon'shids, singing
the
Boor'deh; and these, by
certain persons called
As-hha!b el-Ahhza'b, who are
members of
religious orders founded by celebrated
sheykhs. There are generally four or
more of the
order of the Hhezb es-Sa'da't; a similar group of
the
Hhezb Esh-Sha'zilee; and another of the Hhezb Esh-Shaara'wee:
each group
chants a particular form
of prayer. After them are generally borne two or
more
half-furled flags, the banners of one or other of the
principal
orders of durwee'shes. Then follow the schoolboys,
the bier, and the female
mourners, as in the procession
before described; and, perhaps, the led
horses
of the bearers, if these be men of rank. A buffalo, to
be
sacrificed at the tomb, where its flesh is to be distributed
to the poor,
sometimes closes the procession.
The funeral of a devout sheykh, or of one of the great
'Ool'ama, is still
more numerously attended; and the
bier of such a person is not covered with
a shawl. A
wel'ee is further honoured in his funeral by a
remarkable
custom. Women follow his bier; but, instead of wailing,
as
they would after the corpse of an ordinary mortal,
they rend the air with
the shrill and quavering cries of
joy called
zugh'a'ree'l; and if these cries are discontinued
but for a
minute, the bearers of the bier protest
that they cannot proceed; that a
supernatural power
rivets them to the spot on which they stand. Very
often, it is said, a wel'ee impels the bearers of his corpse
to a
particular spot.—The following anecdote, describing

an ingenious mode of puzzling a
dead saint in a case of
this kind, was related to me by one of my
friends.—
Some men
were lately bearing
the corpse of a wel'ee
to a tomb prepared for it in the great cemetery on
the north
of the metropolis; but, on arriving' at the gate called
Ba'b
en-Nusr, which leads to this cemetery, they found
themselves unable to
proceed further, from the cause
above mentioned. “It
seems,” said one of the bearers,
“that the sheykh is
determined not to be buried in the
cemetery of Ba'b en-Nusr: and what shall
we do?”
They were all much perplexed: but being as
obstinate
as the saint himself, they did not immediately yield to
his
caprice. Retreating a few paces, and then advancing
with a quick step, they
thought, by such an impetus,
to force the corpse through the gate-way; but
their
efforts were unsuccessful; and the same experiment they
repeated
in vain several times. They then placed the
bier on the ground to rest and
consult; and one of
them, beckoning' away his comrades to a distance
beyond the hearing of the dead saint, said to them,
“Let us take
up the bier again, and turn it round
quickly several times till the sheykh
becomes giddy; he
then will not know in what direction we are going,
and we may take him easily through the gate.” This
they did; the
saint was puzzled as they expected; and
quietly buried in the place which
he had so striven to
avoid.
The biers used for the conveyance of the corpses of
females and boys are
different from those of men. They
are furnished with a cover of wood, over
which a shawl
is spread, as over the bier of a man; and at the head is
an upright piece of wood, called a
ska'hid.
The sha'hid is covered with a shawl; and to the upper part of it,


Bier used for the conveyance of the corpse of a female or boy.
when the bier is used to convey the body of a female of
the
middle or higher class, several ornaments of female
head-dress are
attached: on the top, which is flat and
circular, is often placed a
ckoor's (the round ornament
of gold or silver set
with diamonds, or of embossed gold,
which is worn on the crown of the
head-dress): to the
back is suspended the
suf'a (or
a number of braids of
black silk with gold ornaments along each, which
are
worn by the ladies, in addition to their plaits of hair,
hanging
down the back). The bier of a boy is distinguished
by a turban, generally
formed of a red Kashmee'r
shawl, wound round the top of the sha'hid;
which,
in the case of a young boy, is also often decorated with
the
ckoor's and suf'a. The corpse of a very young
child is carried to the tomb
in the arms of a man, and

merely covered with a shawl; or,
in
a very small bier
borne on a man's head.
In the funerals of females and boys, the bier is usually
only preceded by
the Yemenee'yeh, chanting the profession
of faith, and by some male
relations of the deceased;
and followed by the female mourners; unless
the deceased were of a family of wealth, or of considerable
station in the
world; in which case, the funeral-procession
is distinguished by some
additional display.
I shall give a short description of one of the most
genteel
and decorous funerals of this kind that I have witnessed:
it
was that of a young, unmarried lady.—Two
men, each bearing a
large, furled, green flag, headed
the procession,preceding the Yemenee'yeh,
who chanted
in an unusually low and solemn manner. These fackee'rs,
who were in number about eight, were followed by a
group of fick'ees,
chanting a chapter of the Ckoora'n.
Next after the latter was a man bearing
a large branch
of
nubck (or lote-tree), an emblem
of the deceased
*.
On each side of him walked a person bearing a tall
staff
or cane, to the top of which were attached several hoops
ornamented with strips of various-coloured paper. These
were followed by
two Turkish soldiers, side by side: one
bearing, on a small round tray, a
gilt silver
ckoom'-ckoom
of rose-water; and the other bearing, on a
similar tray, a
mib'khar'ah of gilt silver, in which some
odoriferous substance (as benzoin, or frankincense) was
burning. These
vessels diffused the odour of their contents
on the way; and were
afterwards used to perfume
the sepulchral vault. Passengers were
occasionally
sprinkled with the rose-water. Next followed four men,
each of whom bore, upon a small tray, several small
* This is only borne in funerals of
young persons.

lighted tapers of wax, stuck in
lumps of paste of
hhen'na.
The bier was covered with rich shawls; and its sha'hid
was decorated
with handsome ornaments of the head;
having, besides the suf'a, a
ckoos'sah alma's (a long ornament
of gold and
diamonds, worn over the forehead),
and, upon its flat top, a rich diamond
ckoor's. These
were the jewels of the deceased; or were perhaps, as is
often the case, borrowed for the occasion. The female
mourners, in number
about seven or eight, clad in the
usual manner of the ladies of Egypt (with
the black silk
covering, &c.), followed the bier, not on foot as
is the
common custom in funerals in this country, but mounted
on
high-saddled asses; and only the last two or three
of them were wailing;
these being, probably, hired
mourners.—In another
funeral-procession of a female,
the daughter of a Turk of high rank, the
Yemenee'yeh
were followed by six black slaves, walking two by two.
The
first two slaves bore each a silver ckoom'ckoom of
rose-water, which they
sprinkled on the passengers; and
one of them honoured me so profusely as to
wet my
dress very uncomfortably; after which, he poured a
small
quantity into my hands; and I wetted my face
with it, according to custom.
Each of the next two
bore a silver mib'khar'ah, with perfume; and the
other
two carried each a silver 'a'z'ckee (or hanging censer),
with
burning charcoal and frankincense. The jewels
on the sha'hid of the bier
were of a costly description.
Eleven ladies, mounted on high-saddled asses,
together
with several nedda'behs, followed.
The rites and ceremonies performed in the mosque,
and at the tomb, and after
the funeral, remain to be described.—
If the deceased died in
any of the northern
quarters of the metropolis, the body is usually
carried,

in preference, to the mosque of
the Hhasaney'n; unless
he were a poor man, not residing near to that
venerated
sanctuary; in which case, his friends generally carry his
corpse to any neighbouring mosque, to save time, and
avoid unnecessary
expense. If he were one of the
'ool'ama (that is, of a learned profession,
however humble),
his corpse is usually taken to the great mosque
El-Az'har. The people of the southern parts of the metropolis
generally
carry their dead to the mosque of the
sey'yideh Zey'neb, or to that of any
other celebrated
saint. The reason of choosing such mosques in
preference
to others is the belief that the prayers offered up at
the
tombs of very holy persons are especially successful.
The bier, being brought into the mosque, is laid upon
the floor, in the
usual place of prayer, with the right side
towards the ckib'leh, or the
direction of Mek'keh. The
Ima'm of the mosque stands before the left side of
the
bier, facing it and the ckib'leh; and a servant of the
mosque, as
a
moobal'ligh (to repeat the words of the
Ima'm),
at the feet. The attendants of the funeral
range themselves behind the
Ima'm; the women standing
apart, behind the men; for on this occasion they
are
seldom excluded from the mosque. The congregation
being thus
disposed, the Ima'm commences the prayer
over the dead; prefacing it with
these words
*.—“I
purpose reciting the prayer
of four
tekbee'rs †
, the funeral-prayer,
over the deceased Moos'lim here
present”—or—
“the deceased
Moos'lims here present”: for two or
more corpses are often
prayed over at the same time.
* I give the form of prayer used by
the Sha'fe'ees as being the
most common in Cairo. Those of the other
sects are nearly
similar to this.
† A tekbee'r
has been explained in a former chapter, as being
the exclamation of “Alla'hoo Ak'bar!” or
“God is most great!”

Having said this, he exclaims (raising his open hands on
each side of his
head, and touching the lobes of his ears
with the extremities of his
thumbs), “God is most
great!” The moobal'ligh repeats
this exclamation;
and each individual of the congregation behind the
Ima'm does the same; as they also do after the subsequent
tekbee'rs. The
Ima'm then recites the Fa't'hhah;
and a second time exclaims,
“God is most great!”
After which, he adds,
“O God, favour our lord Mohham'mad,
the Illiterate Prophet, and
his Family and Companions,
and preserve them”—and the
third time exclaims,
“God is most great! “He then
says, “O God,
verily this is thy servant, and son of thy
servant: he
hath departed from the repose of the world, and from
its
business, and from whatever he loved, and from
those by whom he was loved
in it, to the darkness of the
grave, and to what is prepared for him. He
did testify
that there is no deity but Thee: that Thou hast no
companion:
and that Mohham'mad is thy servant and thy
apostle: and
Thou art all-knowing' respecting him. O
God, he hath gone to abide with
Thee: and Tuou art
the best with whom to abide. He hath become in need
of thy mercy; and Thou has no need of his punishment.
We have come to Thee
supplicating that we
may intercede for him. O God, if he were a doer
of
good, over-reckon his good deeds; and if he were an
evil-doer, pass
over his evil-doings; and of thy mercy
grant him thy acceptance; and spare
him the trial of
the grave, and its torment; and make his grave wide
to him; and keep back the earth from his sides
*; and
* It is believed that the body of the
wicked is painfully oppressed
by the earth against its sides in the
à though this is
always made hollow.

of thy mercy grant him security
from thy torment, until
Thou send him safely to thy Paradise, O Thou
most
merciful of those who show mercy!” Then, for the
fourth and last time, the Ima'm exclaims, “God is most
great!”—adding,—“O God, withhold not
from us our
reward for him [for the service we have done him];
and
lead us not into trial after him: pardon us and him
and all the Moos'lims,
O Lord of all creatures!”—Thus
he finishes his
prayer; greeting the angels on his right
and left with the salutation of
“Peace be on you, and
the mercy of God;” as is done
at the close of the
ordinary prayers. Then, addressing the persons
present,
he says, “Give your testimony respecting
him.”
They reply, “He was of the
virtuous.”—The bier is
now taken up; and if it be in
the mosque of the
Hhasaney'n, or in that of any other celebrated
saint,
that the prayer has been performed, it is placed before
the
mucksoo'rah (the screen or railing that surrounds
the
sepulchral monument or cenotaph). Here, some of the
fick'ees and
others who have attended the funeral recite
the Fa't'hhah, and the last
three verses of the
Soo'rat el-Buck'arah
(or 2d chapter of the Ckoor-a'n); beginning,
“Whatever is
in heaven and on earth is
God's.”—These rites
performed, the funeral-train proceeds,
with the corpse, in the same order
as before, to
the burial-ground
*.
* The burial-grounds of Cairo are
mostly outside the town, in
the desert tracts on the north, east, and
south. Those within the
town arc few, and not extensive.
Here I must give a short description of a tomb.—It
is an oblong
vault, having an arched roof; and is generally
constructed of brick, and
plastered.' It is made
hollow in order that the person or persons buried in
it


Sketch of a Tomb, with the entrance uncovered.

may be able with ease to sit up
when visited and examined
by the two angels,
Moon'kir (vulgarly called
Na'kir) and
Nekee'r. One side faces the direction of Mek'keh;
that
is, the south-east. At the foot, which is to the northeast,
is
the entrance; before which is constructed a small
square cell, roofed with
stones extending from side to
side, to prevent the earth from entering the
vault. This
is covered over with earth. The vault is generally made
large enough to contain four or more bodies. If males
and females be buried
in the same vault, which is not
commonly the case, a partition is built to
separate the
corpses of one sex from those of the other. Over the
vault is constructed an oblong monument (called
turkee'beh), of stone or brick, with a stela, or
upright
stone (called a
sha'hid), at the head and
foot. The stelae
are mostly plain; but some of them are ornamented;
and that at the head is often inscribed with a text from
the Ckoora'n
*, and the
name of the deceased, with the
date of his death. A turban, cap, or other
head-dress,
is also sometimes carved on the top of the head-stone;
showing the rank or class of the person or persons
buried in the
tomb.—Over the grave of an eminent
sheykh, or other person of
note, a small square building,
crowned with a cupola, is generally erected.
Many of
the tombs of Turkish and Memloo'k grandees have
marble
turkee'behs, which are canopied by cupolas supported
by four columns of
marble; and have inscriptions
in gilt letters upon a ground of azure on the
head-stone.
There are numerous tombs of this description in the
great
southern cemetery of
Cairo. The tombs of the
* The Prophet forbade engraving the
name of God, or any
words of the Ckoor-a'n, upon a tomb. He also
directed that
tombs should be low, and built only of crude bricks.

Soolta'ns are mostly handsome
mosques: some of these
are within the metropolis; and some, in the
cemeteries
in its environs.—I now resume the description of
the
funeral.
The tomb having been opened before the arrival of
the corpse, no delay takes
place in the burial. The
sexton and two assistants take the corpse out of
the bier,
and deposit it in the vault. Its bandages are untied;
and it
is laid upon its right side, or so inclined that the
face is towards
Mek'keh. It is supported in this position
by a few crude bricks. If the
outer wrapper be
a Kashmee'r shawl, this is rent; lest its value
should
tempt any profane person to violate the tomb. A little
earth is
gently placed by and upon the corpse, by one or
more persons; and the
entrance is closed by replacing
the roofing-stones and earth over the small
cell before
it. But one singular ceremony remains to be performed,
excepting in the case of a young child, who is not
held responsible for his
actions: a fick'ee is employed to
perform the office of a
mooluck'ckin (or instructor of
the dead)
*:” sitting before the tomb, he says generally
as follows.—“O servant of God! O son of a handmaid
of
God! know that, at this time, there will come
down to thee two angels
commissioned respecting thee
and the like of thee: when they say to thee, '
Who is
thy Lord?' answer them, 'God is my Lord,' in truth;
and when
they ask thee concerning thy Prophet, or the
man who hath been sent unto
you, say to them, ' Mohham'mad
is the Apostle of God,' with veracity;
and
when they ask thee concerning thy religion, say to
them, '
El-Isla'm is my religion;' and when they ask
* The Ma'likees disapprove of this
custom, the tulckee'n of the
dead.

thee concerning thy book of
direction, say to them,
' The Ckoora'n is my book of direction, and
the
Moos'lims are my brothers;' and when they ask thee
concerning thy
Ckib'leh, say to them, ' The Ka'abeh is
my Ckib'leh; and I have lived and
died in the assertion,
that there is no deity but God, and Mohham'mad
is
God's Apostle:' and they will say, ' Sleep, O servant of
God, in
the protection of God.”'—The soul is believed
to
remain with the body during the first night after the
burial; and on this
night, to be visited and examined,
and perhaps the body tortured, by the
two angels above
mentioned.—The Yemenee'yeh and other persons
hired
to attend the funeral are paid at the tomb: the former
usually
receive a piaster each. If the funeral be that of
a person of rank or
wealth, two or three skins of water,
and as many camel-loads of bread,
being conveyed to
the burial-ground, as before mentioned, are there
distributed,
after the burial, to the poor, who flock thither in
great
numbers on such an occasion. It has also been
mentioned, that a buffalo is
sometimes slaughtered, and
its flesh in like manner distributed. This
custom is
called
el-kaffa'rah (or the expiation):
being supposed
to expiate some of the minor sins of the deceased,
which
are termed the
sagha'ir; but not the
keba'ir, or great
sins. The funeral ended, each of
the near relations of
the deceased is greeted with a prayer that he may
be
happily compensated for his loss; or is congratulated
that his life
is prolonged.
The first night after the burial is called
Ley'let
el-Wahh'sheh
(or the Night of Desolation); the place of
the deceased being then
left desolate. On this night,
the following custom is observed. At sunset,
two or
three fick'ees are brought to the house: they take a

repast of bread and milk in the
place where the deceased
died; and then recite the
Soo'rat el-Moolk (or
67th chapter of the Ckoora'n). As the soul
is believed
to remain with the body during the first night after the
burial, and then to depart to the place appointed for the
residence of good
souls until the last day, or to the appointed
prison in which wicked souls
await their final
doom this night is also called
Ley'let
el-Wahh'deh (or
the Night of Solitude).
Another ceremony, called that of the Seb'hhah (or
Rosary), is performed on this occasion, to facilitate the
entrance of the
deceased into a state of happiness: it
usually occupies three or four
hours. After the 'esh'ë
(or night-fall), some fick'ees, sometimes as many as
fifty, assemble
in the house; or, if there be not a court,
or large apartment, for their
reception, some matting is
spread, for them to sit upon, in front of the
house. One
of them brings a seb'hhah composed of a thousand
beads;
each about the size of a pigeon's egg. They
commence the ceremony by
reciting the Soo'rat el-Moolk
(mentioned above); then say, three times, “God
is
one.” After this, they recite the Soo'rat
el-Fa'luck
(or last chapter but one of the Ckoor-a'n), and the
opening chapter
(the Fa't'hhah); and then three times
say,
“O God, favour, with the most excellent favour,
the most happy
of thy creatures, our lord Mohham'mad,
and his Family and Companions, and
preserve them:”
to which they add, “All who
commemorate Thee are
the mindful; and those who omit commemorating
Thee are the negligent.” They next repeat, thrice one
thousand
times, “There is no deity but God;” one of
them
holding the seb'hhah, and counting each repetition
of these words by
passing a bead through his fingers.

After each thousand repetitions, they sometimes rest,
and take coffee.
Having completed the last thousand,
and rested, and refreshed themselves,
they say, a hundred
times,” [I assert] the absolute glory of
God, with
his praise:” then, the same number of times,
“I beg
forgiveness of God, the Great:” after which
they say,
fifty times, “[I assert] the absolute glory of the
Lord,
the Eternal-the absolute glory of God, the Eternal:”
they then repeat these words of the
Ckoor-a'n—“[Assert]
the absolute glory of thy Lord,
the Lord of Might;
exempting Him from that which, they [namely
Christians
and others] ascribe to Him [that is, from the having
a son,
or partaker of his godhead]; and peace be on
the Apostles; and praise be to
God, the Lord of all
creatures
*!” Two or three or more of them
then recite,
each, an
'ashr, or about two or three
verses of the
Ckoor-a'n. This done, one of them asks his companions,
“Have ye transferred [the merit of] what ye
have recited to the
soul of the deceased?” They reply,
“We have
transferred it;” and add, “And peace be on
the
Apostles,” &c., as above. This concludes the ceremony
of the seb'hhah, which, in the houses of the rich, is
also repeated on the
second and third nights. This ceremony
is likewise performed in a family on
their
receiving intelligence of the death of a near relation.
* Chapter xxxvii., last three
verses.
The men make no alteration in their dress in token
of mourning; nor do the
women on the death of an
elderly man; but they do for others. In the latter
cases,
they dye their shirts, head-veils, face-veils, and
handkerchiefs,
of a blue, or of an almost black, colour, with
indigo;
and some of them, with the same dye, stain their
hands, and their arms as
high as the elbow; and
smear

the walls of the chambers. When
the master of the
house, or the owner of the furniture, is dead, and
sometimes
in other eases, they also turn upside-down the carpets,
mats, cushions, and coverings of the deewa'ns. In
general, the women, while
in mourning, leave their hair
unbraided; cease to wear some of their
ornaments; and,
if they smoke, use common reed pipes.
Towards the close of the first Thursday after the
funeral
*, the
women of the family of the deceased again
commence a wailing, in their
house, accompanied by
some of their female friends; and in the afternoon
or
evening of this day, male friends of the deceased also
visit the
house; and three or four fick'ees are employed
to perform a
khut'meh.-On the Friday morning, the
women repair
to the tomb; where they observe the same
customs which I have described in
speaking of the
ceremonies performed on the two grand
'eeds, in the
second of the chapters on periodical public
festivals, &c.;
generally taking a palm-branch, to break up,
and place
on the tomb; and some cakes or bread to distribute to
the
poor. These ceremonies are repeated on the same
days of the next two weeks;
and again, on the Thursday
and Friday which complete, or next follow, the
first
period of forty days
† after the funeral: whence this
Friday is called e
l-Arba'ee'n, or
Goom' at el-Arba'ee'n.
* And often, early in the morning of
this day.
It is customary among the peasants of
Upper Egypt,
for the female relations
and friends of a person deceased
to meet together by his house, on each of
the first three
days after the funeral, and there to perform a
lamentation
and a strange kind of dance. They daub their
faces and
bosoms, and part of their dress, with mud;

and tie a rope girdle, generally
made of the coarse grass
called
hhal'fa, round the
waist
*. Each flourishes in her
hand a palm-stick, or a
nebboo't (a long staff), or a
spear, or a drawn sword; and dances with a
slow movement,
and in an irregular manner; generally pacing
about, and
raising and depressing the body. This dance
is continued for an hour, or
more; and is performed twice
or three times in the course of the day. After
the third
day, the women visit the tomb, and place upon it their
rope-girdles: and usually a lamb, or a goat, is slain
there, as an
expiatory sacrifice, and a feast made, on this
occasion.
* As the ancient Egyptian women did
in the same case.—
See a passage in Herodotus, before
referred to, lib. ii., ca. 85.
Having now described the manners and customs of
the Moos'lims of Egypt in
the various stages and circumstances
of life, from the period of infancy to
the
tomb, I close my account of them, as a writer of their
own nation
would in a similar case, with “thanks and
praise to Him who
dieth not.”
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